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NCAA volleyball: Pepperdine sweeps BYU, Purdue, NM State win, tourney will have fans

Unbeaten Pepperdine not only won its West Coast Conference match against visiting BYU on Tuesday, it beat the previously unbeaten Cougars for the first time since 2011 and swept them for the first time since 1976.

Purdue went to Indiana and swept the Hoosiers in their Big Ten match. NM State won again and the Aggies are 8-0.

And the NCAA said it will allow fans — up to 25% percent capacity — for the NCAA Tournament that will be held in Omaha. The NCAA had few details, but you can read more about it here.

BYU gets a crack at Pepperdine again Wednesday when their match in Malibu is part of light NCAA Division I women’s college volleyball schedule. There are eight matches in all, including San Francisco at San Diego, Portland at Saint Mary’s, and Santa Clara at Pacific.

There just three men’s matches, Hawai’i at San Diego in the Big West, Pepperdine is at USC in the MPSF, and North Greenville at King in Conference Carolinas.

Want to watch a match? We’ve got the links in the VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.

WEST COAST — Shannon Scully had 18 kills, hit .389, and had two assists, a block, and seven digs in Pepperdine’s (7-0) 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 victory over BYU (7-1, 6-1). Pepperdine, which hit .349, got 14 kills from Rachel Ahrens, who hit .333 and had two blocks and two digs. Meg Brown had nine kills, hit .583, to go with a block. Emma Ammerman had five kills and four blocks. Isabel Zelaya had two kills in three errorless attacks, 43 assists, two aces, and eight digs. Madison Shields had 18 digs, four assists, and two aces.

BYU, which entered the match hitting .329, hit a season-low .178. Erin Livingston had 10 kills and hit .333 and she had two blocks. Taylen Ballard-Nixon had eight kills, two blocks, and five digs … 

Kari Geissberger had 18 kills and Rose Booth 17 and 11 digs as Loyola Marymount (4-6) won in four at Gonzaga (3-7). Isabella Bareford had four kills in six errorless attempts, 48 assists, an ace, a block, and nine digs, and Mary Shroll had 24 digs, three assists, and an ace. Gonzaga had four players with 11 or more kills. Chapin Gray had 14 kills, three digs, and four blocks, two solo. Alyssa Hughes had 11 kills with one error in 19 attacks and 10 blocks … 

And Saint Mary’s (3-6) went five to beat visiting Portland (2-8, 1-8). Hawley Harrer led the Gaels with 17 kills as she hit .317. She added an assist, a solo block, and five digs. Chandler Cowell had 12 kills, two assists, two aces, two blocks, and 13 digs. Mia Wesley had 16 kills, hit .325, and added three assists, an ace, a block, and 19 digs. Carey Williams had 23 digs, seven assists, and an ace.

BIG TEN — Purdue (7-4) won at Indiana (2-9) 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 as Grace Cleveland had 12 kills and Caitlyn Newton had 11. Cleveland, who hit .500, had five blocks and three digs. Newton had two blocks and six digs. Indiana, which hit .089, got seven kills from Savannah Kjolhede and six from Leyla Blackwell, who had no errors in 12 attacks, to go with three blocks, one solo.

HORIZON LEAGUE — Wright State (8-1, 8-0) swept and stayed unbeaten in the conference and Robert Morris (0-8) stayed winless. Nyssa Baker had 11 kills, hit .474, and had an assist and seven blocks for Wright State. Megan Alders had 10 kills and four blocks, one solo. Maria Alfano had 12 kills and hit .500 for Robert Morris and added an assist, a dig, and six blocks, two solo …

Paola Santiago had 19 kills as UIC (7-1) stayed a game behind Wright State with a four-set win at Milwaukee (4-4). Santiago had two assists, two blocks, and seven digs. Martina Delucchi had 11 kills, two aces, four blocks, and 16 digs, and Becca Oldendorf had 11 kills, hit .391, and had an ace, a dig, and foru blocks. Abby Koenen had 16 kills for Milwaukee, Carmen Heilemann had 12, and Ari Miller 10 and four blocks, one solo … 

Oakland (5-3) ended on a 6-1 run to win the fifth set 16-14 to beat visiting Green Bay (3-7) in a match with some unusual stats. 

Lindsay Wightman had 36 digs, five assists, and an ace. Jamie Walling led with 11 kills and two blocks, one solo, and Patti Cesarini had 10 kills. Oakland won despite hitting .084 and having just 36 kills in the five-set match. Green Bay’s Alexandra Zakutney had 28 kills with five errors in 63 attacks to hit .365 and she added an ace, four blocks, and 19 digs. Green Bay had 66 kills and hit .204. Tiffany Paalman had 13 kills, an assist, five aces, four digs, and two blocks, one solo … 

Purdue Fort Wayne (7-3) beat visiting Cleveland State (5-5) in four behind 18 kills by Katie Crowe, who had two assists, two blocks, and 19 digs. Sidney Schiller had 16 kills, hit .351, and had an assist, an ace, three blocks, and 12 digs. Hannah Greene had 17 kills for Cleveland State to go with an assist, five blocks, and seven digs … 

And Northern Kentucky (4-3) swept visiting Cincinnati (4-3) of the American Athletic Conference as Anna Brinkmann had 18 kills and hit .441. She had four aces, a block, and eight digs.

WAC — NM State (8-0) kept on rolling with a sweep at California Baptist (3-5). Savannah Davison led with 13 kills as she hit .346 and had five digs. Victoria Barrett had 10 kills with one error in 17 attacks, a dig, and two blocks, one solo. Lindsay Blakely had four kills in as many swings and five blocks … 

Grand Canyon (6-2) swept visiting UT Rio Grande Valley (0-8, 0-6). Giorgia Turri had 12 kills, hit .345, and had three ace and 15 digs. Yeny Murillo had 11 kills, a block, and three digs, and Hannah Eskes had 10 kills, an assist, and eight blocks, four solo. Klaire Mitchell had two kills in five errorless attempts, 37 assists, an ace, six digs, and four blocks, one solo. Aga Bulgur had 12 kills for UTRGV …

Dixie State (6-5, 5-5) won in four at Seattle U (1-5) as Megan Treanor sparkled with 18 kills as she hit .467 to go with 22 assists, four aces, five blocks and 12 digs. Whittnee Nihipali had 15 kills, an assist, two blocks, and four digs. Seattle’s Sophia Bertotti Metoyer had 15 kills, hit .324, and she had four blocks …

Utah Valley (6-3 6-2) had 17 blocks as it swept visiting Chicago State (0-2). Kazna Tanuvasa had 13 kills and hit .458 and she had four digs and four blocks, one solo. Kristen Bell had nine kills, three digs, and three blocks, one solo. Sadie Hamson had five kills and six blocks, Tori Dorius had four kills and six blocks, and Kendra Nock had four kills and nine blocks.

AROUND THE NATION — VCU (7-1) of the Atlantic 10 won at Elon of the Colonial, which  was opening its spring season. Paula Neciporuka led visiting VCU with 14 kills and 16 digs. Lauren King had 13 kills, two blocks, and five digs. Gabi Kroll had 15 kills and three blocks for Elon … 

North Alabama (1-4, 1-3) got its first victory, a four-set ASUN victory over visiting Lipscomb (6-2, 3-1). Maggie Sullivan led with 12 kills as she hit .400 and had four blocks and two digs. Kamryn Parsonage had 11 kills, two blocks, and eight digs. Four Lipscomb players had 10 or more kills as the Bisons out-hit UNA 59-40. Megan Kuper led with 14 kills, an ace, a block, and 11 digs … 

Central Arkansas (4-5, 2-2) won its Southland Conference match at McNeese (2-3) in four as Alexis Stumbough had 15 kills, four aces, and nine digs, and Amanda Beaton and Madi Bowles had 11 kills each. Bowles had four solo blocks. Alexis Lambert had 16 kills and 10 digs for McNeese … Also in the SLC, Lamar (1-8, 1-3) broke through with its first win, a sweep of visiting Northwestern State (2-3, 0-3). Kaitlyn Gil led with 18 kills as she hit .317 and had an ace, a block, and 13 digs. Kayla Neumann had 14 kills, three blocks, and a dig. Giselle Santini had 25 digs and four assists. Breanna Burrell had eight kills for Northwestern State and four blocks, one solo … 

UTEP (3-4, 3-1) swept its Conference USA match against visiting UTSA (3-7, 1-3). Paulina Perez Rosas led with 12 kills, hitting .333, and she had an ace, five digs, and two blocks, one solo … Jackson State (4-0) swept its SWAC match with Texas Southern (0-2) as Jylen Whitten had 14 kills, an ace, two blocks, and three digs … Rhode Island (2-4) swept Merrimack (0-1) of the Northeast Conference as Mariah Paulette had 13 kills and Natale Zanellato had 12.

MEN — The only action Tuesday saw Belmont Abbey (5-2, 2-2) sweep its Conference Carolinas match with visiting Barton (5-3, 3-2) despite 22 kills by Barton’s Adrian Iglesias. Belmont Abbey won even hitting .136. Matteo Miselli led with seven kills. 

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