NCAA volleyball: WMU thumps Auburn as No. 7 seeds lose; no major upsets as tourney begins
December 1, 2023
November 8, 2021
Magda Jehlarova had a remarkable match Sunday as Washington State rallied from an 0-2 deficit and beat Arizona State in the PAC-12.Â
Also in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, Louisville and Pitt won, and so did UCLA.
With some conferences preparing for their tournaments, and everyone else beginning the regular-season home stretch, we will have a league-by-league breakdown later this week.
Here’s a look at Sunday’s highlights:
PAC-12 — Magda Jehlarova went off as No. 21 Washington State (16-6, 10-4) pulled off the reverse sweep against visiting Arizona State (13-12, 6-8) and won 21-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-6. WSU hit .357 and had a program-record 18 aces. But the story was Jehlarova, who had 21 kills with no errors in 25 attacks to hit .840. She added nine blocks, two solo. Pia Timmer had 18 kills, hit .341, and had five aces and 11 digs. Penny Tusa also had five aces. Arizona State’s Iman Isanovic had 28 kills, hit .426, and added two aces, two blocks, and six digs …
No. 13 UCLA (19-3, 12-2) hit .398 and swept at Colorado (14-9, 5-9). Allison Jacobs hit .462, Mac May hit .414, and each had 15 kills …
No. 12 Washington (18-4, 11-3) swept visiting Arizona (14-11, 6-8) behind Claire Hoffman (15 kills, hit .464) and Samantha Drechsel (13 kills, hit .417) …
No. 16 Utah (16-7, 9-5) beat visiting USC (10-13, 6-8) in four as Dani Drews had 22 kills, two assists, and 14 digs. Zoe Weatherington had 13 kills and five blocks … No. 19 Stanford (13-9, 8-6) beat visiting Oregon State (4-20, 2-12) in four as Caitie Baird had 16 kills. Kendall Kipp had 14 kills, hit .367, and had five blocks, and Holly Campbell had five kills with no errors in 13 attacks and seven blocks … No. 18 Oregon (18-6, 9-5) swept Cal (7-18, 0-14) behind Brooke Nuneviller (14 kills, three digs, two blocks).
ACC — Second-ranked Louisville (23-0, 13-0), likely to move into the top spot Monday in the new AVCA Poll, won in four at North Carolina (18-7, 7-7). Anna DeBeer led with 11 kills, and Anna Stevenson had 10 with one error in 18 swings … No. 3 Pitt (22-2, 12-2) swept visiting Boston College (14-14, 4-10), The Panthers hit .333, and Chinaza Ndeehad 13 kills and hit .417 … No. 14 Georgia Tech (21-3, 12-2) beat visiting Florida State (17-6, 10-4) in four as Julia Bergmann had 20 kills … Miami (20-4, 10-3) swept at Clemson (11-14, 3-0), Duke (15-10, 6-8) swept visiting Virginia Tech (10-16, 1-13), Syracuse (16-10, 5-9) swept at Virginia (8-16, 1-13), and NC State (14-11, 8-6) beat visiting Notre Dame (10-13, 7-6) in five. Taylor Rowland had 25 kills for NC State, and Jade Parchment had 22. Kristen McDaniel had five kills, 60 assists, three aces, 11 digs, and two blocks.
BIG TEN — Michigan (14-9, 7-7) hit .404 and swept at Maryland (18-8, 6-8). Paige Jones had 14 kills, hit .364, and added three blocks and seven digs …
No. 8 Purdue (16-6, 11-3) won in four at Rutgers (8-17, 0-14) as Grace Cleveland and Caitlyn Newton had 17 kills and four blocks each. Jael Johnson had six kills and nine blocks …
Tami Thomas-Ailara had 24 kills as Northwestern (11-14, 3-4) beat visiting Indiana (9-17, 3-11) in four. She added 14 digs and three blocks, one solo.Â
SEC — No. 22 Tennessee (17-6, 9-4) swept visiting Ole Miss (17-8, 6-6). Breanna Runnels led with 14 kills and 11 digs. Morgahn Fingall had 12 kills with one error in 25 attacks, five digs, and two blocks, one solo. Lauren Thompson had 18 kills and eight digs for Ole Miss …
Mississippi State (20-5, 11-2) moved to a game back of idle Kentucky after winning in four at Missouri. Four Bulldogs had 10 or more kills, and Lauren Myrick and Rebecca Walk had 14 each …Â
Arkansas (17-6, 8-4) won in four at Alabama (10-16, 2-12). Taylor Head led with 18 kills and hit .548 after having one error in 31 swings. She added an assist, an ace, and a block.
AROUND THE NATION — No. 17 Western Kentucky (24-1, 12-0) hit .328, and Lauren Matthews had 23 kills as the Toppers won a Conference USA match in four at Charlotte. Matthews had four errors in 37 attacks to hit .514 and had five blocks and two digs, and WKU won its 17th match in a row …
No. 24 Creighton (24-3, 9-1) beat visiting Butler in four to get back into a first-place Big East tie with Marquette. Norah Sis had 14 kills and 14 digs …Â
Towson moved into a tie with James Madison atop the CAA by winning at JMU in four. Nina Cajic had 19 kills with two errors in 30 attacks to hit .567 and had three digs and two blocks …Â
Milwaukee broke the Horizon League tie with idle Northern Kentucky by sweeping Oakland. Carmen Heilemann had 20 kills, hit .390, and had an assist, an ace, and eight digs …Â
Kennesaw State (17-8, 11-3) put an end to the unbeaten ASUN season of FGCU (22-5, 14-1). The Owls, winning their ninth match in a row, got 12 kills from Lauren Chastang, who hit .308 and had three aces, two blocks and four digs. FGCU’s Erin Shomaker had 19 kills, an ace, three blocks, and seven digs … UMBC, atop the America East, beat Albany in four as Mia Bilusic had 23 kills, hit .353, and had two aces, 11 digs, and two blocks …
KJ Johnson continues to light it up for MAAC-leading Fairfield. She had 17 kills and hit .367 in a sweep of Marist and added an assist, two aces, four digs, and three blocks …Â
Delaware State beat Coppin State in four in the MEAC as Karen Cordero had 22 kills, 17 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Howard kept pace atop the league by beating South Carolina State in four. SC State is 0-22 but snapped a streak of losing 129 sets before the third …Â
SWAC-leading Jackson State beat Alabama A&M in four as Alexis Williams had 18 kills, hit .385, and had two aces, 11 digs, and two blocks … South Dakota State won its Summit League match in five at Western Illinois, and Crystal Bruk had 22 kills, and Chloe Stitt 21. Setter Carly Wedel had four kills in six errorless tries, 66 assists, 12 digs, and four blocks.