And what a week it was. I have little doubt tomorrow that we’ll have a unanimous #1, and that it will be
1. UC Irvine. After two weeks in a deadlock with BYU, the Anteaters are again the top team in the nation, and even I have no problems with it this time. They’re up to 12-3 overall and 9-3 in conference, and are winners of eight straight. This week they defeated Santa Barbara in four sets at home and just bludgeoned San Diego into submission in straight sets, at San Diego. It’s kind of amazing that the obvious #1 team in the nation would carry three losses, but such is the volley-world we live in. This week they host Hawaii for a double-shot, Monday and Tuesday nights.
2. Long Beach State. The 49ers are looking really good. This week, they took six straight sets against two teams who really don’t suck, beating Pacific and beating Stanford in sweeps. The Stanford match in particular was a case of notice being served, as LBSU took it (25-20, 25-18, 25-11). They hit .397 to Stanford’s .152 for the match. Tweeted Stanford’s star setter James Shaw after the match:
Ouch.
— James Shaw (@James_Shaw3) February 17, 2013
That’s all he said, but that’s pretty well all he needed to say.
The Niners went a very good 6-3 in their extended road trip to start the season and are now 5-1 at home. It’s definitely giving me pause to reconsider what I said a few weeks ago about UCI and BYU definitely being the ones to come out of the MPSF this season. Just one match for the 49ers this week, and it’s their lone road match in the midst of what’s otherwise an extremely long homestand, as they travel to Northridge.
3. BYU. This may seem a little harsh, dropping them two ranks after going on the road for the first time and splitting, but it’s more about about upping LBSU than dissing BYU (lest we forget, the 49ers own the head-to-head meeting between the two teams). As said, BYU went 1-1 this week, falling in five sets to Pepperdine (more on that match in a moment), and beating USC in four. Frankly, a split had to be expected, and at least on some level they’ve got to be satisfied to come away with it. Back home against Pacific and Stanford this week, both of which are on the webcast schedule, I’m happy to say.
4. Pepperdine. Can’t argue with Pepperdine’s results this week, with the aforementioned five-set win over BYU as well as a four-set victory over California Baptist. Both were home matches. On one note, however, this was decidedly not a good week for the Waves, as they lost junior outside hitter Kyle Gerrans to a grisly ankle injury late in the second set of the BYU match. There were reports that trainers had to pop in his dislocated ankle while he lay in pain on the court (and, no, I was not able to type that without squirming) and that he had to be stretchered off. Obviously, both are really bad signs. I haven’t yet sen an update on any prognosis he might have. At first, it looked like it would take the wind out of the Waves’ sails in the BYU match, as they dominated the first set and the second was nearly over when Gerrans went out, with Pepperdine going up 2-0. BYU came back to win the next two, but Pepperdine won the decider 15-9. Best wishes to Gerrans, and we’ll see what Pepperdine have going forward. Pepperdine draw UCLA and Santa Barbara this coming week.
5. Stanford. They needn’t fall any further than this. This week’s results seem to hammer home what I thought about the team in last week’s version of this post. You ever see the movie Collateral? (If you haven’t, you should) The bandleader talks about jamming with Miles Davis, and that Davis had this to say about him:
“Cool.” That meant good, but not ready. It meant look me up when you are.
Can more accurate words be said about this year’s Stanford Cardinal? They’ve got gobs of talent, but every week’s results seem to make it clearer and clearer that this is a team for 2014. Prior to getting dismantled by Long Beach, the Cardinal had little trouble with Northridge, who aren’t bad, beating the Matadors in four sets. Stanford, look me up when you’re ready, because I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be something special. Stanford’s match at BYU on Saturday is their lone contest this coming week.
6. Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat two teams they were supposed to beat this past week, claiming victories over IPFW and over Ball State, both in four sets. The ending to the Ball State match was noted as peculiar by Ball State commentary voice C.J. Allard. Ball State were assessed a yellow card at 23-all in the fourth set, to give Ohio State match point at 24-23. They converted, but no one was quite sure for a few moments exactly what had happened. It’s Ohio State’s eighth straight win. They aren’t really tested this week, with just one match, and against D-III opponent Juniata College, but in two weeks’ time they play both Lewis and Loyola. That should be something to take note of.
7. UCLA. The Bruins split this week with Hawaii, as I covered here. Seems odd to up a team two ranks after a split, but I probably had them a little too low last week. The Bruins have a Monday/Saturday this coming week, taking on their archrivals USC tomorrow night before heading to Pepperdine over the weekend.
8. CSU Northridge. Talk about a gutty, resilient team. After the aforementioned four-set loss to Stanford, the Matadors pulled out a four-set win of their own against Pacific. I’m looking forward to getting to physically see them play when they travel to Hawaii for a double-shot first of next month. I think those could be some wildly entertaining matchups. This week, they host the Long Beach State 49ers, and can play big time spoiler.
9. Penn State. How the mighty have fallen. Were it not for the rest of the country beating the stuffing out of each other, they might have fallen yet further. This week, Penn State lost their first EIVA conference match in five seasons (though curiously they did lose to EIVA teams in non-conference matches a couple of times in that stretch), falling in straight sets to the Harvard Crimson. It constituted their second-straight sweep loss. They rebounded to sweep aside Sacred Heart, but come on, this is Penn State we’re talking about. Sweeping Sacred Heart is practically a given (sorry Pioneers fans). Coming into this season, a few predictions thought Penn State were ripe for the plucking this year (though perhaps only in the sense that “this is as good a year as any for it to happen”), though it was expected that George Mason would be their nemesis. Harvard were picked fourth in the preseason poll, but they’re outshining both Mason and Princeton at this point. Now, in the EIVA, the conference tournament is hosted by the #1 seed (all three matches), so it’ll be very interesting to continue to follow PSU and Harvard, because right now they’re exactly deadlocked. One conference loss apiece, and it was to the other team. Whoever has an off night between now and late April could be forced to play on the road, and if the regular season results are anything to go by, that could make all the difference.
10. Lewis. The Flyers are coming on strong in the MIVA portion of their schedule, as we all expected they would. This week was an important match with the Loyola Ramblers, in Chicago. The Flyers took care of their rivals (as I understand them to be) in four sets. This week Lewis play host to Ball State and IPFW, both of which they really should win easily. They don’t have their next real test until the beginning of next month, with a three-match road trip through Ohio State, George Mason, and Princeton. The Ohio State match will tell us a lot about who the MIVA are this season.
11. Harvard. Maybe I’m a little crazy having them this high, but they definitely need to start getting some votes (and god help me if UC San Diego are still getting votes and Harvard aren’t). The Crimson avoided the letdown this past week, defeating St. Francis in straight sets on their home court just as they had the titans from State College a night earlier. Harvard do have one not-so-great result this season, a four-set neutral-court loss to Loyola, but as bad results go that one’s not so bad. Everybody else sure has results that won’t be at the top of their resumes, either. The next four for Harvard are all on the road. March 1 and 2 could be tough matches, with George Mason and Princeton, respectively, but this coming week they really should win both easily, as they travel to NJIT and Rutgers-Newark.
12. Hawaii. I really do wonder if it was jet-lag playing a part in Hawaii’s three-set loss to UCLA, because their five-set win over those very same Bruins the next night was classic Hawaii Warrior volleyball. I’m excited to find out what they have in their double-shot with Irvine this week, though regrettably there will not be online video for either of those matches.
13. California Baptist. Their body of work is still decent, but boy did they have a difficult week this past, losing four-setters to Pepperdine (as noted) and to USC. The results drop them to 3-5 in the MPSF this season. I don’t believe they’re actually eligible for the postseason at all, as this is their first season at this level (do correct me if I’m wrong), but were they even to finish in a position where they would make it, they’d need to get it in gear and soon, and their upcoming schedule does them no favors. They’re idle this coming week, but face Stanford and Irvine next week.
14. Pacific. I guess? This poll probably should only go to 10, because the teams that would fall in the teens-range all had dreadful weeks this past. Pacific were no exception, losing to Long Beach State and CSU Northridge, as noted above, and taking just one set in the process. Pacific’s match with BYU, at BYU, is their only contest this coming week, and it offers little hope to Tiger fans that the schneid will end anytime soon.
15. USC. If you’ve been reading, you know I’m not very high on this team, but I feel compelled to include them simply because they won a match this week, and pretty much nobody else in this range did. Their win over Cal Baptist makes them just 3-6 on the year (overall and in conference, as their only non-conference matches were exhibitions with Canadian schools). This week they’ve got the rivalry match with UCLA and they also play Santa Barbara, both at the Galen Center.
As for other teams, I find I may have given UCSB a little too much benefit of the doubt in last week’s ballot, as this week they were defeated by Irvine, as mentioned (and expected), but also swept aside by UC San Diego. Those results make them 5-10 on the season, and even in the dog-eat-dog world in which we live this season, ranking them would be more than a bit much. Their lone match this week is at Pepperdine, Tuesday night.
And Loyola are close. They’ve got some talent, and looking over their body of work this season they’ve really won every match you could say they “should” have won. Their losses are to George Mason, Penn State, three MPSF teams, and Lewis. Oh, but Lewis. That last one sort of tells you where they are, especially as it was a home match. I don’t doubt the Ramblers will have their shot to make it to LA and the Final Four, but they’ll have to turn a few upsets to make it. This week they play host to IPFW and Ball State, which should provide for some intriguing results.
Ball State are fading, perhaps proving that that 8-0 record to start the season was something of a mirage. Along with the unusual loss to Ohio State just today, noted above, they also dropped a four-setter to IPFW. The Volleydons, for their part, also lost in four to Ohio State this week. The MIVA’s road to the Final Four definitely goes through Ohio State.
Lastly, friends of The Net Set Princeton won both their matches this past week, defeating NJIT in five and D-III team NYU in four. These results make them 4-2 on their still-young season, and set the stage for matches with St. Francis and, yep, Penn State, this coming week.
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