As the talk of NCAA women's sand volleyball gets more serious, the debate over what the consequences will be continues.

My concerns when I first heard the news were two-fold: that it could have a negative effect on indoor volleyball and whether it was really necessary considering that U.S. beach teams continue to win in its absence. Both those concerns were adequately put to the test in Ali Wood Lamberson's recent analysis.

Lamberson took note of the differences between the games and the players that she based on statistics from top indoor players and top beach players. Turns out there are some major differences. According to the stats, successful beach players are shorter, have different skills and are less likely to have been indoor All-Americans.

The point being that the majority of players who will switch to sand will not take away from the elite indoor pool. Her stats are compelling. On height - 58% of top FIVB and 40% of top AVP beach players are under 6 feet tall while only 25% of AVCA D-I All Americans were under 6 feet and 40% were over 6'2" tall.

I can't believe I missed this story from a couple of weeks ago, but it seems the national champion UCI men's volleyball team got the shaft recently in what appears to be an appalling show of partisan politics.

It looks like the resolution to honor UCI's championship was pulled from consideration by a California senator as payback in a Republican vs. Democrat/SoCal vs. NorCal water dispute.

The reporting on this story is questionable because it is based on hearsay and an uncorroborated conversation. But if this is true, this Democrat has really crossed the line and an innocent volleyball team is paying for something that has absolutely nothing to do with them.

If this is just an exaggeration or a half truth disguised as news that the Republican propaganda machine put forward to make Democrats look bad, then shame on them for that blatant misuse of power.

The disturbing part is that either way this story is totally believable. Has it really come to this? Have we devolved so far into partisan politics that our innocent collegiate sports teams need to pay the price?

This kind of ridiculousness is becoming much too commonplace on both sides. The idea that our politicians lack the maturity to make even the most benign of gestures due to spite is frightening. So too is the rhetoric that currently passes for "news." Frightening, yet all too credible.

Still no change amongst the top three this week in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Penn State, Texas and Hawaii have a stranglehold on the top spots and by the looks of their upcoming schedules, it will stay that way until the playoffs.

There was however some movement among the nest three. Washington has returned to the #4 spot after losing it briefly to Stanford last week. The Huskies are now alone atop the Pac-10. Stanford is now tied for second in the Pac-10 with UCLA after losing to the Bruins in five sets in Palo Alto.

After a rough stretch at the end of September, UCLA is back. It was a big weekend for the Bruins who have not beaten the Cardinal since 2000. UCLA also took Cal down in four sets to rise four spots in the poll to #7. They've been all over the map this season, but it looks like they are past their rough patch and are enjoying a nice run. Winning seven of their last eight matches in October has got to feel pretty good about now.

Among the teams moving the wrong way down the poll are Minnesota, who lost to unranked Ohio State in three to drop five spots, and Washington State who lost to Arizona and Arizona State in four games each and fell three spots to #24.

UC Irvine is off the list this week after a rough weekend of losses to unranked Pacific and UC Davis. The Anteaters are replaced by Northern Iowa and St. Mary's who are tied for 25th.

There was a major upset on the FIVB beach tour this weekend in China. Jen Kessy and April Ross were the #1 seed, but lost to #11 seed Simone Kuhn and Nadine Zumkehr. It was a huge moment for Kuhn and Zumekehr as they became the first team from Switzerland to win an FIVB open tournament in its 18-year history.

They had to work for it too. After losing to Akers and Turner, the Swiss pair worked their way back through the loser's bracket and faced Kessy and Ross in Zumekehr's first final four appearance ever and Kuhn's first since 2005.

Americans Angie Akers and Tyra Turner took third place in the event. There is only one more women's FIVB tour tournament left this season to be held in Thailand November 3-8.

On the men's side, Americans did not fare as well in the last men's tournament of the year. Rogers and Dalhausser did not compete in this event, Lucena/Keenean took the highest U.S. finish at 13th, and Matt Fuerbringer, playing with John Mayer for the first time, finished 17th. Nummerdor/Schuil of the Netherlands won the tournament, beating Wu/Xu of China. Herrera/Gavira of Spain took third.