#15 CSUN Sweeps #3 Hawaii; LBSU, BYU, UCI, Pepperdine Win at Home
Cal State Northridge earned its first Big West win and coach Jeff Campbell his 300th win by sweeping No. 3 Hawaii. Also picking up key Big West victories were No. 1 Long Beach State and No. 5 UC Irvine, while No. 2 BYU and No. 8 Pepperdine grabbed MPSF wins.
Long Beach State Uses Balanced, Efficient Offense in 18th Win
The 49ers hit at a .390 clip and committed just six hitting errors on the night, as four players turned in seven or more kills, in a sweep of UC Santa Barbara.
Wieczorek’s All-Around Effort Lifts Pepperdine to Sweep of Concordia
Pepperdine used 13.5 blocks to stifle the Concordia offense and won the rest of the stat sheet as well in the sweep Thursday night.
Aalsmeer One-Star Field Set After Two Qualification Rounds
Bennet Poniewaz/Simon Kulzer (Germany), Daniel Jonassen/Morten Overgaard (Denmark), Koko Prasetyo Darkuncoro/Danangsyah Pribadi (Indonesia) and Kristoffer Abell/Daniel Thomsen (Denmark) bested 12 other teams to advance to Friday’s main draw.
Two Iranian Teams, 1 German, 1 Italian Win Pools at Oman One-Star
The four pool winners – Rahman Raoufi/Haman Salemiinjehboroun (Iran), Philipp Arne Bergmann/Yannick Harms (Germany) and qualifiers Aghamohammad Salagh/Abolhamed Mirzaali (Iran) and Tiziano Andreatta/Andrea Abbiati (Italy) – earn automatic berths to the quarterfinals, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Chinese Player Hui Ruoqi Gets Her Own Barbie Doll
As part of Mattel’s Barbie Inspiring Women series, icons from all arenas of life, including sport, are being made into Barbie dolls. One of the group is former Chinese women’s national team captain Hui Ruoqi, who won gold at the 2016 Olympics.
Samotlor’s Piranein Proposes to Girlfriend at Team Arena
Sergei Piranein has had a big year. The 22-year old opposite was signed to play with Yugra-Samatlor Nizhnevartovsk in the Russian Superleague in December and on March 8, he proposed to his girlfriend at the team’s arena.
Frenchman Chinenyeze Joins Asseco, Makes Debut vs. AZS Olsztyn
Twenty-year old French national Barthelemy Chinenyeze could be the savior of Asseco Resovia Rzeszow, swooping in as a medical transfer player for the side in the stead of Bartholomew Lemanski, who is out with a foot injury.
Poland/Asseco’s Mozdzonek Likely Out For Months with Thigh Injury
Former Polish captain Marcin Mozdzonek is on the shelf for now with a thigh injury, which reportedly needs surgery and will keep him out of the lineup for several months.
Charleston, Ball State Grab Five-Set Road Wins, UCLA Sweeps
Stellar blocking efforts lifted Charleston (WV) and No. 12 Ball State to five-set road victories on Wednesday night.
