After a busy weekend in which many teams both clinched NCAA Tournament bids and many more saw their seasons come to an end, most of the remaining teams are back in action Wednesday in Division I women’s college volleyball.
There was a light schedule Tuesday, but that included San Diego and BYU both winning to finish in a tie atop the West Coast Conference.
A recap of their matches plus the latest on coaching openings — yes, there are more to report — but first a look at Wednesday’s schedule.
That includes the two teams in the NCAA RPI, No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Florida. Kentucky, ranked No. 6 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, tied with Florida — No. 3 in the poll — atop the SEC, goes to Arkansas, while Florida is home for Auburn. Also in the SEC, Missouri plays host to Alabama, Texas A&M is at Mississippi State, South Carolina goes to Ole Miss and LSU entertains Georgia.
In the Big 12, AVCA No. 2 Texas is home for Oklahoma and West Virginia goes to Kansas State.
There are three matches in the Big Ten. No. 5 Nebraska goes to Northwestern, Iowa goes to Illinois and Ohio State is at Maryland.
It’s a busy night in the Pac-12. No. 4 Stanford, which has already won the title, is home for No. 15 Utah. Second-place USC, ranked 13th, is at No. 24 Oregon. No. 12 Washington is home for Arizona, No. 19 UCLA plays at Oregon State, Colorado goes to Cal and Arizona State is at Washington State.
Pitt is idle, but the team with which it’s tied for the ACC lead, Louisville, goes to Boston College. Third-place NC State, two games back with two to play, goes to Duke. Also, North Carolina is at Wake Forest, Miami goes to Georgia Tech, Florida State plays at Clemson, Notre Dame goes to Syracuse and Virginia is at Virginia Tech.
And in the American Athletic Conference, No. 20 Wichita State, which moved up to ninth in the RPI, plays at Memphis.
To watch those matches or find out where they’re being shown, go to our daily VolleyballMag.com TV and streaming listings.
USD, BYU win in WCC: No. 9 San Diego had to go four to beat Pepperdine, while No, 7 BYU swept Loyola Marymount, so they share the West Coast Conference title. Both teams ended up 17-1 after beating each other on the road.
USD (24-4) won 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-22 as Jayden Kennedy had 16 kills and three blocks, Addie Picha had 12 kills, hit .524 and had four blocks and Kaity Edwards had 10 kills and three aces. It’s USD’s 10th WCC title and first since 2013.
BYU (28-2) won 25-19, 25-20, 25-16 to win its fourth WCC crown in a row as Veronica Jones-Perry and McKenna Miller had 11 kills each. Jones-Perry hit .308, had an ace, two digs and block, while Miller hit .320 and two blocks, one solo.
More coaching openings: Jennifer Montaya is gone after 15 years at Incarnate Word, a school in San Antonio that plays in the Southland Conference. UIW was 8-15 this season, 7-9 in the Southland, but that includes beating SLC tournament finalist Abilene Christian and an upset of Sam Houston to end the season.
The UIW news release included: “A national search for Montoya’s replacement will begin immediately.”
There is no announcement on the Tennessee Tech website other than that the head coach is listed as TBA, but the school is advertising for a new coach to replace Dave Zelenock, who was there since 2013. The Chippewas finished 4-24 this season, 2-14 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Also, the contract of Alabama-Birmingham coach Kerry Messersmith was not renewed after 11 seasons. The Blazers finished 11-19 this season, 4-12 in Conference USA.
To get up to date on other job openings, read our story from Tuesday.
