Second-ranked Cal State Northridge swept No. 13 Hawai'i, 30-21, 30-25, 30-28, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match tonight in Northridge, Calif.

The Matadors are 19-4 overall and 15-3 in the MPSF. The Warriors dropped to 10-13 and 7-11.

Eric Vance had 15 kills and No. 2 Cal State Northridge swept No. 13 Hawaii 30-21, 30-25, 30-28 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball match.

The Matadors hit .404 in improving to 15-3, 19-4 MPSF. CSUN extended its school-record winning streak to 13 and is 9-0 at home this season.

Regardless of the practices and film sessions, coach Joel Walton said he knows the No. 7 Ball State University men's volleyball team will not be fully prepared for No. 1 Penn State University's offense at the start of Saturday's match.

Unlike most teams the Cardinals played this season, the Nittany Lions run a quick-tempo offense with the sets to the outside attackers having a smaller arch and the ball arriving quicker to speed up the game's pace, Walton said.

The University of Hawaii will offer 2-for-1 ticket discounts for both men's volleyball matches against Brigham Young April 3-4.

On April 3, the offer (maximum of six tickets) will be for UH Alumni Association members.

A valid Alumni Association membership card is required when purchasing tickets.

Life is not easy on the bubble, as the University of Hawai'i volleyball team learned after suffering another setback in its quest for a postseason berth.

Yesterday's 30-21, 30-25, 30-28 loss to second-ranked Cal State Northridge dropped the Warriors into ninth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Only the top eight teams qualify for the MPSF's postseason.

New Southwestern Illinois College volleyball coach Meredith Heater is hosting an open gym on Friday for all high school junior and senior girls interested in playing volleyball for the Blue Storm.

The open gym will take place in the varsity gymnasium from 6 to 8 p.m.

They started their high school volleyball careers together. Thanks to a successful season, Turner’s Kayla Daniels and Pauline Yang will have at least two more seasons.

Last week Yang and Daniels signed letters of intent to play college volleyball at Coffeyville Community College. They’ve known each other since the eighth grade. Getting an opportunity to further their volleyball careers together is exciting.

Southern Nazarene University head women’s basketball coach, Lori Carter, and Head Volleyball Coach, Kevin Ingram, has announced the signing of Claremore High School senior, Audra Skimbo. Skimbo, a 5’10 forward and middle blocker, will join the SNU basketball and volleyball programs in the fall of 2008.

Kelly Farrell was torn on what to do.

The former Crystal Lake Central setter wasn’t sure whether she wanted to play college volleyball. Some people told Farrell earlier in her career that, at 5-foot-6, she was too short. Augustana and Beloit, two NCAA Division III schools, were the main colleges Farrell was considering.

University of Wyoming head volleyball coach Carrie Yerty announced today the hiring of Jill (Jones) Stucky as an assistant with the Cowgirl volleyball program.

Twelve teams will play in three groups, nine rounds in nine countries and territories to select the top five teams, who will enter the final round with the host team, Japan, in Yokohama.

Vietnam will host a group in the second round. Four teams, Brazil, Turkey, Germany and Kazakhstan, will compete in six matches at the Vinh Phuc sports house in the northern province of Vinh Phuc from June 26-28.

Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) scored five of her match-high 20 points in the deciding fifth set in leading the U.S. Women’s National Training Team to a 23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 21-25, 15-13 victory over the China Army Club Team on Wednesday at Changshu.

Team USA, now 2-2 on its eight-match exhibition tour of China, won both matches against the China Army Club Team that finished second in the Chinese volleyball league. The Americans continue their tour on March 28 versus Hangzhou Club at Hangzhou at 7:30 p.m. China Time.

U.S. Men’s Head Volleyball Coach Hugh McCutcheon recently spent five days in Beijing as part of a U.S. Olympic Committee delegation to check out the venues and find out what life will be like at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

“I think the facilities are almost all completed. It all seems very impressive,” said McCutcheon, who last visited the city in 2005. “We looked at venues and the athlete village. It also gave us a chance to meet with the USOC and finalize logistics with them.”

This was supposed to be an easy week for the Cal State Northridge men's volleyball team.

After taking a week off for spring break, the Matadors had planned to return to a Matadome filled with good vibrations from briefly holding the No. 1 national ranking - the first in program history - and an 11-match winning streak.

Longtime-nemesis Hawaii was coming to town for a two-match set Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a contest Friday with Hope International.

Then Cody Loe got hurt and everything changed.

The University of Hawai'i volleyball team went to great lengths only to suffer a narrow loss to host Cal State Northridge last night in the Matadome.

The scores were 30-28, 41-43, 26-30, 30-22, 15-13.

Winnable turned into unobtainable for the Hawaii men's volleyball team last night.

The 13th-ranked Warriors lost a five-gamer on the road for the third time this season, losing a golden opportunity to improve their chances for a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoff berth. Instead, Hawaii became the latest addition to Cal State Northridge's 12-match winning streak.

Coach Joel Walton said if his players needed any more motivation for their road match Saturday against Penn State University, they got it Monday.

In the coaches poll released Monday, Penn State received the No. 1 ranking, setting up the No. 7 Ball State University men's volleyball team's first match against a No. 1 ranked team since the 2002 Final Four.

As University of Dayton football coach Mike Kelly chatted with Albany counterpart Bob Ford before the Gridiron Classic at Welcome Stadium last fall, their conversation turned to volleyball.

"I was raving about our volleyball coach, and he was raving about his," Kelly said.

Kandis Schram, a three-sport star for the Scots in her playing years will take over the athletic department at Maryville College.

Schram is a Maryville College alum and currently works as an associate athletic director and head volleyball coach.

Schram takes over for Randy Lambert, who has led the athletic department for 22 years. While he's retiring from that post, he will stay on as men's basketball coach.

Twelve home matches, including seven in a row, highlight the 2008 Chadron State volleyball schedule that was released on Tuesday by head coach Amy Spruiell.

CSC will begin the 2008 campaign at the Colorado School of Mines Tournament Aug. 29-30 before hosting Wayne State on Sept. 1. The Eagles will then play at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Tournament on Sept. 5-6. CSC will begin conference play at Regis on Sept. 12.

Rita Buck-Crockett will sacrifice her hair for the team.

The coach for the North Florida Volleyball Academy 17-Elite Titus Team agreed to have her hair dyed pink if the team reached the finals of the Big South Qualifier in Atlanta.

For a self-proclaimed princess who takes her hair seriously, that was asking a lot.

The Indonesian men's beach volleyball team will miss the Olympics Games in August after failing to play in the final qualification tournament in Australia due to visa problems.

"It's stupid. It's not the first time the Indonesian Volleyball Association has failed to arrange the visas," squad member Andy Ardiansyah was quoted in Wednesday's The Jakarta Post newspaper as saying.

With the team's absence from the Olympics, head coach Slamet Mulyanto said he would prepare the squad for less competitive tournaments in India, Thailand and Indonesia, starting April.     

New Zealand teams have had mixed success in qualifying for the opening event of the world beach volleyball tour in Adelaide.

Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead started their final quest for qualification to the Beijing Olympics with an easy first round win in the country quota playoffs and qualification tournament at Glenelg Beach.

Vietnamese volleyball player Ngo Van Kieu, named one of Asia’s ten best by the Asian Volleyball Federation, will likely play for Indonesia’s premier club after he was authorized to transfer by local authorities. 

Tran Duc Phan, deputy head of the elite sports section under the General Sports Department, recently said his agency would facilitate conditions so that the 24-year-old player could play abroad.

The U.S. beach volleyball team of Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings has advanced from the country quota matches and the first two rounds of qualifying on Tuesday at the Adelaide Australia Open, the first event on the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) dispatched Jeff Murrell (San Diego, Calif.) and Ivan Mercer (Antelope, Calif.) in the first country quota match (21-15, 21-10) and then defeated Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Sean Scott (Kailua, Hawai’i) in the second (14-21, 23-21, 15-13).

"Where are you going to play college volleyball?"

That's been the primary conversation starter for anyone wanting to chat up Delta volleyball standout Darcy Dorton over the last year or two.

"If I had a penny for every time someone asked, I would be a rich person," Dorton said Monday.

When the McArthur triplets step on the volleyball court they become one.

Kayla, Kirsten and Kaitlynn look alike. Think alike. And they play together.

According to Jit weekly online, the Canet-Sinal duo defeated Puerto Ricans Ingrid Morales and Natalia Alfaro in straight sets 21-14 and 21-16 in the women's finals, adding to their six previous victories in preliminary and semifinal matches.

Canet improved on her last year's bronze medal with Kirenia Ballar. Meanwhile, Yoendry Kindelan and Leonel Munder finished fifth in the men's division, a poor performance for Kindelan who took the gold medal in 2007.

The Malta under 19 girls national team beat Ireland in straight sets on Tuesday. The National team is taking part in the European Junior Girls European Championships that are being held between the 25th and 29th March in Liechtenstein.

Martha Curmi and Shana Bugeja played well for Malta with Maria Costa being crucial providing her team mates with excellent attacking opportunities. Claudette Mifsud was employed in the libero position proving herself to be vital in defense. Final score was 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-20).

The 2008 USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships, scheduled for May 24-31 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, will remain at the original venue despite wind-related damage that occurred on March 14.

The Georgia World Congress Center Hall B being used for the USAV Open Championships was nearly unaffected by the storm and will be completely ready to host the event. However, the same could not be said for this past weekend’s Big South Qualifier, one of nine national qualifying events into the USA Junior Olympic Girls’ Volleyball Championships set for June 26-July 5 at Dallas. The Big South, originally set entirely under the Georgia World Congress Center roof in downtown Atlanta, was forced to play at nine different locations around the city due to the devastating storm damaging parts of the Hall it was scheduled to be contested in.

The U.S. beach volleyball team of Ed Ratledge and David Fischer won the Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament sponsored by Presidente Light on Sunday in the Dominican Republic.

The tournament was the first stop on the 2008 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit.

The road to qualification for the 2008 Olympic beach volleyball tournament continues Down Under on Tuesday at the Adelaide Australia Open, the first event on the 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour.

A prize purse of $350,000 is on the line at the event on Glenelg Beach at Moseley Square. The tournament is the first of 16 double-gender events on the FIVB schedule this season, including the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

The U.S. Women's National Training, using a balanced offense, came back to defeat the Chinese Army team 21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 Monday before a full house at Olympic Park in YiYang, China. Team USA improves to 1-2 on its exhibition eight-match, three-week tour of China.

The U.S. will play a Chinese Army Club in ChangShu, 7:30 p.m. China time (5:30 a.m. Mountain Time) on March 26. Team USA dropped 3-0 and 3-2 matches to Tianjin, a professional club team in China, to open the tour. Tianjin is the China League champions the past two seasons. Team USA is on a three-week training tour of China to evaluate a younger group of players in preparation for Olympic Games roster selections. The U.S. qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, by finishing with a bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.

After winning a bronze medal four years ago in Athens, these women have their sights set on the gold in Beijing this summer. Training hard is a necessity, along with leaving a few "parts" along the sidelines.

Briana McCarthy has been named Georgia's assistant volleyball coach, head coach Joel McCartney announced Monday.

McCarthy joins the Bulldogs from Ohio State, where she was a four-year letter winner for the Buckeyes from 2003-07. She joins Chad Hanson, who is also an assistant coach.

The Florida Atlantic University volleyball team recently hosted the University of Nebraska as part of its spring tournament.

The Owls hosted Nebraska, Wichita State University and the University of Miami at the tournament. FAU lost to the Cornhuskers (19-25, 27-29, 23-25, 12-15) in their first match of the tournament, but head coach Jody Brown was encouraged by what he saw from his team.

In a match between two highly nationally ranked men's volleyball teams in the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, No. 2 New York University defeated No. 4 ranked Vassar, 3-1.

The loss snaps Vassar's 13-game winning streak dating back to a 3-1 loss to UC Santa Cruz on February 9 at the Nazareth Tournament. The Brewers (20-6) will conclude the regular season at home this Saturday, against Newbury College at Kenyon Hall. The match will serve as the final regular season home game for seniors Kyle Giunta, Tom Pawlowski and Kofi James.

The top-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team (21-1, 10-1) heads to Juniata (8-9, 4-4) for an EIVA Tait division matchup on Tuesday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Huntingdon, Pa. A link to live stats will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.

The 13th-ranked University of Hawai`i men's volleyball team (10-11, 7-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) looks to break through the MPSF standings against the No. 2 Cal State Northridge Matadors (13-3, 17-4 MPSF) Tuesday, March 25 and Wednesday, March 26. First serve for both matches is 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. HST) at the Matadome.

The Warriors are coming off a two-match split against the USC Trojans. UH lost a hard fought match last Friday in four-sets but came from behind and won the following Saturday 3-2. UH trailed 2-1 but rallied back to stay alive in the MPSF playoff hunt.

Dean Bittner, a 6-0 outside hitter for then-No. 4 Long Beach State, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week. He earned the award after leading the 49ers to two wins over then-No. 3 BYU last week, helping Long Beach claim first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Zacarias Ripoll, a 5-9 setter for Hunter College, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III Men’s National Player of the Week. He earned the award for his solid play in helping the Hawks to two wins last week, including an upset of then-No.11 Philadelphia Biblical.

John Brown University women’s volleyball returned to Siloam Springs on Sunday after spending their spring break vacation on a mission trip to Honduras.

After raising over $25,000 to cover the expenses of the trip, the group of 11 players and four chaperones visited the cities of El Triunfo and Tegucigalpa, which is the capital of Honduras, for ten days. While there, the team assisted with construction projects and visited local families and churches.

Nine Ports including defending champion Cochin Port Trust will be seen in action in the 31st All India Major Ports Volleyball tournament scheduled to be held here from March 28 to 31.

Cochin Port Trust will take on Tuticorin Port in the first match after the inauguration.

UAE's Al Nasr defeated Al Qadsia of Kuwait 3-0 in their first match in the 27th GCC clubs volleyball tournament in Bahrain on Sunday night.

Al Nasr showed fine form winning 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22.

Al Nasr will face Sohar of Oman and then meet Al Rayan of Qatar in their third match in the tournament today.

Six territories in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States sub-region will contest this year’s women’s volleyball championships to be staged by the St. Lucia Volleyball Association starting this week.

The competing teams have been placed in two preliminary groups. Hosts St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent & the Grenadines will contest Group A while Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and French St. Maarten will play in group B.

Far Eastern University and College of St. Benilde set out as the heavy favorites in the 2008 Nestea Beach Volleyball Luzon elimination which unwraps Tuesday at the Island Cove Hotel and Leisure Park in Cavite.

FEU, the 1999 Nestea national champion, topped both the men’s and women’s divisions in the UAAP beach volleyball.

With his team returning 10 players from last year's sectional final squad, St. Francis boys volleyball coach Mike Lynch felt his team could be ready for a fast start to the 2008 season.

Sure enough, the Spartans turned in a crisp 25-14, 25-8 home victory Monday night over Streamwood in just their second game of the year.

Good genes don't make the son of a nuclear physicist a good nuclear physicist.

They didn't make Ted Williams' son John Henry a career .344 hitter.

We'd all like to make a difference in the world. Faith West senior Kristin Elliott is. Kristin is all-state in volleyball, but sports is just a small part of her life.

Elliott has lived a lifetime in her 18 years, a standout on the volleyball court and a cancer survivor.

To leave or not to leave.

That is the question being asked — and in some cases answered — right now by hundreds of parents and student-athletes in Clayton County. And hundreds more will have to face the issue as Clayton school system leaders try desperately to hold on to their accreditation.

For a second time in seven years, the NCAA volleyball rules are changing, and not all the changes are being well received.

In 2001, the scoring for collegiate volleyball changed from side out scoring to rally scoring.

This year, they're shortening the games from 30 points to 25 points among other things.

Walking around the Worthen Arena court following Friday's match against IPFW, coach Joel Walton looked up towards the ceiling and gave a deep sigh.

After spending almost 90 minutes watching the No. 7 Ball State University men's volleyball team comeback from a two-game deficit to win, Walton said he couldn't help but feel relieved to walk away without a loss.

The five-game win extend the Cardinals' winning streak to 10 matches and maintained their first place status in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

After running through six straight division opponents, the NYU men's volleyball team saved its best effort for a rival of the national variety: then-No. 1-ranked Juniata College.

NYU swept the Eagles 30-20, 30-18, 30-14 last Tuesday night for its first win over Juniata since 2002. During that span, which included a 3-0 loss on Feb. 1 of this year, NYU was able to steal only four total games in 11 matches.

There's no such thing as an off-season for Freeport Area volleyball coach Tom Phillips.

Phillips has been the middle school and high school coach for six years. During that time, the junior high team has been section champs and the high school varsity team has seen a playoff berth each year.

The high school competes in the fall and the middle school in the spring. In between, Phillips holds open gym workouts in the winter and camps and tournaments in the summer at his home where he has three sand volleyball courts.

Veteran coach Chris Curry knew it wouldn't take long for him to find out what kind of boys volleyball team he had this season at Vernon Hills High.

That's because the Cougars front-loaded their schedule this season so the team could sort itself out before everyone headed out for spring break.

With just one senior on board, the Chambersburg boys volleyball team is young, inexperienced and green.

For coach Kirk Crouse and the Trojans, that may just be the best thing for them.

Coming off the first losing season in the 11-year history of the program, Chambersburg lost four starters and six lettermen from last year's team, which failed to make the Mid Penn playoffs for the first time.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Beach Volleyball pair, Nancy Joseph and Elki Phillip finished a creditable fourth, TT’s best ever showing at the opening leg of the NORCECA Circuit women’s Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament yesterday. The duo finished fourth in the tournament losing in the semis to Cuba’s Ion Canet and Irian Sinal in straight sets 10-21, 16-2 to end their hopes of a gold or silver medal performance.

Sunday morning we stumbled out of our rooms for our last breakfast in Tianjin to find a pink and yellow bundle by our doors—hooray! The Easter bunny found us after all!

Some of us would have stumbled on those jelly beans even earlier, because we had planned to attend a church service that morning, but the plan was thwarted due to “security issues.” Good thing we don’t have to be in a certain building to acknowledge Christ’s sacrifice and celebrate His reign!

So before I explain what’s next for Team USA, allow me to give you a recap on our final days in Tianjin.

Damage from the March 14 twister could affect the Georgia World Congress Center far beyond the need to fix gaping holes in the roof, replace broken exterior windows and rearrange furnishings that were tossed around like packing peanuts.

It may dash the convention facility's hopes of breaking even financially this year.

DEFENDING champions Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia took a crucial 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-11 victory over Qatar's Al Rayyan in their opening match of the 27th GCC Clubs Volleyball Championship yesterday at the Juffair Youth Centre.

The match lived up to expectations as both teams are favourites for the title along with hosts Al Nasser of Bahrain in this week-long round robin tournament.

Only six teams remain in the hunt for the two finals berth in the men's division, while Seikid knocked out Ta Chagi in the women's side of the 2008 Indoor Volleyball Winter League held last week at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Fanians, Islanders, No Fear, Ol'Aces, and CH-Hammers join top seed Menudo in the final six teams in the men's division. Beach Jammerz and Home Boyz were eliminated after suffering consecutive losses in the playoff round.

To kick off the World Circuit of beach volleyball in Australia, the two Brazilian women's teams -- Leila and Sandra Pires, and Maria Clara and Carolina -- served up some excitement.

Due to the tournament's regulations, each association sends at most four teams to the competition. Since Brazil has five teams registered, the two teams mentioned above are in a dispute to see which team will qualify for the fourth and final spot.

THE Cebu Volleyball Association (Ceva) made its first baby steps in its bid to snag an event in the 2014 Asian Beach games after staging a beach volleyball tournament in Malpascua.

Ceva is hoping to snag a hosting job in the 2014 Asian Beach games and is already starting to showcase some of Cebu’s impressive beaches.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it also fathered an improbable victory last night.

The Hawaii men's volleyball team revived its playoff hopes with an uncharacteristic rally, using a makeshift lineup to outlast No. 12 USC at the Galen Center. The 14th-ranked Warriors, getting a career-high 15 kills from freshman Brennon Dyer, stunned the Trojans 30-28, 16-30, 17-30, 32-30, 17-15, to move back into a tie for seventh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings.

Spectating isn't easy for Jessica McAlvany's family this weekend in Atlanta.

McAlvany, 18, and her three sisters all are playing in the Big South Qualifier club volleyball tournament. Normally, their parents would bounce between matches in the Georgia World Congress Center.

Spokane has become a volleyball mecca for thousands of female players from across the nation, at least for the next two weekends.

389 teams from all across the United States converged on Spokane to play in the Pacific Northwest Volleyball Qualifier.

Winning yet another prestigious tournament and cementing their status as one of the top teams in the Northwest, the Sandpoint Volleyball Club U16 girls bested 78 other teams at the Pacific Northwest Jamboree in Yakima last weekend.

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team ended a three-game road losing streak, outlasting Southern California, 30-28, 16-30, 17-30, 32-30, 17-15, tonight in Los Angeles.

The Warriors improved to 10-11 overall and 7-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Men of Troy are 10-13 and 7-10.

The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team (9-12, 6-10 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) overcame a horrendous games two and three in a 30-28, 16-30, 17-30, 32-30, 17-15 victory over 12th-ranked USC, Saturday at the Galen Center. The Warriors leapfrogged the Trojans in the MPSF standings and moved into eighth place.

Freshman Brennon Dyer, who started for James Clar on the outside, led the Warriors with a career-high 15 kills. Joshua Walker added 14 kills, six blocks, and four digs. Steven Grgas posted five kills and eight blocks while Keali'i Frank had seven kills on eight swings.

No. 11 George Mason used a balanced attack featuring three players with double-digit kill totals to dispatch of the Juniata College Eagles in three games (30-27, 30-24, 30-19) on Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse. With the win, the Patriots won their fifth consecutive match to improve to 14-6 overall and 7-3 in EIVA Tait Division matches.

Juniata College fell to 8-9 overall and 4-4 in EIVA Tait Division matches with the loss. With today's win, the Patriots swept the season series with the Eagles. The Eagles gave Mason a much stiffer test in their earlier meeting before falling in five games.

The men's volleyball team earned their 21st win of the season by defeating Cooper Union in three on Thursday night in the ARC Arena.

Boris Svirsky (Baltimore, Md./Hillcrest) was the star this evening with a 11 kills, while Levi Rachmanov (Fresh Meadows, N.Y./Francis Lewis), Sergey Dudchenko (Lviv, Ukraine/Lafayette), Jan Wojdat (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) and Radu Wyrwas (Bialystok, Poland/Grover Cleveland) each had six kills. Wrywas also contributed 25 assists.

The Loyola University Chicago men's volleyball team held MIVA foe IPFW to a meager .088 hitting percentage as the Ramblers swept the defending NCAA runner-up Mastodons Saturday night at Alumni Gym. The Ramblers won 33-31, 30-27, 30-25 and improve to 13-10 (6-4 MIVA) on the year, while the Mastodons slip to 9-10 (3-6 MIVA) on the season.

The seventh-ranked Ball State men’s volleyball team captured its 11th-straight victory Saturday evening by sweeping visiting Quincy 3-0 (30-18, 30-15, 30-26) at Worthen Arena.

With the win, the Cardinals move into sole possession of first place in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association with a 16-6 (9-1 MIVA) record, half a game ahead of No. 10 Ohio State (12-6, 8-1 MIVA). Quincy drops to 16-19 (0-8 MIVA) with the loss.

The Pacific men's volleyball team ran its winning streak to three matches with a 30-24, 30-25, 30-19 sweep of NJIT on Saturday, Mar. 22, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

The UAE volleyball association has signed a contract with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), confirming the Dubai Open beach volleyball event in October as part of the 2008 World Tour. The agreement was signed in Lausanne by FIVB president Dr Ruben Acosta and Mohammad Jalfar, UAE volleyball board chairman.

Many prospective college athletes are able to enjoy the recruitment process.

They visit different colleges, see different cities, feel appreciated by those who yearn for their services during the next four years.

There are stressful times, too, though. Especially when volleyball players are in the March of their senior year and still have not signed.

Had fate taken her in another direction, Helen Dulle wouldn’t have been one of the most successful high school volleyball coaches in state history.

Actually, if she would have had her way, she wouldn’t have been a coach at all.

Sara Hayward planned to go to college at Mary Hardin-Baylor, but originally volleyball wasn't in the plan.

"She didn't know if she wanted to play in college," said Laura Hayward, Sara's mother. "She applied to the school, and it all kind of came to her."

Tom Angerame didn't appreciate how last season ended for Buffalo Grove in volleyball.

The Bison setter, then a junior, and his teammates had advanced to the Hersey sectional championship game against Mundelein, a team that had suffered only one loss all season -- to Buffalo Grove.

The U.S. Women's National Training Team won the first two sets against Chinese professional club Tianjin on Saturday afternoon, but the rematch from the day before turned into a heartbreaking five-set loss 23-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-9 at WuChing, China. Yesterday, Tianjin won in three sets where neither team held more than a three-point edge until the final score of each set (25-22,25-21, 25-21).

The U.S. will play a Chinese Army Club in YiYang at 3 p.m. China time (1 a.m. Mountain Time) on March 24. Team USA is on a three-week training tour of China to evaluate a younger group of players in preparation for Olympic Games roster selections. The U.S. qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, by finishing with a bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.