The third weekend of the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball season continued to humble the best teams.
To wit:
A day after pulling off major upsets, No. 18 Oregon lost to No. 5 Penn State and No. 15 Baylor fell to UTRGV.
But there was no slowing No. 3 BYU, which won at No. 25 Marquette and will likely move up to No. 1 Monday in the AVCA coaches poll and will definitely stay atop the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll.
There were plenty of other scores that will get your attention, including No. 13 Pittsburgh improving to 9-0 by sweeping No. 12 Washington, and some more big-time performances, like by freshman Paige Jones, who had 18 kills and seven aces as Michigan improved to 9-0, and Arizona’s Kendra Dahlke, who had 30 kills in her team’s first loss of the season.
There are even more intriguing matchups on Sunday, including top-ranked Minnesota at No. 4 Stanford at noon Pacific.
No. 7 Nebraska is back in action when it plays host to Iowa State, and also in the Cornhusker State, Wichita State is at No. 14 Creighton.
Second-ranked Wisconsin is at North Texas as it finishes its two-match Lone Star State swing.
Marquette plays host to Syracuse.
Almost all of Sunday’s matches can be seen in one form or another. VolleyballMag.com has all the TV and streaming listings.
Jones-Perry, BYU beat Marquette in four: Roni Jones-Perry capped a strong road trip with 23 more kills in the Cougars’ 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-14 victory. Jones-Perry added an assist, three aces, seven digs and two blocks.
McKenna Miller had 16 kills, hit .438, had an assist, four digs and two blocks as BYU imoroved to 8-0. Heather Gneiting had nine kills, hit .571, and added two aces and five blocks, one solo. And Kennedy Eschenberg had five kills and eight blocks, three solo.
“We showed some nice composure losing the first set and being down in the second set,” BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. “Kennedy had a few big-time blocks that really changed the momentum. I’m proud of the team for fighting the entire match.”
Marquette (6-2) was led by Allie Barber, who had 16 kills, a dig and two blocks. Hope Werch added nine kills, three digs and three blocks, Anna Haak had nine kills, two aces, 11 digs and two blocks, one solo, and Jenna Rosenthal had eight kills, an assist, an ace, three digs and five blocks.
Also in Milwaukee, No. 10 USC coming off those losses Friday to BYU and Marquette, beat Syracuse 23-25, 25-27, 25-14, 25-14, 15-13.
USC (6-3) got a career match out of Brooke Botkin, who had 28 kills, hit .400 to go with nine digs, two blocks, and two aces. Khalia Lanier added 18 kills, seven digs, an ace and two blocks, and Emily Baptista had 11 kills and four digs.
Syracuse (2-2) was led by Polina Shemanova, who had 10 kills, 10 digs and three blocks, one solo.
Penn State sweeps Oregon: A day after the Ducks knocked off No. 1 Minnesota, Penn State (6-1) made short work of Oregon 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge.
Kaitlyn, a 6-foot-4 freshman, led the Nittany Lions with 16 kills, hitting .556. She had one error in 27 attacks, two digs and seven blocks, one solo. Nia Reed had nine kills, four digs and three blocks, and Taylor Leath added seven kills, an assist, five digs and three blocks, one solo. Serena Gray had six kills, three aces and six blocks.
While Penn State hit .236, Oregon (5-3) hit just .136 as Willow Johnson led with 11 kills while hitting .400. Lindsey Vander Weide had nine kills but hit .056. Ronika Stone had eight kills, hit .333, and had three digs and two blocks.
Baylor splits: A day after upsetting No. 2 Wisconsin in one of the program’s biggest wins ever, the Bears (6-3) lost to Texas Rio Grande Valley (6-4) 25-14, 26-24, 16-25, 20-25, 15-10. Baylor came back to beat Rice (6-3) 25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21.
“This weekend was a roller coaster of ups and downs,” Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre understated. “Wisconsin definitely was the highlight.
“We’re nowhere as good as we need to be, but each week we’re just going to continue to close that gap. We really want to feel that us at our best can really contend with anyone in the country. We also want us at our worst to still beat others at their best. Our rhythm has got to be more consistent. We just need to continue to train to make good decisions and find the balance. There’s a consistent approach to the game that we can be better at.”
Yosianna Pressley, who had 32 kills against Wisconsin, had 29 more against UTRGV, hitting .212 in 66 swings. She added eight digs and three blocks. Shelly Fanning had 16 kills, hit .313, and had two digs and five blocks. Aniah Philo had 10 kills, an ace and 13 digs.
Brazilian Barbara Silva had a career-high 21 kills for UTRGV, which scored the biggest victory in its Division I history. Silva hit .410, had two aces, an assist, 12 digs and six blocks.
Ragni Steen Knudsen had 11 kills, an assist and 10 digs and Antonela Jularic had 10 kills, an assist, five digs and a block. Alexandra Ecker added six kills and eight blocks, three solo, and five digs.
Against Rice, Pressley came back to earth, but still led with 15 kills. She had an ace, six digs and four blocks. Fanning had 13 kills, hit .300, and had two digs and five blocks. The Owls had four players with 10 or more kills, led by Tori Woogk’s 14. She hit .480, had two digs and three blocks. Nicole Lennon and Grace Morgan had 12 kills each, as Morgan added five blocks, one solo.
No. 8 Gators win: Florida bounced back from being upset by NAU — which, like the others, lost itself — with a four-set win over Southern Illinois. The Gators (5-3) got 15 kills from Rachael Kramer, who had one error in 22 swings and hit .636. She added six blocks, one solo. Thayer Hall had 12 kills, two digs and two blocks.
The Salukis (3-7) hit .041. Maggie Nedoma led with 15 kills, three aces, 11 digs and a block.
Also in Flagstaff, CSUN (4-5) beat Northern Arizona (7-3) 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 16-14. Aeryn Owens led CSUN with 21 kills, 14 digs, two assists and five blocks.
Illini sweep UC Irvine: Illinois (8-0) won 25-14, 25-13, 25-23 as Megan Cooney led with 15 kills. She had no errors in 21 attacks and hit .714. Beth Prince and Jacqueline Quade had seven kills each. Quade had five digs and four blocks. Morgan O’Brien had five of Illinois’ 10 aces.
Bowling Green (3-7) beat the host team, Cleveland State (4-5) in five as Madeline Brandewie had 17 kills.
Pittsburgh sweeps Washington: The Panthers are off to their best start since going 12-0 in 1983 as Kayla Lund had 16 kills on 22 errorless swings to hit .727. Lund had an assist, two aces, and six digs as her team hit .425.
Stephanie Williams had 15 kills, hit .480, and added two assists, an ace, five digs and three blocks. Chinaza Ndee, Nika Markovic and Layne Van Buskirk had five kills each. Van Buskirk had five blocks.
The Huskies hit .149. Samantha Dreschel led with eight kills, four digs and a block.
Washington came back to beat Kennesaw State 19-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-20 and go home home 5-2. Four players had 10 or more kills, led by Dreschel’s 13. Shannon Crenshaw and Kara Bajema had 12 each and Lauren Sanders had 10, hit .615 and had six blocks.
Kennesaw State (6-3) got 13 kills from Sydni Shelton, who hit .550 and had five blocks. Lauren Chastang had 11 kills, an ace, four blocks and 11 digs. Quin Sutphin had nine kills and six blocks.
No. 16 UK tops Texas State: Kentucky (4-4), coming off that loss at Texas, moved to San Marcos and beat Texas State 22-25, 27-25, 25-20, 25-21 as Leah Edmond had 24 kills, hit .321 and added three blocks. Caitlyn Cooper had 14 kills, hit .500 and had three digs and three blocks. Brook Morgan added eight kills, two aces, a dig and four blocks.
Texas State (5-5) got 15 kills from Amy Pflughaupt, who hit .308 and had six digs and a block. Cheyenne Huskey had 14 kills, an assist, an ace, six digs and four blocks, one solo. Janell Fitzgerald had 12 kills, hit .348, and added three blocks.
Tennessee turns tide on USD: A day after getting swept at San Diego, the Vols won 22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 to improve to 7-2 and drop the Toreros to 2-4.
Tennessee’s Tessa Grubbs had 13 kills, four digs and three blocks, one solo. Raquel Perinar led with 15 kills, hit .387 and had three digs and two blocks, one solo. Erica Treber added 11 kills, hit .474 and had a dig and three blocks, one solo. Breana Jeter had eight kills and seven blocks, one solo, and Addisyn Rowe had seven kills and six blocks. Tennessee outblocked USD 13-6.
San Diego’s Roxie Wiblin had 17 kills, an assist, an ace and eight digs and Addie Picha had 11 kills, hitting .625 with three digs and four blocks, two solo. Kaity Edwards hit .600 as she got 10 kills and two blocks.
Purdue stays unbeaten: The Boilermakers (8-0) had to go the distance to beat visiting Louisville 25-23, 17-25, 28-26, 13-25, 15-10 and are off to their best start since 2011.
Sherridan Atkinson led with 14 kills. She had two aces, five digs and two blocks, one solo. Caitlyn Newton had nine kills and Blake Mohler and Grace Cleveland eight each. Mohler had nine blocks, three solo. Purdue won despite hitting .152.
Louisville (5-3) got 17 kills from Melanie McHenry, who had 18 digs and two blocks. Megan Sloan had 14 kills, four digs and four blocks and Jasmine Bennett had 10 kills and three blocks.
Also at Purdue, Lipscomb (4-4) knocked off Xavier 25-22, 25-21, 25-22. Carlyle Nusbaum led the Bison with 16 kills and 11 digs and Ca’Layci Coffey had 12 kills with no errors in 15 swings to hit .800 and had a block. Lauren Anderson had 11 kills, an assist, an ace, nine digs and two blocks, one solo.
Xavier (1-7) got 12 kills from Laura Grossman, who had nine digs and four blocks.
Michigan gets to 9-0: The Wolverines beat Colorado State 25-21, 25-23, 25-18 behind a career-high 18 kills and seven aces by freshman Paige Jones. Jones had four errors in 28 attacks and hit .500. She also had four digs.
Carly Skjodt had seven kills, two assists, six digs and a block and Cori Crocker had six kills and four blocks.
Colorado State (6-3) got 11 kills from Kirstie Hillyer, who hit .500 with one error in 20 attacks. She had six blocks, one solo. Breanna Runnels added nine kills, four digs and two blocks, one solo, and Paulina Jensen-Hougaard had eight kills, hit .400 and had five blocks, one solo.
Also at Michigan, LSU beat Oakland 25-17, 25-19, 25-23. Both teams are 3-6.
Taylor Bannister led LSU with 18 kills while hitting .387 to go with five digs and three blocks. Setter Lindsay Flory had five kills in eight errorless attacks to hit .625. The product of Volleyball Baton Rouge had an ace, five digs and a block to go with her 36 assists.
Two wins for No. 21 Utah: The Utes (6-2) bounced back from being upset by host Villanova with a five-set win over Temple and a four-set victory over High Point.
In the 23-25, 27-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-8 win over Temple (1-7) Laura Gauta had 23 kills, an assist, two aces, 11 digs and a block. Dani Drews had 19 kills, 16 digs, four aces and three blocks.
In the 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 win over High Point (3-6) Drews had 18 kills, an assist, three aces, 12 digs and a block. Megan Yett had 14 kills, hit .345, and had 11 digs, an ace and four blocks.
Also Saturday, High Point beat Villanova (6-2), another team that had the post-upset blues. Molly Livingston and Katie Tylman had 11 kills each for HP in the 25-22, 25-16, 25-19 victory. Villanova hit .097.
WSU is 7-0: Washington State beat Stony Brook 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 as Taylor Mims got her 1,000th kill. Mims had seven kills, two aces, seven digs and three blocks, two solo. Jocelyn Urias and Ella Lajos had nine kills each. Urias had no errors in 14 swings and hit .643 and had an ace, three digs and four blocks. Lajos hit .375 and had two digs and three blocks.
Stony Brook (4-7) hit .059. Maria Poole led with eight kills.
Also at Washington State, Illinois State got to 7-2 with a 25-16, 25-19, 25-17 win over McNeese State (0-10). Ali Line had 12 kills, hit .476, had two digs and five blocks, three solo.
No. 24 CU beats Oklahoma: Colorado (5-3) won 25-12, 26-24, 25-15 as Anyse Smith had 14 kills, hit .619 and had three blocks and two digs. Alexa Smith added 12 kills, an assist, an ace, five digs and seven blocks, three solo.
Oklahoma (5-4) hit .099. Sarah Sanders led with nine kills, hitting .333 with a dig and two blocks.
CU went 2-0 Saturday, because earlier it swept North Carolina (3-4) 25-14, 25-18, 25-20.
Smith led with 11 kills, an ace, five digs and two blocks and Justine Spann had 10 kills, hit .529 and added three assists, two aces and seven digs. UNC’s Katherine Esterley had nine kills, two digs and three blocks.
In an earlier match in Boulder, Oklahoma bounced Georgia (7-1) from the unbeatens 25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-13. Alyssa Enneking led with 14 kills, two assists, five digs and five blocks. Brianna Kadiku had 12 kills and Sanders 11 to go with four digs and four blocks.
Georgia’s T’ara Ceasar had 21 kills, an assist, two aces, 13 digs and two blocks. Majesti Bass hit .500 with 16 kills, a dig and a block.
Georgia plays North Carolina at 11 a.m. Mountain Sunday.
ACC: Break up the Eagles. Last year, Boston College finished 7-23. This season, new coach Jason Kennedy has BC off to a 9-0 start after sweeping Siena and Dartmouth on Saturday …
Wake Forest (2-6) broke through and won twice Saturday, beating Georgia Southern in five and then sweeping Arkron … Florida State (4-4) also won twice, sweeping Southern Miss and Florida A&M. Payton Caffrey had 29 kills combined in the two matches …
Notre Dame (6-2) also won twice Saturday, sweeping Miami (Ohio) and Chattanooga …
And Clemson (7-3) also won twice, sweeping Troy and North Dakota State.
The complete ACC scoreboard is here.
Big Ten: Michigan improved to 9-1 with victories over Harvard and Central Connecticut. Meredith Norris and Alyssa Chronowski had 10 kills each against Harvard, while Nya Gros had 16 kills and hit .700 against Central Connecticut …
Indiana (6-2) beat Ball State in five. Hayden Hyberes had 18 kills and hit .382. She had two blocks. Breanna Edwards had 17 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, one solo and Deyshia Lofton had 16 kills and hit .400. Ellie Dunn had 21 kills for Ball State to go with 13 digs and three blocks, one solo …
Ohio State won twice, beating Missouri in four and sweeping Towson. The Buckeyes (8-1) had four players with 11 or more kills, led by Lauren Witte, who had 13, hit .304, and added a block, Vanja Bukilic, who had 13 kills, four digs and a solo block. Mia Grunze added 12 kills, two digs and a block and Jordan Fry had 11 kills and four blocks, one solo.
Leketor Member-Meneh led Missouri (7-2) with 12 kills, an ace and 11 digs.
Against Towson, Bukilic led with 15 kills, hitting .370. Grunze had 12 more kills and hit .407 to go with three blocks. Towson (3-7) got 11 kills from Emily Jarome, who hit .444, and 10 from Olivia Finkel …
Rutgers (5-5) beat Navy 27-29, 25-15, 25-21, 25-20 as Stasa Milijevic had 10 blocks, one solo.
The complete Big Ten scoreboard is here.
Big 12: Texas Tech is 8-3 after sweeping Seton Hall and Sacred Heart …
Iowa State’s 25-17, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20 over Wichita State left the Cyclones 6-3 as Jess Schaben had 17 kills and hit .317. Josie Herbst and Eleanor Holthaus had 10 kills each. Wichita State (4-3) got 16 kills from Megan Taflinger …
Kansas was upended by Loyola Marymount, which improved to 8-1 with the 25-20, 28-26, 23-25, 25-17 victory.
Kansas (4-4) got 15 kills from Jada Burse, who had a dig and three blocks. LMU’s Savannah Slattery had 18 kills and four digsa and Sara Kovac had 15 kills, four digs, a block, an ace and two assists …
K-State is 8-1 after sweeping Omaha. Alyssa Schultejans had 10 kills, four aces and five digs …. And TCU swept Montana State to get to 7-3 behind 15 kills from élan McCall.
The complete Big 12 scoreboard is here.
Pac-12: Arizona State swept Binghamton, Oregon State did the same to North Texas and Cal swept Fresno State, but Arizona lost in five at New Mexico State.
Previously unbeaten Arizona led 22-18 in the fourth set but ultimately lost that one and the match 25-16, 17-25, 23-25, 27-25, 15-12, leaving the Wildcats 8-1 and New Mexico State 7-2.
It was the first time NMSU has ever beaten Arizona, which is coached by Dave Rubio and whose brother, Keith, is the NMSU associate head coach.
“I’m really happy for our team. We haven’t been able to knock off Arizona and last year’s loss (also in five at Arizona) was a bitter pill to swallow. It’s a much better feeling this year,” NMSU coach Mike Jordan said.
Savannah Davison led with 15 kills and 13 digs. She had a block, an assist and an ace. Tatyana Battle had 14 kills and eight digs in New Mexico State’s 16th home victory in a row. And Megan Hart added 12 kills while hitting .579 to go with six digs and six blocks, one solo. Ashley Anselmo had nine kills, hit .444 with one error in 18 swings, and had two digs and five blocks, two solo.
“I’m really proud of Ashley Anselmo and Megan Hart,” Jordan said. “They did a lot of great things whether it be attacking the ball or blocking the ball. Everyone that played contributed in one way or another. We still have a lot to learn but we’re making progress.”
Kendra Dahlke led Arizona with career highs of 30 kills and 75 attacks. She hit .267, had 15 digs and three blocks. Devyn Cross had 11 kills and hit .348 and had three digs and four block, one solo, and Paige Whipple and Elizabeth Shelton had 10 kills each. Shelton had five digs and four blocks, one solo. Setter Julia Patterson had three kills in seven attempts with no errors and had 61 assists and nine digs.
Arizona State is 7-2 after Nicole Peterson had 10 kills and three digs against winless Binghamton … Oregon State’s Maddie Goings had 14 kills against UNT as the Beavers improved to 6-2 … Cal is 7-2 after beating Fresno State (7-3) behind 17 kills from Mima Mirkovic.
The complete Pac-12 scoreboard is here.
SEC: Ole Miss is 9-1 after sweeping Sam Houston State and host Georgia State. The Rebels, who have won 13 sets in a row, got 13 kills from Caitlin Wernentin while hitting .400 against SHSU, and Emily Stroup had 12 kills in each of the two matches …
Alabama is 9-0 after sweeping Northern Illinois. Ginger Perinar led the Crimson Tide with 12 kills while hitting .321 and Mahalia Swink had 11 kills and hit .625, with one error in 16 attacks …
Arkansas won twice Saturday, sweeping Buffalo and Northwestern. Against Buffalo, the Hogs (6-2) got 16 kills from Reagan Robinson, who hit .433. She had three digs and two blocks. In the win over Northwestern, Logan Brown led with 15 kills while hitting .333. She had three aces, a dig and a block.
Northwestern (7-2) got 11 kills from Nia Robinson, who hit .391 …
Auburn (5-3) swept American (4-7) as Shaina White had 12 kills in the match at Kansas. She had one error in 16 attacks to hit .688 and had five blocks, one solo …
And South Carolina (8-1) won at Maryland 25-23, 32-30, 18-25, 22-25, 15-10 as four players had 11 or more kills. Brittany McLean had 17 kills, six digs, an ace and four blocks, two solo. Mikayla Robinson had 16 kills and six blocks, two solo. Erika Pritchard had 20 kills for Maryland (6-2). Earlier, Maryland swept Colgate.
The complete SEC scoreboard is here.
Know of a great performance we missed? Or a note? Email lee@VolleyballMag.com.
