There's growth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, but it's still the usual suspects that lead the preseason poll.
The league has added two new schools, Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Menlo College (Atherton, Calif.), bringing the total number of teams to eight.
Back-to-back defending NCAA Champion UCLA was picked to win a fourth-straight regular season conference title in the 2025 MPSF Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' poll released on Monday, collecting the maximum possible totals of 64 points and eight first-place votes. The Bruins, under first-year Head Coach John Hawks, return two-time AVCA First-Team All-American setter Andrew Rowan and All-American pin hitters Cooper Robinson and Ido David. Further, all-conference and all-tournament middle blocker Cameron Thorne has transferred in from Grand Canyon.
Projected to make the largest leap in the standings from last year, USC placed second in the poll with 51 points. Two-time AVCA All-American Dillon Klein (3.44 K/S) returns on the outside as does Trojan second-leading scorer Jack Deuchar (2.98 K/S, 25 SA). In the middle, all-freshman honoree Wesley Smith is also back (73 TB), while two-time All-American Guy Genis has transferred in.
BYU took the No. 3 spot with 48 points along with the remaining first-place vote. The Cougars, who also finished third in 2024, bring back AVCA All-American outside hitters Miks Ramanis and Luke Benson, as well as All-MPSF senior middle blocker Teon Taylor (73 TB). BYU also welcomes Hawaii transfer Keoni Thiim, who started nearly half of UH's matches last year as an outside hitter.
Pepperdine collected 45 points for fourth-place. The Waves have 12 returning players, including redshirt juniors Ryan Barnett (200 K, 82 digs, 14 SA), Kevin Roberts, and Cole Rasic. Ethan Watson is also back from an MPSF Freshman of the Year season (74 TB).
Defending MPSF Champion and NCAA Semifinalist Grand Canyon was picked in the middle with 39 points. The 'Lopes return opposite Jarrett Anderson, who enters 2025 as the nation's active leader in service aces (264) across all divisions. Anderson had 19 kills (.405) at No. 1 UCLA at the end of the regular season, and later, 12 kills and nine digs in the MPSF title match. Transfer Trent Moser, formerly on the MPSF's all-freshman team, adds to the GCU hitting depth. The 'Lopes are also experienced at libero with Cooper Herndon.
Stanford placed sixth in the poll with 31 points. The Cardinal does not have a senior on the 2025 roster. The most experience returning is junior outside hitter/opposite Theo Snoey, who has seen significant time in his first two years. Juniors Theoren Brouillette, Ryan DuRoss, Alex Rottman, and Moses Wagner also have some on-court experience.
Concordia (21), Vanguard (16), and Menlo (9) round out the 2025 MPSF Coaches' poll. MPSF All-Freshman pin hitters Ties Cornelison and Christian Galoppo return for the Golden Eagles. Three starters return from NAIA semifinalist Vanguard; Reza Tahmasebi (2.39 K/S, .313, 74 digs), Micah Sybesma (1.59 K/S, .488, 55 TB) and Sean Nguyen (35 A, 59 digs). Julius Steimer, meanwhile, accumulated 204 kills, 22 service aces and 24 blocks for Menlo last year.
First serve to the 2025 season is January 3. Each MPSF team is scheduled for 12 regular season conference matches, beginning in mid-February. The MPSF Championship Tournament will be hosted by Pepperdine (Apr. 22-26), with the champion earning automatic entry to the NCAA Tournament two weeks later at Ohio State.
IRVING, Texas -- Delaney Gibb was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week after scoring a career-high 26 points in BYU's win over Washington State, the conference announced on Monday afternoon.
"Delaney continues to show why she is such a special talent," said head coach Amber Whiting. "The way she approaches the game shows a maturity that is well beyond her years. Her ability to score at all three levels paired with her vision makes her a difficult guard and allows her to make the players around her better. Delaney has a great feel for the game and knows what her team needs from her and how to accomplish it."
With the Freshman of the Week honor, Gibb becomes the first player to earn two Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors this season. In BYU's two wins this week, Gibb was an efficient 63 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from downtown en route averaging 20 points a game to lead the Cougars.
The freshman scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, going 2-for-4 from three in BYU's win over cross-town rival Utah Valley. The Raymond, Alberta, Canada native also tallied four assists, two rebounds and a steal in the win.
Gibb finished the week with a career-high 26 points at Washington State to lift the Cougars to a 15-point win. The freshman went 11-for-16 from the field and 3-of-5 from deep. Gibb scored 21 points in the second half, including a personal 8-0 run in the third and seven of the final nine points to help BYU overcome a halftime deficit to earn its third road win of the non-conference slate. The freshman also recorded six rebounds and three assists in the win.
Gibb and the Cougars will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 21 as they welcome the Arizona Wildcats to the Marriott Center to open Big 12 play. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with tip-off set for 2 p.m. MT. Fans can also tune in to BYU Radio, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio app for live play-by-play with Jason Shepherd.