The big guys all won Saturday, including the ranked teams — Minnesota, Penn State, Nebraska and Purdue — in the Big Ten. So did Creighton, Marquette and UCF.
But the mid-majors were an adventure.
Illinois State knocked off No. 25 Northern Iowa to take a half-game lead in the Missouri Valley Conference.
George Mason scored a stunning victory in the Atlantic 10, ending VCU’s 28-match league winning streak.
Bucknell beat Lafayette in a Patriot League match, but Lafayette freshman Leanna Deegan broke the conference record with 34 kills.
The recaps and notes follow, but first a look at Sunday’s NCAA Division I women’s key matches.
There are three matches in the Big Ten, featuring No. 5 Wisconsin at home for No. 14 Michigan. No. 4 Illinois goes to Maryland and Northwestern is at Ohio State.
The Pac-12 schedule has one battle with two ranked teams when No. 22 UCLA goes to No. 16 Oregon. Second-ranked and league-leading Stanford is home for Utah, No. 15 USC plays at Oregon State, No. 18 Washington State is home for Arizona State, and Arizona goes to Washington.
Three of the SEC’s four ranked teams are in action as No. 11 Florida plays host to Arkansas, No. 12 Kentucky is at Ole Miss and No. 25 Tennessee is home for Texas A&M. Also, Auburn goes to South Carolina, and LSU is at Alabama.
The ACC slate is full, highlighted by league-leading No. 10 Pittsburgh at Clemson and a battle between the two teams tied for second — a game back — when Florida State plays at No. 24 Louisville. Also, Virginia goes to Georgia Tech, Wake Forest is at North Carolina, Duke plays at NC State, Miami is at Notre Dame and Boston College is at Virginia Tech.
The Big 12 is off. There’s a big one in the America East, where league-leader Stony Brook plays at Albany.
NCAA.com has the complete Sunday schedule.
And links to every NCAA Division I match that is being broadcast or streamed can be found at the VolleyballMag.com daily TV listings.
Big Ten: No. 3 Minnesota (20-2, 14-0) won its 15th match in a row, but it was a tough 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 21-25,15-7 victory over visiting Michigan State (15-12, 3-11).
Regan Pittman led Minnesota with 15 kills and hit .520 to go with five digs and eight blocks, one solo. Three others — Stephanie Samedy, Alexis Hart and Adanna Rollins — had 14 kills each. Samedy had 20 digs, an ace and three blocks. Rollins had 13 digs, an ace and four blocks, one solo.
Michigan State, which hit .189, got 14 kills from Alyssa Chronowski, who had five digs and five blocks, one solo. Maddie Haggerty had 13 kills and hit .323 to go with two assists, two aces, 13 digs and four blocks. Rebecka Poljan had 10 kills, two digs and six blocks …
No. 13 Purdue (21-4, 10-4) also had to go five as it won the Monon Spike battle between the Indiana teams with a 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-12Â victory over the Hoosiers (15-10, 6-8).
Sherridan Atkinson led Purdue with 23 kills. She hit .304 and had two aces, three digs and a block. Caitlyn Newton had 15 kills and Blake Mohler had 14, hit .357 and had three digs and seven blocks. Grace Cleveland had 10 kills and seven blocks.
Brenna Edwards had 19 kills for Indiana and Kamryn Malloy added 11, 14 digs and two solo blocks …
No. 7 Penn State (19-5, 10-4) swept Iowa (13-12, 5-9) 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 as Jonni Parker had 13 kills with one error in 25 swings to hit .480. She had three digs and four blocks. Kaitlyn Hord had nine kills with one error in 15 attacks and hit .533 and added eight blocks, one solo. Taylor Louis had 11 kills for Iowa, which hit .109 …
And No. 8 Nebraska (18-6, 9-5) swept Rutgers (6-21, 0-14) 25-14, 25-12, 25-13 as Mikaela Foecke had 11 kills, hit .524, and added four blocks, four digs and four aces. Nicklin Hames had a kill, 30 assists, 13 digs and four blocks, and Lauren Stivrins had five kills, hit .500, and had an ace, two digs and eight blocks. Rutgers hit .024.
Big 12: Baylor (15-7, 7-4) won at Oklahoma (13-10, 5-6) 25-20, 34-36, 27-25, 25-21 as Shelly Fanning had a career-high 24 kills. Fanning hit .457 and had two digs and seven blocks, two solo. Yossiana Pressley had 18 kills, 10 digs, an ace and a block, and Aniah Philo and Gia Milana had 13 kills each. Philo had 20 digs and four blocks, two solo, and Milana had two digs and six blocks, one solo. Alyssa Enneking led OU with 21 kills, two aces, an assist, 11 digs and two blocks …
TCU (13-10, 5-7) beat visiting Iowa State (12-12, 5-7) 25-15, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14 behind 14 kills apiece by Katie Clark and Sarah Swanson. Clark hit .440 and had five digs and six blocks, while Swanson had no errors in 21 swings and hit .667 and had three assists, two digs and seven blocks, one solo. Setter Tori Dilfer was one of five Horned Frogs with two aces each and had two kills, 36 assists, and 12 digs.
Iowa State’s Jess Schaben led with 15 kills, five digs and five blocks. Josie Herbst had 13 kills, nine digs, an ace and two blocks, and Candelaria Herrera had 11 kills, hit .500 and had six blocks …
Kansas (15-7, 8-3) swept visiting Texas Tech (16-9, 5-6) as Jada Burse had 18 kills and hit .385 in the 5-19, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21 victory. She added an ace, a dig and three blocks, one solo. Emily Hill had 15 kills and hit .303 with an ace and 10 digs for the Red Raiders …
And Kansas State (13-9, 3-8) beat West Virginia (10-14, 2-9) 25-12, 25-17, 25-23 behind 11 kills from Brooke Heyne, who hit .450 to go with an ace, 10 digs and a block. Alyssa Schultjeans had 10 kills, two aces, three digs and a block. Katelyn Evans led WVU with 12 kills.
Creighton, Marquette win: No. 9 Creighton (22-4, 14-0 Big East) won 25-16, 25-19, 25-13 at Seton Hall (9-19, 4-11) as Jaali Winters had 13 kills and hit .462 and Taryn Kloth had 11 kills and hit .391 … No. 19 Marquette (22-5, 12-2 Big East) swept Georgetown (14-12, 7-7) 25-14, 26-24, 25-10 as Hope Werch, who hit .423, and Allie Barber, who hit .522, had 13 kills each.
Around the nation: Illinois State (225, 14-1 Missouri Valley) took a half-game lead in the league by coming away with a 25-20, 24-26, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11 win over visiting Northern Iowa (19-8, 13-1). Lexi Varga led the Redbirds with 16 kills, hitting .318. Marissa Stockman had 14 kills and hit .407 to go with a dig and six blocks. UNI’s Piper Thomas had 21 kills, hit .462, and had three digs and eight blocks, one solo. Karlie Taylor had 13 kills, 21 digs, an ace and four blocks …
No. 23 UCF (22-3, 13-0 American Athletic Conference) won in four at Temple (5-20, 2-11) as McKenna Melville had 21 kills and hit .302 to go with 10 digs, an ace and six blocks … Also in the AAC, UConn (12-14, 4-9) beat USF (18-8, 7-6) as Caylee Parker had 17 kills, an ace and 16 digs …
George Mason (10-12, 8-4) not only beat Atlantic 10 leader VCU (17-8, 12-1), it swept the visiting Rams 25-23, 26-24, 25-17. ShaLi Niu led with 16 kills, 15 digs and two blocks and Bailey Williams had 13 kills, 11 digs and two blocks. VCU still holds a 1.5-game lead over idle Dayton …
Hawai’i (16-7, 12-2 Big West) stayed a game back in the loss column behind idle No. 17 Cal Poly with a four-set win at Long Beach State (13-13, 5-8). McKenna Granato led with 11 kills, 12 digs and an ace …
WAC-leader UT Rio Grande Valley (19-8, 10-3) swept Seattle U (9-16, 2-10) behind 17 kills by Ragni Steen Knudsen …
Mountain West leader Colorado State was idle, but Fresno State (18-8, 10-3) stayed a game back with a sweep of Utah State (5-20, 3-11). Taylor Slover led the Bulldogs with 14 kills, 13 digs, an ace and two blocks …
Hofstra (21-7, 11-3) stayed a half-game back of idle James Madison in the Colonial with a sweep at UNCW … Yale (17-4, 11-1) kept a game lead over Princeton (17-6, 10-2) in the Ivy League with a sweep of Dartmouth as Kathryn Attar led with 16 kills, 12 digs and six blocks, one solo. Princeton swept Cornell behind 10 kills each from Maggie O’Connell and Clare Lenihan …
In the West Coast Conference, all four matches went five as Pacific (10-14, 5-8) beat Pepperdine (16-8, 10-4), Portland (18-7, 6-7) beat San Francisco (8-17, 1-13), Gonzaga (8-16, 5-8) beat Santa Clara (6-20, 1-13) and Loyola Marymount (18-7, 8-6) beat Saint Mary’s (16-7, 8-5). Among the best lines in the league, Shannon Scully had 26 kills and hit .385 for Pepperdine, adding an ace, 20 digs and two blocks. Kaitlyn Lines had 25 kills two aces, eight digs and two blocks for Pacfic. LMU’s Sara Kovac had 23 kills, hit .302, and had two aces, 11 digs and a block. Katie Barker had 20 kills and hit .515 for Portland …
Miami holds a one-game lead in the MAC East and Ball State is still up three games in the MAC West, but Miami (19-7, 11-3) lost in five at Western Michigan (14-14, 4-10) and Ball State (19-8, 10-4) lost its second straight match when it fell in five at Eastern Michigan (16-12, 8-6). Sammi Labolle had 12 kills and hit .435 for WMU to go with two aces and four blocks. Jordan Smith had 18 kills and hit .385 for EMU and had two digs and two blocks …
In the Metro Atlantic, league-leader Iona (16-6, 14-1) swept St. Peters (6-24, 3-13) as Claire Archibald had 14 kills, hit .462 and had 11 digs …
Northeast Conference-leading LIU Brooklyn was off, but Bryant (20-10, 10-2) stayed a game back with a sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson (2-26, 0-12) as Caroline Kennedy had 13 kills, hit .458 and had five digs …
Ohio Valley leader Austin Peay (23-4, 12-2) had to go five to win at Eastern Kentucky (4-22, 3-11) as Logan Carger led a balanced attack with 11 kills and six blocks. Cassie Knutson led EKU with 14 kills, 14 assists, three aces, two blocks and 11 digs … Murray State (17-9, 11-3), coming off its win over Austin Peay, stayed a game back by winning in five at Morehead State (18-9, 9-5) as Dacia Brown led with 17 kills, hitting .390. Katirah Johnson had 13 kills, hit .579, and added five blocks. Jessica Wachtman had 21 kills and hit .375 for third-place Morehead State …
Southland leader Stephen F. Austin won its 24th in a row to improve to 27-2, 14-0 with a four-set win over visiting Abilene Christian (13-14 10-5). Hanna Makenzee and Danae Doron had 10 kills each …
And Bucknell (7-18, 2-12 Patriot League) won in five at Lafayette (5-20, 0-13) but freshman Leanna Deegan led Lafayette with a conference-record 34 kills. As Lafayette reported, the record stood for 21 years and was previously held by Lehigh’s Kim Freedman who had 32 kills in a 1997 match also against the Bison. The 34 kills are the tied for the sixth most in a single match in all of collegiate volleyball this season.
Sophie Bullard led Bucknell with 21 kills and had an ace and 14 digs.
Also in the Patriot, American (19-10, 13-1), which had won 14 in a row and already clinched the regular-season title, lost in four at Holy Cross (7-20, 6-8), which beat the Eagles for the first time in 36 tries.
