BYU men's volleyball: Poll update

BYU has returned atop the CBS College Sports Network/AVCA men’s coaches Top 15 poll (I sure liked the poll’s name better when it was “CSTV/AVCA”).
BYU’s weekend sweep of Pepperdine and Penn State’s weekend loss to then-No. 14 George Mason initiated the shuffle, with former the former No. 2 Cougars moving up and the former No. 1 and previously unbeaten Nittany Lions falling to No. 4.
Here’s a look at the leading 10 teams from this week’s Top 15 and how the Cougars have fared against each to date:
1. BYU (16-1) – 12 first-place votes, 234 points, up from No. 2.
2. Cal State Northridge (15-4) – 2 first-place votes, 217 points, up from No. 3. The Cougars swept the Matadors in two early February matches, and CSUN hasn’t lost since, racking up 10 straight victories, including wins over UC Irvine, UCLA and Long Beach State.
3. Long Beach State (15-2) – 1 first-place vote, 207 points, from No. 4. The Cougars travel to The Beach next week for a pair of road MPSF matches. The 49ers’ two losses were to Pepperdine and Northridge.
4. Penn State (19-1) – 1 first-place vote, 205 points, down from No. 1. If the Cougars and Nittany Lions meet, it will have to be in the NCAA Final Four.
5. Pepperdine (8-7), steady at No. 5. The Cougars posted two rare sweeps over the Waves this weekend – a 3-0 sweep in Saturday’s match and a back-to-back victories for a sweep of the regular-season series.
6. Stanford (14-7), up from No. 7. With the two-match split in Provo in late February, the Cardinal is the only team to down the Cougars so far this season.
7. Ball State (14-6), up from No. 9. Another non-MPSF team not on BYU’s regular-season schedule.
8. UC Irvine (10-11), down from No. 6. The Cougars swept a pair at the defending NCAA and MPSF champion Anteaters in mid-February.
9. UCLA (13-9), up from No. 10. The Cougars face the host Bruins in Pauley Pavilion twice this week – Thursday and Friday – in the first of two tough back-to-back BYU road trips this month. Before beating Lewis, UC Santa Cruz and UCI last week, UCLA had lost four straight matches and six of the previous eight outings.
10. Southern California (9-11), down from No. 8. The Trojans’ best wins so far have been sweeping the two regular-season meetings with UCLA.
Obviously, the next two weeks – at UCLA and at Long Beach for a pair of matches each – are critical for the Cougars in their drive for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title, the right to host the MPSF tournament and the goal of reaching the NCAA Final Four.
After the next two weeks, the two final homestands – vs. USC and vs. UC Santa Barbara – should be winnable, and the early April trip to Hawaii – while always long, playing in front of a rabid Honolulu home crowd – is not as daunting as in past seasons. The No. 14 Warriors are struggling at 8-9 overall.