Five power-five conference teams were in action Tuesday in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball on a busy night around the country.
Duke of the ACC swept UNCG of the Southern Conference, Kansas State of the Big 12 swept Missouri State of the Missouri Valley, Tennessee of the SEC lost in five at ETSU of the Southern Conference despite 25 kills by Tessa Grubbs, Michigan of the Big Ten swept Valparaiso of the Missouri Valley to go 6-0 — all by sweeps — and South Carolina of the SEC beat Charlotte of Conference USA.
Recaps and notes follow, but first a look at Wednesday’s schedule that has five matches, four involving MEAC schools.
American of the Patriot League is at Delaware State of the MEAC, Coppin State of the MEAC is at Loyola Maryland of the Patriot League, The Citadel of the Southern Conference goes to Savannah State of the MEAC and N.C. A&T of the MEAC is at USC Upstate of the Big South.
Ohio of the MAC plays at Marshall of Conference USA 25-13, 25-18, 23-25, 25-10.
Duke sweeps UNCG: Graduate-student Andie Shelton, who transferred from Pacific, had 11 kills, hit .476, had 11 digs, an ace, four blocks and 19 assists in the 25-17, 25-21, 25-16 victory.
Duke (4-2) got 10 kills apiece from Leah Meyer and Jessi Bartholomew. Meyer had no errors in 14 swings and hit .714 to go with two digs and two blocks, while Bartholomew hit .364 and had two digs.
“We excited to get the W for sure,” Duke coach Jolene Nagel said. “We did get off to a slow start but I liked the way our team dug out of it and started executing better.”
UNCG is 3-4. Holly Behrends led with 11 kills, nine digs and two blocks. Lauren Robeck had 10 kills, hit .600, and had two digs and two blocks.
K-State sweeps Missouri State: The Wildcats (5-1) won 25-18, 26-24, 25-8 as Kyle Zumach led with 10 kills and hit .318. She added two aces, eight digs and four blocks. Elle Sandbothe had eight kills and two blocks, one solo, and Gloria Mutiri had six kills, three digs and three blocks.
“What I really liked was the comeback in game two,” K-State coach Susie Fritz said.
“We got a little bit nasty there at the end of game two, defensively. That’s been an area of persistent work right now, so to be able to see some things come together when it really mattered was meaningful.”
Missouri State (3-4) got 15 kills from Amelia Flynn, who hit .357 to go with five digs and a block.
ETSU knocks off Tennessee: Both teams are 6-1 after ETSU beat the visiting and previously unbeaten Vols 21-25, 25-15, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12.
The Bucs trained 7-0 in the fifth set when Alyssa Kvarta went on a 9-0 serving run.
Kvarta had just one ace as the setter had 47 assists, three kills, 21 digs and three blocks. Kaela Massey led with 16 kills and hit .379. She had 14 digs and four blocks. Leah Clayton had 15 kills, an ace, four digs and two blocks. And AJ Lux also had 15 kills, an ace, four digs and two blocks.
“To be able to get a win in front of a crowd like that, it doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” ETSU coach Lindsey Devine said. “That crowd was phenomenal. It goes to show that we have the best crowd in the northeast state of Tennessee, so we’re pretty lucky.
“We were able to execute our game plan and I think that the girls put in a lot of heart. They used their minds when we need to, to really focus. Those are kind of the things we’ve been talking about; follow the game plan, win games with your mind, play hard, and great things are going to come your way.”
Grubbs got those 25 kills for Tennessee in 59 swings. She had five digs and two blocks, one solo. Erica Treiber, who had nine blocks — one solo — and three digs, and Madison Coulter had eight kills each.
Michigan is 18-0 in sets: The Wolverines of the Big Ten (6-0) beat visiting Valpo of the Missouri Valley (6-2) 25-19, 25-13, 25-20. Michigan hit .363 has won six matches by sweep to start the season for the first time since 1984 and the first time in the rally-scoring era.
Carly Skjodt led with 14 kills while hitting .571. She had eight digs and two blocks. Paige Jones added nine kills while hitting .438 and Cori Crocker (.778) and Sydney Wetterstrom had eight kills each.
Jaclyn Bulmahn led Valpo with nine kills. Her team hit .114.
South Carolina improves to 6-1: The Gamecocks beat visiting Charlotte. Brittany McLean led with 13 kills as she hit .333 and had three aces and two blocks. Alicia Starr added 10 kills, an ace, seven digs and a solo block and the Mikaylas, Mikayla Shields and Mikayla Robinson, had nine kills each. Charlotte (5-4) got nine kills from Reanna Richardson.
Around the country: Marist beat Army in five as Chidera Udeh had career highs of 14 kills and four blocks. She hit .772 … VCU beat Georgetown in four as Vicky Giommarini had 15 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and an ace …
St. John’s is 7-1 after beating Stony Brook. Kayley Wood had 14 kills, hit .400 and had five blocks, one solo …
Texas State won at Rice in five as four players had 10 or more kills, led by Amy Pflughaupt, who had 18 kills, 15 digs and a block … Dayton beat Miami (Ohio) in four and both teams are 5-2. Lauren Bruns had 21 kills, hit .366, and added three digs and two blocks … Slade Summer had 16 kills and four blocks as Duquesne beat Saint Francis despite SFU’s Madi Tyus getting 19 kills, three aces, 20 digs and a block … Abby Carlile had 16 kills and hit .600 as UAB swept Alabama State in a battle of Alabama schools. She added three digs and three blocks, one solo …
Utah Valley swept Utah State as Kazna Tarawhiti had 15 kills, an ace, two blocks and two digs … Purdue Fort Wayne beat visiting Eastern Michigan in four to put both teams at 5-3. Elizabeth Fuerst led with 17 kills, three digs and a block … Peyton Redmond had 13 kills, hit .357 and added 11 digs as Stephen F. Austin swept Louisiana-Monroe.
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