Week One Selected Match Highlights:
The USC Trojans showed impressive depth and power by beating the Minnesota Golden Gophers in five sets and extending defending NCAA champion and host Penn State to five sets before losing last Saturday night. In the same tournament, Oregon upset the Nittany Lions, 3-1.
Washington had super-freshmen Summer Ross and Krista Vansant on full display in an impressive drubbing of talented host team Long Beach State, 3-1. Illinois deserves credit for losing only one set in three matches in Provo, Utah, including a 3-0 triumph over host BYU.
Minnesota proved it will be tough even without transfer-to-UCLA Tabitha Love by losing a close match in five sets to USC and beating Oregon on Saturday, the team that upset Penn State the previous night. Hawaii was superior and polished in its first of three home tournaments, losing only one set in three matches, including a 3-0 pasting of usually-tough and always well-coached Arizona.
In a warm-up to its West Coast trip this weekend, wherein they will meet Stanford and Pacific, Duke outlasted the Badger of Wisconsin in five sets. Florida State's beating of Kentucky in three straight sets and Georgia Tech's humbling of Louisville, 3-2, proves that the Gators of Florida are not the only team in the deep Southeast that will be a difficult challenge for foes this season.
Which highly-regarded teams were the relative busts of the first week, although there is plenty of time to turn things around before conference play begins? Tulsa is 1-2 after losing to both Kentucky and Florida State. Indiana is 1-2 after losing to both the up-and-coming Virginia Tech and the modestly talented Cleveland State. Cincinnati is 1-3 after respectable losses to Northern Iowa and Iowa State, and a 3-0 upset loss to Northern Illinois. Finally, talent-rich Wisconsin is 1-2 after losing a great match to Duke, 3-2, and a disappointing match to Furman, 3-1. Expect at least the Badgers to be ranked again soon.
Week One Selected Individual Highlights:
Without great digs and passes, a volleyball team is nothing. Quickness, coordination, team chemistry, and experience count at least as much as size in the sport. Oregon's sophomore setter Lauren Plum had 47 assists and 11 digs, one big reason the Ducks got by towering Penn State. Nebraska will be difficult to defeat again, chiefly because UCLA-transfer and setter Lauren Cook had 51 assists and Lara Dykstra had 28 digs. Illinois' libero Rachel Feldman had 31 digs against UCSB alone. Senior Lauren Van Orden of UCLA had 25 assists and 10 digs in one match. Junior setter Karissa Cook of Stanford had 32 assists and 9 digs in one match and was named tourney MVP. Meanwhile across the bay, junior setter Elly Barrett of Cal had 31 assists in one match.
The most outstanding performance of the week in passing goes to Hawaii's Mita Ulato for totaling 40, 48, and 32 assists in consecutive matches. Impressive. Having a home crowd of over 5,000 each match doesn't hurt, either.
Khat Bell of Texas had 16 kills and 17 digs in one match. Pepperdine's Lilla Frederick had 10 kills and 16 digs in one match, 10 kills and 12 digs in another. Pure kill queens include Minnesota's Tori Dixon, with 22 and a hitting percentage of .410 in one match, and Oregon's Alaina Bergsma with 23 kills in one match.
Best server of the week had to be UCLA's Bojano Todorovic, with 12 aces in three matches! Nobody blocked better than Rachael Adams of Texas, who had seven in one match.
Week Two Selected Match Previews:
The best tournament this week has to be in Honolulu, where host Hawaii will tangle with powerhouses UCLA, Long Beach State, and Ohio State. Look for at least one of these teams to shoot up the rankings. Another strong field will be found in Palo Alto, where Stanford hosts Duke, Notre Dame, and Saint Mary's.
The best non-tournament matches involve Colorado State hosting Nebraska Friday night and Minnesota hosting Texas twice, both on Friday and Saturday.
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