Minnesota and Michigan are undefeated in the Big Ten no more, and Wisconsin looks practically unstoppable. The No. 7 Badgers swept No. 6 Minnesota on Sunday to take the lead in the Big Ten standings with a 6-0 conference record. Nebraska ended Michigan’s win streak in straight sets.
In the day’s only other top-25 upset, North Carolina toppled No. 23 Florida State in five. The Tar Heels have now won four in a row and are 4-2 in the ACC. Redshirt freshman Lauren Harrison, who missed all of 2018 due to injury, led the way to victory with a new career-high 24 kills.
Oregon went up 2-0 over No. 11 Washington, but couldn’t hold on. In a very similar turn of events, No. 18 Utah came back from down 0-2 to beat Southern California.
Texas A&M dominated in the third and fourth set of its five-setter against No. 14 Florida, but the Gators won in five. In other SEC news, Georgia won its second five-setter in a row, toppling LSU to stay 5-1 in conference play.
A more thorough examination of these results and others from around the country will follow, but first a look at a very light Monday schedule.
In the CAA, Delaware (11-5, 3-2), which lost in five to Elon on Saturday will look to rebound in a match at William & Mary (4-14, 1-5).
South Carolina State (0-17, 0-5) and Norfolk State (0-14, 0-5) are both in the hunt for their first victory of the season, as they take on Delaware State (7-12, 2-2) and Morgan State (8-10, 2-3), respectively, in MEAC action.
Fresno State (10-8, 3-3) and San Diego State (9-8, 2-4), which currently sit right next to each other at sixth and seventh in the Mountain West standings, respectively, will play in Fresno.
In a battle of two teams with just one loss in conference play, Jackson State (10-13, 6-1) hosts Alabama A&M (10-11, 6-1). Elsewhere in the SWAC, Mississippi Valley State (3-20, 0-7) plays Alcorn State (3-15, 1-7) and Arkansas Pine Bluff (3-17, 2-3) takes on Texas Southern (5-12, 4-4).
Finally, the Western Athletic Conference schedule for Monday features Chicago State (4-14, 0-4) at Utah Valley (6-12, 3-3) and Cal Baptist (8-10, 2-3) at Seattle (10-10, 1-5).
Click here for the complete NCAA.com scoreboard and to watch any match that is being broadcast, go to the VolleyballMag.com daily TV and streaming listings.
Wisconsin wins the Border Battle: Minnesota (11-3, 5-1) hit under .100 in two of three sets as Wisconsin (10-4, 6-0) scored a Big Ten sweep on Sunday 25-18, 25-14, 25-20.
The Badgers had eight aces to Minnesota’s one. In fact, Wisconsin led in every statistical category, except blocking where the Gophers had the advantage 11 to four.
Dana Rettke led Wisconsin with 16 kills and just two errors, hitting .500. Molly Haggerty also hit double digits with 12 kills. Defensively, libero Tiffany Clark topped the stat sheet with 12 digs, while defensive subs Lauren Barnes and Izzy Ashburn each had nine to go with two aces apiece.
The win is Wisconsin’s first over Minnesota since 2014.
North Carolina upsets No. 23 Florida State: North Carolina (7-9, 4-2) went down 0-2 inside its home gym in the match versus Florida State (10-5, 4-2) on Sunday, but the Tar Heels came all the way back for their first ranked win of the season 24-26, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-10.
In addition to the career-high offensive total from Harrison, UNC got 16 kills from Skylar Wine, who played in the final three sets, and 20 digs from Mia Fradenburg. Destiny Cox set a new career-high with eight blocks, and Skyy Howard added seven. Setter and Nebraska transfer Hunter Atherton had 46 assists.
“We’ve struggled with Florida State at times,” UNC coach Joe Sagula said. “We showed maturity. Where we’ve come in a month is amazing. I’m so proud of their trust in each other and their coaches. They’re maturing in the game and that’s what this match is about.”
On the Florida State side, Jasmyn Martin didn’t play and leading hitter Payton Caffrey didn’t start due to an illness, although she entered the match partway through the first set and finished with 13 kills.
“It was a disappointing loss today,” FSU coach Chris Poole said. “The girls played their hearts out. Payton was dehydrated and running a fever, and it caught up to her in the third set. We were also without Jasmyn Martin this weekend due to injury, so we were asking the freshmen to carry a heavy load. At one point, we had five freshmen on the court at the same time. It just wasn’t enough today against a good athletic team on the road. We need to get back home, get healthy and have a good week of practice.”
One of those freshman, Morgan Chacon, led the Seminoles with 20 kills and 17 digs, both career-highs.
Ranked Pac-12 teams prevail: Washington (13-3, 4-2) barely escaped with a five-set win (23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11) over Oregon (5-10, 1-5) in Seattle Sunday. Kara Bajema had 21 kills and 12 digs, and Oregon’s Georgia Murphy led the match with 22 digs. Ducks outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller scored her 10th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 15 digs.
In Salt Lake City, No. 18 Utah (13-4, 5-1) hit under .100 in the first two sets as USC (9-7, 3-3) went up 2-0. With hitting percentages above .400 in the third and fourth sets, however, the Utes got back on track and won 20-25, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19, 15-11.
USC’s Khalia Lanier set a new season-high with 26 kills, while Kenzie Koerber and Dani Drews combined to lead the Utah offense with 18 and 17 kills, respectively. Utah setter Saige Ka’aha’aina Torres set a new career-high with 52 assists.
A&M pushes Florida to the brink: Florida (13-3, 4-1) narrowly avoided losing its second SEC match of the season, as the Gators beat Texas A&M (11-5, 3-3) in five sets (25-23, 25-23, 14-25, 15-25, 15-12). Each team finished the match with 16 blocks, led by Florida’s Rachael Kramer with seven block assists and two solos and A&M’s Makena Patterson with eight block assists and one solo.
The always impressive Hollann Hans had 26 kills and three aces for the Aggies, while Florida was led by Thayer Hall’s 18 kills to go with 13 digs.
Georgia impresses again: In a five-set victory (16-25, 25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 17-15) over LSU (9-7, 3-3), Georgia (13-4, 5-1) saw Rachel Ritchie join the 1,000 career-kills club, finishing the match with 14 kills and setting a new career-high with five blocks. Freshman Kacie Evans recorded her fourth consecutive double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, and libero Kendall Glover led the match with 17 digs, while collecting a career-high six assists. LSU’s Taylor Bannister led all players with a season-high 29 kills.
Power Five results: Nebraska (13-2, 5-1) put an end to Michigan’s (12-4, 5-1) undefeated Big Ten record as the Huskers won in straight sets Sunday (25-21, 25-22, 25-14). Lexi Sun led the match with 12 kills, hitting .400 and adding 10 digs. The Wolverines hit just .019 as Nebraska collected 11 team blocks and 46 digs …
Alyssa Chronowski had 24 kills and hit .465 to lead her Michigan State (12-4, 3-3) team to a five-set victory (25-15, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 15-3) over Iowa (7-10, 1-5). Her fellow Spartan Molly Johnson set a new career-high with seven blocks. In the final frame, MSU hit .692 to Iowa’s -.188 as the Hawkeyes scored just three points …
Haylie Bennett had 22 kills, but it wasn’t enough for Oregon State (8-9, 2-4) to upset No. 22 Washington State (15-3, 4-2). WSU setter Hannah Pukis’ evenly distributed offense saw four Cougar players reach double-digit kills in the four-set match (25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18) …
Maddie Haynes’ 11 kills led Cal (15-1, 5-1) to a sweep of Arizona (11-7, 1-5) (25-23, 25-19, 25-20) …
UCLA (9-6, 4-2) blanked Colorado (8-8, 0-6) thanks to 18 kills from Mac May as the Bruins won 25-15, 25-23, 25-18 …
Stanford (11-3, 5-1) hit .398 as a team in a sweep (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) of Arizona State (10-7, 2-4). Meghan McClure led the Cardinal with 12 kills …
Ole Miss (13-3, 5-0) continued its winning ways, beating Auburn (6-10, 0-5) in straight sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-18). Nayo Warnell led the match with 11 kills and Nicole Purcell had 23 digs …
Lily Felts led Tennessee (9-7, 3-3) to a sweep (25-15, 25-15, 25-23) of Mississippi State (11-7, 0-6) with 11 kills and seven digs. UT’s Madison Coulter topped all players with 19 digs …
Arkansas (6-11, 0-5) came close to its first SEC win of the season, but South Carolina (11-7, 3-3) won in five (23-25, 24-26, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10). Arkansas’ Jillian Gillen led the match with 16 kills, but had 12 errors to hit just .073. South Carolina libero Addison Bryant collected 35 digs—the most digs by a USC player in 12 years—and the Gamecocks out-blocked the Razorbacks 18 to seven …
Five of seven ACC matches on Sunday ended in sweeps, with Syracuse (5-8, 2-4) beating Virginia (9-10, 1-5); Georgia Tech (10-7, 3-3) over Virginia Tech (7-12, 0-6); NC State (6-11, 1-4) blanking Miami (7-6, 3-2); Louisville (13-3, 6-0) 3-0 over Wake Forest (11-6, 1-5); and Pittsburgh (17-1, 6-0) handing Boston College (14-5, 5-1) its first conference defeat. Notre Dame (13-3, 6-0) over Duke (8-11, 1-5) took four sets, and you already read all about the five-setter between Florida State and UNC.
Around the nation: No. 21 Rice (16-1, 5-0) swept Middle Tennessee (7-12, 1-4) 25-18, 25-17, 25-10. In fact, all six matches in Conference USA were decided in straight sets, with the current standings holding …
Houston (12-9, 6-0) and Cincinnati (14-4, 6-0) both won Sunday to stay undefeated in the American Athletic Conference. Jordan Thompson had 19 kills, hitting .375, 10 digs, and a block in UC’s sweep of Temple (25-17, 25-16, 25-12). Abbie Jackson led Houston with 17 kills and Katie Karbo had 28 digs as the Cougars beat Tulsa (11-8, 4-2) in four (28-26, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23) …
Three players topped 20 digs in Tulane’s (14-5, 4-2) five-set defeat (27-25, 22-25, 25-17, 27-25, 15-11) of Wichita State (4-14, 1-5). WSU’s Arianna Arjomand led all players with 25 digs, while her teammate Mckayla Wuensch had 22 and Tulane libero Kaylie McHugh collected 23. Tulane won the blocking battle 16 to 12, led by Kayla Dinkins’ nine block assists and one solo block …
Solimor Cestero had 19 kills (but made 10 errors to hit .155) and 20 digs in North Florida’s (8-12, 2-4) five-set victory (26-24, 25-21, 13-25, 16-25, 15-11) over Jacksonville (7-13, 1-5). UNF’s Rocio Moro scooped 29 digs, while Jacksonville’s Sydney Bolding hit .609 with 15 kills and just one error …
Liberty’s (12-7, 5-2) Amelia Johnson had a career-high 29 kills in a losing effort against Stetson (5-11, 2-4) (23-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 15-10). Stetson setter Emily DeStaffino also set a career-high with 59 assists, and Kaylee Oscarson smashed 15 kills and hit .833 with six blocks. Liberty senior Gasey Goodwin finished the match with 18 kills, enough to push her into the 1,000 career kills club …
The only Big West match of the day saw UC Davis (12-7, 4-2) beat CSUN (6-11, 1-4) in five (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 24-26, 15-10). Lauren Matias led UCD with 24 kills, hitting .442 and adding 13 digs. In fact, five Aggie hitters averaged better than .400 as the team hit .422 for the match …
Towson (16-2, 6-0) remains undefeated in the CAA with a four-set victory over Elon (9-11, 4-3) (23-25, 25-14, 25-11, 25-19). Emily Jarome led the Tigers with 16 kills, adding 14 digs …
Another CAA match saw Laura Masciullo score 26 kills to tie her season high in Hofstra’s (11-7, 4-2) five-set defeat (16-25, 25-13, 17-25, 26-24, 19-17) of UNC Wilmington (11-8, 1-5) …
Northeastern’s (9-9, 3-3) Clare Lund had 24 digs as her team won in four (25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22) over College of Charleston (4-14, 1-5). Fifteen of the 16 players on the Charleston roster saw action in the match …
Milwaukee (18-2, 5-1) lost its first match of the Horizon League season and ended a 15-match win streak, falling to Oakland (10-8, 3-3) in five sets (23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 15-13). Oakland’s Jamie Walling led all players with 23 kills, and Carmen Heilemann had 20 for Milwaukee. Milwaukee libero Jess Grabowski collected 26 kills, while Oakland’s Kenzie Dunn (22) and Lindsay Wightman (24) also passed the 20-digs mark. Milwaukee’s Ari Miller had 10 blocks as she led Milwaukee to a season-high 13 team blocks …
Taylor Wolf contributed 22 kills to Green Bay’s (12-6, 4-2) Horizon League victory over IUPUI (6-13, 2-4) in five sets (25-16, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13) …
Velina Minkova scooped 25 digs to help UIC (14-6, 3-3) beat Cleveland State (5-12, 1-5) in four (25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 25-23) …
Canisius (9-10, 6-1) lost its first MAAC match of the season, falling in five (21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 15-13) to Siena (8-9, 3-4). Sol Guidarelli led Siena with 15 kills, while Makoda Weldon had 21 digs and Grace Halley contributed 20 digs. On the Canisius side, Bree Long topped all players with 24 digs …
There were a total of 65 aces in Sunday’s SWAC match between Jackson State (9-14, 3-4) and Alabama State (5-18, 3-5), which JSU won in five sets (25-16, 17-25, 25-19, 19-25, 16-14). JSU’s Hannah Lewis led with 17 points from behind the service line, while ASU’s Maya Jones had 14 and Krysta Medearis added 12 …
Omaha’s (10-9, 3-2) Isabelle Sade led all players with 22 kills in her team’s five-set loss (25-22, 27-25, 18-25, 15-25, 15-10) to Purdue Fort Wayne (11-9, 4-1). Fort Wayne libero Rachel Crucis set the match-high with 26 digs and three aces …
In her first career start at the libero position, North Dakota (9-10, 1-4) sophomore Darian Chwialkowski set a career-high with 33 digs. However, her team lost to South Dakota State (5-13, 2-4) in four (25-17, 15-25, 25-22, 25-22).
