A minor aside first — somehow the blog got well over 100 hits today (a normal day is anywhere between 20 and 60), despite nothing really happening today. But I could get used to that! Hope everybody likes what they see and will return for more 😀 Now then, on to the votes…
1. BYU. The Cougars held serve, winning two at home over Cal Baptist, even if it’s not entirely clear how they won night 2. The Lancers had the statistical advantage in every category except service errors (meaning they had more of them than did BYU), and Ben Patch hit negative for the match. But an ugly win’s still a win, and put it together with the dominant performance from the night before and they’re still on top of the mountain, beyond a doubt. Now comes the sting in the tail of the 2013 schedule for the Cougars, as 6 of their final 8 matches are on the road. The two remaining home matches, in two weeks’ time, are against Pepperdine and relative conference lightweight USC. BYU will have to head out on the road to face Northridge, Long Beach, UCSB, UCLA, Pacific, and Stanford. The optimistic take is that it will battle-test them before the MPSF tournament. The somewhat less optimistic take? There’s no way they run the table. The Cougars are idle this coming week.
2. UC Irvine. I’ve had Long Beach State here for several weeks, feeling them marginally the better of BYU (with the head-to-head win if nothing else) and then likewise marginally better than UCI after UCI’s five-set loss to BYU. This week, my hand was forced with a UCI/LBSU direct matchup, and as you no doubt guessed (if you didn’t already know), the Anteaters come out on top, taking it in four sets. It was Irvine’s only match of the week but it sure was a big one. Two road contests for UCI this coming week, Tuesday/Friday against Pepperdine and USC respectively.
3. Long Beach State. In addition to the big match with UCI, the ‘Beach also had a match with UC San Diego, which they predictably won in straight sets. Even with a loss, they still very much belong in the upper reaches of the rankings, unless and until they lose to someone well the lesser of UCI. No shame in that loss at all, even if it was at home. Busy upcoming week for the 49ers, as they host UCLA on Wednesday ahead of a weekend round-robin invitational with George Mason and IPFW, also at home.
4. Pepperdine. The Waves didn’t have much on their plate last week, with the NAIA’s Hope International Royals their lone opponent. In a match they likely would have been embarrassed not to sweep, let alone simply win, the Waves did their job and did indeed come away with the sweep. The only lead Hope ever had in the match was 1-0 in the first set. As you’ll read, the Waves got upped mainly because others needed to get downed. Tuesday/Friday matches this week for Pepperdine, at home against UCI and UCSD.
5. Lewis. Looking at last week’s vote, I’m not sure why I still had Ohio State ahead of Lewis, considering the Flyers pretty convincingly took the head-to-head meeting between the two. This past week, Lewis extended the nation’s longest winning streak on an EIVA road trip, sneaking past George Mason in five and sweeping aside the Princeton Tigers. It’s hard to know what to make of the early-season struggles they had. Is it MPSF hegemony, or is it more about Jay Petty recovering from an injury? They did beat BYU at BYU, lest we forget. I’m hoping we see them in the Final Four to get a more conclusive answer to those questions. Wednesday/Saturday for the Flyers this week, against Loyola and St. Francis.
6. Ohio State. The Buckeyes traveled to Tempe, Arizona to take on Grand Canyon in a double-shot this week, and they had a much easier time of it than I expected. Night one was reasonably competitive, though a three-set sweep, as I covered here. Night two was decidedly not competitive, with the Buckeyes winning (25-21, 25-14, 25-15). So it’s pretty clear I over-stated Grand Canyon a bit. One match this coming week for the Buckeyes, and it’s a big’un, as they play host to Big Ten brothers Penn State.
7. CSU Northridge. Not a difficult schedule this past week for the Matadors, as they faced only MPSF cellar-dweller UC San Diego, dispatching them in three straight sets. It gives them three straight wins and four of their last five, and I still have really nothing to say about this team, even after watching them play. This coming week, it’s at UCSB and home against UCLA for the Matadors, Wednesday/Friday matchups.
8. Stanford. Brutal week for the Cardinal, as they lost six straight sets in road sweeps at UCSB and at UCLA. In seeming correspondence with Stanford’s academic schedule, they don’t play another meaningful match for 19 days. They’re idle this week, next week, and don’t play a counter again until the end of the week after that (they do have an alumni match in the midst of this span). Got to be especially disappointing to lose so conclusively in advance of such a long layoff. The Cardinal’s star setter James Shaw didn’t play against UCSB but he returned for the UCLA match. Captain Obvious time, I suppose, but we’ll have to see how this very long layoff treats the Cardinal, and how they come out in nearly three weeks’ time against two really solid teams in Northridge and Long Beach. They’re probably not the #8 best team in the nation — they probably are more like #4 on talent — but at some point you have to go with “ball don’t lie.” If the playoffs started today, Stanford would be just the 7 seed in the MPSF tournament. They are 3-7 in true road matches this year.
9. UCLA. As mentioned, the Bruins scored a big home sweep against the Cardinal this week. They also swept aside Pacific (who have now lost 9 straight matches claiming just 3 sets in that span….I freaking dare the actual poll to rank them). Tough week ahead for the Bruins, as they head out on the road to face Northridge and Long Beach.
10. Penn State. However bad Stanford’s week was, Penn State’s was probably even worse. They weren’t swept both nights, and they were both on the road, but the Nittany Lions lost to two teams you’d figure they get off the bus and beat pretty convincingly. They lost to IPFW in five sets and to Ball State in four. Now, given that these were non-conference matches, they hurt PSU less than Harvard’s losses to George Mason and Princeton hurt the Crimson, but make no mistake, they still hurt. Those two teams are pretty staunchly middle of the road in the MIVA. The aforementioned “Big Ten” match with Ohio State, on Saturday, is Penn State’s only match of the upcoming week.
11. Loyola. The Ramblers were idle this week, and this is were I had them last week. I still like them better than the lower-reaches of the MPSF, even if I shouldn’t. Loyola have a tough test in their first match back from their bye week, traveling to Lewis on Wednesday, in advance of a Friday home match with St. Francis.
12. Harvard. No real test for the Crimson this past week as they faced two Massachusetts-based Division III teams and easily beat both (though whoever Emmanuel College are did take a set off them). This coming week’s schedule is intriguing for the Crimson. They start with a Wednesday home match against St. Francis that should be an easy win (and it’ll be headlines if it’s not), before heading to the West coast for an MPSF road trip. First opponent in that road trip, this Friday, is…
13. UC Santa Barbara. This team’s nothing if not resilient. They’ve had separate losing streaks of six and four matches this season but have now all of a sudden won four of their last five, this past week sweeping aside both Stanford (as mentioned) and Pacific at home. These results put them 9-12 overall and 7-10 in conference. That’d be good enough for a playoff berth if the postseason began today. But of course it does not. In addition to the Harvard match on Friday, the Gauchos also have Northridge at home on Wednesday.
14. Cal Baptist. Eyeball test, in watching most of that two-night series (all of night two), this is an awfully solid team. I feel a little silly including them this week when I didn’t last week, after their two results this past week were both losses, but hey, I’m still learning. This’ll probably be roughly where they’ll fall in the actual poll, maybe a scoche higher, given that they were #12 last week. Can’t imagine the voters will punish them too much for the BYU matches (they may even reward them like I did). This coming week it’s a double-shot with the Hawaii Warriors, and then a quick turnaround for a match on Monday the 18th against Harvard in continuance of the Crimson’s West coast swing. That’s 3 matches in 4 days for the Lancers.
15. Hawaii. I guess they’ll probably end up climbing from their #11 position in the actual poll last week, but I think it’s fair that they only now sneak back into the rankings. They played a double-shot with the USC Trojans this week, winning both to keep their small postseason hopes alive. I wrote up the first — somewhat — and the second only just went final, with the Warriors taking it again in five. Next week, as mentioned, it’s back to the mainland and Cal Baptist.
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