This week's news and notes:
Five different student-athletes had matches with at least 20 kills. Two of them earned this week's EIVA honors: George Mason's Aidan Weltin and NJIT's Wiktor Nowak.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aidan Weltin, So., PIN, George Mason
Aidan played a major role in a pair of 3-1 Patriot wins against Manhattan during the weekend. The sophomore pin hitter totaled 33 kills on .338 hitting with four aces, eight digs and three blocks. In the first match Feb. 6, he put down a career-high 21 kills on .340 hitting, adding three aces, five digs and a solo block. The following day he had a dozen kills while hitting .333 with an ace, two blocks and three digs. He also was clean on 90 percent of his serves over the eight sets. Weltin leads the EIVA with 4.32 kills per set and 4.89 points per set.
He also leads the nation in attacks per set (11.41) while ranking third in kills and fourth in points. This is the first career EIVA weekly honor for Weltin.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Wiktor Nowak, So., OPP, NJIT
Wiktor carried a heavy load in the Highlanders 3-1 victory against Princeton to open 2026 conference play. The sophomore opposite registered a career-high 29 kills on 56 swings to hit .339. He also had an ace, an assist, four digs and six blocks, including a solo stuff. He had eight kills in both the first and third sets alone, with one error on 16 attempts in the first frame, and he never had fewer than six kills in any of the match’s four sets. It marks the second time this season Nowak had reached 20-plus kills, and he has double digits in kills in seven of the last eight matches. He is fourth in the EIVA with 3.55 kills per set and is third at 4.09 points per set. Nowak picks up his first career EIVA weekly award.
Around the EIVA
- The first conference match of the season featured Round 1 of the Battle of New Jersey, with NJIT battling to a 24-26, 27-25, 25-21, 25-23 win over Princeton. The match was tight, with 33 ties and 11 lead changes. The Tigers hit 39-19-119 .168 hitting while the Highlanders hit 60-31-146 .199. NJIT extends its win streak to six and moved to 5-0 at home.
- This weekend sees a full slate of EIVA action, with two matches for George Mason at Charleston, NJIT at Harvard and Penn State at Princeton. The latter is a rematch of the 2025 EIVA Championship Tournament title match, won by the Nittany Lions. Sacred Heart plays the lone non-conference match of the weekend, hosting Daemen on Feb. 14.
- Penn State coach Mark Pavlik reached a major milestone with a pair of 3-0 sweeps of St. Francis on Feb. 6 and 7. The second victory gave him 700 for his career, becoming just the fourth men’s volleyball coach to reach that mark, and the only active coach to do so. UCLA's Al Scates holds the all-time record of 1,239, and Ohio State's Pete Hanson is third on the list at 712. This season will be Pavlik’s final campaign, with retirement awaiting after his 33rd season comes to an end.
- Charleston played plenty of volleyball last week, earning a reverse sweep at Central State on Feb. 3, losing 3-2 at Mount Olive on Feb. 6 and beating Catawba 3-1 on Feb. 7.
- Despite splitting its two matches 3-0, Harvard’s offense was sharp both nights. The Crimson swept Merrimack on Feb. 6 with .356 hitting, including hitting 29-4-51 .490 during the first two sets for their fifth 3-0 win vs. the Warriors. BYU scored a sweep the next day thanks to its .488 hitting, making only seven errors, but Harvard countered with a .300 rate, including only two errors and a .500 line in the opening frame. The 29-27 second set marked the Crimson’s most points scored in a set against the Cougars.
- Sacred Heart dropped a 3-0 match to St. Thomas Aquinas despite the teams even at 39 kills each and the Pioneers making 12 errors to hit .342 to the Spartans’ .338 hitting with 14 errors.
- George Mason swept two matches from Manhattan to cap a 5-1 record in a six-match homestand.
- Penn State moved up to a tie for 15th in this week’s AVCA poll, and NJIT returned to the list at No. 20. Princeton and George Mason are receiving votes. Charleston is fifth in the Off The Block Division II coaches’ poll.
Last Week's Top Performers
- Braxton Francis (So., OH, UCWV) played in two of the Eagles’ three matches, hitting 18-2-29 .552 with an ace, four digs and six blocks. Against Catawba he hit 8-0-9 .889 with three digs and five blocks.
- Conrad Spidsø (Jr., OH, UCWV) played in two of the Eagles’ three matches, totaling 36 kills, two aces, two assists, seven blocks and 19 digs. Against Mount Olive he had a career-high 25 kills on .360 hitting with an ace, an assist, two blocks and 13 digs.
- Max Nissen (Jr., OH, UCWV) played in two of three matches for the Eagles, totaling 26 kills, one ace, two assists, two blocks and 15 digs. Against Mount Olive he had 20 kills and 11 digs to go with an assist and a block.
- Lucas Torres (Sr., OH, UCWV) played in 10 of the Eagles’ 14 sets for the week, totaling 37 kills on .329 hitting with four aces, three assists, 17 digs and six blocks, one solo. He had 20 kills on .333 hitting with nine digs vs. Central State and 17 kills on .364 hitting with six digs and four blocks vs. Catawba.
- Ryan Merk (R-Sr., L, PSU) totaled 16 digs, six assists and was 13 for 13 in service receptions.
- Sean Harvey (R-So., OH, PSU) had 20 kills on .295 hitting with one ace, two assists, nine digs, four blocks, two solo, and was 30 for 30 in service receptions.
- Jaidyn Bethel (R-Fr., OH, PSU) hit 12-2-24 .417 with one ace, one assist, nine digs and four blocks, one solo.
- Robert Evangelista (Jr., OH, GMU) had 24 kills, one ace, nine digs and seven blocks, one solo. All of his blocks were posted in Match 2 vs. Manhattan.
- Alexander Lillie (So., MB, GMU) had 14 kills, two aces, one assist, two digs and nine blocks, two solo.
- Zach Berty (Sr., OH, HARV) had 15 kills on .367 hitting with six aces, three assists and seven blocks. He hit 10-2-16 .500 vs. BYU.
- Adrian Shevchuk (Jr., S, HARV) gave out 64 assists to help the Crimson to .388 hitting for the weekend. He also hit 5-1-9 .444 with four aces and 15 digs.
- Owen Woolbert (Jr., MB, HARV) hit 11-2-25 .360 with two aces, an assist, five digs and six blocks, one solo. He hit 8-0-14 .571 vs. Merrimack.
- Brian Thomas (Sr., MB, HARV) hit 14-3-18 .611 with three blocks and three digs. Against BYU he posted a 6-1-7 .714 hitting line.
- Diego Lopez (Jr., L, NJIT) picked up 12 digs, six assists and was 22 for 23 in service receptions against Princeton.
- Bruno Figueiredo (So., S, NJIT) gave out 52 assists to go with two kills, one ace, one block and 10 digs.
- Petr Beranek (Jr., OH, SHU) hit 12-3-18 .500 with an assist and a block.
- Aleksa Mandic (Jr., OH, SHU) hit 8-1-18 .389 with an assist, a block and seven digs.
- Ryan Vena (Sr., MB, PRIN) had nine kills, two aces, one assist, 10 digs and four blocks.
EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics
EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
| AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA) |
1-19 |
| Big West |
0-9 |
| Conf. Carolinas |
3-1 |
| ECC |
6-1 |
| GLVC |
0-0 |
| IVA |
4-1 |
| MIVA |
2-11 |
| MPSF |
2-5 |
| NEC |
12-1 |
| SIAC |
1-0 |
EIVA IN NCAA TOP 20 STAT RANKINGS
Div. I-II Team Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 2)
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 9)
Aces Per Set: 1. LBSU 2.81; 14. Harvard 1.59
Assists Per Set: 1. UCLA 13.36
Blocks Per Set: 1. BYU 2.871; 8. Penn State 2.529; 17. Princeton 2.350
Digs Per Set: 1. Emmanuel 11.05; 15 Penn State 9.32; 18. Charleston 9.05; 20. Princeton 9.00
Hitting Percentage: 1. UCLA .430
Kills Per Set: 1. UCLA 14.09
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. Barry .143; 20. Penn State .231
Team Attacks Per Set: 1. King (TN) 31.31
Div. I-II Individual Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 9)
Aces Per Set: 1. Yoriano Velez Vega (N Greenville) 1.167; 17. Quinn Bishop (HARV) .517
Assists Per Set: 1. Andrew Rowan (UCLA) 11.94; 19. Georgi Zahariev (GMU) 9.58
Attacks Per Set: 1. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 11.41; 9. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 8.95
Blocks Per Set: 1. Ryan Geraci (Barton) 1.522; 17. Tristan Whitfield (PRIN) 1.100; 20. Elijah Lazor (GMU) 1.087
Digs Per Set: 1. Josh Staehler (Emmanuel) 3.43; 18. Ryan Merk (PSU) 2.24
Hitting Percentage: 1. Trevor Clark (UC Irvine) .583
Kills Per Set: 1. Zach Rama (UCLA) 4.60; 3. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.32; 19. Owen Mellon (PRIN) 3.60
Points Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 5.56; 4. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.89
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
Feb. 9
| Rank |
School [first-place votes] |
Pts. Adj. |
Rec. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA [23] |
498 |
10-0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State [1] |
471 |
8-1 |
2 |
| 3 |
Hawai‘i |
441 |
10-1 |
3 |
| 4 |
Southern California [1] |
421 |
7-0 |
4 |
| 5 |
UC Irvine |
414 |
11-0 |
5 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
377 |
5-2 |
6 |
| 7 |
BYU |
351 |
8-2 |
8 |
| 8 |
Loyola Chicago |
304 |
6-4 |
7 |
| 9 |
Ball State |
301 |
10-1 |
9 |
| 10 |
UC San Diego |
270 |
4-4 |
10 |
| 11 |
Ohio State |
223 |
6-3 |
12 |
| 12 |
McKendree |
219 |
6-4 |
13 |
| 13 |
Lindenwood |
199 |
8-1 |
18 |
| 14 |
Lewis |
160 |
6-5 |
11 |
| T-15 |
Penn State |
144 |
6-4 |
14 |
| T-15 |
UC Santa Barbara |
144 |
6-4 |
15 |
| 17 |
CSUN |
118 |
7-3 |
16 |
| 18 |
Stanford |
113 |
3-6 |
17 |
| 19 |
Lincoln Memorial |
30 |
5-3 |
20 |
| 20 |
NJIT |
20 |
6-5 |
RV |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots:
Princeton 9; Purdue Fort Wayne 8; Concordia Irvine 6; Belmont Abbey 5;
George Mason 3; Missouri S&T 3
No teams mentioned on only one ballot.
Dropped out: Princeton (19)
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
Feb. 10
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA |
10-0 |
180 (16) |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State |
8-1 |
156 |
2 |
| 3. |
UC Irvine |
11-0 |
139 |
3 |
| 4 |
Hawai’i |
10-1 |
126 |
4 |
| 5 |
USC |
7-0 |
114 |
5 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
5-2 |
90 |
6 |
| 7 |
BYU |
9-2 |
68 |
7 |
| 8 |
Ball State |
10-1 |
54 |
9 |
| 9 |
Loyola |
6-4 |
35 |
8 |
| 10 |
Lindenwood |
8-1 |
14 |
RV |
Also receiving votes: UC San Diego 8; Ohio State 5; Belmont Abbey 1
Dropped out of rankings: Lewis
OTB Div. II Coaches Poll
Feb. 4
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
Lewis |
6-3 |
89 (8) |
1 |
| 2 |
Missouri S&T |
5-2 |
82 (1) |
6 |
| 3 |
McKendree |
5-3 |
75 (1) |
2 |
| 4 |
Lincoln Memorial |
4-2 |
58 |
T-4 |
| 5 |
Charleston |
4-4 |
55 |
3 |
| 6 |
Concordia |
3-4 |
46 |
T-4 |
| 7 |
Rockhurst |
3-6 |
41 |
7 |
| 8 |
Belmont Abbey |
1-0 |
30 |
8 |
| 9 |
Vanguard |
3-3 |
21 |
RV |
| 10 |
Mount Olive |
1-3 |
12 |
9 |
Also receiving votes: Fort Valley State 8; Jessup 8; Barry 5; Tusculum 5; Catawba 3; Maryville 3; Daemen 2; Menlo 2; Roberts Wesleyan 2
Dropped out: Fort Valley State