Week Six Selected Match Highlights:
In the Big Ten's and the nation's match of the week, host Illinois disposed of Purdue in a battle of unbeaten teams, 3-1. In a Big Ten battle of once-beaten squads, Nebraska shut out host Michigan, 3-0, and barely defeated Michigan State, 3-2. Elsewhere in the conference, Penn State finally started looking like a four-time defending national champion by shutting out both Wisconsin and Minnesota at home. The Golden Gophers had a horrible week, as they also lost to Ohio State by a similar 3-0 margin.
In the Pac-12, Washington rose to the top by shutting out both Oregon and Oregon State at home. There were no great conference matches, as USC and UCLA had an easy time on the road with Colorado and Utah, while Cal and Stanford toyed with Arizona and Arizona State at home. The top five conference teams are clearly defined, with high NCAA tournament bids virtually assured. The real battle is for sixth place and a top-half conference finish, with Oregon, Washington State, Arizona, and Oregon State vying for the honor.
The Big 12 had a dramatic week, and that's not even including all the conference realignment issues and developments off the court. In two close seesaw matches, Texas lost to Oklahoma and beat Iowa State by identical 3-2 margins on the road. In two other sensational matches, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech on the road, 3-2, and Kansas State got by host Missouri, 3-2. Kansas had a rough week, losing to Baylor on the road and Iowa State at home.
In the SEC, there were no major upsets and no great matches. Tennessee and Kentucky took care of business on the road, as they both beat LSU and Arkansas. Florida didn't lose a set in road victories over Auburn and Georgia. Incidentally, can the SEC really be called a volleyball power conference when Vanderbilt doesn't even field a team?
In the ACC, Florida State hosted and beat Wake Forest, 3-2, in the conference match of the week. The Seminoles also shut out struggling Duke at home. Miami disposed of Duke and Wake Forest without losing a single set. Impressive. In the other great ACC match of the week, surging North Carolina beat host Clemson, 3-2. They also shut out Georgia Tech. Clemson had a close call at home, beating NC State, 3-2.
In the Big East, a conference with its own dramatic realignment issues, top-rated Louisville soared with two lopsided road wins over DePaul and Notre Dame. Cincinnati had similar success over the same two foes. Host Villanova had emphatic victories over West Virginia and Pittsburgh.
In the Big West, conference frontrunner UC Davis stumbled on the road, losing to Cal Poly, 3-0, and to the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara in the match of the week, 3-2. In the WCC, conference frontrunner San Diego didn't lose a set in beating both UC Irvine and BYU at home. In the match of the week, Pepperdine outlasted Saint Mary's, 3-2.
In the WAC, dominant Hawaii (which will be well served by joining the tougher Big West for non-football sports next year) shut out both Nevada and Fresno State at home. In the Mountain West, TCU outlasted Boise State, 3-2, and flew over Air Force, 3-0, both on the road. In the match of the week, Colorado State beat UNLV, 3-2, then dispensed with San Diego State, 3-1, both of them hard-earned road victories.
In the Sun Belt, power Western Kentucky crushed both Florida International and Florida Atlantic by 3-0 set scores. In the Missouri Valley, frontrunner and host Northern Iowa barely beat Wichita State, 3-2, and crushed Missouri State, 3-0.
In the week's biggest upsets, traditional Big West power Long Beach State fell to UC Riverside (3-13) on the road, 3-2, and Conference USA power Houston fell to Southern Methodist (4-11) on the road, 3-2. Players must remember that you have to play the game. One at a time.
Week Six Selected Individual Highlights:
Penn State returned to national dynasty form last week in pummellings of Wisconsin and Minnesota thanks to Ariel Scott (26 kills and 10 blocks), Katie Slay (17 kills and 12 blocks), Deja McClendon (13 kills, 12 digs, and 4 blocks), and Micha Hancock (58 assists, 13 digs, and 6 service aces).
Oklahoma outdueled Texas and Texas Tech because of Suzy Boulavsky's 37 kills and 6 blocks; Tara Dunn's 37 kills and 25 digs; Maria Fernanda's 49 digs and 5 service aces; Brianne Barker's 100 assists, 11 kills, 30 digs, and 6 blocks; and Sallie McLaurin's 19 kills and incredible 19 blocks.
North Carolina is sailing through the ACC, including triumphs over Clemson and Georgia Tech last week, due to the efforts of Emily McGee (28 kills and 27 digs), Kayla Berringer (20 kills and 7 blocks), Chaniel Nelson (24 kills and 7 blocks), Cameron Van Noy (15 kills and 11 blocks), Cora Harms (43 assists and 9 digs), and Kayla Gibson (33 digs).
Louisville remains the class of the Big East, with wins over DePaul and Notre Dame last week, thanks to quality imports Lola Arslanbekova (47 kills, 26 digs, 5 blocks, and 3 aces) and Tanya Lukyanenko (12 kills and 12 blocks). American contributors included Kaitlynn James (14 kills and 23 digs), Emily Juhl (18 kills and 7 blocks), and Taylor Brunels (6 kills and 89 assists).
Transfer-rich Washington will contest for the Pac-12 crown with all four California schools. The Huskies slammed Oregon and Oregon State thanks to soon-to-be-announced freshman of the year Krista Vansant (22 kills and 22 digs), Kylin Munoz (20 kills and 4 blocks), Bianca Rowland (13 kills and 15 blocks), Lauren Barfield (15 kills and 10 blocks), Summer Ross (11 kills, 16 digs, and 10 blocks), and Evan Sanders (74 assists and 6 blocks).
Colorado State were victors over UNLV and San Diego State due to the skills of Katelyn Steffan (46 kills, 11 digs, and 7 blocks), Brieon Paige (20 kills and 11 blocks), Megan Plourde (19 kills and 13 blocks), Dana Cranston (18 kills, 26 digs, and 6 blocks), Tori Brummett (15 kills and 5 blocks), and Deedra Foss (5 kills, 106 assists, 18 digs, and 7 blocks).
In the upset category, SMU overpowered Houston thanks to Jessica Oliver (21 kills and 3 blocks), Dana Powell (15 kills, 13 digs, and 4 blocks), Caroline Young (10 kills and 5 blocks), Courtney Manning (8 kills and 10 blocks), and Kelli Becerra (28 assists and 18 digs). UC Riverside surprised Long Beach State thanks to Amanda Vialpando (20 kills and 10 digs), Shelby LeDuff (17 kills and 7 digs), Bianca Endersby (12 kills, 14 digs, and 4 blocks), and Katie Myers (49 assists, 18 digs, and 2 kills).
Week Seven Selected Match Previews:
This blog may admittedly have a western bias, but that doesn't interfere with the truth. What is the truth? The best matches this week will take place in the Midwest and East.
The Big 10, one of the two volleyball super-conferences, has three great contests, including Illinois at Penn State, Purdue at Nebraska, and Minnesota at Michigan. In the Big 12, Oklahoma plays at Iowa State.
In the ACC, Florida State travels to North Carolina. In a relatively weak SEC slate, LSU meets Florida in Gainesville.
In the Pac-12, Stanford and Cal have a tough road trip to Oregon and Oregon State, while USC and UCLA shouldn't overlook Arizona on their trek to Tucson.
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