Just one week remains in the MPSF regular season leading into the tournament and while BYU looks to be in prime position to take the top seed and regular season title, UCLA and Pepperdine will embark on their last stand this week (while simultaneously hoping the other can provide some help). Although it doesn’t present an opportunity for a trophy, the bottom half of the standings has an interesting race as well, with all four teams within one of the loss column or tied with each other.
With new story-lines emerging and a new season of sorts in league play commencing, VolleyMob will be giving conference updates. Below is analysis as well as the weekly MPSF table, awards, matches of the week and power rankings:
MPSF TABLE:
| TEAM | CONF. | OVERALL |
| #2 BYU | 9-1 | 19-5 |
| #3 UCLA | 7-3 | 20-6 |
| #7 Pepperdine | 7-3 | 14-6 |
| #14 Concordia Irvine | 4-7 | 13-14 |
| #19 USC | 3-7 | 7-17 |
| (RV) Stanford | 3-7 | 6-17 |
| #15 Grand Canyon | 3-8 | 16-10 |
WEEKLY HONORS:
- VolleyMob Player of the Week (Jaylen Jasper – Stanford)
- VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Gianluca Grasso – USC)
- MPSF Weekly Release/Awards
MATCHES OF THE WEEK:
- April 5: (RV) Stanford at #3 UCLA
- April 5: #2 BYU at #7 Pepperdine
- April 6: #19 USC at #15 Grand Canyon
- April 7: #2 BYU at #3 UCLA
- April 7: #19 USC at #14 Concordia Irvine
VOLLEYMOB MPSF POWER RANKINGS:
- BYU
- UCLA
- Pepperdine
- Concordia Irvine
- Grand Canyon
- USC
- Stanford
A GAUNTLET TO FINISH
- #2 BYU Cougars
Remaining regular season schedule:
- at #7 Pepperdine (7-3)
- at #3 UCLA (7-3)
Just one last week of hurdles remains for BYU, but it’s a big jump to winning the regular season MPSF crown. While they could obviously still lose in the MPSF Tournament, earning another marquee victory or two this week and garnering the regular season title would go a long way in still making the NCAA Tournament nonetheless. But the focus this week stems just on their two road tilts against the other biggest competitors in the MPSF, starting with Pepperdine and ending with UCLA. They took down both in their first meetings and would need to win just one of the pair to clinch the league title outright – as they’ve already secured at least a share.
LAST STAND
- #3 UCLA & #7 Pepperdine
With the Cougars sitting in good positioning to take the regular season crown, UCLA and Pepperdine still have one last chance. What’s interesting about it though is each team is not just relying on having to defeat BYU, but also that their counterpart will do the same. UCLA wouldn’t have needed that last week had they avoided an upset against rival USC, but fell short to stay two back. On the bright side for both, BYU also lost which makes this all possible. Beyond trying to earn a share of the MPSF title though, each team is in the discussion for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament should they fall short in the MPSF postseason. UCLA is in that role in the latest VolleyMob bracketology, but Pepperdine is right on the outside-looking-in, so at the very least an isolated win over BYU would be big for their RPI and resume, even if they fall short in the MPSF standings.
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