This week's news and notes:
Offensive Player of the Week
Diego Villafane, Gr., S, Charleston
Diego quarterbacked one of the most impressive offensive performances this season as part of a pair of 3-0 wins against Harvard in Charleston’s EIVA opening matches. The graduate student setter guided the Golden Eagles to a .409 hitting efficiency, with 15 errors over six sets. In Charleston’s 3-0 win on Feb. 18, the offense hit .545, blocked only once and making just three errors, with no errors over the final two sets. Every Eagle who took a swing in the match hit .400 or better. Villafane also collected three kills of his own on .500 hitting, dishing out 57 assists with 12 digs, six blocks and two service aces. He had 28 assists, seven digs and three blocks in the first match as the team hit .317, and followed with 29 assists, three kills, five digs, three blocks and two aces in the second contest. Led by Villafane, the UC offense leads the nation with .402 hitting, sharing the EIVA lead with Penn State at 2-0, is 13-0 overall and 39-0 in sets played. Villafane picked up more honors when he was named the AVCA National Collegiate Player of the Week and Off the Block’s National Setter of the Week. He earns the second weekly EIVA honor of his career and first this season.
Defensive Player of the Week
Toby Ezeonu, Jr., MB, Penn State
Toby delivered a stellar performance at and above the net in a pair of 3-0 wins over Princeton for the No. 3 Nittany Lions to open the EIVA campaigns for both teams. In their first match Feb. 17, the junior middle blocker knocked down 11 kills on .529 hitting with a pair of blocks and a dig. The next day he added six kills on an error-free 14 swings to hit .429, with a career-high nine blocks, one of them a solo stuff, and a dig. He totaled 17 kills on .484 hitting with 11 blocks and two digs as the Nittany Lions improved to 11-1, their best start since the same 11-1 record in 2012. Ezeonu ranks second in the EIVA and fourth in the nation with .473 hitting. This is the first weekly EIVA award of the season for Ezeonu and third of his career.
Around the EIVA
· Charleston’s best start in program history keeps getting better. The Golden Eagles swept a pair of home matches with Harvard, and are tied with Penn State at 2-0 atop the EIVA. They also rose to a tie for 14th in this week’s AVCA Div. I-II rankings. UC picked up more votes in the Off the Block top-10 media poll, three points behind No. 10 Stanford, and remain No. 2, five points behind No. 1 Lewis while receiving four first-place votes, in the OTB Div. II coaches’ poll. UC is 13-0 overall, and 39-0 in sets. The Eagles hit .409 in the two 3-0 wins vs. the Crimson, totaling three hitting errors in the second match and none over the final two sets. UC leads the nation in hitting at .402, ranks second in opponent hitting (.107) and blocks per set (2.833), and is fifth in digs per set (9.36).
· Penn State, which remains No. 3 in both national polls, delivered a pair of 3-0 sweeps of Princeton in the teams’ first meeting since the Tigers surprised the then-No. 3 Nittany Lions in the EIVA tournament semifinals. PSU won the first match thanks to a 13-4 advantage in service aces, while in the second the Lions won the blocking battle 14-1, hitting .348 to the Tigers’ .065 with 22 errors. The match featured two of the top three teams in the nation in service aces, with Princeton leading (2.07 aces per set) and Penn State tied for third (2.00).
· Every EIVA team is scheduled to play only conference matches this week. Two-match series on Feb. 24-25 sees Penn State at NJIT, Charleston at George Mason and Harvard at Princeton.
· The Patriots will host the NCAA’s National Collegiate Championships from April 30-May 6 at Eagle Bank Arena. Tickets may be purchased through the MVB page at gomason.com.
Top Performers
· Garrett Schnitker (Sr., OPP, UCWV) collected 26 kills on .489 hitting with three aces, 13 digs and eight blocks, including one solo. He had 18 kills on .517 hitting in the first match vs. Harvard.
· Will Kimenhour (Sr., MB, UCWV) hit 10-1-15 .600 with two aces, 10 blocks and three digs. He hit 6-0-8 .750 in the first match and put up seven blocks in the second contest vs. the Crimson.
· Cal Fisher (Gr., OPP, PSU) totaled 13 kills, four aces, 13 digs and eight blocks vs. Princeton.
· Owen Rose (So., MB, PSU) had six kills, four aces and nine blocks.
· Alessandro Negri (So., OH, NJIT) totaled 19 kills, two aces, seven digs and two blocks in two losses at No. 4 Long Beach State.
· Zach Berty (1Y, OH, HARV) collected 13 kills, six digs and a block vs. Charleston.
· Nyherowo Omene (So., RS, PRIN) totaled 22 kills, one ace, 13 digs and three blocks vs. PSU.
· Henry Wedbush (So., S, PRIN) had 46 assists, a kill, two aces, four blocks and nine digs.
· Liam French (R-Fr., OH, GMU) had 10 kills, four aces, a block and a dig in a 3-0 sweep of King.
EIVA Standings
EIVA Scores and Results
EIVA Statistics
EIVA Record vs. Non-Conference Opponents
| AVCA Top 15 |
6-17 |
NEC |
12-3 |
| Big West |
0-6 |
SIAC |
1-0 |
| Conference Carolinas |
5-0 |
Independent |
3-0 |
| MIVA |
4-10 |
NCAA D-III/NAIA |
3-0 |
| MPSF |
5-6 |
|
|
2022 EIVA Weekly Awards AVCA Div. I-II National
OFFENSIVE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jan. 16 Luuk Hoge Bavel, UCWV Owen Rose, PSU
Jan. 23 John Kerr, PSU Michal Kowal, PSU John Kerr, PSU
Jan. 30 Ben Harrington, Princeton Martin de Chavaria, NJIT
Feb. 6 Cal Fisher, PSU Lucas Little, GMU
Feb. 13 Ben Harrington, Princeton Trevor Schultz, Harvard
Feb. 20 Diego Villafane, Charleston Toby Ezeonu, Penn State Diego Villafane, Charleston
EIVA in national rankings
EIVA teams among NCAA NC Leaders (Top 10)
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 20)
Aces Per Set: 1. Princeton 2.07; 3. Penn State 2.00
Assists Per Set: 1. Benedict 13.57
Blocks Per Set: 1. Long Beach State 2.971; 2. Charleston 2.833; 9. Penn State 2.333
Digs Per Set: 1. Benedict 14.86; 5. Charleston 9.36
Hitting Percentage: 1. Charleston .402; 8. Penn State .330
Kills Per Set: 1. Benedict 15.00; 10. Charleston 12.41
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. Benedict .085; 2. Charleston .107; 4. Penn State .187
Team Attacks Per Set: 1 Benedict 34.14
EIVA individuals among NCAA NC Leaders (Top 10)
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 20)
Aces Per Set: 1. Bradley Peters (Lees-McRae) 1.073; 3. Ben Harrington (PRIN) .800
Assists Per Set: 1. Bryce Dvorak (Pepperdine) 11.16; 5. Diego Villafane (UCWV) 10.28; 8. Cole Bogner (PSU) 10.02
Attacks Per Set: 1. Ras Jesse Delancy (Benedict) 11.71
Blocks Per Set: 1. Simon Torwie (LBSU) 1.735; 5. Veit Bils (UCWV) 1.222; 9. Owen Rose (PSU) 1.167
Digs Per Set: 1. Clint Forbes (Benedict) 6.00
Hitting Percentage: 1. Ras Jesse Delancy (Benedict) .659; 3. Trevor Schultz (HARV) .491; 4. Toby Ezeonu (PSU) .473; 10. Luuk Hoge Bavel (UCWV) .429
Kills Per Set: 1. Ras Jesse Delancy (Benedict) 8.14
Points Per Set: 1. Ras Jesse Delancy (Benedict) 9.29
AVCA Coaches Poll
Feb. 20
|
Rank
|
School (first-place votes adj.)
|
Total pts. adj.
|
Record
|
Prev.
|
|
1
|
Hawai'i [22]
|
330
|
11-0
|
1
|
|
2
|
UCLA
|
301
|
13-1
|
2
|
|
3
|
Penn State
|
291
|
11-1
|
3
|
|
4
|
Long Beach State
|
265
|
8-2
|
4
|
|
5
|
Grand Canyon
|
243
|
13-0
|
5
|
|
6
|
UC Irvine
|
215
|
9-3
|
6
|
|
7
|
Pepperdine
|
190
|
9-5
|
7
|
|
8
|
BYU
|
167
|
8-4
|
8
|
|
9
|
Stanford
|
162
|
8-5
|
9
|
|
10
|
Loyola-Chicago
|
132
|
11-2
|
13
|
|
11
|
Ohio State
|
92
|
10-4
|
10
|
|
12
|
Ball State
|
87
|
7-5
|
11
|
|
13
|
Southern California
|
79
|
6-6
|
12
|
|
14-T
|
Charleston
|
43
|
13-0
|
15
|
|
14-T
|
CSUN
|
43
|
9-5
|
14
|
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: None
1 team mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 2 points
Dropped Out: None
Off The Block Polls
Div. I-II Media Poll
Feb. 21
|
Rk
|
Team
|
Rec.
|
Pts.
|
Prv.
|
Trend
|
|
1
|
Hawai’i
|
11-0
|
107 (7)
|
1
|
—
|
|
2
|
UCLA
|
13-1
|
104 (4)
|
2
|
—
|
|
3
|
Penn State
|
11-1
|
90
|
3
|
—
|
|
4
|
Grand Canyon
|
13-0
|
72
|
5
|
+1
|
|
5
|
Long Beach St
|
8-2
|
71
|
4
|
-1
|
|
6
|
UC Irvine
|
9-3
|
50
|
6
|
—
|
|
7
|
Loyola
|
11-2
|
31
|
RV
|
+4
|
|
8
|
Pepperdine
|
9-5
|
26
|
8
|
—
|
|
9
|
BYU
|
8-4
|
18
|
7
|
-2
|
|
10
|
Stanford
|
8-5
|
17
|
9
|
-1
|
Others receiving votes: Charleston 14; Ball State 5; Ohio State 4
Dropped out of rankings: Ball State
Division II Coaches Poll
Feb. 15
|
Rk
|
Team
|
Rec.
|
Pts.
|
Prv.
|
Trend
|
|
1
|
Lewis
|
7-6
|
116 (8)
|
1
|
—
|
|
2
|
Charleston
|
11-0
|
111 (4)
|
2
|
—
|
|
3
|
Lincoln Mem.
|
10-4
|
92
|
3
|
—
|
|
4
|
Concordia
|
4-5
|
80
|
4
|
—
|
|
5
|
McKendree
|
5-4
|
79
|
5
|
—
|
|
6
|
Daemen
|
6-1
|
61
|
6
|
—
|
|
7
|
N. Greenville
|
8-3
|
45
|
7
|
—
|
|
8
|
King
|
8-9
|
31
|
10
|
+3
|
|
9
|
Limestone
|
6-4
|
19
|
9
|
—
|
|
10
|
Mount Olive
|
4-5
|
7
|
8
|
-2
|
Others receiving votes: Lees-McRae, Quincy, Maryville, Erskine, Edward Waters, Central State, Belmont Abbey, Missouri S&T
Dropped out of rankings: None