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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Mar. 29, 2024) – Long Beach State remains on top in this week’s college roundup, earning 23 votes in the latest AVCA poll. Meanwhile, Hawaii sinks down from No. 2 to No. 5. There are no changes in the DIII rankings as we conclude another week and move one step closer to the postseason. The college roundup showcases some of the key matches of the week while also highlighting athletes who are part of the USA Volleyball National Team Development Program.
(rankings source: AVCA.org)
It’s another week at No.1 for LBSU. The Beach is 18-1 on the season with the team’s most recent victory coming on Mar. 16 at home vs. No. 5 Hawaii 3-2.
Match leaders vs. Hawaii (Sat.):
Next up: Long Beach has been off for a week, but returns to action Friday night when they will host UC San Diego at home. They will travel to La Jolla for the second match of the back-to-back on Saturday.
USA Volleyball National Team Development Program/LBSU Players
Mason Briggs, who had 7 digs and three assists vs. Hawaii (Sat.), was on the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup Final Six team that won gold. He was also part of the 2022 U.S. Men’s National Team and was on the roster for the FIVB World Championship, where the team finished sixth. Mason is No. 6 in the nation in digs per set (2.46).
Clarke Godbold, who had three kills and one block vs. Hawaii (Sat.), was a member of the 2023 Collegiate National Team. He was also twice named to the U.S. Men’s U21 National Training Team and competed at the FIVB U19 World Championship in 2019.
Sebastian Rodriguez was a member of the 2023 Beach U23 National Team and the 2023 Beach Collegiate National Team.
Ben Braun was a member of the 2023 Beach Collegiate National Team.
Dane Hillis was a member of the 2023 U21 National Team that took silver at the Pan Am Cup and the 2022 U21 National Team that won gold at the Pan Am Cup.
Sebastiano Sani was on the 2023 U19 National Team that placed fourth at the 2023 U19 World Championships and took gold at the NORCECA U19 Pan Am Cup.
Chris Connelly was on the U21 National Team in 2023 and 2022 and the U19 National Team in 2021 and 2020.
Island Doty was a member of the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that competed at the FIVB World Championships.
Aiden Knipe had 52 assists, 11 digs, and four blocks. Aiden was a member of the 2019 Boys Youth National Training Team, as well as the 2018 Boys Youth National Team that earned silver at the NORCECA Continental Championship. He is No. 8 in the country in Assists per set (10.08)
Despite also being off this past week, UCLA moves up in the rankings to No. 2. The Bruins have a 16-4 record and six matches left in the regular season. They most recently defeated Ohio State 3-0 on Mar. 10 in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.
Match leaders vs. OSU:
Next up: UCLA is back on the court Friday night when they face No. 6 Stanford at home for the first of two matches this weekend.
USA Volleyball National Team Development Program/UCLA players:
Andrew Rowan had 21 assists, one kill, one dig and two blocks vs. Ohio State. He was a member of the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup Final Six team that won gold and the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup team that placed fifth. He was also on the 2022 U21 National Team that won gold at the Pan American Cup. Andrew is No. 5 in the country in assists per set (10.23).
Ethan Champlin had ten kills, two aces and four digs vs. Ohio State. Ethan was on the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup Final Six team that won gold and the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup team that placed fifth. Ethan was also a member of the 2022 Men’s National Team that took home bronze at the Pan American Cup Final Six.
Micah Wong Diallo was a member of the Men’s U21 National Team that took home silver at the 2023 U21 Pan American Cup.
Alex Knight was a member of the 2021 Men’s U21 National training team and the 2020 Men’s Junior National Training Team.
Merrick McHenry had one kill, two aces, three blocks and two digs vs. OSU. Merrick was a member of the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup team that placed fifth. He was also on the 2022 NORCECA Pan Am Cup and Pan Am Cup Final Six teams that both earned bronze medals.
Zach Rama was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that took home silver at the 2023 U21 Pan American Cup.
From off the list just a few weeks ago to now No. 3 in the rankings, UCI has been steadily improving to end the season. The Anteaters are 15-6 and won home and away matches with UCSB both by 3-0 scores last week.
Match leaders vs. UCSB (Fri.):
Next up: UCI continues Big West matches to end the season with two matches vs. CSUN Mar. 29-30.
USA Volleyball National Team Development Team Program/UCI players
Cole Power, who had eight digs, one kill and one assist vs. UCSB (Fri.), was a member of the 2023 Collegiate National Team. He was also a member of the 2022 Men’s National Team that took bronze at the Pan Am Cup.
Akhil Tangutur had two kills, four assists, nine digs, and two blocks vs. UCSB (Fri.). Akhil was on the 2022 Men’s Beach Collegiate National Team as well as the 2019 Boys Youth National Training Team and the 2018 Boys Youth National Team that took silver at the NORCECA Continental Championship.
GCU is 20-2 overall with the two losses coming against No. 3 Irvine and No. 5 Hawaii. The Lopes remained perfect in MPSF play this past week with two wins by 3-0 scores on Mar. 21-22.
Match leaders vs. CUI (Fri.):
Next up: GCU will have a week off before that perfect MPSF record is tested next weekend with two road matches vs. No. 2 UCLA.
USA Volleyball National Team Development Team Program/Grand Canyon players
Camden Gianni, who had 15 kills, one ace, two blocks, and three digs vs. CUI (Thurs.) was on the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup Final Six team that won gold and the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup team that placed fifth. He is No. 3 in the country in aces per set (.643)
Jackson Hickman, who had 14 kills, seven digs, one assist, and one blocks vs. CUI (Fri.) was on the 2023 Men’s Beach Collegiate National Team and the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team. He is No. 10 in the country in hitting percentage (.366).
Rico Wardlow, who had five kills, four blocks and one dig vs. CUI (Fri.) was on the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team.
Nicholas Slight had 14 assists, one block and two digs vs. CUI (Fri.). Nicholas was on the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team. He is No. 3 in the country in assists per set (10.61).
Hawaii has lost four of its last five matches and falls to No. 5 in the latest poll. The Rainbow Warriors’ home win streak of 14 matches ended on Mar. 23 when they lost 3-1 to CSUN. The two teams split the two matches over the weekend in Honolulu.
Match leaders vs. CSUN (Sat.):
Next up: Hawaii continues Big West play with a two-match series at home vs. UCSB beginning on Friday.
USA Volleyball National Team Development Program/Hawaii Players
Tread Rosenthal had 41 assists, five digs, four blocks, two kills and one ace vs. CSUN (Sat.). Tread was a member of the 2023 U19 National Team that placed fourth at the U19 World Championships and won gold at the NORCECA U19 Pan Am Cup. He was named MVP and Best Setter at the 2023 Pan Am Cup. It was his second year in a row claiming the Best Setter title after he competed with the U19 team in 2022 that also took home gold at the Pan Am Cup. He is No. 10 in the country in assists per set (10.00)
Chaz Galloway had four kills, three aces, one block and four digs vs. CSUN (Sat.). Chaz was a member of the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team.
Kai Rodriguez was on the 2023 Beach U19 National Team and won gold at the 2023 Caribbean Beach Championship with Jackson Herbert.
The unbeaten streak is over for Wentworth, but its reign atop the DIII rankings remains intact for now. Wentworth is now 24-1 after losing in three sets to Lasell in the second meeting of the season between the two schools. The 24 straight victories were the most consecutive wins in program history over any span.
Match leaders vs. Regis:
Next up: Wentworth will play again on Saturday in a road match against Emerson.
Southern Virginia is now the highest ranked unbeaten team at No. 2 and 22-0 on the season. The team’s most recent victory came at home vs. Elizabethtown last Saturday.
Match leaders vs. Elizabethtown:
Next up: The Knights have three road CVC conference matchups on the slate beginning this Friday and Saturday with a trip to New Jersey to face Kean and Rutgers-Newark.
No. 3 Stevens has the most wins in the DIII rankings at this point in time. Stevens has had a week off since defeating Eastern 3-0 in the team’s most recent match last Saturday.
Match leaders vs. Eastern:
Next up: Stevens will host an invitational this weekend where they welcome Hood and Vassar to Hoboken. There is then only one more match in the regular season for the Ducks, which will be on the road vs. King’s College (Pa.) on Wednesday.
The Duhawks are the latest roundup team to hit 20 wins and are still undefeated after another 3-0 win over North Park last Saturday.
Match leaders vs. North Park:
Next up: Loras has matches with Carthage this weekend and Augustana on the road on Wednesday before returning home for the final match of the season against North Central next weekend.
Cal Lutheran remains at No. 5 this week even with the team’s recent gap between matches. CLU went 5-1 during the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, giving the team a 20-5 record entering the home stretch of games. The team’s only loss was 3-1 to No. 1 Wentworth and they finished off the tournament with a 3-0 win over Marymount back on Mar. 9.
Match leaders vs. Marymount:
Next up: Cal Lutheran has been off since beating Marymount. They have two more matches left, and will next play at UC Santa Cruz on Apr. 6.
NTDP PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
Kupono was on the 2023 Men’s Beach Collegiate National Team
3/23 @ Pepperdine (W 3-2) 12 kills, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 13 digs
Nyherowo was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that took silver at the Pan Am Cup and the 2022 Men’s U21 National Team that won gold at the Pan Am Cup.
3/23 @ NJIT (W 3-1) 9 kills, 1 ace, 5 blocks, 3 digs
Henry was a member of the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team.
3/23/23 @ NJIT (W 3-1) 35 assists, 7 digs, 2 aces, 2 blocks
Ryan was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that took silver at the Pan Am Cup.
3/17 vs. Saint Francis (W 3-2) 10 digs, 3 assists
Owen was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that took silver at the Pan Am Cup.
3/17 vs. Saint Francis (W 3-2) 5 kills, 4 blocks, 1 dig, 1 assist
Toby was a member of the 2022 Men’s National Team that earned bronze in the Pan American Cup. He is No. 1 in the country in hitting percentage (.491).
3/17 vs. Saint Francis (W 3-2) 7 kills, 1 assist, 3 aces, 3 blocks, 2 digs
Caleb was a member of the 2022 and 2023 U19 Beach National Team. He was also on the 2022 Boys U19 Pan Am Cup team that won gold.
3/14 @ Pepperdine (L 1-3) 44 assists, 13 digs, 1 block
Kyle was a member of the 2023 U23 Beach National Team. He competed at the NORCECA U23 Tour where he placed fourth with Sebastian Rodriguez (LBSU). Kyle was also a member of the 2023 Men’s Beach Collegiate National Team. Kyle is No. 7 in the nation in blocks per set (1.103).
3/14 @ Pepperdine (L 1-3) 6 kills, 4 blocks, 2 digs
Dillon was a member of the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team.
3/14 @ Pepperdine (L 1-3) 19 kills, 2 blocks, 3 digs, 1 ace
Shane was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that took silver at the Pan Am Cup. He was also on the 2022 U21 National Team that won gold.
3/21 @ Ball State (W 3-0) 13 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs, 4 blocks
Ben was a member of the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team.
3/21 @ Ball State (W 3-0) 8 kills, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 5 digs
Kyle was on the 2023 Men’s U21 National Team that earned silver at the 2023 Pan Am Cup and the 2022 Pan Am Cup team that took home gold
3/21 @ Ball State (W 3-0) 11 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace, 3 blocks
Parker was on the 2023 Men’s Collegiate National Team and he was a member of the 2023 NORCECA Pan Am Cup team that finished fifth. He was also on the 2022 Pan Am Cup Final Six team that earned bronze. Parker is No. 7 in the nation in kills per set (3.95).
3/23 @ McKendree (L 0-3) 4 kills, 1 block, 4 digs
Nicodemus was a member of the 2023 U21 National Team
3/23 @ McKendree (L 0-3) 3 kills, 7 blocks, 1 dig
Long Beach State is back on top in this week’s college roundup. The Beach retakes the top place after unseating No. 1 Hawaii with a 3-2 win last Saturday at Walter Pyramid. Long Beach Received 23 first place votes in the latest AVCA poll.
Major changes hit the men's volleyball college roundup as we finish off the second full week of March. Down goes former No. 1 GCU, who had its undefeated streak snapped with two ranked losses in the Outrigger Invitational. This result moves the Rainbow Warriors up to the No. 1 slot in this week’s rankings.
No change to the roundup this week as the top-5 stays the same across both divisions. Grand Canyon is on top for another week in DI/II, earning 21 AVCA votes to remain No. 1. In DIII, Wentworth earned 20 votes to stay ahead of Stevens and Southern Virginia.
Once again, this week’s college roundup sees no movement in the top five for both the DI/II division and the DIII division as Hawaii and Stevens remain on top of their respective rankings.
Setter, 6-7
Outside Hitter, 6-3
Middle Blocker, 6-9
Middle Blocker, 6-7
Outside Hitter, 6-9
Libero, 6-0
Outside Hitter, 6-3
Outside Hitter, 6-8
Libero, 5-10
6-4
Setter (indoor), 6-8
Outside Hitter, 6-4
Opposite, 6-7
Outside Hitter, 6-5
Outside Hitter, 6-6
Opposite, 6-8
Middle Blocker, 6-8
Libero, 6-0
Middle Blocker, 6-10
Setter, 6-5
6-8
Middle Blocker, 6-10
