This week's news and notes:
This week's EIVA Players of the Week are each first-time winners, and led a crowd who put up some impressive numbers this week. Charleston's Conrad Spidsø is the Offensive Player of the Week and Sacred Heart's Gian Paolo Pido is the Defensive Player of the Week.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Conrad Spidsø, Fr., OH, Charleston
Conrad made quite the impact during a weekend split of two matches vs. Queens (N.C.). The freshman outside hitter totaled 32 kills on .421 hitting with an ace, an assist, four blocks and 11 digs. Spidsø knocked down a career-high 22 kills on .559 hitting with four digs and a pair of blocks as the Eagles fell 3-1 on Jan. 29. No other Eagle had more than nine kills in the contest. He added 10 kills on .217 hitting with an ace, an assist, two blocks and seven digs in a 3-0 victory Jan. 30. The performances marked the first two matches of his career with double digits in kills, in just his second and third career starts. This is the first career EIVA weekly honor for Spidsø.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Gian Paolo Pido, Jr., L, Sacred Heart
Gian had the floor covered for the Pioneers during a three-win week. The junior libero totaled 36 digs and five assists over 11 sets as Sacred Heart earned a 3-0 win against American International to go with 3-2 and 3-1 victories against Dominican (N.Y.). He had five digs and an assist in two sets vs. the Yellow Jackets on Jan. 27. In the first match against the Chargers on Jan. 30, he recorded a career-high 18 digs to go with a pair of assists. The dig total also leads the EIVA for a single match in 2026. The next day he had 13 digs and two more assists. For the week he also was 59 for 61 in service receptions, a .967 rate. This is the first EIVA weekly honor of Paolo Pido’s career.

Around the EIVA

• A pair of EIVA teams have caught fire, with NJIT and Sacred Heart each riding five-match win streaks. It’s the Pioneers’ first run of five straight since Feb. 2017. The Highlanders also are 4-0 at the WEC this year.
• No. 3 Hawaii braved the chill of Central PA with one win at Saint Francis and two at Penn State. It marked the first Rainbow Warrior visit to Rec Hall since winning the NCAA title there in 2002, though that win was later vacated due to NCAA violations.
• George Mason had a packed weekend, playing three matches in just over 24 hours, scoring wins vs. Mount Olive and UMES and falling to No. 9 Ball State. The win vs. UMES comes in the program’s first NCAA D-I season. The Hawks opened the season 4-0.
• Harvard was scheduled to be off this past weekend, and had its match Jan. 23 vs. Central State cancelled, leaving only an exhibition match vs. neighbor MIT the same night as the Crimson’s lone contest since Jan. 17. They finally return to the court Feb. 6 hosting Merrimack, then No. 8 BYU the following day.
• The first EIVA match of 2026 comes Feb. 6 with Princeton traveling to NJIT. A full weekend conference slate comes Feb. 13-14.
• Penn State and Saint Francis have a home-and-home series Feb. 6 and 7. It will be the teams’ final meetings, with the former EIVA member Red Flash and their athletic program dropping to Div. III later this year.
• Penn State and Princeton remain 14th and 19th, respectively, in the AVCA rankings while NJIT and George Mason are receiving votes.

Last Week’s Top Performers

• Tristan Whitfield (Jr., MB, PRIN) had an error-free hitting weekend, posting a line of 14-0-17 .824 with three aces, an assist, a dig and eight blocks, one solo. Against Merrimack he hit 8-0-10 .800 with six blocks and two aces. His kills and points (13.5) both tied his career highs.
• Roan Alviar (So., L, PRIN) totaled 18 digs, three assists and one receiving error.
• Andre Aleixo (Fr., OH, NJIT) had 27 kills on .382 hitting with an ace, an assist, eight digs and three blocks. He has hit double digits in kills in his last four matches and in 7 of 10 contests this season.
• Joonatan Salpakari (Jr., OH, UCWV) had 19 kills on .333 hitting with three aces, three assists, three blocks and 10 digs. In the second match vs. Queens he hit 13-0-22 .591.
• Zach Flynn (So., OPP, SHU) played only against AIC, posting 23 kills, .318 hitting, two assists, an ace, four digs and seven blocks.
• Petr Beranek (Jr., OH, SHU) played in the two matches vs. Dominican (N.Y.) with 23 kills, .364 hitting, one ace, one assist, 13 digs and five blocks, two solo. In the second match he hit 16-1-36 .417.
• Sebastian Sanchez (Jr., PIN, GMU) played only in the match vs. UMES, hitting 24-7-38 .447 with four aces, seven digs and a block. It was his second match of the season and he surpassed his previous career high of 10 kills.
• Alexander Lillie (So., MB, GMU) hit 13-3-24 .417 with one dig and nine blocks, one solo.
• Aidan Weltin (So., PIN, GMU) totaled 24 kills, two aces, 15 digs and three blocks.
• Gaige Gabriel (So., MB, PSU) hit 11-3-19 .421 with two aces, one dig and six blocks, two solo.

EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics

EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA)	1-18
Big West	0-9
Conf. Carolinas	3-0
ECC	6-0
GLVC	0-0
IVA	2-1
MIVA	2-11
MPSF	2-4
NEC	8-1
SIAC	0-0

EIVA IN NCAA TOP 20 STAT RANKINGS
Div. I-II Team Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 2)
Aces Per Set: 1. LBSU 2.96; 20. Harvard 1.43
Assists Per Set: 1. UCLA 14.28; 20. Penn State 11.25
Blocks Per Set: 1. Lewis 2.922; 13. Penn State 2.482
Digs Per Set: 1. Bellmont Abbey 11.60; 12. Charleston 9.36; 17. Penn State 9.00
Hitting Percentage: 1. UCLA .460
Kills Per Set: 1. UCLA 14.96
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. Tusculum .118; 19. Sacred Heart .226
Team Attacks Per Set: 1. King (TN) 31.80
Div. I-II Individual Leaders
(via ncaa.com last updated Feb. 2)
Aces Per Set: 1. Skyler Varga (LBSU) 1.080; 11. Quinn Bishop (HARV) .609
Assists Per Set: 1. Andrew Rowan (UCLA) 12.72
Attacks Per Set: 1. Dallas Birkenbeuel (Mmack) 9.89; 20. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 8.39
Blocks Per Set: 1. Ryan Geraci (Barton) 1.722; 20. Tristan Whitfield (PRIN) 1.125
Digs Per Set: 1. Kyle Standage (Mmack) 3.60
Hitting Percentage: 1. Grayson Albers (CSUN) .587
Kills Per Set: 1. Zach Rama (UCLA) 4.77; 14. Owen Mellon (PRIN) 3.81
Points Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 5.48; 19. Owen Mellon (PRIN) 4.25
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
Feb. 2

Rank	School [first-place votes]	Pts. Adj.	Rec.	Prev.
1	UCLA [22]	497	8-0	1
2	Long Beach State [2]	474	8-0	2
3	Hawai‘i	438	10-1	3
4	Southern California [1]	421	5-0	4
5	UC Irvine	415	9-0	5
6	Pepperdine	375	4-2	6
7	Loyola Chicago	345	5-3	7
8	BYU	331	6-2	8
9	Ball State	274	8-1	10
10	UC San Diego	270	4-4	T-11
11	Lewis	256	6-3	9
12	Ohio State	204	4-3	13
13	McKendree	194	5-3	T-11
14	Penn State	160	4-4	14
15	UC Santa Barbara	152	5-3	15
16	CSUN	136	7-1	17
17	Stanford	132	1-6	16
18	Lindenwood	93	6-1	18
19	Princeton	33	2-3	19
20	Lincoln Memorial	18	4-2	T-20

Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: NJIT 9; Concordia Irvine 6; Purdue Fort Wayne 6; George Mason 4; Missouri S&T 4; Belmont Abbey 3
No teams mentioned on only one ballot.
Dropped out: Concordia (T-20)
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
Feb. 3

Rank	School	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.
1	UCLA	8-0	160 (16)	1
2	Long Beach State	8-0	140	2
3.	UC Irvine	9-0	121	3
4	Hawai’i	10-1	110	4
5	USC	5-0	101	5
6	Pepperdine	4-2	80	6
7	BYU	6-2	55	7
8	Loyola	5-3	50	8
9	Ball State	8-1	41	9
10	Lewis	6-3	8	10

Also receiving votes: UC San Diego 7; Ohio St 4; Lindenwood 3
Dropped out of rankings: N/A
OTB Div. II Coaches Poll
Jan. 28

Rank	School	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.
1	Lewis	5-2	88 (7)	—
2	McKendree	4-2	83 (2)	—
3	Charleston	2-3	49	—
T-4	Concordia	3-2	45	—
T-4	Lincoln Memorial	3-2	45	—
6	Missouri S&T	4-1	42	—
7	Rockhurst	3-4	38	—
8	Belmont Abbey	1-0	37 (1)	—
9	Mount Olive	0-2	27	—
10	Fort Valley State	1-4	24	—

Also receiving votes: Vanguard 23; Jessup 15, Menlo 12; Maryville 8; St. Thomas Aquinas 6; Roberts Wesleyan 4; Catawba
Dropped out: N/A