April 15, 2005

UCLA NEAR UNANIMOUS POLL LEADER:
UCLA (24-3) earned 15 of 16 first-place votes to maintain the lead in the USA Today/CSTV Top 15 Division I-II Men's Coaches Poll released on April 12. The Bruins hold a 15-point lead over second-ranked Pepperdine (19-2), which earned the remaining first-place vote. Penn State (26-3) and Long Beach State (18-9) continue to reside at third and fourth, respectively. Hawai'i (17-8) and Brigham Young (18-9) inched up a spot each to fifth and sixth, while UC Santa Barbara (14-12) dropped two slots to seventh. Cal State Northridge (16-12) and Stanford (11-12) moved up to eighth and ninth this week, and Loyola-Chicago (24-2) dropped two holes to 10th after its 21-match win streak was snapped to 11th-ranked Ohio State (19-7). UC Irvine (8-19) and Pacific (12-16) switched places this week with UCI moving up to 12th and UOP falling to 13th. George Mason (17-8) moved up to 14th this week, while Lewis (14-14) dipped out of the poll for the first time this season. Ball State (15-13), which was ranked the first two weeks of the season, moved back into the poll at number 15.

USA TODAY/CSTV DIVISION I-II TOP 15 HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHES THIS WEEK (April 11-17):

April 13: #2 Pepperdine at #7 UC Santa Barbara April 14: #1 UCLA at #4 Long Beach State April 15: #2 Pepperdine at #9 Cal State Northridge April 15: #13 Pacific at #5 Hawai'i April 15: #6 Brigham Young at #9 Stanford April 15: #10 Loyola-Chicago at #15 Ball State April 16: #3 Penn State at #14 George Mason April 16: #4 Long Beach State at #12 UC Irvine April 16: #13 Pacific at #5 Hawai'i April 16: #6 Brigham Young at #9 Stanford

NCAA DIVISION I-II NATIONAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points/G: 1. Evan Patak (UCSB) 6.52; 2. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 6.29; 3. Nick Meyer (Ball St.) 6.17; 4. Jason Octave (Queens) 5.95 Kills/G: 1. Evan Patak (UCSB) 5.69; 2. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 5.27; 3. Jason Octave (Queens) 5.20; 4. Matt Zbyszewski (IPFW) 4.97 Hit %: 1. Andy Hein (Pepperdine) .517; 2. James Lischer (Cal St. Northridge) .516; 3. Nate Meerstein (Penn St.) .515; 4. Theo Brunner (UCSB) .501 Blocks/G: 1. Keith Kowal (Penn St.) 1.71; 2. James Grunst (Loyola) 1.53; 3. Layne Dreven (Ohio St.) 1.494; 4. Chris Gaskill (Lees-McRae) 1.492 Aces/G: 1. Eduardo Welter (NJIT) 0.90; 2. Leonardo Paludo (Lees-McRae) 0.57; 3. Evan Patak (UCSB) 0.53; 4. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 0.51 Digs/G: 1. Zach Nanni (St. Francis) 3.24; 2. Caleb Moser (Southampton) 2.673; 3. Krystian Krzyzak (Loyola) 2.670; 4. Alfred Reft (Hawai'i) 2.66 Assists/G: 1. Tyler Hildebrand (LBSU) 14.09; 2. Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine) 13.47; 3. Brian Guntli (Loyola) 13.18; 4. Rob Neilson (BYU) 13.12 Team Hit %: 1. Pepperdine .364; 2. Loyola .363; 3. Penn State .358; 4. Lees-McRae .353; 5. Long Beach State .342; 6. UCLA .331; 7. UCSB .323

SPORTS IMPORTS/AVCA DIVISION I-II NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Mark Greaves, a 6-4 outside hitter for 11th-ranked The Ohio State University (19-7, 12-2 MIVA), has been chosen the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week. Greaves paced the Buckeyes to wins over 14th-ranked Lewis and eighth-ranked Loyola-Chicago last week. He posted averages of 7.29 points, 7.29 kills and 2.71 digs per game while hitting .519 on 77 attacks. Greaves had back-to-back nights of career-high kills. He started with 24 kills on a .556 attack percentage versus Lewis on April 8. He added five digs and 31 errorless service receptions in the three-game victory. Greaves turned in 11 of his 24 kills in the second game. He sparked the Buckeyes to a four-game win over Loyola-Chicago on April 9 as Ohio State snapped the Ramblers' 21-match win streak. Greaves produced a new career-high 27 kills in the match on a .488 attack percentage. He added a season-high 14 digs, three assists and 26 errorless service receptions in the victory. Greaves hits .339 for the season with per game averages of 4.86 points, 4.37 kills and 1.44 digs per game. An Ohio State student-athlete has earned the national honor eight times during the program's history. The Ohio State head coach is Pete Hanson.

WIN STREAKS:
Lees-McRae moved to the top of the longest active winning streak list this as the Bobcats swept Mount Olive on April 9. LMC has won 15 straight matches and ends the season at Quincy on April 15 and versus Lewis at Quincy, Ill., on April 16. Penn State increased its win streak to eight matches by defeating Princeton on April 9. The Nittany Lions look to extend the streak on April 16 against George Mason. UCLA won its fifth and sixth straight matches last week with wins over Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins travel to Long Beach State on April 14 and UC San Diego on April 15 to conclude their MPSF regular season schedule. Ball State won twice last week with victories over IPFW and Mercyhurst to extend its win streak to four matches. The Cardinals hosts Loyola-Chicago on April 15 and Rutgers-Newark on April 16. Ohio State snapped Loyola-Chicago's run of 21 consecutive victories with a four-game win on April 9 at Columbus, Ohio. The Ramblers' 21-match win streak is the longest of any NCAA Division I-II program this season. Harvard lost its 13-match win streak on April 8 as Rutgers-Newark defeated the Crimson in four games. Lees-McRae (+15): Upcoming 4/15 at Quincy; 4/16 vs. Lewis (at Quincy) Penn State (+8): Upcoming 4/16 at George Mason UCLA (+6): Upcoming 4/14 at Long Beach State; 4/15 at UC San Diego Ball State (+4): Upcoming 4/15 vs. Loyola-Chicago; 4/16 vs. Rutgers-Newark

CSTV MATCH OF THE WEEK:
Brigham Young (18-9, 13-7 MPSF) travels to Stanford (11-12, 10-10 MPSF) for this week's CSTV Match of the Week. The Cougars and Cardinal meet up on April 15 and April 16, with the second match being televised on CSTV at 7 p.m. PT. BYU owns a 16-8 advantage in the 24-match all-time series, and the Cougars have won the last six in a row and 10 of the last 11 meetings. BYU is currently tied for third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings, and two victories would guarantee the Cougars a third seed in the MPSF Tournament. BYU holds the tie-breaker over third-place Hawai'i should the teams tie at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Stanford could counter with two victories and possibly move up to a tie for sixth should Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara lose twice this weekend. BYU is led by senior middle blocker Michael Burke, who hits at a .461 clip with averages of 2.54 kills and 1.34 blocks per game. Victor Batista, a junior who has played both middle blocker and outside hitter for the Cougars this season, averages 3.54 kills, 0.34 aces, 0.93 digs and 0.88 blocks per game. Freshman outside hitter Ivan Perez provides another offensive weapon for the Cougars as he averages 3.64 kills, 1.49 digs and 0.74 blocks per game. Junior setter Rob Neilson, in his first season in the starting rotation, leads the Cougars to a .317 team attack percentage with season averages of 13.12 assists, 1.27 digs, 0.86 blocks and 0.82 kills per game. Senior right side/opposite hitter Casey Patterson chips in 2.41 kills and 1.17 digs per game for the Cougars, while junior outside hitter Taylor Evans charts 2.41 kills per game. Stanford, which has recently moved back into the Maples Pavilion after playing in Burnham Pavilion through Feb. 26 home matches, is led by fifth-year setter Kevin Hansen. He is 109 assists shy of reaching 5,000-career assists and averages 12.87 assists for his career. During 2005, Hansen averages 12.79 assists, 0.55 blocks, 1.92 digs and 0.91 kills per game while leading the Cardinal to a .268 team attack percentage in 2005. Junior outside hitter Ben Reddy paces the Cardinal offensively with 3.79 kills, 0.31 aces and 1.55 digs per game. Stanford senior outside hitter David Vogel adds 3.12 kills and 2.01 digs per game, while senior middle blocker Craig Buell tallies a .393 attack percentage on 3.04 kills and 1.09 blocks per game. Chris Ahlfeldt, a junior middle blocker for the Cardinal, tacks on a .395 attack percentage on 2.53 kills and 0.84 blocks per game. Stanford has won eight of its last 12 matches after starting the year 5-9.

DIG THIS, DIG THAT:
Rutgers-Newark senior outside hitter Matt Brosseau cleaned up the court in an April 8 match with Harvard at Newark, N.J. He tallied 22 of the Scarlet Raiders' 60 digs in the match along with seven kills and two blocks in helping Rutgers-Newark to a 32-30, 30-26, 29-31, 30-25 victory. The win snapped Harvard's 13-match win streak. Brosseau's 22 digs ranks as the second-best performance in NCAA Division I-II this season. The 20-dig mark has been reached only eight times by NCAA Division I-II players in 2005. Brosseau's total is the highest dig mark in a four-game match this season, and just one shy of the NCAA Division I-II single-match high of 23 posted by IPFW's Mike Morici in five games against Quincy on Feb. 5.

HIGH-OCTANE OFFENSE:
UC Irvine, Ohio State and NJIT were running on all cylinders in at least one match last week. UC Irvine hit .496 as a team to defeat UC Santa Barbara on April 7. Anteater setter Brian Thornton set the offense in motion with 62 assists as UCI won 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 30-20. Ohio State dominated Lewis on April 8 with a .485 team attack percentage as the Buckeyes won 30-23, 34-32, 30-26. OSU setter Daniel Mathews tallied 50 assists, seven digs, four blocks and three kills in quarterbacking the offense. NJIT defeated Sacred Heart 30-17, 30-19, 30-22. Highlander setter Mike Nonnenman ignited NJIT to a .486 team attack percentage with 35 assists and nine different players tallied at least one kill in the victory.

.416 MARKS THE SPOT:
Long Beach State hosted Hawai'i in a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches on April 7 and April 8. Not only did the winning team alternate on both nights, but each team attacked at an identical percentage on the winning night. Long Beach State setter Tyler Hildebrand led the 49ers to a .416 team attack percentage versus Hawai'i on April 7 at Long Beach, Calif. The 49ers won the first meeting of the two-match series 30-23, 30-19, 30-28. However, Hawai'i turned the tables on LBSU the next night as the Warriors won 31-29, 30-22, 30-28 on the strength of a .416 team attack percentage. Brian Beckwith provided 43 assists in the Hawai'i victory. If Long Beach State and Hawai'i should meet up in the MPSF Tournament later this month, it may take another .416 team attack percentage to win the match.

SLUGGING IT OUT, ONE POINT AT A TIME:
Mercyhurst had visiting Loyola-Chicago on the ropes for much of its April 8 match, but could not come away with a victory. The Lakers battled the Ramblers to a 41-39 victory in the opening game and the thoughts of an upset brewed in Erie, Pa. Mercyhurst led game one 25-21 before Loyola-Chicago rallied to tie it at 26-all. At that point, neither team scored successive points on the next 27 serves. The Lakers, on their 12th game point in a row, finally put the game away with back-to-back kills from Nate Keegan and Austin Siewert. Mercyhurst also led game two 27-26 before falling 30-28 and evening the match at one game apiece. The Lakers held a 21-18 margin in game three and putting pressure on the Ramblers' 20-match win streak. Once again, Loyola-Chicago roared back to a take game three 30-25. The Ramblers finished off the match with a 30-24 victory in game four.

FIVE OF A KIND:
Penn State sophomore outside hitter Aaron Smith set the tone early in the Nittany Lions' 30-23, 30-22, 30-20 victory over visiting Princeton on April 9. Smith connected for a kill to break a 6-6 tie in the first game. He rotated to the service line on the next rally and promptly made some noise from the back row. Smith served four consecutive aces leading to a Princeton timeout with the Tigers down 10-6. Immediately following the timeout, Smith served his fifth straight ace giving the Nittany Lions an 11-6 advantage. His scoring run ended on the next point, an errant serve. Smith finished the night with six aces on 12 serves. Teammate Nate Meerstein chalked up a .714 attack percentage in the match with 10 kills on 14 errorless swings. Further, senior middle blocker Keith Kowal became the school's all-time block leader and ended the match one block shy of 500 in his career.

UNEXPECTED SOURCE OF OFFENSE:
UCLA dual-sport athlete Matt McKinney has shared court time with men's basketball and volleyball this season. In the process, he overcame a mysterious ailment that appeared last spring affecting his play. McKinney was prescribed new medication this January, and he kicked the illness. He responded with a season-high four points versus Southern California on the basketball court on Jan. 29. Although he did not see much action rest of they way, McKinney fully recovered and rejoined the men's volleyball team on March 28. With just four days of volleyball practice this season under his belt, UCLA Head Coach Al Scates needed a spark off the bench in a match with Stanford. McKinney accepted the challenge and finished the night with a .462 attack percentage on 15 kills, seven blocks and seven digs. He is averaging 3.64 kills, 1.00 blocks and 1.73 digs per game in three matches since rejoining the team.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP:
The NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship will be hosted by UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on May 5 and May 7. Semifinal matches on May 5 are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. PT. The championship match is slated for 8 p.m. PT on May 7. Information for the championship can be found on the web at three locations. The official NCAA championship web site is http://www.ncaasports.com/volleyball/mens. UCLA's championship site is located at http://uclabruins.collegesports.com/sports/m-volley/spec-rel/ucla-m-volley-champs-05.html. The AVCA championship web site address is http://www.avca.org/collegiate/05MensTournaments.asp.

QUICK SETS:
Long Beach State's Yassir Sliti contributed five aces in a three-game victory over Hawai'i on April 7 ** Ball State's Evan Berg successfully passed 50 service receptions without an error on April 9 versus IPFW ** Quincy snapped an eight-match losing streak with a three-game victory over Clarke on April 9 ** Ohio State's Mark Greaves tallied a career-high 27 kills, hit .488 and totaled 14 digs in leading the Buckeyes to a four-game victory over Loyola-Chicago on April 9 ** NJIT freshman Eduardo Welter connected for 14 kills on 20 errorless swings as part of a .700 attack percentage versus Sacred Heart on April 9 ** Findlay defeated Lewis for the second time this season with a five-game victory on April 9. The Oilers are 2-4 against teams currently ranked in the USA Today/CSTV Top 15 Division I-II Men's Coaches Poll as of the April 12 release.

GLANCE WITHIN THE EIVA:
Only one match is on tap in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (www.eiva.cc) Tait Division, and it pits division-leading Penn State (11-0) against second-place George Mason on April 16. Penn State already has staked its claim to the division crown and number-one seed in the EIVA Tournament. GMU could drop into a tie with Juniata (8-4) for second in the standings with a loss. However, the Patriots hold the tiebreaker having a 5-4 advantage in games won head-to-head. Rutgers-Newark (7-5), the fourth seed in the EIVA Tournament, plays outside the league this week at IPFW on April 15 and Ball State on April 16. Princeton (3-9), the fifth seed in the EIVA Tournament, also goes outside the league this week with an April 15 contest at home versus Mercyhurst. NYU (2-10) and Springfield (2-10) are idle this week and share sixth place in the EIVA Tait race. However, NYU won both head-to-head matches to claim the sixth seed in the EIVA Tournament and sending Springfield down into the lower divisions for 2006. With not much to be settled in the Tait Division this week, all eyes will be focused on key matches within the Sweeney and Hay Division this weekend. St. Francis (8-2) will be in the middle of the fracas to settle the last remaining playoff berth. The Red Flash lost two division matches last week, pushing them back into second place in the Hay Division behind Queens (N.Y.). St. Francis hosts Harvard (9-1), the Sweeney Division champion, on April 15 and Queens on April 16. The crossover matches between the two divisions count toward the league record. Queens holds the tiebreaker of head-to-head over Harvard as the Knights handed the Crimson their only league loss of the season to date. If St. Francis defeats both Harvard and Queens, all three schools would finish with two league losses. In such a scenario, St. Francis advances to the EIVA Tournament as the seventh seed if it defeats Queens in either three games (based on a head-to-head game results with Queens) or four games (based on total games won since both teams would be 4-4 in the games head-to-head). Queens advances to the EIVA Tournament as the seventh seed should St. Francis loses to either Queens or Harvard. Queens also advances as the seventh seed should St. Francis defeats Harvard and beats Queens in five games (based on head-to-head games won). Hence, Harvard is guaranteed the eighth seed in the tournament and only Queens or St. Francis can move up to the Tait Division next year. Meanwhile, NJIT (6-5) closes out its season at Stevens Tech on April 13 and at home on April 16 versus Mercyhurst. East Stroudsburg (7-4) hosts New Haven (3-7) on April 15. Sacred Heart (0-10) ends its season hosting Southampton (1-10) on April 16 in a battle of last-place division teams.

EIVA DIVISION I-II STAT LEADERS:
Points/G: 1. Jason Octave (Queens) 5.95; 2. Eduardo Welter (NJIT) 5.67; 3. Jonathan Rios (New Haven) 5.43; 4. Seamus McKiernan (Harvard) 5.42 Kills/G: 1. Jason Octave (Queens) 5.20; 2. Jonathan Rios (New Haven) 4.59; 3. Seamus McKiernan (Harvard) 4.53; 4. Shaun Powell (George Mason ) 4.51 Hit %: 1. Nate Meerstein (Penn St.) .515; 2. Keith Kowal (Penn St.) .480; 3. Matt Steinfurth (George Mason) .453; 4. Marc Honore (St. Francis) .452 Blocks/G: 1. Keith Kowal (Penn St.) 1.71; 2. Nate Meerstein (Penn St.) 1.39; 3. Matt Steinfurth (George Mason) 1.38; 4. R.J. Goubeaux (George Mason) 1.32 Aces/G: 1. Eduardo Welter (NJIT) 0.90; 2. Germanas Jocius (Queens) 0.48; 3. Abe Marouf (Harvard) 0.47; 4. Shaun Powell (George Mason) 0.46 Digs/G: 1. Zach Nanni (St. Francis) 3.24; 2. Caleb Moser (Southampton) 2.67; 3. Angel Capellan (Queens) 2.63; 4. Mark Stevens (Princeton) 2.34 Assists/G: 1. John Calderon (Queens0 13.09; 2. Dan O'Dell (Penn St.) 12.48; 3. Dave Egan (George Mason) 12.44; 4. Adam Holdredge (E. Stroudsburg) 12.07

EIVA POW:
Harvard junior middle blocker Seamus McKeirnan has been named the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Division I-II Player of the Week. He scored 33 points in a four-game loss to Rutgers-Newark in his only action of the week. McKeirnan tallied 29 kills, an ace and three blocks while hitting .333 for the match ** Juniata senior setter Ricky Ziegler was tabbed the EIVA Division III Player of the Week. To read about his accomplishments, please read the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week section in this publication.

GLANCE WITHIN THE MIVA:
The Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (http://miva.osu.edu) regular season race tightened up last week as Ohio State (12-2) ended Loyola-Chicago's (14-1) 21-match win streak. In the process, OSU pulled to within one match of the Ramblers in the loss column. Should third-place Ball State (10-5) defeat visiting Loyola-Chicago on April 15 and the Buckeyes defeat Findlay on April 15 and IPFW on April 16, OSU and the Ramblers would finish the regular season with identical 14-2 MIVA records. Despite a possible season-ending tie at first, Loyola-Chicago holds the tie-breakers to host the MIVA Tournament semifinals and finals as the number-one seed should the Ramblers defeat Clarke (0-16) in the quarterfinals. The Buckeyes are guaranteed the second seed for the MIVA Tournament. BSU has one less league loss than fourth-place IPFW (8-6) and Lewis (8-6). However, Lewis is ineligible for the MIVA Tournament. The Flyers will end their season hosting IPFW on April 13 and playing Quincy and non-conference Lees-McRae at Quincy on April 16. IPFW can tie Ball State with wins over Lewis and Ohio State, coupled with a Ball State loss to Loyola-Chicago. Nevertheless, Ball State and IPFW have guaranteed themselves a home match in the MIVA Tournament Quarterfinals. Findlay (6-9), already guaranteed the fifth seed in the MIVA Tournament, caps off one of its most successful league seasons in school history with an April 15 match at Ohio State. Mercyhurst (5-11) travels outside the league this week to play at Princeton on April 15 and at NJIT on April 16. Quincy (4-11) can tie Mercyhurst in the league standings with a win over Lewis on April 16.

MIVA DIVISION I-II STAT LEADERS:
Points/G: 1. Matt Zbyszewski (IPFW) 5.92; 2. C.J. Macias (Findlay) 5.49; 3. Mark Greaves (Ohio St.) 4.86; 4. Dave Schmidl (Mercyhurst) 4.81 Kills/G: 1. Matt Zbyszewski (IPFW) 4.97; 2. C.J. Macias (Findlay) 4.87; 3. Mark Greaves (Ohio St.) 4.37; 4. Dave Schmidl (Mercyhurst) 4.19 Hit %: 1. James Grunst (Loyola) .494; 2. Layne Dreven (Ohio St.) .492; 3. Corey Kloos (Loyola) .466; 4. Austin Siewert (Mercyhurst) .418 Blocks/G: 1. James Grunst (Loyola) 1.53; 2. Layne Dreven (Ohio St.) 1.49; 3. Serdar Sikca (IPFW) 1.34; 4. David Franklin (Findlay) 1.21 Aces/G: 1. Matt Zbyszewski (IPFW) 0.44; 2. Jim Dziczkowski (Findlay) 0.42; 3. Scott Greene (Loyola) 0.41; 4. Austin Siewert (Mercyhurst) 0.37 Digs/G: 1. Krystian Krzyzak (Loyola) 2.67; 2. Evan Berg (Ball St.) 2.44; 3. Jon Moreno (Quincy) 2.38; 4. Ian Peckler (Ball St.) 2.34 Assists/G: 1. Brian Guntli (Loyola) 13.18; 2. Daniel Mathews (Ohio St.) 13.10; 3. Dave Carlson (Ball St.) 12.35; 4. Dan Kick (Mercyhurst) 12.11

MIVA POW:
Ohio State junior outside hitter Mark Greaves was named Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Player of the Week. For his accomplishments, please read the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II National Player of the Week section.

GLANCE WITHIN THE MPSF:
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (www.mpsports.org) Tournament field is set with the eight participants with one weekend left in the regular season. However, the tournament seeds are far from settled as the regular season champion has not been determined, nor two of the four spots to host a quarterfinal home match in the tournament. Pepperdine (18-2) holds its own destiny and can clinch the regular season title with victories over fifth-place-tie UC Santa Barbara (12-8) and eight-place Cal State Northridge (9-11). UCLA (17-3) can win the conference top seed by defeating fifth-place-tie Long Beach State (12-8) and 12th-place UC San Diego (1-19), coupled with at least one Pepperdine loss this week. At that point, UCLA and Pepperdine would finish 19-3, but the Bruins are 5-3 in head-to-head games. The MPSF Tournament top seed earns a quarterfinal round bye and hosts the MPSF Tournament semifinals and championship. But the race for number one in the MPSF is not the only one being closely watched this weekend. A total of four teams are separated by one match competing for the third seed. Brigham Young (13-7) and Hawai'i (13-7) currently share third place in the standings, while Long Beach State (12-8) and UC Santa Barbara (12-8) are tied for fifth. BYU plays two matches at seventh-place Stanford (10-10) and would secure the third seed with two victories based on tiebreakers. Hawai'i hosts ninth-place Pacific (6-14) this week. Long Beach State hosts UCLA on April 14 in a key match for both teams, while the 49ers also travel to UC Irvine on April 16. UC Santa Barbara hosts Pepperdine on April 13 in playoff seeding match to watch, along with Southern California (3-17) on April 16. Stanford can move into a tie for fifth in the regular season standings should the Cardinal win both matches against BYU, coupled with LBSU and UCSB losing twice. Cal State Northridge, currently eighth in the standings, can move up to the seventh seed by defeating Southern California and Pepperdine this weekend, couple with Stanford losses to BYU. Pacific, UC Irvine, Southern California and UC San Diego have all been eliminated from the MPSF Tournament.

MPSF STAT LEADERS:
Points/G: 1. Evan Patak (UCSB) 6.52; 2. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 6.29; 3. Pedro Azenha (Hawai'i) 5.51; 4. Robert Tarr (Long Beach St.) 5.43 Kills/G: 1. Evan Patak (UCSB) 5.69; 2. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 5.27; 3. Robert Tarr (Long Beach St.) 4.88; 4. Brian Zodrow (Pacific) 4.69 Hit %: 1. Andy Hein (Pepperdine) .517; 2. James Lischer (Cal St. Northridge) .516; 3. Theo Brunner (UCSB) .501; 4. Paul Johnson (UCLA) .485 Blocks/G: 1. Tom Hulse (Pepperdine) 1.46; 2. Andy Hein (Pepperdine) 1.37; 3. Maulia La Barre (Hawai'i) 1.36; 4. Michael Burke (BYU) 1.34 Aces/G: 1. Evan Patak (UCSB) 0.53; 2. Sean Rooney (Pepperdine) 0.51; 3. Nils Dauburs (Pacific) .487; 4. Shaun Powell (George Mason) .463 Digs/G: 1. Alfred Reft (Hawai'i) 2.66; 2. Dickens Tai (Hawai'i) 2.64; 3. James Ka (Pepperdine) 2.49; 4. Tony Ker (UCLA) 2.372 Assists/G: 1. Tyler Hildebrand (LBSU) 14.09; 2. Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine) 13.47; 3. Rob Neilson (BYU) 13.12; 4. Brian Beckwith (Hawai'i) 13.05

MPSF POW:
UCLA middle blocker Paul Johnson was named the Molten Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week. He helped the Bruins to victories over UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge last week. Johnson averaged 4.43 kills, 1.14 blocks and 0.86 aces per game while hitting .520 with 31 kills in two matches.

PLAYER MILESTONES:
Penn State senior middle blocker Keith Kowal turned in five blocks against Princeton on April 9 to become the school's all-time block leader. He is one block shy of registering 500 in his career ** Long Beach State's Duncan Budinger recorded his 700th kill on April 7 in a match against Hawai'i

COACHING MILESTONES:
no coaching milestones reported

TEAM MILESTONES:
Pepperdine finished its regular season with a 12-0 home record following a five-game victory over California Baptist on April 8. The unblemished home record is only the second in Waves history as Pepperdine went 6-0 in 1976 ** Brigham Young tallied 10 aces in its two matches versus UC San Diego last week to set a school record for aces in a season. The Cougars now have 153 aces going into the final regular season weekend

WEEKLY 30-KILL PERFORMANCES:
for all season 30-Kills - http://www.avca.org/collegiate/Men'sclub/05MenDI30Kill.asp 30 Jason Octave (Queens, N.Y.) vs. St. Francis, April 8 (four games)

WEEKLY 15-DIG PERFORMANCES:
for all season 15-Digs - http://www.avca.org/collegiate/Men'sclub/05MenDI15Dig.asp 22 Matt Brosseau (Rutgers-Newark) vs. Harvard, April 8 (four games) 18 Ian Peckler (Ball State) vs. IPFW, April 9 (four games) 17 Sebastian Pedraza (Cal State Northridge) vs. UCLA, April 6 (four games) 16 Matt Zbyszewski (IPFW) vs. Ball State, April 9 (three games) 15 Angel Capellan (Queens, N.Y.) vs. St. Francis, April 8 (four games) 15 Seamus McKiernan (Harvard) vs. Rutgers-Newark, April 8 (four games)

WEEKLY TRIPLE-DOUBLE PERFORMANCES: for all season triple-doubles - http://www.avca.org/collegiate/Men'sclub/05MenDI3DClub.asp None reported

WEEKLY ONE-GRAND FAN CLUBS:
for all season Grand Fan Club - http://www.avca.org/collegiate/Men'sclub/05MenDIGrandFanClub.asp 2,382 Brigham Young hosted UC San Diego, April 9 2,044 Brigham Young hosted UC San Diego, April 8 1,441 UCLA hosted UC Santa Barbara, April 9 1,089 Long Beach State hosted Hawai'i, April 8 1,057 IPFW hosted Ball State, April 9 1,008 Long Beach State hosted Hawai'i, April 7

WEEKLY TELEVISION BROADCAST SCHEDULE:
http://www.avca.org/collegiate/05MenTV.asp Be sure to submit your television broadcast schedule to the AVCA men@avca.org April 15 - Pacific at Hawai'i, 7 p.m. HT (Live, KFVE-TV) April 16 - Brigham Young at Stanford, 7 p.m. PT (Live, CSTV) April 16 - Pacific at Hawai'i, 7 p.m. HT (Live, KFVE-TV)

WEEKLY WEBCAST SCHEDULE:
http://www.avca.org/collegiate/05MenTV.asp Be sure to submit your webcast schedule to the AVCA men@avca.org April 14 - UCLA at Long Beach State, 7 p.m. PT (Live, audio stream, http://www.uclabruins.com)

QUOTEBOARD
"This has been an up and down season with quality wins against quality opponents. Hopefully, these two wins over Lewis will help our guys understand that they can beat anybody in the MIVA. It would be great to make a run in the conference tournament." Findlay Head Coach Wick Colchagoff said after the Oilers defeated Lewis for the second time this season on April 9. Findlay is 2-4 against teams currently ranked in the national poll, in addition to a 4-4 record against team who have been ranked at some point during the season

"(California Baptist) really has some fire power on its team. They are a very well-coached team and have beaten some really good teams in our league, so tonight's win was a good one." Pepperdine Head Coach Marv Dunphy said following the Waves' come-from-behind victory over California Baptist in a five-game match on April 8.

"There's no doubt that we're playing our best volleyball of the season. Each match is a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, so we have to be in playoff mode right now." - Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe said after the 49ers defeated Hawai'I in three games on April 7. One night later the Warriors defeated LBSU in three games.

"What can you say about Mike Burke. He is one of the main reasons we have been so successful the three years I've been here. He is one of the most dominant players in the country." BYU Head Coach Tom Peterson said of his senior middle blocker after he had played his final regular season home match of his career.

"This is the end of the season, and this is why we play. It comes down to these two matches and the playoffs. This is where everyone's character shows, and we'll know if we have the character to be on track to win a championship. It boils down to our character as much as anything else." BYU Head Coach Tom Peterson said as the Cougars prepare for two regular-season ending matches at Stanford.