Concordia Irvine Leads the Battle for #4; MPSF Update (Mar. 21)

With just several weeks left in the regular season, the MPSF has cleared a pretty clear pecking order for the league’s title race. It also possesses a few teams with at-large bid hopes, with the final matches in league play having a huge effect on who makes the NCAA Tournament. For now though, the big story comes around where everyone will be seeded for the conference tournament, with a tight battle for the fourth hosting spot in the quarterfinal round.

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:

WEEKLY HONORS:

• VolleyMob Player of the Week (David Wieczorek – Pepperdine)
• VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Christian Hessenauer – UCLA)
• MPSF Weekly Release/Awards

MATCHES OF THE WEEK:

• Mar. 23: #14 Concordia Irvine at #13 Grand Canyon
• Mar. 24: #14 Concordia Irvine at Benedictine
• Mar. 24: #14 Concordia Irvine at Ottawa
• Mar. 24: #4 UC Irvine at #19 USC

VOLLEYMOB MPSF POWER RANKINGS:

1. BYU
2. UCLA
3. Pepperdine
4. Concordia Irvine
5. Grand Canyon
6. USC
7. Stanford

CLINCHED TOP-FOUR SEED

• #2 BYU, #3 UCLA, #6 Pepperdine

While BYU is also in the lead race for the top seed and a bye in the opening round, they are in the same discussion with UCLA and Pepperdine for teams who have clinched a top four seed – meaning the opportunity to host a quarterfinal match. All three of these teams can’t just rest on their laurels though with that, as even if BYU runs the table and wins the league, UCLA and Pepperdine would have legitimate shots at earning an at-large bid. That should make for a great finish to league play with all three battling it out to the finish line for both conference and national importance.

THE FIGHT FOR #4

• Everyone Else

Currently the leader in the clubhouse for the #4 spot is Concordia Irvine, who has a match lead over five and six and a two-match edge over number seven. That’s a big deal as the four-seed gets a first-round playoff match at their home court, and the Eagles have shown the ability to beat good teams this year, meaning if they can take care of their home court they’d get a shot at the top team (likely BYU). It’s not a done-deal on the race though, as Grand Canyon and USC are right on their heels. Even Stanford is still alive but hasn’t shown enough life to make that seem as possible. A closing week featuring USC at Grand Canyon on April 6 and USC at Concordia Irvine on April 7 could be the determining factor in the race for number four as well as Concordia Irvine’s big match at Grand Canyon this week.