Eastern Michigan stunned the MAC and won the league’s NCAA bid.
Dayton made it four titles in five years with a five-set win in the Atlantic 10 title match.
High Point took the Big South title.
Hofstra won the Colonial.
Howard, Navy, Samford and Alabama State all won their respective conference tournaments and the bids that go with them.
And at least four teams from Texas will be NCAA-bound: Texas had already won the Big 12, but will be joined by Rice of Conference USA, Stephen F. Austin of the Southland, and Texas State, which won the Sun Belt. And top-seeded UT Rio Grande Valley, which plays in the WAC tournament this week, hopes to be the fifth.
The NCAA Tournament bracket will be announced Sunday night, but there’s quite a bit of NCAA Division I women’s volleyball left as we head into the final week of the regular-season.
A handful of mid-majors are in position to get at-large bids, which has to have some power-five-conference maybes pretty worried.
There is one match on the NCAA schedule Monday when Air Force goes to Fresno State for a Mountain West contest.
A breakdown of what is happening in all 32 conference follows with NCAA projections.
ACC
Tenth-ranked Pittsburgh (28-1, 16-1) continued its record-setting season as the Panthers won in five Sunday at Miami (13-11, 9-8) to clinch the title outright with one game left on its schedule, at home for Georgia Tech on Wednesday.
Nika Markovic led with 19 kills in the 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 15-13 victory. Markovic hit .306, had three aces, five digs and five blocks. Stephanie Williams had 16 kills and Layne Van Buskirk, who had nine blocks — two solo — and Kayla Lund had 11 kills each.
Kolby Bird had 16 kills for Miami, while Bridget Wallenberger and Elizaveta Lukianova had 15 each. Wallenberger had seven blocks …
Idle Florida State (17-9, 13-3) and Syracuse (17-7, 13-3) are tied for second. The Orange swept visiting Virginia Tech (14-15, 5-12) 25-19, 25-18, 15-16 as Ella Saada and Polina Shemanova had 11 kills each.
Big 12
The league was quiet Sunday, but No. 5 Texas (18-4, 13-1), which has clinched the title and still hopes for a top-four NCAA seed, goes to Texas Tech on Wednesday before finishing the regular season at home Saturday against West Virginia. Texas is ranked No. 3 in the Figstats NCAA RPI.
Second-place Baylor (18-8, 10-5) and third-place Kansas (15-10, 8-6) are sure to get NCAA at-large bids.
Big Ten
The B1G was off Sunday. Third-ranked Minnesota (24-2, 18-0) finishes at No. 7 Penn State on Friday and at Rutgers on Sunday. Both the Gophers and No. 4 Illinois (26-3, 15-3) hope to be top four NCAA seeds and No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 12 Purdue and No. 19 Michigan will get bids. Maryland has a very long outside shot.
Pac-12
What would a Sunday in the Pac-12 be without some surprises?
Or revenge, as the case may be, as unranked Arizona State (14-16, 5-13) broke an 11-match skid by upsetting visiting No. 14 USC (20-9, 12-6). ASU’s Alyse Ford, who left USC after last season, went off for 25 kills in the 25-14, 25-19, 19-25, 25-18 victory.
Ford, who hit .405, had two solo blocks and two digs. Claire Kovensky added 11 kills and 14 digs. Brooke Botkin led USC with 16 kills and Emily Baptista had 10 …
Stanford (26-1, 18-0), which has won the league and now leads second-place by six games, won in three at No. 20 Washington on Sunday. Tami Alade had 11 kills on 13 errorless attacks to hit .846 in the 25-16, 25-18, 25-19 road victory. Alade had six blocks, one solo. Meghan McClure added 10 kills, 11 digs and a solo block. Washington, which hit .068, got 12 kills from Kara Bajema. The Huskies had won five in a row …
No. 24 Arizona (20-10, 9-8) destroyed visiting No. 25 UCLA (13-12, 8-10) 25-13, 25-22, 25-15. Kendra Dahlke led Arizona with 20 kills, hit .372, and had eight digs, an assist, an ace and a solo block. Devyn Cross had 10 kills with one error in 12 swings and hit .750. UCLA’s Jenny Mosser had 11 kills …
Unranked Cal (15-14, 7-11) stunned No. 18 Washington State (19-9, 10-8) at home, winning 25-21, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22. Mima Mirkovic led Cal with 20 kills, hit .321, and had 12 digs, two assists and two solo blocks. Taylor Mims had 17 kills for WSU …
And Colorado (17-12, 9-9) won in five at Oregon State (11-19, 1-17) as Naghede Abu had a school-record 17 blocks in the 24-26, 33-31, 20-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory. Abu had 12 kills, a dig and one of her blocks was a solo. Alexa Smith led with 22 kills, 13 digs, and four blocks, one solo. Maddie Goings led OSU with 19 kills, eight digs, two blocks, an ace and an assist …
The Pac-12 will get at least eight teams into the NCAA Tournament and Colorado hopes to be the ninth. But have it noted that at 13-12, UCLA needs to win one of its final two matches — at home Wednesday against Colorado and at home Friday against USC — to finish above .500 and be NCAA Tournament eligible.
Southeastern Conference
The league has four ranked teams and all four — plus South Carolina — will get into the NCAA tourney. But on Sunday, No. 11 Kentucky (22-4, 16-0), which won the title outright, swept at No. 23 Missouri (22-7, 12-5) as Leah Edmond had 22 kills in the 25-17, 25-22, 25-18 victory. Edmond hit .439 and Alli Stumler added 15 kills while hitting .438. Leketor Member-Meneh and Dariana Hollingsworth had nine kills each for Mizzou …
No. 13 Florida (23-5, 14-2) won in three at Georgia (13-14, 4-12) as Rachael Kramer had 11 kills, hit .667 and had six blocks, one solo …
No. 22 Tennessee (23-5, 14-2) won in four at Arkansas (11-15, 5-11) for its ninth win in a row. Erica Treiber led with 18 kills and hit .472 with one error in 36 attacks. She added five digs and four blocks, one solo. Tessa Grubbs had 17 kills. Logan Brown had 17 kills for the Razorbacks …
Also in the SEC, LSU (12-15, 7-9) knocked off visiting South Carolina (19-7, 10-6) in four as Taylor Bannister and Milan Stokes had 18 kills each. Toni Rodriguez added 14 kills and setter Lindsay Flory, a product of Volleyball Baton Rouge, had two kills in four errorless swings, 60 assists, 14 digs and two blocks. Mikayla Shields had 19 kills, 15 digs and three blocks for South Carolina. Brittany McLean and Courtney Furlong had 18 kills each …
Ole Miss (14-17, 4-13) beat visiting Alabama (19-11, 6-10) in four and Texas A&M (15-13, 8-8) won in four at Mississippi State (5-24, 1-15).
America East
Stony Brook, which we featured not long before the league tournament, had to go five Saturday to beat Albany and win the league’s NCAA bid. Last year, the Seawolves were sent to Nebraska. They’ll find out Sunday to where they’ll travel this season.
American Athletic
The league’s only ranked team, No. 21 UCF (26-3, 17-0) had already clinched the league title when it won in four at Houston (16-16, 3-14) in four on Sunday behind 17 kills by Kristina Fisher and 15 by McKenna Melville, who had 23 digs and two blocks.
Cincinnati (24-7, 14-3), which swept Memphis (11-18, 4-13) as Jordan Thompson got 26 more kills, will also get an NCAA bid. Thompson had two errors in 43 swings and hit .558 to go with six digs, four assists and a block.
Atlantic Sun
FGCU beat Kennesaw State in the tourney final Saturday to take the league’s NCAA bid for the first time.
Atlantic 10
Dayton (23-8) beat VCU (19-9, 13-1) 18-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12 as Lauren Bruns had 19 kills and the Flyers took the league’s bid for the fourth time in five years. Dayton trailed 10-7 in the fifth before rallying.
Big East
No. 9 Creighton (26-4, 18-0) and No. 17 Marquette (25-5, 15-2) are in, but they will play in the league’s tournament that begins with semifinals Friday when Marquette faces St. John’s and Creighton plays Villanova.
Big South
High Point won it again. The Panthers (21-9) beat Radford (21-6) 25-17, 25-17, 25-22 as Madison Smith had 11 kills and Molly Livingston had 10 to go with two digs, four aces and five blocks, two solo. Radford hit .089.
Big Sky
Northern Arizona and Idaho tied for the regular-season title at 15-3. The conference tournament starts Thursday at Northern Colorado.
Big West
No. 15 Cal Poly (25-2, 15-1) won the league title. Hawai’i (18-8, 14-2), which finished two games off the pace and has an RPI of 50 according to Figstats, is going to be holding its breath and hoping for an at-large bid when the NCAA makes its announcement Sunday.
Colonial Athletic Association
Hofstra (25-7) got 25 kills from Laura Masciullo and 20 from Michaela Rucli and beat James Madison (22-7), which holds out hope of getting an at-large bid. Its unofficial RPI is 55. The final was 24-26, 25-20, 25-11, 21-25, 15-10 as Hofstra won its ninth match in a row.
Conference USA
Rice, Rice, baby … The Owls (24-6), who dominated the league all season long, swept FIU (19-12) as three players for each team had 10 kills each. For Rice, it was Grace Morgan, Kassidy Muse and Nicole Lennon. No other C-USA team will get an NCAA bid.
Horizon League
Green Bay (20-10) swept Northern Kentucky (21-9) as Taylor Wolf had 23 kills, hit .362, and had 15 digs and five blocks, one solo. It will be Green Bay’s first NCAA trip since 2003.
Ivy League
Yale won the league on November 10 and had a two-week wait for the NCAA announcement.
Metro Atlantic
Iona won the title on Saturday, sweeping Canisius.
Mid-American
Eastern Michigan (21-13) had to win four matches in four days, and knocked off Kent State, Buffalo, Bowling Green and then Miami in five on Sunday for its first conference title. Cassie Haut led with 19 kills and hit .429 against Miami and added five digs, three aces and two solo blocks. Jordan Smith had 16 kills, five digs, three blocks, an ace and two assists. No other team in the MAC will get an NCAA bid.
Mid-Eastern
Howard (20-10) made it four in a row with a sweep of North Carolina A&T (14-12) in the league title match Sunday. Howard’s Jurnee Tipton led with nine kills, 12 digs, a solo block, an assist and an ace.
Missouri Valley
Northern Iowa and Illinois State are assured of at-large bids as the league tournament starts Thursday. Drake plays Bradley, with the winner getting ISU, and Missouri State plays Valparaiso, with the winner getting UNI.
Mountain West
Colorado State (23-7, 15-3) won the league title. No other team will get an NCAA bid.
Northeast Conference
Bryant, with a Figstats RPI of 207, won the title for the first time when it beat Sacred Heart on Saturday.
Ohio Valley
The crown went to Murray State, which swept Austin Peay on Saturday. No other NCAA bids will be forthcoming.
Patriot League
American, with a Figstats RPI of 115, won the league’s regular-season title, but then was knocked off by Navy (RPI 95) in Sunday’s tournament final. Navy (23-8) got 25 kills from Maddi Sgattoni, including the match winner in a 25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 25-27, 15-9 that sent the Mids to the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Southern Conference
Samford (19-14) won the conference tournament, beating ETSU (28-6), which is all but assured of an at-large bid. Krista Boesing and Lauren Deaton had 17 kills each for Samford in its 28-26, 20-25, 25-21, 26-24 victory. Boesing had four digs and five blocks, three solo, and Deaton had 16 digs. Shayla Phillip and Kelsi Hobbs had 11 kills each.
Leah Clayton led ETSU with 24 kills, hit .333, and had an ace, four blocks and 15 digs. AJ Lux had 20 kills, three digs and three blocks. ETSU has a Figstats RPI of 35.
Southland Conference
Stephen F. Austin, which has won 29 matches in a row, not only improved to 32-2, but swept Central Arkansas in the Southland tourney final 25-21, 25-9, 25-23, celebrating the birthday of Anyia Williams in a big way. She had nine kills, hit .389, and had eight blocks, two solo. Peyton Redmond and Makenzee Hanna had eight kills each.
SFA, the only team in the league that will get a bid, has a Figstats RPI of 45.
Samantha Anderson and Kellen Dunn had 11 kills each for Central Arkansas (26-6).
Southwestern
Alabama State (23-17) beat Alabama A&M (23-15) in four for its fifth title in six years. Bayle’ Bennett led the Hornets with 20 kills, hit .312, and had four aces, 10 digs and two blocks, one solo. Krysta Medearis had 17 kills.
Summit
Taylor Wilson had 24 kills, hit .511 and had seven digs and five blocks as South Dakota stunned Denver — which went through the regular season 15-0 — 27-25, 24-26, 19-25, 25-21, 15-6. The Coyotes (21-9) got 19 kills from Hayley Dotseth, who had 15 digs, a block and two aces. Elizabeth Loschen had 12 kills, three digs and two blocks.
Denver, which swept South Dakota and then won in five in their two regular-season meetings, is 27-2 and with a Figstats RPI of 44 should get an at-large NCAA bid. Becca Latham led the Pioneers with 22 kills, hit .354, and had a dig and five blocks, one solo. Emma Willis had 16 kills, hit .483, and had a dig and seven blocks, while Tina Boe had 14 kills, six digs, six blocks, an assist and an ace.
Sun Belt
Volleyball Baton Rouge product Madison Daigle had 12 kills, hit .476, and added an assist, two digs and four blocks, one solo, as Texas State (26-6) put the exclamation point on the Sun Belt season with a sweep of Appalachian State (22-8).
The Bobcats, who went 15-1 in the regular season, and have a Figstats RPI of 25, got nine kills each from Cheyenne Huskey and Janell Fitzgerald.
Kara Spicer led Appalachian with 10 kills.
Western Athletic
The league tournament starts Thursday with Utah Valley facing CSU Bakersfield, with the winner getting regular-season winner UT Rio Grande Valley, and Seattle vs. Kansas City, with the winner playing NM State. There won’t be any at-large bids forthcoming in the WAC, so it’s winner take all.
West Coast
The league plays its regular-season matches Tuesday, which includes top-ranked BYU, the nation’s only undefeated team, at Loyola Marymount. Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s and San Diego are all hoping for at-large bids, although the loser of San Diego vs. Pepperdine could fall out of the mix.
