Utah Valley went down 0-2 but came to win in five and break NM State‘s 34-match WAC winning streak Monday, Pitt scored an important ACC victory over Georgia Tech, and Texas swept Texas State.
Mia Wesley had a career-high 30 kills as Portland won in five at Santa Clara. And three players named Hannah led their respective teams in kills.
The recaps follow, but first a look ahead when Tuesday’s NCAA Division I women’s schedule is relatively light, but the Horizon League, Northeast Conference, and WAC have full slates.
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AVCA WOMEN — The top six teams in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Women’s Poll stayed the same. Florida moved up a spot to No. 7, trading places with Washington. Purdue moved up a spot to No. 10, while Ohio State, unbeaten and atop the Big Ten, moved up eight spots to No. 11. UCLA fell five spots to No. 17, Marquette dropped out, and Missouri moved back in at No. 25.
Click here for the complete AVCA women’s poll.
AVCA MEN — Hawai’i and BYU stayed 1-2 in the AVCA Division I-II Men’s Coaches Poll, while UC Santa Barbara moved up a spot to No. 3, trading places with Pepperdine. There was no major movement in the top 15.
Click here for the complete AVCA men’s poll.
WAC — Utah Valley (9-3, 9-2) not only closed the gap at the top of the conference with its 24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 25-22, 18-16 victory over NM State (10-1), it broke the Aggies’s 34-match Western Athletic winning streak.
Kristen Bell led UVU with 17 kills, an assist, two blocks, and five digs. Tori Dorius had 13 kills, three blocks, and two digs. Their team hit .156.
“They are a really good team and they execute at a high level and our adjustments allowed us to catch up and gave us a chance,” Utah Valley coach Sam Atoa said, “New Mexico State did a nice job of running their quick offense and we were struggling to catch up at first. We made some adjustments to get in the right positions which allowed us to get some defensive help. We focused on controlling what we could control and that combination led to our turnaround.”
NM State had six players with nine or more kills and hit .169. Savannah Davison led with 13 kills, an ace, 14 digs, and three blocks, one solo. Katie Birtcil had 12 kills and three blocks, and Victoria Barrett had 12 kills, a block, and 16 digs …
Yeny Murillo had 26 kills and hit .345 to go with two assists, three blocks, and nine digs as Grand Canyon (7-2) won in four at California Baptist (4-7). Ashley Lifgren added 14 kills and hit .324 and had 19 digs and two blocks, one solo. Klaire Mitchell had a kill, 54 assists, three blocks and 13 digs …
Tarleton (10-7, 6-5) swept visiting Dixie State (6-8, 5-8) as Amber Strange had 15 kills, an assist, an ace, and five digs. Ana Costas had 20 digs, six assists, and an ace. Dixie State’s Whittnee Nihipali had 13 kills and hit .364 … Seattle U (2-7) swept visiting UTRGV (1-10, 1-8). Julia Queiroz had 14 kills, hit .600, and had three digs and four blocks, one solo.
PITT BEATS GEORGIA TECH — Pitt (7-4, 6-4) won 25-19, 25-23, 25-19 and broke the eight-match winning streak of Georgia Tech (8-2). Valeria Vazquez Gomez led the Panthers with 11 kills and hit .375 after having two errors in 24 attacks. She had two aces, two blocks, and five digs. Pitt hit .274, while Georgia Tech hit .145. Mariana Brambilla led the Yellow Jackets with 11 kills, an ace, two blocks, and five digs.
TEXAS SWEEPS — Texas improved to 18-0 as the Big 12 power swept visiting Texas State (27-5), the Sun Belt champion, 25-19, 25-18, 25-18. Skylar Fields had 13 kills with two errors in 24 attacks to hit .458 and had two blocks and two digs. Brionne Butler had 10 kills with no errors in 18 swings and seven blocks. Janell Fitzgerald had 10 kills for Texas State and had two blocks and three digs.
BIG SKY — Montana State (10-2) won in five at Idaho (5-7, 4-6) as four players had 12 or more kills. Kira Thomsen led with 17 and she had an assist, five aces, two blocks, and eight digs. Hannah Scott had 15 kills, hit .333, and had a block and 13 digs. Bea Whitling had 14 kills and hit .407 for Idaho and had three aces, four blocks, and four digs … Rylin Adams had 19 kills and Dani Nay 17 as Weber State (11-1) won in four at Northern Arizona (9-3). Adams had an assist, a block, and 11 digs, and Nay had one error in 37 attacks to hit .432 to go with an assist, an ace, two blocks, and 22 digs. NAU’s Taylor Jacobsen had 18 kills, 11 digs, and three blocks, two solo … And Portland State (3-11, 2-1) won back to back matches for the first time these season as it beat Montana (2-12) in four for the second straight day. Gabby Hollins had 14 kills and four blocks, an ace, an assist, and eight digs for Portland State and Zoe McBride 13 kills, a block, and 17 digs.
CONFERENCE USA — Rice is 10-0 in league play, 11-3 overall, after sweeping visiting North Texas (6-9, 2-6). Rice, which hit .323, got 20 kills from Nicole Lennon, who hit .372 and had three blocks and 17 digs. Anota Adekunle had 13 kills, hit .407, and had an assist, three digs, and three blocks, one solo … Western Kentucky (13-0, 8-0) hit .395 and kept pace with a sweep of visiting FIU (1-8, 1-7). Paige Briggs led WKU with 14 kills and hit .481 after having one error in 27 attacks. She added an assist, a solo block, and eight digs …
Charlotte (8-4, 6-3) hit .371 and won in four at Florida Atlantic (1-8, 1-6) as Emani Foster had 17 kills and hit .432 after having one error in 37 swings. She also had three aces, two blocks, and five digs. Sydney Rowan had 13 kills with one error in 33 attacks and had an ace, four blocks, and 10 digs. FAU’s Scherine Dahoue had 21 kills, an assist, five aces, and nine digs … UTSA (5-9, 3-5) won in four at Louisiana Tech (1-15, 0-8). Jessica Langridge had 13 kills and hit .611 for the Roadrunners to go with four blocks and a dig … Southern Miss (8-5, 3-3) beat visiting UAB (7-6, 6-4) in four as Duquesne Moratzka and Nyanuer Bidit had 12 kills each and Kilsey Hanback 11. Bidit had one error in 17 attacks, three blocks, and two digs. UAB’s Maida Fernanda had 17 kills and Alex Kells 16 … Middle Tennessee (2-7, 2-5) beat visiting Marshall (6-4, 4-4) in four. Samira Lawson Body had 15 kills and hit .407 and Kayla Henley and Amelia Van Der Werff had 14 kills each. Marley Banton had 25 digs, five assists, and three aces. Ciara DeBell had 13 kills for Marshall and 14 digs.
HORIZON — Wright State (11-1, 11-0) stayed unbeaten in conference play with a four-set win over visiting Cleveland State (7-6) as six players had seven or more kills, including Celia Powers with 15, an assist, two blocks, and 11 digs. Jenna Story not only had a kill in her only try, she had 36 digs and nine assists. Lainey Stephenson had nine kills and hit .421 and had 52 assists, an ace, 16 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Hannah Greene had 17 kills and five blocks, one solo, for Cleveland State …
UIC (10-1) kept pace with a four-set win over visiting Green Bay (4-9). Martina Delucchi led with 12 kills, four aces, and 17 digs … Purdue Fort Wayne (9-4) won in four at Oakland (5-6). Katie Crowe led with 16 kills and 20 digs … Northern Kentucky (7-3, 6-3) beat visiting Milwaukee (4-5) in four as Anna Brinkman not only led with 15 kills while hitting .302, she had two assists, two blocks, and 26 digs. Milwaukee’s Abby Koenen had 17 kills, two blocks, and nine digs, and Jess Grabowski had 27 digs and four assists … Youngstown State (3-6) beat visiting Robert Morris (0-11) in five. Josi Borum led with 17 kills, 22 assists, an ace, a block, and 17 digs. Margaux Thompson had 30 digs, an assist, and an ace.
MID-AMERICAN — Eastern Michigan (6-6) swept visiting Ohio (5-5) as Franki Strefling had 15 kills, two assists, two blocks, and 14 digs.
MEAC — Coppin State (5-4, 4-1) is off to the best start in program history through nine matches after it swept Delaware State (4-2, 0-1). Coppin, which hit .124, got nine kills from Miajavon Coleman, who had three blocks and seven digs. Ashley Roman had 22 digs, three assists, and three aces.
MISSOURI VALLEY — Haley Bush had 18 kills and Emily Plock 17 as Drake (8-5, 6-4) won at Evansville (3-11, 2-10). Bush had two aces, six digs, and two blocks, one solo. Plock hit .387 and had an ace, four blocks, and five digs. Kylee Macke had 33 digs, four assists, and three aces. Melanie Feliciano had 15 kills and 10 digs for Evansville and Alondra Vazquez had 14 kills, three assists, a block, and 21 digs … Missouri State (12-8, 8-2) swept at Loyola Chicago (7-4, 6-4) as Brooklyn Cink had 13 kills, an ace, four blocks, and eight digs. Azyah Green had three kills and 11 blocks, one solo, the most by a Bear since 2003 … Indiana State (6-7, 6-6) won in four at Southern Illinois (2-11, 1-11). Madeline Williams had 10 kills with one error in 15 attacks and two blocks …Abby Johnson had 19 kills, four blocks, and two digs as Bradley (8-4) won in four at Valparaiso (7-7, 6-6). Hannah Thompson had 15 kills, three assists, and 22 digs. Kora Kauling had eight kills with one error in 16 attacks, 49 assists, a block, and 16 digs.
NORTHEAST — Sacred Heart (5-3, 4-0) swept Bryant (2-3, 2-2) twice. In the first match, Olivia Fairchild led with 17 kills as she hit .578 with one error in 28 attacks to go with four aces, a block, and five digs. Fairchild led again in the second match, this time with 13 kills, three blocks, and six digs.
OHIO VALLEY — Jacksonville State and Morehead State both won to stay unbeaten and two games ahead in the league standings.
Jacksonville State (10-0), playing its final season in the OVC, swept at Belmont (1-10, 1-9) as it hit .391 and got 16 kills from Lena Kindermann, who hit .560, and 15 from Courtney Glotzbach, who hit .619. Katie Montgomery had eight kills and five blocks, one solo …
Morehead State (10-0) hit .438, its best since 2016, as it swept at Tennessee Tech (4-6). Morehead State had 46 kills and seven errors in 89 attacks. Olivia Lohmeier led with 15 kills and one error in 27 swings and she had six digs and four blocks, two solo …
Eastern Illinois (1-9) got its first victory, a sweep of visiting Tennessee State (1-9) as Laurel Bailey had 19 kills, an assist, an ace, and seven digs. Christina Martinez Mundo had 27 digs and three assists … Austin Peay (8-2) swept visiting Murray State (4-6). Taylor McInerney led with 14 kills as she had no errors in 23 attacks to hit .609. Chloe Stitt had eight kills and six blocks, and Karli Graham had seven kills and seven blocks, one solo … Southeast Missouri (8-2) hit .374 and swept at UT Martin (5-5). Laney Malloy had 13 kills and hit .333 to go with two assists, eight digs, and three blocks, one solo … SIUE (6-4) hit .325 and won in five at Eastern Kentucky (2-8) as Sydney Hummert had 21 kills to lead five players with nine or more. Hummert hit .450 and had an assist, two blocks, and 13 digs. Molly Michalak had 19 kills for EKU and an assist, an ace, three blocks, and 11 digs …
SWAC — Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-3, 4-3) swept visiting Grambling (4-5, 3-3). Haley Gomez led with nine kills. She hit .467 and had four blocks and three digs. Nikole Akamine had 22 digs, two assists and four aces, and Kaila Robinson had 20 digs, an assist, and an ace … Prairie View (8-2, 7-1) swept Texas Southern (0-5). No stats were available.
SOCON — Samford (9-1) won its eighth in a row, a sweep at ETSU (4-6) as Lauren Deaton had 16 kills, a solo block, and 11 digs, and Briana Holmes had 12 kills with one error in 16 attacks and six blocks, one solo … Mercer (10-5, 10-2) now has the most conference wins in program history after sweeping visiting Wofford (7-4). Mercer, which hit .340, got 14 kills from Annie Karle, who had one error in 22 attacks, an assist, and 13 digs … The Citadel (5-10, 3-7) swept visiting Chattanooga (5-9, 3-9). Sharlissa de Jesus led with 13 kills, an assist, an ace, two blocks, and 14 digs … Western Carolina (6-7, 6-5) swept at Furman (4-6). Merry Gebel led with 11 kils, an ace, a block, and seven digs.
WEST COAST — Portland (2-9) won in five at Santa Clara (1-4) behind Mia Wesley’s 30 kills, an assist, an ace, and 15 digs. Wesley had seven errors in 79 attacks and hit .279. Liz Reich had 11 kills, three digs, and two blocks, one solo. Carey Williams had 28 digs, seven assists, and two aces, and Grace Zilbert had 24 digs, an assist, and an ace.
Santa Clara’s Julia Sangiacomo had 27 kills with five errors in 85 attacks, two aces, 17 digs and four blocks. Sophia Tulino had 20 kills, seven digs, and two blocks. Five Broncos had 13 or more digs.
