NCAA volleyball: Ohio State bounces back; Minnesota, Florida, UK win; all the results from Saturday
NCAA Men
Lee Feinswog
March 14, 2021
If there was any doubt that Ohio State belonged in the top echelon of this year’s Big Ten battle, the Buckeyes dispelled that notion with a five-set win at Nebraska on Saturday, a day after losing to the Huskers in five.
Loyola Marymount dealt San Diego its first loss with a five-set West Coast Conference victory.
Southeastern Louisiana not only beat Stephen F. Austin, but broke SFA’s 42-match Southland Conference winning streak.
Crystal Burke had 27 kills, 16 digs, and four blocks, two solo, for South Dakota State in a five-set Summit League win over North Dakota.
At least three players named Lauren led their teams in kills and two others had key roles for theirs.
And Lamar finally got a victory.
In NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball, Lees-McRae of Conference Carolinas won a match after opening with 13 defeats, beating Belmont Abbey in five. And Belmont Abbey’s Matteo Miselli had 27 kills.
The recaps follow, but first Sunday’s NCAA Division I women’s schedule that includes five Pac-12 matches.
Nebraska’s Lexi Sun and Kayla Caffey are all over the set by Ohio State’s Mac Podraza/Maddie Washburn, Nebraska Communications
BIG TEN — Ohio State (13-1) has gone to five sets on eight different occasions this spring season. And the only one the Buckeyes didn’t win was on Friday at Nebraska, their first loss of the year. Make it 7-1 in five-setter after Ohio State came away with a 25-20, 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-13 Saturday, dropping the Huskers to 10-2.
Ohio State, which had lost its last six to Nebraska and hadn’t swept the Huskers since 2015, hit .280. Emily Londot led with 18 kills, an assist, five blocks, and 10 digs. Vanja Bukilic had 16 kills, hit .300, and had a block and a dig. Rylee Rader had eight blocks and 10 kills, including the match winner, with no errors in 24 attacks to hit .417. Lauren Witte had nine kills in 14 errorless attempts, two aces and two blocks, and Gabby Gonzales had nine kills, three assists, an ace, three blocks, and nine digs. Setter Mac Podraza had four kills in 13 errorless atttempts, 49 assists, two aces, a block, and 13 digs. Kylie Murr had 11 digs, eight assists, and an ace.
Lexi Sun led Nebraska with 22 kills, an assist, two aces, and eight digs. Lauren Stivrins had 16 kills, hit .400, and added five blocks. Madi Kubik had 13 kills, an assist, two blocks, and 10 digs. Nicklin Hames had three kills in eight errorless attempts, 57 assists, two blocks, and 14 digs. Her team hit .244…
Minnesota (11-1) swept visiting Illinois (2-10) as Regan Pittman had 13 blocks, one solo, in the 25-21, 25-23, 25-13 victory. She also had five kills with one error in 10 attacks. Stephanie Samedy led with 11 kills, an assist, three blocks and nine digs.
Illinois,which hit .024, played without head coach Chris Tamas and volunteer assistant Jen Tamas for the two matches becuase of COVID-19 contact tracing within the Tamas family. Raina Terry led with 11 kills …
Michigan (4-3) got 17 kills from May Pertofsky and beat visiting Indiana (3-13) in four. Pertofsky had one error in 27 attacks to hit .593 in the 30-28, 20-25, 25-17, 25-19 victory and added six aces and three digs. Jess Mruzik had 16 kills and Kayla Bair had 11 with one error in 16 attacks and added four aces, a solo block, and three digs. Paige Jones, who had 37 kills in Michigan’s win over IU on Friday, had four kills and hit minus .241. Four Hoosiers had 10 or more kills, 13 by Breanna Edwards, who hit .440 and had four digs and two blocks, one solo …
Maryland (4-10) swept visiting Iowa (3-11) as the Terps hit .349 and Erika Pritchard led with 13 kills in the 25-21, 25-16, 25-20 victory. Pritchard had no errors in 26 attacks, five digs, and three blocks, one solo …
Penn State (7-5) overpowered visiting Rutgers (2-12) 25-11, 25-20, 25-16, hitting .438. Nine Nittany Lions had kills, led by Annie Cate Fitzpatrick with 11 as she hit .421 and had two aces, dive digs, and two blocks, one solo. Kaitlyn Hord had eight kills in 15 errorless swings and five blocks …
Northwestern-Wisconsin and Michigan State-Purdue were postponed.
SEC —Florida (16-2) routed visiting Missouri (11-7) as the Gators won their 11th in a row. Holly Carlton led a balanced attack with 12 kills in the 25-10, 25-19, 25-18 sweep. She had one error in 15 attacks to hit .733 and had an assist, an ace, a block, and three digs. Kylie Deberg had 14 kills for Mizzou, which hit .094 …
Kentucky (16-0) had to go four to beat visiting Ole Miss (1-17) as Avery Skinner and Alli Stumler had 16 kills each in the 25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 25-13 victory. Skinner hit .344 and had two blocks and 10 digs, and Stumler had an ace, three blocks, and nine digs. Madison Lilley had four kills in six errorless tries, 51 assists, and nine digs. Ole Miss got 16 kills from Anna Bair …
LSU (6-11) won the first two sets against visiting South Carolina (12-7) but had to win in five as Taylor Bannister had 25 kills in the 25-18, 25-9, 21-25, 21-25, 15-8 victory. Bannister hit .345 and had an assist, two aces, six digs, and four blocks. Hannah Brister had 12 kills, hit .379, and had a block and a dig. Karli Rose had two kills, 50 assists, an ace, three blocks, and nine digs as her team hit .313. South Carolina’s Riley Whitesides had 19 kills and seven digs and Mikayla Robinson had 10 kills, hit .364, and had three blocks …
Tennessee (9-6) hit .306 and won 18-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-21 at Arkansas (11-8) as Lily Felts and Morgahn Fingall had 16 kills apiece and Jasmine Brooks had 14. Natalie Hayward had two kills in six errorless tries, 47 assists, two aces, a block and 11 digs, and Madison Bryant had 26 digs and nine assists. Taylor Head led Arkansas with 15 kills and 13 digs …
Georgia (5-11) broke its eight-match losing streak by beating visiting Texas A&M (9-5) 22-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-22, 15-8. Mallory Hernandez and Kacie Evans had 20 kills each and Amber Stivrins 16. Hernandez complemented her career high by hitting .500 and she had an assist, a dig, and five blocks, one solo. Evans had an ace, 13 digs, and two blocks, one solo, and Stivrins had an assist, two aces, six digs, and three blocks, one solo. Four Aggies had 10 or more kills, 12 by London Austin-Roark, who hit .550 and had nine blocks, one solo. Camille Conner had six kills in 16 errorless attempts, 44 assists, an ace, and nine digs.
ACC —Louisville (8-2, 7-2) hit .365 and swept Duke (8-5, 6-5) in a match played at Clemson. Claire Chaussee led with 12 kills, two assists, three aces, three blocks, and nine digs. Tori Dilfer had four kills in seven errorless tries, 31 assists, an ace, three blocks, and 13 digs …
Miami (7-4) hit .392 and swept visiting Virginia (2-11, 0-11). Elizaveta Lukianova led with 15 kills, a dig, and two blocks, one solo …
Notre Dame (10-2, 9-2) hit .327 and swept Virginia Tech (5-5, 5-4) at Florida State. Aubrey Hamilton led with 11 kills. She had one error in 24 attacks, a block, and four digs …
And Pitt (9-4, 8-4) hit .483 swept NC State (5-7, 4-7) in a match played at Wake Forest. The Panthers had 47 kills and five errors in 87 attacks. Kayla Lund led with 13 kills as she hit .632 after having one error in 19 attacks to go with two assists, two aces, and seven digs.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC — Houston and UCF both again won to stay unbeaten and atop the respective divisions. Houston (12-2, 8-0) won the West when it swept visiting Memphis (5-7, 2-6). Abbie Jackson and Rachel Tullos had nine kills each. Tullos had six blocks, two solo …
UCF (12-1, 6-0) beat visiting Cincinnati (6-5, 4-2) again to win the East. McKenna Melville led with 13 kills, three assists, seven digs, and four blocks, one solo. Nerissa Moravec not only had eight kills in 11 errorless attacks, but 11 blocks ..
Also, Temple won in four at East Carolina, Tulane beat visiting Wichita State in five, and SMU swept visiting Tulsa.
ASUN — Lipscomb (12-9, 9-1) lost the first set but came back to beat visiting Kennesaw State (10-2) in four to take sole possession of first place. Four Bison had 10 or more kills, led by Kamryn Bacus, who had 19, hit .348, and added a block and a dig. Lauren Chastang had 19 kills for KSU and two aces, three blocks, and 12 digs …
Erin Shomaker had 20 kills, Cortney VanLiew 17 and FGCU (10-2, 8-2) kept pace with sweep of Stetson (5-5, 5-4). FGCU hit .370. Shomaker had two errors in 38 attacks and an ace and 10 digs … Bellarmine beat visiting Liberty in four and North Florida swept Jacksonville.
BIG EAST — Creighton (8-2, 5-1) closed league play with a sweep at Butler (4-8, 1-5) despite hitting .129. Keeley Davis and Jaela Zimmerman had 12 kills each … Providence beat UConn in four … Jordan McCalla had 20 kills as St. John’s won in four at Seton Hall … Jill Pressly led with 15 kills and 17 digs as DePaul (6-5) beat the Big 12’s Iowa State (6-12) in four … Marquette at Xavier was canceled.
BIG SKY — First-place Weber State hit .414 and improved to 12-1 with a sweep at Idaho State (4-11, 2-11). Weber State had 42 kills and six errors in 87 attacks. Rylin Adams led with 15 kills as she hit .464 and had an ace and eight digs … Portland State won in four at Sacramento State … Eastern Washington broke its eight-match losing streat to Idaho and won in four … Two of the three league matches Sunday have been called off, Southern Utah at Montana State and Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado.
MID-AMERICAN — Western Michigan (12-3) stayed atop the West Division with a sweep at Akron (4-12), winning the third set 30-28. Rachel Bontrager had 20 kills, which included career No. 1,500, and hit .459 to go with four blocks and 12 digs …
Second-place Central Michigan (9-5) had to go five to win at Toledo (3-10). CMU, which hit .134, got 19 kills from Savannah Thompson, who had two assists, two aces, a block, and 11 digs. Kendall Braate had 25 digs, four assists, and two aces … Buffalo swept Northern Illinois … Miami lost the first two sets and then beat visiting Ohio in five. Sarah Wojick had 16 kills, hit .306, and had two aces, four digs, and four blocks, one solo.
MOUNTAIN WEST — Boise State (10-2) kept winning with a sweep at Nevada (3-9). Lauren Ohlinger led with 16 kills as she hit .500 and had three aces, a block, and seven digs … San Jose State hit .323 and beat Colorado State for the first time since 2017 as Haylee Nelson had 22 kills in the five-set victory. Nelson had two assists, two aces, 12 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Latahevai Lousi had 19 kills, hit .333, and had two assists, 14 digs, and four blocks, two solo .. KC McMahon had 19 kills as Wyoming won in four at Fresno State, which got 22 kills from Amaria Kelley …UNLV-New Mexico was canceled.
SOUTHLAND — Southeastern Louisiana (8-3, 6-2) scored a big victory by knocking off visiting Stephen F. Austin (19-5, 7-1), which had won 42 Southland matches in a row. While SLU was winning its fifth in a row, SFA lost an SLC match for the first time since 2017. Kailin Newsome had 17 kills, two assists, an ace, a block, and 12 digs for SLU, which hit .173. Ansley Tullis had 25 digs and an assist. Peyton Cerny had nine kills for SFA, which hit .155 … Alexis Stumbough had 20 kills, an ace, a block, and 18 digs as Central Arkansas won in four at Houston Baptist … Katelyn Mueller had 18 killls, an assist, a block, and 11 digs, as Abiliene Christian won in four at New Orlean … UIW got 23 kills from Bethany Clapp as it won in four at Northwestern State . Clapp hit .327 and had two blocks and 13 digs …. Lamar got its first victory to improve to 1-12 overall and 1-7 in the SLC as it beat Nicholls in five.
SUMMIT LEAGUE — Kansas City (11-1) won in four at Oral Roberts (2-12, 2-10) as Melanie Brecka had 21 kills, a block, and 14 digs … South Dakota (11-4, 10-1) stayed right behind with a four-set win at Denver (9-2). Elizabeth Juhnke led with 16 kills, four assists, 10 digs, and three blocks, one solo as her team won its seventh in a row … Sadie Limback stayed hot as Omaha won in five at North Dakota State. Limback had 25 kills with one error in 45 attacks to hit .533 and added two digs and four blocks, one solo … And Crystal Burke had 27 kills, 16 digs, and four blocks, two solo, as South Dakota State beat visiting North Dakotain five. UND’s Lexi Ahrens had 20 kills, two blocks, and three digs.
WEST COAST — Loyola Marymount (5-7) beat visiting San Diego (11-1) 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 16-14 for its first victory over the Toreros since 2017. Audrey Kemp led with 21 kills, hit .302, and had an assist, an ace, eight digs, and seven blocks, one solo. Kari Geissberger had 17 kills, two blocks, and two digs. Roxie Wiblin had 18 kills for USD and added an assist, three aces, nine digs, and three blocks, one solo. Thana Fayad had 16 kills, hit .394, and had three digs and two blocks …
Pepperdine (11-2) swept at Portland (2-12). Rachel Ahrens led with 13 kills, two aces, a block, and eight digs … Gonzaga swept visiting Santa Clara … Saint Mary’s won in four at San Francisco despite 21 kills by USF’s Greta Corti, who hit .409 and had an assist and 15 digs.
AROUND THE NATION — In a Big 12 match, Kansas (8-10, 7-9) won at TCU (1-114, 1-11). Jenny Mosser led with 15 kills and three blocks, one solo …
The two Colonial Athletic Association matches saw Delaware win in four at Northeastern and College of Charleston win in four at UNCW …
Niagara opened its season by sweeping visiting Manhattan twice in the Metro Atlantic …
Morehead State (11-0) swept visiting Belmont (1-10) to become the first Ohio Valley Conference program to get 1,000 victories. Olivia Lohmeier and Lauren Rokey had 15 kills each.
MEN — In the MPSF Saturday, BYU (10-2) swept visiting Stanford (0-7). Gabi Garcia Fernandez led with 11 kills and hit .470 in the 25-19, 25-22, 25-15 victory. He also had five blocks … Pepperdine (9-4) beat visiting UCLA (8-3) in four as Spencer Wickens had 12 kills, five assists, an ace, two blocks, and seven digs, and Austin Wilmot had 12 kills, hit .550, and had two aces, three digs, and nine blocks, one solo. Cole Ketrzynski had 15 kills for UCLA … USC (2-7) hit .441 and beat visiting Concordia (3-7) in four as Billy Fauntleroy had 17 kills and Clay Dickinson added 16. Raymond Barsemian had 19 kills for Concordia …
Hawai’i (7-0, 2-0) made it a 3-0 visit to UC Santa Barbara (4-3, 0-2) as the Rainbow Warriors won in the Big West 25-22, 25-19, 26-24. Rado Parapunov had 20 kills and hit .438 and had four aces. Hawai’i hit .416 ..
In the EIVA, NJIT (11-3, 11-1) is off to is best start since 2007 as the Highlanders won their ninth in a row, a sweep at Sacred Heart. Julian Meissner had nine kills and Griffin Fieseler had 30 assists … George Mason (9-5, 6-4) swept Charleston (4-8). Hayden Wagner led with 12 kills … Penn State-Saint Francis was canceled …
And a long Conference Carolinas nightmare is finally over as Lees-McRae (1-13, 1-8) beat visiting Belmont Abbey (7-5, 4-3) 25-14, 16-25, 17-25, 27-25, 18-16. Ethan Gardner led with 12 kills as he hit .375 and had an assist, an ace, a dig, and four blocks, one solo. Max Kuntz had 11 kills, five blocks, and six digs. Belmont Abbey not only got 27 kills from Matteo Miselli, but outhit L-M .266-.208. Miselli had had three assists, three aces, a block, and four digs.
