M. volleyball: MPSF commissioner calls for stop to NCAA eligibility commentary

No, there was no biting, scratching or clawing between the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball coaches at their
annual meeting on Friday in Provo, Utah. Just silence, as
commissioner Al Beiard made a 10-minute opening address, calling
for a moratorium on the coaches commenting on NCAA eligibility
rulings. UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates listened and
“absolutely” plans to respect Beiard’s wishes. He
also noted that he received feedback earlier in the week during
UCLA’s practices at Smith Fieldhouse in regard to his
controversial comments on BYU’s eligibility issues. “I
received support from my fellow coaches with the exception of one
or two,” Scates said. Other matters were in fact taken care
of at the meeting. The coaches voted to recommend that beginning
next postseason, the MPSF Tournament give a bye to the regular
season conference champion, which would then have an extra week to
promote the semifinals and final it would host. The No. 7- and No.
8-seeded teams would square off in a play-in match to face the No.
2-seeded team, and the teams would be reseeded following the first
round. Currently, the remaining top seed after the first round of
the tournament hosts the semifinals and final. Also, the coaches
voted to recommend the allowance for a maximum of 13 players to
play in a match, which is up from the current 12. Scates, whose
teams traditionally have the most depth, proposed the rule change.
The MPSF committee will have to approve both recommendations for
them to change the rulebook.

ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS: Seniors Chris
Peña and libero Adam Shrader were honored as All-Americans on
Wednesday night at this year’s American Volleyball Coaches
Association awards ceremony, which took place at the Final Four at
Hawai’i. Shrader, UCLA’s all-time leader in digs, made
the first team, and Peña, a middle blocker, was a second-team
selection.

RICH GET RICHER: UCLA has signed Blake Taylor,
a 6-foot-3 outside hitter out of Bullard High School (Fresno) and
Nathan Bosza, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter out of El Toro High, to
national letters of intent. Taylor and Bosza join an incoming class
that already includes Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-foot-8 middle blocker
from Newport Harbor, Tony Ker, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter/libero
from Valencia, and D.J. Stromath, a 6-foot-8 middle blocker from
Manhattan Beach.

With reports from Sagar Parikh, Bruin Sports
contributor.