NCAA Men"s Volleyball Mid-Season Report

As the men's collegiate season enters the mid-point, let's take a look at the top teams and how each has performed so far. There hasn't been a ton of movement among the top five, though it seems the same top teams seem to trade places from week to week.

At the top of the list is defending champions UC Irvine. With new head coach David Kniffin taking over for John Speraw, the Anteaters seem to be catching their stride as the season progresses.


In an interview this month, Kniffin said his team was still seeking to find its identity after losing some key players last year. But he seemed to think they were getting close and if their 11 match win streak is any indication, they are just about there.

UCI did have a few hiccups early in the season. With a ton of matches scheduled in January, they didn't have much time to work out the kinks in practice. They dropped an unexpected match to the surprising Cal Baptist squad in mid-January and they also lost to Hawaii. One team they never lost to was their former coach and his UCLA Bruins. Though they went five sets with them both times, they never lost.

One rough week in January saw UCI drop three matches in a row against Cal Baptist, USC and BYU. But they righted the ship and haven't lost since. This weekend they will take on the No. 2 team in the nation and the only other team that has been No. 1 this season, the BYU Cougars. UCI definitely has more weeks at the top than BYU. The Anteaters were No.

1 seven out of the first nine weeks. BYU has been No. 1 four times this season and both have been ranked only as low as No. 3.

BYU is coming on strong behind the play of junior Taylor Sander. The Cougars come into the match with UCI after beating Stanford in Provo in what was a very exciting five set match. The Cougars pulled it out with a 15-13 win in the fifth to end the match. They played that match without middle blocker Russ Lavaja who injured his ankle against Pacific. No word on whether Lavaja will be ready for the UCI match on Friday.

Though UCI is ranked No. 1 in the nation, BYU held a slight lead in the MPSF, with a slightly higher winning percentage than the Anteaters. Whoever wins this Friday will most likely have the lead next week. BYU also had some unexpected losses early. They dropped five set matches to Lewis, Long Beach State and Pepperdine in the first half of the season. But they have handled every other top team so far.

Long Beach State currently sits in the No. 3 spot and has been steadily climbing the rankings after putting together a very solid early season. The 49ers lost twice to No. 1 UCI but it was the loss to UC Santa Barbara early in the season that had some wondering if they were consistent enough to play with the top teams. Since then, they've settled down and the only other loss they suffered was to No. 5 Pepperdine.

Back up in the No. 4 spot is the Stanford Cardinal. With a young team and some new faces in the starting line up, the Cardinal is definitely a force, but has suffered some let down games like the 0-3 loss to Long Beach on the road just a couple of weeks ago. But Stanford showed it could hang with the big boys in that five set match against BYU. If they can just remain consistent and show that they can win the important points when it counts they could be a contender come playoff time.

Rounding out the top five at the mid-point is Pepperdine. Though the Waves have been all over the place this season, they have won some very big matches. Including their big win over No. 1 UCI, Pepperdine also bested Stanford, Long Beach State and BYU. Their let down matches included losses to Northridge and UCLA. The Bruins swept Pepperdine in three just last week.

The Waves also lost to Hawaii twice, but the Warriors have proven to have what it takes to topple top teams. They are one of the surprises of this season though they are still ranked outside of the top 10. Other surprises include the success of Cal Baptist who managed to beat several top teams this season including UCI, but they also took UCI to five sets just this week. Harvard entered the rankings after beating Penn State so we'll have to keep an eye on them to see if they are the real deal.

So far as usual, the season has been unpredictable at times but the creme is rising to the top as we enter mid-season. Expect these top five teams to remain in place for the latter halfof the season, though they will likely play musical chairs with the actual places. There is much more volleyball to play and it looks like part two will be an exciting one.