Volleyball Headlines for March 5, 2010

It's the battle of the formers on Wednesday. Former No. 1 CSUN meets former No. 3 USC. Now ranked five and six respectively, the game has lost a bit of its luster, but should still be a good battle as they both teams attempt to turn things around.

Then on Friday, former No. 1 CSUN will take on current No. 1 Pepperdine which could show us which team is currently the real deal.

Here are the other matches to keep an eye on this week:

Wednesday, February 24th
CSUN @ USC
UCI @ Long Beach State

Friday, February 26th
CSUN @ Pepperdine
Long Beach State @ UCLA
BYU @ Hawaii

Saturday, February 27
BYU @ Hawaii

Would the Real Deal Please Stand Up... originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 11:42:33.

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On Wednesday night they lost in four sets to UCI, who as I mentioned in an earlier post may be the best No. 11 team ever to grace the standings. Still, when you're ranked No. 1, you're expected (even if unfairly) to beat everybody.

To add to their woes on Friday night, the Matadors got out to a 2-0 lead on UCLA only to lose the next three sets and thus the match. I guess you can call that progress since the first time these two met last month, UCLA beat CSUN 3-0.

If CSUN hopes to retain the top ranking, their upcoming road matches are critical. On Wednesday, they are up against No. 3 USC, who is just coming off of a loss to Stanford and on Friday they are facing No. 4 Pepperdine who they lost to in four sets earlier this month. No rest for the weary.

Tough Week for the Top Dogs originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 22:29:56.

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Also, the 2010 tour schedule is out and it lists 12 event locations for this summer. No tourney scheduled as yet in Las Vegas this year to the chagrin of many fans and a few less tournaments than last year. Some of the details are less than solid, but it is good news that they are moving forward.

One announcement that they didn't make was who their new title sponsor will be since Crocs pulled out last year. With the start of the season right around the corner that could mean trouble. Beach volleyball fans should hope that's the next announcement we hear.

AVP Announcements Minus One originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:08:52.

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Ever since the FIVB got involved in beach volleyball the two organizations have fought. They fought over the qualification process. They fought over what ball to use. They fought over locations of tournaments and disagreed about how the tournaments were run.

In the end, it was a power struggle with neither side wanting to bend to accommodate the other. Well, in Hans Stolfus's recent piece on the AVP site this week, he talks about how the 2010 AVP Schedule doesn't conflict at all with the FIVB schedule.

This is a miracle. Especially since in the middle of last season, the FIVB angered Todd Rogers and other players by suddenly increasing the number of FIVB events players had to attend to receive all of their earnings.

AVP Blinks, Players Win originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 11:41:37.

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CSUN beat USC for the second time this season, clearly continuing their dominance over the Trojans with their 16th consecutive win in the match up. The Matadors moved back up the ranks of the AVCA Coaches Poll to No. 3 this week.

Worst weekend honors go to UCLA. The No. 3 Bruins got skunked 0-3 by both No. 9 Long Beach State and No. 14 UC San Diego. UCLA falls two spots in the poll while Long Beach jumps up three spots.

Pepperdine Shines, Bruins Struggle originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 14:43:55.

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With losses to UCI and UCLA, Northridge drops to 11-4 on the season and tumbles from the No. 1 spot. After three weeks at the top, the Matadors now sit at No. 5.

Just behind them is former No. 3 USC. After last week's loss to No. 2 Stanford, they fell three spots to No. 6.

And with that, Pepperdine finally gets to take a turn at the top, grabbing the No. 1 ranking for the first time this season. Now we'll see if they have what it takes to stay there.

The only team that didn't benefit from taking down a top team last week is UCI. Despite beating the former No. 1 team in four sets, they remain at No. 11. Expect that to change in the coming weeks.

A New Number One originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 11:24:49.

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