This week's news and notes:
This week's EIVA Player of the Week awards go to Princeton's Owen Mellon on offense and NJIT's Andre Aleixo on defense:
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Owen Mellon, Sr., PIN, Princeton
Owen posted a pair of big performances during the Tigers’ opening matches of a West Coast trip against top-10 teams. The senior pin hitter totaled 30 kills on .386 hitting with 10 digs and five blocks in a 3-0 loss to No. 7 UC Irvine and a 3-1 loss at No. 5 Southern California. Against the Anteaters on Jan. 14, he had 10 kills on .333 hitting with four digs and two blocks. Against the Trojans on Jan. 16, he posted a career-high 20 kills on .417 hitting with six digs and three blocks. This is the first EIVA weekly award of Mellon’s career.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Andre Aleixo, Fr., OH, NJIT
Andre posted a solid all-around weekend as the Highlanders earned their first two victories of the season, taking two matches from Jessup, Calif. The freshman outside hitter totaled 24 kills on .367 hitting with five aces, an assist, two blocks and 15 digs. During a 3-1 win on Jan. 16, he had eight kills, four aces, a block and nine digs. The next night, a 3-0 sweep, Aleixo collected 16 kills with one error to hit .682, adding an ace, a block and six digs. He also was 45 for 47 in service receptions and averaged 3.43 kills per set, and has reached double digits in kills in four of the first seven matches of his collegiate career. This is the first EIVA weekly honor of Aleixo’s career.
AROUND THE EIVA
- Penn State recorded the EIVA’s first win vs. an AVCA-ranked team of 2026, topping No. 9 Lewis in four sets. It was the Nittany Lions’ first win vs. a top-10 opponent since besting No. 1 Ohio State 3-2 on Jan. 28, 2024. The win also was No. 698 of coach Mark Pavlik’s career.
- NCAA Men’s Volleyball Coaching Wins
Al Scates (UCLA) 1,239
Don Shondell (Ball State) 769
Pete Hanson (Ohio State) 712
Mark Pavlik (Penn State)* 698
* Active
- NJIT also had a successful week, taking a pair of contests against Jessup (Calif.) for the Highlanders’ first two wins of the season, in their first two home matches of 2026. NJIT won the matches 3-1 and 3-0, with the latter seeing the Highlanders hit .421 with nine errors.
- Harvard also played its first two home matches, splitting a weekend set with Manhattan. The second contest gave the Jaspers their first win as a D-I program as they take a tour of the EIVA. They visited Penn State last week, meet Sacred Heart on Jan. 24 and in February have dates scheduled with George Mason and NJIT.
- Charleston also had a split weekend, falling to No. 15 McKendree and beating Daemen in the UC Invitational at Wehrle Innovation Center.
- George Mason and Princeton each played a pair of matches against ranked teams. The Patriots were in Columbus, Ohio, and fell to No. 13 Ohio State and No. 2 Long Beach State. The Tigers opened their season on the West Coast, falling to No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 4 USC. They conclude the trip at Concordia on Jan. 20.
- Sacred Heart played its first match Jan. 19, falling at home to Jessup, Calif.
- More ranked opponents appear on this week’s schedule, including Penn State playing a pair at No. 15 McKendree and Charleston at No. 12 Ball State.
- The Nittany Lions rose to No. 10 in this week’s AVCA rankings, Princeton is No. 18 and Charleston makes its first appearance of the season at No. 20. George Mason and NJIT also are receiving votes from the coaches.
Top Performers of the Week
- Ryan Merk (R-Sr., L, PSU) picked up 15 digs and nine assists, and was 38 for 39 on service receptions, with the only error on a 73 mph ace vs. Lewis. He passed 2.85 for the weekend, 2.77 vs. the Flyers, and anchored a defense that held opponents to .167 hitting.
- Jaxon Herr (Gr., S, PSU) totaled 60 assists, one kill, one ace, 13 digs and eight blocks, one solo in six of the Nittany Lions seven sets. He had 34 assists, one ace, nine digs and seven blocks vs. Lewis and helped guide the offense to .320 hitting for the weekend.
- Gaige Gabriel (So., MB, PSU) had 15 kills on .370 hitting with three aces, eight blocks and a dig.
- Sean Harvey (R-So., OH, PSU) totaled 21 kills on .386 hitting with three aces, two assists, 12 digs and five blocks while going error free on 25 service receptions.
- Tristan Hassell (Fr., OH, PSU) hit 15-3-24 .500 with an ace, a block and three digs during one full set and parts of two others. He hit 10-1-15 .600 during his only full set, the fourth vs. Lewis.
- Wiktor Nowak (So., MB, NJIT) totaled 30kills, eight digs and three blocks. He has 10 or more kills in his last four matches.
- Yotam Briger (So., S, UCWV) totaled 73 assists, three kills on .500 hitting, two aces, four blocks and 22 digs. He had 13 digs vs. McKendree and nine vs. Daemen.
- Braxton Francis (So., MB, UCWV) hit 7-0-13 .538 with five aces, an assist and a block.
- Lucas Torres (Sr., OH, UCWV) had 27 kills, four aces, two assists, four blocks and six digs. He had 16 kills, four aces, six digs and three blocks vs. McKendree.
- Zach Berty (Sr., OH, HARV) played only the first of the Crimson’s two matches vs. Manhattan, posting 12 kills, two assists, three digs and two blocks, one solo.
- Adrian Shevchuk (Jr., S, HARV) played only the first match vs. the Jaspers, with 32 assists, two kills, 11 digs and two blocks, one solo.
- Owen Woolbert (Jr., MB, HARV) had 19 kills, two aces, two blocks and eight digs in two matches.
- Tristan Whitfield (Jr., MB, PRIN) had six kills, four digs and eight blocks, one solo. He had five kills on .375 hitting with five blocks vs. USC.
- Aiden Weltin (So., PIN, GMU) totaled 22 kills, seven digs and two blocks vs. Ohio State and LBSU.
EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics
EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA) 1-12
Big West 0-7
Conf. Carolinas 2-0
ECC 1-0
GLVC 1-0
IVA 0-1
MIVA 1-5
MPSF 2-2
NEC 3-1
SIAC 0-0
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
Jan. 19
| Rank |
School [first-place votes] |
Pts. Adj. |
Rec. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA [20] |
495 |
4-0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State [3] |
475 |
5-0 |
2 |
| 3 |
Hawai‘i |
432 |
7-1 |
3 |
| 4 |
Southern California [1] |
419 |
3-0 |
5 |
| 5 |
UC Irvine |
405 |
5-0 |
7 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
371 |
2-1 |
3 |
| 7 |
Loyola Chicago |
364 |
2-2 |
6 |
| 8 |
BYU |
333 |
4-0 |
8 |
| 9 |
Lewis |
268 |
4-1 |
9 |
| 10 |
Penn State |
248 |
4-0 |
13 |
| 11 |
UC San Diego |
231 |
3-2 |
10 |
| 12 |
Ball State |
222 |
4-1 |
16 |
| 13 |
Ohio State |
216 |
3-1 |
13 |
| 14 |
Stanford |
173 |
0-3 |
11 |
| 15 |
McKendree |
154 |
2-2 |
15 |
| 16 |
CSUN |
139 |
4-1 |
12 |
| 17 |
UC Santa Barbara |
133 |
4-0 |
17 |
| 18 |
Princeton |
65 |
0-2 |
18 |
| 19 |
Lindenwood |
52 |
3-1 |
NR |
| 20 |
Charleston |
18 |
2-1 |
RV |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Lincoln Memorial 13; George Mason 8; Fort Valley State 6; NJIT 5; Belmont Abbey 3
2 teams mentioned on only one ballot for 2 points.
Dropped out: None
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
Jan. 14
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA |
2-0 |
139 (13) |
— |
| 2 |
Long Beach State |
2-0 |
121 (1) |
— |
| 3 |
Pepperdine |
2-0 |
97 |
— |
| T-4 |
Hawai’i |
1-1 |
92 |
— |
| T-4 |
USC |
1-0 |
92 |
— |
| 6 |
Loyola |
1-1 |
76 |
— |
| 7 |
UC Irvine |
3-0 |
61 |
— |
| 8 |
BYU |
2-0 |
39 |
— |
| 9 |
Lewis |
3-0 |
31 |
— |
| 10 |
UC San Diego |
2-0 |
10 |
— |
Also receiving votes: CSUN 4; Stanford 3; Penn State 2; Ball State 1
Dropped out of rankings: N/A