Men's Volleyball | 1/9/2015 2:26:00 PM

Release from AVCA

Tournament Central (includes links to live stats/video)

The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is pleased to announce this weekend's schedule for the 2015 Men's AVCA College Volleyball Showcase. It will feature two schools from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) playing at Maples Pavilion on the campus of Stanford University. All of the matches will be played over the course of two days beginning this Friday, January 9th and Saturday, January 10th. This marks the first AVCA Showcase on the men's side.
 
The matches kick off on January 9th at 5pm PT with the defending national champions and No. 2 Loyola-Chicago playing No. 6 BYU. Following the conclusion of that match, the No. 10 ranked Stanford Cardinal takes the floor to play No. 9 Lewis. On Saturday, the matches start at the same times when BYU plays Lewis with the marquee matchup to follow. At approximately 7pm PT we will have a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship Match between Loyola-Chicago and host Stanford. The match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks for those unable to attend live.
 
All four teams competing in the AVCA Showcase are ranked in the top-10 of the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll. The Ramblers of LUC are the highest sitting at No. 2 and are poised to make another run in 2015. They return five starters from last year's championship squad including AVCA First-Team All-American outside hitter Thomas Jaeschke and All-America Honorable Mentions Cody Caldwell and Nicholas Olson. In total, they return nine letter-winners and are the preseason favorites to win the conference as picked by their conference coaches.
 
BYU checks in at No. 6 as they look to duplicate last year's strong campaign. The Cougars will try and make it three consecutive MPSF Championships using the senior experience of Jaylen Reyes, Josue Rivera and Tyler Heap. However, they make up just three of the 13 total returning letter-winners from last year's NCAA Semifinals team. They will also rely on right side Tim Dobbert (All-MPSF Freshman Team) and middle blocker Michael Hatch (All-MPSF Honorable Mention) to shoulder the load. Despite the loss of four-time AVCA All-American Taylor Sander, 2013 AVCA Coach of the Year Chris McGown will have his team ready to navigate difficult non-conference and MPSF play.
 
The Lewis Flyers hold the No. 9 spot looking to make their third NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons. They return what many consider to be the best outside hitter duo in the country with 2013 AVCA First-Team All-American Geoff Powell (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) and 2013 All-America Honorable Mention Greg Petty (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North). Even with the graduation of three-time AVCA All-American setter BJ Boldog (Palatine, Ill./Palatine), Lewis shouldn't take a significant back since they have such strong players with proven track records all over the court.

Host Stanford rounds out the AVCA Showcase currently tied for 10th in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll with Hawai'i. They return four starters from last year's NCAA Runner-up finish, including AVCA Second-Team All-American setter James Shaw and All-America Honorable Mention middle blocker Conrad Kaminski. Picked to finish ninth in the deep MPSF, the Cardinal will try to end their season in the same place as the AVCA Showcase. Stanford will also host the NCAA Championship May 7-9 with the play-in matches scheduled for May 5th.