Once again, Saturdays have not been boring in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball this season.
TCU took Baylor to the limit in the Big 12 before the visiting No. 6 Bears escaped with a five-set victory.
Pepperdine not only knocked off No. 19 San Diego in the West Coast Conference, it came back from 0-2 on the road to win in five.
No. 23 Florida rallied and got out of Arkansas with a five-set SEC victory, while Mississippi State beat No. 24 Tennessee for its first home win over a ranked team since 2011.
Injury-plagued No. 20 Stanford, which had lost five of its previous six matches and then found itself without a setter in the first set Saturday against No. 21 Washington State, pulled it together and beat the visiting Cougars in four in the only PAC-12 match of the day.
Line of the night: Evansville lost in five to Northern Iowa, but Alondra Vazquez had 31 kills, two assists, an ace, seven digs, and five blocks, two solo.
Some conferences were decided and have set their respective tournaments. We will break down every league this week. Saturday’s recaps follow, but first a look at Sunday’s schedule.
There are a couple of big showdowns in the Big Ten when No. 9 Purdue goes to No. 8 Minnesota and No. 10 Ohio State goes to No. 25 Illinois. Fourth-ranked Wisconsin, coming off that loss to Purdue, plays host to Northwestern, and No. 11 Nebraska goes to Indiana.
There are five PAC-12 matches, but only one involving two ranked teams when No. 12 UCLA goes to No. 17 Oregon. No. 13 Washington is at Cal, No. 16 Utah is at Arizona State, Colorado is at Arizona, and USC is at Oregon State.
In the SEC, No. 23 Tennessee is back at Mississippi State after losing in four to the Bulldogs on Saturday, No. 7 Kentucky tries to beat visiting Texas A&M for the second straight day, and Missouri is back at Georgia, where it got swept Saturday.
The two ACC matches have Florida State at Syracuse and North Carolina at Virginia.
Marquette, a half game back of idle Creighton, can pull even in the win column when it plays at Butler.
Omaha, atop The Summit League by a game, plays at second-place South Dakota. Omaha has won eight in a row and USD has won six in a row, including that big five-set comeback with third-place Denver on Thursday.
In the CAA, Towson and James Madison are tied for the lead. Towson is home for Northeastern, which it beat in four on Saturday, while JMU goes back to Hofstra, where it swept on Saturday. Elon, a game back, is off.
Howard plays the only MEAC match of the day and the Bison can pull back into a tie for first with Delaware State with a win at Norfolk State.
Want to watch a match? We have the links. Go to our VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming listings to find any match that is being shown.
BIG TEN — No. 7 Ohio State (20-5, 10-5) hit .336 and won 21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-16 at Northwestern (11-15, 6-9). Gabby Gonzales had 15 kills, hit .419, and had four assists, an ace, a block, and six digs. Emily Londot had 13 kills, hit .321, and had an ace, three blocks, and three digs. Josie Vondran had four kills, 39 assists, six digs, and three blocks, one solo. Vondran was in for Mac Podraza and played her first full match as a setter.
Northwestern’s Temi Thomas-Ailara had 15 kills, an assist, a solo block, and 10 digs. Hanna Lesiak had 12 kills, three digs, and three blocks, one solo …
No. 15 Penn State (19-7, 12-4) won 25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-3 at Michigan State (11-14, 4-12) as five players had nine or more kills. Adanna Rollins had 16 and hit .375 to go with two aces, two blocks, and 10 digs. Kaitlyn Hord had 14 kills, hit .500, and had five blocks. Sarah Franklin had 14 kills for Michigan State …
Courtney Buzzerio had 23 kills and Iowa (5-21, 3-13) beat visiting Maryland (18-10, 6-10) 24-26, 25-19 27-25, 25-22. Buzzerio had two aces, three blocks, and seven digs. Amiya Jones had 13 kills and hit .478 to go with two aces, a block, and four digs. Hannah Clayton had 11 kills with no errors in 20 attacks and four blocks, one solo. Sam Csire had 18 kills for Maryland to go with three blocks and four digs. Paula Neciporuka had 16 kills, hit .300, and had an assist, an ace, four blocks, and nine digs …
Michigan (15-10, 8-8) hit .380 and swept visiting Rutgers (8-19, 0-16) 25-9, 25-10, 25-15. Jess Mruzik led with 10 kills and hit .500 to go with three assists, two blocks, and seven digs. Jess Robinson had eight kills, hit .400 and had four blocks, one solo. Rutgers hit minus .039.
SEC — No. 7 Kentucky and Mississippi State both won to stay 1-2 atop the conference and Florida won to remain tied with State in the loss column.
Kentucky (19-4, 12-1) hit .391 and had 13 aces as it swept visiting Texas A&M (12-11, 4-8) 25-17, 25-18, 25-15. Alli Stumler had 13 kills, hit .306, and had three aces and four digs. Madi Skinner had 11 kills, hit .450, and had a block. Eleanor Beavin had five aces. Lauren Davis had 10 kills for A&M …
State (21-5, 12-2) won 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23 over visiting No. 24 Tennessee (17-7 9-5). It’s the first time State beat a ranked opponent at home since 2011. Lauren Myrick led with 19 kills as she hit .333 and had an assist, a block, and 16 digs. Gabby Waden had 14 kills, four digs, and two blocks, one solo. Shania Cromartie had 13 kills, an assist, an ace, a block, and 13 digs. Breanna Runnels had 21 kills for the Vols as she hit .333 and had three aces, 11 digs, and five blocks, three solo. Danielle Mahaffey had 10 kills, hit .471, and had three digs and four blocks, one solo …
Florida (16-6, 10-2) won 16-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22, 16-14 at Arkansas (17-8 8-6). T’Ara Ceasar led with 23 kills as she hit .346 and had a block and 21 digs. Thayer Hall had 14 kills with one error in 44 attacks, a solo block, and 12 digs. Merritt Beason had 10 kills, three blocks, and 17 digs. Marlie Monserez had a kill, 55 assists, an ace, five blocks, and 14 digs. Arkansas got 21 kills from Jillian Gillen, who had eight digs and three blocks, one solo. Taylor Head had 15 kills, an assist, an ace, a block, and nine digs …
Georgia (9-15, 5-8) hit .429 and swept visiting Missouri (4-23, 1-13). Kacie Evans led with 12 kills as she hit .385 and had seven digs and two blocks.
BIG 12 — Baylor (16-5, 10-2) got all it could handle from TCU (8-14, 2-10) as the Bears came away with a 24-26, 25-15, 18-25, 25-20, 15-11 before a record TCU crowd of 4,012.
Yossiana Pressley led with 26 kills as she hit .354 and had an assist, an ace, four blocks, and 12 digs. Avery Skinner had 10 kills, an assist, an ace, a solo block, and 12 digs. Andressa Parise had a career-high seven kills, hit 385, and had six blocks and a dig. Hannah Sedwick and Callie Williams, who came in for the last two sets, combined for five kills in 10 errorless tries, 51 assists, four blocks, and six digs.
TCU’s Taylor Raiola has a career-high 22 kills, two aces, and six digs. McKenzie Nichols had six kills in seven errorless attempts, 43 assists, an ace, and 10 digs …
Kansas State (15-8, 6-6, NCAA RPI 38) got a much-needed victory when it swept at Iowa State (16-9, 8-6, 45 RPI). Aliyah Carter had 15 kills and hit .300 in the 25-23, 25-13, 25-23 victory to go with an assist, a block, and five digs. Holly Bonde had 10 kills, five blocks, and three digs. Sydney Bolding had six kills with one error in 11 attacks and eight blocks. Eleanor Holthaus had 11 kills for Iowa State and two blocks and two digs.
WEST COAST — Fifth-ranked BYU (25-1, 15-0) had to go four to beat visiting Loyola Marymount (15-10, 6-9), but the Cougars now lead the conference by two games after Pepperdine (19-5, 11-4) won at San Diego (19-5, 13-2).
Pepperdine won 19-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-20, 17-15 to keep its NCAA at-large hopes alive. The Waves, No. 34 in the NCAA RPI, got 27 kills from Rachel Ahrens, who had an assist, an ace, a solo block, and four digs. Grace Chillingworth had 19 kills and Isabel Zelaya had five kills in as many attempts, 46 assists, an ace, and 17 digs. USD’s Grace Frohling had 12 blocks, 21 kills, as she hit .340, and had an ace, nine digs. Haylee Stoner had six kills with one error in 17 swings, and 11 blocks, one solo …
BYU hit .385 and beat LMU 25-20, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22 for its 18th win in a row. Kenzie Koerber had 12 kills and hit .400 to go with an assist, an ace, and four digs. Erin Livingston had 12 kills and Heather Gneiting had 10, hit .400, and had an ace, a dig, and five blocks, one solo. LMU’s Megan Rice had 20 kills, two aces, five digs, and three blocks …
Alas, but San Francisco (0-22, 0-14) is still winless after losing in four to visiting Gonzaga. The Zags’ Kennedy Croft had 18 kills, hit .325, and had an assist, two aces, and seven digs … Santa Clara was supposed to play host to Portland but that match was canceled. Portland’s match at San Francisco on Friday was also canceled.
AROUND THE NATION — Stanford (14-10, 9-7) won 25-19, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22 over visiting Washington State (17-9, 11-5) and improved to 66-4 all-time against its PAC-12 foe.
Caitie Baird led the Cardinal with 17 kills, two blocks, and 11 digs. Kendall Kipp had 14 kills, an assist, an ace, five blocks, and seven digs. Sami Francis had 13 kills, an assist, two digs, and five blocks, two solo. Holly Campbell had four kills and four blocks. Elena Oglive had 24 digs, eight assists, and an ace.
From the Stanford recap:
“Freshman setter Kami Miner left the match in the middle of the second set with an injury. However, because backup setter Malia Tufuga had already subbed in during the set to serve for Campbell, the Cardinal had to replace Miner with freshman Maiya Tillman – its lone remaining available player on the bench. Tufuga reentered the match for Campbell and set for the remainder of the second.”
WSU’s Argentina Ung had 15 kills, 15 digs, an assist, and three blocks, and Penny Tusa had 10 kills, hit .346, and had had two assists, three aces, 12 digs, and two blocks, one solo …
There were two ACC matches as Miami beat visiting Clemson in four and Boston College did the same to visiting Duke. Miami, hoping for a top-16 NCAA Tournament seed (the Hurricanes are No. 16 in the NCAA RPI), hit .305 as Aristea Tontai had 12 kills with one error in 21 attacks and eight blocks, one solo … Duke lost but Gracie Johnson had 22 kills, hit .340, and had two aces, five digs and a block …
No. 23 Creighton and Marquette both won to maintain their tie in the loss column atop the Big East. Creighton hit .426 as it swept at Villanova. Jaela Zimmerman and Norah Sis had 12 kills each and Keely Davis 11 … Marquette won in four at Xavier as five players had nine or more kills, 15 by Hope Werch …
Northern Colorado won and captured the Big Sky regular-season title, although the Bears finished in a tie at 13-3 with Weber State. Northern Colorado won in four at Idaho as Kailey Jo Ince had 17 kills and 10 digs. Laura Katarzynski had 29 digs, three assists and two aces …
Weber State hit .337 as it swept visiting Southern Utah. Rylin Adams had 18 kills, hit .361, and had an assist, eight digs, and two blocks … Also in the Big Sky, Northern Arizona won in five at Idaho State as Taylor Jacobsen had 25 kills an ace, 18 digs, and two blocks, one solo …
High Point clinched the Big South regular-season title as both the Panthers and Campbell won to stay 1-2 atop the conference. High Point (23-6, 15-1) swept visiting USC Upstate for its third Big South regular-season crown in four years. Six Panthers had seven or more kills, 12 by Sydney Palazzo, who had an assist, two aces, a block, and 10 digs … Campbell (19-9, 14-2) swept Charleston Southern as Sarah Colla had 15 kills, hit .344, and had two aces, a block, and three digs …
UNC Greensboro and Mercer (which won both their meetings this season) shared the Southern Conference regular-season title. UNCG, which won in four at The Citadel, took its first title for the program since 1995 when it was in the Big South. Mercer got the No. 1 seed in the SoCon tournament …
Missouri Valley leader Loyola Chicago built its lead to two games and clinched at least a share of the regular-season title when it beat second-place Illinois State in four and Bradley, tied with ISU, also lost in four at Valparaiso. Tamara Otene of Illinois State, however, had 27 kills while hitting .404 to go with an assist, nine digs, and three blocks … Also in the Valley, the line of the night went to Evansville’s Alondra Vazquez, who had 31 kills in a five-set loss to Northern Iowa. Vazquez had two assists, an ace, seven digs, and five blocks, two solo. Kira Fallert had 25 kills and hit .524 for UNI and had two assists, two aces, five digs, and three blocks …
In the Mountain West, league-leading Colorado State maintained its one-game lead over San Jose State and Utah State as all three won. CSU swept visiting Fresno State, San Jose State beat visiting Boise State in four, and Utah State won in four at Nevada. SJSU’s Letizia Cammillucci had 20 kills, hit .390, and had an assist, two aces, 12 digs, and two blocks … Also in the MWC, UNLV won in four at Air Force and Mariena Hayden had 20 kills, hit .350, and had an assist, two aces, 11 digs, and three blocks …
Southeast Missouri (23-7, 14-4) swept Morehead State (18-11, 14-4) in the Ohio Valley regular-season finale, so they’ll share the title but SEMO got the top seed for the conference tournament. SEMO, which last won a title in 2007, got 16 kills from Zoey Beasley, who hit .316 and had a solo block … Also in the OVC, Skylar Boom had 24 kills and three blocks for Tennessee Tech in a five set win at Belmont …
The WAC bracket is set and Sam Houston, which won the Southwest Division, is the No. 1 seed, while NM State, which won the West, is the No. 2 seed. Sam Houston won at Stephen F. Austin in four as Ashley Lewis had 19 kills, two aces, 14 digs, and a block. NM State beat visiting Chicago State in four as Katie Birtcil had 19 kills, hit .389, and had an assist, eight digs, and four blocks. Chicago State’s Yanlis Feliz had 22 kills, two aces, and four digs …
There was a huge upset in the Mid-American, although Bowling Green had already clinched the MAC East. The Falcons lost in five at Ohio, which got 12 or more kills from five players, 18 by Maggie Nedoma. She had two assists, two blocks, and nine digs. Sam Steele had 30 digs and 10 assists … The other division leader, Ball State, also had to go five, but escaped with a win at Eastern Michigan as Jaclyn Bulmahn had 19 kills. EMU’s Samantha Basham also had 19 kills and had an ace, 13 digs, and two blocks …
Long Beach State knocked off visiting second-place UC Santa Barbara, which put idle Hawai’i up by two games in the Big West … Bryant, Sacred Heart, and LIU both won to stay 1-2-3 in the NEC … Melanie Brecka of Kansas City had 21 kills, hit .395, and had two assists, an ace, seven digs, and three blocks in a four-set Summit win over Western Illinois …
American Athletic-leading UCF swept SMU and McKenna Melville had 17 kills, hit .351, and had 14 digs and three blocks. Amber Olson had four kills in as many tries, 36 assists, four aces, and seven digs … In Eastern Kentucky’s ASUN win over Bellarmine, Sarah Mitchell had 24 kills, hit .392, and had three assists, an ace, 15 digs, and a solo block … Saint Louis beat visiting Duquesne in five in the Atlantic 10 and Jillian Mattingly had 21 kills with one error in 32 attacks, two aces, five digs, and six blocks, one solo … Brown, which had already won the Ivy League, hit .412 as it swept at Dartmouth. Gabby Derrick had eight kills with no errors in 10 attacks and six blocks, two solo … Loyola Maryland upset Colgate, which had already won the Patriot League regular-season title. Loyola’s Abby Hamilton had 20 kills, hit .354, and had three assists, an ace, and 10 digs …
Milwaukee (22-8, 16-2) hit .341 and swept at Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky (19-7, 15-2) won in four at Oakland as they stayed tied in the loss column atop the Horizon League. Milwaukee’s Kleja Cerniauskaite had 10 kills with no errors in 15 attacks, three digs, and six blocks, one solo …
Big MAAC numbers: Rider beat Canisius in five in the MAAC and Rider’s Morgan Romano had 26 kills, hit .345, and had 11 digs and four blocks … Marist lost in five at Siena, but Marist’s Gabriella Heimbauer had 26 kills, an assist, two digs, and three blocks …
