Yes, third-ranked Pittsburgh won and staked its claim to No. 1 in the AVCA Poll that comes out later Monday.
No. 2 Stanford rallied from an 0-2 deficit at USC and came away with a five-set victory.
UCLA did it again, this time upsetting No. 15 Cal two days after doing the same to Stanford.
But Rutgers!
The Scarlet Knights broke a four-year conference losing streak Sunday and beat Northwestern, its first Big Ten victory since beating Maryland on October 21, 2015. This time, 80 — yes, 80 —B1G matches later, nine this season, Rutgers topped the visiting Wildcats 27-25, 26-24, 16-25, 23-25, 15-10.
“Big win for our players and program,” 12th-year Rutgers coach CJ Werneke told VolleyballMag.com. “Great to see the team come together and put forth a total team effort. It’s just a testament to our players’ dedication and perseverance, while competing in the best volleyball conference in the country.”
The recaps and highlights follow, but first a look at Monday’s four-match NCAA Division I women’s volleyball schedule.
Two of those matches are in the Western Athletic Conference as league-leader NM State — holding a two-game lead over idle Grand Canyon — plays host to California Baptist and Utah Valley goes to UT Rio Grande Valley.
There’s a Missouri Valley Conference match between Drake and Valparaiso, and in the Colonial William & Mary is at Northeastern.
Want to watch a match? We’ve got you covered.
Click here for the complete NCAA.com schedule and to watch any match that is being shown, go to the VolleyballMag.com daily TV and streaming listings. One click will take you right to the broadcast.
Big Ten: Just consider what Rutgers — 2-118 since joining the Big Ten — has gone through since winning its last B1G match.
Coach CJ Werneke, in his 12th season, is now 89-269 at Rutgers. He’s tried everything, including putting a strong emphasis on recruiting foreign players (read our story about him from last year). But it hasn’t worked and Rutgers, since joining the Big Ten, has had conference records of 0-20 in 2014, 1-19 in 2015, 0-20 in 2016, 2017, and 2108, and now this season stands 7-14 overall, 1-9 in the conference.
Tali Marmen, a sophomore outside from Israel, led with 14 kills despite hitting .050. She had an ace, three blocks and five digs. German sophomore middle Merle Weidt had 13 kills, hit .423, and added an assist, two aces, five blocks, and three digs. Beka Kojadinovic, a junior right side from Serbia, had 12 kills, an assist, two aces, four blocks and 16 digs. Russian sophomore outside Anastasila Maksimova added 11 kills, had an ace, 13 digs and two blocks, one solo. Serbian senior middle Stasa Milijeciv had eight kills and hit .500 and had three blocks, and Russian sophomore setter Inna Balyko had three kills in seven errorless attempts, 52 assists, two blocks and 11 digs.
Northwestern (9-13, 0-9) took over sole possession of last place in the league, while Rutgers is tied with idle Indiana (12-11, 1-9). Nia Robinson led Northwestern with 18 kills and hit .484. Alana Walker had 14 kills, five digs and two blocks, and Ella Grbac had 11 kills, three digs an five blocks, two solo …
Dana Rettke is back. No. 6 Wisconsin (14-4, 10-0), the last team unbeaten in league play, is off to its best B1G start since 2001 with a 24-26, 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 victory at Michigan (13-7, 6-4). And that included the return of Rettke, who missed two matches with a foot injury. The 6-foot-8 middle had 15 kills while hitting .429, four aces, three digs and 10 blocks, one solo. Grace Loberg had 13 kills, hit .353, and had a dig and six blocks. Molly Haggerty had nine kills and hit .381 and Danielle Hart had seven kills and hit .500 to go with six blocks. Sydney Hilley had 43 assists to go with a kill, three blocks and six digs. Paige Jones had 21 kills for Michigan and added a block and eight digs. Sydney Wetterstrom had 10 kills, three assists, an ace, a block and 16 digs …
And Minnesota (15-3, 9-1) won 25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 25-18 at Michigan State (13-7, 4-6) as Regan Pittman led with 19 kills as she hit .484 and had an assist, three aces, a dig and five blocks, two solo. Alexis Hart had 10 kills. Alyssa Chronowski had 12 kills for Michigan State to go with five digs and four blocks, two solo.
Pac-12: UCLA, which started the conference season 3-2, is now 12-7 overall, and, at 7-3, one of four teams tied for second behind Stanford (14-4, 8-2). The logjam includes Cal (17-3, 7-3), Washington State (18-4, 7-3) and Washington (16-4, 7-3), with Utah and USC a game back.
UCLA on Friday swept visiting Stanford. On Sunday, the Bruins knocked off Cal 25-19, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20 as they hit .300, led by Mac May’s 21 kills. May hit .340 and had an ace, two blocks and nine digs. Emily Ryan had 11 kills, hit .500, and had five blocks, two solo. Jenny Mosser and Lexi Hadrych had 10 kills each, Savvy Simo eight kills, three blocks and nine digs, and Sabrina Smith had three kills, an ace, two digs and seven blocks, one solo. Lauren Forte had 17 kills and hit .355 for Cal and she had eight blocks. Mimi Mirkovic had 13 kills …
Stanford, still without Kathryn Plummer, grinded to a 23-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-14, 15-11 victory at USC (12-8, 6-4) as freshman Kendall Kipp had a career-high 23 kills. Kipp hit .348 and had two blocks and four digs. Audrianna Fitzmorris had 14 kills, hit .324, and had four blocks and two digs. Madeleine Gates had 13 kills, four blocks and four digs. Meghan McClure added nine kills, an ace, an assist, two blocks and 12 digs. Setter Jenna Gray not only had 58 assists, but hit .778 after having seven kills in nine errorless attempts. She added an ace, three blocks, and 15 digs, and Morgan Hentz had 27 digs, five assists, and her first kill of the season off a dig that went all the way to the back of the court and fell untouched. USC, which lost to Stanford for the seventh time in a row, got 20 kills from Khalia Lanier, who had an ace and 12 digs, and a career-high 19 from Kalen Owes. Jasmine Gross had 10 kills, three aces, six digs and six blocks, one solo. Stanford held a .292-.149 hitting-percentage advantage as USC played without injured Brooke Botkin …
No. 9 Washington beat Colorado (8-12, 0-10) 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-13 as Samantha Drechsel had 18 kills and hit .469 to go with two aces and 12 digs. Kara Bajema added 14 kills, an ace, three blocks and four digs. Avie Niece had eight kills, hit .583, and had seven blocks, two solo. Lauren Sanders had seven kills and 10 blocks, and setter Ella May Powell had three kills, 43 assists, three aces, nine digs and three blocks. Justine Spann had 14 kills but hit .044 for Colorado to go with 16 digs. Sterling Parker and Meegan Hart had 10 kills each. Setter Jenna Ewert had seven kills in 13 errorless attempts and hit .538 to go with 36 assists, four blocks and seven digs …
No. 24 Washington State came away with a hard-fought 23-25, 25-15, 24-26, 28-26, 16-14 victory at No. 18 Utah (14-7, 6-4), despite 31 kills by Dani Drews. Magda Jehlarova, who had the match-winning kill, led WSU with 18 kills, hit .607, and had a dig and eight blocks, one solo. Pia Timmer had 17 kills and Jocelyn Urias had 12 with no errors in 18 swings to hit .667. She added five blocks and five digs. Kalyah Williams had 10 kills, two blocks and four digs and setter Hannah Pukis had five kills, 62 assists, four blocks and 12 digs. Drews tied the Utah program record for kills during the rally-scoring era as she hit .293 on 75 attempts. She added an ace, eight digs and three blocks, one solo. Kenzie Koerber had 18 kills, an assist, 11 digs and two blocks. Zoe Weatherington had 14 kills and four digs and Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres had 67 assists, six digs, a kill and four blocks, one solo …
Arizona State (13-8, 5-5) swept visiting Oregon State (9-12, 3-7) 25-21, 25-21, 25-20 as the Sun Devils hit .340. Four players had seven or more kills, including Jada Burse and Megan Beedie with nine each. Beedie had no errors in 12 attacks and hit .750 and had a dig and three blocks, one solo. Maddie Goings had 10 kills for OSU …
And Arizona (12-10, 2-8) beat Oregon (6-13, 2-8) 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24. Paige Whipple led Arizona with 17 kills and had 10 digs and two solo blocks. Devyn Cross had 16 kills, hit .355, and had six digs and four blocks. Katie Smoot had 13 kills and hit .333 to go with two blocks and six digs. Julia Patterson had four kills, 48 assists, and seven digs. Oregon’s Ronika Stone had 19 kills and hit .368 to with an assist and four blocks, and Willow Johnson had 13 kills, three blocks and three digs. Brooke Nuneviller had nine kills, two blocks and 11 digs.
ACC: Pittsburgh (21-1, 10-0) built its league lead to two games with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-20 win at second-place Louisville (15-5, 8-2). Kayla Lund led with 11 kills and Chinazee Ndee, Layne Van Buskirk and Stephanie Williams had 10 each as the Panthers won their 10th match in a row. Amber Stivrins led Louisville with 10 kills …
Notre Dame (15-5, 8-2) is tied for second after the Irish blasted visiting Virginia (9-14, 1-9) 25-21, 25-18, 25-10. Charley Niego led with 11 kills and Sydney Bent had 10. Virginia hit .022 …
Three teams are tied for fourth. Florida State (13-6, 7-3) won in four at Clemson (10-11, 4-6), but Boston College (16-7, 7-3) got swept at North Carolina (10-10, 7-3). Payton Caffrey had 20 kills for Florida State as she hit .341 and had 10 digs and three blocks. Parker Austin led UNC with 15 kills and hit .314 to go with a solo block …
Georgia Tech (13-7, 6-3) swept visiting Miami (8-9, 4-5) as Julia Bergmann had 12 kills, an assist, two aces, 15 digs and two blocks, one solo. .. Syracuse (6-11, 3-7) swept at NC State (8-14, 3-7) behind 22 kills by Polina Shemanova, who hit .463 and had an assist and 10 digs …
And Virginia Tech (9-14, 2-8) won in five at Wake Forest (11-10, 1-9) as Peyton Suess had 15 kills, an assist, three aces and nine digs.
SEC: All three of the league’s ranked teams won, but Georgia, which was tied for the lead with Florida and Kentucky, got swept by Texas A&M.
No. 13 Florida (17-3, 8-1) beat visiting Tennessee (9-11, 3-7) 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-17. Four Gators had 10 or more kills, led by Paige Hammons, who had 15, hit .394, and had an assist, 11 digs and a solo block. Rachel Kramer and Thayer Hall had 13 kills each. Setter Marlie Monserez had two kills, 42 assists, 18 digs and a block. Tessa Grubbs had 22 kills and hit .429 and had two digs and a block. Lily Felts had 14 kills and hit .316 to go with 10 digs …
No. 16 Kentucky (15-5, 8-1) won at Ole Miss (14-6, 6-3) 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 25-23 as Leah Edmond had 22 kills, hit .315, and had an assist, 10 digs and two blocks. Alli Stumler had 16 kills and hit .304 to go with an assist, three of her team’s four aces, seven digs and four blocks. Gabby Curry had 29 digs and Cameron Schietzach, getting her first start at setter, had 50 assists and six digs. Schietzach played in place of the injured Madison Lilley. Emily Stroup had 23 kills for Ole Miss and in doing so became the program’s all-time kills leader with 1,421…
No. 25 Missouri (14-4, 6-2) swept visiting Mississippi State (12-10, 1-9) as Kylie Deberg had 14 kills, hit .345, and had an ace, three blocks and six digs in the 25-19, 27-25, 25-18 victory. Leketor Member-Meneh had 13 kills with no errors in 17 swings and hit .765 and had an ace and three digs, and Tyanna Omazic had 12 kills and hit .444 to go with three blocks …
Georgia (15-5, 7-2) had won five in a row, but the Bulldogs went to Texas A&M (14-5, 6-3) and went home on the short end of a 25-16, 25-20, 25-21 score. Hollann Hans led A&M with 13 kills, hit .300, and had three assists, four aces, eight digs and two blocks. Treyaunna Rush had 10 kills and hit .444 and had five blocks. Setter Camille Conner had five kills in 10 errorless attempts to hit .500, had 35 assists, an ace, four digs and a block. Georgia had just 32 kills and four blocks …
Arkansas (8-13, 2-7) beat Auburn (6-14, 0-9) in four behind 17 kills from Jillian Gillen, and South Carolina (13-9, 5-4) swept visiting Alabama (11-9, 3-6) as McKenzie Moorman hit .706 after getting 12 kills in 17 errorless attacks. She added a dig and three blocks, one solo.
Conference USA: No. 19 Rice (19-1, 8-0) had to go four to beat visiting FIU (9-12, 2-7), while No. 23 Western Kentucky (23-1. 9-0) kept its half-game lead as it swept at Charlotte (13-12, 2-6).
Rice won its 10th in a row with its 25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-21 victory over FIU. Anota Adekunle led with 20 kills, hit .500, and had an ace, two digs and four blocks, two solo. Nicole Lennon had 14 kills, an ace and 12 digs as Rice won for the 20th time in a row at home. Fiorella Murillo led FIU with 22 kills and hit .367 to go with three blocks and three digs …
WKU won its 19th match in a row as Paige Briggs and Lauren Matthews had 15 kills each in the 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 victory. Briggs hit .333 and had an assist, two blocks and 12 digs, and Matthews hit .407 and had a block. Kayland Jackson had 12 kills and hit .360. Setter Nadia Dieudonne had a kill in five errorless tries, 49 assists, a block and seven digs …
Third-place North Texas (13-8, 7-2) swept Louisiana Tech as Rhett Robinson had 17 kills, hit .500, and had three digs and three blocks. Valerie Valerian had 15 kills, hit .379, and had seven digs … Ciara DeBell had 15 kills, hit .438, and had eight digs and six blocks, two solo, for Marshall in a sweep of UTSA … FAU beat UAB in four and Masseil Matos and Sydney Nemtuda had 16 kills each. Fernanda Maida had 18 and hit .471 for UAB.
American Athletic: Things are tight at the top. Houston (14-11, 8-2) maintains a one-game lead over SMU (14-6, 7-3) in the West, while Cincinnati (17-5, 9-1) and UCF (16-6, 9-1) are tied atop the East.
Cincinnati swept visiting SMU as Jordan Thompson led with 28 kills. She hit .471 and had two aces, eight digs and two blocks … UCF beat Tulane in four as McKenna Miller had 14 kills, nine digs and three blocks …
Houston won at South Florida in five as Megan Duncan had 18 kills, an assist, two aces, nine digs and two blocks, and Isabel Theut had 15 kills. Jac St. Cin had 22 kills and hit .526 for USF to go with three digs and three blocks, and Jac’cara Walker had 21 kills, hit .436, and had two assists and seven digs …
Tulsa lost at Connecticut in four, but the Hurricanes’ Dilara Gedikoglu had 19 kills and 17 digs … Memphis won in five at East Carolina and Hannah Flowers had 17 kills, seven digs and a solo block. Bri Wood had 17 kills and 14 digs for ECU.
ASUN: FGCU (21-3, 9-1) is alone at the top after it swept North Alabama (3-21, 1-10) and North Florida (11-4, 4-6) stunned Kennesaw State (15-7, 8-2) on Sunday.
Lipscomb (11-10, 7-3) lost in five to Stetson (9-11, 6-4), so it’s tied with Liberty (14-8, 7-3), which won in four at Jacksonville (7-17, 3-7).
North Florida hit .307 against Kennesaw State as Solimar Cestero had 15 kills, an ace, eight digs and two blocks. Emma Dixon, Taryn Griffey and Mirian Stingl had 10 kills each. Dani Ballou had 18 for KSU and hit .536. Emma Schurfanz had 15 kills and hit .500 …
FGCU hit .356 at UNA. Tori Morris led with 10 kills and hit .471 and she had six blocks as her team won its 11th in a row … Elena Djokovic had 17 kills for Stetson to go with an assist, five digs and five blocks, one solo. Megan Kuper had 22 kills, four assists, two aces, 17 digs and two blocks for Lipscomb … Amelia Johnson had 13 kills to lead Liberty and had an ace, 14 digs and four blocks.
Atlantic 10: Dayton (16-6, 9-0) and VCU (17-5, 8-0) both won in sweeps to remain at the top of the league, while Saint Louis (13-8, 7-1) stayed a game back.
Jamie Peterson had 16 kills for Dayton in its rout of George Mason and had four aces, three digs and eight blocks … VCU won a tough sweep at LaSalle 31-29, 26-24, 25-20 before an announced crowd of 66 as four players had eight or more kills … Maya Taylor had 14 kills as Saint Louis swept George Washington.
Summit League: South Dakota won its 17th match in a row and stands 20-1 overall, and, at 10-0, two games up on Denver (16-6, 8-2) atop the standings. South Dakota won 25-22, 25-19, 27-25 at North Dakota (10-14, 2-8) as Elizabeth Juhnke had 15 kills, hit .419, and had three blocks and seven digs. Four other players had five or more kills …
Denver beat visiting Oral Roberts (6-18, 2-8) behind 14 kills by Lydia Bartolo, who hit .571 and had an assist, six aces, 10 digs and two blocks, one solo.
Sun Belt: Texas State (18-7, 10-1) had to go five to win at Appalachian State (9-14, 5-5) and still leads the Sun Belt West Division by four games, but now there’s a three-way tie for first in the East after Coastal Carolina (18-4, 8-2) lost in five — despite 32 kills by Ann Nemeth — to UT Arlington (13-10, 5-6). Troy (18-4, 8-2) was idle, but South Alabama (17-7, 7-2) swept Georgia State.
Janell Fitzgerald had 18 kills, an assist, four digs and five blocks, one solo, for Texas State. Tyeranee Scott added 14 kills and hit .429 to go with an ace, three digs and seven blocks, and Cheyenne Huskey had 13 kills, nine digs and five blocks, one solo. Emma Longley had 16 kills for the Mountaineers …
Nemeth got her 32 kills for Coastal on 66 swings and hit .379 and had three aces, 11 digs and two blocks, one solo. UTA had a balanced attack led by Kylie Jedlicka, who had 17 kills, an ace, 19 digs and a block. Madison Hill had 15 kills, hit .462, and had an assist, three digs and three blocks … Hannah Harris and Kelly Hartman had 12 kills each for South Alabama.
Around the nation: Towson (20-2, 10-0 Colonial) won its 14th in a row, a four-set victory at Hofstra. Four players had 11 or more kills, including 13 by Lydia Weir, who hit .360 and had three blocks and two digs … Also in the CAA, Mandy Napieraia had 20 kills and hit .302 for College of Charleston in a four-set loss to Delaware …
Marist won a Metro Atlantic match in four against Saint Peter’s as Gabby Murray had 16 kills, hit .414, and had an ace, two digs and five blocks, two solo …
In the MEAC, after Howard won a five-set battle of the leaders, Howard (12-11, 9-0) has a three-game lead in the Northern, while North Carolina A&T (11-13, 9-1) is up by four in the Southern. Howard beat NC A&T 25-23, 25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 15-2. Tamar Wells had 15 kills for the Bison, hitting .407, and had a dig and three blocks …
In the lone Patriot League match of the day, Hannah Wright led Lehigh past Lafayette with 16 kills, two aces, three digs and four blocks. Ellie Carrera-Justiz led Lafayette with 16 kills, 19 digs and a block …
Victoria Pearson had 20 kills and six digs for Prairie View in a four-set SWAC win at Alabama A&M.
