VBelo Daily: April 24, 2026
Postseason drama is in full gear. What will today hold for the semifinals Friday?
Number of the Day
3 - Lower seeds had quite the day yesterday! Of the 6 matches, 3 of them were won by lower seeds. #6 Princeton continued their Cinderella story by taking down #2 NJIT in five. Then #3 USC took down #2 Pepperdine in the MPSF semifinals in another five set barn-burner. To really make a point, #5 UCSD went ahead and swept #4 UCSB to open the Big West Tournament. That would be the only sweep of the day!
Quick RPI Update
Here is what RPI looks like headed into the final two match days before Selection Sunday.
Yesterday’s Scores
EIVA Semifinals
Penn State (95%) def. Charleston (5%)
3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 15-8)
Princeton (27%) def. NJIT (73%)
3-2 (35-37, 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11)
MPSF Semifinals
Southern California (24%) def. Pepperdine (76%)
3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 16-14)
UCLA (82%) def. BYU (18%)
3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18)
Big West Quarterfinals
UC San Diego (37%) def. UC Santa Barbara (63%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22)
UC Irvine (91%) def. CSUN (9%)
3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-16, 25-23)
Today’s Match Projections
Big West Semifinals
Hawai’i (84%) vs UC San Diego (16%)
Long Beach (58%) vs UC Irvine (42%)
ECC Semifinals
American International (2%) vs Roberts Wesleyan (98%)
Dominican (22%) vs St. Thomas Aquinas (78%)
NEC Semifinals
Long Island (18%) vs Saint Francis (82%)
Fairleigh Dickinson (42%) vs UMES (58%)
Tonight should be electric. CSUN gave Irvine a better test than I expected, so they should be in prime form tonight. Hawaii and Long Beach had better stay off the beach this afternoon and rest up!
Semifinals are always exciting. UCI will try and cement their spot with a win today.
In the NEC will it be higher seeds or not both teams split in the regular season.
Many expect a RWU STAC final in the ECC but Dominican did defeat STAC last time out.
Fun times in the MVB world.