Wild Opening Weekend of Women’s College Volleyball Crowns Wisconsin as New No. 1 (United Latest News)
What a crazy opening week of volleyball! 🏐@BadgerVB takes the No. 1 spot in @michellachester‘s Power 10 after the first week of volleyball 🙌#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/cwJooZQlRI
— NCAA Women’s Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) August 28, 2023
(United Latest News)- Wisconsin has claimed the spot, in women’s college volleyball after a thrilling and unpredictable opening weekend. The competition saw victories with Long Beach State’s top-ranked Texas and several other top 10 teams facing early setbacks. To get insights into this start to the season we turn to Michelle Chester from NCAA Digital.
1. Wisconsin
The Badgers seized their chance to rise to the number one position after Texass loss dominating the 10 Big 12 Challenge with impressive wins over Baylor and TCU both ending in scores of 3 1 and 3 0 respectively. In their season opener against Baylor, Sarah Franklin made a comeback from a battle with blood clots. As a hitter, she led the Badgers with seven kills in the first set while they overwhelmed Baylor with a 424 kill percentage, for a comfortable victory. The day Wisconsin went further by sweeping past the Horned Frogs without dropping any sets. Julia Orzol showcased her skills with eight kills and 11 digs while Devyn Robinson as the blocker played a role by delivering an impressive game-high of 15 kills.
Wisconsin showcased its depth by dominating opponents over the weekend, which also led to their top ranking, in Monday’s AVCA rankings.
2. Stanford
Stanford faced some challenges against two promising teams from Colorado. Managed to secure comfortable victories allowing them to move up in Chesters rankings. The first match against Northern Colorado started off with the home team taking an 8-4 lead in a packed gym. Despite the setback Stanford. Narrowly won the first set 25 22 before comfortably winning the second set. The Cardinal had to dig in a thrilling set that ended with a close 32-30 victory over Northern Colorado.
Another one for the W column‼️#GoStanford x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/9NaVuNZII4
— Stanford Women’s Volleyball (@StanfordWVB) August 27, 2023
Continuing their road trip Stanford then faced off against Colorado State, who managed to take the set with a score of 25 20. However, Stanford. Dominated the set to remain undefeated as they headed back to California. Kami Miner, the setter for Stanford delivered a performance in Colorado with a total of 88 assists and 12 digs across both matches. Additionally, Kendall Kipp impressed everyone with her debut performance. Recorded 21 kills.
Looking ahead Stanford’s competition will intensify as they prepare for matches against the top 15 teams from Florida and Texas this week.
3. Louisville
Louisville holds the spot, in the rankings.
Over the weekend the Louisville team delivered a performance by defeating Washington State in sets. Despite Washington State’s roster with 10, out of 14 players being juniors or seniors many expected them to cause an upset against the Cardinals who had integrated players. However, from the beginning of the match, Louisville took control. Secured a 25-19 victory in the first set. The additions to their team during the offseason seamlessly blended with years of championship veterans. Anna DeBeer stood out with her 17 kills and 17 digs while Charitie Luper, a transfer from UCLA made a debut. Louisville only fell behind twice throughout the night. Achieved a clinical 3 0 sweep.
4. Nebraska
In another game, Nebraska displayed their dominance by defeating Utah State in all sets with scores of 25 and 17. The balanced Husker attack was orchestrated by freshman Bergen Reilly who provided assistance with 26 assists along with contributing seven digs and four kills personally. No player, from Nebraska recorded more than nine kills during this match.
Lipscomb faced a challenge on Saturday as Nebraska took control early and built a lead of 19 6. Despite a setback, in the set Nebraska managed to turn things around with a remarkable 9-0 run. The Huskers completed the sweep in the set. Are now eagerly looking forward to Wednesday’s game where they aim to set a new attendance record for women’s volleyball.
5. Texas
In a surprising turn of events top-ranked Texas suffered a defeat against unranked Long Beach State on the opening night of volleyball season. Long Beach State showcased their dominance by securing wins with runs of 7 1 and 4 0 in the third and fourth sets respectively ultimately claiming victory by winning three sets out of four. The victory was more special as it took place in front of a Long Beach States crowd in twenty years.
To reassure any Texas fans it is worth noting that star middle blocker Asjia O’Neal was absent from the lineup for this game along with a performance, from freshman Ella Swindle who contributed greatly with 32 assists and five digs.
6. Minnesota
Following Wisconsin’s lead in dominating the 10-12 challenge Minnesota achieved similar success by sweeping Baylor and winning against TCU in four sets. The Gophers outside hitter, Mckenna Wucherer, who was once the recruit, in the class of 2022 received a deserved MVP award for her outstanding performance at the Big 10 Big 12 Challenge. Throughout the opening weekend, she managed to achieve a total of 30 kills. The Gophers showed improvement as the weekend progressed culminating in a third set against Baylor on Saturday. In that set UM finished with an 8-0 run to secure a sweep and ended with a score of 25 11.
Although Minnesota fans may have hoped for a ranking in Chester’s rankings they can look forward to a match against No. 5 Texas that gives them an opportunity to prove themselves.
7. Oregon
Moving on to Oregons performance they have risen by two spots in Chester’s rankings after a series of victories over opponents. Playing from their home ground in Eugene the Ducks faced off against No. 13 San Diego in contested opening sets. However thanks to some runs by Oregon they managed to edge past their opponents before dominating and winning convincingly with a score of 25 13.
Mighty start.@OregonVB begins the season 3-0, sweeping their matches this past weekend at the Rainbow Wahine Classic. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/6G63Pu7mz1
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) August 28, 2023
Continuing their dominance over Big Ten oppositions visiting their turf Oregon swept Northwestern without dropping any sets by, than seven points. The team showcased skills. Achieved an impressive hitting percentage of.420 against the Wildcats. The combination of transfers and returning players has come together seamlessly for Oregons success.
8. Florida
The Florida volleyball team had a match, against Penn State on the night of college volleyball season. Despite a start in the set the Gators made a remarkable comeback and won the game in four sets against their top 10 opponents. Freshmen players Kira Hutson and Kennedy Martin were instrumental in securing the victory with their combined tally of 30 kills.
Fun First Weekend 🥳 pic.twitter.com/GBRDFPzCrR
— Gators Volleyball (@GatorsVB) August 28, 2023
The night Florida faced off against USF in Tampa, where they broke a program attendance record with 7,000 fans packing into Yuengling Center to support them. After falling behind 2 1 the Gators showed resilience and dominated the last two sets to secure another win. Their hitting performance improved significantly from their match against Penn State achieving a 350 figure against USF.
9. BYU
In Chesters Week 2 rankings BYU emerged as the addition after defeating Pitt in four sets on Friday. Erin Livingston played well with a standout performance of 19 digs and 11 kills. Her contribution helped propel the Cougars to bounce back from a setback and secure dominant victories, in the remaining three sets.
The Cougars also handled their match, against UT Rio Grande Valley in four sets the day solidifying their position in Chesters ten rankings.
10. Pittsburgh
Lastly, we have Pitt, who will be hoping that their setback in the opening game leads to a level of success as year when the Panthers made it to the Final Four. Pitt vented their frustrations from the game on Montana by defeating them in straight sets and showcased a defensive performance, by Emmy Klika, who accumulated 31 digs.