Upsets for Baylor, UNLV and Creighton, which joins Wisconsin, Mizzou, Michigan in NCAA final 16

Aniah Philo of Baylor hits through San Diego blockers Kaity Edwards, left, and Jayden Kennedy as libero Hunter Jennings readies for the ball/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

An NCAA Tournament is bound to have upsets and unexpected results. We had them on Friday, but not nearly as many as you would expect.

Creighton beat No. 5 seed Kansas on its home court. Baylor ousted San Diego.

UNLV was one of the last two teams in. It’s now one of the last 28 left after upsetting Utah.

There were some other scores that got your attention, like SMU beating Texas A&M, Boise State knocking off Western Kentucky and Murray State taking a set off UCLA.

But as far as the biggest day — there were 28 matches — of the NCAA Tournament goes, things went pretty much as expected.

What matters most is that four teams have advanced into the round of 16 — No. 3 seed Wisconsin, No. 12 Michigan, Creighton and No. 15 Missouri — and 12 matches Saturday will decide the rest of the field.

Saturday’s schedule (all times local):

Coastal Carolina (28-4) vs. No. 7 seed North Carolina (28-3), 6 p.m. Eastern

Pittsburgh (25-8) vs. No. 16 Penn State (23-9), 6:30 p.m. Eastern

Hawai’i (23-5) vs. No. 2 Minnesota (26-4), 6 p.m. Central

Arizona (19-14) vs. No. 9 Michigan State (25-8), 7 p.m. Eastern

Florida State (25-5) vs. No. 11 Florida (27-3), 7:30 p.m. Eastern

Ohio State (21-12) vs. No. 14 Kansas State (21-9), 7 p.m. Central

TCU (15-12) vs. No. 1 Nebraska (28-2), 7 p.m. Central

SMU (26-7) vs. No. 4 Texas (23-4), 7 p.m. Central

UNLV (24-7) vs. No. 13 BYU (28-3), 7 p.m. Mountain

Boise State (26-5) vs. Stanford (22-7), 7 p.m. Pacific

Kentucky (23-7) vs. Washington (27-4), 7 p.m. Pacific

Baylor (22-11) vs. UCLA (25-6), 7 p.m. Pacific

Hannah Petke of New Hampshire hits against Mikaela Foecke and Briana Holman of Nebraska

No. 1 Nebraska Regional

Nebraska 3, New Hampshire 0: The Huskers had to work hard in the second set in a 25-9, 25-23, 25-18 victory over the America East champion.

Nebraska is 28-2 and now plays host to TCU on Saturday. The Huskers hit .352, led by sophomore outside Mikaela Foecke, who had 13 kills. Senior Kadie Rolfzen added 12.

“I thought we came out and played a really good first game. I think New Hampshire was probably a little overwhelmed with the crowd and playing against us and then they played really well,” Nebraska coach John Cook said.

“Typically, sometimes when you win the first game really easily, there’s a natural letdown, and then it was hard for us to get it back, but we did some good things. We found a way to win game two, and I felt like we were in control in game three, but (New Hampshire) does some creative things.”

UNH, which had won 10 in a row, ended its season 21-11. Sophmore middle Gabri Olhava led with 11 kills and hit .320. Senior middle Demi Muses was held to eight kills.

“It was definitely a very humbling experience being able to __play in this big arena,” Olhava said. “It’s a lot bigger than the one back home. It was definitely something I’ll never forget. It was a very cool experience.”

TCU 3, Wichita State 1: TCU not only advanced, coach Jill Kramer got her 100th career victory as the Horned Frogs, an at-large from the Big 12, beat Missouri Valley champion Wichita State 25-17, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20.

TCU is 15-12  this season and 2-2 all-time in NCAA play. Ashley Smith led with 17 kills and 18 digs. Natalie Gower and Ashleigh Martin had 11 kills apiece and Gower had five blocks.

“I think my team showed some resiliency tonight,” Kramer said. “Wichita State just kept coming back and coming back, they made some adjustments in the third set to stop us and to keep us from doing what we wanted to do, and we had to change what we were doing and they didn’t make it easy on us.

“I am proud of our girls for problem solving and sticking together and finding a way to get it done, and not getting too ahead of themselves. They did a good job of playing point-for-point, not getting too up and down and they got it done so I’m proud of them.”

Wichita State’s season ended 24-8. Tabitha Brown led with 18 kills and two blocks and Jody Larson had 11 kills and three blocks. Abbie Lehman had a big match with 10 kills and nine blocks.

Pittsburgh 3, Dayton 1: The Panthers created a state of Pennsylvania battle by winning and getting Penn State. Pittsburgh is 25-8 after winning 20-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-19.

Dayton, the Atlantic 10 champion, had the nation’s best record entering the tournament and finishes its season 30-2.

Nika Markovic led Pittsburgh with 16 kills and hit .424. She also had 14 digs. Stephanie Williams had 15 kills and 14 digs and Mariah Bell had 12 kills and 12 digs and three blocks.

Junior Jessica Sloan led Dayton with 14 kills and seven digs. Junior Amber Erhahon had 10 kiills and seven blocks.

Penn State 3, LIU Brooklyn 0: As you would expect, the Nittany Lions overpowered LIU Brooklyn 25-8, 25-16, 25-6.

Penn State is 23-9 and won its NCAA opener for the 27th consecutive year and hasn’t lost a first-round set since 1999. The Blackbirds of the Northeast Conference ended their season 16-15.

Penn State hit .403 with just seven errors. Simone Lee led with 12 kills.

Michigan State 3, Fairfield 0: The Stags had the nation’s longest winning streak at 22 matches, but it didn’t matter at Michigan State as the Spartans cruised 25-14, 25-13, 25-15. They improved to 25-8, while Fairfield, the Metro Atlantic champion, ended its season 25-6.

Autumn Bailey had eight kills and 11 digs to lead Michigan State, which won its first-round match for the sixth straight year. Alyssa Garvelink had seven kills, hit .545, and had five blocks.

“We know that we’re going to have to clean up some things before tomorrow, when we __play Arizona,” MSU coach Cathy George said. “I think we’re really excited for one last match on our home court this season and are very focused on being ready for Arizona.”

Megan Theiller led Fairfield with 12 kills.

Arizona 3, Cleveland State 0: The unpredictable Wildcats blasted Cleveland State 25-14, 25-17, 25-13 to improve to 19-14 and end the Horizon League champion’s season at 25-6.

“They caught us on a good night,” Arizona coach Dave Rubio said. “We played very well tonight. I’ve noticed the last couple of practices we’ve been very sharp. We feel like we’re playing our best volleyball right now. It was great to play as efficient as we did tonight.”

Kalei Mau had 17 kills and hit .400. Devyn Cross had 10 kills and hit .667 for Arizona, an at-large from the Pac-12.

Grace Kauth led CSU with eight kills.

Kentucky 3, Colorado State 1: The Wildcats, an at-large from the SEC, won 24-26, 25-22, 25-10, 25-17 as freshman Leah Edmond had 20 kills.

“Obviously, being in the tournament and getting a chance to advance is special,” UK coach Craig Skinner said. “I was very pleased with our defensive effort and our sustained energy throughout rallies. We tweaked our lineup a little bit this week and smoothed it out in practice and during the first set. I’m happy to keep going and getting another opportunity to work with this team.”

Colorado State, an at-large from the Mountain West, ended its season 21-9. Alexandra Poletto led the Rams with 12 kills.

Crissy Jones and her Washington teammates scramble for the ball/Stephen Burns photo

Washington 3, Texas A&M CC 0: The Islanders dominated the Southland Conference, but the team from Corpus Christi was overwhelmed 25-18, 25-14, 24-14 against Washington.

The No. 8-seeded Huskies are 27-4 as the Pac-12 champions won their 15th consecutive first-round match. Crissy Jones and Kara Bajema had 10 kills apiece and their team had nine aces.

“Congratulations to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, not only on the season that they had, but just the way they played,”  UW coach Keegan Cook said.

“I thought they were a great representation of themselves, and there’s a reason why they went undefeated in their conference and why they’re here. It’s always hard to play well in this environment and I thought they did a nice job. So congratulations to them, and congratulations to (our team) for pulling it out in three sets.”

TAMUCC, which was 16-0 in its league this year, finished 24-8. Morgan Carlson led with seven kills.

North Carolina’s Taylor Leath hits against High Point’s Jordan Hefner, left, and Katie Tylman

No. 2 Minnesota Regional

North Carolina 3, High Point 0: The No. 7 Tar Heels moved on with a 25-13, 25-12, 25-23 victory that put into the second round for the 11th time.

Julia Scoles led with nine kills, 16 digs and three aces. Beth Nordhorn added eight kills and Taylor Leath with seven.

“Tonight, I thought we came out really strong. I thought we set the momentum early, served tough, and took some really good swings.” UNC coach Joe Sagula said. “Both Julia and Taylor were controlling the offense and I think that helped us a lot. I also thought Sheila Doyle dug a lot of balls, especially in the second set when High Point made a good run.

“I was really pleased and I think our experience showed early. Overall, we didn’t block as well as we typically do, and I thought High Point did a really great job with 12 blocks on the match. I’m happy that we won this match and ready to focus on the next one at hand.”

High Point, the winner of the Big South tournament, ended its season 23-10. Four players had four or more kills.

Coastal Carolina 3, James Madison 2: In perhaps the best and tightest match of the first round, the Chanticleers moved on 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 17-25, 15-9. It negated a tremendous last match for JMU’s Janey Goodman, who had 29 kills and hit .361.

Coastal Carolina, which has won 18 in a row and won the Sun Belt Conference its first in the league, is 28-4, its most wins ever.

Annayka Legros, a 6-foot-5 senior middle, led the Chants in the victory with 19 kills, a .455 hitting percentage and seven blocks.

Leah Hardeman and Tahleia Bishop had 14 kills apiece.

Colonial Athletic Association-champion James Madison ended its season 21-11. Bryn Recker had 11 kills, eight digs and six blocks, and Kelly Vahos had 10 kills.

Baylor 3, San Diego 2: Baylor is in the second round for the first time since 2009 at the expense of San Diego, which hasn’t had a good week.

First, the Toreros thought they’d be a top-16 seed and get to host. They didn’t and got sent to UCLA. And then they ran into Katie Staiger, who had 20 kills, six digs and three blocks as Baylor came away with a 16-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-20, 15-13 victory.

Baylor, an at-large from the Big 12, is 22-11.

“It was definitely very back and forth,” Staiger said. “San Diego’s a good team and they run a really fast offense. It was back and forth just because we’d put a ball away and then they’d put a ball away. But when you’re at the tournament, everyone’s good. That’s what you kind of expect. But it was definitely hard to get into a flow because they were doing some good things.”

Teammate Aniah Philo had 14 kills, 13 digs and three blocks. Setter Morgan Reed had 12 digs and a season-high six kills and Camryn Freiberg had 10 blocks.

“Great, fun win for us tonight,” Baylor coach Ryan McGuyre said. “The girls battled and San Diego’s an awesome team, awesome program. This is who we’ve been as a team all year, fighting until the end. Morgan Reed had her best match tonight. Just so proud of her willing us to the victory. Looking at all the players we have, she’s the senior that’s always on the court. She made play after play after play and wasn’t rattled. So proud of her to play like a senior. Aniah was doing some great things offensively and we’re excited to go on to the next round.”

USD’s season ended 24-6, a tough way to go after once being ranked as high as No. 5 in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Toreros, an at-large from the West Coast Conference, were led, as usual, by Lisa Kramer, who had 21 kills. Jayden Kennedy and Lauren Schad added 11 apiece.

Ellie Lorenz of Murray State gets the pancake against UCLA/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

UCLA 3, Murray State 1: The 10th-seeded Bruins came away with a  21-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-9 victory, settling down after losing the first set to the Ohio Valley Conference champions.

“It’s the NCAA tournament, UCLA coach Michael Sealy said. “Murray State has nothing to lose, everything to gain … There are so many good teams now, whether it’s Creighton beating Kansas, or us playing Baylor, there are no easy matches. All the teams have physical abilities, they’re tough, they’re able to play volleyball for a long time. In the past it wasn’t tough until the second round. Now it’s tough in the first round.”

UCLA, an at-large from the Pac-12, is 25-6. Junior Reily Buechler had a season-high-tying 21 kills, hit .373 and had eight digs and three blocks. Senior Taylor Formico had 26 digs, six assists and two aces, senior Jordan Anderson added 12 kills, hit .345 and had five digs and senior Claire Felix was error-free with 11 kills in 17 attempts as she hit a season-best .647.

Murray State’s season ended 23-9. The Racers got 24 kills from Scottie Ingram, whose effort included hitting .339 with 14 digs.

Missouri celebrates after beating Purdue to advance to the round of 16/Mizzou Athletics photo

Missouri 3, Purdue 1: Mizzou is in the round of 16 for the first time since 2010 after grinding past the Boilermakers 25-13, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21. Melanie Crow was huge, as the junior outside hitter had 25 kills and three blocks.

“I cannot believe I’m going to the Sweet 16,” Crow said. “I cannot believe it. I never expected this.

Senior Carly Kan had nine kills, two blocks and three aces.

“What I was nervous about beforehand was that this was going to be an interesting contrast in styles,” Missouri coach Wayne Kreklow said. “They’re the big physical players, we’re kind of smaller, quicker and fast. Small, quick, fast is good if you can control the ball. It’s not good if you throw high balls out. So, I think we knew it was going to be a battle to see who could control the tempo of the match. I thought to have a shot we’d have to play really clean and we did.”

Purdue, an at-large from the Big Ten, ended its season 19-14. Danielle Cuttino led with 17 kills and Azariah Stahl added 12. Their team was out-blocked 11-4.

Hawai’i 3, USC 2: The Rainbow Wahine won a thriller over USC in Minnesota 25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 16-25, 15-13.

Big West-champion Hawai’i, 23-5, was led, as it almost always is, by Nikki Taylor, the two-time Big West player of the year, who had 23 kills and six blocks.

USC, an at-large from the Pac-12, lost a first-round match for the first time under coach Mick Haley and saw its season end 18-14.

Emily Maglio added a career-high 15 kills, hit .484, and had six blocks for Hawai’i. Annie Mitchem had 12 kills as Hawai’i moved into the second round for the 19th consecutive season.

USC was led by Khalia Lanier, the freshman outside who had a match-high 26 kills to go with 13 digs, three blocks and two aces. Senior middle Elise Ruddins had 13 kills, three blocks and an ace. Libero Taylor Whittingham, who was playing on a torn ACL, had 32 digs. Madison Murtagh had a match-high seven blocks.

Minnesota 3, North Dakota 0: The Gophers are tough at home. Minnesota improved to 14-0 in the Sports Pavilion this season by beating North Dakota 25-21, 25-12, 25-20.

The Gophers, an at-large from the Big Ten, improved to 26-4 as Sarah Wilhite led with 17 kills and seven digs. Paige Tapp and Hannah Tapp both had eight kills and both hit .412.

“Very happy with the win tonight,” Minnesota coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “In particular, I thought it was to our advantage because North Dakota is a good team, they played hard, and served really well. Their middles had a nice night against us and they made us work and believe it or not I really like that. It’s good for us to figure out ways to win. I think it sets up nicely for the battle to come tomorrow.”

That, of course, is against Hawai’i.

North Dakota’s season ended 26-10. Chelsea Moser and Faith Dooley had 11 kills apiece for the Fighting Hawks.

“I won’t say that Minnesota took us lightly, but I think they really put the hammer down in the second set early on. They realized that we have some people who can score and cause them some problems,” UND coach Mark Pryor said.

“They got really aggressive from the service line, they got up by about nine or 10 points and after that it was kind of side-out ball the rest of the way.”

No. 3 Wisconsin Regional

Wisconsin 3, Washington State 0: The Badgers looked as good as they have all season in a 25-18, 25-18, 25-17 rout of the Pac-12 at-large entry.

Wisconsin, an at-large from the Big Ten, improved to 27-4 overall and moves on to the round of 16, which it will host next week.

“I think our team just keeps getting better and better,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought that was a really good win against a team with a coaching staff that I’ve got a lot of respect for and the year that they’ve had and the direction that they’re heading. That’s a hard conference to make the move up like they’ve had and they’ve had a lot of great wins and a lot of talented players over there.”

Lauryn Gillis led a balanced Wisconsin attack with 12 kills. Four others had six or more as the Badgers hit .248. Middle Haleigh Nelson had eight kills, hit .533 and had seven blocks.

Washington State ended its season 22-12. Kyra Holt led with 12 kills but hit .139.

“With that firepower that they have and you hold them to hitting zero those last two sets and under .100 for the match, I think you have to feel good about how our defense is playing, how our serving is doing,” Sheffield said.

“It’s a really good blocking team and they didn’t really get going with their blocks but on the other hand I think we did a really good job of getting our hands across the net and finishing our blocks. We were excited about the opportunity that we had tonight and we’re certainly very excited about the opportunity to continue playing.”

Washington State had its best season since 1988.

“First of all Wisconsin is extremely good,” WSU coach Jen Greeny said. “I’m proud of this team for how far we’ve come into the second round, but Wisconsin is a fabulous team.
“We definitely couldn’t get our offense going tonight against Wisconsin’s great defense. I’m excited for Wisconsin to go on and I’m very proud of our team and what we’ve accomplished this year.”

Ohio State 3, Missouri State 0: The Buckeyes, an at-large from the Big Ten who have been up and down, were up Friday in a 25-21, 25-15, 31-29 victory over Missouri State, an at-large from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Ohio State improved to 21-12 as it moved into the second round for the third season in a row. What’s more, it sets up a Saturday match with host Kansas State that will pit the Sandbothe sisters, Ohio State senior middle Taylor and K-State freshman Elle.

The elder Sandbothe was the leader for the Buckeyes with 14 kills and three blocks. Luisa Schirmer and Taylor Hughes added 10 kills apiece.

Missouri State ended its season 26-9. It was a rare match when Lily Johnson did not lead the Bears on offense. Simon House had 12 kills and Lynsey Wright 10. Johnson had just eight kills and her seven errors left with a .029 hitting percentage. Johnson is fifth in the NCAA in total kills and 13th in kills per set, 4.58.

Kansas State 3, Lipscomb 0: The scores let you know that the Atlantic-10 champs gave K-State all it could handle. Truly a match that ended 28-26, 25-15, 26-24 could have gone differently, but K-State, an at-large from the Big 12, improved to 21-9, while Lipscomb ended its season 22-8.

“I thought we were well prepared,” said K-State coach Suzie Fritz, whose team won in the postseason for the first time since 2011. “I felt that we had tremendous composure throughout the rest of the match when they pressed us. I felt like we maintained really nice composure, just feeling like we were going to win the next point.”

The Wildcats hit .374, led by Brooke Sassin’s 11 kills. Six of her teammates had six or more kills.

“I did not think that we played incredibly clean from start to finish,” Fritz added. “But we did hit .374, which is a pretty nice night for us. Also, .374 will keep us in a lot of matches.”
Lauren Anderson led the Bisons with a match-high 12 kills, hitting .500, and also had seven digs. Carlyle Nusbaum added 10 kills.

“My last message to the team was we are not walking out of here hanging our heads,” Lipscomb coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “It sounds so silly but there is a lot of love in this program. We don’t always agree. I don’t want to paint it like it is a Rockwell picture all the time.

“But it is not just cheap talk. It is the real deal. That makes it hard on nights like this. These girls are special and they had an awesome season.”

Florida State 3, Cincinnati 0: The Seminoles advanced, but they got all they could handle from Cincinnati in a 20-25, 25-14, 25-23, 25-23 victory as Katie Horton had 17 kills, a career-high 26 digs and five blocks.

Natasha Calkins and Stasa Miljevic had seven kills each for FSU.

The Seminoles are 25-5 and get old nemesis Florida. The Gators won their Sept. 14 match 3-1 at FSU. Florida coach Mary Wise called it “a classic Florida-Florida State match.” Expect more of the same at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. It can be seen on the SEC Network Plus.

Cincinnati, an at-large out of the American Athletic Conference, ended its season 22-10.

Sophomore Jordan Thompson, the AAC player of the year, had a huge match with 28 kills and hit .383.

Florida 3, Alabama State 0: The 11th-seeded Gators moved on 25-15, 25-13, 25-9 over the overmatched Hornets from the SWAC. Florida is 27-3, while Alabama State’s season ended 24-9. It sets up another Florida-Florida State battle.

Junior Carli Snyder led Florida, an at-large from the SEC, with 14 kills and four of the Gators’ nine aces. Alex Holston had 13 kills and a block and Rhamat Alhassan had eight kills and five blocks.

Alabama State, which went 18-0 in the SWAC, got six kills apiece from Bayle Bennett and Briana Dorsey.

“I do know one thing—that this loss will fuel our training in the spring for next season,” Alabama State coach Penny Lucas-White said. “I hate that it ended this way — without leaving it all on the court — but when you look at our whole season, it was a wonderful journey. We enjoyed each other.

“ … It was supposed to be a rebuilding year and we swept (our conference), so it’s a great year.  But, at the end of the day, we are competitors and we have some more work to do.”

Boise State 3, Western Kentucky 0: Sierra Nobley and the Broncos keep on bucking. Nobley had 17 kills and a career-high seven blocks as Boise State put an end to a great season for WKU 28-26, 25-22, 27-25 in another match that was as close as it gets despite the sweep.

Boise State is 26-6, the most victories in school history, as it takes on Stanford on Saturday.

“I am really excited for the team and with the win in our first trip to the NCAA,” said Boise coach Shawn Garus, whose team won its 15th in a row. “I thought our team did a really good job in handling the pressure and played well throughout.”

Sabryn Roberts and Kaitlyn Oliver had 11 kills each for Boise.

WKU’s season ended 30-3 as it lost the first two sets of a match for the first time all season and saw an end to its 22-match winning streak.

Alyssa Cavanaugh led with 17 kills and hit .342, and Rachel Anderson had 13 kills and four blocks. Boise completely shut down Jessica Lucas, who had three kills but three errors.

“This is a disappointing end to the season, but what can you say, this is the first time we’ve lost since Sept. 10,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said. “It takes nothing away from the amazing group of kids I’ve had and the incredible season that they’ve had.”

Stanford 3, Denver 0: The No. 6 seed won 25-12, 25-22, 25-20 to improve to 36-0 in first-round NCAA play. The Cardinal is 22-7 and gets Boise State.

Senior Inky Ajanaku hd 12 kills and hit .526, junior Ivana Vanjak and freshman Kathryn Plummer had 11 kills each. Plummer had three of Stanford’s five service aces and Ajanaku had three blocks.

Kayla Principato had a match-high 13 kills and hit .480 for Denver, the Summit League champion whose season ended 23-9.

No. 4 Texas Regional

Creighton 3, Kansas 2: If you missed this one, you missed the showcase match of the first two days. While it is an upset — Kansas was the No. 5 seed — Creighton is back in the round of 16 for the second straight year. The scores alone — 21-25, 25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 20-18 — let you know what a battle it was, and the fifth set was something else. Creighton had six match points before winning it on a kill of an overpass by Megan Ballenger.

Creighton, the Big East champ, has won 22 matches in a row and improved to 28-6. It plays Michigan in the round of 16. Where will be determined on Saturday.

“That was the best match I’ve ever been a part of,” said Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, whose team won in five the night before against Northern Iowa.

She had to beat two of her strong coaching friends to advance, Bobbi Peterson of UNI and then Ray Bechard of Kansas on Friday.

“Ray has been a mentor to me and someone that is a good friend. I enjoy their entire staff. It’s the way I felt last night with UNI. I hate that someone’s season ends because in a match like that it could’ve gone either way. Hats off to them on a phenomenal season. To some degree we’re playing with house money and I think the pressure is tough.

“They obviously gave us everything we could handle. It was surreal. We made our first Sweet 16 last year and that was pretty incredible, but this one is even bigger because KU is fifth in the country. To do it on their home court in such a great atmosphere.

“I alluded to this last night — in the preseason in those situations we got tentative and we went for it tonight. Had we lost, I said this in the locker room, I would’ve been so proud of the way we played. It would have killed us I think, but we went for it. That’s a huge step for this team and this program and against great teams you have to do that. I’m a little bit of a recording from last night on that front. I still think I’m a little bit in shock, but we are really excited to move on. It was an incredible match.”

Jaali Winters continued to be a force for Creighton. She had 23 kills and two aces. Marysa Wilkinson had 15 kills and a block and Taryn Kloth 12 kills and two blocks.

Big 12 champion Kansas, which was 8-0 in previous five-set matches and 12-0 at home, ended its season 27-3.

Kelsie Payne led the Jayhawks with 26 kills and four blocks as she completed another All-American season. Jada Burse added 12 kills and two blocks and Madison Rigdon had 12 kills and three blocks.

“It was a special atmosphere in there, a special effort from both teams,” Bechard said. “I’m as proud as I can be for our group, but pretty devastated that we couldn’t flip the score.”

MIchigan’s Claire Kieffer-Wright gets a kill during her career-best match against Oregon/Michigan Athletics photo

Michigan 3, Oregon 1: The 12th-seeded Wolverines are in the round of 16 for the first time since 2012, when Michigan went on to the national semifinals. Michigan, an at-large from the Big Ten, improved to 24-10 by ousting Oregon 22-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17. Oregon, an at-large from the Pac-12, ended 21-10.

Claire Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with a career-high 20 kills. She had two errors in 25 swings and hit .725. She also had seven blocks, two solo. Abby Cole added 11 kills and four blocks and Carly Skjodt had nine kills and four blocks, two solo.

Oregon was led by freshman middle Ronika Stone, who had 17 kills and hit .536. Junior Taylor Agost added 10 kills.

“Unfortunately I knew in the middle of the third set that whoever won that third set was going to win the match. It just felt like one of those matches and it happens every once in awhile. It’s really hard to recover emotionally from a set like that and bounce back emotionally if you’re down,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said.

“That was just a knockdown, drag-out fight and unfortunately it turned their way.”

BYU 3, Princeton 0: The West Coast Conference champions move on, but BYU got all it could handle from a scrappy group of Tigers, the Ivy League winners. The final was 25-22, 25-15, 25-23 and left BYU 28-3, while Princeton’s season ended 19-5.

BYU’s attack was balanced with Veronic Jones-Perry and Whitney Howard with nine kills apiece. Jones-Perry had four blocks, Howard seven — two solo — and Amy Boswell had four kills and seven blocks, two solo.

Princeton got 12 kills from Maggie O’Connell and 11 from Cara Mattaliano, who also had 14 digs.

UNLV 3, Utah 1: The Rebels, an at-large from the Mountain West, got everyone’s attention on selection Sunday when committee chair said they were one of the last two in the tournament. They justified their place on Friday by ousting Utah 27-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20 to improve to 24-7. There were 35 ties and 11 lead changes in the match.

Bree Hammel led with 18 kills and hit .298. She also had seven blocks, one solo. Sadie Stutzman added 14 kills.

“I think we felt good coming in because we felt our matchups were good,” UNLV coach Cindy Fredrick said. “We knew that (Utah’s Adora) Anae would be phenomenal, and she is, but we felt like with everything else, my players could match up to that. I like the fact that I’ve got a 5-1 and a setter (Alexis Patterson) that attacks the ball. I like that we matched up Bree with Anae, because when we went in we said, `It’s a battle between you two’.

“I think that we answered that battle. What I liked was that Sadie came through with some tremendous, tremendous plays, and Alexis found her and got her open, and thanks to also our middle blockers who did a great job. Sadie took total advantage of that and just used the blockers and put the ball away. I think they (Utah) were so focused on Bree and they wanted to shut her down, but I don’t think they did and everybody else added to that.”

Utah, an at-large from the Pac-12, ended 20-12. Anae led with 21 kills and 13 digs, Carly Trueman had 15 kills and hit .400, and Tawnee Luafalemana had 10 kills and hit .315. She had five blocks.

“I give UNLV a lot of credit,” Utah coach Beth Launiere said. “They blocked very well all night and did a great job of keeping us out of rhythm. They made plays. I thought we made a lot of plays as well, but there were a lot of little things that definitely caught us. I think the key thing was they posed a lot of problems for us defensively.”

SMU 3, Texas A&M 1: SMU had never played Texas A&M. And the Mustangs haven’t played Texas since 2011. What a difference a trip to the NCAA Tournament can make.

SMU swept Texas A&M on Friday at Texas 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 for its first NCAA win ever. The Mustangs improved to 26-7 and now the American Athletic Conference champions get No. 4 seed Texas.

Junior opposite Katie Hegarty led with 14 kills as SMU became the first AAC team to ever win an NCAA match.

“I’m just so incredibly proud of the way that we worked all season,” said SMU coach Lisa Seifert, who started at SMU in 1996. “I think we came into early August during our two-a-days and pretty much questioned what was going to happen. We didn’t know for sure who was going to run our offense, or what our offense was going to be. We had to fill some spots in the left side and we just turned it up since then.

“The last eight to ten matches have been some of our best. This particular match that we just played, in my opinion, was our best.”

Janelle Giordano and Kristen Stehling had 10 kills apiece for SMU.

Texas A&M, an at-large from the SEC, ended its season 21-9. Freshman outside Hollann Hans had 13 kills. Sophomore middle Kaitlyn Blake and senior middle Jazzmin Babers had 11 kills apiece. Blake hit .500 and had four blocks.

Texas 3, UTRGV 0: The Longhorns are 23-4 after sweeping UT Rio Grande Valley 25-14, 25-16, 25-17, which sets up a Saturday match with SMU at 7 p.m. It will be shown on the Longhorn Network and ESPN3.

Texas and SMU have only played twice, the last time in 2011.

Texas, 30-0 in first-round matches got 13 kills in 14 swings with no errors from senior Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani, who hit .929. She also had two blocks as she moved from outside to middle.

“We just did a nice job of staying steady the whole night and just playing consistently,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said.

The Vaqueros of the Western Athletic Conference ended their season 21-14.

Busy day: 48 more teams get after it Friday in the NCAA Tournament

Eight teams went home Thursday and eight moved on.

There are 48 more teams playing Friday in their NCAA Tournament openers, including top-seeded Nebraska and No. 2 Minnesota. Here’s a look at all 24 matches of those matches. When the dust clears Friday, the field will be down to 28 teams with another 12 matches set for Saturday to get the bracket to the final 16:

James Madison vs. Coastal Carolina at UNC (4:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN3): This is the first match of the drive-in foursome. JMU is 21-10 and won the Colonial Athletic Association to get into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000. Senior right side Janey Goodman leads JMU with 523 kills. She hit .316 and has 101 digs and 101 blocks, seven solo. Bryn Recker has 216 kills and Katie Whitmire 200.

JMU is coached by Lauren Steinbrecher, who went to the NCAA four times as a player at Georgia Tech. She is 128-84 in seven seasons at JMU.

Coastal Carolina is 27-4 and won the Sun Belt in its first season in the league, going 15-1. The Chanticleers have won 17 in a row and is in the tournament for the third consecutive season. Coach Jozsef Forman is 168-81 in his fifth season. His team is led by Leah Hardeman, a junior outside who has 388 kills this season, is hitting .297, and has 32 service aces and 311 digs. Annayka Legros, a 6-5 senior middle, has 289 kills and averages 1.03 blocks per set. She has 106, 34 solo.

JMU and CC last played in 2011.

Julia Scoles is one of North Carolina’s many talented freshmen/UNC photo

High Point vs. North Carolina (6:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN3): High Point (23-9) advanced by upsetting Radford in the Big South to get in for the first time since 2010. The Panthers played three ACC teams this season. They beat NC State and Wake Forest and lost to Clemson. Coach Tom Mendoza is in his first year.

Sophomore middle Jordan Hefner has 136 blocks, the most by an HPU player since the program moved to Division I. Her team averaged 2.3 blocks per set. Junior Haley Barnes leads with 414 kills, 3.42 per set, and has 370 digs, 50 blocks and 40 aces. Sophomore middle Molly Livingston has 298 kills and 41 aces to go with 115 blocks.

UNC, the No. 7 seed, is in the tournament for the 18th time and 13th under coach Joe Sagula, who is 575-308 since taking over in 1990.

UNC is loaded with talented young players. Sophomore Taylor Leath was the ACC POY, freshman outside Julia Scoles the ACC freshman of the year and were joined on the ACC first team by senior opposite Taylor Treacy. Leath led with 334 kills, 3.15 per set, Scoles had 278 kills, Treacy 241 and junior middle Taylor Fricano 158 and 143 blocks, 12 solo.

Last year, North Carolina beat North Carolina Wilmington and then was knocked out by Creighton.

High Point and UNC haven’t played since 2004. The Big South is 1-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Cincinnati vs. Florida State at Florida (4:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN3): This has the makings of a tough match. Cincinnati got an at-large from the American Athletic Conference after going 22-9, 17-3 in the AAC. The Bearcats have won six in a row and nine of 10 and are in the NCAA for the first time since 2011. That year they were knocked out in the first round by Florida State.

Cincinnati coach Molly Alvey is 73-85 in five seasons. Her best player is Jordan Tucker, the AAC POY after leading the Bearcats in kills with 552 and averaging 5.42 per set. Sophomore Jade Tingelhoff averaged 11.11 assists and 2.64 digs.

Florida State is 24-5 and was second to UNC in the ACC at 17-3. Coach Chris Poole, who took the Seminoles to the 2011 national semifinals, is 235-58 in nine seasons.

Junior outside Milica Kubura leads with 345 kills, 3.05 kills/set, while senior middle Mara Green is hitting .374. Senior middle Melanie Keil has 183 total blocks, 1.63 per set.

In 2015 FSU beat Arizona State in the first round, also in Gainesville, but then lost to Florida in four.

Alabama State vs. Florida (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN/SEC Plus): The 11th-seeded Gators are in for the 26th time in a row. Alabama State (24-8) won the Southwestern Athletic Conference for the third time in four years under coach Penny Lucas-White, who is facing the Gators in the first round for the second time in three seasons. ASU, which has 12 in a row, all in the SWAC, is led by junior middle Briana Dorsey, who has 281 kills. She is one of four Hornets with 230 kills or more.

Florida packs as good a one-two punch as any team in the country with junior middle Rhamat Alhassan and senior right side Alex Holston. Alhassan has 277 kills, is hitting .422 and has 133 blocks, 21 solo. Holston leads with 366 kills, 3.81 per set, and has 73 blocks. The Gators also get key __play from do-everything junior outside Carli Snyder, who has 249 digs, 339 kills and 17 aces.

The Gators are 26-3 overall and tied Missouri for the SEC title at 16-2. They have won 14 of their last 15 matches. Coach Mary Wise, in her 26th season, is 793-98. Last year, her team lost in the regional final at Texas in a five-setter that included a controversial in-out call that went against the Gators.

Texas A&M’s Jazzmin Babers, left, and Stephanie Aiple/Sam Craft, Texas A&M Athletics photo

SMU vs. Texas A&M at Texas (4 p.m. Central, Longhorn Network): This is an all-Texas affair in Austin. SMU, which lost to Purdue in its first NCAA Tournament last year, is 25-7 after winning the American Athletic Conference at 18-2.

Senior Morgan Heise leads SMU. She was named the AAC libero of the year for the third straight season and averaged 5.16 digs per set.

Junior right side Katie Hegarty led the Mustangs with 436 kills. She had 188 digs and 90 blocks. Senior middle Janelle Giordano added 261 kills and 154 blocks, 15 solo.

SMU is coached by Lisa Siefert, 365-287 since taking over in 1996.

Texas A&M is one of those teams that when playing well can beat anyone. But at 21-8 and 15-3 in the SEC, the Aggies were sometimes up and down. They’ve been up of late, winning 10 of their last 11. A&M has a tremendous setter in junior Stephanie Aiple and big-time attackers in senior middle Jazzmin Babers, who has 262 kills and 126 blocks, 15 solo, and sophomore middle Kaitlyn Blake, who has 249 kills and 160 blocks, 18 solo. Junior outside Kiara McGee leads with 332 kills, 3.19 per set.

Laurie Corbelli, in her 24th year, is taking the Aggies to their 20th NCAA Tournament.

SMU and Texas A&M have never met.

UT Rio Grande Valley vs. Texas (6:30 p.m. Central, Longhorn Network): UT Rio Grande Valley is 21-13 and even though it finished 7-7 in the Western Athletic Conference, it won the league’s tournament and automatic bid that comes with it for its first NCAA appearance.

UTRGV’s roster looks like something out of the United Nations. Norwegian outside Ragni Steen Knudsen leads with 3.48 kills per set, while Serbian Bojana Mitrovic adds with 3.13 kills. The roster has players from Senegal, Poland, Mexico, Brazil and even Texas, including senior outside Alisha Watson, who averages 3.11 kills and 1.45 digs. The team is coached by Todd Lowery, who is 33-32 in his second season.

Fourth-seeded Texas is 22-4 and finished second in the Big 12 at 14-2. The Longhorns, who lost in last year’s title match to Nebraska, are as powerful as any team in the country with freshman outside Micaya White leading the way. She has a team-best 399 kills and averages 4.07 per set. Ebony Nwanebu has 338 kills, is averaging 3.67 per set and has had a strong overall season after missing all but one match of 2015. Paulina Prieto Cerame is averaging 3.55 kills and has stretches where the senior can carry a team. Sophomore middle Morgan Johnson leads with 124 blocks, 16 solo.

Coach Jerritt Elliott, who took the Longhorns to the 2012 title and is seeking his fifth consecutive trip to the national semifinals, is 401-92 in his 16th season. Texas is making its 12 consecutive NCAA appearance.

Texas hasn’t played UTRGV or SMU, but earlier this season swept A&M.

Dayton vs. Pittsburgh at Penn State (5 p.m. Eastern, PSU video link)

Dayton has the best record in the nation at 30-1. But the Atlantic 10 champions were not happy about being sent to Penn State for the third year in a row. The Flyers are riding a 19-match winning streak, fourth best in the country. Coach Tim Horsmon is having great success in his second go-round at Dayton. He was 128-43 from 2003-07, left for Maryland, and since returning in 2014 he’s 88-13.

Dayton’s go-to player is junior outside Jessica Sloan, who leads with 408 kills, 3.92 per set, and 201 digs. Sophomore outside Lauren Bruns, 298 kills, and junior middle Amber Erhahon with 296, give the Flyers a balanced attack. Erhahon has 127 blocks, 11 solo. Junior setter Jane Emmenecker is having a great season and so is sophomore libero Margo Wolf, averaging 4.99 digs. Dayton is 11-0 on the road this season.

Pittsburgh is 24-8 and got an at-large from the ACC. The Panthers were hot early, grinded during the middle of the season when they lost four of five, but have won four in a row and 10 of 11. Coach Dan Fisher is 91-37 in his fourth year.

Freshman Stephanie Williams is having a big season. She leads Pittsburgh with 438 kills, 3.78 per set, and has 286 digs and 45 blocks. Junior outside Mariah Bell has 382 kills, 228 digs and 50 blocks. Freshman middle Layne Van Buskirk has 243 kills and 73 blocks. And senior middle Jenna Potts has 194 kills and 150 blocks, 13 solo.

The last time these teams met was in 2014.

LIU Brooklyn vs. Penn State (7:30 p.m. Eastern, PSU video link):

Penn State got the 16th seed and with it LIU Brooklyn, which finished 16-14 after winning the Northeast Conference tournament and the bid that goes with it. The Blackbirds tied for second in the regular season, but upset top-seeded Sacred Heart in the NEC final. LIU Brooklyn coach Ken Ko is in his second season and is 30-28.

Senior Alex Larsen leads the Blackbirds with 306 kills.

Penn State might be 22-9 with its most defeats since 1987, but Penn State is Penn State and the same program that has won seven national titles and six of eight before getting knocked out last year in the regional semifinal by Hawai’i.

The coach, of course, is Russ Rose, the winningest active NCAA coach and in his 38th season. His overall record is 1,211-195.

Junior outside Simone Lee leads the Penn State offense. She has 455 kills, averaging 4.17 kills, and 170 digs, 53 blocks and 15 aces. Senior middle Haleigh Washington has hit 4.38 this season and has 265 kills and a team-best 124 blocks. She also had 24 aces. Freshman middle Tori Gorrell  had 185 kills and 110 blocks. Junior Ali Frantti has 258 kills and 195 digs.

Penn State has been a first- and second-round host for 27 years in a row. The Nittany Lions are 14-2 at home this season, losing only to North Carolina and Nebraska.

Cleveland State vs. Arizona at Michigan State (5 p.m. Eastern, live video link):

This is the kind of matchup that makes the NCAA Tournament so much fun. Cleveland State, 25-5, won the Horizon League regular-season and conference-tournament titles. This is the first matchup between these schools.

The Vikings are led by senior outside Grace Kauth, whose 409 kills and 324 digs established her as the best player in the Horizon this season. Junior middle Alexis Middlebrooks has 317 kills and 116 blocks, 15 solo. Coach Chuck Voss is 316-194 in his 17th season, winning 20 more more matches seven times. His team has won 16 of its last 17 matches. Last year in the NCAA Tournament, the Vikings lost to USC in four in the first round.

Arizona coach Dave Rubio is the dean of Pac-12 coaches, 477-291 in 25 seasons. His team was up and down all season, finishing 18-14, 10-10, and makes its seventh NCAA appearance in eight years. His Wildcats — who have lost four of their last six matches — have one of the best athletes and versatile players in the game in senior setter Penina Snuka, who averaged 10.71 assists and three digs. Kendra Dahlke leads with 4.03 kills per set and Kalei Mau is right behind at 3.97.

Arizona was swept by Western Kentucky in the first round of the 2015 NCAA tourney.

Megan Theiller and her Fairfield teammates have a tough task at Michigan State

Fairfield vs. Michigan State (7:30 p.m. Eastern, live video link):

Fairfield won the Metro Atlantic Athletic, is 28-5 and is riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 22 matches. The Stags are coached by Todd Kress, 162-72 in two stints as head coach at the Connecticut school. He has two big guns in junior outside Skyler Day, who leads with 474 kills, 29 aces, 274 digs and 28 blocks. Junior outside Megan Theiller has 460 kills, 27 aces, 310 digs and 44 blocks. And senior middle Megan O’Sullivan has 261 kills and 120 blocks, 24 solo.

Michigan State is the ninth seed after finishing 24-8, 13-7 and fifth in the Big Ten. Coach Cathy George is 231-162 in 11 seasons at State. In 1989 she took Texas-Arlington to the national semifinals. This is her sixth consecutive NCAA at-large bid and this team’s 24 wins are the most for MSU since 1996.

Junior outside Autumn Bailey leads with 331 kills, 3.15 per set, and 284 digs. Senior outside Chloe Reinig has 275 kills and 92 blocks, while junior middle Alyssa Garvelink has 258 kills and 153 blocks, 14 solo.

Last year in the tournament, the Spartans swept Arkansas State before losing to Washington in four.

Wichita State vs. TCU at Nebraska (4:30 p.m. Central, live video link):

Wichita State is 24-7. The Shockers finished second in the Missouri Valley but then beat Missouri State in the league tournament final. They are making the program’s 10th NCAA appearance. Last year, the Shockers beat Kansas State before losing to Nebraska.

They are led by junior outside Mikaela Raudsepp, who had 316 kills and 37 blocks. Sophomore outside Tabitha Brown has 307 kills and 145 digs. Senior outside Jody Larson has 306 kills and 334 digs. Junior middle Abbie Lehman has 287 kills and 132 blocks, 24 solo.

TCU, 14-12 overall and 7-9 in the Big 12, got an at-large based on its NCAA RPI and strength of schedule. Coach Jill Kramer’s Horned Frogs lost to Hawai’i in the first round last year. Kramer is 33-22 in her second season.

Her team is led by senior outside Sarita Mikals, who has 204 kills and is one of seven players with 147 or more kills. Mikals also has 297 digs. Senior middle Regan McGuire has 196 kills and 101 blocks, while senior middle Natalie Gower has 196 kills and 127 blocks.

New Hampshire vs. Nebraska (7 p.m. Central, live video link):

UNH is 21-10 after winning the America East with a 10-2 record. The Wildcats have won the AE title four years in a row. Last year, they were swept by Washington in the first round. The leader is Demi Muses, the AE player of the year. She has 350 kills, 349 digs and 79 blocks, 13 solo.

It’s obviously an uphill battle against top-seeded Nebraska, which is 14-1 at home and 27-2 overall. The Huskers won the Big Ten title at 18-2 and their roster is a Who’s Who of today’s college volleyball, from the Rolfzen twins, middle Amber and right side Kadie, to setter Kelly Hunter, libero Justine Wong-Orantes and outside Mikaela Foecke. Throw in middle Briana Holman and outside Andie Malloy and, well, you have a team that is the pick of most to win this tournament.

USC setter Alice Pizzasegola scrambles for a ball deflected by the block/Photo Credit: Ed Chan, VBshots.com

USC vs. Hawai’i at Minnesota (4:30 p.m. Central, live video link)

This one should not only be a fun match, it pits two coaching legends.

USC is 18-13 and rode the roller coaster all season. Veteran coach Mick Haley is 5-11 lifetime against Hawai’i and another veteran coach, Dave Shoji. Haley is 410-108 in 16 seasons at USC, which is making the school’s 26th consecutive NCAA appearance.

A freshman leads USC. Khalia Lanier leads with 465 kills, almost 200 more than her closest teammate. The outside hitter is averaging 4.01 kills per set, has 24 aces and 302 digs. Sophomore outside  Alyse Ford has 272 kills and 205 digs. Junior Niki Withers has 284 kills and 67 blocks. Senior middle Elise Ruddins has 214 kills and 130 blocks, 22 solo.

Last year USC beat Cleveland State, San Diego and Creighton before losing to Kansas in the regional final.

Shoji is 1,201-203-1 in 42 seasons, all at Hawai’i. His win total is second only to Penn State’s Rose. This season Hawai’i is 22-5 and won the Big West with a 15-1 record. These two programs have not played since 2011.

Hawai’i is making its 24th consecutive NCAA appearance and everything the Rainbow Wahine do revolves around senior opposite Nikki Taylor. She leads them with 363 kills, is hitting .280, averages 4.59 kills per set and has 186 digs and 91 blocks. Sophomore outside McKenna Granato has 271 kills and 155 digs.

Last year, Hawai’i beat TCU and Texas A&M, then knocked out Penn State in the regional semifinals before losing to Minnesota in four.

North Dakota vs. Minnesota (7 p.m. Central, live video link)

Big Sky champion North Dakota is 26-9 and has won 11 in a row, including all three matches in the league tournament.

Coach Mark Pryor is 73-31 in three seasons at UND. His team is led by three players with more than 300 kills, senior middle Chelsea Moser with 327, junior outside Tamara Merseli with 362 and junior middle Faith Dooley with 311. Moser has 27 aces and 101 blocks, Merseli has 477 digs, and Dooley 144 blocks, 25 solo.

Minnesota is the No. 2 seed and 13-0 at home. The Gophers, who went to last year’s national semifinals, have won 10 matches in a row and are 25-4, including 17-3 in the Big Ten. Coach Hugh McCutcheon, who served as both the USA men’s and women’s Olympic coach, is 130-35 in his fifth season.

The Gophers boast Big Ten player of the year in senior Sarah Wilhite and setter of the year in sophomore Samantha Seliger-Swenson. Wilhite has 451 kills this season, 284 digs, 27 aces and 52 blocks. Throw in the Tapp sisters, Hannah and Paige, and Alexis Hart and Molly Lohman, and it’s a tough one for North Dakota.

Missouri State vs. Ohio State at Kansas State (5 p.m. Central, ESPN3): Missouri State is 26-8 and got an at-large after losing in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final. This is Missouri State’s 12th NCAA appearance. The program is 1-11 in the tournament and last year the Bears lost to Missouri in four in the first round.

The Bears have the MVC player of the year in Lily Johnson and freshman of the year in setter Daniele Messa. Johnson, a junior outside, has a whopping 596 kills, 4.58 per set, and 400 digs. Messa averages 10.34 assists and has 332 digs and 26 blocks.

Coach Melissa Stokes is 464-221 in 22 years at the helm.

Ohio State holds the distinction of beating Nebraska in four in Lincoln this season. But the Buckeyes were all over the place and finished the regular season 20-12, 10-10 in the Big Ten. Coach Geoff Carlston is 384-180 in his ninth season and has team that relies heavily on senior middle Taylor Sandbothe. She leads in kills with 464, 3.90 per set, and blocks with 123, 19 solo. What’s more, her younger sister, Elle, plays for host K-State. Sophomore outside Audra Appold has 332 kills and 244 digs and junior outside Luisa Schirmer 314 kills and 281 digs.

Last year the Buckeyes beat Robert Morris and American before being ousted by Washington.

Lipscomb vs. Kansas State (7:30 p.m. Central, ESPN3): Lipscomb, champion of the Atlantic Sun, is 22-7 and hopes a tough schedule will pay off when it faces No. 14 seed K-State. Lipscomb is 0-6 in the NCAA Tournament but this one is special, since Lipscomb outside hitter Carlyle Nusbaum and libero Brittany Thomas are both from Overland Park, Kansas. Right side Chloe Rogers is from Stillwell, Kansas. Lipscomb associate head coach Billy Ebel is also from Kansas. This is the seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament for Lipscomb and their third in a row.

Sophomore outside Nusbaum is the focal point of the offense. She has 483 kills, and her next closest teammate is sophomore outside Lauren Anderson, who has 298. Nusbaum, the A-10 player of the  year, also has 218 digs and 47 blocks, 13 solo.

Coach Brandon Rosenthal is 264-168 in 14 seasons.

Kansas State is another team with a more impressive RPI than record. The Wildcats are 20-9 and were 9-7 in the Big 12. This is K-State’s fifth NCAA appearance in six years and its first time to be a host.

Coach Susie Fritz is 315-177 in her 16th year. Her team is led by senior outside Brooke Sassin, who has 342 kills and 252 digs. Junior opposite Bryna Vogel has 305 kills and 305 digs. The aforementioned Sandbothe, a freshman middle, plays sparingly and has 50 kills and 52 blocks. Senior setter Katie Brand made the Big 12 first team for the third straight time.

Kansas State lost to Wichita State in last year’s first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Boise State vs. Western Kentucky at Stanford (4:30 p.m. Pacific, Pac-12 Networks): Boise State took the Mountain West title from Colorado State after going 25-6, 16-2 in the conference. The Broncos, on a 14-match winning streak, are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and __play WKU for the first time.

Boise State is led by MW POY Sierra Nobley, a junior outside who has 493 kills, 4.56 per set, 290 digs and 20 aces. senior middle Maddy O’Donnell has 301 kills and sophomore outside Sabryn Roberts 294. O’Donnell has 137 blocks, 13 solo. Junior Maddie Osburn has had a big season at libero, averaging 4.85 digs.

Boise is coached by Shawn Garus, 142-105 in eight seasons.

WKU is 30-2, second in record only to Dayton this season. The Lady Toppers went 14-0 in Conference USA and then won the league tournament. Coach Travis Hudson is 559-198 in his 22nd year and his team has won 22 in a row since losing to Michigan State in five on Sept. 10.

Junior outside Alyssa Cavanaugh leads with 499 kills, 4.38 per set. Sophomore middle Rachel Anderson has 393 kills and 97 blocks. Junior setter Jessica Lucas has 147 kills and 68 blocks, while sophomore right side Amara Listenbee has 111 kills and 102 blocks.

In last year’s tournament, WKU swept Arizona before getting swept by BYU.

Stanford’s Inky Ajanaku leads the Cardinal into the NCAA Tournament/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

Denver vs. Stanford (7 p.m. Pacific, Pac-12 Networks): Summit League-champion Denver is 23-8 after going 13-3 in the conference. The Pioneers are just 9-7 away from home, not a good thing with having to go to Stanford. They won the league and then finished up with a non-conference loss at Long Beach State.

Denver is led by junior right side Kayla Principato, who has 336 kills and 100 blocks. Senior middle Ruth Okoye has 237 kills and 122 blocks. First-year coach Tom Hogan took over when Jesse Mahoney left for Colorado.

Stanford, 21-7, finished 15-5 in the Pac-12 and overcame losing Hayley Hodson, a sophomore outside who was an All-American as a freshman, when she took a medical leave from school early in the season. With senior middle Inky Ajanaku leading the way with 271 kills and 154 blocks, 11 solo, freshman Kathryn Plummer flourished. She led the team with 343 kills and has 100 blocks and 168 digs. Audriana Fitzmorris, another freshman, has 258 kills and 151 blocks. Junior middle Merete Lutz had 246 kills and 114 kills. And freshman setter Jenna Gray did a nice job for the Cardinal, which was replacing four-year starter Madi Bugg.

Stanford, which has been to the NCAA Tournament 35 years in a row and made the 2014 final four, has six national titles, the last in 2008. Coach John Dunning is in his 16th season with a record of 445-83.

UNLV vs. Utah at BYU (5 p.m. Mountain, BYUtv.org): UNLV, which got an at-large bid, finished 23-7, 12-6 in the Mountain West. The only other time UNLV got into the NCAA Tournament was 2007. Coach Cindy Frederick is 113-70 in her sixth season.

Bree Hammel leads with 423 kills, 3.85 per set. Four others have 193 kills or more, including Sadie Stutzman with 248. Elsa Descamps has 222 kills and leads with 137 blocks, 11 solo.

Utah is back in the tournament for the first time since 2014 and its 13th NCAA appearance overall. The Utes are 20-11 and went 11-9 in the Pac-12. Coach Beth Launiere is 521-335 in her 26th year as the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12.

Anae Adora is a big blaster for Utah. She has 571 kills, 4.68 per set, and leads with 394 digs. Carly Trueman has 331 kills and Tawnee Luafalemana has 252 kills and 127 blocks.

BYU’s Lacy Haddock, Amy Boswell, and Lyndie Haddock celebrated all the way to a WCC championship/Photo Credit: Ed Chan, VBshots.com.

Princeton vs. BYU (7 p.m. Mountain, BYUtv.org): Princeton is 19-4, won the Ivy League and brings to BYU the two-time Ivy POY in senior outside Cara Mattaliano and the conference freshman of the year in middle Maggie O’Connell. Their coach, Sabrina King, was the coach of the year. She is 88-57.

Mattaliano leads with 308 kills and 34 aces, O’Connell has 246 kills and freshman Devon Peterkin has 206.

BYU won the West Coast Conference and is the No. 13 seed. The Cougars are 27-3 and went 16-2 in the WCC. In 2014, BYU lost in the NCAA national-championship match to Penn State. Coach Heather Olmstead took over the next year and has a two-year mark of 55-7.

Freshman outside McKenna Miller leads with 428 kills. Senior middle Amy Boswell has 318 kills and 131 blocks, 12 solo. Senior middle Whitney Young Howard has 198 kills and 125 blocks, 13 solo.

Last year, BYU beat Ohio and Western Kentucky before losing to Nebraska.

CSU freshman Kirstie Hillyer hits a slide/Photo Credit: Ed Chan, VBshots.com

Colorado State vs. Kentucky at Washington (5 p.m. Pacific, Pac-12 Networks): Colorado State, which has dominated the Mountain West for years, got a rare at-large bid after going 21-8, 15-3 in the MW. The Rams have won seven of eight. Coach Tom Hilbert, who got his 500th victory earlier this season, is 509-121 in 19 seasons. His team is led by junior outside Sanja Cizmic, who has 327 kills, 99 digs and 60 blocks. Junior outside Jasmine Hanna has 314 kills and 65 blocks, 15 solo. freshman middle Kirstie Hillyer has 255 kills and 160 blocks, 17 solo. And junior middle Alexandra Poletto has 241 kills and 127 blocks, 14 solo.

Kentucky hasn’t played Colorado State since 1987. The Wildcats are in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th year in a row after finishing the regular season 22-7, 15-3 in the SEC. Freshman outside hitter Leah Edmond leads the Wildcats with 419 kills and averages 4.23 kills per set. She also has 52 blocks and 192 digs. Junior middle Kaz Brown has 257 kills and 141 blocks, 13 solo. Sophomore setter Olivia Dailey has had a great season, averaging 11.82 assists, and junior libero Ashley Dusek averages 4.83 digs.

Coach Craig Skinner is 272-108 in his 12th season.

Second-year Washington coach Keegan Cook/Ed Chan, VBshots.com

Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs. Washington (7:30 Pacific, Pac-12 Networks): TAMUCC has swept 31 matches over two conference seasons and 13 of the Islanders’ 24 wins this season were sweeps. They are 24-7 and overpowered the Southland Conference this season. Junior outside hitter Brittany Gilpin, the league POY, leads with 403 kills, 3.89 per set, 304 digs and 62 blocks, 11 solo. Senior right side Morgan Carlson has 312 kills and sophomore middle Madi Fitzsimmons 202. Coach Steven Green is finishing his first year. He took over a team that went 31-5 in 2015 and lost to his old team, where he was an assistant last year, Texas A&M, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Pac-12-champion Washington is one of the most balanced and powerful teams in the nation. The Huskies, the No. 8 seed, are 24-6 and boast the Pac-12 POY in Courtney Schwan, a junior outside who averaged 3.76 kills and hit .311. She also averaged 2.79 digs. Schwan had 399 kills, just ahead of junior outside hitter Tia Scambray, who had 333 and 312 digs. Freshman middle Kara Bajema had 177 kills and 126 blocks, 10 solo. Freshman middle Avie Niece had 86 kills and 91 blocks.

UW is coached by Keegan Cook, who took over in 2015, went 31-3 and won a share of the league title. In the NCAA Tournament the Huskies beat Denver, Michigan State and Ohio State before falling to Nebraska in the regional final. Washington is going to the tournament for the 15th year in a row.

USD’s Lisa Kramer leads the Toreros with 362 kills this season/Photo Credit: Ed Chan, VBshots.com

Baylor vs. San Diego at UCLA, 5:30 p.m. Pacific, live video feed):

San Diego was disappointed not to get a seed and be a host. Baylor, which went 24-6 this season, 9-7 in the big 12, was thrilled to get an at-large and be at UCLA. The Bears have one of the country’s best hitters in junior outside Katie Staiger, who set the Baylor record for kills, 664, second best in Big 12 history. She averaged 5.53 kills per set and also had 328 digs, 32 aces  and 66 blocks. Sophomore outside Aniah Philo has 267 kills and junior middle Camryn Freiberg 222 kills and 139 blocks, 16 solo.

Coach Ryan McGuyre is in his second season with a record of 41-19. Baylor is 3-4 in NCAA play, last winning a match in 2009. The Bears also last played San Diego in 1988.

San Diego, once ranked as high as fifth, had a tough end to the season and is 24-5 after finishing second to BYU in the West Coast Conference. Coach Jennifer Petrie is 346-125 in her 16th season. She’s taken the Toreros to the NCAA Tournament 13 times, including last year when USD knocked off Northern Arizona before losing to USC.

Lisa Kramer has been the go-to player this season. The senior right side has 362 kills, averaging 4.21 per set, and 32 blocks. Senior middle Lauren Schad has 262 kills and 66 blocks, while junior right side Kaity Edwards had 227 kills, 65 blocks and 22 aces. Sophomore outside Lauren Fuller has 221 kills, 172 digs and 22 aces.

UCLA’s Jordan Anderson keeps her eyes on the ball/Photo Credit: Ed Chan, VBshots.com.

Murray State vs. UCLA, 8 p.m. Pacific, live video feed):

Murray State is 23-8 and the Ohio Valley champs have won 15 matches in a row. The Racers are in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years after losing to Illinois in 2014 and didn’t get in last year after going 27-3, losing in the OVC tourney.

Coach David Schwepker is in his 19th season.

Senior outside Scottie Ingram is a fabulous all-around player and leads the Racers with 506 kills, 4.32 per set. She also has 401 digs and 42 blocks, 11 solo. Senior right side Kristen Besselsen has 272 kills, 230 digs and 41 blocks.

UCLA, which won the NCAA title in 2011, makes its 34th NCAA appearance. The Bruins are 17-0 in first-round matches and is a host for the 11th time in 14 years.

Reily Buechler leads the Bruins with 362 kills, 3.18 per set. She also has 253 digs, 47 blocks — 14 solo — and 21 aces. Jordan Anderson has 350 kills, 3.15 per set, and 124 digs and 46 blocks, 12 solo. Torrey Van Winden has 270 kills and 62 blocks, and Jennie Frager has 250 kills and 125 blocks, 17 solo.

Senior Taylor Formico, the Pac-12 libero of the year, averages 5.03 digs.

The Bruins, 24-6 including 15-5 in the Pac-12, are coached by Mike Sealy, who is 161-64 in his seventh year. HIs team has won six of its last seven matches.

Top seeds advance in an upset-free NCAA Tournament Thursday

Kansas libero Cassie Wait celebrates a point against Samford in first-round NCAA action

No. 3 seed Wisconsin, No. 5 Kansas, No. 12 Michigan and No. 15 Missouri all advanced.

So did Washington State, Creighton, Purdue and Oregon.

There were eight matches that kicked off the NCAA Tournament on Thursday and five ended in sweeps, two others went four and Creighton had to go the limit to get past Northern Iowa, 15-12 in the fifth.

It was also a day in which two more jobs opened up, at Georgia and Stony Brook. And the NCAA Division II tournament is in full swing.

Wisconsin’s Tori Blake attacks against Howard

Wisconsin 3, Howard 0

The Badgers of the Big Ten improved to 26-4 by dispatching Howard 25-11, 25-18, 25-10, behind 16 kills from freshman Molly Haggerty and 11 apiece from Lauryn Gillis and Haleigh Nelson. Nelson also had seven blocks, hit .733 and was a big reason her team hit .402.

“We just played our game,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. “I thought our passers did a really good job of first contact and we just went from there. Good match.”

Howard, champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, ended its season 26-6. The Bison got seven kills apiece from Katherine Broussard and Jessica Young.

Wisconsin will __play Washington State at 6 p.m. Central Friday. The match will be shown on the Big Ten Network.

Washington State 3, Marquette 1

The Cougars made sure there wouldn’t be an all state-of-Wisconsin match-up by ousting the Eagles 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20.

It’s huge,” WSU coach Jen Greeny said. “I’m very invested in the program; that’s why I came back, to right the ship and get it to this level. It’s not really for me that I’m excited, I’m excited for the players and that they get to experience this.”

WSU improved to 22-11 as Kyra Holt had a season-best 22 kills. The senior also hit .370, had three aces and eight digs. Senior Hailey Bethune had a career-best 15 kills, hit .538 and had two blocks. McKenna Woodford added 11 kills.

“Playing in the Pac-12, every single night in our conference is like a tournament-type game in the quality of opponents that we __play night-in and night-out,” Greeny said. “So we didn’t really discuss too much about being in the tournament for the first time in a while, we just tried to focus in on how to stop them and treat it like a non-conference, regular season game, and not make too much of a big deal out of it.”

Marquette of the Big East saw its season end 23-9. The Eagles got 18 kills and 11 digs from sophomore Taylor Louis and 12 kills from freshman Allie Barber.

Kansas coach Ray Bechard applauds his Jayhawks against Samford

Kansas 3, Samford 0

The Jayhawks overpowered their Southern Conference visitors 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 to improve to 26-2 and set up what should be a great match with Creighton at 6:30 p.m. Central. It will streamed on ESPN3.

Freshman Jada Burse led Kansas with 14 kills — six in the second set — and teammate Madison Rigdon added 11 kills. Kelsie Payne had nine kills in 14 swings.

“We’re excited to move on,” KU coach Ray Bechard said. “I don’t know that it was consistently good volleyball on our side, but there were times that we really played well. We played well enough in each set to have the success we wanted.

“I’m proud of these two right here (Burse and Rigdon), they did a nice job. They took a lot of swings tonight and defensively, we picked it up as it went. I know Samford has had a great year. I’m good friends with their coach and I know he’s brought them along and done some good things. We’re excited to move on.”

Samford ended its season 21-14. Kate Neisler led with 15 kills and Erin Bognar had 11 kills and two blocks.

Creighton’s Jaali Winters gets one of her season-high 24 kills against Northern Iowa

Creighton 3, Northern Iowa 2

If having a tough first-round match is great preparation for the rest of the tournament, then Creighton is better prepared than any of the eight winners coming out of Thursday. The Bluejays improved to 27-6 by getting past UNI 25-16, 25-20, 24-26, 14-25, 15-12 in a match that saw both teams give it all they had.

Big East-champion Creighton, which has won 21 matches in a row, had numerous season and/or career-highs. Junior Marysa Wilkinson had a career-high 18 kills. Freshman Brittany Witt had a career-high 32 digs, while junior Kenzie Crawford had a career-high 17 digs. Sophomore Jaali Winters had a season-high 24 kills and season-high four blocks and tied a season-best with 66 attack attempts.

In the 2015 tournament, Kansas made it to the NCAA national semifinals, while Creighton beat Coastal Carolina and North Carolina before losing at USC.

Kansas and Creighton played at Creighton in September. Kansas won in five, 15-13 in the fifth.

UNI, which had a season-best 17 blocks, finished its season 24-10. Piper Thomas led with 14 kills and eight blocks, Bri Weber had 12 kills and Kayla Haneline 11.

Michigan 3, American 0

The Wolverines set up a Big Ten-Pac-12 match-up by beating American 25-13, 25-23, 25-12 to improve to 23-10. Michigan gets Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Eastern (BTNplus).

Claire Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with 13 kills, while Abby Cole and Kelly Murphy had 10 apiece.

“I’m obviously pleased with how we played tonight,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “I thought we came out in the very beginning and played aggressive. It’s always hard in that first round of the NCAA Tournament to see how the nerves are going to be and how we’re going to get into a rhythm and I thought we did that really well.”

Patriot League-champion American ended its season 27-8. Aleksandra Kazala led with nine kills. American loses only one senior.

Oregon 3, Miami of Ohio 1

The Ducks improved to 21-9 as they had to grind against the MAC’s Miami, winning 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 25-19.

“They’re a good team, a solid team,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said of the Redhawks. “We knew that and it didn’t surprise us, but a very good job by them and we’re happy to move on.”

Lindsey Vander Weide led Oregon with 18 kills, two blocks and an ace. Ronika Stone had a career-high 16 kills and three blocks, and Lauren Page and Taylor Agost had nine kills apiece.

Both Oregon and Michigan went to the 2012 NCAA semifinals. Michigan lost to Texas, while Oregon beat Penn State before losing to Texas in the title match.

Miami finished its season 24-7 despite having a lead in all four sets. Junior right side Olivia Rusek finished with 13 kills, while junior libero Maeve McDonald had 25 digs.

Purdue 3, Iowa State 0

Purdue of the Big Ten fought off set point in the first and rallied and went on to win 26-24, 25-21, 25-13 and improve to 19-13 to get into the second round against Missouri. The 6 p.m. Central first serve will be shown on ESPN3.

Junior Danielle Cuttino led with 21 kills on 31 swings and she hit .613. Sophomore Sherridan Atkinson added 10 kills and hit .529.

Iowa State of the Big 12 ended its season 18-11. Samara West led with 10 kills, while Jess Schaben had nine kills and a block.

“Even though those first two sets were close we never quite looked like ourselves,” ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “We were rattled enough that we never could get relaxed and get to playing.”

Missouri 3, NIU 0

The Tigers of the SEC completed the ouster of the MAC by defeating the Mid-American Conference champion 25-16, 25-13, 25-20.

Missouri, which hit .404, improved to 26-5 as won it sixth in a row. Melanie Crow led with 17 kills, two blocks and four aces, giving her 47 for the season. Carly Kan had 10 kills, 14 digs, a block and an ace.

NIU’s season ended 25-6. Mary Grace Kelly had eight kills and Jenna Radtke six as Missouri shut down the Huskies’ best players.

“Missouri was a step ahead of us and played error free,” NIU coach Ray Gooden said. “I thought they did a good job of taking care of their side of the net and putting us under a lot of pressure.

”I think at times though, our team did some nice things as well. We put together some nice serving runs and handled the ball when we needed to to score in some key spots.”

Openings at Georgia and Stony Brook

Georgia was 0-18 in SEC play in 2015 and 1-17 this year. Coach Lizzy Stemke resigned Thursday.

Georgia released this statement on its website georgiadogs.com:

ATHENS, Ga. — Lizzy Stemke has resigned as head coach of the University of Georgia volleyball team, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity announced Thursday.

Stemke spent six seasons as head coach of the Bulldogs, compiling a record of 79-105, including 32-80 in Southeastern Conference action.

Georgia Athletics will begin a national search for a new head coach.

Stony Brook had a rough go of it this season and it cost Coley Pawlikowski her job.

This is the statement from Stony Brook from its website stonybrookathletics.com:

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron announced on Wednesday that Coley Pawlikowski was relieved of her duties as head coach of the volleyball program.

Pawlikowski spent the past four seasons at Stony Brook and compiled a 53-73 record, including an 8-21 mark this season. In 2016, the Seawolves snapped a streak of three straight America East Conference tournament appearances.

“Coley worked extremely hard to build the Stony Brook volleyball program and I am very appreciative of her efforts,” Heilbron said. “The expectation for our volleyball program is to compete for an America East championship every year and we will continue to pursue that goal under a new head coach. I wish Coley nothing but the best in the future.”

A national search for Pawlikowski’s replacement will begin immediately.

NCAA Division II tourney

Click here for the NCAA.com Division II volleyball home page.

Among the results from Thursday was Florida Southern off knocking No. 2 seed Saint Leo.

Preview: Eight matches get the NCAA Tournament under way

Kelsie Payne, left, and Taylor Soucie put up a Kansas block. The Jayhawks __play Samford on Thursday/KU photo

The Central Time Zone Volleyball Tournament begins Thursday with eight matches.

And that’s what it will become if the rest of the field doesn’t wrestle away home-court advantage from the top four seeds in the NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament. There are 28 more matches on tap for Friday (four in the second round) in our version of March Madness. Maybe we can call it December Delirium.

No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin — all from the Big Ten — and the Big 12’s No. 4 Texas are all in the Central time zone, and if those four teams advance, they will be the respective regional-round hosts.

None of them are in action Thursday as the tournament begins at 4 p.m. Central with Northern Iowa serving it up with Creighton at Kansas. Later, Kansas will __play Samford. A breakdown of all of Thursday’s matches follows.

It is very difficult for a visiting team to win at Nebraska (14-1 at home this season), Minnesota (13-0), Wisconsin (11-1) and Texas (13-1). And here are a few notes about that: Nebraska’s only home loss was to Ohio State, which is in the Wisconsin regional; Wisconsin’s home loss was to Minnesota; and Texas’ loss was to Wisconsin.

What’s more, there has never been a two-year span when the championship match was without a team from the West. Last year’s gathering included Nebraska, which beat Texas in the final, Minnesota and Kansas. For that matter, the last time a team from the West won it all was UCLA in 2011 and before that, Washington in 2005. Of course, Penn State had a lot to do with that.

It’s highly likely that the unpredictability of the regular season will no doubt be apparent in the first and second rounds, when upsets are most likely to occur.

Defending-champion Nebraska has won 15 of 16 matches, all in the Big Ten, since being stunned at home by Ohio State in four on Oct. 1. Coach John Cook is going for his fourth title, which would tie him for second, with Don Shaw of Stanford and John Dunning of Pacific and Stanford, behind Penn State’s Russ Rose, who has seven titles.

Thursday’s matches

Northern Iowa vs. Creighton at Kansas (4 p.m. Central, ESPN3): UNI is 24-9 and an at-large from the Missouri Valley, which also has in the field tournament winner Wichita State and regular-season winner Missouri State. No team is hotter than Creighton, 26-6, which has won 20 in a row and dominated the Big East this season, going 18-0 while dropping just five sets in league play. One of those overall victories was a sweep of UNI at USC on Sept. 2.

UNI junior setter Heather Hool ranks ninth in the nation in total assists with 1,302. The Panthers lead the nation in digs per set, 18.71, led by sophomore libero Kendyl Sorge, who averages 5.09. UNI’s attack is balanced with four players with 255 kills or more. The leader is Amie Held, a 5-9 senior outside who has 365, 3.12 per set.

Coach Bobbi Peterson is 434-131 in 17 years at UNI and this is her 12th NCAA appearance. Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth is 288-152 in her 14th season at the Omaha school and is enjoying back-to-back Big East titles. Last year, Creighton won its first two NCAA matches, knocking out Coastal Carolina and upsetting North Carolina before losing to USC.

Big East player of the year Lydia Demke, a junior setter, averaged 11.37 assists, nearly a block per set and 1.24 kills. The offense is led by sophomore outside Jaali Winters, who averages 3.48 kills and 2.84 digs, and sophomore Taryn Kloth, who averages 3.03 kills and hit .303. The Bluejay’s middles, junior Marysa Wilkinson and senior Lauren Smith have hit a combined .371 with 149 blocks in Creighton’s last 23 matches.

Samford vs. Kansas (6:30 p.m. Central, ESPN3): No. 5 seed Kansas is 12-0 at home this season, which includes a victory over Texas. Samford (21-13) is a good story because its coach, Keylor Chan, was fired after last season at Northwestern. He was hired at the Birmingham, Ala. school and took the Bulldogs to a fourth-place finish (9-7) in the Southern Conference. But the Bulldogs won the SoCon tournament and the automatic bid that comes with it to get in to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six seasons.

Samford is led by senior outside Erin Bognar, who is 10th in the NCAA with 542 kills and 17th in kills per set at 4.48. She has 254 more kills than her next closest teammate, sophomore outside Kate Neisler, who has 288. Senior right side Gabbi Greenwald has 254.

Kansas (26-2, 15-1 Big 12) is loaded, and never missed a beat from its NCAA run from a year ago. The Jayhawks have won 14 in a row.

Junior right-side Kelsie Payne (4.07 kills per set), the Big 12 player of the year, has to be in the discussion for national POY, junior setter Ainise Havili (10.71 assists) is as good as they come and senior libero Cassie Wait (5.10 digs) has had another tremendous season.

Coach Ray Bechard is 351-231 in his 19th year in Lawrence. Since 2012, the Jayhawks are 129-29.

Kansas went to Creighton’s Bluejay Invitational in September and beat Creighton in five and two days later swept visiting Northern Iowa.

The winner gets the winner of the match between Samford and Kansas at 6:30 p.m. Central Friday.

Ronika Stone has had a tremendous freshman season for Oregon/Eric Evans Photography

Miami, Ohio vs. Oregon at Michigan (5:30 p.m. Eastern, mgoblue.com viewing link): The Redhawks, 24-6, are an at-large from the Mid-American Conference, where they lost in the tournament final to Northern Illinois. Five of Miami’s hitters average more than 2.33 kills per set, led by junior right side Katie Tomasic at 2.71. She also hit .319. Senior middle Paige Hill averaged 2.33 kills and hits .363. Their team is in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008. Coach Carolyn Condit is 587-446 in her 33rd season.

Oregon is young but dangerous. The Ducks are 20-9 and finished fourth in the Pac-12 at 13-7. However, Oregon lost three of its last six matches, all in the league. Sophomore Lindsey Vander Weide leads in kills with 353 kills, 3.84 per set. Junior Taylor Agost averaged 2.87 kills and has hit .333. Freshman middle Ronika Stone has had a tremendous first year, averaging 2.94 kills while leading Oregon with 92 blocks, 12 of them solo.

Coach Jim Moore is 206-107 in his 12th year, 597-287 in 28 years overall as a head coach.

American vs. Michigan (7:30 p.m. Eastern, mgblue.com viewing link): 

Michigan (22-10) has its highest seed ever at No. 12. The Wolverines face an American team (27-7) that dominated the Patriot League and is in the tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Eagles, hit hard by injuries at the time, were swept by Michigan on Sept. 10 in the Pittsburgh tournament.

American, which has won 22 of 24 matches, is led by Patriot POY Aleksandra Kazala. The Polish sophomore outside has 488 kills, more than 200 more than her closest teammate, and hit .309. Freshman outside Shannon Webb added 280 kills and freshman middle Vela McBride had 200.

Coach Barry Goldberg is 704-248 in his 28th season. Last year his team knocked off Kentucky in the first round before losing to Ohio State.

Michigan is coming off four losses in its last five matches, leaving coach Mark Rosen 361-331 for 18 seasons, which includes a trip to the 2012 national semifinals.

The Wolverines, 14-2 at home this season, are led by senior middle Abby Cole, who has 360 kills, hit .319, and averages better than a block per set. Junior middle Claire Kieffer-Wright has 278 kills and averages a block per set, and senior outside Kelly Murphy has 262 kills and 224 digs.

Michigan beat Miami in three in August and last played Oregon in 2014.

Marquette vs. Washington State at Wisconsin (6 p.m. Eastern, BTN Plus): Marquette (23-8) is making its sixth consecutive NCAA appearance. The Golden Eagles, an at-large from the Big East, beat UNI in the first round last year before losing to Minnesota. Coach Ryan Theis is 69-29 in his third season.

Marquette is led by Taylor Louis, who has 519 kills, averaging 4.44 per set. Senior libero Lauren Houg averages 4.49 digs. Their team is coming off back-to-back defeats and has lost three of its last four.

Washington State, 12-11, is an at-large from the Pac-12, where it finished fifth. WSU, which has lost six of its last nine matches, is back in the tournament for the first time since 2009.

Jen Greeny, a former WSU star, was named Pac-12 coach of the year. She is 90-103 in six years leading the Cougars. Her team is led by some dynamic players, including senior outside Kyra Holt (3.72 kills, 0.69 blocks per set) and sophomore middle Taylor Mims, who led the Pac-12 at 1.52 blocks per set. She also has 230 kills and hit .306. Sophomore middle Claire Martin added 1.45 blocks per set.

WSU has never played any of the other three teams.

Howard vs. Wisconsin (8:30 p.m. Eastern, BTN Plus): Howard is the champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and won that league for the second straight year. In the 2015 NCAA Tournament, the Bison lost to Penn State in the first round.

This year they are 26-5, including 12-0 in the MEAC, and have won 16 matches in a row. MEAC POY Khalia Donaldson is a junior outside who averages 3.97 kills after getting 417 this season, more than double her closest teammate. Senior libero Morgan Marlbrough averages 4.18 digs and was the dominant player at her position in the MEAC this season.

Coach Shaun Kupferberg is in his fifth season.

Wisconsin is 25-4 after a 17-3 finish in the Big Ten. The Badgers at different times have been ranked No. 1 in both the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll and the NCAA RPI (they’re No. 1 this week). Coach Kelly Sheffield (110-24 in four seasons) has a loaded roster, including senior setter Lauren Carlini, who led the Big Ten in assists (11.82/set) and had 278 digs and 82 blocks; senior middle Haleigh Nelson (258 kills, .375 hitting percentage, 113 blocks, 19 solo); junior libero Kelli Bates (99 kills, 424 digs) — who filled in at outside when needed — and freshman-of-the-year candidate Molly Haggerty (team-leading 333 kills, 236 digs), an outside hitter who hits as hard as anyone in the game.

In 2013, Wisconsin lost in the NCAA title match. In 2014, Carlini got hurt in the regional final and the Badgers lost to Penn State, the eventual winner. Last year, the Badgers lost in the regional semifinals to Texas.

Wisconsin did not play Howard, Marquette or WSU this season. The winner gets the winner of Marquette-WSU.

Purdue vs. Iowa State at Missouri (4:30 p.m. Central, ESPN3): This certainly has showcase match written all over it. Purdue is 18-13, after an 8-12 Big Ten finish. The Boilermakers are making their 11th NCAA appearance in 13 seasons. Last year they beat SMU in the first round before losing to Texas.

This year, Purdue has been up and down for coach Dave Shondell, 300-164 in his 14th season. junior middle Danielle Cuttino averages 4.03 kills and 0.61 blocks. junior outside Azariah Stahl added 2.52 kills and 2.35 digs, while senior middle Faye Adelaja averages 2.26 kills, 0.87 blocks and hits .365.

Iowa State, back in the tournament for the 11th year in a row, is coached by Christy Johnson-Lynch, 246-122 in her 12th year. Her team, which has won eight of its last nine matches, is 18-10. The Cyclones were 10-6 in the Big 12.

Sophomore outside Jess Schaben leads Iowa State at 3.37 kills per set. Three others average more than two kills per set. Freshman libero Hali Hillegas has had an outstanding first season and averages 3.89 digs.

Northern Illinois vs. Missouri (7 p.m. Central, SEC/ESPN Plus): 14th-year head coach Ray Gooden and NIU are battled tested from a tough Mid-American Conference season in which his Huskies went 25-5, 15-1 in the MAC. Gooden, 289-190, has NIU back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years. NIU is led by MAC POY Jenna Radtke, a senior middle who is hitting .385 and averages 1.16 blocks per set. She also has 298 kills. Senior outside Mary Grace Kelly leads with 342 kills.

No. 15 seed Missouri is 25-2 after finishing 16-2, tied atop the Southeastern Conference with Florida. Coach Wayne Kreklow is 256-127 in his 17th season and this is Mizzou’s 13th NCAA trip since 2000. Last year, Missouri beat Missouri State in the first round, but then lost to Kansas.

The Tigers are led by one of the most dynamic players in the game in 5-foot-9 outside hitter Carly Kan. The senior has 346 kills, 3.12 per set, and 333 digs. Junior outside Melanie Crow leads with 391 kills, has 219 digs and 50 blocks, 18 solo. junior right side Kira Larsen has 237 kills, hits .304 and 79 blocks. Sophomore middle Alyssa Munlyn has had a breakout season with 214 kills, hitting .430, and leading with 142 blocks, 33 solo.

NIU leads the all-time series with Mizzou 3-0, but they haven’t met since 1988. The winner gets the Purdue-Iowa State winner.