Northwestern got its second Big Ten win in three matches, a five-set victory at Iowa, which got 30 kills from Cali Hoye in a losing cause.
Yossiana Pressley also got 30 kills and her team, Baylor, beat TCU in the Big 12.
There were no upsets Wednesday as ranked teams Illinois, Texas, Nebraska, and Washington State all won.
The recaps and notes follow, but first a look at Thursday’s schedule.
Top-ranked and unbeaten BYU heads to the Northwest for West Coast Conference matches Thursday at Portland and Saturday at Gonzaga. The Cougars (20-0, 10-0) hold a two-game lead over San Diego (11-9, 8-2), which plays at Gonzaga. Also in the WCC, San Francisco is at Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara is at Pepperdine.
There are five matches in the Mountain West, including league-leader Fresno State (16-6, 8-1) at third-place Wyoming (16-6, 7-3). Second-place Colorado State (16-6, 8-2) is home for San Diego State. Also, Nevada goes to Boise State, Air Force is at UNLV and San Jose State goes to Utah State.
Big Sky-leaders Idaho (14-8, 8-2) and Sacramento State (13-11, 8-2) are both in action. Idaho plays Idaho State and Sacramento State gets one of the two teams tied for third, Northern Arizona (15-8, 7-3). The other, Weber State (12-7, 7-3), is at Eastern Washington.
The Southland Conference’s five-match slate includes Stephen F. Austin (23-2, 10-0), the team with the most wins this season, at McNeese State. The two teams tied for second, a game back, are also in action as Sam Houston State (17-5, 9-1) goes to Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Abilene Christian (12-10, 9-1) goes to Houston Baptist.
And in the WAC, first-place Cal Baptist (18-5, 8-2) is home for Chicago State, while second-place NM State (17-5, 7-2) is off.
The Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC have Thursday off.
To watch any NCAA Division I women’s volleyball matches that are being broadcast or streamed, go to the VolleyballMag.com daily TV listings.
Change at Nicholls State: According to the Houma (Louisiana) Courier, first-year Nicholls State coach Jay Van Vark has been placed on administrative leave.
“Nicholls confirmed the news but didn’t give any reasons for his leave. The school declined further comment,” the paper reported.
Nicholls State, located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, is 3-21, overall, 1-10 in the Southland Conference. The Colonels have an NCAA RPI ranking of 315 out of 336 teams.
Big Ten: Ninth-ranked Nebraska (16-5, 7-4) broke its three-match losing streak with a 25-15, 23-25, 25-12, 25-9 victory at Ohio State (12-11, 3-8). Lauren Stivrins led a balanced attack with 16 kills in 19 swings and one error, hitting .789. She had three digs and four blocks. The Huskers hit .407, while Ohio State hit .083 …
No. 6 Illinois (19-3, 8-3) beat visiting Maryland 25-14, 25-14, 25-19 as Megan Cooney had 12 kills, hitting .455, and so did Jacqueline Quade, who had 14 digs. The Terrapins (13-10, 4-7) hit .055 …
Northwestern (12-11, 2-9) won at Iowa (12-10, 4-7) 25-13, 30-32, 25-18, 17-25, 15-8 for its second B1G win in three matches. Nia Robinson led with 26 kills and hit .370 to go with an ace, three digs and two blocks. Hoye complemented her career-high 30 kills with two assists, six digs and a block.
WSU wins at Utah: In the only Pac-12 match of the night, No. 19 Washington State (16-5, 7-4) swept the Utes (12-10, 4-7) 25-23, 25-18, 25-21. McKenna Woodford had 17 kills, three digs and five blocks and Penny Tusa 15 kills with one error in 29 swing to hit .482. She added an ace, a block and 14 digs. Kenzie Koerber had 12 kills and Dani Drews 11 for Utah.
Big 12: First-place and No. 8 Texas (13-4, 8-1) swept Iowa State (11-11, 4-5) 25-19, 25-19, 25-14 as Micaya White and Logan Eggleston had 12 kills each. Eggleston had one error in 24 attacks and hit .458 and had an ace, four digs and two blocks. White had an assist, an ace, eight digs and four blocks, one solo. Jess Schaben led ISU with 10 kills …
Second-place Kansas was idle, but the two teams tied for third both won. Baylor (13-7, 5-4) won in five at TCU (12-8, 4-5), while Oklahoma (13-8, 5-4) won in four at Kansas State (12-8, 2-7).
Baylor’s Pressley had 30 kills and 11 digs in the 25-17, 14-25, 25-15, 24-26, 15-8 victory. Shelly Fanning and Aniah Philo had 11 kills each. TCU’s Anna Walsh and Katie Clark had 14 kills apiece. Walsh, who hit .367, had eight blocks …
Oklahoma had 19 blocks in its 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-19 win that saw Paige Anderson lead with 12 kills and nine blocks. Alyssa Enneking had 18 kills, 14 digs and five blocks. Brooke Heyne had 14 kills for K-State …
Also in the Big 12, West Virginia (10-12, 2-7) beat visiting Texas Tech (15-8, 4-5) 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-21. Katelyn Evans led the Mountaineers with 16 kills and Natania Levak had 14. Brooke Kanas had 18 kills for Texas Tech.
Hurricanes top ‘Noles: In the only ACC match of the night — and it was a wild one — Miami (12-6, 8-3) beat visiting Florida State (13-8, 9-2) 30-28, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 19-17. Elizaveta Lukianova led the Hurricanes with 24 kills, hitting .400. Bridget Wallenberger added 14 kills and seven blocks.
Florida State, which had won six in a row, got 18 kills from Payton Caffrey.
Vols, Hogs win in SEC: Tennessee (17-5, 8-2), with losses in the league only to first-place Kentucky, beat visiting South Carolina (15-5, 6-4) 25-21, 29-27, 25-19 as Tessa Grubbs led with 14 kills. Mikayla Shields had 11 for South Carolina …
Arkansas (10-10, 4-6) won at Mississippi State (5-18, 1-9) 25-18, 25-18, 25-22. Hailey Dirrigi and Logan Brown had 10 kills each. Paige Shaw led State with 11 kills.
