Even on an evening when an NCAA Division-I participant racked up a rare-as-hen’s-teeth 40 kills, a statement-making victory in a match performed between top-10 groups earlier than 11,461 followers on nationwide tv justifiably hogged the highlight.
With hometown hero Anna DeBeer main the cost, VolleyballMag.com Tremendous 16 Media Ballot No. 8 Louisville — runner-up within the NCAA Match in 2022 and a Remaining 4 crew in 2021 – took out No. 7 Pittsburgh — a 2022 NCAA semifinalist — within the minimal three units on the downtown Yum Heart earlier than the second-largest crowd in program historical past and an ESPNU TV viewers.
Elsewhere on a newsworthy Friday evening in NCAA ladies’s volleyball throughout the nation, Georgia Tech stored tempo within the Atlantic Coast Coast Convention after dodging a five-set risk in opposition to Florida State.
Additionally, Wisconsin (ranked No. 1 within the VBM Ballot) and No. 2 Nebraska rolled on within the Massive Ten, No. 11 Florida continued to upstream within the SEC, No. 3 Stanford had a surprisingly simple time with USC within the Pac-12, The Citadel stored its undefeated season intact (simply barely) and Dayton pushed its profitable streak to 14.
Within the stat line of the evening, Evansville’s Giuliana Cardona recorded the primary 40-kill match in an entire bunch of years because the Purple Aces (8-11, 3-5 Missouri Valley Convention) gained a five-setter with a supercalifragilisticexpialidoc
Within the “form of shut however no cigar” stats-line class, Natalie Stepanovich pounded 24 kills, dug 22 balls, ripped an ace and recorded three blocks as Robert Morris (5-15, 2-7 Horizon League) prevailed in a pulsating five-setter (15-12 within the tiebreaker) in opposition to visiting Youngstown State (7-13, 2-7). That might be wonderful on a typical evening, however a non-starter in opposition to 40 kills.
The stats bronze medalist was Rice’s Emila Weske, who had 27 kills, two aces, 18 digs and 4 blocks (one solo) because the Owls (13-5, 7-1) suffered their first American Athletic Convention loss in a five-setter in opposition to visiting Florida Atlantic (12-9, 4-4).
The recaps and high performances observe, however first listed here are the highlights of Saturday’s NCAA Division-I ladies’s volleyball schedule.
The Massive 12 is the place it’s at with VBM No. 6 Texas at AVCA No. 22 Houston, the place the 7,100-seat Fertitta Heart is bought out prematurely for the primary time in program historical past. Tenth-ranked BYU is at Texas Tech, No. 15 Kansas entertains Oklahoma, UCF goes for its eighth win in a row when the Knights journey to Kansas State and TCU is at West Virginia.
The Massive Ten has three matches. No. 2 Nebraska places its unbeaten document on the road in opposition to visiting No. 13 Penn State. Additionally, coming off of its upset of Purdue, Indiana hosts Michigan, and Michigan State is at Iowa.
The ACC, Pac-12 and SEC are off.
The Massive East slate consists of Marquette at St. John’s in a battle for the lead. Dayton, the AVCA No. 18, is again at Davidson. Within the Massive West, Hawai’i is at Cal Poly, whereas league-leading UC Santa Barbara is off.
The winless groups are at it once more. Saint Peters places its 0-20 document up in opposition to Quinnipiac within the MAAC, 0-16 Le Moyne goes to Sacred Coronary heart within the NEC and 0-10 Hampton has a CAA match at Northeastern.
Need to watch? Now we have the conference-by-conference schedule with viewing hyperlinks for any match that’s being proven in our VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.
ACC: Louisville native DeBeer chiseled the Pittsburgh block on match level to punctuate a 25-21, 25-23, 25-23 victory by the Cardinals (15-2, 6-1) over the Panthers (15-3, 6-1) that despatched the massive KFC Yum! Heart crowd house blissful.
DeBeer, a 6-foot senior, hit a strong .448 with 15 kills and two errors on 29 swings, serving to Louisville put up a .388 share as a crew, and made 10 digs. Pitt’s touted block was dormant, choosing up solely six block assists.
“Our focus tonight was to be constant and in an surroundings like this, our crew simply got here collectively it doesn’t matter what the rating was,” DeBeer instructed ESPNU. “We simply battled it out. It was so cool to see as a result of we had been engaged on that.
“To be on the Yum Heart with the entire followers behind us, we love these followers, we love these matches in opposition to the rivalry groups within the ACC. We simply labored actually onerous and I’m so happy with everybody.”
Elsewhere within the ACC, visiting Florida State (12-7, 6-1) had a match level at 14-13 within the tiebreaker, however No. 12 Georgia Tech (15-2, 6-1) wriggled out, profitable the fifth set 16-14 in a see-saw affair to drive a tie atop the league standings. A 72-58 benefit in kills by the Yellow Jackets was mitigated by 40 mixed attacking and serving errors. Georgia Tech obtained 21 kills every from Bianca Bertolino (with 13 digs) and Larissa Mendes, and 20 kills from Tamara O’Keefe (with 23 digs). …
After the four-way impasse on the high of the ACC sits Wake Forest (14-5, 5-3), which topped visiting North Carolina State (14-4, 4-3) in 4 units.
BIG TEN: Even with two starters out with accidents, No. 1 Wisconsin (16-0, 7-0) took Rutgers (9-8, 1-6) to the woodshed. The Badgers outscored the shell-shocked guests 75-37, which included a 25-4 whipping within the second set. Sarah Franklin led Wisconsin, which hit .410, with 16 kills, 4 aces and 9 digs. … No. 2 Nebraska (16-0, 7-0) suffered a third-set hiccup however in any other case was dominant in a four-set conquer Michigan State (11-7, 3-4) earlier than the same old 8,539 followers at its Devaney Heart. Merritt Beason and Andi Jackson every logged 13 kills, and libero Lexi Rodriguez chipped in with 16 digs and 7 assists. …
Additionally, Penn State (13-3, 7-0), tied for thirteenth within the VBM ballot, stayed good within the Massive Ten with a lopsided sweep at Iowa (8-11, 0-7). Alexa Markey ripped 17 kills whereas hitting .469. … Host Northwestern (9-8, 3-4) dispatched Maryland (13-6, 3-4) in 4 behind Julia Sangiacomo’s 27 kills and 12 digs. … Ohio State (9-7, 4-3) obtained 22 kills and 11 digs from Emily Londot in a four-set victory over visiting Illinois (7-10, 2-5), weathering Raina Terry’s 28 kills. She added two aces, a block and eight digs.
SEC: No. 11 Florida (12-4, 4-3) continued to fall within the standings, stumbling on the street in 4 units to middle-of-the-pack Mississippi State (8-9, 2-5). The Gators had been outhit .338 to .250 and outblocked 12-4. Sophie Agee led the Bulldogs with 16 kills and 7 digs. … No. 9 Tennessee (16-1, 7-0) pushed its profitable streak to 11, defeating visiting Auburn (14-4, 4-3) in 4 units. Morgahn Fingall stepped up for the Vols with 21 kills and 12 digs. … Host Arkansas (16-2, 6-0), which shares thirteenth within the VBM rating, dumped Ole Miss (8-10, 2-5) in three non-threatening units, dialing up 10 aces.
Pac-12: No. 3 Stanford (14-2, 7-0) was pressed in a 25-22 first set however then outscored visiting USC (11-6, 5-2) 50-28 after that earlier than a crowd of three,307 at Maples Pavilion. Caitie Baird (.472 hitting) and Kendall Kipp every powered 12 kills for the Cardinal. … Arizona State (17-2, 5-2) noticed its momentum blunted in a shocking five-set loss (15-11 within the tiebreaker) to host Oregon State (6-11, 1-6). The Beavers, who lastly broke by way of within the league win column, reversed the circulation within the fifth after dropping the fourth set by 12 factors, ending the upset on kills by Lauren Rumel and Amanda Burns …
Elsewhere, No. 4 Washington State (16-2, 6-1 Pac-12) emphatically bounced again from its first league loss with a lopsided home-court sweep of Utah (8-9, 3-4). …
No. 5 Oregon (16-2, 6-1) fired on all cylinders, outscoring Arizona (6-12, 1-6) 75-47 and limiting the guests to .074 hitting.
Massive 12: No. 10 BYU (15-3, 4-2) survived an upset bid in its first five-setter (15-12 within the tiebreaker) as a Massive 12 member in opposition to visiting Texas Tech (8-11, 1-6), A crowd of 4.033 in Provo watched Whitney McEwan-Llarenas crack 16 kills on .424 hitting. … Baylor (10-7, 4-3) took each ends of its back-to-back at Cincinnati (9-8, 2-5) with a four-set victory.
Across the nation
The Citadel (19-0, 7-0 Southern Convention) wanted each little bit of its military-school grit to maintain its undefeated document intact, battling again in opposition to host Furman (12-6, 3-4) to win in a wild reverse sweep. The Paladins simply couldn’t get the profitable card to fall as they didn’t money in on 5 match factors within the third set. Then the decided Bulldogs lastly took the fifth 15-8. The Citadel’s Ali Ruffun recorded 21 kills and 14 digs, whereas Mackenzie Martin had 20 kills and dug 13 balls …
Dayton (19-2, 8-0 Atlantic 10), ranked No. 18 within the AVCA high 25, continued to construct its case to VBM Ballot voters. The Flyers have gained 14 in a row after a street sweep in opposition to Davidson (12-6, 4-4) within the first half of a back-to-back. Dayton rolled on behind a balanced assault led by Elise McGhee’s 19 kills and three aces. … Surging Loyola-Chicago (8-12, 6-2) stayed related within the A10 with a sweep at George Mason, the Ramblers’ sixth consecutive victory. … Western Kentucky (17-4, 7-0) consolidated its lead within the Convention USA standings with a street sweep of New Mexico State (13-7, 6-3). Kaylee Cox paved the best way with 20 kills on .444 hitting and 11 digs.
Host UC Santa Barbara (18-2, 8-0) gained separation within the Massive West and gained its ninth within the row in a five-set nail-biter in opposition to Hawai’i (12-6, 5-2). The Gauchos had been held off in 4 set factors earlier than prevailing within the fifth 15-13. … James Madison (15-4, 8-0 Solar Belt) accomplished back-to-back sweeps at Georgia State (5-14, 2-6) as Miette Veldman ripped 16 kills. … Within the Atlantic Solar, Lipscomb beat Stetson in 5 to push its profitable streak to 9. The Bisons are tied atop the league with Florida Gulf Coast at 7-0. FGCU swept Austin Peay.
