VBelo Daily: April 17, 2026
Penultimate regular season matches and updated tournament projections for some conference semifinals.
Number of the Day
20 - When middles are firing on all cylinders, you are in a great position. Last night, #1 UCLA put on a clinic for middles. The Bruins middles combined for 20 kills on 29 attacks and only 1 error. That is a combined .655 in the 4-set win over BYU. All of these numbers are just hard to make sense of.
Yesterday’s Scores
IVA Tournament
Quarterfinals
#4 Tusculum (61%) def. #5 Merrimack (39%)
3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-13)
#3 Catawba (53%) def. #6 UPR-Rio Piedras (47%)
3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-16)
SIAC Tournament
Quarterfinals
#4 Edward Waters (91%) def. #5 Kentucky State (9%)
3-2 (24-26, 19-25, 25-21, 25-10, 15-10)
Kentucky State was so close to a massive upset win. For a team that had to cancel their season last year, this was definitely a way to finish the season with your head held high.
MPSF
UCLA (94%) def. BYU (6%)
3-1 (25-14, 17-25, 25-17, 25-18)
Pepperdine (56%) def. Southern California (44%)
3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 29-27)
Today’s Match Projections
IVA Tournament
Semifinals
#1 Lincoln Memorial (81%) vs #4 Tusculum (19%)
#3 Catawba (10%) vs #2 Barry (90%)
5th Place Match
#5 Merrimack (63%) vs #6 UPR-Rio Piedras (37%)
SIAC
Semifinals
#1 Fort Valley State (80%) vs #4 Edward Waters (20%)
#3 Benedict (46%) vs #2 Central State (54%)
Big West
Huge seeding implications today for the Big West. Hawaii can lock up the top seed with one win this weekend. Long Beach also needs just one win to secure a bye in the conference tournament.
UC Irvine (29%) vs Long Beach (71%)
CSUN (3%) vs Hawai’i (97%)
EIVA
Penn State, George Mason, NJIT, Charleston and Sacred Heart have all secured spots in the postseason. Harvard needs one win this weekend to secure the sixth, and final spot. Penn State can secure the top spot with one win. NJIT has the tiebreaker over GMU, if that ends up coming into play for a bye.
Sacred Heart (10%) vs NJIT (90%)
George Mason (22%) vs Penn State (78%)
Princeton (40%) vs Harvard (60%)
GLVC
Missouri S&T, Maryville, Rockhurst, and Roosevelt have locked down the four spots in the GLVC Tournament. Missouri S&T and Maryville play on Saturday in a match that will decide the top seed. There is also a scenario where Rockhurst jumps into the top two, but at that point, the matchup is the same #2 vs #3.
Quincy (44%) vs Southwest Baptist (56%)
Jamestown (54%) vs Thomas More (46%)
Roosevelt (19%) vs Rockhurst (81%)
MPSF
Seeding for the MPSF is done by committee. Conference record is a factor, but ultimately not the only factor.
UC Merced (7%) vs Jessup (93%)
Vanguard (58%) vs Concordia (42%)
Stanford (93%) vs Menlo (7%)
NEC
The top seed will be decided this weekend as SFU and FDU play two matches to end the season. The last two spots could get really interesting as Daemen has completed their regular season and Manhattan and UMES face off this weekend.
Fairleigh Dickinson (28%) vs Saint Francis (72%)
Manhattan (29%) vs UMES (71%)
D’Youville (5%) vs Long Island (95%)
A ton of 1 vs 2 match ups to end the regular season. Some very important matches all over the US and seeding for tournament games and possible at large NCAApossibilities. Tonight will be great scoreboard watching. All to play for in the NEC, EIVA.