Fairfax, Va. – According to coaches and media members alike, last week George Mason University's men's volleyball team finished its best season of the century to date.
The Patriots, led by the 2016 Bob Sweeney EIVA Coach of the Year Jay Hosack, earned 104 points in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association poll of 2016 to retain its No. 11 rank from two weeks ago. The nation's coaches awarded Mason with 14 additional points in the poll after the Patriots took a set from eventual national champion Ohio State in the play-in match of the 2016 Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship last week.
This marks the second time in the 21st century that the team is ranked in the final edition of the AVCA poll. Last time that happened was in 2008, when the team finished the season with a 20-8 overall record, but its season was cut short in the EIVA title match by another eventual national champion, Penn State.
Additionally, Hosack's team received recognition in the final edition of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Media Poll, which ranks the top 10 teams in the country. The Patriots ranked No. 9 with 18 points, which placed them above this year's MIVA finalist and the 2015 national runner-up Lewis.
AVCA Division I-II Men's Final Poll:
|
Rank
|
School (First-Place Votes)
|
Total Points Adjusted
|
2016 Record
|
Previous Week
|
|
1
|
Ohio State (19)
|
299
|
31-3
|
2
|
|
2
|
BYU (1)
|
280
|
27-4
|
1
|
|
3
|
UCLA
|
261
|
25-7
|
3
|
|
4
|
Long Beach State
|
238
|
25-8
|
4
|
|
5
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
215
|
20-10
|
5
|
|
6
|
Stanford
|
201
|
19-6
|
6
|
|
7
|
Pepperdine
|
170
|
13-11
|
7
|
|
8
|
Hawai'i
|
147
|
16-12
|
8
|
|
9
|
Lewis
|
140
|
19-13
|
9
|
|
10
|
Loyola-Chicago
|
105
|
20-8
|
10
|
|
11
|
George Mason
|
104
|
18-12
|
11
|
|
12
|
Penn State
|
55
|
19-10
|
12
|
|
13
|
Ball State
|
49
|
20-9
|
13
|
|
14
|
CSUN
|
46
|
14-15
|
14
|
|
15
|
Saint Francis
|
42
|
19-10
|
15
|
Source: American Volleyball Coaches Association
OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. NATIONAL MEDIA POLL (2016 FINAL)
|
Rank
|
School (First-Place Votes)
|
Points
|
|
1
|
Ohio State (10)
|
100
|
|
2
|
BYU
|
89
|
|
3
|
UCLA
|
81
|
|
4
|
Long Beach State
|
69
|
|
5
|
Stanford
|
57
|
|
6
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
52
|
|
7
|
Pepperdine
|
37
|
|
8
|
Hawai'i
|
22
|
|
9
|
George Mason
|
18
|
|
10
|
Lewis
|
10
|
Source: Off The Block
ABOUT THE POLL
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Media Poll is the only national rankings in college men's volleyball solely determined by media members. The 10 teams receiving the most votes are ranked in National Media Poll, while other schools earning votes but finishing outside of the top 10 are considered teams receiving votes. Teams eligible for this poll must compete at the NCAA Division I-II level or must be in the process of transitioning to the NCAA Division I-II level. The voting committee for the National Media Poll is comprised of college men's volleyball media members from around the nation and were selected by Off the Block. A new National Media Poll will be released on the Off the Block website every Tuesday during the regular season.
