NCAA volleyball: Ohio State escapes, Washington tops Utah again, Weber State is 10-0

Ohio State came back from a 12-7 fifth-set deficit and escaped Rutgers on Saturday with a victory that puts the Buckeyes alone atop the Big Ten standings, a half game ahead of idle Wisconsin.

Washington took over sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 with its four-set win over visiting Utah. Weber State won again and at 10-0 in the Big Sky is off to the best start in school history. And Carissa Barnes had 42 digs in a loss for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

There’s a busy Sunday ahead in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, but, unfortunately, that does not include the Big Ten. Just Indiana plays at Purdue, because Illinois at Michigan State and Penn State at Maryland are postponed.

Three matches dot the Pac-12 schedule with Colorado back at Oregon, Cal at Washington State, and Arizona at UCLA. Arizona State at USC was canceled.

The SEC schedule has Ole Miss back at LSU. 

There’s an interesting match in Waco when Pepperdine of the West Coast Conference plays at Baylor of the Big 12. 

There are full schedules in the Big Sky, Missouri Valley, Ohio Valley, SoCon, Conference USA, and Summit.

There two NCAA Division I-II men’s matches Sunday, both in Conference Carolinas, as Mount Olive goes to Emmanuel and Barton is at Erskine.

Want to watch a match? We’ve got the links in the VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.

BIG TEN — With all the posptonments, just Ohio State’s win over Rutgers and Iowa’s victory at Northwestern were left on the Saturday schedule.

Ohio State is 11-0 and off to its best start since 1991 after its 25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 16-14 win at Rutgers (2-10). The Buckeyes hit .300 after going on a 5-0 run in the fifth to tie the set at 12 and then winning by scoring the last three points, which included two kills by Gabby Gonzales and one by Rylee Rader.

Freshman Emily Londot led with 20 kills, an assist, an ace, five blocks, and nine digs. Gonzales had 13 kills, two assists, three aces, 13 digs, and three blocks, one solo. Rader had 13 kills with one error in 23 attacks to hit .522 and had an assist, a dig, and 11 blocks. The 11 blocks were the most by a Buckeye since 2015 and the most by a freshman since 1987.

Vanja Bukilic had 10 kills. Lauren Witte had eight  as she hit .333 and had an assist, two aces, three digs, and three blocks, one solo. Mac Podraza had five kills in 11 errorless attempts, 51 assists, four aces, four blocks, and six digs. Ohio State held a 16-9 blocking advantage.

Rutgers, which hit .250, got 16 kills from Beka Kojadinovic, who hit .324 and had four aces, a block, and 10 digs. Anastasiia Maksimova had 14 kills, two assists, three blocks, and 13 digs. Shea McNamara had 13 kills with one error in 20 attacks, an assists, and two blocks. Tina Grkovic had seven kills, an ace, six blocks, and three digs. Inna Balyko had four kills in seven errorless tries, 44 assists, four aces, 10 digs, and five blocks, one solo … 

Northwestern (3-3) held off visiting Iowa (3-9) 25-18, 22-25, 12-25, 25-21, 16-14. Temi Thomas-Ailara led with 16 kills as she hit .300 and had an assist, a block, and 13 digs. Alana Walker had 11 kills, hit .304, and had three blocks, and a dig, and Nia Robinson had 10 kills. Alexa Rousseau had eight kills in 16 errorless swings, 39 assists, three aces, seven digs, and five blocks, one solo. 

Courtney Buzzerio and Edina Schmidt had 15 kills for Iowa. Buzzerio had 19 assists, six digs, and four blocks, one solo. Schmidt had an ace, two blocks, and five digs.

PAC-12 — The only match of the day was a big one for Washington (10-2) as it beat visiting Utah again (8-2). Thursday the Huskies swept, on Saturday they won 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18 as four players had 11 or more kills. Claire Hoffman had 16 to go with an assist, seven digs, and four blocks, one solo. Samantha Drechsel had 13 kills, six blocks, and five digs. Marin Grote had 10 blocks, 11 kills with one error in 17 attacks to hit .588, and an assist. Madi Endsley had 11 kills, three digs, and four blocks, two solo. Ella May Powell had four kills in seven errorless tries, 48 assists, nine digs, and three blocks.

“I’m really pleased with our blocking at the net,” said Washington coach Keegan Cook, whose Huskies held a 17-8 blocking advantage, “as well as some good offensive play from Marin Grote and Samantha Drechsel. I thought they were both excellent today.

“It was a different kind of match, but we sided-out at a really high level again, which is something we’ve been working hard at for months, so I’m really pleased.”

Dani Drews had 21 kills for Utah to go with an assist, an ace, a block, and 15 digs. Kenzie Koerber had nine kills, an assist, two aces, 12 digs, and four blocks. Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres had three kills, 39 assists, 15 digs, and three blocks, one solo.

SEC — South Carolina (10-6) returned the favor and beat visiting Missouri (11-5) as Kyla Manning had 19 kills and Riley Whitesides 18. Manning hit .356 and had an assist, two aces, a block, and 12 digs in the 30-28, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18 victory. Kylie Deberg led Mizzou with 22 kills as she hit .333 and had an assist, two blocks, and 15 digs. Anna Dixon had 16 kills and two blocks, one solo. Andrea Fuentes had a kill, 53 assists, a block, and six digs … 

LSU (5-8) swept winless Ole Miss (0-13) 25-22, 27-25, 25-13 as Paige Flickinger had 20 kills, hit .405, and had an assist, two aces, a block, and three digs. Taylor Bannister had 12 kills, hit .333, and had two assists, three blocks, and six digs. Anna Bair had nine kills for Ole Miss as she hit .300 and had two blocks, and two digs …

And Alabama (6-10) hit .324 and Abby Marjama had 24 kills as the Crimson Tide beat visiting Mississippi State (4-10) 25-16, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21. Marjama hit .444 and had an assist, two aces, a block, and 10 digs. Gabby Waden had 17 kills and hit .316 for State to go with three digs and two blocks, one solo.

BIG 12 — While again playing off campus at a local high school, Texas (16-0) swept visiting Oklahoma (3-11) again. And again it was Logan Eggleston leading, this time with 15 kills as she hit .464 to go with two aces and seven digs. Melanie Parra, a freshman from Mexico who joined the Longhorns this semester, had 10 kills. OU’s Sanaá Dotson and Guewe Diouf had 14 kills apiece … 

Two others played non-league opponents. 

Texas State (26-3) of the Sun Belt hit .355 and swept at TCU (1-11). Caitlan Buettner led with 10 kills as she hit .400 and had a block and nine digs…. 

And Marquette (9-1) of the Big East swept visiting Iowa State (6-10) 25-15, 25-19, 29-27 in a match with something special. Hannah Vanden Berg led Marquette with 14 kills and hit .480 to go with two aces, a solo block, and two digs. Elizabeth Orf had 12 kills with one error in 19 attacks, 22 assists, a block, and a dig. Kaitlyn Lines had 11 kills, hit .409, and had an assist and three digs. Savannah Rennie had eight kills, hit .333, and had three digs and four blocks, one solo. And Sarah Rose opened the match with an ace. From the Marquette recap:

An honorary starter, Rose was recognized by the Golden Eagles for her battle against Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form or pediatric bone cancer. Marquette head coach Ryan Theis also recorded his 300th career win on Saturday afternoon and his 156th at MU.

Take a look at the special moment from our first serve of the match

What an ace, Sarah! No. 4 looks good on the court. #Gold4Sarah #muvb pic.twitter.com/ArxAtlhW5v

— Marquette Volleyball (@MarquetteVB) February 27, 2021

 

MOUNTAIN WEST — UNLV (6-0) kept winning, this time a four-set victory over visiting Boise State (6-2) as Mariena Hayden had 16 kills, 10 aces, a block, and 13 digs. Lauren Ohlingher had 15 kills for Boise State and a block and five digs … Utah State (1-5) bounced back at Fresno State (4-2) to win in four as Tatum Stall had 18 kills and Corinne Larsen 15 and six blocks. Amaria Kelly had 13 kills and Desiree Sukhov 12 for Fresno … Nevada swept at San Diego State, leaving both teams 3-5. Three players had seven kills for Nevada, including Sydney Peterson, who had seven blocks, three solo, Kassie McGill, who had five blocks, and Brianna Souza, who had seven blocks, one solo … Wyoming (5-3) beat visiting Colorado State (4-4) behind 20 kills by Emerson Cyza. KC McMahon had 13 kills, and Jackie McBride had 12 with one error in 18 swings and eight blocks, four solo. Breanna Runnels had 18 kills and three solo blocks for CSU … And New Mexico (3-5) won in five at Air Force (4-4). Kaitlynn Biassou had 16 kills, two assists, two aces, 14 digs, and two blocks. Kali Wolf had 14 kills, an assist, two aces, a block, and nine digs. Bailey Keith had 15 kills and three blocks for Air Force and Cambria Galloway had 14 kills, hiting .429. Jordan Daniels had 28 digs and five assists.

SOUTHLAND — Kailin Newsome had 26 kills, three assists, an ace, 16 digs, and two blocks, one solo, as Southeastern Louisiana (5-3, 3-2) won in five at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (6-2, 4-2). Sam Gomez had 19 kills and hit .417 and had an assist, two digs, and five blocks, two solo. Ansley Tullis had 22 digs and eight assists. Carissa Barnes had 42 digs for TAMUCC and two assists and an ace. Montez Uigaese had 14 kills and Hannah Froeschi and Kylie Filipiak had 12 each … Bethany Clapp had 24 kills as UIW (2-5, 2-3) beat visiting Nicholls State (0-7, 0-6) in five. Clapp hit .317 and had a block and five digs. Allison Palmi had 16 kills and Chase Jackson 15, Katie Jones had 21 kills and hit .405 for Nicholls … Central Arkansas (5-3, 3-2) swept visiting New Orleans (2-6, 2-4). Nine Sugar Bears had kills, including eight by Charlie Tidwell … Stephen F. Austin (18-4, 6-0) kept on rolling with a four-set win at Abilene Christian (5-3, 4-2) as four players had double-figure kills. Payton Cerny led with 12, six blocks, and two digs. Katelyn Mueller had 13 kills for ACU and three asists, two aces three blocks, and four digs … And Houston Baptist (4-6 3-1) swept visiting McNeese (2-4). Reagan Leinen led with 12 kills, an assist, two blocks, and a dig. Kendall Glueck had 12 kills and hit .391 for McNeese.

AROUND THE NATION — Florida State (6-3) of the ACC swept visiting Louisiana (17-8) of the Sun Belt as eight players had kills, including nine each by Morgan Chacon and Jasmyn Martin, who both hit .300. Martin had nine digs and three blocks. Marissa Stockmand had three kills and eight blocks. The Ragin’ Cajuns hit minus .072 …

There were two matches involving American Athletic Conference teams. In a league match, SMU (5-3, 1-3) won in five at Wichita State (8-1, 3-1) as Hannah Jacobs had 19 kills — including the last two points — in the 24-16, 18-25, 25-20, 25-19, 16-14 victory. Jacobs had three blocks, and six digs. Jadyn Bauss had 12 kills, a block, and 19 digs. SMU hit .156, while Wichita State hit .164. Makayla Miller had 29 digs, two assists, and an ace. Sophia Rohling led the Shockers with 18 kils and hit .417 to go with six blocks and three digs. Megan Taflinger had 13 kills, two aes, a block, and 14 digs. Sinalauli’i had 23 digs, eight assists, and an ace … Towson (2-0) of the Colonial won in four at the AAC’s Temple (6-4) as Nina Cajic had 15 kills, hit .324, and had three assists, an ace, five blocks, and 21 digs. Gem Grimshaw had 14 kills for Temple, to go with two assists, two blocks, and 13 digs … 

In the ASUN, FGCU (7-1, 5-1) swept visiting Jacksonville (2-6, 0-4) behind 15 kills from Erin Shomaker, who hit .355 and had four aces, four blocks, and eight digs …. Lipscomb (8-2, 5-1) got 18 kills from Kamryn Bacus and swept visiting Bellarmine (1-9, 0-6) … 

America East action Saturday was tough on NJIT (0-3,0-2). Albany (2-1, 1-0) beat the Highlanders in five as six Danes had seven or more kills, including 10 by Kamara Kelly, who had an assist, an ace, a block, and 23 digs. Udo Nwosu and Elley Torres had 14 kills each for NJIT. Then NJIT lost in four to New Hampshire, which was opening its season. Gabby Smith had 15 kills and hit .355 for UNH, while Torres has 13 kills  and 15 digs for NJIT …. Also in the AE, UMBC (2-0, 1-0) won in five at Stony Brook (0-4, 0-1) as Darina Kumanova had 23 kills, two assists, a block, and 18 digs. Stony Brook’s Nia Wattley had 114 kills, hit .462, and had two blocks, one solo … 

In the Atlantic 10, Davidson (2-5, 1-4) surprised visiting VCU (8-2, 3-1), winning in five as Remi Lehnertz led with 18 kills despite hitting .088. Davidson hit .175. Lehnertz aded two aces, 19 digs, and two blocks, one solo. Bella Brady had 30 digs, three assist, and two aces. Four VCU players had 10 or more kills, 16 each by Qairo Bentley and Paula Neciporuka, who had 26 digs, an assist, an ace, and two blocks. Alyna Draper had 25 digsd, two assists, and an ace … Rhode Island (3-4, 2-1) swept visiting George Washington (1-7, 0-5). Claire Chaplinsky led with 13 kills, an ace, and eight digs, and Natale Zanellato and Samantha Blahut had 11 kills each …

DePaul (3-3) swept its Big East match against visiting Butler (3-5, 0-2) as Donna Brown ad Jill Pressly had 10 kills each. Elana Brueggemann had 11 kills for Butler … Seton Hall (2-1) of the Big East beat visiting Sacred Heart (1-3) of the Northeast Conference in four as Perri Lucas had 18 kills, two assists, an ace, 11 digs, and a bloc. Tsvetelina Ilieva had 15 kills, two assist, an ace, 16 digs, and five blocks, and Madison Frusha had four kills and nine blocks, three solo. Jasmine Rogers had 15 kills, three assists, an ace, 11 digs, and two blocks for Sacred Heart and Felix Dominique had 14 kills, 14 digs, and two blocks, one solo … 

In the Big Sky, Weber State (10-0) , off to the best start in school history, beat visiting Sacramento State (5-5)  in four to win 10 in a row for the first time since 1988. Rylin Adams led with 20 kills, an ace, and 15 digs. Sam Schless had 17 kils, hit .464, and had five blocks, one solo. Dani Nay had 11 kills, two assists, two aces, and 23 digs. Macey Hayden led Sacramento State with 11 kills and 12 digs and Caty Cordano had 35 digs and five assists … Also in the Big Sky, Montana State (7-2) beat visiting Portland State (1-10, 0-9) as Kira Thomsen led with 17 kills, an assist, two aces, a block, and 26 digs. Parker Webb had 17 kills for Portland State and added an assist, two aces, three blocks, and 12 digs. Ellie Snook had 30 digs, six assists, and an ace … 

The Big South saw unbeaten Campbell (5-0) sweep at Winthrop (2-3) as the Fighting Camels hit .303. Lailah Green led with 16 kills and hit .448 to go with an assist, two blocks, and 14 digs … UNC Asheville (1-4) swept its Big South match at Gardner-Webb (2-5) as Peyton McClinton had 12 kills, hit .301, and had six digs and three blocks, one solo. Audrey Gun had 12 kills for G-W … 

The lone Conference USA match saw UAB (5-5, 4-3) hit .356 and sweep winless Louisiana Tech (0-12, 0-5). Alex Kells led with 14 kills and hit .458 and added an ace, a block, and six digs … 

William & Mary (2-0) won its Colonial Athletic Association match over visiting Elon (0-3, 0-2) in four despite 24 kills by Leah Daniel, who hit .408 and had an assist, an ace, a block, and eight digs. W&M got 18 kills each from Julia Brown and Kate Dedrick, who had 13 digs … 

In the Patriot League, Navy (2-0) beat visiting Loyola Maryland (0-2) in five as Maggie Bodman led four players with double-figure kills with 12. She had one error in 18 attacks to hit .611 and had five blocks, one solo. Abby Hamilton had 17 kills for Loyola.

MEN — After getting swept there on Thursday, BYU (6-2) was having none of it the second time around and swept their MPSF match at Grand Canyon (2-4) on Saturday. BYU hit .388 in the 25-19, 25-19, 25-13 victory as Gabi Garcia Fernandez and Davide Gardini had 11 kills each. Garcia Fernandez hit .429 with two errors in 21 attacks, and had three aces, six blocks, and two digs, and Gardini hit .588 with one error in 17 attacks and added an ace and three digs … 

In the only MIVA match Saturday, Martin Lallemand had 21 kills, hit .375, and had two assists, an ace, seven digs and two blocks, one solo, as Ohio State (5-6, 4-3) won in five at Ball State (7-2, 4-1). The Buckeyes hit .341. Sotiris Siapanis had 18 kills and hit .400 to go with nine digs and four blocks, and Jacob Pasteur had 14 kills, seven digs, and three blocks. Kaleb Jenness had 16 kills, an ace, seven digs, and two blocks for Ball State. Bryce Behrendt had 13 kills, two assists, an ace, six digs, and three blocks …

Penn State (10-2, 7-1) swept visiting George Mason (7-3, 4-2)  in their EIVA match as the Nittany Lions hit .329. Cal Fisher and Brett Wildman had 11 kills each for Penn State. Fisher had two aces and four digs. Wildman had one error in 19 attacks, hit .529, and had seven digs and an ace. Mason’s Hayden Wagner had 10 kills and hit .333 … Also in the EIVA, Charleston (4-4) won in four at Sacred Heart (0-6). Ismael Sneed led wity 11 kills as he hit .400 and had an ace, two digs, and a block. Nicholas Palluzzi had 13 kills and five digs for Sacred Heart …

The lone Conference Carolinas match saw North Greenville (6-2, 4-2) sweep at Lees-McRae (0-7, 0-5).

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