Week Five Selected Match Highlights:
On a trip to the northwest corner of their conference, top-rated Illinois easily got by struggling Wisconsin 3-0, and they had an epic five-set battle with Minnesota before emerging victorious. The other great Big Ten match saw host Nebraska get by struggling Penn State, 3-2. In other Big Ten action, Purdue proved they belonged in the top ten with shutout victories at home over previously undefeated Michigan and one-loss Michigan State.
In the Pac-12, the best match had UCLA triumph over an excellent Stanford squad, 3-2. Cal-Berkeley proved they were over-rated (not in my RPI index) in the coaches' poll, due to a soft cupcake preconference schedule and last year's NCAA tourney run, by winning only one set total in matches with both USC and UCLA. Speaking of the revitalized Trojans, they shut out both Cal and Stanford at home. Winning the conference will still be a tough task, as other squads had great weeks, too. Besides UCLA's victories over Stanford and Cal, Washington and Oregon served shutouts on the road against Arizona and ASU, and Colorado and Utah, respectively.
In the SEC, the match of the week was Tennessee's marathon fight with host and traditional power Florida, the Volunteers winning in a minor upset, 3-2. The Vols also beat South Carolina on the road, 3-1. Another Southeast powerhouse, Kentucky, had mixed results on the road, beating South Carolina as well, 3-1, but falling to Florida, 3-1.
In the Big 12, traditional power Texas, over-rated in the coaches' poll so far this year based on quality recruiting classes and reputation, had two significant shutout victories over quality opponents TCU on the road and Kansas at home. Iowa State also had a great week, with shutout wins against tough Missouri and mediocre Texas Tech. Oklahoma beat down Baylor on the road, 3-1, while Missouri split the week with a 3-1 victory over Texas A&M.
In the ACC, the match of the week was Duke's five-set win at home against Clemson. The Blue Devils also shut out Georgia Tech. Other conference powers Miami and Florida State had shutout wins on the road against both Virginia Tech and Virginia. High-quality North Carolina also had shutout victories on the road, but the victims were Maryland and Boston College.
In the Big East, underrated (due to a tough preconference schedule) Villanova beat DePaul in five sets on the road in the match of the week before beating Notre Dame on the road, 3-1. The Bearcats of Cincinnati had a three-win week, including shutout conference home matches against UConn and St. John's and a squeaker five-set nonconference home match against Evansville. Traditional power Louisville also had shutout victories over UConn and St. John's at home.
In the WAC, superpower Hawaii beat both Idaho and Utah State on the road by 3-1 scores. In the Mountain West, powerhouse Colorado State had a couple of shutouts at home, beating Air Force and Boise State. The other MWC powerhouse, TCU, was humbled by nonconference Texas as previously noted, 3-0, but triumphed over quality conference rival New Mexico on the road, 3-1.
In the WCC, San Diego beat Santa Clara in five sets on the road in the conference match of the week. In the country's biggest upset of the week, San Diego fell to previously undistinguished USF on the road by a 3-0 margin! Another conference powerhouse, Pepper-dine, struggled on the road, beating Portland, 3-2, and Gonzaga, 3-1. BYU shut out Saint Mary's in its only match of the week.
In the Big West, undefeated host UC Davis outlasted the Anteaters of UC Irvine, 3-2, in the conference match of the week, while easily disposing of former powerhouse Pacific on the road, 3-0. Some critics say the Aggies of Davis don't belong in anybody's top 40 power ranking due to a soft schedule. Really? It's true they've only played one ranked team so far, beating Missouri at a neutral site, 3-1. More impressive was UCD's 3-0 shutout win at Tulsa. Why? Tulsa is 11-4, with its other losses being 2-3 against Kentucky, 1-3 against Florida State, and 2-3 against current top-rated superpower Illinois. Tulsa also beat Central Florida (the team that beat Southern Cal) and North Carolina. Case closed. The other conference power, Long Beach State, had two five-set matches at home, beating Cal Poly and losing to UC Santa Barbara.
Week Five Selected Individual Highlights:
Purdue's wins over Michigan and Michigan State were due in large part to Ariel Turner (27 kills and 5 blocks), Catherine Rebarchak (14 kills and 6 blocks), Tiffany Fisher (15 kills), Blair Bashen (28 digs), and Rachel Davis (66 assists and 24 digs). Illinois had another great week, with strong efforts by Michelle Bartsch (33 kills, 24 digs, and 5 blocks), Colleen Ward (28 kills and 21 digs), Erin Johnson (15 kills and 12 blocks), Jennifer Beltron (31 digs and 2 aces), and Rachel Feldman (22 dis and 2 aces).
Out west, USC crushed Cal and Stanford thanks to Alex Jupiter (31 kills, 19 digs, and 3 aces), Katie Fuller (24 kills and 16 digs), Lauren Williams (12 kills and 8 blocks), Sara Shaw (18 kills and 12 digs), Kendall Bateman (83 assists and 16 digs), and Natalie Hagglund (42 digs). UC Davis kept winning in the Big West with Allison Whitson (33 kills, 23 digs, and 9 blocks), Devon Damello (19 kills and 30 digs), Valerie Brain (21 kills), Katie Denny (16 kills and 10 blocks), Betsy Sedlak (also 16 kills and 10 blocks), Caroline Mercado (34 digs), and Jenny Woolway (89 assists, 26 digs, 5 kills, and 5 blocks). Legendary Bill Russell's alma mater USF, a solid team, upset San Diego, an excellent to near-great team, thanks to Vendula Strakova (13 kills and 2 blocks), Malina Terrell (11 kills and 4 blocks), Valentina Zaloznik (9 kills and 4 aces), Joan Caloiaro (7 kills, 10 digs, and 34 assists), and Rebecca Kopilovitch (17 digs). Accuracy was crucial: the Dons outhit the Torreros, .256 to .124.
Iowa State had two big wins over Missouri and Texas Tech due to superlative performances from Carly Jenson (29 kills, 23 digs, 5 blocks, and 4 aces), Hannah Willms (21 kills and 4 blocks), Tenisha Matlock (13 kills and 10 blocks), Kelsey Petersen (14 kills and 4 blocks), Alison Landwehr (8 kills and 80 assists), and Kristen Hahn (34 digs).
Tennessee had huge wins over Florida and South Carolina thanks to Carly Sahagian (31 kills and 26 digs), Kelsey Robinson (39 kills, 27 digs, 5 aces, and 4 blocks), DeeDee Harrison (23 kills and 12 blocks), Ellen Mullins (32 digs), and Mary Pollmiller (112 assists, 14 digs, 5 kills, and 3 blocks).
Week Six Selected Match Previews:
It may be a quiet week in the Pac-12 for big matches, with Oregon-Washington Friday being the only contest of great national significance, but the Big Ten has its usual menu of heavyweight battles. Friday, Minnesota plays at Ohio State. Saturday, Minnesota's at Penn State, Nebraska's at Michigan, and , in the conference match of the week, Purdue plays at Illinois.
The Big 12 has a nice slate, with Iowa State playing at Kansas and Texas sparring with Oklahoma on Wednesday, followed by Texas traveling to Iowa State on Sunday. The ACC features Duke at Florida State on Friday and Duke at Miami on Sunday.
LSU is involved in both key SEC contests this week, hosting Tennessee on Friday and Kentucky on Sunday. Likewise, Notre Dame hosts both important Big East matches this week, starting with Cincinnati on Saturday and Louisville on Sunday.
Out west, the Big West features undefeated UC Davis on the road at Cal Poly SLO on Friday and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. The WCC features Saint Mary's at Pepperdine on Thursday and BYU at San Diego on Saturday. Finally, the Mountain West features Colorado State at UNLV on Friday and the Rams at San Diego State on Sunday.
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