Loyola closes out __play in the 2016 SSAC Volleyball Championships today with a matchup against Dalton State at 3:00 p.m.
Looking to bounce back after a 3-1 loss against No. 3-seeded Coastal Georgia to start the tournament, the No. 7-seeded Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to the Cramton Bowl Multiplex on Friday afternoon to square off against No. 2-seeded Bethel University on day two of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Volleyball Championships.
The Wildcats showed why they were co-regular season champions on Friday, using an impressive .452 hitting percentage and 45 assists by Kaylee Ginnings to complete the 3-0 sweep of the Wolf Pack in Pool-B action.
An attack error by SSAC Player of the Year Eloisa Sales started off the opening set to give Loyola the 1-0 advantage. With the Wolf Pack trailing 5-6, recent SSAC All-Freshman Team member Tylar Beckham (FR/New Orleans, La.) connected on a kill off an assist by Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.) to knot the opening set at 6-6. Bethel followed with a kill to bring the score to 6-7 before Anna Katherine Brunini (SO/Madison, Miss.) laid down a kill of her own to make the score 7-7. The remainder of the set proved to be anything but close, as Bethel ended the frame outscoring Loyola 18-4 to take the 25-11 victory.
With the second set locked at 3-3, kills by Beckham and Blanchard gave the Wolf Pack the early 5-3 advantage. Bethel battled back to tie the set at 5-5 before a kill from Beatriz Agosto (FR/Miami, Fla.) off a helper by Blanchard gave Loyola the lead back at 6-5. That would be the last advantage the Wolf Pack would hold for the remainder of the set, as the Wildcats retook the lead and push it to as much as 12 before claiming set two 25-14.
The third set proved similar to the second, with Loyola taking a slim lead early on. As with the second set, Bethel quickly bounced back and began putting the set out of reach as the third frame progressed. The Wildcats built the lead to as many as 11 points until the very end when a kill by Shayla Smith handed Bethel the 12-point victory (25-13) in set three and the win.
Loyola collected a 0.061 (26-20-99) hitting percentage with 23 assists and 32 digs in the loss.
Beckham and Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) each notched five kills against the Wildcats, with Howie adding three digs off the bench. Blanchard handed out a team-high 12 assists in the match and Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) chipped in a team-best eight digs to go along with 10 assists and two kills.
Sales led all players with 15 kills, while Yumi Garcia scooped up a match-high 15 digs for Bethel.
Loyola caps off __play at the 2016 SSAC Championships later today with a matchup against Dalton State at 3:00 p.m.
Wolf Pack end the season with a 15-23 overall record.
The No. 7-seeded Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team looked to end the 2016 season on a high note as they took on No. 6-seeded Dalton State College in the final match of pool __play of 2016 Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Volleyball Championships.
Thanks to career days by Lindsay Ulfig (JR/Saline, Mich.) and Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.), the Wolf Pack downed the Roadrunners 3-1 at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex to end the 2016 season with a 15-23 overall record.
The first set was about as close as it could have been as both teams battled to 14 ties throughout. With the match knotted at 26-26, back-to-back Loyola errors gave Dalton State the 28-26 victory to start the match.
Set two was nearly as close as the first, with neither team being able to build a lead larger than four points. In the final moments of the second set, the Wolf Pack used kills by Ulfig, Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) and Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) (all assisted by Blanchard) to grab the set second 25-23 to knot the match at 1-1.
Loyola jumped out to the early 8-2 advantage in set three and never looked back en route to the 25-18 victory to take the 2-1 lead.
The fourth set saw Dalton State race out to a 7-2 lead to start. The Wolf Pack answered with an 8-2 run to retake the lead at 10-9. The Roadrunners took the 24-23 lead late and looked primed to steal the fourth set before an error on Anna Metzler knotted the match at 24-24. A Dalton State kill put the Roadrunners up 25-24 before a kill by Hartmann off an assist by Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) tied the match up again, 25-25. The match would tie again at 26-26 before two back-to-back Dalton State errors sealed the 28-26 victory for the Wolf Pack.
Loyola notched a 0.222 (59-23-162) hitting percentage on Friday with 52 assists, 64 digs and six total blocks in the victory.
Ulfig led Loyola with a career-high 17 kills on 31 attempts off the bench, while Blanchard handed out a career-high 30 helpers to go along with nine digs against Dalton State. In her final match, Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) scooped up a match-high 21 digs and Hartmann collected 14 kills in the win. Huekels tallied a double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs, while Tylar Beckham (FR/New Orleans, La.) added seven kills and a team-high five blocks.
Anna Metzler had a huge match for Dalton State – putting up 19 kills and 20 digs in the loss.
Lipscomb setter Morgan Elmore does all she can to get to the ball in the Bison's victory over Jacksonville on Friday/Grant Exline photo
A rare night without upsets. It happened Friday in NCAA volleyball, but it was hardly a night without important results, from Princeton becoming the first team qualified for the NCAA Tournament by clinching the Ivy League’s automatic NCAA bid to Wisconsin, Penn State, North Carolina, Florida State, Florida all winning.
Creighton and Dayton remained unbeaten in their respective leagues and Washington State broke a four-match losing streak.
All that and more, but first a look at Saturday’s massive schedule of 105 matches, some that will decide conference races and so many key to tournament seeding, both in the respective leagues and the NCAA Tournament.
There are six matches in the Big Ten, including No. 1 Nebraska at Indiana, but the showcase battle has No. 17 Michigan at No. 15 Michigan State. No. 2 Minnesota plays at Illinois, No. 3 Wisconsin goes to Northwestern, No. 10 Penn State goes to Ohio State andIowa plays at Purdue.
In the Pac-12, No. 13 UCLA is at No. 9 Stanford, USC plays at Cal and Colorado is at Oregon State.
The Big 12 is busy, with No. 4 Kansas playing host to TCU and No. 5 Texas at Iowa State. West Virginia goes to Baylor and Texas Tech is at Oklahoma.
The ACC has just one match, but it pits league leader No. 8 North Carolina against Georgia Tech, coming off a five-set comeback win against NC State on Friday night and fighting for its postseason life.
The SEC has football Saturday off.
The two ranked West Coast Conference teams — tied for first — are in action. No. 7 San Diego, coming off being upset by Portland, plays host to Gonzaga, while No. 12 BYU gets Portland at home.
No. 14 Hawai’i plays at UC Davis.
No. 22 Creighton, which rules the Big East and beat visiting Providence on Friday, plays host to the Friars again on Saturday.
Also, SMU would like to get its focus back onto the court when the Mustangs entertain South Florida. SMU is 20-7 and leading the American Athletic at 13-2, but this past week the school got some bad publicity when it uninvited the daughter of one of the Dallas police officers killed last summer from doing an honorary first serve.
This is from the Dallas Morning New story:
The daughter of one of the Dallas police officers killed during the July 7 ambush was told she was no longer invited to hit an honorary serve at a volleyball game at Southern Methodist University “in light of recent events and diversity within the SMU community.”
The university has since apologized and re-extended the invitation, but it did not explain why the invite was spiked in the first place.
To read the entire story, click here.
For a complete list of all the Saturday matches, click here.
Katie Stadick of Illinois attacks against Wisconsin/Craig Pessman, Illinois Athletics photo
Big Ten: Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State win
Wisconsin won at Illinois 25-17, 25-18, 25-21 as junior Lauryn Gillis led with 13 kills while sophomore Tionna Williams added 10. Haleigh Nelson had seven blocks. The Badgers are 21-3, 13-2 and a game behind Nebraska for the league lead.
Illinois, which dropped to 14-12, 7-8, hit just .069 and got six kills each from Michelle Strizak and Katie Stadick.
Penn State won at Maryland 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18 to improve to 19-7, 11-4. Maryland, 10-17, 2-15, drew a crowd of home-record crowd of 1,808.
Simone Lee led Penn State with 17 kills, Heidi Thelen added 10 and had four blocks. Haleigh Washington had eight kills and nine blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Gia Milana led the match with 20 kills while adding 11 digs. Freshman setter Taylor Smith had 37 assists and a career-high 17 digs.
“It was a tough match tonight against a very good team,” head coach Steve Aird said. “I thought we played hard and did some nice things, but Penn State was better tonight. I am proud of the program, and proud that so many people came out to support us. We are going to be really good in the next few years and the goal is to battle the rest of the season, develop and grow.”
Rutgers has five matches left to win its second set of the season in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights fell to 4-24, 0-15 in their 25-12, 25-12, 25-16 loss at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 16-11, 6-9.
Taylor Sandbothe led Ohio State with 10 kills and hit .533. Lauren Cloyd led Rutgers with seven kills.
Georgia Tech’s Kodie Comby hits against NC State’s Sarah Konchan on Friday/Chris Baird photo
ACC: UNC, FSU, Georgia Tech win
No. 8 North Carolina swept visiting Clemson 25-16, 25-12, 25-11 to improve to 22-3, 14-1, as Hayley McCorkle had nine kills with no errors and Taylor Borup had eight kills on 10 swings and hit .700.
“I can’t even say who stood out, because every one of them played so well,” UNC coach Joe Sagula said. “I think this is one of the best matches Hayley has played, without question. We were looking to rest her, but we said ‘There’s no way we can take her out,’ because she was playing so well.”
No. 18 Florida State had to go four to win at Boston College 22-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18. The Seminoles, 19-5, 12-3, got 10 kills and 13 digs from Katie Horton and 16 kills from Milica Kubura.
Duke stayed a game behind UNC and a game ahead of FSU by winning at Virginia Tech 25-26, 25-17, 25-15 to improve to 19-6, 13-2. Jordan Tucker led with 11 kills and four others had five or more.
“Our team did a great job of playing one point at a time and staying aggressive,” Duke coach Jolene Nagel said. “We wanted to give Virginia Tech something tough to handle whether it was our serve or when we have the chance to attack. We kept our composure on defense so that we could transition successfully. I’m really proud of our focus and determination to execute so efficiently tonight. This was a great team effort.”
Georgia Tech is hanging on at 21-6, 12-3 after winning at NC State 21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-14, 15-7. Teegan Van Gunst led with 20 kills and 13 digs, Gabriela Stavnetchel added 13 kills and Annika Van Gunst had 11.
Julia Brown had 19 kills for the Wolfpack, 16-11, 9-6.
Pittsburgh stayed in the chase by beating visiting Wake Forest to improve to 20-7, 11-4, with a 25-21, 25-20, 27-25 victory.
Freshman Stephanie Williams led with 16 kills in 23 swings without an error and hit .696. She also had eight digs. Junior Mariah Bell added 12 kills, two blocks and eight digs.
Wake, 9-17, 5-10, got 11 kills from Kylie Long.
Also, Miami beat Syracuse and Virginia won at Louisville.
Washington State snaps skid
The Cougars, who had lost four in a row, beat visiting Arizona State 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24 in the only Pac-12 match of the night. Taylor Mims had 14 kills and 11 blocks as WSU improved to 18-9, 8-7, as Arizona State fell to 9-18, 2-13.
WSU’s 19 team blocks is also tied for fifth-best in school history.
Kyra Holt led the Cougars with 17 kills and had eight digs and five blocks. Casey Schoenlein added nine kills and four blocks with McKenna Woodford had eight kills and four blocks.
“Winning feels really good, especially against another Pac-12 team because everyone in the conference is good,” Mims said.
“It’s great having a really tall team. Just the way we set it up is know the other hitters on your side and go out and be aggressive with it. With our defense behind us, it’s great knowing that we can take up so much space and it’s easier for us. McKenna ending up with those blocks is just one of those little things that get us that momentum back.”
SEC: Florida, Texas A&M notch victories
No. 6 Florida beat visiting South Carolina 25-13, 25-20, 25-15 as the Gators hit above .350 for the seventh consecutive match and tied their season high of nine service aces.
Florida has won 11 in a row, swept the last seven matches, and has a half-game lead atop the league. The Gators, 23-2, 13-1 SEC, got 11 kills from Alex Holston and 10 from Carli Snyder.
South Carolina is 17-8, 5-8. Desso Legros led with 10 kills.
Texas A&M kept pace with a 27-25, 29-27, 25-20 win over visiting Mississippi State. The Aggies are 17-7, 11-2, while State is 12-16, 4-10.
Kaitlyn Blake led with 13 kills and three blocks and Jazzmin Babers added 12 kills and six blocks. State’s Eva Grace Singleton had 16 kills.
Also, Ole Miss beat visiting Tennessee 25-19, 25-23, 26-24, and LSU stayed out of the cellar and won its first home match of the season by beating last-place Georgia 25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 25-10, 15-10.
Dayton’s Jane Emmenecker sets against Davidson /Leon Chuck, Pressbox Photo LLC
Creighton, Dayton stay perfect in their leagues
No. 22 Creighton clinched a share of the Big East title by beating visiting Providence 25-15, 25-18, 25-13 to improve to 21-6, 15-0.
Taryn Kloth led the Bluejays with 14 kills and hit .560 to set a career-high for hitting percentage in a single-match, and Lauren Smith added nine kills on .562 hitting. The same teams __play Saturday.
No. 23 Dayton won the Atlantic 10 by beating visiting Davidson 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 to improve to 27-1 — the best record in the country — and 13-0 in the league.
Junior Jessica Sloan had a match-high 18 kills to go with seven digs and two blocks while sophomore Lauren Bruns had 11 kills.
Wichita State’s Mikaela Raudsepp hits in the Shockers’ victory over Illinois State
Around the nation
Princeton is the first team in.
Princeton went down to the wire to clinch the Ivy League’s automatic NCAA bid by winning in five against visiting Cornell. The Tigers, 18-4, 12-1, were down 5-0 in the fifth and that comeback, combined with Harvard beating Yale in five, gave Princeton the title and for the first time since they are going back to the NCAA Tournament. Yale, which split with Princeton this season, is 17-4, 10-3 …
Lipscomb stayed atop the Atlantic Sun by sweeping visiting Jacksonville as Carlyle Nusbaum had 18 kills and 10 digs. The Bison are 19-7, 11-2, and remain tied with Kennesaw State, 17-10, 11-2, which swept North Florida. Also in the ASUN, FGCU won in five at USC Upstate to improve to 24-5 — its most wins since moving to Division I — and 10-3 in the league …
New Hampshire swept visiting Albany to tighten up the America East stretch run. UNH is18-10 and leads the league at 9-2 while Albany finishes its regular season 15-9, 9-3. UNH finishes up against Binghamton on Sunday. UNH is the host for the AE tournament that starts Friday …
Missouri State stayed atop the Missouri Valley by sweeping Indiana State to get to 22-7, 13-2, while Wichita State stayed a game back by beat Illinois State in four to improve to 1907, 12-3. Wichita State is 36th in the NCAA RPI and might get an NCAA at-large bid, while Missouri State is 49th and needs to win the league tournament to get in. Northern Iowa, 46 RPI kept pace by sweeping Loyola Chicago to get to 20-8, 11-4 …
Radford finished its home schedule 11-0 and improved to 23-5, 14-2 Big South, as it won the league’s regular-season title. The Highlanders also avenged one of their only two conference losses and recorded their 13th sweep of the year. The 23 regular-season wins are the most for the program since 2000, while the 14 conference victories are the highest total since the 2001 squad went 14-0 in league play. It is the second time in three years that Radford has gone unbeaten at home …
In a battle that left them tied for the lead with one match left, South Dakota improved to 23-6, 12-3 in the Summit League by beating visiting Denver in five, 15-13 in the fifth, dropping the Pioneers to 20-7, 12-3. Audrey Reeg had 24 kills for South Dakota. South Dakota plays host to South Dakota State on Saturday, while Denver entertains North Dakota State on Sunday …
Cleveland State swept Wright State to improve to 23-5, 14-2 Horizon …
The respective MAC division leaders are both 22-5, 14-1 as Miami beat Akron in three and Northern Illinois swept Toledo …
Logan Carter of Austin Peay hits through the SIUE block of Ashley Witt, left, and Taylor Joens/Robert Smith, APSU Athletics photo
Murray State, 19-8, 14-1 Ohio Valley Conference, stayed a game ahead of SIUE, 20-6, 13-2. Murray State beat visiting Eastern Illinois in four as Scottie Ingram had 22 kills, while SIUE dealt Austin Peay, 22-10, 11-4, a huge blow by winning in three …
Texas Southern improved to 17-9, 13-1 in the SWAC by sweeping Southern …
In the Sun Belt, Coastal Carolina improved to 23-4, 13-1, by sweeping Troy. Coastal has a huge seven-match lead in the East Division, while Arkansas State, which was idle, is up by two matches in the West.
Loyola closes out __play in the 2016 SSAC Volleyball Championships today with a matchup against Dalton State at 3:00 p.m.
Looking to bounce back after a 3-1 loss against No. 3-seeded Coastal Georgia to start the tournament, the No. 7-seeded Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team returned to the Cramton Bowl Multiplex on Friday afternoon to square off against No. 2-seeded Bethel University on day two of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Volleyball Championships.
The Wildcats showed why they were co-regular season champions on Friday, using an impressive .452 hitting percentage and 45 assists by Kaylee Ginnings to complete the 3-0 sweep of the Wolf Pack in Pool-B action.
An attack error by SSAC Player of the Year Eloisa Sales started off the opening set to give Loyola the 1-0 advantage. With the Wolf Pack trailing 5-6, recent SSAC All-Freshman Team member Tylar Beckham (FR/New Orleans, La.) connected on a kill off an assist by Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.) to knot the opening set at 6-6. Bethel followed with a kill to bring the score to 6-7 before Anna Katherine Brunini (SO/Madison, Miss.) laid down a kill of her own to make the score 7-7. The remainder of the set proved to be anything but close, as Bethel ended the frame outscoring Loyola 18-4 to take the 25-11 victory.
With the second set locked at 3-3, kills by Beckham and Blanchard gave the Wolf Pack the early 5-3 advantage. Bethel battled back to tie the set at 5-5 before a kill from Beatriz Agosto (FR/Miami, Fla.) off a helper by Blanchard gave Loyola the lead back at 6-5. That would be the last advantage the Wolf Pack would hold for the remainder of the set, as the Wildcats retook the lead and push it to as much as 12 before claiming set two 25-14.
The third set proved similar to the second, with Loyola taking a slim lead early on. As with the second set, Bethel quickly bounced back and began putting the set out of reach as the third frame progressed. The Wildcats built the lead to as many as 11 points until the very end when a kill by Shayla Smith handed Bethel the 12-point victory (25-13) in set three and the win.
Loyola collected a 0.061 (26-20-99) hitting percentage with 23 assists and 32 digs in the loss.
Beckham and Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) each notched five kills against the Wildcats, with Howie adding three digs off the bench. Blanchard handed out a team-high 12 assists in the match and Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) chipped in a team-best eight digs to go along with 10 assists and two kills.
Sales led all players with 15 kills, while Yumi Garcia scooped up a match-high 15 digs for Bethel.
Loyola caps off __play at the 2016 SSAC Championships later today with a matchup against Dalton State at 3:00 p.m.
Wolf Pack end the season with a 15-23 overall record.
The No. 7-seeded Loyola University New Orleans volleyball team looked to end the 2016 season on a high note as they took on No. 6-seeded Dalton State College in the final match of pool __play of 2016 Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Volleyball Championships.
Thanks to career days by Lindsay Ulfig (JR/Saline, Mich.) and Sunni Blanchard (FR/Pierre Part, La.), the Wolf Pack downed the Roadrunners 3-1 at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex to end the 2016 season with a 15-23 overall record.
The first set was about as close as it could have been as both teams battled to 14 ties throughout. With the match knotted at 26-26, back-to-back Loyola errors gave Dalton State the 28-26 victory to start the match.
Set two was nearly as close as the first, with neither team being able to build a lead larger than four points. In the final moments of the second set, the Wolf Pack used kills by Ulfig, Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) and Malea Howie (FR/Greenwood, Ind.) (all assisted by Blanchard) to grab the set second 25-23 to knot the match at 1-1.
Loyola jumped out to the early 8-2 advantage in set three and never looked back en route to the 25-18 victory to take the 2-1 lead.
The fourth set saw Dalton State race out to a 7-2 lead to start. The Wolf Pack answered with an 8-2 run to retake the lead at 10-9. The Roadrunners took the 24-23 lead late and looked primed to steal the fourth set before an error on Anna Metzler knotted the match at 24-24. A Dalton State kill put the Roadrunners up 25-24 before a kill by Hartmann off an assist by Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) tied the match up again, 25-25. The match would tie again at 26-26 before two back-to-back Dalton State errors sealed the 28-26 victory for the Wolf Pack.
Loyola notched a 0.222 (59-23-162) hitting percentage on Friday with 52 assists, 64 digs and six total blocks in the victory.
Ulfig led Loyola with a career-high 17 kills on 31 attempts off the bench, while Blanchard handed out a career-high 30 helpers to go along with nine digs against Dalton State. In her final match, Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) scooped up a match-high 21 digs and Hartmann collected 14 kills in the win. Huekels tallied a double-double with 13 assists and 11 digs, while Tylar Beckham (FR/New Orleans, La.) added seven kills and a team-high five blocks.
Anna Metzler had a huge match for Dalton State – putting up 19 kills and 20 digs in the loss.
Alexandra Psoma of San Diego State gets up to attack against Colorado State/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
Since it’s Veterans Day, we honor all those who served.
In the case of volleyball, almost everyone serves and, of course, every __play begins with a serve.
So we serve up for you a look at Thursday’s results and Friday’s schedule.
And what would a night in NCAA volleyball be without serving up an upset?
Start with the West Coast Conference where we had a big surprise as visiting Portland went to San Diego and knocked off the No. 7 Toreros in five. The other ranked WCC team, No. 12 BYU, beat Gonzaga.
In the Pac-12, No. 19 Utah went 2-0 on its Oregon trip by winning at Oregon State. No. 16 Oregon, a night after being upset by Utah, beat Colorado in four.
Also in the Pac-12, No. 11 Washington swept visiting No. 25 Arizona, No. 9 Stanford took four to beat USC and No. 13 UCLA swept Cal.
It was also a big night in the Big Sky and Mountain West conferences and No. 14 Hawai’i beat UC Irvine.
All that and more, but first a look at Friday’s schedule, starting with the Big Ten, where No. 10 Penn State goes to Maryland, No. 3 Wisconsin goes to Illinois and Rutgers plays at Ohio State.
There is one Pac-12 match, as Arizona State plays at Washington State.
In the SEC, No. 6 Florida entertains South Carolina. Tennessee goes to Ole Miss, Mississippi State plays at Texas A&M and Georgia goes to LSU in a battle to stay out of last place in the league.
The ACC is chock full with seven matches, starting with No. 8 North Carolina playing host to Clemson. No. 18 Florida State goes to Boston College. Duke, a game behind UNC and trying to maintain its one game lead over FSU, goes to Virginia Tech, while Georgia Tech goes to NC State. Pittsburgh plays host to Wake Forest. Also, Miami is at Syracuse and Virginia is at Louisville.
The Big 12 is idle.
No. 22 Creighton plays host to Providence as it defends the top spot in the Big East and No. 23 Dayton tries to close out a perfect Atlantic 10 season against visiting Davidson.
Among the mid-majors in action are the Missouri Valley leaders as Missouri State plays host to Indiana State and Wichita State entertains Illinois State and Albany has a key America East matchup at New Hampshire.
Lipscomb attempts to maintain first in the Atlantic Sun against visiting Jacksonville, Radford does the same against Charleston Southern in the Big South, Horizon leader Cleveland State tries to bounce back from its first loss when it plays host to Wright State, and in the MAC the respective division leaders are in action as NIU goes to Toledo and Miami is home for Akron.
Click here for the complete list of Friday’s matches.
WCC: Stunning loss for USD, BYU wins
San Diego was unbeaten at home this season, but for the second time this season Portland pulled off a big WCC upset. Earlier the Pilots dealt BYU, then No. 11, its first loss. Thursday night’s 25-27, 20-25, 25-16, 25-20, 13-15 result left USD 21-4, 12-2 in the WCC, while Portland improved to 15-11, 9-6.
Portland, beating its highest-ranked opponent ever, got 12 kills from Reghan Pukis and 11 from Hannah Troutman. The last time Portland won in San Diego was 1987.
Lisa Kramer, as always, was big for USD and led with 27 kills and hit .396. Jayden Kennedy had 15 kills and hit .314. Thana Fayad had 12 kills and 14 digs.
BYU’s 25-16, 25-17, 19-25, 25-14 win over Gonzaga left the Cougars 23-3 and back into a first-place tie with USD at 12-2.
Freshman McKenna Miller led BYU with 20 kills and hit .472. Middle blocker Amy Boswell had 14 kills while Lacy Haddock 11. Mary Lake had 28 digs.
“I thought we played a great match,” BYU coach Heather Olmstead said. “I liked our energy and thought we were pretty focused for the match. We did lose our focus for a slight moment in the third set and it cost us, so we have to learn to __play better overall. I liked the way we bounced back in the fourth set.”
Pac-12: No upsets on a busy night
Before the recaps, note that three teams are tied for first in the Pac-12 at 11-4, Washington, UCLA and Stanford. Oregon is a half game back at 11-5 and Utah right behind at 10-6 as the top five teams have begun to separate from the peloton.
Utah beat Oregon on Wednesday and then won at Oregon State on Thursday to improve to 19-8, 10-6 in the Pac-12. Junior Adora Anae had 16 kills and three blocks in the 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 victory. It’s the most wins for the Utes in league play since joining the Pac-12.
Tawnee Luafalemana and Carly Trueman added seven kills each for Utah, now 10-2 on the road this season.
Oregon State is 10-16, 3-12.
Oregon is 18-7, 11-5, after beating Colorado 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16.
Lindsey Vander Weide led with 20 kills and hit .381 and had a career-high four aces. Taylor Agost added 10 kills and Ronika Stone nine. Seniors Kacey Nady and Amanda Benson were big on their senior night, with Nady getting a season-high seven blocks and Benson tying her season high with her second straight 28-dig match.
Jolie Rasmussen, the freshman outside who has had a strong season for Oregon, continued to sit out with an ankle injury.
“We didn’t do very well last night, we did better tonight. I don’t know when she’ll be back,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said. “She’s walking around great, she’s still in a boot right now, but that is mostly just precautionary. She is making us hopeful, that’s for sure.”
Colorado is 13-12, 5-10. Alexa Smith led the Buffs with 15 kills.
Washington juniors Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray combined for 27 kills and a .338 attack percentage the Huskies improved to 21-4, 11-4 with their 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 victory.
Arizona, 16-11, 8-7, got 11 kills from Kalei Mau.
Stanford is 17-6, 11-4, after holding off visiting USC 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-22, which dropped the Women of Troy to 16-10, 8-7.
Senior Inky Ajanaku and freshman Kathryn Plummer had 13 kills each. Ajanaku hit .500 and had a match-high eight blocks, while Plummer had six digs, three blocks and two assists. Freshman middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris added 12 kills, hit .360, and had five blocks and three digs. Junior Ivana Vanjak added 10 kills and three blocks.
USC freshman outside hitter Khalia Lanier had 8 kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Alyse Ford added 14 kills and eight digs, while middle blocker Elise Ruddins had 10 kills while hitting .353 with three blocks.
UCLA blasted visiting Cal 25-15, 25-20, 25-6, and, no, that last set score is not a typo.
UCLA improved to 20-5, 11-4 as it got 12 blocks, including a career-high eight from senior Claire Felix, while senior Taylor Formico added 21 digs.
Freshman Torrey Van Winden led with nine kills, hit .389, and had nine digs and three blocks. Junior Reily Buechler had eight kills, eight digs and three blocks, sophomore Kyra Rogers had five kills and three blocks and senior Jordan Anderson added four kills and four digs. UCLA hit .275.
Cal is 9-16, 3-12. Junior Christine Alftin had 10 kills and seven digs for the Bears.
Streaking teams: WKU, TAMUCC, Hawai’i roll on
No. 20 Western Kentucky won its 18th in a row as Alyssa Cavanaugh had 12 of her 18 kills in the first set and the Lady Toppers beat visiting North Texas 29-27, 25-18, 25-22. WKU is 27-2, 14-0 in Conference USA. Sydney Engle added 12 kills.
“It has been a struggle, it’s been a fight every night,” said WKU coach Travis Hudson, whose team won its 45th consecutive match at home. “We may have had more talented teams in the past but we will never have a group that fights as hard as this.
“To win a conference tournament you have to be good for three days, but to win a regular season conference title you have to be good for two months.”
Texas A&M Corpus Christi won its ninth in a row and improved to 20-7, 15-0 Southland Conference, with a 25-16, 20-25, 25-12, 25-23 victory over visiting Lamar.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how we handled adversity and difficult situations in this match,” TAMUCC coach Steve Greene said. “The way the team responded between sets two and three and came out with a renewed vigor really shows their competitive drive.”
Junior Brittany Gilpin led the Islanders with a career-high 20 kills and hit .419.
Hawai’i cruised at UC Irvine 25-14, 25-13, 25-18 to improve to 19-5, 12-1 Big West as Annie Mitchem tied her career-high with a match-high 13 kills and Emily Maglio tied her career-high with a match-high nine blocks.
The victory left veteran coach Dave Shoji’s career record 1,198-203-1, just two wins shy of becoming only the second coach in NCAA DI history to record 1,200 career wins.
Colorado State setter Katie Oleksak against SDSU/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
Mountain West:
After Thursday’s action, Boise State and Colorado State lead the league at 12-2. UNLV is chasing at 11-4.
Boise State won for the 10th time in a row by sweeping Fresno 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 to improve to 21-6, 12-2 and get their 10th league sweep of the season.
“I feel like as things started rolling and we were winning in three, we got healthy.” Boise State coach Shawn Garus said. “We didn’t have these long, grueling, two-hour matches. We were efficient, we got in and out, and we rested and got ready for the next day. What that’s led to is all 14 players playing at a very high level in practice which has gotten us ready for the next match.”
Maddie O’Donnell led with 12 kills and five blocks.
Colorado State, which has traditionally won the MWC, won at San Diego State in five 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 15-9. The Rams, 18-7, 12-2, got 12 kills apiece from Alexandra Poletto and Sandra Cizmic and 11 from Jasmine Hanna.
VolleyballMag.com’s Ed Chan caught up with both Poletto and coach Tom Hilbert after the match.
UNLV kept pace with its 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 win over visiting Utah State to improve to 22-5, 11-4, as Bree Hammel had 11 kills, seven digs, three blocks and three aces to give her 37 for the season.
Wyoming took a big hit and fell to 17-10, 10-4, by losing at Nevada.
Big Sky: UND, UNC in a battle
Things are tight at the top of the two divisions.
North Dakota clinched a share of the regular-season title and maintained its one-game lead in the North with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-22 win at Northern Arizona that left UND 22-9, 13-2 Big Sky, and NAU 21-7, 11-4.
Northern Colorado won at Southern Utah 25-15, 25-21, 25-18 to set up a winner take all match on Saturday against North Dakota for the regular-season title. UNC is 18-9, 12-3.
In the South, Sacramento State pulled ahead of NAU by a game by beating Idaho State 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21 for its seventh consecutive win. The Hornets are 18-11, 12-3.
New Mexico State clinches WAC
The Aggies had to go five at Chicago State but their 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-9 victory gave them their second straight Western Athletic Conference title and third in four years and secured the No. 1 seed when they play host to the league tournament.
“We didn’t play well until partway through the fourth set,” said NMSU coach Mike Jordan, whose team improved to 22-6, 12-1. “We struggle … but when we play well we’re fun to watch.”
Jordan Abalos finished with 16 kills and 11 digs and Tatyana Battle had 19 kills and 13 digs.
Also Thursday:
SMU swept UCF to improve to 20-7 overall, 13-2 in the American Athletic Conference … Ohio beat Kent in four to get to 15-12, 11-4 in the Mid-American Conference … North Dakota State beat South Dakota State in four to improve to 13-16, 11-4 in the Summit …
And Dajana Boskovic had 18 kills and Antonela Jularic 17 as UTSA won in four at Charlotte to improve to 19-6, 10-3 in Conference USA.
Kyle Walton is the head coach at Division III Transylvania in Lexington, Ky., but his Division I roots run deep. Not only is his wife, Lindsey, an assistant coach at Kentucky, but Walton has worked in Division I as an assistant at Kentucky, Louisville, Saint Louis and Southern Illinois.
Walton loves to follow Division I volleyball around the nation and enjoys being our sports bracketologist. He offers the following as we head into the home stretch of the NCAA season.
Transylvania coach Kyle Walton
He picked the top 16 seeds, which will be the hosts for first- and second-round matches. Then he lists what he thinks are currently the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds in what will be 16 pools of four teams each.
He’ll give us another bracket just before the actual NCAA field is announced on Sunday, November 27. And, as they say, this is for entertainment only for those of us who enjoy forecasting the field. A conference breakdown is included at the end. Of course, with conferences getting automatic bids and many conferences having league tournaments to decide the winners, Walton is projecting who he thinks will win those leagues.
Hartmann becomes Loyola's first First Team All-SSAC selection since Samantha Worsham earned the distinction in 2012.
Following standout performances during the 2016 season, Loyola University New Orleans volleyball middle blocker's Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) and Tylar Beckham (FR/New Orleans, La.) earned conference accolades at this evening's Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) volleyball awards banquet in Montgomery, Ala.
A force on both sides on the net, Hartmann was named First Team All-SSAC, while Beckham earned SSAC All-Freshman Team honors in her first season wearing the maroon and gold.
Hartmann was the go-to option for the Wolf Pack during the regular season – leading the squad and ranking third in the league with 353 kills, while ranking sixth in the conference with 87 blocks. The Slidell native recorded at least 10 kills in 19 matches this season, highlighted by a career-high 20-kill performance against Middle Georgia State in September.
She ended the regular season ranked 48th in the NAIA with a .306 hitting percentage, which puts her at No. 5 on the list of highest single season hitting percentage in Wolf Pack history.
Despite 2016 being just her second season at Loyola, Hartmann sits just four blocks (183) behind Desha Beamer (2000-03) for No. 10 on the Wolf Pack career blocks list.
Hartmann becomes Loyola's first First Team All-SSAC selection since Samantha Worsham earned the distinction in 2012.
A transfer NCAA DI University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Beckham had the highest hitting percentage of any freshman (11th overall) in the conference at 0.227 and the second highest kills per set of any freshman (14th overall) in league with 2.5 per contest.
She ranked second on the team with 293 kills and 33 total blocks. Beckham collected at least 10 kills 13 times this year, including a 20-kill performance against William Carey in October.
Entering the tournament as the seventh seed, the Wolf Pack dropped its opening round match of the 2016 SSAC Championships 3-1 to No. 3-seeded Coastal Georgia. Loyola will return to the Cramton Bowl Multiplex tomorrow, Nov. 10, to take on No. 2-seeded Bethel at 12:30 p.m. before squaring off against No. 6-seeded Dalton State at 3:00 p.m.
2016 Volleyball Awards
Player of the Year: Eloisa Sales (Bethel)
Setter of the Year: Cayley Meiners (Coastal Georgia)
Nebraska middle Briana Holman goes up and over Iowa for one of her 12 kills on Wednesday night/Nebraska photo
Visiting No. 19 Utah surprised No. 16 Oregon.
Top-ranked Nebraska cruised past Iowa, while No. 15 Michigan State dealt Purdue a tough blow and No. 17 Michigan swept Indiana.
No. 5 Texas swept Baylor, K-State had to go five to win at West Virginia, but Notre Dame took a big hit by losing at Louisville.
No. 24 Kentucky won at Arkansas.
Cleveland State saw its winning streak snapped at Green Bay.
And Fairfield got all it could handle at Stony Brook.
All the Wednesday details after a check of Thursday’s schedule.
In the Pac-12, Oregon and Utah have to bounce back quickly, since Oregon plays host to Colorado and Utah goes to Oregon State.
No. 25 Arizona goes to No. 11 Washington, No. 9 Stanford plays host to USC, and No. 13 UCLA plays at Cal.
The Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 have the night off.
But the two ranked teams in the West Coast Conference, No. 7 San Diego and No. 12 BYU, are in action. USD entertains Portland, while BYU plays host to Gonzaga.
No. 14 Hawai’i of the Big West is at UC Irvine and No. 20 Western Kentucky of Conference USA, is home against North Texas.
The tight Mountain West has the leaders in action as Boise State entertains Fresno and Colorado State goes to San Diego State. Wyoming, a game off the pace, goes to Nevada, and UNLV, a half game behind Wyoming, entertains Utah State.
The Big Sky is another conference with a tight race and all the leaders are in action. North Dakota leads the North with Northern Colorado a game back. UND goes to South leader Northern Arizona, while UNC plays at Southern Utah. Sacramento State, tied with NAU in the South, entertains Idaho State.
Click here for a complete list of Thursday’s matches.
Utah matches best Pac-12 win total
The Utes are 18-8, 9-6 Pac-12, after their win at Oregon that left the Ducks 17-7, 10-5 and now a half-game off the conference lead. The nine wins ties Utah’s best since joining the league.
Junior Adora Anae paced Utah with 15 kills and junior Carly Trueman had four of her 11 kills in the fourth set. Sophomore Berkeley Oblad had two of Utah’s match-high seven service aces and led with six total blocks. Emma Kirst added eight kills and two blocks.
Lindsey Vander Weide led Oregon with 15 kills and added 12 digs. Amanda Benson had a season-high 28 digs. Brooke Van Sickle added 12 kills filling in on the outside for the injured Jolie Rasmussen.
“Lindsey was great. I don’t know what to say, I don’t want to say this with any excuses. With Jolie out, it changed the chemistry and the chemistry was so good Friday and even into Sunday,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said.
Big 12: Longhorns, K-State, Iowa State win
Texas grinded past visiting Baylor to improve to 19-3, 11-1 Big 12, with its 25-23, 26-24,25-16 victory.
Senior Paulina Prieto-Cerame led with 17 kills, her third-highest of the year, connecting on 17 of 36 swingsto hit .444. Freshman Micaya White had eight kills and eight digs, while senior Chloe Collins had 33 assists and three kills, tying her season-high. Freshman Morgan Johnson had a season-high tying seven blocks.
Baylor, 19-8, 7-4, got 19 kills from Katie Staiger, who continues to have a fantastic season. She also had 11 digs. Aniah Philo had 11 kills and 17 digs.
Iowa State is 15-9, 7-5 after winning at Oklahoma 28-26, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20.
Six Cyclones had at least 10 kills, with Jess Schaben leading with 14.
Oklahoma dropped to 13-12, 4-8.
Kansas State is 18-8, 7-6) after winning at West Virginia 26-24, 25-19, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10 to drop the Mountaineers to 12-14, 3-9.
Brooke Sassin led K-State with 14 kills and 11 digs.
Big Ten: Nebraska, MSU, Wolverines win
The Huskers rolled over visiting Iowa 25-14, 25-18, 26-24 to improve to 23-1, 14-1, as Iowa dropped to 18-9, 8-7.
Nebraska was led by its middles as Briana Holman had 12 kills and four blocks while hitting .409, and Amber Rolfzen had nine kills with no errors for a .643 hitting percentage to go with her team-high five blocks.
Kadie Rolfzen added eight kills, 14 digs and five blocks as the Huskers held Iowa to .108 hitting.
Meghan Buzzerio led Iowa with 10 kills.
Michigan’s 25-17, 25-22, 25-22 win over Indiana left the Wolverines 21-6, 10-5, as junior middle blocker Claire Kieffer-Wright led with 12 kills and hit .421. Indiana fell to 16-12, 5-10.
And Michigan State improved to 22-5, 11-4 as it dealt Purdue a 30-28, 25-22, 25-19 defeat. It was the Spartans fifth win in a row as they got 10 blocks and seven kills from Alyssa Garvelink, and 12 kills and five blocks from Chloe Reinig.
Purdue’s Danielle Cuttino had 13 kills and three blocks, while Faye Adelaja posted 12 kills, hit .471, and added five blocks and three digs.
Kentucky wins, Louisville stops Irish, Cleveland State loses
Kentucky rolled past Arkansas 25-21, 25-17, 25-19 to get to 19-8, 12-2 in the SEC. Arkansas fell to 5-20, 3-10.
Senior Anni Thomasson broke the UK 25-point rally scoring era service ace record when she recorded an ace in the second set. Thomasson now sits at 99 aces in her career and moved past former three-time AVCA All-American Whitney Billings.
Kentucky’s Leah Edmond led with 18 kills, hit .471 and had 10 digs.
Louisville has had a tough season, but Wednesday night the Cardinals were awfully tough at Notre Dame in a 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22 victory that lifted them to 9-16, 4-11 in the ACC. Notre Dame, which could ill afford a loss, dropped to 19-8, 10-5.
Morgan Miller had 14 kills, 18 assists, two aces and three blocks to lead Louisville, with Melanie McHenry adding 14 with 18 digs. Janelle Jenkins had 13kills with three blocks and libero Molly Sauer had a career high 38 digs.
Jemma Yeadon led ND with 12 kills and three blocks.
Cleveland State had already clinched the top spot in the Horizon League tournament, but the Vikings saw their 13-match winning streak broken at Green Bay 25-17, 23-25, 13-25, 25-21, 15-7. It left CSU 22-5, 13-2, while Green Bay is 19-8, 11-4.
Fairfield still has the nation’s longest winning streak, 19, but barely kept it alive at Stony Brook 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 18-16 in a non-conference matchup. Fairfield, 25-5, got 22 kills from Skyler Day.
Two weeks from Sunday the NCAA will announce the 64-team Division I volleyball bracket.
Lisa Peterson, the University of Oregon senior women’s administrator, is the chair of the committee. We caught up with her and Kristen Fasbender, the NCAA director of championships, earlier this week and just ahead of Wednesday’s announcement of the top 10 teams in the country.
We started there.
Kristen Fasbender, NCAA director of championships
“The committee has wanted to get information out and generate some buzz about the championships that are coming up,” said Fasbender, a former track athlete at Nebraska who has been at the NCAA for 18 years. “We talked (last spring) after seeing that women’s basketball and softball had done this. We thought this would be helpful to teams that are coming into their final stretch to see based on the selection criteria the committee uses to see where they are.”
Lisa Peterson of Oregon, chair of the Division I volleyball committee
Peterson admitted that the tournament fights with football season for publicity.
“It really is to create some excitement around the sport,” said Peterson, who was on the committee for two years before replacing Jean Berger of Northern Iowa as chair.
The top 10: 1. Nebraska (22-1) 2. Minnesota (19-4) 3. Wisconsin (20-3) 4. Texas (18-3) 5. San Diego (21-3) 6. Kansas (22-2) 7. Stanford (16-6) 8. North Carolina (21-3) 9. Florida (22-2) 10. Washington (20-4)
That list doesn’t really mean much, not with two weeks left to the regular season and teams battling for conference titles and NCAA RPI rankings. In a season that has arguably been the most unpredictable ever, particularly at the top of the power-five conferences and with some mid-majors having fantastic seasons, the committee has a tough task ahead.
Peterson’s role, of course, changes.
“The selection process is a lot harder than it looks on the outside,” said Peterson, a native of South Dakota who competed in the hammer throw at St. John’s in New York. “Every little thing matters. The first year (on the committee) you kind of don’t necessarily understand the level of detail you have to pay attention to. In the selection room seeing how the bracket got put together was kind of amazing to me.
“What I’ve learned is everyone is coming in with a different expertise and different viewpoints. I’m paying attention differently than my first year because I didn’t understand as much.”
She said watching a lot of volleyball keeps you “from getting caught up in the numbers and getting caught up in the RPI.
“When you’re actually watching the volleyball I think it makes a big difference. And we have a good group of people watching a lot of volleyball and not just relying on what the numbers say. And that’s what makes this committee really good at what they do, because they are paying really close attention in a lot of different ways.”
Peterson has a long and varied resume that includes stops at Miami and Maryland and, before she came to Oregon in 2011, the University of Kentucky.
“Volleyball matters to me. I’ve always loved the game of volleyball. I just wasn’t good enough to __play it,” Peterson said with a laugh. “It’s something I’ve loved watching and when I’ve seen the different levels … I pay attention to it, I talk to the coaches about it, I have a different viewpoint from being in so many places at so many different levels for a long period of time.”
All that experience will come in handy when the committee gathers before the bracket is announced Sunday night, November 27.
Fasbender pointed out that the committee gathers the prior Friday and works through the weekend, coming back on Sunday to take into account all the final regular-season matches. Certainly the unpredictable nature of this season will make their jobs awfully tough.
“But I think that’s what makes this sport so exciting, too,” Peterson said. “Yes, it’s going to be really challenging, and in that room especially when you look at the different criteria and when did they meet them, all the different stuff we argue about and debate anyway, but there seems to be no real pattern. Nebraska seems to be the only one. They have the one loss and that’s it. But that’s what makes it exciting. It’s going to be a long weekend in Indy but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and I think it’s going to make for a really fun NCAA Championship.”
Agreed, but no matter what the committee does, there will be criticism over seeding and who gets in and who doesn’t.
“I learned that the first year, too,” Peterson said.
She said they talk about what might upset people and to try to be transparent in all regards, because “when we walk out of there we all know why we did what we did and we feel pretty good based on the information we had at the time. You go with what you’ve seen, what you’ve watched and you go with the expertise in the room, as well.”
Fasbender, in her seventh year working with the volleyball committee added, “I think people are starting to understand better. The committee did a session last year (at the AVCA Convention) on bracketing 101 and I think it helped coaches understand. You’re going to have some coaches who disagree regardless, but there was one thing Jean Berger always would say when someone would get upset because they didn’t get in or didn’t like their seed, ‘OK, who should come out?’ And I think the committee does a really good job, especially when they get down to those few, ‘OK, if we put this one in who’s coming out?’ They do an awesome job.”
Lastyear, Berger took some heat because NIU was on the so-called bubble and made it in. Peterson won’t have that problem with Oregon, which is definitely going to get in. The Ducks, a young team, have won three in a row, five of six, and are ranked No. 16 in the AVCA Division I Poll and stand 20th in the NCAA RPI.
“They do cause a lot of heartburn with their ups and downs and we can’t win a game at home while being perfect on the road,” she said. “But really it’s Pac-12 volleyball. It’s great to see what Oregon can do but I love watching this conference. It’s a lot of fun, exciting volleyball and it just translates across the country. Yeah, it’s great when Oregon is good, but I do hate being out of the (committee) room when they’re being talked about. That part stinks.”
The committee: MIDWEST REGION — Corey Bray, Associate Athletics Director, University of Alabama at Birmingham MIDEAST REGION — Rick Cole, Director of Athletics, Iona College WEST REGION —Carrie Coll, Senior Associate Athletics Director/SWA, California State, Fresno EAST REGION— Vanessa Fuchs, Senior Associate Athletics Director/SWA, Florida State University SOUTH REGION —Debbie Garcia, Senior Associate Athletics Director/SWA, University of Texas at Arlington NORTHEAST REGION —Tim Hall, Director of Athletics University of Maryland, Baltimore County CENTRAL REGION — Kelley Hartley-Hutton, Director of Athletics, Indiana U.-Purdue U., Fort Wayne CENTRAL REGION — Jenny McGhee, Associate Commissioner, Southland Conference SOUTH REGION — David Mines, Senior Associate Athletics Director, Auburn University PACIFIC REGION — Lisa Peterson, Deputy Athletic Director/SWA, University of Oregon
To read the entire NCAA top-10 release story, click here.
Team NAIA rankings: 48th – Hitting Percentage (.306)
Notes: Under third-year head coach Angela Franke, Loyola enters the postseason as the seventh seed. The Wolf Pack ended the season with a 14-21 overall record, having lost seven of its last ten matches.
In just her second season with the maroon and gold, Allison Hartmann (SO/Slidell, La.) has cemented herself as the go-to option on both sides of the ball. The Slidell native leads the squad and ranks third in the league with 353 kills, while ranking sixth in the conference 87 blocks. Hartmann has collected double-digit kills in 19 contests this season and had at least three blocks 17 times. Hitting at a .306 clip, she ended the regular season ranked 48th nationally in hitting percentage.
Pacing the Wolf Pack offense, Maddie Huekels (SO/Dyer, Ind.) leads Loyola with 583 assists (eighth most in the SSAC) and 46 service aces (second in the SSAC). Huekels dished out at least-10 assists 29 times this season and has handed out over 20 helpers in each of the last four matches.
Senior Katie Philippi (SR/Metairie, La.) enters her final SSAC Championship leading Loyola with 372 digs. Philippi notched a career-high 22 digs the Wolf Pack's 2-3 loss at Martin Methodist on November 4.
No. 2 Bethel University
Head Coach: Starla Cupples Record: 25-5, 18-2 SSAC Streak: Nine-straight victories Best win: Coastal Georgia 3-0 – 10/21 Worst loss: Dalton State 2-3 – 9/15
Team NAIA rankings: 7th – Kills per game (13.72) 11th – Assists per game (12.5) 18th – Hitting percentage (0.246)
Notes: SSAC Regular Season Co-Champion Bethel University enters the 2016 SSAC Championship as the second overall seed after finishing the year with an 18-2 mark in conference play. Eloisa Sales powers the Bethel attack, ranking first in the NAIA in total kills (576) and kills per game (5.65). Kaylee Ginnings paces Bethel with 11.64 assists per game, which is tops in the entire country.
No. 3 Coastal Georgia
Head Coach: Leah Mihm Record: 24-7, 17-3 SSAC Streak: Four-straight victories Best win: Bellevue 3-1 – 8/20 Worst loss: N/A
Team SSAC rankings: 1st –Hitting percentage (0.262) 2nd – Service aces/set (1.7) 2nd – Service aces (172) 3rd – Kills/set (13.2) 3rd – Assists/set (11.8)
Team NAIA rankings: 9th – Hitting percentage (0.262) 31st – Kills per game (13.2) 41st – Assists per game (11.76)
Notes: Two-time defending SSAC Tournament Champion Coastal Georgia enters the Cramton Bowl Multiplex as the third seed. The Mariners boast a top-10 hitting percentage (0.262) in the nation thanks in large part to Kyra White's 0.409 clip (No. 4 nationally) and Shannon Allie's .355 (second in the SSAC). Pacing the Mariners attack, Cayley Meiners ended the regular season ranked second in SSAC in both total assists (1073) and assists per game (10.6)
No. 6 Dalton State
Head Coach: Bruna Langner Record: 10-17, 9-11 SSAC Streak: One victory Best win: Bethel 3-2 – 9/15 Worst loss: William Carey 2-3 – 9/23
Team SSAC rankings: 3rd – Blocks (199) 3rd – Blocks per set (2.0)
Team NAIA rankings: 47th – Blocks per game (2.0)
Notes: Under head coach Bruna Langner, the Roadrunners enter the SSAC Championship as the sixth seed. Dalton State is 2-3 in its last five matches, including a 3-0 road victory over Middle Georgia State to end the regular season. Grace Hardin anchors the Roadrunners defense, ending the regular season ranked third in the conference in blocks per set (1.0) and fourth in total blocks (102).
Tournament Schedule
Pool __play Day 1 | Nov. 10 | Cramton Bowl Multiplex Court 1 | Pool A 12:30 | Mobile v. Martin Methodist 3:00 | Faulkner v. Brenau
Pool Play Day 2 | Nov. 11 | Cramton Bowl Multiplex Court 1 | Pool A 10:00 | Faulkner v. Martin Methodist 12:30 | Mobile v. Brenau 3:00 | Martin Methodist v. Brenau 5:00 | Mobile v. Faulkner
Semifinals & Championship | Nov. 12 | Cramton Bowl Multiplex Court 1 10:00 | Pool A 1 v. Pool B 2 2:00 | Championship
Court 2 | Pool B 12:30 | Bethel v. Dalton State 3:00 | Coastal Georgia v. Loyola
Court 2 | Pool B 10:00 | Coastal Georgia v. Dalton State 12:30 | Bethel v. Loyola 3:00 | Dalton State v. Loyola 5:00 | Bethel v. Coastal Georgia
Cleveland State coach Chuck Voss on standout senior Grace Kauth: “She does everything for us."/Frank Jansky photo
As a general rule, Cleveland State coach Chuck Voss keeps distractions to a minimum during the first couple hours of a Cleveland State women’s bus road trip.
But sometimes loud music is the order of the day.
“It depends on the trip,” senior Grace Kauth said. “For the longer trips we’ll watch movies. A lot of us sleep. But we’ve been known to turn up the speaker on the bus and be obnoxious as possible with our dancing and singing. I know Chuck enjoys that.”
So what is Kauth’s specialty?
“I’m a pretty phenomenal dancer,” she deadpanned.
And Kauth, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter, has a pretty good case for being a phenomenal collegiate volleyball player.
She is the leading offensive player on a 22-4 team that leads the Horizon League with a 13-1 record, a full three games ahead of second-place Oakland. And the Vikings this week cracked the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll for the first time, coming in at No. 25.
Cleveland State, which has won 13 matches in a row, plays at Green Bay on Wednesday and Wright State on Friday to end the regular season. Then there’s a week off before starting the Horizon League tournament where the Vikings are the No. 1 seed. They have an NCAA RPI of 37, so while winning the Horizon tournament will ensure an NCAA Tournament bid it’s possible they could get an at-large.
CSU’s Grace Kauth
Kauth is from Vandalia, Ohio, near Dayton. Her 354 kills is by far the most on the team — Alexis Middlebrooks has 261 — and Kauth leads Cleveland State with 3.65 kills per set while hitting .235. She’s second only to the libero with 275 digs, has 54 blocks, 23 service aces and 40 assists.
“She does everything for us,” said Voss, in his 17th season at the helm where he’s led the Vikings to the three Horizon League tournament titles.
“She’s a six-rotation outside and one of our best defensive players, if not the best. Grace does everything at an extremely high level. She’s the whole ball of wax. She’s mentally tough and physically dominant, quick and explosive.” But it’s that mental toughness that Kauth says has taken her game up a few notches. “My mental game is a lot stronger,” Kauth said. “I’m able to bounce back from mistakes and errors a lot quicker than I would have before.” Voss also is impressed with the way Kauth has upped the ante with her blocking skills, which has brought a positive overall effect to the team. “Her blocking has improved tremendously,” he said. “Before we felt like teams were attacking us on the right point and now we have two very good left-side blockers with Grace being very good. Now, teams try and go away from the pin.”
Six of Kauth’s blocks have been solos.
“All the teams we are going to __play are going to come at us, so this allows other girls to be freed up,” Kauth said. “We have good right sides, middles and outside hitters. Our blocking has helped us defensively.”
As a senior Kauth is one of the Vikings’ team leaders, but not just because it’s her final year.
“Grace has been a leader for us since the first day she got here,” Voss said. “When she was a freshman, we had some injured older players and she had to carry more of the load than we would have liked. She’s a really good leader. Everybody looks to her as a calming influence whether it’s her peers in the senior class or all the younger players. Girls will go to her to talk She is one of my favorite players I’ve ever coached. We will certainly miss her.”
Kauth, twice a Horizon League first-team player, is a marketing major at Cleveland State, where she also has fashioned an impressive academic and student-involvement resume.
“Chuck has always placed a big emphasis on academics,” she said. “It’s not just being an athlete, but we are student-athletes. He makes sure we keep on top of the academic part.”
To wit, Kauth has a 3.88 grade-point average and was named the Horizon League female scholar-athlete of the fall and also is a two-time HL fall academic-team honoree. She’s made the CSU Dean’s List every semester she’s been at the school. And in addition to being named a senior CLASS award candidate, she the president of Cleveland State’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee for this school year.
“It’s a board of student-athletes at Cleveland State and we are the voice between the NCAA, student-athletes here and Cleveland State,” she said. “We keep student-athletes informed about what’s going on with the NCAA and how it affects us. We promote community service and make sure academics are a big part of our day-to-day lives. We make sure our experience here at Cleveland State is the best it can be.”
Kauth said being a student-athlete is about much more than practices and matches. “It’s very difficult balancing being a student and playing a college sport,” she said. “But it’s also as hard as you want to make it. The key is working ahead and making sure you are talking to your professors to stay on top of school work. It also makes it easier that I’m a senior and have gone from being a freshman to a sophomore and then a junior. You get used to it. Make sure you balance it and work with your professors and maintain a good relationship with them.”
But Kauth noted there is still plenty of time as a student-athlete for fun, especially during those road trips. Her two favorite stops on the Horizon League circuit are to UIC in Chicago and to Wright State in Dayton.
“Chicago was always fun because we used to have an hour or two to go shop on Michigan Ave.,” she said. “Wright State is fun because it’s near where I’m from and a lot of my family is able to come and watch.”
Kauth, who is engaged to be married to her high-school sweetheart, Tim Szabo, on May 26, 2018, hopes her __play on the court will be an inspiration to younger teammates and future Vikings players.
“I’d like to be remembered as a two-time Horizon League champion, that would be nice,” she says. “We’ve all talked about how we want to be remembered here. For me, it’s someone who worked hard on and off the court and was a good friend to her teammates and someone the next generation of people who come in will want to work toward being like.”
Last year, the Vikings won the Horizon and got sent to Los Angeles for the NCAA Tournament, where they lost in the first round to USC in four sets. Kauth was the leader that day, too, with 15 kills.
“All the girls on this team work hard and are willing to come to practice and matches and bring it,” said Kauth, who ranks in the top 10 in Cleveland State career record books in six statistical categories.
“We have people willing to take the big swings down the stretch and serve the aggressive ball at key moments. We’re hungry. We got a title last year and we want another one. We’re all working toward that goal.”
The vote is still split, with five different teams getting first-place nods, but the top six teams all stayed the same in the VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll.
Western Kentucky is No. 1, followed by BYU, San Diego, Creighton, Hawai’i and Dayton. All of those teams won both their matches last week. WKU, 13-0 in Conference USA, is 26-2 with the second-best overall record in the nation, behind Dayton, which is 26-1, 12-0 in the Atlantic 10.
Missouri State is No. 7, trading places with No. 8 Marquette.
There were no major jumps, but Cleveland State, which has ruled the Horizon League this season at 22-4 overall and 13-1 in the conference, broke in at No. 25.
Rank
School
Total Points Adjusted
First Place Votes Adjusted
Win/Loss Record
Previous Rank
1
Western Kentucky
239
4
26-2
1
2
BYU
237
1
22-3
2
3
San Diego
230
3
21-3
3
4
Creighton
224
1
20-6
4
5
Hawai’i
209
1
18-5
5
6
Dayton
204
0
26-1
6
7
Missouri State
183
0
21-7
8
8
Marquette
180
0
21-5
7
9
Wichita State
162
0
18-7
10
10
Long Beach State
158
0
17-9
9
11
Coastal Carolina
151
0
21-4
11
12
Northern Iowa
140
0
19-8
12
13
Arkansas State
135
0
22-7
13
14
Colorado State
114
0
17-7
14
15
Loyola Marymount
93
0
17-9
15
16
Boise State
83
0
20-6
19
17
Lipscomb
80
0
18-7
19
18
Southern Illinois
75
0
20-9
17
19
Miami, Ohio
64
0
20-5
16
20
Cal Poly
51
0
15-8
22
T-21
SMU
38
0
19-7
21
T-21
UNLV
38
0
21-5
17
23
UT San Antonio
33
0
18-6
24
24
UC Santa Barbara
24
0
16-9
25
25
Cleveland State
21
0
22-4
NR
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Northern Illinois 16, UCF 15, Cincinnati 14, Northern Arizona 11, Florida Gulf Coast 9, Wyoming 4.
4 teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of 16 combined points.
Dropped Out: South Dakota 23.
The VolleyballMag.com Mid-Major Poll includes all teams not in the “power-five” conferences, the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12.
Michigan State junior middle Alyssa Garvelik is the Big Ten co-defensive player of the week/MSU Athletic Communications
Some of the better performances of the past week included Florida’s Rhamat Alhassan averaging 2.17 blocks per set, Texas A&M Corpus Christi senior right side Morgan Carlson hitting .300 or better in three matches, Hawai’i’s Katie Mitchem hitting .489 and averaging 4.17 kills, USC Upstate junior libero Kaleigh Kelley averaging 7.71 digs per set, and Janey Goodman of James Madison getting 61 kills in two matches.
That’s just a sampling of another week of big performances around NCAA Division I volleyball.
You can look forward every Tuesday to the VolleyballMag.com roundup of the POWs around the country.
POWs, of course, are players of the week, and we will do our best to list the honorees from all 32 Division I conferences here.
ACC
Co-Player of the week: North Carolina sophomore outside hitter Taylor Leath
Co-Player of the week: NC State junior outside hitter Julia Brown
Freshman: Duke right side Samantha Amos
Worth noting: Leath hit .360 against Florida State and .364 against Miami. For her two matches, she had 35 kills, five blocks and two aces. Brown averaged 4.33 kills per set, 1.78 digs, and was perfect on 21 serve-receive chances. Amos had 31 kills in two matches and averaged 1.14 blocks.
The complete ACC release
Big 12
Offensive: Baylor junior outside Katie Staiger
Defensive: Baylor junior libero Jana Brusek
Freshman: Iowa freshman libero Hali Hillegas
Staiger led the league in kills at a whopping 7.75 per set, including 31 kills against Texas Tech. Brusek led in digs at 8.0, including 32 against Texas Tech, while Hillegas averaged 5.5 digs.
The complete Big 12 release
Big Ten
Player of the week: Michigan State junior outside Autumn Bailey
Co-Defensive: Michigan State junior middle Alyssa Garvelink
Worth noting: Bailey averaged 3.8 kills and hit .391, while Garvelink had 14 blocks, averaging 2.3 per set. Rolfzen had 17 blocks and averaged 2.1 per set and won the award for the fifth time. Hunter averaged 11.8 assists and added 14 digs and eight blocks as she won the award for the sixth time. Welsh averaged 11.4 assists and had 27 digs.
The complete Big Ten release
Arizona senior setter Penina Snuka is the Pac-12 defensive POW.
Worth noting: Vander Weide averaged 4.25 kills and hit .342 in two road wins. Snuka had 24 digs against USC and then 17 in three sets against UCLA. And Fitzmorris averaged 2.43 kills and hit .444 and also averaged 1.71 blocks in two road victories.
The complete Pac-12 release
Missouri junior outside Melanie Crow is the SEC offensive POW
Southeastern Conference
Offensive: Missouri junior outside Melanie Crow
Defensive: Florida junior middle Rhamat Alhassan
Setter: Florida sophomore Allie Monserez
Freshman: Texas A&M outside Hollann Hans
Worth noting: Crow averaged 4.43 kills and 1.86 digs, Alhassan averaged 2.17 blocks, well above her league-leading average of 1.52. Monserez went back-to-back after averaging 12.5 assists and she had careers highs of four kills, six blocks against Georgia. Hans averaged 3.57 kills.
The complete SEC release
America East
Player of the week: UMBC senior outside Zoya Trendafilova
Worth noting: Trendafilova led the league with 4.78 kills per set, Watson did the same with 6.56 digs, while Severtson averaged 10.67 assists and 1.83 digs. Kommann went back-to-back after averaging 3.38 kills, a block and a dig.
The complete America East release
American Athletic
Offensive: UCF senior outside Jale Hervey
Defensive: Tulsa senior libero Brooke Berryhill
Worth noting: Hervey averaged 6.43 kills in two road wins. Berryhill averaged 4.71 digs..
The complete American Athletic release
Atlantic Sun
Player of the week: Jacksonville senior setter Jizzyan Gesualdo
Worth noting: Gesualdo averaged 10.29 assists and had 41 digs in two matches. Kelley averaged 7.71 digs, while O’Connell won the award for the fifth time after getting 28 kills in two matches.
The complete ASUN release
Atlantic 10
Player of the week: Saint Louis senior outside Danielle Rygelski
Defensive: Dayton sophomore libero Margo Wolf
Rookie: Fordham freshman outside Olivia Fairchild
Worth noting: Rygelski had 45 kills in two matches, averaging 5.62 per set and had 10 aces, including seven against Duquesne. Wolf averaged 7.29 digs, while Fairchild had 41 kills in two matches.
The complete A-10 release
Big East
Player of the week: Creighton junior setter Lydia Dimke
Freshman: Villanova libero Regan Lough
Worth noting: Dimke averaged 12 assists and 3.67 digs and 1.17 kills. Lough averaged 4.4 digs.
The complete Big East release
Big South
Player of the week: Radford junior outside Maddie Palmer
Defensive: Campbell junior libero Kayla Schanback
Freshman: Campbell outside hitter Allena Heath
Worth noting: Palmer had 56 kills and 40 digs, averaging 4.67 kills and 3.33 digs. Schanback had 55 digs in two matches, while Heath had 41 kills and eight blocks.
The complete Big South release
Big Sky
Offensive: Northern Colorado junior middle Alex Kloehn
Defensive: Idaho State freshman libero Haylie Keck
Worth noting: Kloehn hit .442 and averaged 3.43 kills, while Keck averaged 5.22 digs..
The complete Big Sky release
Big West
Player of the week: Hawai’l senior middle Annie Mitchem
Defensive: Cal Poly sophomore libero Katherin Brouker
Worth noting: Mitchem hit .489 and averaged 4.17 kills. Brouker averaged 5.56 digs and has had 20 or more digs six times this season.
The complete Big West release
James Madison senior right side Janey Goodman had 61 kills last week and is the Colonial POW
Colonial Athletic Association
Offensive: James Madison senior right side Janey Goodman
Defensive: James Madison junior libero Taylor Austin
Rookie: Delaware freshman outside Maria Bellinger
Worth noting: Goodman was a hitting machine last week with 31 kills against Charleston and 30 more against UNCW. Austin averaged 7.3 digs, and Bellinger had 37 kills and 24 digs in two matches.
Worth noting: Cole went back-to-back with the freshman honor after getting 111 assists and 33 digs in two matches. Milam averaged 4.44 kills per set, while Baumgartner had 17 blocks in two matches, a C-USA high 12 against FAU.
Worth noting: Malesevic had 31 kills, 15 digs, seven aces, four blocks and two assists in two matches. O’Connell went back-to-back after hitting .378 with 36 kills, eight digs and four blocks.
The complete Ivy release
Metro Atlantic
Not available when we posted.
Mid-American
MAC East offensive: Ohio sophomore middle Katie Nelson
MAC West offensive: Ball State freshman middle Sydnee VanBeek
MAC East defensive: Miami junior libero Maeve McDonald
MAC West defensive: NIU senior middle Jenna Radtke
Worth noting: Nelson averaged 2.88 kills and 1.25 blocks, hitting .417 in one match and .652 in another. VanBeek averaged 2.25 kills and hit .469. McDonald averaged 7.38 digs, while Radtke had 21 blocks and also averaged two kills per set.
The complete MAC release
Mid-Eastern
Co-Player of the week: Florida A&M senior middle Ginna Lopez-Chavez
Co-Player of the week: North Carolina A&T State junior outside Samara Brown
Defensive: Howard senior libero Morgan Marlbrough
Setter: Bethune-Cookman junior Phalen Clark
Rookie: Norfolk State freshman setter Jill Aquino
Worth noting: Lopez-Chavez had 42 kills in two matches, Brown had 36 kills, Aquino had 77 assists, Marlbrough averaged 4.6 digs per set and Clark averaged 12.2. assists.
The complete MEAC release
Missouri State’s Lily Johnson is the Missouri Valley POW again/Jesse Scheve, Missouri State University photo
Missouri Valley
Player of the week: Missouri State junior outside Lily Johnson
Defensive: Wichita State junior middle Abbie Lehman
Freshman: Missouri State setter Daniele Messa
Worth noting: Johnson continued to dominate in the Valley, averaging 6.17 kills and 4.0 digs while hitting .333. Lehman averaged 4.17 kills and 1.67 blocks while hitting .575. Messa went back-to-back after averaging 13.67 assists and 2.83 digs.
Worth noting: Krufka averaged 4.71 kills and hit .419 in two matches. Dunivan had 10 blocks against St. Francis, two solo. Vendituoli averaged five digs per set. And Nelis went back-to-back after getting 16 kills and 23 digs in two matches.
The complete Northeast release
Ohio Valley
Offensive: Murray State senior outside Scottie Ingram
Co-Defensive: Morehead State sophomore middle Maddi Fella
Worth noting: Ingram had 41 kills in two matches, Fella had 16 blocks, Mortimer had 47 digs and Idemudia had 36 kills.
The complete OVC release
Patriot League
Player of the week: Lehigh freshman Ana Spangenberg
Rookie: Army West Point freshman setter Haven Bethune
Worth noting: Spangenberg had 16 kills and hit .609 in Lehigh’s upset of American. Bethune had 55 assists and 13 digs against Navy.
The complete Patriot release
Southern Conference
Offensive: Samford senior outside Erin Bognar
Defensive: Mercer senior libero Tori Penrod
Worth noting: This was Bognar’s fourth award and in a row as she had 45 kills and hit .314. Penrod averaged 6.14 digs in three matches.
The complete SoCon release
Southland Conference
Offensive: Texas A&M Corpus Christi senior right side Morgan Carlson
Defensive: Texas A&M Corpus Christi junior libero Kate Klepetka
Worth noting: Carlson hit better than .300 in three matches, while Klepetka averaged 5.19 digs.
The complete Southland release
Southwestern
Not available as we posted.
Summit
Offensive: Oral Roberts junior outside Laura Milos
Defensive: North Dakota State junior libero Mikaela Purnell
Worth noting: Milos got the honor for the 10th time overall and fourth this season as she averaged six kills per set and hit .341. Purnell got the defensive honor for the fourth time and third this season. She had 48 digs in two matches, 31 against Fort Wayne.
The complete Summit release
Sun Belt
Offensive: Arkansas State sophomore outside Carlisa May
Defensive: Little Rock senior middle Carolee Dillard
Setter: Arkansas State senior Mallory Warrington
Freshman: Texas State libero Micah Dinwiddle
Worth noting: Warrington and Dinwiddle went back to back. Warrington averaged 12.14 assists, while Dinwiddle averaged 5.29 digs. May averaged 4.14 kills per set. And Dillard had 18 total blocks, averaging two per set to break the all-time Little Rock record. She has 581 for her career. Dillard
The complete Sun Belt release
West Coast
Player of the week: Loyola Marymount senior outside Jamie Lea
Worth noting: Lea averaged 3.67 kills and hit .636.
The complete WCC release
Western Athletic
Player of the week: NM State sophomore outside Tatyana Battle
Worth noting: Battle nearly doubled her averages, with 5.60 kills, 3.60 digs and 0.60 blocks per set.
