Two teams clinched their respective regular-season championships Sunday in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, Stony Brook in the America East and Rice in Conference USA.
No. 14 Michigan knocked off No. 5 Wisconsin.
Florida State, which started the season 1-4, is now alone in second place in the ACC after beating No. 24 Louisville behind 28 kills by Payton Caffrey and looks to break into the AVCA top 25 that will be released later Monday.
And in what has been a tough season for North Carolina, Sunday had a bright moment when the Tar Heels beat Wake Forest and coach Joe Sagula got his 800th career victory, 597th at UNC.
The recaps, links and notes, follow.
Monday’s schedule includes just six matches.
Links to every NCAA Division I match that is being broadcast or streamed can be found at the VolleyballMag.com daily TV listings.
ACC: Louisville (18-7, 11-3) and idle Syracuse (15-7, 11-3) are now tied for third after No. 19 Pittsburgh (25-1, 13-1) beat Clemson (14-13, 5-9) and Florida State (16-8, 12-2) topped the Cardinals.
Nika Markovic had 16 kills, nine digs and five blocks for Pitt. Florida State’s Caffrey not only had her 28 kills, but hit .446 and had seven digs and three blocks, one solo, as the Seminoles beat a ranked team for the first time in two years. Amanda Green led Louisville with 23 kills and hit .370 to go with 15 digs, an ace and four blocks, two solo.
Also Notre Dame (15-9, 9-5) swept Miami (13-8, 9-5) to create a tie between them for fifth. Georgia Tech (16-11, 5-9) beat Virginia (7-17, 3-11) in four, Virginia Tech (14-12, 5-9) swept Boston College (13-13, 3-11), and NC State (12-12, 6-8) beat Duke (14-9, 8-6) in five.
North Carolina (6-17, 2-11) swept Wake Forest (8-18, 3-11) but still stands in last place.
“This is a testament to all the people who’ve played here at Carolina and the coaching staffs who have been a part of this journey and my career with me,” said Sagula, in his 38th year of coaching, the last 29 at UNC.
“I think about all of them when people congratulate me. I’m thankful to all the alumni who were here today and to this team in particular who made a point in wanting to win today. I’m so appreciative of them and all the players and coaches who share these 800 wins with me. When I look back, I’m happy there were a lot of Tar Heels around and to have been able to get this win at home in Carmichael, too.”
Big Ten: No. 4 Illinois (22-3, 11-3) maintained sole possession of second place with its sweep of Maryland (15-11, 6-8). Beth Prince, who had four blocks and hit .500, and Ali Bastianelli, who hit .615 and had six blocks, led with 10 kills each.
Michigan (19-6, 8-6) won at Wisconsin (16-6, 9-5) 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 behind 23 kills by Carly Skjodt, who hit .321 and had eight digs, an assist, an ace and three blocks.
Madison Duello had a career-high 16 kills to go with six digs and six blocks for Wisconsin, which also got 17 kills and 10 blocks, one solo, from Dana Rettke.
And Northwestern (14-12, 4-10) won at Ohio State (12-14, 3-11) 25-18, 18-25, 29-27, 25-20 as Ella Grbac led with 17 kills, three digs and four blocks.
Pac-12: No. 2 Stanford (22-1, 14-0) steamrolled visiting Utah (13-12, 5-9) 25-17, 25-19, 25-18. Kathryn Plummer led with 13 kills, hitting .346. She had three aces and five digs.
No. 15 USC (18-7, 10-4), playing without leading attacker Brooke Botkin, out with a concussion, lost Khalia Lanier during the match when she banged heads with a teammate. She had 10 kills before she left the 25-20, 26-24, 25-23 victory at Oregon State (11-15, 1-13). Emily Baptista led USC with 18 kills, 12 digs, an ace, two assists and two blocks, one solo.
No. 16 Oregon (16-8, 9-5) beat visiting No. 22 UCLA (12-9, 7-7) 21-25, 25-14, 25-16, 27-25 as Ronika Stone had 12 kills and 12 blocks, one solo. Brooke Van Sickle, Willow Johnson and Lindsey Vander Weide had 11 kills each. Mac May led UCLA with 12 kills.
No. 18 Washington State (18-6, 9-5) swept visiting Arizona State (13-13, 4-10) 25-12, 25-20, 25-21 as Jocelyn Urias had 13 kills and hit .667. And Washington (15-9, 7-7) beat visiting Arizona (18-8, 7-7) behind 21 kills by Claire Hoffman, who hit .463 and had eight digs, an ace and two blocks. Hoffman, a freshman, who got into the starting lineup five matches ago, had a previous high of 11 kills.
SEC: All three of the league’s ranked teams won as No. 11 Florida (20-5, 11-2) swept visiting Arkansas (10-12, 4-8), No. 12 Kentucky (18-4, 12-0) swept at Ole Miss (13-14, 3-10) and No. 25 Tennessee (20-5, 11-2) won in four against visiting Texas A&M (13-12, 6-7).
Florida’s victory was the 1,000th in program history as Paige Hammons had a career-high 16 kills. She hit .353, had two assists, four aces, 10 digs and four blocks.
Leah Edmond had 15 kills as Kentucky won its 15th match in a row.
Tennessee’s Tessa Grubbs had 18 kills.
Also, South Carolina (17-5, 8-5) beat visiting Auburn (10-13, 3-10) in four and LSU (9-14, 4-8) won in five at Alabama (18-9, 5-8). Taylor Bannister had 18 kills for LSU, while Ginger Perinar had 17 for Alabama.
Stony Brook, Rice clinch titles: Stony Brook (17-8, 10-0 America East) won its 13th match in a row with a 25-12, 25-20, 25-11 win at second-place Albany (14-9, 9-2). Stony Brook now gets to be the host for the AE tournament. Jordan Gels has nine kills for the Seawolves, while McKyla Brooks, Maria Poole and Kendra Harlow had eight each …
Rice (21-4, 12-0 Conference USA) wrapped up its first C-USA title with its 25-18, 25-13, 19-25, 25-21 victory over UAB (13-14, 5-8). Rice, which won its school-record 15th in a row, got 13 kills from Tori Woogk, who hit .435 and had three blocks.
Around the nation: FGCU (22-6, 13-1) won its 11th in a row and took over first place in the ASUN with a four-set win at Kennesaw State (21-6, 12-2). Cortney VanLiew led with 18 kills, five digs and two blocks. Lauren Chastain had 16 kills, an ace, 10 digs and two blocks for KSU …
James Madison (20-5, 12-2) and Hofstra (22-7, 12-3) both won to stay 1-2 atop the Colonial. Hofstra’s Laura Masiullo had 21 kills in a five-set win over Delaware … Hailey Riede had 22 kills and hit .409 and teammate Savannah Logan had 19 kills and 13 digs as Rider surprised Metro Atlantic-leading Iona … Karen Ramiu had 22 kills and hit .362 with eight digs and three aces for Saint Peters (7-24, 4-13) in its MAAC win over Manhattan. Saint Peters went 0-30 last year, 0-18 in the league …
South Dakota State beat Oral Roberts in five as Makenzie Hennen had 24 kills, 22 digs and a block in the Summit League victory. Teammate Sierra Peterson had 20 kills, hit .472, and had five digs and four blocks, one solo … Jordan Thompson had 26 kills in a Cincinnati sweep of Houston. She hit .564 and had an assist, two blocks and 11 digs … Gaby Alicea of Binghamton had 19 kills, 15 digs and five blocks in a five-set America East win over UMass Lowell … Rachel Kayongo had 23 kills and hit .435 for Howard in a five-set win over Maryland Eastern Shore. She added three aces and eight digs.
