This week's news and notes:
In a week of prolific offensive production, the EIVA's weekly award winners stood out in their own ways, with George Mason and Penn State earning awards for their programs for the fourth and sixth times, respectively.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jackson Herbert, Jr., OPP, George Mason
Jackson delivered a pair of impressive performances in two Patriot victories. The junior opposite put down five kills on an error-free eight swings, adding an ace, a dig and four blocks while playing two sets in a 3-0 sweep of Barton on March 13. The next day he had 15 kills on .542 hitting with one ace, one assist, one block and four digs in a 3-1 victory against Fairleigh Dickinson. He also was 11 for 11 in service receptions in each match. In six sets he totaled 20 kills on .563 hitting with two aces, one assist, five digs and five blocks. His .294 hitting percentage ranks second in the EIVA. Herbert is the third straight Patriot to capture the EIVA’s weekly offensive award and he is the fourth different Patriot to win an award this season. This is the first EIVA weekly honor of Herbert’s career.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Merk, R-Sr., L, Penn State
Ryan continues his reliable backrow play for No. 15 Penn State this season. In two top-10 losses on the West Coast, the redshirt senior libero totaled 18 digs, one assist and one kill while making one error in 40 service receptions. On March 11 against No. 6 Pepperdine, which entered the weekend as the nation’s No. 3 team in aces per set, he had one reception error in 25 chances, adding eight digs, one assist and one kill – his first of the season and third of his career. He recorded 10 digs against No. 5 Southern California on March 14 while posting a perfect 15 for 15 in service receptions. His showing against the Trojans gave him his sixth match of the season with double figures in digs and 32 for his career. It was his 11th match of 2026 with no reception errors. In 18 contests, Merk has 11 errors in 310 chances (.965). He leads the EIVA averaging 2.32 digs per set and ranked 18th nationally entering the weekend. He also has 807 career digs, becoming the fifth Nittany Lion to reach the 800 milestone. He is nearing No. 4 on the Lions’ list – Ramon Hernandez (820 from 1991-94). This is the third EIVA weekly honor of the season for Merk and seventh of his career.
2026 EIVA Weekly Award Winners
AROUND THE EIVA
- After a pair of light weeks the EIVA courts get busier, including the resumption of conference matches. George Mason plays twice at Sacred Heart, while NJIT heads to Princeton for Round 2 of the Battle of New Jersey. The Highlanders took the first meeting 3-1 on Feb. 6.
- Charleston, which had not played since Feb. 28, will make up for the long break with four matches in six days. The week began with a 3-0 sweep of North Greenville on March 16, the teams meet again March 17, then UCWV heads to Lincoln Memorial on March 20 and Tusculum on March 21. In the March 16 win the Eagle offense hit .475 for the match with no errors in the first set. Three Eagles posted at least nine kills while hitting over .500.
- George Mason also put on an impressive offensive display in a 3-0 win over Barton on March 13 and a 3-1 victory against FDU on March 15. The Patriots hit .428 with a total of 23 errors over the seven sets. They had eight errors to hit .481 vs. Barton, the best team hitting mark in a match this year by an EIVA team.
- NJIT also had an efficient performance, making eight errors while hitting .438 to sweep Dominican (N.Y.) 3-0 on March 13. The Highlanders have their third straight season of double-digit wins and are 9-0 at the WEC.
- After this weekend’s matches, only five non-conference contests will remain on EIVA schedules this season as the final stretch of the regular season looms.
- Penn State, which completed a West Coast trip against three top-six teams, dropped one spot to No. 16 in the AVCA top 20 while NJIT remained No. 20. Princeton is receiving votes.
- Charleston fell to No. 6 in Off The Block’s Div. II coaches’ poll.
Last Week's Top Performers
- Georgi Zahariev (Sr., S, GMU) dished out 85 assists to drive the Patriots to .428 hitting over two matches. Zahariev also had six kills on .400 hitting, two aces, three blocks and 10 digs.
- Aidan Weltin (So., PIN, GMU) had 33 kills on .365 hitting with six aces, one assist, 17 digs and three blocks. He had 22 kills on .366 hitting with four aces and 10 digs vs. FDU.
- Elijah Lazor (Sr., MB, GMU) had eight kills on an error-free 10 swings to hit .800 with an ace, two digs and three blocks. He was 6 for 6 on his swings vs. Barton.
- Robert Evangelista (Jr., OH, GMU) had 24 kills on .370 hitting with an assist, five blocks and 12 digs.
- Bruno Figueiredo (So., S, NJIT) had 30 assists to lead the Highlanders to .438 hitting, one kill, one block and six digs.
- Gustavo Chrcanovic (Fr., OH, NJIT) hit 12-1-16 .688 with two aces, two digs and a solo block.
- Andre Aleixo (Fr., OH, NJIT) had eight kills on .353 hitting with three aces and six digs.
- Petr Beranek (Jr., OH, SHU) had 11 kills, one assist, one ace, two blocks and six digs.
- Aleksa Mandic (Jr., OH, SHU) had nine kills on .471 hitting with one ace, two assists, two blocks and six digs.
- Sean Harvey (R-So., OH) had 24 kills on .294 hitting with two aces, one assist, six digs and two blocks, one solo.
- Ryan Vena (Sr., MB, PRIN) had 13 kills, two aces, two blocks and six digs vs. CSUN.
- Yotam Briger (So., S, UCWV) had 35 assists while leading the Eagle offense to .475 hitting vs. NGU on March 16. He also had a kill, three blocks and four digs.
- Joonatan Salpakari (Sr., OH, UCWV) had nine kills on .583 hitting with two aces, an assist and six digs.
- Max Nissen (Jr., OH, UCWV) hit 11-1-19 .526 with two assists, one block and five digs.
- Pavlin Ivanov (Fr., MB, UCWV) hit 9-0-13 .692 with one ace, three digs and four blocks, one solo.
EIVA Standings
EIVA Schedule
EIVA Statistics
EIVA RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
| AVCA Top 20 (Non EIVA) |
2-23 |
| Big West |
1-11 |
| Conf. Carolinas |
5-2 |
| ECC |
11-3 |
| GLVC |
0-0 |
| IVA |
6-2 |
| MIVA |
3-11 |
| MPSF |
2-7 |
| NEC |
16-3 |
| SIAC |
2-0 |
EIVA IN NCAA TOP 20 STAT RANKINGS
Div. I-II Team Leaders
(via ncaa.com through March 15)
Aces Per Set: 1. LBSU 2.80
Assists Per Set: 1. Hawai’i 13.12; 14. George Mason 11.54
Blocks Per Set: 1. Tusculum 2.810; 3. Penn State 2.685
Digs Per Set: 1. King (TN) 11.00; 16. Charleston 9.33
Hitting Percentage: 1. Hawai’I .401
Kills Per Set: 1. Hawai’i 14.21; 9. George Mason 12.63
Opponent Hitting Percentage: 1. Barry .140; 15. Penn State .218; 18. Charleston .224
Team Attacks Per Set: 1. King (TN) 30.36; 18. George Mason 27.95
Div. I-II Individual Leaders
(via ncaa.com through March 15)
Aces Per Set: 1. Alex Kandev (LBSU) .718; 13. Aleksa Mandic (SHU) .488
Assists Per Set: 1. Andrew Rowan (UCLA) 11.63; 9. Georgi Zahariev (GMU) 9.96; 18. Yotam Briger (UCWV) 9.55; 20. Bruno Figueiredo (NJIT) 9.53
Attacks Per Set: 1. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 10.08; 13. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 8.79
Blocks Per Set: 1. Owen Rose (PSU) 1.328; 11. Alexander Lillie (GMU) 1.107; 19. Tristan Whitfield (PRIN) 1.000
Digs Per Set: 1. Luca Colombo (Mt Olive) 2.96; 16. Ryan Merk (PSU) 2.32
Hitting Percentage: 1. Trevor Clark (UC Irvine) .543
Kills Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 4.50; 6. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.00; 14. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 3.71
Points Per Set: 1. Cole Hartke (Pep) 5.53; 6. Aidan Weltin (GMU) 4.65; 16. Wiktor Nowak (NJIT) 4.27
NATIONAL RANKINGS
AVCA Div. I-II Coaches’ Poll
March 16
| Rank |
School [first-place votes] |
Pts. Adj. |
Rec. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA [25] |
500 |
18-0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State |
469 |
14-2 |
2 |
| 3 |
Hawai‘i |
444 |
17-3 |
3 |
| 4 |
Southern California |
420 |
10-3 |
5 |
| 5 |
UC Irvine |
405 |
13-3 |
4 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
385 |
13-4 |
7 |
| 7 |
Loyola Chicago |
314 |
13-5 |
T-8 |
| 8 |
UC Santa Barbara |
307 |
10-7 |
11 |
| 9 |
Ball State |
298 |
17-3 |
10 |
| 10 |
BYU |
291 |
15-6 |
7 |
| 11 |
Lindenwood |
264 |
15-3 |
T-8 |
| 12 |
McKendree |
213 |
12-7 |
13 |
| 13 |
UC San Diego |
199 |
11-7 |
12 |
| 14 |
Stanford |
179 |
9-8 |
18 |
| 15 |
Lewis |
157 |
13-9 |
14 |
| 16 |
Penn State |
119 |
11-7 |
15 |
| 17 |
CSUN |
107 |
11-6 |
17 |
| 18 |
Ohio State |
100 |
10-9 |
16 |
| 19 |
Purdue Fort Wayne |
38 |
9-7 |
19 |
| 20 |
NJIT |
32 |
12-6 |
20 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots:
Princeton 4; Belmont Abbey 3
1 team mentioned on only one ballot for 2 points.
Dropped out: None
OFF THE BLOCK Media Poll
March 17
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
UCLA |
18-0 |
100 (10) |
1 |
| 2 |
Long Beach State |
14-2 |
90 |
2 |
| 3 |
UC Irvine |
13-3 |
69 |
3 |
| 4 |
USC |
10-3 |
64 |
6 |
| 5 |
Hawai’i |
17-3 |
62 |
4 |
| 6 |
Pepperdine |
13-4 |
61 |
5 |
| 7 |
Ball State |
17-3 |
30 |
9 |
| 8 |
Loyola |
13-5 |
28 |
10 |
| 9 |
Lindenwood |
15-3 |
19 |
8 |
| T-10 |
BYU |
15-6 |
11 |
7 |
| T-10 |
UC Santa Barbara |
10-7 |
11 |
RV |
Also receiving votes: McKendree 4; UC San Diego 1
Dropped out of rankings: None
OTB Div. II Coaches Poll
March 11
| Rank |
School |
Rec. |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
McKendree |
10-7 |
98 (8) |
1 |
| 2 |
Lewis |
12-7 |
92 (2) |
2 |
| 3 |
Lincoln Memorial |
9-6 |
69 |
4 |
| 4 |
Missouri S&T |
6-3 |
61 |
3 |
| 5 |
Belmont Abbey |
10-3 |
58 |
7 |
| 6 |
Charleston |
9-8 |
56 |
5 |
| 7 |
Concordia |
5-11 |
36 |
6 |
| 8 |
Rockhurst |
9-9 |
31 |
8 |
| 9 |
Mount Olive |
8-4 |
23 |
9 |
| 10 |
Barry |
13-4 |
10 |
RV |
Also receiving votes: Vanguard 7; Maryville 4; Fort Valley 3; Daemen 1; Roosevelt 1
Dropped out: Vanguard