Warriors slip to No. 2 in AVCA poll

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·2 min read

Mar. 21—Coming off a series split to cap a five-week homestand, the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team's run atop the NVA /AVCA Men's National Collegiate Coaches Poll also ended on Monday.

Coming off a series split to cap a five-week homestand, the University of Hawaii men's volleyball team's run atop the NVA /AVCA Men's National Collegiate Coaches Poll also ended on Monday.

The Rainbow Warriors (18-2 ) had topped the first 11 polls of the season and slipped to No. 2 after trading sweeps with No. 4 Long Beach State last Friday and Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Penn State (18-2 ) received 17 of 22 first-place votes to rise to No. 1 in the AVCA poll for the first time since 2009. The Nittany Lions handed UH its first loss of the season with a four-set victory on March 10 in the Outrigger Volleyball Invitational.

UH received two first-place votes in this week's poll and the remaining three went to No. 3 UCLA (21-2 ). Long Beach State (12-3 ) remained at No. 4 followed by Grand Canyon (20-1 ).

The Warriors opened their Big West schedule by being swept by LBSU in Friday's series opener. They rebounded by sweeping the Beach 25-16, 25-23, 25-23 on Saturday to cap an 11-match homestand and will play their next four matches in Southern California.

UH faces No. 14 Cal State Northridge (12-7 ) on Friday and Saturday at Premier America Credit Union Arena and have two matches at UC Santa Barbara next week.

The Matadors dropped two spots in the poll after having an eight-match winning streak snapped with a Big West loss to UC San Diego last Thursday and a five-set defeat to Daemen University on Saturday.