There was one major upset Wednesday night in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball as Kansas knocked off visiting No. 4 Texas in the Big 12.
ACC leader No. 22 Louisville had to go five to beat Notre Dame.
There were quite a few other matches that might not affect the national picture per se, but were pretty significant to the teams involved, like Chattanooga tightening things up in the Southern Conference with a win over Samford, or LSU beating Georgia to get its first SEC victory of the season, or Manhattan beating Saint Francis Brooklyn to improve to 2-18 and win back-to-back matches for the first time since the last two contests of the 2016 season.
The recaps follow, but first a look at Thursday’s relatively light schedule.
The only power-five conference teams in action are Oregon State at Utah in the Pac-12.
Top-ranked and unbeaten BYU plays a West Coast Conference match at San Francisco. Also in the WCC, San Diego goes to Santa Clara, Portland is at Pacific and Saint Mary’s is home for Gonzaga.
In the Big Sky, the co-leaders play as Idaho State goes to Sacramento State and Weber State plays at Portland State.
There’s a full slate in the Southland Conference, including league-leader Stephen F. Austin at Incarnate Word.
WAC leader UT Rio Grande Valley tops a full league slate by going to Utah Valley.
NCAA.com has the complete schedule of Thursday matches.
And how to watch any match that is being broadcast or streamed can be found in the daily VolleyballMag.com listings.
Big 12: Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, OU win — Kansas (12-4, 5-0) took over the top spot in the league with its eighth win in a row, a 25-18, 28-26, 20-25, 25-23 upset of Texas (10-4, 5-1). Jada Burse had 22 kills, including the match winner, as the Jayhawks beat Kansas for just the sixth time in 48 meetings.
“We played well in the first set and then salvaged the second set,” Kansas coach Ray Bechard said. “To come back from that emotional third set and win the fourth, we beat a really good team.
“Texas has set the standard for a lot of years and we are trying to create an opportunity here to be competitive with them.”
Texas lost in the Big 12 for the first time since 2016, ending a 25-match winning streak.
Burse also had two blocks. Ashley Smith had 17 kills, hit .533 after making just one error in 30 attacks, and had three digs and three blocks. Rachel Langs added six kills, an assist, two digs and six blocks. Setters Camryn Ennis had two kills, 30 assists, 13 digs and two blocks and Gabby Simpson had five kills, 20 assists, four aces, 10 digs and a block.
Micaya White led Texas with 16 kills, an ace, three digs and two blocks. Logan Eggleston had 12 kills, five digs and three blocks. Morgan Johnson had four blocks, and Katarina Luketic had eight kills each.
No. 24 Baylor (11-6, 3-3) beat visiting TCU (11-6, 3-3) 18-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17 as Shelly Fanning led with a career-high 18 kills.
Neither team had its leading attacker. Baylor was with Yossiana Pressley (313 kills, 5.13/set), while TCU was without élan McCall (298 kills, 5.05/set).
Fanning, who .444, had two aces, nine digs and four blocks. Bri Coleman had 11 kills, five digs and three blocks and Gia Milana had eight kills and nine digs. Jaelyn Jackson and Marieke van der Mark had seven kills and three blocks each.
“It was a huge test of our depth chart. It’s really a testament to the girls,” Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. “I’m so proud of Bri Coleman. We talk about knowing one way to play, and really it’s been the depth of those who don’t see the court that much that are executing that most consistently. Bri managed her swings. Our setters did a good job being able to find Shelly and get her the ball. Jaelyn was good. We got her back just in time for her to have an impact on the match. I’m glad we figured out a way to win this match.”
TCU’s Anna Walsh had 17 kills, hit .318, and had an ace, a dig and three blocks. Katie Clark had 10 kills, three digs and four blocks.
Iowa State (9-10, 2-4) broke a four-match losing streak at Kansas State (10-7, 0-6) as Grace Lazard had 17 kills and hit .625 in a 25-19, 25-23, 21-25, 25-16 victory. Lazard added two digs and seven blocks. Jess Schaben had 14 kills, an assist, 13 digs and four blocks, and Josie Herbst had 13 kills, hit .344, and had four digs and two blocks, one solo.
Gloria Mutiri had 16 kills, hit .429, and had nine digs for K-State. Elle Sandbothe had 10 kills, a dig and five blocks.
And Oklahoma (11-7, 3-3) scored a big win over visiting Texas Tech (15-5, 4-2) as Alyssa Enneking had 21 kills, hit .463, and had 14 digs and six blocks, two solo. Sarah Sanders had 11 kills with one error in 19 swings to hit .526 and had a dig and five blocks, one solo. Morgan Miller had 10 kills, two aces, three digs and a block.
Texas Tech got 13 kills, 12 digs and two blocks from Emily Hill, and Katy Keenan, who had five blocks, and Brooke Kanas had 10 kills each.
Big Ten: Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa win — The No. 9 Nittany Lions (14-3, 5-2) won at No. 17 Purdue (14-4, 3-4) 26-28, 26-24, 25-22, 25-21 as Jonni Parker led with 18 kills, two assists, three aces, eight digs and three blocks.
Taylor Leath added 13 kills, an assist, 11 digs and two blocks, one solo, and Nia Reed had 11 kills, five digs and four blocks, two solo. Serena Gray had seven kills, three digs and four blocks and setter Bryanna Weiskircher had five kills in 10 errorless swings to hit .500 while picking up 10 digs and adding three blocks, one solo.
Purdue’s Sherridan Atkinson had 15 kills, an ace and seven digs. Grace Cleveland had 14 kills, two digs and two blocks, one solo, and Blake Mohler had 11 kills, hit .421, and had three digs and three solo blocks. Caitlyn Newton had 13 kills and two digs.
Nebraska (15-2, 6-1) beat visiting Indiana (11-7, 2-5) 25-13, 30-28, 25-11. Jazz Sweet and Lexi Sun led with 11 kills each. Sweet hit .435 and had two digs and five blocks, while Sun had two aces, nine digs and four blocks. Mikaela Foecke added 10 kills, an assist and nine digs. Callie Schwarzenbach had nine blocks and three kills.
Indiana’s Hayden Huybers and Deyshia Lofton had seven kills each for the Hoosiers, who hit .094.
Iowa (12-6, 4-3) won at Rutgers (6-14, 0-7) 25-21, 25-23, 25-15. Taylor Louis had 13 kills, hit .478, and had four digs and four blocks, two solo. Cali Hoye had 12 kills, an assist, three aces and four digs. Sahbria McLetchie led Rutgers with 12 kills and Beka Kojadinovic had 11. Rutgers hit .284, its highest percentage ever in a Big Ten match.
SEC: Kentucky, LSU get league victories — No. 16 Kentucky (11-4, 5-0) beat visiting Tennessee (14-5, 5-2) 25-10, 25-16, 19-25, 25-12 as Madison Lilley had six kills in eight attempts with no errors to hit .750, had 50 assists, four aces, nine digs and two blocks.
Leah Edmond led with 17 kills and hit .310 to go with an ace and six digs. Caitlyn Cooper had 13 kills with no errors in 19 attempts to hit .684. She had a dig and three blocks. Alli Stumler had 13 kills, an assist, nine digs and a block. And Brooke Morgan had 10 kills, hit .412, and had an ace, two digs and a block.
“We showed glimpses of elite-level play on both offense and defense,” said Kentucky coach Craig Skinner, whose team won its eighth in a row. “We responded well in the fourth set. We expected Tennessee to battle and compete like they did in set three so I’m glad we responded the way we did in set four, putting a good hitting percentage out there.”
Tennessee’s Lily Felts had eight kills, an assist, eight digs and two blocks. Erica Treiber, Raquel Perinar and Danielle Mahaffey had seven kills each. Treiber had three blocks and so did Mahaffey, who had no errors in 13 swings.
LSU (6-11, 1-5) got 19 kills and 15 digs from Taylor Bannister as the Tigers beat visiting Georgia (12-6, 3-4). Bannister added an assist and a block. Milan Stokes had 12 kills, four digs and a block and Jacqui Armer had eight kills and four blocks, one solo. Olivia Beyer added seven kills without an error in 18 swings to hit .389. She had three digs and four blocks.
There were countless really long rallies as LSU hit .250, had 56 kills in 164 attacks, while Georgia had 55 kills in 187 attacks and hit .128.
Georgia’s Majesti Bass had 16 kills, hit .424 and had a dig and five blocks, two solo. T’ara Ceasar had 15 kills, an assist, 21 digs and a block, and Rachel Ritchie had 15 kills, three aces and seven digs.
And Alabama (15-5) beat Alabama State of the SWAC (10-16) 25-14, 26-24, 25-9. Ginger Perinar led with 12 kills. Alabama State hit .069.
Marquette, UCLA win: No. 19 Marquette improved to 15-4, 6-1 in the Big East, with a 25-12, 25-13, 25-22 win over visiting Butler (6-14, 3-5). Allie Barber led with 17 kills, hit .484, and had three digs and two blocks, one solo. Anna Haak added 10 kills, 11 digs and a solo block, and Jenna Rosenthal had nine kills with no errors in 16 swings to hit .563 and had a block and two digs.
Butler got eight kills apiece from Brooke Gregory and Bri Lilly.
No. 20 UCLA (9-5, 4-3) Pac-12) swept visiting No. 25 Arizona State (13-6, 4-3) 25-13, 25-20, 25-14 as Mac May had 13 kills, four aces, five digs and a solo block, and Madeleine Gates added 12 kills, hit .476, and had four blocks.
Arizona State hit .054. Carmen Unzue and Megan Beedie had five kills each.
Louisville beats Notre Dame: The Cardinals (14-4) moved to 7-0 in the ACC, a half game ahead of idle No. 6 Pittsburgh with a 27-29, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 15-12 over visiting Notre Dame (10-7, 4-3).
Melanie McHenry led with 19 kills, an assist, 19 digs and block. Megan Sloan had 17 kills, two digs and three blocks, Emily Scott had 15 kills while hitting .379 to go with three blocks, one solo, and Amanda Green had 13 kills, an ace, a block and 13 digs.
“Notre Dame makes you earn every single point. They play great defense and they’re a very disciplined team,” Louisville coach Dani Busboom-Kelly said. “When you start making errors, the game gets out of hand real quick. I’m really proud of our group for sticking in there and trusting what we do.”
Notre Dame was led by Charley Niego, who had 21 kills, an ace, seven digs and a solo block. Rebecca Nunge had 14 kills, hit .565, and had an assist, an ace, a dig and five blocks. Sydney Bent added 12 kills, six digs and four blocks.
Louisville had to move the match to Sacred Heart Academy after a power outage left the UofL campus and Cardinal Arena in the dark.
Around the nation: Chattanooga (8-12, 4-3 Southern Conference) beat visiting Samford (10-11, 5-2) 19-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24, 18-16. Gylian Finch led the Mocs with 14 kills, 13 digs and two blocks, one solo, and Dani Szczepanski had 12 kills, hit .385, and had an ace and six digs. Samford’s Lauren Deaton had 19 kills, an ace, 22 digs and two blocks …
Also in the SoCon, Furman (7-11, 3-4) swept Wofford (9-11, 2-5) and Mercer (9-9, 2-5) did the same to The Citadel (8-10 3-4). Roberta Todd had 15 kills, an ace and eight digs for Mercer …
In the Big East, DePaul (5-13, 3-4) beat Xavier (5-14, 3-5) in four behind 19 kills by Emma Price, who hit .361 …
Manhattan of the Metro Atlantic (2-18) won in four over visiting Saint Francis of the Northeast Conference (5-15). Vivian Donovan led the Jaspers with 18 kills, three aces, six digs and three blocks. Also in the MAAC, Marist (10-9, 7-2) beat Quinnipiac (3-15, 2-6) in four as Sarah Austin had 18 kills and Nikki DeSerpa 17 …
And Morehead State (15-5) improved to 6-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a four-set win over visiting UT Martin (8-12, 2-5) as Olivia Lohmeier had 18 kills, hit .318, and had 10 digs.
