Penn State's Megan Hodge is the fifth player ever to be a four-time first-team AVCA All-American

The AVCA announced its All-America teams today, with 42 student-athletes (three teams of 14) being recognized as All-Americans (full listing here). Highlighting the announcement is Penn State senior outside hitter Megan Hodge, who became just the fifth player in Division I history to be selected to the AVCA All-America First Team on four occasions. That pantheon of stars features a Stanford trio - Bev Oden (1989-92), Kerri Walsh (1996-99) and Logan Tom (1999-2002) - plus Nebraska's Sarah Pavan (2004-07), and now Hodge.

Here are some other notes about the selections:
• Four other players were tabbed first-team All-Americans for the second year in a row: Cal senior outside hitter Hana Cutura, Penn State senior setter Alisha Glass and the Texas senior duo of setter/hitter Ashley Engle and outside hitter Destinee Hooker.
• PSU had four selections on the first team (Hodge, Glass and juniors Blair Brown and Arielle Wilson), while Texas was the only other school to have more than one.
• Hawai'i outside hitter Kanani Danielson is the only sophomore on the first team.
• Junior libero Ashley Mass - the only primarily defensive player on the first team - gives Iowa State its first-ever AVCA first-team All-American, while junior setter Lexi Zimmerman is Michigan's first first-team honoree.
• Junior setter/hitter Cassidy Lichtman became the 40th Stanford player to be tabbed an AVCA first-team All-American. No school has had more honorees (Nebraska is next at 37).
• No freshman was tabbed an All-American this year (though nine were listed as honorable mention), but UCLA setter Lauren Cook was recognized as the AVCA Freshman of the Year.
• Seniors Brianna Barry (Florida State) and Rachel Rourke (Oregon State) were both tabbed to the All-America second team to become the first AVCA All-Americans in the history of their respective programs.
• Juniors Lindsay Fletemier (Dayton) and Ashley Benson (Indiana) also became the first AVCA All-Americans ever for their schools - having both been third-team selections.

We'll be able to watch many of the players earning All-America recognition on the court this week. Here are the players from the remaining teams that earned AVCA mention:
• PENN STATE - Blair Brown (1st team, Jr., RS/OPP); Alisha Glass (1st, Sr., S); Megan Hodge (1st, Sr., OH); Arielle Wilson (1st, Jr., MB); Darcy Dorton (honorable mention, Fr., OH)
• HAWAI'I - Kanani Danielson (1st team, So., OH); Aneli Cubi-Otineru (3rd, Sr., OH); Amber Kaufman (honorable mention, Sr., MB); Dani Mafua (honorable mention, Jr., S)
• MINNESOTA - Lauren Gibbemeyer (1st team, Jr., MB); Taylor Carico (3rd, Sr., S)
• TEXAS - Ashley Engle (1st team, Sr., S/H); Destinee Hooker (1st, Sr., OH); Juliann Faucette (3rd, Jr., OH)

Tabitha Love and Minnesota gave the Big Ten a pair of final four teams for the first time since 1994

Saturday's all-day, nationally-televised volleyball extravaganza determined finally which four teams will head to Tampa next week for the final two rounds of the NCAA Championship. The quarterfinals were compelling, if not exceedingly competitive - and they have set up a championship weekend that promises some of the matchups we've been hoping for all season. That's because, after 60 matches, the field for Tampa includes the three teams that have occupied the top three spots of the AVCA poll since Oct. 12 - Penn State, Texas and Hawai'i. They will be joined by 13th-ranked and 11th-seeded Minnesota, a team that has gotten hot at the right time of the season, beating four ranked teams on its current seven-match winning streak.

Saturday's first match went as we've come to expect every match involving Penn State to go. The top-seeded Nittany Lions flexed their muscle once again en route to defeating ninth-seeded California 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 and advancing to the semifinals for the third straight year and eighth time overall. It was the 100th consecutive victory for PSU - the second longest NCAA Division I streak in any sport (the University of Miami's men's tennis team won 137 in a row from 1957-64) - and the third consecutive year that Cal's season was ended by the Nittany Lions. PSU senior outside hitter Megan Hodge, the regional's Most Outstanding Player, led the way with 14 kills on .429 hitting. Penn State head coach Russ Rose earned his 999th career victory as a head coach and will look to become just the third DI coach (along with UCLA's Andy Banachowski and Hawai'i's Dave Shoji) to win 1,000 matches. Cal senior outside hitter Hana Cutura finished her career with a match-high 16 kills.

Minnesota became the only regional host to advance through this year after knocking off third-seeded Florida State 25-20, 25-7, 18-25, 25-17 in the quarterfinals. Freshman outside hitter Tabitha Love had a match-high 21 kills on .370 hitting to lead the Gophers to their first four appearance since 2004 (and third overall). Minnesota also used 73 digs and eight blocks to hold the Seminoles - who had won 19 in a row - to .179 hitting. Senior libero Christine Tan led that effort with 24 digs. Love was named the regional's top player after averaging 5.38 kills per set on .402 hitting in the two matches.

A crowd of 9,253 showed up in the final of the "Big 12" regional in Omaha to watch 10th-seeded Nebraska try to knock off second-seeded Texas, and the Huskers rode that energy to an opening-set win, but the Longhorns would then take control and post a 21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 victory. UT senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker, the regional's Most Outstanding Player, led the way with 18 kills on .350 hitting, while Ashley Engle and Michelle Kocher set the Longhorns to a .342 team mark. Texas, which reached the semifinals for the second year in a row, became the first team to beat Nebraska three times in the same season since the inception of NCAA women's volleyball in 1981. The loss by the Cornhuskers means that this will be just the third time ever that the volleyball final four does not feature at least one of the three winningest programs in the history of the tournament (Stanford, Nebraska and UCLA). The only other times that none of that trio has been in the semifinals were 1993 and 2003.

In the last quarterfinal match, third-ranked Hawai'i - which garnered just the No. 12 seed in the tournament due to a relatively-low RPI - swept 13th-seeded Michigan 25-23, 25-19, 25-18 in Stanford, Calif. The Rainbow Wahine were led again by sophomore outside hitter Kananai Danielson - who was named the regional's top player - with 11 kills and four digs, while Michigan sophomore rightside Alex Hunt had a match-high 13 kills on .394 hitting. Hawai'i, now winners of 27 in a row, overcame a very difficult draw to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2003 and ninth time overall. The Rainbow Wahine had to travel to Los Angeles for the opening weekend and were forced to defeat 15th-ranked (but unseeded) USC on the Trojans' home floor in the second round before facing fifth-seeded and eighth-ranked Illinois in the round of 16.

Tampa could be the venue of history if Penn State becomes the first volleyball team ever to win a third consecutive national title. But the 2009 final four is guaranteed to be historic even if that doesn't happen. The NCAA first sponsored a women's volleyball national championship in 1981, and the old AIAW did so before that, dating back to 1970. During that entire time, every national championship tournament at the highest level of competition (Division I, Large College, etc.) has featured at least one team from California in the semifinals ... until now. Seven teams from the Golden State qualified for this year's tournament, and three were top-10 seeds. But only a pair - Stanford and Cal - reached the second weekend. The Cardinal was upset in the round of 16, and the Golden Bears were the latest victim of the Nittany Lions' NCAA-record string of victories - leaving this year's final four without a team from California - which has seen its teams claim 25 national championships (17 NCAA, 8 AIAW) and lose in the titl match on 22 occasions (16 NCAA, 6 AIAW).

(Note that the AIAW did still sponsor a national tournament in 1981 that was open to teams that had not begun NCAA play in women's volleyball, and that tournament - won by Texas - did not feature a California team in the semifinals. The main reason for that was that most California teams had already jumped to the NCAA - as evidenced by the fact that the first NCAA women's volleyball championship, in 1981, featured not only four California teams in the final four, but seven among the quarterfinalists.)

The semifinals are set for Thursday, Dec. 17, in Tampa. No. 1 Penn State will take on third-ranked and 12th-seeded Hawai'i, while No. 2 Texas will face 11th-seeded and 13th-ranked Minnesota. Both matches - scheduled to begin at 7 and 9 p.m. ET (though the order of the matches has yet to be determined) - will be televised live by ESPN2. The championship match will be played on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2. For details on every match of the tournament, check out NCAA.com's interactive bracket.

We'll have extensive coverage of all of the activities in Tampa right here on the NCAA.com women's volleyball blog. So check back throughout the week for notes, extensive previews and updates on what's going on at the final four.

CONFERENCE UPDATE
With just four teams remaining, the Big Ten is the only conference with multiple squads still alive to win the NCAA title this season. It's the first time since 1994 (Ohio State and Penn State) that two Big Ten teams among the final four. The Big 12 has a representative in the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five seasons (all but 2007), while the WAC has one of the last four for the first time since 2003 (and sixth time overall). One of the most-noteworthy aspects of this year's final four, though will be who is NOT there. This will be just the third final four (out of 29) - and first since 1998 - that does not feature a Pac-10 team.

Below are the records for teams from each conference in this year's tournament (minimum two tournament qualifiers or one tournament win):
Western Athletic (1 team): 4-0, 1.000, 1 left (Hawai'i)
Big Ten (6 teams): 14-4, .778, 2 left (Minnesota, Penn State)
Big 12 (6 teams): 13-5, .722, 1 left (Texas)
Southeastern (4 teams): 6-4, .600, 0 left
Pac-10 (8 teams): 9-8, .529, 0 left
Mountain West (3 teams): 3-3, .500, 0 left
Missouri Valley (2 teams): 2-2, .500, 0 left
Ivy League (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Mid-American (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Ohio Valley (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
West Coast (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Atlantic Coast (5 teams): 3-5, .375, 0 left
Atlantic 10 (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Sun Belt (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Big West (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
Conference USA (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
BIG EAST (3 teams): 0-3, .000, 0 left

Lexi Zimmerman and Michigan advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time

Round-of-16 Friday had a little bit of everything, from convincing sweeps for a few teams to a great five-setter and three lower-seeded teams that got it done. After the dust settled, we were down to just eight teams remaining, with all of the top three seeds advancing through to be joined by five teams seeded between Nos. 9-13.

The Stanford regional produced the most surprising results, as both lower-seeded squads prevailed. Michigan, the No. 13 seed, knocked off the host and fourth-seeded Cardinal 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11 to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament for the first time ever. Lexi Zimmerman set the Wolverines to 65 kills (16.25 per set) and a .358 hitting mark and added 10 kills on .500 hitting and eight digs. Alex Hunt posted 18 kills on .368 hitting and 14 digs for the Wolverines. Stanford had played in each of the last three NCAA championship matches and has qualified for 18 of the 28 final fours. The other match at Stanford saw 12th-seeded (but third-ranked) Hawai'i earn a measure of vindication with a 21-25, 25-10, 27-25, 25-16 win over fifth-seeded (and eighth-ranked) Illinois. Kanani Danielson led the Wahine with a match-high 21 kills and 13 digs, while Stephanie Ferrell had 19 kills on .412 hitting.

In the "Big 12" regional in Omaha, 10th-seeded Nebraska fed of a crowd of 8,935 supporters to sweep seventh-seeded Iowa State 25-11, 25-19, 25-22. Sydney Anderson led a blanaced Huskers attack that made just 10 errors, hit .324 and had four players with nine or more kills. But the big story was NU's defense - which held Iowa State to a .096 hitting mark. Kayla Banwarth paced that effort with 15 digs. Texas cruised past Texas A&M (25-18, 25-18, 25-21) in the other match in Omaha, as Destinee Hooker pounded 23 kills on .465 hitting to go with seven digs and five blocks in the three-set affair.

The lone match on Friday that went the distance saw third-seeded Florida State eventually prevail over Kentucky by scores of 16-25, 26-24, 25-17, 19-25, 17-15. Rachel Morgan led the Seminoles with 15 kills, while Jenna Romanelli posted a match-best 25 digs for the Seminoles - who had been just 1-11 in the NCAA tournament prior to this season. The host of that regional, 11th-seeded Minnesota, had 101 digs en route to beating Colorado State 25-22, 29-27, 23-25, 25-18. Freshman Tabitha Love led the offense with 22 kills on .439 hitting, while Jessica Granquist notched a match-high 21 digs.

Top-seeded Penn State had to play a true road match against Florida, but was hardly challenged in winning 25-12, 25-18, 25-21 over the 16th-seeded Gators. Megan Hodge had 20 kills on .366 hitting and 10 digs for the Lions. Ninth-seeded Cal won the other match in Gainesville, topping Baylor 26-24, 25-20, 25-17 behind 18 kills on .362 hitting from Hana Cutura.

CONFERENCE UPDATE
The balance of power among the top conferences has shifted once again. The Pac-10 appeared to be the class of the country throughout most of the regular season, having as much as 80% of its membership ranked at a single time en route to getting eight teams in the tournament. But after the opening weekend, it was the Big 12 that led all leagues with five squads remaining (including a pair of unseeded teams that upset seeded opponents on their home floors. Now, as we refocus again on which conference has produced the most elite teams this season, we find that three of the final eight teams - Penn State, Minnesota and Michigan - are from the Big Ten.

Below are the records for teams from each conference in this year's tournament (minimum two tournament qualifiers or one tournament win):
Western Athletic (1 team): 3-0, 1.000, 1 left (Hawai'i)
Big Ten (6 teams): 12-3, .800, 3 left (Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State)
Big 12 (6 teams): 12-4, .750, 2 left (Nebraska, Texas)
Southeastern (4 teams): 6-4, .600, 0 left
Pac-10 (8 teams): 9-7, .563, 1 left (California)
Mountain West (3 teams): 3-3, .500, 0 left
Missouri Valley (2 teams): 2-2, .500, 0 left
Ivy League (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Mid-American (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Ohio Valley (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
West Coast (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Atlantic Coast (5 teams): 3-4, .429, 1 left (Florida State)
Atlantic 10 (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Sun Belt (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Big West (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
Conference USA (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
BIG EAST (3 teams): 0-3, .000, 0 left

Today we'll find out which teams will head to Tampa next week for the final four. All four NCAA quarterfinals will be televised live by ESPNU (click here to see what channel it is for you), beginning at 4 p.m. ET. As always, NCAA.com's interactive bracket has complete coverage of every matchup.

(1) PENN STATE VS. (9) CALIFORNIA
Quarterfinals - Gainesville, Florida - 4 p.m. ET - ESPNU
Nittany Lions Basics: 35-0, 20-0 Big Ten (1st), 2nd in RPI, 1st in AVCA poll, won NCAA-record 99 in a row (since losing to Stanford on 9/5/07 in New Haven, Conn.), 4-0 at neutral sites (won 13 in a row), 63-25 all-time in NCAAs, including seven final fours and titles in 1999, 2007 and '08 (appeared in all 29 tournaments), defeated Binghamton (25-9, 25-13, 25-14) in first round at home, Penn (25-20, 25-17, 25-16) in the second round at home and 16th-seeded Florida (25-12, 25-18, 25-21) in the round of 16 on the Gators' home floor
Golden Bears Basics: 21-10, 11-7 Pac-10 (4th), 8th in RPI, 10th in AVCA poll, 9-2 in last 11, 4-3 at neutral sites, 10-8 away from home, 20-12 all-time in NCAAs, including a trip to the 2007 final four (8th consecutive appearance; 13th overall), defeated Lipscomb (25-15, 25-22, 25-9) in the first round, Ohio State (25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20) in the second round on the Buckeyes' home floor and Baylor (26-24, 25-20, 25-17) in the round of 16
The Series: Penn State leads 2-0, with both previous meetings coming in the last two NCAA tournaments. PSU won 30-28, 30-25, 30-16 in the 2007 NCAA quarterfinals and prevailed 25-21, 25-21, 25-17 in the '08 round of 16.
Common Opponents: 2-Ohio State and Saint Louis. Penn State is 3-0 (beat OSU 3-1 in Columbus on Oct. 7 and 3-0 at home on Oct. 28; beat SLU 3-0 in St. Louis on Aug. 29). Cal is 1-0 (beat OSU 3-1 in Columbus on Dec. 5 in the NCAA second round; lost 3-0 to SLU on Sept. 5 in Honolulu)
Notes: This is a matchup of two of the three teams with the highest hitting percentages thus far in this year's tournament. Penn State is first at .434, while Cal is third at .378. The Nittany Lions also ranks third in points per set (19.8) in this year's tournament, as well as second in aces (1.6) and fifth in blocks (3.1). PSU senior outside hitter Megan Hodge is a three-time first-team All-American, while senior setter Alisha Glass is a two-time All-American (1st team in '08) and juniors Blair Brown and Arielle Wilson were second-team All-Americans last season. Hodge, the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2006 and '09, also was selected as the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year. PSU outside hitter Darcy Dorton is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Penn State leads the nation in hitting percentage (.393) and ranks second in blocking (3.26) and eighth in both assists (13.71) and kills (14.71). Wilson leads the country in hitting percentage (.561) and is second in blocks (1.58). Hodge ranks eighth in kills (4.70) and hitting percentage (.399) and 11th in points (5.17) - while Glass is sixth in assists (11.94) after being first a year ago. Hodge, Glass, Wilson, Dorton and sophomore Blair Brown are AVCA All-Mideast Region honorees. Cal senior outside hitter Hana Cutura, a first-team All-American last year and this year's Pac-10 Player of the Year, has the highest season kill average of any player in this year's tournament (5.12; 3rd overall) and is second in points (5.63; 4th overall). She was named to the AVCA All-Pacific Region team for the third straight year, while junior setter Carli Lloyd - a second-team All-American in 2008 - is an all-region pick for the second year in a row. Cal's Mindi Wiley is tied for first among all remaining players - along with Texas' Destinee Hooker and PSU's Arielle Wilson - in hitting percentage in this year's tournament (.526; T-3rd overall). Cutura ranks second among all players in the tournament in kills (57) and third in points (63.0). As a team, Cal ranks second in the tournament in blocks (3.3).

(3) FLORIDA STATE AT (11) MINNESOTA
Quarterfinals - Minneapolis, Minnesota - 6:30 p.m. ET - ESPNU
Seminoles Basics: 31-2, 19-1 ACC (1st), 3rd in RPI, 12th in AVCA poll, won 19 in a row, 11-1 in true road matches, 15-1 away from home, 4-11 all-time in NCAAs (1st appearance since 2002; 12th overall), defeated Alabama A&M (25-10, 25-19, 25-10) at home in first round, Jacksonville State (25-18, 26-24, 25-22) at home in the second round and Kentucky (16-25, 26-24, 25-17, 19-25, 17-15) in the round of 16
Gophers Basics: 27-8, 15-5 Big Ten (3rd), 13th in RPI, 13th in AVCA poll, 10-1 in last 11, 13-1 at home, 29-14 all-time in NCAAs, including two final fours (11th appearance in a row; 15th overall), defeated Louisville (25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 25-22) in the first round, Tennessee (25-15, 25-16, 25-18) in the second round on the Lady Vols' home floor and Colorado State (25-22, 29-27, 23-25, 25-18) at home in the round of 16
The Series: Minnesota leads 8-5.
Common Opponents: 2-Georgia Tech and Illinois. FSU is 2-1 (lost 3-2 to Georgia Tech at home on Oct. 2 and won 3-0 in Atlanta on Nov. 14; beat Illinois 3-0 in Las Cruces, N.M., on Sept. 4). Minnesota is 2-1 (beat Georgia Tech 3-1 in Denver on Sept. 19; lost Illinois 3-0 in Champaign on Oct. 16 and beat the Illini 3-0 at home on Nov. 28). Notes: FSU senior middle blocker Brianna Barry, the ACC Player of the Year, ranks second in the nation in hitting percentage (.511). The Seminoles are fourth in Division I in both team hitting percentage (.307) and third in winning percentage (.938). Senior Mira Djuric is tops among all players in the tournament in season ace average (0.57; 6th overall) and in aces in the tournament (9). FSU is averaging 1.6 aces per set in the tournament - which ranks third among all teams. Jordana Price has five solo blocks in the tournament - which is tied for the most among all players - and Barry has four. Minnesota is third among remaining teams in blocking (2.78; 11th overall). Minnesota junior Lauren Gibbemeyer, a third-team All-American last year, is among the national leaders in four categories: blocks (7th; 1.50), hitting percentage (9th; .398), points (82nd; 4.25) and kills (161st; 3.32). Junior Hailey Cowles was a second-team All-American last year, while junior Christine Tan was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in '08. The Gophers are averaging 17.3 kills per set, 20.3 digs, 16.3 assists and 21.1 points per set in the tournament - all of those are tops among all teams. Taylor Carico has 146 assists in the tournament, which is more than any other player.

(2) TEXAS AT (10) NEBRASKA
Quarterfinals - Omaha, Nebraska - 9 p.m. ET - ESPNU
Longhorns Basics: 27-1, 19-1 Big 12 (1st), 1st in RPI, 2nd in AVCA poll, won 9 in a row, 4-0 at neutral sites, 15-1 away from home, 56-24 all-time in NCAAs, including five final fours and the 1988 title (6th appearance in a row; 26th overall), defeated Texas State (25-16, 25-14, 25-14) at home in the first round, TCU (25-15, 25-14, 25-18) at home in the second round and Texas A&M (25-18, 25-18, 25-21) in the round of 16
Cornhuskers Basics: 26-6, 16-4 Big 12 (3rd), 10th in RPI, 10th in AVCA poll, won 10 in a row (4 vs. ranked teams), 4-1 at neutral sites, 2-1 in Omaha, 80-24 all-time in NCAAs, including 11 final fours and titles in 1995, 2000 and '06 (28th consecutive appearance), defeated Coastal Carolina (25-13, 25-18, 25-15) at home in the first round, Northern Iowa (25-14, 25-17, 25-21) at home in the second round and seventh-seeded Iowa State (25-11, 25-19, 25-22) in the round of 16
The Series: Nebraska leads 29-15, but Texas has won the last three
2009 Meetings: Texas won 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 in Lincoln on Sept. 26 to snap Nebraska's 82-match winning streak at the NU Coliseum. Texas won 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 in Austin on Oct. 30.
Notes: Texas is trying to become the first team to beat Nebraska three times in a season since the inception of NCAA volleyball in 1981. UT senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker is the Big 12 Player of the Year this year after being a first-team All-American in 2008 (and a second-team selection in 2007). She also is a thre-time NCAA champion in the high jump. Hooker, senior setter/opposite hitter Ashley Engle and junior outside hitter/opposite Juliann Faucette are AVCA all-Central Region selections. Hooker is first among players in the tournament in season point average (5.90; 3rd overall in DI), as well as second in season kill average (4.88; 5th overall). Texas ranks second to Penn State among all DI teams in hitting percentage (.339) and winning percentage (.963), as well as second to PSU among remaining teams in blocks (3.04; 5th overall). In this year's tournament, Texas ranks second among all teams in blocking (3.2) and points per set (20.2), as well as fourth in hitting percentage (.399) and kills per set (15.7). In NCAA tournament play, Nebraska is tops among all remaining teams in dig average (18.2), as well as fifth among all teams in points per set (19.4) and third in kill average (15.8). NU's Kayla Banwarth has 58 digs in the tournament - which is second-most among all players. Nebraska senior Kori Cooper has been a first-team Academic All-American in both of the last two seasons. Nebraska junior setter Sydney Anderson and junior outside hitter Tara Mueller were second-team All-Americans last year. Anderson ranks 12th in Division I in assists this season (11.57). Outside hitter Hannah Werth is the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. As a team, the Huskers are 9th in assists (13.71) and 9th in kills (14.70).

(12) HAWAI'I VS. (13) MICHIGAN
Quarterfinals - Stanford, California - 11:30 p.m. ET - ESPNU
Rainbow Wahine Basics: 31-2, 16-0 WAC (1st), WAC tournament champion, 22nd in RPI, 3rd in AVCA poll, won 27 in a row, 4-0 at neutral sites, 13-0 away from home, 68-24 all-time in NCAAs, including eight final fours and titles in 1982, '83 and '87 (17th consecutive appearance; 28th overall), defeated New Mexico (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) in the first round, USC (25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 27-25) in the second round on the Trojans' home floor and Illinois (21-25, 25-10, 27-25, 25-16) in the round of 16
Wolverines Basics: 27-9, 12-8 Big Ten (T-4th), 9th in RPI, 16th in AVCA poll, 8-2 in last 10, 4-0 at neutral sites, 12-5 away from home, 12-9 all-time in NCAAs (4th consecutive appearance; 10th overall), defeated Niagara (25-4, 25-12, 25-15) at home in the first round, Ohio (30-32, 24-26, 25-13, 25-20, 15-13) at home in the second round and fourth-seeded Stanford (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11) in the round of 16
The Series: Hawai'i leads 2-1, but Michigan won the most-recent meeting (30-14, 30-28, 22-30, 27-30, 18-16 in Honolulu on 8/24/07)
Common Opponents: 2-Illinois and Stanford. Hawai'i is 2-0 (beat Illinois 3-1 at Stanford on Dec. 11 in NCAA round of 16; beat Stanford 3-0 at home on Sept. 12). Michigan is 1-2 (lost 3-2 to Illinois on Oct. 3 in Ann Arbor and lost 3-1 to Illinois on Nov. 6 in Champaignbeat Stanford 3-0 on Dec. 11 at Stanford in NCAA round of 16)
Notes: Hawai'i is among the national top 16 in five statistical categories: 3rd in hitting percentage (.316) and winning percentage (.938), 11th in kills (14.61), 12th in assists (13.58) and 16th in aces (1.73). Individually, Amber Kaufman is fourth in Division I in hitting percentage (.434), Dani Mafua is 11th in assists (11.78) and Aneli Cubi-Otineru is among the national leaders in four categories, including 11th in service aces (0.50). Kanani Danielson is the WAC Player of the Year, while Brittany Hewitt is the WAC Freshman of the Year. Danielson leads all players in this year's tournament in points (66) and kills (61). Hewitt leads all players with 19 blocks in this year's tournament. U-M ranks among the top 45 in the nation in five statistical categories, including 31st in kills (13.94). Michigan setter Lexi Zimmerman was a second-team All-American last year. Veronica Rood has five solo blocks in this year's tournament - which is tied for the most by any player.

Fatma Yildirim and Florida State are in the round of 16 for the first time

The final spot in the round of 16 will be filled by third-seeded Florida State, after the Seminoles beat Jacksonville State 25-18, 26-24, 25-22 on Sunday in the only match of the tournament. It was a match full of great offense, as senior Nikki Baker and freshman Duygu Duzceler led Florida State to 48 kills on .408 hitting, and JSU had 50 kills on .345 hitting behind the setting of junior Brooke Schumacher. But FSU won the key points to become the first ACC team to reach the round of 16 since Georgia Tech did so in 2004. It's the first trip to that round ever for the 'Noles - who came into this year with a 1-11 all-time record in the tournament.

So as it turned out, 12 seeded teams and four unseeded squads (Baylor, Colorado State, Kentucky and Texas A&M) made it through the opening weekend. Eleven teams that hosted action this weekend made it through, while five teams that had to travel - No. 9 California, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 12 Hawai'i, Baylor and Texas A&M - advanced through. All four teams that had the opportunity to play on their home courts in the regionals - No. 4 Stanford, No. 10 Nebraska (regional is in Omaha, where the Huskers play select home matches), No. 11 Minnesota at No. 16 Florida - were able to advance through. All of the third-round matches will take place on Friday, Dec. 11, though none of the match times have yet been announced. The quarterfinals will all be on Saturday, Dec. 12 and be televised by ESPNU.

For more details on every match of the tournament, check out the interactive bracket - which also will feature match times for the round-of-16 contests once they have been released.

CONFERENCE UPDATE
Through two rounds, the Big 12 leads the way with five teams remaining (out of its six qualifiers), which marks the most teams in the final 16 for the conference since it was established in 1996. The Big Ten is next with four teams remaining - while the Pac-10 and SEC have two each. It's the first time since 2005 (Florida, Tennessee) that the SEC has had multiple teams in the third round and the first time the ACC has seen any of its teams reach the second weekend since 2004 (Georgia Tech).

Of particular note is the fact that the Pac-10 has just two teams remaining. The league has traditionally had the most success of any conference in the NCAA tournament. Pac-10 squads have won 13 national titles (including 11 of the last 19), and 22 of the 28 NCAA championship matches have featured at least one Pac-10 team. Additionally, three of the last five final fours have featured a trio of Pac-10 squads. This had the look of one of the best seasons ever for the league, as it had as many as eight teams in the AVCA poll during the season and got all but two of its members into the tournament (which tied the league record for most in a season, first done in 2002). The Pac-10 had five seeded teams and one more that was unseeded, but still got to host in the opening weekend. But two conference squads - Arizona and Washington State - fell in the opening round, which - amazingly - matched the league's total number of first-round defeats over the past seven years (43-2 record in that span). Then the second round saw three seeded teams - No. 6 Washington, No. 8 UCLA and No. 14 Oregon - and an unseeded host, USC, lose.

Below are the records for teams from each conference in this year's tournament (minimum two tournament qualifiers or one tournament win):
Western Athletic (1 team): 2-0, 1.000, 1 left (Hawai'i)
Big 12 (6 teams): 10-1, .909, 5 left (Baylor, Iowa State, Nebraska, Texas, Texas A&M)
Big Ten (6 teams): 9-2, .818, 4 left (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State)
Southeastern (4 teams): 6-2, .750, 2 left (Florida, Kentucky)
Mountain West (3 teams): 3-2, .600, 1 left (Colorado State)
Pac-10 (8 teams): 8-6, .571, 2 left (California, Stanford)
Missouri Valley (2 teams): 2-2, .500, 0 left
Ivy League (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Mid-American (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Ohio Valley (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
West Coast (1 team): 1-1, .500, 0 left
Atlantic Coast (5 teams): 2-4, .333, 1 left (Florida State)
Atlantic 10 (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Sun Belt (2 teams): 1-2, .333, 0 left
Big West (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
Conference USA (2 teams): 0-2, .000, 0 left
BIG EAST (3 teams): 0-3, .000, 0 left

Mira Djuric and Florida State are the No. 3 national seed

The complete 64-team field for the 2009 NCAA Championship was announced this afternoon. For a printable version of the bracket, click here. The best way to follow the action throughout the tournament will be with NCAA.com's interactive bracket - which features live scoring of all matches, as well as links for audio and video coverage. You can view the interactive bracket here. Now let's get to some initial reaction to the bracket ...

WHO GOT IN AND WHO DIDN'T?

The three power conferences led the way in number of berths, as expected. The Pac-10 - which currently has seven teams ranked in the top 20 - saw eight of its 10 members qualify for the tournament, while the Big Ten and Big 12 have six teams each in the field. The surprise was that the ACC - which has just one team (Florida State) that has cracked the AVCA poll (which has no bearing on NCAA selections) this season - garnered five invitations, including three that went to teams outside of the RPI top 45 (Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson). The SEC came next with four teams in the field, while there are three teams each from the BIG EAST and Mountain West. Five other leagues - Conference USA, the Atlantic 10, Big West, Missouri Valley and Sun Belt - had two teams in the field. All other conferences had just one qualifier. One particularly noteworthy member of that group is the West Coast Conference, which had four different teams ranked in the AVCA poll at some point during the season - but got just its league champ (Saint Mary's) into the tournament.

The way it worked out, every team listed 43rd or higher in the most-recent RPI (which was released on Monday and only included results through Sunday, Nov. 22) made the field. There were six teams with an RPI lower than 43rd that did garner at-large bids:

UC Santa Barbara - 46
Miami - 47
Oklahoma - 48
Georgia Tech - 50
Washington State - 53
Clemson - 57

So here is a list of the non-qualifiers that were listed in the RPI above at least one team that did earn an at-large berth:

Pittsburgh - 44
North Dakota State - 45
Furman - 49
Missouri State - 51
Delaware - 52
South Florida - 54
Purdue - 55 (not eligible for at-large selection - did not have an overall winning record)
Kansas - 56

Two other noteworthy omissions from the field were San Diego and UC Irvine, both of whom were ranked in the AVCA poll for much of the season. USD was ranked in the first 12 AVCA polls of the season, peaking at 15th early on, before falling out two weeks ago. The Toreros are still listed as the third team receiving votes outside of the top 25 - but finished second in the WCC and were just 60th in the RPI. UC Irvine was ranked for nine weeks during the season, peaking at 18th, and remains the sixth team outside of the top 25. The Anteaters tied for second in the Big West and were just 69th in the RPI. There were also five other teams that appeared in the AVCA top 25 at some point early on this season, but did not make the field: Purdue (55th in RPI), Pepperdine (72nd), Utah (75th), Santa Clara (97th) and Kansas State (107th).

WHO'S BEEN HERE BEFORE?
The biggest story of this year's tournament is probably Penn State's quest to become the first school ever to win three consecutive NCAA titles. Since the event began in 1981, six different teams - Hawai'i in 1982 and '83, Pacific in '85 and '86, UCLA in '90 and '91, Stanford in '96 and '97, USC in 2002 and 2003 and Penn State in '07 and '08 - have won back-to-back titles, but the other five have failed in their quest for a third straight championship. In fact, the only school from that group to reach the title match in their attempt for a three-peat was UCLA, which fell in four sets to Stanford in 1992.

In all, nine of the 10 schools that have previously won the NCAA championship will be in the field with chances to add to their trophy cases. Stanford (No. 4 seed, 1st/2nd round host, regional host) leads the way with six NCAA titles - as well as seven runner-up finishes (including in each of the last three years). There are six schools that have won three titles will be looking for No. 4 this year: Hawai'i (No. 12 seed, at USC for 1st/2nd round), Long Beach State (at UCLA for 1st/2nd round), Nebraska (No. 10 seed, 1st/2nd round host), Penn State (No. 1 seed, 1st/2nd round host), UCLA (No. 8 seed, 1st/2nd round host) and USC (1st/2nd round host). Particularly noteworthy is that two of those three-time champions - Long Beach State (winners in 1989, '93 and '98) and UCLA (champions in 1984, '90 and '91) - will face off in the first round in Los Angeles. Two other teams in the field are former champions: Texas (No. 2 seed, 1st/2nd round host) and Washington (No. 6 seed, 1st/2nd round host). The only former champion not in the field is Pacific (champs in 1985 and '86; 129th in RPI this season).

Special congratulations go out to the five teams who will make their first-ever appearance in the DI tournament: Army, IPFW, Niagara, Northern Colorado and TCU. All of those garnered entry via automatic bids except for the Horned Frogs - who earned an at-large bid.

Two schools are returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time in more than a decade, as New Mexico garnered an at-large bid for its first appearance since 1994 and Coastal Carolina, the Big South Conference champ, does so for the first time since '98. Other schools that return to the tournament for the first time in at least five years are Baylor (last appearance was 2001), Florida State (2002), Miami (2002), Washington State (2002), George Mason (2003), Penn (2003) and Georgia Tech (2004). Two teams that have had some success in the NCAAs over the years - Arizona and Texas A&M - will be in the field for the first time since 2005. The Wildcats make their 22nd overall appearance and have a 26-21 all-time mark in the tournament, while the Aggies are 21-17 and make their 18th trip.

It should be noted that Penn State and Stanford remain as the only schools to have qualified for all 29 NCAA Championships. The Cardinal also holds the NCAA tournament records for all-time victories (92), winning percentage (.800), championships (6), championship-match appearances (14) and semifinal appearances (18).

Not only are all eight quarterfinalists from last year in the 2009 field, but all of them have earned national seedings. Of the final 16 from a year ago, all but three are back this season, with Purdue, Utah and Western Michigan missing the '09 tournament.

WHAT ABOUT THE SEEDING AND OPENING-WEEKEND HOSTS?
The Pac-10 also leads the way with five seeded teams, but only two of those squads were rewarded with the opportunity to play host to opening-weekend play. The Big Ten has four seeded teams, while the Big 12 boasts three and the SEC has a pair (though two other SEC squads also will host).

The biggest story among the seeding is certainly the respect given to Florida State, which is the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament despite being ranked 14th in the AVCA poll, making its first NCAA appearance since 2002 and holding a 1-10 all-time record in the NCAAs. But the Seminoles are 28-2 on the season, with both of their defeats coming in five-set affairs (at Florida and vs. Georgia Tech), and are riding a 16-match winning streak and have been second or third in every version of the RPI released this season. FSU is the only seeded team that didn't make the NCAA tournament a year ago.

On the flip side, Hawai'i, which stands 28-2 on the season, has won 24 in a row and has been ranked No. 3 in the AVCA poll for the last month and a half. But the Rainbow Wahine is just 22nd in the RPI and ended up being seeded 12th despite having three-set victories over two higher-seeded teams (No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 UCLA). Further, UH does not even get to play host to opening-weekend action, instead having to travel to USC (25th in RPI; 16th in AVCA).

Stanford - which was sixth in both the AVCA poll and RPI - earned the No. 4 seed over Illinois (4th in RPI; 5th in AVCA) and Washington (5th in RPI; 4th in AVCA).

In all, there will be five unseeded teams who will play host to first- and second-round action. Kentucky (21st in RPI; 10th in AVCA) did not garner a national seed, but will be an early-round host. Oregon is one of the teams traveling to Lexington and was seeded 14th, despite trailing UK in both the RPI (26th) and AVCA poll (18th). Another Pac-10 seeded team traveling next weekend is Washington (seeded 6th; 5th in RPI; 4th in AVCA), which heads to Colorado State (18th in RPI; 23rd in AVCA). The other Pac-10 seeded squad traveling is California (seedec 9th; 8th in RPI; 11th in AVCA), which heads to Ohio State (31st in RPI). Tennessee (19th in the RPI) will also serve as a host next weekend, with Minnesota (13th in the RPI; 13th in the AVCA) heading to Knoxville.

As it turned out, all of the top 13 teams in the RPI earned national seeds, and they were joined by Florida (seeded 16th; 16th in RPI), Hawai'i (seeded 12th; 22nd in RPI) and Oregon (seeded 14th; 26th in RPI). Out of the top 22 in the RPI, all but four teams garnered a national seed and/or the opportunity to host early-round action. Those that were left out were Notre Dame (14th in RPI; at Michigan for 1st/2nd rounds), Florida International (15th in RPI; at Florida for 1st/2nd rounds), Arizona (17th in RPI; at LSU for 1st/2nd rounds) and Northern Iowa (20th in RPI; at Nebraska for 1st/2nd rounds).

SOME INTERESTING FIRST-ROUND MATCHUPS
Upon initially seeing the bracket, here are a few first-round matches that caught my eye:
• (9) California vs. Lipscomb - Not only do the Golden Bears have to travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the opening weekend, but they will have one of the biggest first-round tests of any seeded team. The Lady Bisons are 28-3, have won 25 in a row and are 34th in the RPI.
• Long Beach State at (8) UCLA - There's nothing like a pair of schools that have won three NCAA titles apiece squaring off in the opening round. The Beach, champs of the Big West, is 36th in the RPI.
• Notre Dame vs. Ohio - Notre Dame, at 14th, was the team with the highest RPI that did not earn a national seed. Instead the Fighting Irish are forced to take on the MAC-champion Bobcats in what will be the only first-round match between top-25 RPI squads (OU is 24th).
• Duke at Tennessee - Another great matchup of high-RPI teams. The Lady Vols are 19th, while the Blue Devils are 27th - and both will be taking part in one of the toughest opening-weekend sites. All four teams are among the top 37 in the RPI.
• (13) Minnesota vs. Louisville - The Gophers, fresh off a sweep of fifth-ranked and fifth-seeded Illinois on Saturday, have to travel to Knoxville for the opening weekend, and will face BIG EAST champion Louisville (38th in the RPI) in the opening round.
• Middle Tennessee at Colorado State - Two conference champions who have had great seasons match up. CSU is 18th in the RPI and was tops in the Mountain West. MTSU is 30th in the RPI and won the Sun Belt.
• Saint Louis vs. Wichita State - The opening-round matchup between teams that are closest to each other in RPI (as well as a pair of conference runners-up). The Billikens, ranked 22nd by the AVCA, are 29th and the Shockers come in at 28th.
• Tulane at (15) LSU - After winning their first SEC championship since 1991 this week, the Tigers were swept by Conference USA champion Rice on Friday. Now LSU begins the NCAAs against another C-USA squad, Tulane - which is 32nd in the RPI.

LOOKING AHEAD ...
A few observations about possible future matchups as the tournament progresses:

• Penn State has beaten Cal en route to each of its last two championships (semifinals in '07; quarterfinals in '08) and could face the Golden Bears again this season, in the quarterfinals.
• Penn State could potentially face Florida in the round of 16, and the match would be in Gainesville.
• Penn State and Stanford have met in each of the last two NCAA finals, but that cannot happen this season - as they would meet in the semifinals.
• Eighth-seeded UCLA and ninth-seeded Cal could play in the round of 16. The Bruins beat the Bears in four sets twice this season.
• It could be the second straight year that a seeded Hawai'i team has to beat USC on its home floor in order to reach the round of 16. Last year, the Rainbow Wahine won in three sets.
• Stanford could potentially have to beat a pair of squads that defeated the Cardinal during the regular season - just to reach the semifinals. Stanford could face Notre Dame in the round of 16 and Hawai'i in the quarterfinals - both of whom had 3-0 wins over the Cardinal early in the season. Stanford beat Hawai'i in the 2008 quarterfinals.
• The brutal road to a title for third-ranked Hawai'i could look like this: first round vs. New Mexico, second round vs. 16th-ranked USC on the Trojans' home floor, third round vs. fifth-seeded Illinois, quarterfinals vs. fourth-seeded Stanford on the Cardinal's home floor, then the semifinals against unbeaten Penn State and then the championship match.
• Florida State, though seeded third, could have to face two teams ranked higher than the Seminoles in the AVCA poll - just to reach the semifinals. FSU, ranked 14th, could face 10th-ranked Kentucky in the round of 16 and either fourth-ranked Washington or No. 13 Minnesota in the quarterfinals.
• Washington could have to face 11th-seeded Minnesota in Minneapolis in the round of 16.
• Washington ended the regular-season with a five-set defeat against Oregon. The Huskies could have to beat the Ducks to reach the semifinals.
• The Big 12 has three teams ranked in the top 10 of both the RPI and AVCA poll. All three of them are in the same quarter of the bracket.
• Seventh-seeded Iowa State and 10th-seeded Nebraska could meet in the round of 16. The squads split their regular-season meetings, both winning on the road.
• Texas' only loss this season came against Iowa State, but the Longhorns may need to beat the Cyclones just to reach the semifinals. UT also beat ISU in last year's quarterfinals.
• Another possibility in the quarterfinals for Texas is a matchup with Nebraska ... in Omaha.

Alix Klineman had 33 kills to lead Stanford to its fourth consecutive Pac-10 title

It took a pair of five-set matches in regular-season finales to decide it, but the champion of the nation's toughest conference, once again - for the fourth consecutive season - is No. 6 Stanford. The Cardinal dropped the opening two sets at home against archrival and 11th-ranked California on Friday night, but rallied for a 23-25, 18-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-4 triumph in front of 5,125 fans. Junior outside hitter Alix Klineman pounded a career-high 33 kills on .329 hitting to go with 11 digs to lead the Cardinal - which ended the regular season with six consecutive victories, including four against ranked opponents. The win gave Stanford a 14-4 final record in Pac-10 Conference action.

Fourth-ranked Washington could have matched that mark and earned a share of the league title (as well as the conference's automatic bid, by virtue of a tiebreaker) with a home win against No. 18 Oregon. The Huskies took the first two sets, but then suffered three consecutive tight set defeats that saw Oregon save three match poings. In the end, it was the Ducks who prevailed, 15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 31-29, 15-13, snapping a 17-match losing streak against UW in front of a crowd of 4,036. Senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe was brilliant for Oregon, finishing with a career-high 36 kills on .382 hitting to go with 21 digs. Junior outside hitter Heather Meyers added 20 kills and 17 digs for UO, while junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson led the Huskies with 24 kills on .350 hitting and 20 digs. Senior libero Tamari Miyashiro had 31 digs for Washington, and junior setter Jenna Hagglund set UW to a .301 attack percentage.

There was one other matchup of ranked teams on Friday, and No. 9 UCLA pounded 19th-ranked Arizona 25-13, 25-13, 25-17. Freshman Lauren Cook set the Bruins to a .369 hitting mark, and UCLA held the Wildcats to a .103 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter Tiffany Owens had 16 kills and 16 digs for Arizona.

Also on Friday, top-ranked Penn State swept Michigan State (25-17, 25-20, 25-21) to move within one match of a second consecutive unbeaten regular season. The Nittany Lions will play host to 12th-ranked Michigan on Saturday evening. The Wolverines suffered an upset on Friday, losing 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 to Ohio State. Junior outside hitter Katie Dull led the Buckeyes with 13 kills on .423 hitting, while senior Ashley Hughes set her offense to a .385 attack percentage. Junior setter Lexi Zimmerman helped U-M post a .343 hitting mark in the losing effort.

There was one other major upset on Friday, as Conference USA champion Rice knocked off SEC champion and 17th-ranked LSU in three sets (32-30, 25-20, 25-20). Junior Meredith Schamun set the Owls to a .338 hitting mark, and senior middle blocker Natalie Bogan had a match-high 14 kills on .367 hitting for Rice - which beat a ranked team for the first time since 2006 and will carry a nine-match winning streak into the NCAA tournament.

The final two automatic bids to the NCAA Championship will be determined on Saturday. No. 20 Northern Iowa will face third-seeded Wichita State in the final of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship at 3:07 p.m. CT, while top-seeded Portland State and third-seeded Northern Colorado will face off for the Big Sky title at 7 p.m. PT. Neither outcome figures to affect the hopes of bubble teams too dramatically. We'll also be treated to four matchups of ranked teams on the final day of the regular season. In addition to PSU-Michigan, No. 5 Illinois will be at 13th-ranked Minnesota, 16th-ranked USC plays host to No. 19 Arizona and the top non-conference match of the weekend will see 25th-ranked Notre Dame play at No. 15 Florida.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
All Times Eastern
New Mexico State at No. 23 Colorado State, 2 p.m. - Live Stats
Middle Tennessee at No. 22 Saint Louis, 4 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 20 Northern Iowa vs. Wichita State (MVC final), 4:07 p.m. - TV: FSN, Fox College Sports, CSN, Metro Sports, DirecTV Channel 671, Dish Channel 418 | Live Stats
No. 19 Arizona at No. 16 USC, 5 p.m. - Live Stats
Arizona State at No. 9 UCLA, 6 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
BYU at No. 21 Saint Mary's, 6 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 12 Michigan at No. 1 Penn State, 7 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network (airs Sunday, 6 p.m. ET) | Live Stats
Kansas at No. 2 Texas, 7:30 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Oklahoma at No. 7 Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 25 Notre Dame at No. 15 Florida, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 5 Illinois at No. 13 Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Colorado at No. 8 Nebraska, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Portland State vs. Northern Colorado (Big Sky final), 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats

Niagara will make its first appearance in the NCAA Championship

Three more teams - Niagara, George Mason and Hawai'i - won their conference tournaments this week to earn automatic bids, and two others - LSU and Texas - garnered automatic entry through regular-season titles on Wednesday. That leaves us with just three automatic bids (Big Sky, Missouri Valley and Pac-10) remaining to be decided. A complete rundown of the automatic qualifiers can be found at the bottom of this post.

On Monday evening, Niagara completed one of the biggest turnarounds in the nation this season by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament with a three-set (25-20, 27-25, 27-25) victory over Marist. The second-seeded Purple Eagles - who do not have a senior on their roster - got 10 kills apiece from freshman Amanda Wilken and sophomore Hannah Hedrick, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Niagara - which was 6-24 a season ago - will be making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.

George Mason and VCU split a pair of five-set matches during the regular season, so it comes as no surprise that it took five for the teams to decide the Colonial Athletic Association tournament final on Tuesday. In the end, Mason rallied from losing the first two sets for a 27-29, 25-27, 25-16, 25-23, 15-9 victory over the host and top-seeded Rams. It was a match that had a little bit of everything - including 37 ties, 16 lead changes, 30 blocks, 188 digs and 144 kills (split evenly between the teams). Junior Holly Goode, the tournament MVP, led the Patriots with 20 kills and 16 digs, while junior Mariel Frey posted 21 kills and 20 digs for VCU.

No. 3 Hawai'i won the Western Athletic Conference tournament for the 10th consecutive season with a three-set (25-12, 25-17, 25-23) win over second-seeded New Mexico State on Wednesday in Las Vegas. Tournament MVP Kanani Kanielson, a sophomore outside hitter, had 14 kills and junior setter Dani Mafua led the Rainbow Wahine to a .315 hitting mark. UH stands 28-2 on the season and has won 24 straight matches (20 of them in three sets) since taking its only defeats of the season (vs. Texas and California) during the first weekend of September.

Thanks to an assist from Tennessee, No. 17 LSU was crowned as the Southeastern Conference champion on Wednesday - marking the Tigers' first SEC crown since 1991 and ending Florida's NCAA-record streak of 18 consecutive conference titles. LSU finished with an 18-2 record in SEC play, but 10th-ranked Kentucky - which beat the Tigers twice - had an opportunity to match that league mark with a victory in Knoxville on Wednesday. UK dropped the first two sets, but rallied to force a fifth set and then had four match points in that decisive frame. But the Lady Volunteers fought those off and eventually prevailed 25-16, 25-14, 24-26, 17-25, 16-14 for their second upset of a ranked team in five days (UT beat then-No. 13 Florida last Friday). Sophomore outside hitter Kayla Jeter had 23 kills on .422 hitting to lead the Tennessee attack, but it the UT defense made a big impact, as well, using 80 digs (including 27 from senior libero Chloe Goldman and 20 from senior outside hitter Kylie Marshall) and 18 blocks (of which junior middle blocker Leah Hinkey was in on 13) to keep the Wildcats to a .171 attack percentage.

No. 2 Texas swept Oklahoma (25-19, 25-14, 25-19) on Wednesday to clinch the Big 12 Conference championship. It is the third straight season the Longhorns have won at least a part of the league title, but the first outright Big 12 championship for UT since 1997. Senior Ashley Engle and sophomore Michelle Kocher set Texas to a .423 attack percentage against OU, while senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker had 18 kills on .486 hitting.

The only automatic bid going to a regular-season champion that has not been decided yet is the Pac-10's. No. 4 Washington got 14 kills on .458 hitting from junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson and beat Oregon State 25-21, 25-23, 25-16 on Wednesday despite 19 kills from OSU senior outside hitter Rachel Rourke. UW now stands 13-4 in Pac-10 action and is in a first-place tie with No. 6 Stanford with a match to go for each team. The Huskies hold the tiebreaker over the Cardinal (and No. 9 UCLA, which is 11-5 and could still gain a share of the league title) for earning the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. But Washington will take on 18th-ranked Oregon on Friday in its regular-season finale. A UW win or a loss by Stanford against archrival and 11th-ranked California on Friday would give Washington the automatic berth to the tournament. Stanford needs a win and UW loss to garner it.

There are two conference tournaments left to be played, as well. The State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship gets underway today in Omaha, with third-seeded Wichita State facing sixth-seeded Southern Illinois and fifth-seeded Drake challenging fourth-seeded tournament host Creighton. The winners will advance to face second-seeded Missouri State and top-seeded and 20th-ranked Northern Iowa tomorrow. The championship match will be on Saturday at 3:06 p.m. CT and will air live on Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox College Sports, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Metro Sports in Kansas City, Mo. and on DirecTV Channel 671 and Dish Network Channel 418.

In the Big Sky tournament, regular-season champion Portland State will face fourth-seeded Montana on Friday, while the other semifinal pits tournament host and second-seeded Eastern Washington against Northern Colorado. The title match will be on Saturday at 7 p.m., and all of the tournament's matches can be viewed free of charge on Big Sky TV.

Lauren Williams and USC posted a pair of big victories

Top-ranked Penn State rose to the challenge again on Friday night, sweeping No. 5 Illinois 25-20, 27-25, 25-15 at home in front of 4,163 fans. Blair Brown pounded 17 kills on .538 hitting ans senior Alisha Glass set the Nittany Lions to a .350 team hitting mark. Illinois was led by Laura DeBruler, who had 18 kills on .421 hitting. PSU then swept Northwestern on Saturday for its 92nd consecutive win - which ties the North Carolina women's soccer team's streak from 1990-94 as the second longest in NCAA Division I history in any sport. The NCAA record is 137 consecutive wins, which was done by the Miami men's tennis team from 1957-64.

One of the biggest winners from last week was 17th-ranked USC - which came into the weekend on a three-match losing streak and having won just two of its last nine. But the Women of Troy got a pair of big wins, first outlasting No. 4 Washington in five sets (25-18, 24-26, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13) on Friday and then beating 25th-ranked Washington State 24-26, 25-18, 28-26, 25-16 the following day. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter (21 kills) led a quartet of players with 14+ kills against the Huskies, while sophomore middle blocker Lauren Williams paced all players with 19 kills and no errors on .559 hitting vs. WSU. Washington sophomore middle blocker Lauren Barfield was in on 11 blocks in Friday's match.

Washington was able to rebound on Saturday for a road sweep (25-19, 25-18, 25-21) of sixth-ranked UCLA in front of 2,569 fans. Senior libero Tamari Miyashiro (23 digs), junior setter Jenna Hagglund (18 digs) and Barfield (7 blocks) led a UW defense that held UCLA to .101 hitting and didn't see a Bruin post more than seven kills. UW junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson had 18 kills to lead all players, while UCLA sophomore libero Lainey Gera finished with 22 digs.

UCLA had moved briefly into first place in the Pac-10 with a 25-23, 25-14, 23-25, 25-23 victory against Washington State on Friday, the Bruins' seventh straight win. Senior outside hitter Kaitlin Sather led UCLA with 19 kills in the match, while Gera added 26 digs. The Bruins, at 10-4 in league play, now stand one-half game behind both Washington and Stanford at the top of the standings. The seventh-ranked Cardinal notched a big win on Friday, beating No. 16 Oregon 25-23, 25-16, 25-23 in front of 2,712. Freshman Karissa Cook and junior Cassidy Lichtman set Stanford to a .378 hitting mark, and Lichtman also led all players with 16 kills on .419 hitting. No. 12 California beat the Ducks on Saturday in four (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16). Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura posted 28 kills on .442 hitting and 10 digs for the Bears, while junior Carli Lloyd's offense hit .341.

In a clash of Southeastern Conference titans, 19th-ranked LSU knocked off No. 10 Florida in four sets (24-26, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17) on Friday in front of 2,875 fans in Gainesville. Marina Skender led all players with 20 kills, while Brittnee Cooper added 16 on 26 attempts (.500) as the Tigers swept the Gators for the first time since 1991.

The top two teams in the West Coast Conference hooked up on Saturday in Moraga, Calif., with No. 23 Saint Mary's eventually prevailing over 25th-ranked San Diego in five sets (25-18, 25-19, 20-25, 17-25, 15-10). Junior Kapua Kamana'o and redshirt freshman Missy White and set the Gaels to a .342 attack percentage, and junior middle blocker Shannon Lowell posted 23 kills on .381 hitting to help SMC clinch the WCC regular-season title for the first time. Junior Kelsi Myers' USD attack also was prolific, with a .303 hitting mark.

There was just a single instance of an unranked team knocking off a ranked one last week. That occurred on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., where Kansas beat Baylor 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-20. The Jayhawks got 19 kills from junior outside hitter Karina Garlington, as well as 16 from sophomore outside hitter Allison Mayfield.

No. 14 Michigan was extended to fifth sets against unranked opponents in both of its matches, but the Wolverines ended up prevailing against Purdue on Friday (18-16 in the fifth after saving a match point) and vs. Indiana on Sunday (15-11 in the fifth).

No. 22 Northern Iowa also needed five sets against Wichita State on Saturday, but the Panthers eventually prevailed, 25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-9, for their 24th consecutive victory. The win clinched the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference crown for UNI.

Elsewhere, No. 3 Hawai'i, the regular-season WAC champion, swept Boise State and Idaho to run its winning streak to 21. In the BIG EAST, 24th-ranked Notre Dame topped Georgetown and USF to finish 14-0 in league play - its seventh unbeaten mark in BIG EAST action since joining the conference in 1995. No. 20 Saint Louis beat Rhode Island and Temple to finish 14-1 in Atlantic 10 play and share the regular-season league title with Dayton.

Hana Cutura led Cal to two big victories

It was a week of mixed results for many teams, as several squads posted an impressive victory and also suffered a disappointing defeat. One exception to that was No. 13 California, which headed North and posted a pair of wins in Washington. On Friday, the Bears beat 24th-ranked Washington State for the 14th consecutive time by scores of 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 in front of 2,134 fans. Senior outside hitter Hana Cutura led the way with 19 kills and 10 digs, while junior Carli Lloyd set the Golden Bears to a .336 hitting mark and also added nine kills (on 12 errorless attempts) and eight digs. A night later, Cutura posted 33 kills on. 299 hitting to lead Cal to a five-set (23-25, 25-18, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13) upset of No. 4 Washington in front of a crowd of 2,602 that hadn't seen the Huskies lose at home previously this season. Cutura - who also had eight digs and four blocks - also became Cal's all-time leader in kills, now with 1,825. The Bears have now won six of their last seven, with four of those wins coming against ranked teams. Junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson led the Huskies with 26 kills and 12 digs.

Washington posted a big victory of its own on Friday, taking the battle of the conference's top two teams in three sets, 25-21, 25-23, 25-19 against fifth-ranked Stanford in front of 4,557 fans. The Cardinal, three-time defending Pac-10 champs, had dealt UW its first defeat of the season in a five-set decision last month. Stanford junior libero Gabi Ailes recorded 29 digs in the three-set affair. The Cardinal - which had lost back-to-back matches for the first time since 2005 - rebounded on Saturday with a sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-22) of Washington State that saw junior outside hitter Alix Klineman pound 18 kills. Ailes notched 25 more digs - giving her 54 in six sets over the weekend for a stratospheric average of 9.00 per set.

The most noteworthy result of the week probably occurred on Wednesday in Ames, Iowa, where No. 8 Iowa State handed second-ranked Texas its first defeat of the season in a five-set decision (22-25, 25-22, 25-15, 20-25, 15-12). Rachel Hockaday (25 digs), Ashley Mass (23 digs) and Debbie Stadick (six blocks) paced the ISU defensive effort that held the Longhorns - which ranked second in Division I in attack percentage - to a season-low .189 mark. Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker led all players with 27 kills and added 12 digs and two aces for UT, which had won nine in a row against the Cyclones. Iowa State then had its 11-match winning streak ended on Saturday when 10th-ranked Nebraska - which lost to the Cyclones for the first time in 76 all-time meetings last month - posted a three-set win (25-16, 25-22, 25-23) in front of a record crowd of 10,203 fans cramming Hilton Coliseum. Sydney Anderson orchestrated an extremely balanced attack (three players had nine kills and two more posted eight) that finished with a .327 attack percentage against the Big 12's top defensive team.  

Two teams - 18th-ranked Arizona and No. 20 Baylor - prevailed in a matchup of ranked squads and also suffered an upset against an unranked team last week. Paige Weber led the Wildcats to a .317 hitting mark in a 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17 victory at 14th-ranked Oregon on Friday night. But Oregon State then snapped its six-match losing streak on Saturday with a four-set (30-28, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22) upset of Arizona. Senior outside hitter Rachel Rourke led the Beavers with 31 kills on .373 hitting and 12 digs.

  Baylor got swept at home on Wednesday by Oklahoma by scores of 25-22, 25-20, 25-20. Sophomore Brianne Barker set the Sooners to a .311 hitting mark, while junior middle blocker Francie Ekwerekwu had 18 kills on just 26 attempts for a .654 mark. But the Bears would bounce back on Saturday to notch their first win against a ranked team on the road in more than 10 years - an 18-25, 25-13, 25-27, 25-23, 18-16 triumph over 23rd-ranked Texas A&M. An 18-6 blocking advantage propelled Baylor to victory despite 26 kills and 16 digs from TAMU senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman. The Aggies also were upset on Wednesday, as Kansas State notched a 25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 21-25, 16-14 home victory that saw junior libero Lauren Mathewson record a school-record 41 digs.

No. 7 UCLA remained hot and battled to a five-set (25-17, 14-25, 25-16, 17-25, 15-12) victory over its biggest rival, 17th-ranked USC, on the road in front of 4,619 fans. Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Gil led the Bruins with 16 kills on .560 hitting and seven blocks. UCLA - winner of six straight - is now just 0.5 games behind Washington for the Pac-10 lead. 

The marquee matchup in the Big Ten went to fifth-ranked Illinois - which won 25-27, 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 over No. 15 Michigan on Friday. The Illini got 21 kills from junior outside hitter Laura DeBruler and 12 blocks from junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert. Illinois will take a 12-match winning streak into Friday's showdown at No. 1 Penn State, winners of 90 in a row.

San Francisco earned a three-set (25-15, 25-23, 25-23) upset of No. 22 San Diego on Saturday, as senior libero Haley Carroll had 16 digs and became the first West Coast Conference player ever to record 2,000 in her career. Junior Sarah Mandala had 15 kills for USF.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
No. 3 Hawai'i continued to roll with another dominant victory, this time by 25-12, 25-15, 25-15 scores on the road against San Jose State on Monday. Junior Dani Mafua set the Rainbow Wahine to 45 kills and just seven errors for a .458 atack percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Kanani Danielson had 15 kills on .519 hitting and senior middle Amber Kaufman posted 11 kills on 13 errorless swings for an .846 mark. Since dropping back-to-back matches to Texas and California on the first weekend of September, Hawai'i has won 17 in a row - including 14 sweeps. The Rainbow Wahine - which have won at least a share of the regular-season title in all 13 previous seasons of membership in the WAC - hold a 2.5 game lead in the conference standings.

Ellie Blankenship and Northern Iowa are ranked for the first time in nearly six years

This week's edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 was released yesterday. You can view it here. Here are a few notes:

• There are two new entrants in the poll this week, both of whom reenter the Top 25 for the first time in several years and are tied with each other for 25th.
• Northern Iowa is one of those teams tied for 25th. The Panthers have won 20 straight matches and stand 22-2 on the season, with the only defeats coming against No. 23 Texas A&M (3-1 on the road) and No. 8 Iowa State (3-1 at home). It marks the first national ranking for UNI - which leads the Missouri Valley Conference by two games with a 12-0 record - since it finished the 2003 season at 18th.
• Saint Mary's is also tied for the final spot, marking the first national ranking for the Gaels since Oct. 10, 2005. SMC stands 16-4 on the season with the defeats coming against No. 5 Stanford, No. 13 California (twice) and 22nd-ranked San Diego. The Gaels - who lead the Toreros by one game atop the West Coast Conference standings - also have a four-set victory over Texas A&M to their credit.
• After losing twice last week, UC Irvine fell out of the Top 25 and is now the third team receiving votes.
• The Pac-10 still leads all conferences with eight ranked teams, while the Big 12 boasts five squads in the rankings this week. The Big Ten has four ranked teams (all in the top 15), while the SEC has three and the West Coast Conference is the only other league with multiple ranked squads (two).
• The top four teams are all from different conferences, marking the 10th consecutive week that has been the case. The top 10 features three teams each from the Big 12 and Pac-10, as well as two from the Big Ten and one each from the WAC and SEC.
• The biggest upward mover this week was UCLA, which rose four spots to seventh, matching its season high. The largest drop among teams remaining in the poll was by Minnesota, which is down five slots to 12th.
• Penn State is No. 1 for the 34th consecutive poll - an AVCA record - since taking over the top spot on Oct. 29, 2007. PSU has been ranked in the top five for 76 consecutive polls, since finishing seventh in 2004. The Lions have been ranked in the top 10 in 93 straight polls, since checking in at 11th on Dec. 8, 2003.
• Texas has been No. 2 in every poll this season (which matches the highest ranking in program history). The Longhorns have been ranked in the top five for 27 consecutive polls, since being sixth to finish the 2007 season. UT has been in the top 10 in each of the last 54 polls, since being 11th on Oct. 2, 2006.
• Washington moved up a spot to fourth and is the only other team to have been in the top five in every poll this season.
• Illinois and Stanford are tied for fifth this week. That listing marks the highest ranking for the Illini since Sept. 22, 1992.
• Iowa State has recorded the highest ranking in program history for the fifth time in less than a year. The Cyclones were a then-all-time-best 12th in the final poll of 2008, before moving to 11th for the first time on Sept. 7 of this season and then cracking the top 10 for the first time the following week. ISU then moved up to ninth last week and is now an all-time high of eighth.
• Nebraska slid two spots to match its season-low ranking of 10th. The Cornhuskers did continue their streak of 92 straight top-10 rankings - dating back to finishing the 2003 season at 13th.
• Florida State is up to an all-time high ranking of 16th after appearing at 17th on five occasions before (once in 1993 and four times this season).
• LSU is up a spot to 19th - which is the highest ranking for the Tigers since they were 18th on Oct. 8, 2007.

Brittnee Cooper and LSU are up to seventh in the RPI

The latest edition of the official NCAA RPI came out this week. You can view it here. Below are some observations:

• Penn State slid up a spot past Florida State to second in this week's RPI, while Texas continued to hold on to the top spot. Illinois stayed at fourth, while Washington moved up two spots to fifth.
• For the fourth straight week, the Big Ten boasted three of the top six teams: No. 2 Penn State, No. 4 Illinois and No. 6 Minnesota. Six Pac-10 squads - No. 4 Washington, No. 7 UCLA, No. 9 Stanford, No. 11 California, No. 13 Arizona and No. 15 Oregon - are among the top 15.
• Two big upward movers this week were UCLA and LSU, which both rose six positions, to sixth and seventh, respectively.
• Notre Dame moved up one spot to 14th this week and continues to be the highest-ranked team in the RPI that is not listed in the Top 25 of the AVCA poll. The Irish are the second team receiving votes.
• There are five other teams - Colorado State (19th), Tennessee (20th), Florida International (22nd), Michigan State (23rd) and Ohio State (25th) - that are unranked but appear in the top 25 of the RPI.
• Among the others that fared better in the RPI than in the AVCA poll are Florida State (ranked 16th; RPI of 3rd), Minnesota (12th; 6th), LSU (19th; 8th), Michigan (15th; 10th) and Arizona (18th; 13th).
• Teams that appear considerably lower in the RPI than in the AVCA poll this week include Hawai'i (ranked 3rd; RPI of 18th), Florida (9th; 17th), Nebraska (10th; 16th), Kentucky (11th; 21st), USC (17th; 33rd), Baylor (20th; 30th), Saint Louis (21st; 32nd), San Diego (22nd; 55th), Texas A&M (23rd; 34th), Washington State (24th; 38th) and Saint Mary's (25th; 46th).
• If the NCAA Championship field was determined based soley on this RPI listing, and you assume that each conference's automatic bid goes to its highest-ranked team - then the last four teams to make the field as at-large participants would be Miami (Fla.), New Mexico, Oklahoma and North Carolina. The first four teams out would be Georgia Tech, Oregon State, San Diego and Virginia Tech.
• A field determined in that way would include eight teams from the Pac-10, as well as seven from the Big Ten, six from the Big 12, four each from the ACC and SEC, plus three from the BIG EAST, Missouri Valley and Mountain West and two each from the Atlantic 10, Big West and Sun Belt. All other conferences would have just one participant.

Florida State's Brianna Barry is hitting .527 this season

The latest edition of NCAA statistics also were released on Monday. The complete listings can be found here. A couple of quick notes:

• The NCAA Division I season record for hitting percentage is .519, which was done by Tyrona Clark from Florida A&M in 1988 (the only other DI player ever to hit over .500 for a season also was a Rattler: Maria Andonova, who hit .504 in 2004). Right now there are two players who are ahead of that pace. Penn State junior middle hitter Arielle Wilson leads all players with a .569 mark, while Florida State senior middle blocker Brianna Barry is at .527.
• Penn State, at .412, is on pace to break the Division I season record for team hitting percentage - a category the Nittany Lions have led the country in over each of the last three seasons. The DI record is .406 by the 1983 Hofstra team. Last year's PSU squad sits second on that list at .390. No other Division I team has a hitting percentage of even .330 this season, and only five schools are hitting over .290.
• The top three teams in hitting percentage match exactly the top three teams in the AVCA poll: Penn State (.412), Texas (.329) and Hawai'i (.310).

The Division I leader in each category is below.

TEAM
Service Aces - Sacred Heart, 2.37
Assists - Texas A&M, 14.16
Blocks - Idaho, 3.11
Digs - NJIT, 20.24
Hitting Percentage - Penn State, .412
Kills - Texas A&M, 14.96
Winning Percentage - Penn State and Texas, 1.000
INDIVIDUAL
Service Aces - Ashley Herman, Delaware State, 0.65
Assists - Kendall Bateman, USC, 12.23
Blocks - Amanda Gil, UCLA, 1.61
Digs - Sabrina Baby, NJIT, 6.29
Hitting Percentage - Arielle Wilson, Penn State, .569
Kills - Burgundy McCurty, Siena, 5.48

UCLA's Andy Banachowski earned his 1,100th win as a head coach on Saturday against Stanford

Both of the remaining unbeaten teams faced stiff tests last week, but ended up turning in impressive victories. Second-ranked Texas traveled to No. 25 Texas A&M on Wednesday and came away with a 25-18, 25-14, 25-20 triumph in front of a record crowd of 3,856. Senior setter Ashley Engle led her offense to a .310 hitting mark in the match and had a match-high 13 digs and four blocks in helping UT hold the Aggies to .092 hitting. On Saturday, the Longhorns got 19 kills on .400 hitting from senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker en route to a 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 home win over eighth-ranked Nebraska in front of 4,009 fans. Engle set UT to a .326 mark in the match. Texas is now 13-0 in Big 12 play and holds a two-game lead atop the conference standings. The Longhorns have registered nine consecutive sweeps and have won a school-record 27 straight regular-season matches. They are also the first team to register back-to-back-to-back wins over Nebraska since Long Beach State did so between 1989 and 2001.

Top-ranked Penn State also had a pair of three-set wins, highlighted by a 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 drubbing of No. 7 Minnesota at home on Friday in front of a crowd of 3,512. Senior outside hitter and three-time first-team All-American Megan Hodge led the Nittany Lions with 19 kills on .429 hitting, while senior Alisha Glass set the offense to a .341 team mark. Junior libero Cathy Quilico had 12 digs and junior middle hitter Arielle Wilson was in on six blocks in helping the PSU defense hold the Gophers to 24 kills and 23 errors (.011 attack percentage). In addition to having won 68 straight at home and 57 in a row in Big Ten play, Penn State now has an overall winning streak of 88 consecutive matches. That ties the UCLA men's basketball streak from 1971-74 for the fourth-longest winning streak in Division I history in any sport. The NCAA DI record for longest winning streak belongs to the Miami men's tennis team, which won 137 in a row from 1957-64.

The Gophers couldn't rebound the following night, as Ohio State registered a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 upset victory on Saturday. Senior setter Ashley Hughes orchestrated a balanced Buckeye attack that saw four players register eight-plus kills and the team hit .294.

One of the other big winners from the weekend was 11th-ranked UCLA, which headed to the Bay Area and came away with two victories to make Andy Banachowski the first Division I women's volleyball coach ever to register 1,100 career victories. The Bruins won 25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 25-19 against 14th-ranked California on Friday and then ended an 18-match losing streak against Stanford the next day, with a 25-18, 34-32, 19-25, 21-25, 15-11 upset of the fourth-ranked Cardinal. Sophomore libero Lainey Gera had 20 digs on Friday and 28 on Saturday. Stanford junior libero Gabi Ailes posted 33 digs in the losing effort. Banachowski now holds a 1,100-298 (.787) career record in 40 years as a head coach. The only women's volleyball coach in any division to have won more matches than him is Larry Bock, the current head coach of Juniata College - who has 1,211 career wins on the Division III level.

UCLA's traveling partner, 16th-ranked USC, did not fare as well in its trip North. The Women of Troy lost 21-25, 25-18, 25-13, 25-23 to Stanford in front of 2,706 on Friday and then fell 25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 25-20 to Cal the next day. Stanford held a 13-7 blocking edge in the former match, while the Golden Bears got 22 kills on .356 hitting from senior outside hitter Hana Cutura to pace their effort.

Another ranked Pac-10 team that returned home from a road trip without a victory was No. 21 Washington State. On Friday, Arizona State snapped an eight-match losing streak with a 25-22, 25-18, 15-25, 25-22 upset of the Cougars in which ASU junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves had 19 kills. No. 18 Arizona then got 15 kills each from junior outside hitters Tiffany Owens and Whitney Dosty in a 25-18, 20-25, 25-11, 25-21 win over WSU on Saturday. That allowed the Wildcats to salvage a split over the weekend, having lost 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-19 to fifth-ranked Washington on Friday. The Huskies - who are now alone atop the Pac-10 standings with a 9-2 league record - got 18 kills from junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson in that match.

No. 9 Iowa State stayed hot and has now won 10 consecutive matches, including a five-set thriller over 22nd-ranked Baylor - the last team to beat the Cyclones - on Wednesday. ISU had to rally from deficits of 12-7 and 14-12 in the final set in order to earn a 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 16-14 win over the Bears. Junior outside hitter Victoria Henson led all players with 24 kills on .310 hitting to go along with 22 digs for the Cyclones - who also got 42 digs from junior libero Ashley Mass. Freshman Torri Campbell had 18 kills and nine blocks for Baylor, while sophomore libero Allison King had 32 digs. Iowa State is all alone in second place in the Big 12 with an 11-2 league mark.

There was a battle of the Big West Conference leaders on Friday night, and UC Davis earned a 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-22 upset of 23rd-ranked UC Irvine. Senior Carson Lowden set the Aggies to a .290 hitting mark, and junior outside hitter Kayla Varney had 15 kills. UCI got 22 kills from junior outside hitter Kari Pestolesi. The Aggies - winners of six in a row - now stand alone atop the Big West standings with a 9-2 league record. In last week's AVCA poll, the conference had one ranked team and two more that were just outside of the top 25 - but UC Davis was not among the squads receiving votes and listed on multiple ballots. On Saturday, Pacific snapped a three-match skid with a 25-18, 25-22, 16-25, 25-20 upset of UC Irvine. Junior outside hitter Svenja Engelhardt had 15 kills for the Tigers, while freshman libero Kristin Winkler notched 30 digs for UCI in the loss.

Wisconsin earned a road upset of 15th-ranked Michigan on Friday, as senior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner notched 16 kills and junior outside hitter Allison Wack had 15. Sophomore right side Alex Hunt posted 19 kills on .359 hitting in the loss. The other big upset of the week came on Wednesday in San Diego, as Pepperdine eventually took a marathon first game and went on to a 36-34, 25-17, 25-18 win over 19th-ranked San Diego. Senior Kiah Fiers set the Waves to 55 kills (18.3 per set) and a .316 hitting mark, while junior right side Ali Troost had 21 kills in the loss for USD.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top 25 and Television Schedule - All Times Eastern
No. 3 Hawai'i at San Jose State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats

Cassie Robbins and Washington State took part in the Attacking Breat Cancer Pink Campaign and knocked off Washington

The biggest upset of the weekend came on Friday in Pullman, as Washington State - the first team outside of the Top 25 - snapped a 12-match losing streak against its biggest rival and registered an 18-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-22 victory over No. 4 Washington in front of 2,724 fans. Meagan Ganzer led the Cougars with 15 kills, while three players in the match - UW's Tamari Miyashiro (28) and the WSU pair of Oceana Bush (23) and Jackie Albright (22) - had 20+ digs.

The showdown in the SEC didn't disappoint, as seventh-ranked Kentucky eventually prevailed in five (25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 25-15) over No. 20 LSU on Saturday. Sarah Mendoza paced UK with 21 kills and 12 digs, while LSU had 17 blocks in the losing effort - with Lauren DeGirolamo and Brittnee Cooper taking part in nine each.

Two of the elite teams in the Big Ten also matched up on Saturday, and No. 9 Minnesota pulled out a four-set (20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-10) win over 11th-ranked Michigan in front of a crowd of 7,547. Taylor Carico set the Gophers to a .298 hitting mark, with Tabitha Love leading the attack with 29 kills on .455 hitting. Minnesota had a big advantage at the net, outblocking the Wolverines 15-5 - which was a big part of U-M hitting just .148.

No. 12 Oregon headed to Los Angeles for the weekend and could not come away with a victory. On Friday, it was 13th-ranked UCLA earning a 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 15-9 triumph over the Ducks. Amanda Gil had 14 kills on .345 hitting and also was in on 10 of the Bruins' 18.5 blocks. Sonja Newcombe had 22 kills and 23 digs for UO in the losing effort. Newcombe had 21 kills and 10 digs in just three sets the following afternoon, but the Ducks were edged in each of those frames in a 26-24, 25-23, 30-28 defeat at the hands of No. 18 USC. Alex Jupiter led the Women of Troy with 19 kills, while Alli Hillgren had 20 digs.

No. 16 Arizona suffered a similar fate to Oregon - as the Wildcats returned home with a pair of losses against two of the best teams in the Pac-10. The Wildcats lost in four (25-19, 21-25, 25-16, 25-16) against California on Friday. That match featured one of the top individual performances of the weekend, as Cal's Hana Cutura posted 31 kills on just 47 swings for a .638 hitting mark - and also added 11 digs. Junior setter Carli Lloyd helped the Bears to a .331 attack percentage as a team. On Sunday, sixth-ranked Stanford swept Arizona 25-22, 25-21, 25-23 in front of 2,131 fans. The Cardinal had six service aces in the match and got 11 kills on .429 hitting from Janet Okogbaa. - while Arizona's Whitney Dosty led all players with 15 kills.

There were two other instances of unranked teams pulling off upsets. The first came on Thursday, as TCU cooled off the newest member of the Top 25 with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-10 win against 25th-ranked Colorado State in front of a record crowd of 1,875 in Fort Worth. TCU got 11 kills from Christy Hudson, and Megan Munce had three of the Horned Frogs' seven aces, as TCU held the Rams to a .097 hitting mark and snapped CSU's 12-match winning streak.

On Friday, UC Santa Barbara upset 19th-ranked UC Irvine in a five-set decision (14-25, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22, 19-17) on the road. The Gauchos got 28 kills and 13 digs from Rebecca Saraceno, as well as 26 digs from Chelsey Lowe on the way to improving to 4-1 against ranked teams this season - and sweeping the season series with the Anteaters. UCI held statistical advantages in just about every category - including kills, hitting percentage, aces, digs and blocks - but came up short in the end despite 22 kills from Kari Pestolesi.

Both undefeated teams remained that way without much difficulty. Top-ranked Penn State beat Indiana 25-19, 25-13, 25-17 on Friday and dominated Purdue 25-13, 25-15, 25-12 the following day. Megan Hodge had 16 kills on .538 hitting against the Hoosiers, while Alisha Glass set the Lions to a .362 team mark against IU and a .438 percentage vs. the Boilermakers. No. 2 Texas beat Colorado 25-23, 25-12, 25-15 on Saturday. Michelle Kocher set the Longhorns to a .443 hitting percentage, and Destinee Hooker had six service aces for UT.

Ashley Mass helped Iowa State beat Nebraska for the first time

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Highlights from Last Night
It was a night for road teams to pull off upsets. No. 14 Iowa State made history by going on the road and pulling off a five-set (18-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12) win against fifth-ranked Nebraska in front of a crowd of 4,137. Since the inception of the varsity program 33 years ago, the Cyclones had been 0-75 against the Cornhuskers. Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Hockaday led ISU with 18 kills, while junior libero Ashley Mass added 25 digs in the comeback victory. Nebraska is the highest-ranked team ever to be defeated by Iowa State - which took over sole possession of second place in the Big 12.

Tennessee also hit the road and pulled off an upset of a top-10 team, as the Lady Vols knocked off No. 7 Kentucky 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22 in front of 2,291 fans. Junior outside hitter Nikki Fowler led UT with 20 kills, while senior libero Chloe Goldman had 23 digs. The win establishes Tennessee (15-5, 8-2) as one of the elite teams in the SEC, a conference that has four teams with just two league defeats or fewer - while the remaining squads all have losing records in conference action. In the losing effort, senior libero BriAnne Sauer recorded a career-high 35 digs and junior outside hitter Sarah Mendoza had 22 kills for UK.

Oklahoma also got into the action on Wednesday, as the Sooners went to No. 21 Texas A&M and pulled off a sweep (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) of the Aggies. Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Higgins led a balanced Sooners attack with 11 kills, as OU defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back matches for the first time ever. Oklahoma knocked off Baylor on Saturday.

The other two ranked teams in action won in straight sets. No. 2 Texas moved to 15-0 with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-20 win against Missouri that saw senior Ashley Engle set the Longhorns to a .452 hitting percentage - while senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker had 19 kills and no errors on 32 swings for a .594 mark. No. 11 Michigan was tested on the road against Michigan State, but eventually prevailed 33-31, 25-22, 26-24 in front of 4,309 fans. Sophomore right side Alex Hunt led the way with a season-high 19 kills.

WEEKEND PREVIEW
None of the top-five teams will face a nationally-ranked opponent this week, and there are no matchups of top-10 squads against each other. Still, there are some intriguing matches and a few teams who have big opportunities.

• A pair of Pac-10 teams - No. 12 Oregon and 16th-ranked Arizona - have big road trips this weekend. The Ducks - who posted wins against California and Stanford at home last weekend - will play at No. 13 UCLA on Friday and at 18th-ranked USC the following afternoon. In 2008, UO played a pair of five-set matches on its L.A. trip and came away with a win against the Bruins before losing 23-21 in the fifth against the Trojans.
• No. 16 Arizona has rebounded from a three-match losing streak with a three-match winning streak (the longest current streak in the brutal Pac-10), but the Wildcats will head to the Bay Area for a big challenge - matches against 15th-ranked Cal on Friday and vs. fifth-ranked Stanford on Sunday afternoon.
• Another team with a tough challenge ahead is ninth-ranked Minnesota, which welcomes Michigan State - which has been in and out of the rankings all season - on Friday before playing host to No. 11 Michigan on Saturday.
• There's a huge matchup in the SEC on Saturday in Lexington, as 20th-ranked LSU - winners of eight of in a row - takes on No. 7 Kentucky. It's a matchup between the leaders of the conference's Eastern and Western Divisions, as both come in with 9-1 marks in league action.
• The toughest test for the top-five could come on Friday for No. 4 Washington, as the Huskies head to Washington State - the first team outside of the Top 25 - for a rivalry match. The Huskies, the Pac-10 leader with a 7-1 conference mark, have won 12 in a row against WSU.
• Another team not in the rankings - but receiving votes - that could be dangerous is Oregon State. The Beavers make the trip to L.A., and will take on No. 18 USC on Friday and 13th-ranked UCLA the next night.
• No. 19 UC Irvine sits atop the Big West Conference standings with a 6-1 record. After a thrilling five-set victory last weekend, the Anteaters have another tough challenge on the horizon. UCI will play host to UC Santa Barbara - which is receiving votes in the AVCA poll - on Friday.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top 25 and Television Schedule
Thursday, October 22
No. 25 Colorado State at TCU, 8 p.m. - TV: The Mtn. (airs 9:30 p.m. ET) | Live Stats
No. 22 San Diego at Gonzaga, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Sacramento State at Northern Arizona, 10 p.m. - TV: Universityhouse | Live Stats
Fresno State at New Mexico State, 11 p.m. - TV: ESPNU | Live Stats
Friday, October 23
Arkansas at No. 10 Florida, 7 p.m. - TV: Sun Sports & SportSouth | Live Stats
North Carolina State at No. 17 Florida State, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
Indiana at No. 1 Penn State, 8 p.m. - TV: ESPNU (live) & ESPN2 (airs Sunday, 1 p.m. ET) | Live Stats
No. 8 Illinois at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Michigan State at No. 9 Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
La Salle at No. 24 Saint Louis, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Oregon State at No. 18 USC, 9 p.m. - Live Stats
BYU at Utah, 9 p.m. - TV: BYU-TV | Live Stats
No. 4 Washington at Washington State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Arizona State at No. 6 Stanford, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 12 Oregon at No. 13 UCLA, 10 p.m. - TV: FSN (delayed) | Free Video | Live Stats
No. 16 Arizona at No. 15 California, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
UC Santa Barbara at No. 19 UC Irvine, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
BYU-Hawai'i at No. 3 Hawai'i, 1 a.m. - TV: KFVE | Live Stats
Saturday, October 24
No. 20 LSU at No. 7 Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 25 Colorado State at New Mexico, 3 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 22 San Diego at Portland, 4 p.m. - Live Stats
Colorado at No. 2 Texas, 5 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 12 Oregon at No. 18 USC, 5 p.m. - Live Stats
Purdue at No. 1 Penn State, 7 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network (airs Sunday, 8 p.m. ET) | Live Stats
Texas Tech at No. 14 Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Oklahoma at No. 5 Nebraska, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 8 Illinois at Iowa, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 11 Michigan at No. 9 Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 23 Baylor at Kansas State, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Oregon State at No. 13 UCLA, 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Cal Poly at No. 19 UC Irvine, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Sunday, October 25
North Carolina at No. 17 Florida State, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Temple at No. 24 Saint Louis, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Mississippi at No. 10 Florida, 1:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Rice at Tulsa, 2 p.m. - TV: CBSC | Live Stats
No. 16 Arizona at No. 6 Stanford, 4 p.m. - Live Stats
Arizona State at No. 15 California, 4 p.m. - TV: CSN | Live Stats

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
No. 3 Hawai'i began the week with another decisive victory, this time a 25-12, 25-8, 25-17 home triumph against Louisiana Tech. UH held the Lady Techsters to just 16 kills and 19 attack errors (eight on blocks) for a -.032 hitting mark. Sophomore outside hitter Kanani Danielson had 11 kills for the Rainbow Wahine - who have won 13 in a row.

Jamel Nicholas and Notre Dame are 11th in the RPI

The second edition of the official NCAA RPI came out this week. You can view it here. Below are some observations:

• The top four positions - Texas, Florida State, Penn State and Illinois - in this week's RPI remained the same, but Washington slid up three spots to round out the top five.
• For the second straight week, four of the top seven teams in the RPI are from the Big Ten: No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan and No. 7 Minnesota. The Pac-10 has five of the top 14: No. 5 Washington, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Oregon, No. 13 California and No. 14 Stanford.
• Notre Dame rose five positions to 11th in this week's RPI, though the Irish are the fifth team listed outside of the Top 25 in the AVCA poll. ND stands 13-4 on the season and sits atop the BIG EAST Conference standings with a 7-0 mark. Its defeats came against No. 11 Michigan, No. 17 Florida State, No. 20 LSU and Tennessee (which is receiving votes) - and Notre Dame has a win against No. 6 Stanford to its credit.
• There are four other teams - Florida International (16th), Michigan State (18th), Ohio (20th) and Tennessee (23rd) - that are unranked but appear in the top 25 of the RPI.
• Among the others that fared better in the RPI than in the AVCA poll are Michigan (ranked 11th; RPI of 6th), Arizona (16th; 8th) and LSU (20th; 12th).
• Teams that appear considerably lower in the RPI than in the AVCA poll this week include Hawai'i (ranked 3rd; RPI of 22nd), Nebraska (5th; 17th), Stanford (6th; 14th), Kentucky (7th; 19th), UCLA (13th; 25th), USC (18th; 27th), UC Irvine (19th; 55th), Texas A&M (21st; 33rd), and San Diego (22nd; 45th).
• If the NCAA Championship field was determined based soley on this RPI listing, and you assume that each conference's automatic bid goes to its highest-ranked team - then the last four teams to make the field as at-large participants would be Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, New Mexico and Kansas. The first four teams out would be Saint Mary's, Northwestern, Oklahoma and North Carolina.
• A field determined in that way would include nine teams from the Pac-10, as well as eight from the Big Ten, six from the Big 12, four each from the ACC and SEC, plus three from the Missouri Valley Conference and two each from the Atlantic 10, BIG EAST, Big West, Mountain West and Sun Belt. All other conferences would have just one participant.

Danielle Minch and Colorado State have won 12 in a row

This week's edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 was released on Monday. You can view it here. Here are a few notes:

• Riding a 12-match winning streak that includes sweeps of BYU and Utah last week, Colorado State moved into the final spot in the Top 25. It's the Rams' first ranking since they were 24th in the preseason. Long Beach State surrendered the final spot to CSU after losing in five to UC Irvine.
• The Pac-10 still leads all conferences with seven ranked teams (all at 18th or higher), while the Big 12 boasts five squads in the rankings this week. The Big Ten has four teams in the rankings, but all of them are among the top 11. The SEC has three teams ranked, and six leagues have one ranked team each.
• For the eighth consecutive week, the Big Ten has three teams - No. 1 Penn State, No. 6 Minnesota and No. 10 Illinois - ranked among the top 10. The top 10 is rather balanced, though, with the Big 12, Pac-10 and SEC all featuring a pair in the group.
• The biggest upward mover this week was LSU, which moved up four spots to 20th. It's the Tigers' highest ranking in more than two years, since being 18th on Oct. 8, 2007. The largest drops were by Baylor and Saint Louis, which both dropped four spots to 23rd and 24th, respectively.
• Penn State is No. 1 for the 32nd consecutive poll - an AVCA record - since taking over the top spot on Oct. 29, 2007, while Texas has been No. 2 in every poll this season (which matches the highest ranking in program history).
• Kentucky moved up another spot to seventh, which is the highest listing for the Wildcats since being fifth on Oct. 5, 1993. UK has moved up in each of the last four polls that have been released.
• Arizona rose two positions to 16th, which is the highest ranking for the Wildcats since they finished the 2005 campaign at seventh.
• Illinois moved up two places to eighth - which matches its season high.

The latest edition of NCAA statistics also were released on Monday. The complete listings can be found here. There was a lot of movement at the top of the individual lists this week, as we have new Division I leaders in four of the six categories: Marist junior middle blocker Lindsey Schmid in service aces (0.67), Iowa State senior Kaylee Manns in assists (12.28), UCLA sophomore middle blocker Amanda Gil in blocking (1.58) and Siena senior Burgundy McCurty in kills (5.34). In the team categories, Sacred Heart moved into first in service aces (2.19), while Idaho just edged past Texas for first in blocks (3.10). Also, Texas A&M took over the top spot in kills (15.09) to make the Aggies the national leader in both that and assists (14.28). The Division I leader in each category is below.

TEAM
Service Aces - Sacred Heart, 2.19
Assists - Texas A&M, 14.28
Blocks - Idaho, 3.10
Digs - NJIT, 20.54
Hitting Percentage - Penn State, .421
Kills - Texas A&M, 15.09
Winning Percentage - Penn State and Texas, 1.000
INDIVIDUAL
Service Aces - Lindsey Schmid, Marist, 0.67
Assists - Kaylee Manns, Iowa State, 12.28
Blocks - Amanda Gil, UCLA, 1.58
Digs - Sabrina Baby, NJIT, 6.51
Hitting Percentage - Arielle Wilson, Penn State, .591
Kills - Burgundy McCurty, Siena, 5.34

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top-25 and Televised Matches (All Times Eastern)
Tennessee at No. 7 Kentucky, 7 p.m. - TV: ESPNU | Live Stats
No. 11 Michigan at Michigan State, 7 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network | Live Stats
Missouri at No. 2 Texas, 7:30 p.m. - TV: TWC Texas Channel | Free Video | Live Stats
Oklahoma at No. 21 Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 14 Iowa State at No. 5 Nebraska, 8 p.m. - TV: NET | Free Video | Live Stats

Sonja Newcombe and Oregon notched two big victories

It was another exciting weekend of action across the country, with many of the top matchups delivering high drama. In fact, four of the seven meetings between nationally-ranked teams needed fifth sets to decide them. There were also two five-setters that saw ranked teams fall to unranked opposition.

The biggest story of the weekend was that top-ranked and two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State was pushed to the limit by 11th-ranked Michigan - but the Nittany Lions would eventually prevail in five, 24-26, 25-8, 23-25, 25-21, 15-12. Due largely to the blowout second set, PSU dominated the match statistically, holding a .362-.191 edge in hitting, a 50-37 advantage in digs and a 17-8 blocking comparison. But a sold-out crowd of 1,850 in Cliff Keen Arena helped the Wolverines become the first opponent to win two of the first three sets against Penn State during PSU's NCAA-record 84-match winning streak. It was just the second five-set match for the Lions during that string (the other was against Nebraska in last year's NCAA semifinals). Senior outside hitter and three-time All-American Megan Hodge had 25 kills and junior middle hitter Arielle Wilson - the nation's leader in attack percentage - had 17 kills on .696 hitting and eight blocks to lead the Nittany Lions.

Another of the nation's elite teams, No. 4 Washington, also was challenged but eventually came through with a pair of victories. The Huskies registered a 25-19, 26-24, 24-26, 25-18 triumph against No. 12 UCLA in front of a crowd of 5,018 on Friday, before rallying for a five-set (25-21, 22-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-10) win against 16th-ranked USC the following evening. Junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson led the way with 18 kills on Friday, while sophomore libero Lainey Gera posted 28 digs for the Bruins. On Saturday, UW was balanced offensively, while senior All-America libero Tamari Miyashiro had 30 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter had 25 kills for S.C.

Another big winner was 15th-ranked Oregon, which had a historically successful weekend. On Friday, the Ducks registered a sweep (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) of 14th-ranked California for the first time since 1990. Senior Nevena Djordjevic set Oregon to a .402 attack percentage, with two more seniors, outside hitter Sonja Newcombe and middle blocker Neticia Enesi, combined for 24 kills on .595 hitting. The next night saw UO battle and rally for a five-set (25-23, 22-25, 30-32, 25-22, 15-11) win that snapped a 39-match losing streak against fifth-ranked Stanford that dated back to 1989. It was the same players leading the Ducks, as Newcombe pounded 26 kills on .362 hitting, Enesi had 21 on a .514 mark and Djordjevic's offense hit .289. The Cardinal got 24 kills from junior outside hitter Alix Klineman.

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji after his 1,000th victory

The biggest individual milestone of the weekend occurred in Honolulu, where Hawai'i's Dave Shoji became just the second Division I head coach ever to earn 1,000 victories. His third-ranked Rainbow Wahine beat New Mexico State 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 25-8 in front of 9,293 fans on Saturday to allow Shoji to reach quarduple digits in victories. He holds a 1,000-175-1 mark in 35 seasons as a head coach, and Shoji's winning percentage of .851 is third in the all-time record book. Current UCLA coach Andy Banachowski is the all-time leader in victories on the Division I level, with 1,096.

In the only match of the weekend pitting top-10 teams against each other, it was 10th-ranked Illinois making a strong statement with a 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 home win against No. 6 Minnesota. It was a trio of outside hitters who paced the Illini, who got 15 kills on .314 hitting from junior Laura DeBruler, as well as 14 kills from senior Kylie McCulley and 13 kills on .333 hitting from sophomore Michelle Bartsch. Both senior liberos were oustanding, as Illinois' Ashley Edinger finished with 19 digs and Minnesota's Christine Tan leading all players with 20.

Several conferences saw two of the teams atop their standings faceoff over the weekend. Two of the most-anticipated of those showdowns both lived up to the billing, offering five sets of excitement. In Irvine, it was the 21st-ranked Anteaters of UC Irvine that eventually prevailed, 27-29, 25-23, 25-17, 18-25, 15-13, against 25th-ranked Long Beach State. Junior outside hitter Kari Pestolesi had 23 kills and her classmate, Juliane Piggott, added 19 in what turned out to be a defensive struggle (both teams hit below .155). UCI now stands alone in first place in the Big West. In the Atlantic 10, it was Dayton taking over first place in the standings with a marathon (25-18, 24-26, 19-25, 31-29, 17-15) home victory against 20th-ranked Saint Louis. The Billikens had a match point in the fourth set and three more in the fifth, but eventually it was the Flyers prevailing to snap SLU's 21-match winning streak in A-10 play. Dayton got 16 kills each from junior outside hitter Tiffany Gaerke and redshirt freshman outside hittter Rachel Krabacher - while senior outside hitter Bridget Fonke had 27 and her classmate, Sammi McCloud, pounded 20 for Saint Louis.

There were two other upsets of ranked teams. The 16th-ranked Women of Troy began their weekend by getting swept (25-17, 28-26, 25-23) by Washington State. Senior setter Renee Bordelon set the Cougars to .304 hitting, while sophomore outside hitter Meagan Ganzer had 15 kills on a .458 individual mark. Jupiter had 21 kills for USC. In the Big 12, Oklahoma - playing a ranked team for the third straight match - broke through with a five-set (25-13, 21-25, 25-17, 19-25, 15-12) upset of 19th-ranked Baylor. Sophomore right side Suzy Boulavsky had 21 kills on .455 hitting, as well as 20 digs and five blocks to lead the Sooners.

And No. 2 Texas remained unbeaten with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-17 victory against Texas Tech that saw junior All-America outside hitter Juliann Faucette post 22 kills on 27 attempts for a career-best .778 attack percentage. Sophomore Michell Kocher set the Longhorns to a .386 team mark.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top-25 and Television Schedule - All Times Eastern
Idaho at Utah State, 11 p.m. - TV: ESPNU | Live Stats
Louisiana Tech at No. 3 Hawai'i, 1 a.m. - TV: KFVE | Live Stats

Alex Hunt and Michigan will challenge Penn State in front of a sold-out crowd on Friday

Here are some notes on this weekend's biggest matchups:

• There are seven matches pitting nationally-ranked teams against each other this weekend, with five of those coming on Friday night and spanning three different conferences.
• The Big Ten Conference boasts four teams ranked among the top 11, and those squads will hook up for two huge matchups on Friday evening. Top-ranked Penn State - riding its NCAA-record 82-match winning streak - heads to 11th-ranked Michigan in a match that will be shown on a delayed basis on ESPN2. Sixth-ranked Minnesota plays at No. 10 Illinois in a contest that will be aired on tape delay by the Big Ten Network.
• Penn State is atop the conference standings with a 6-0 mark (and a conference-record 51 consecutive Big Ten victories), while Minnesota is in second place at 5-1. Illinois (5-2) and Michigan (4-2) are right behind the Gophers.
• PSU and Michigan are the top two teams in the Big Ten in kills (Penn State is first at 15.07; Michigan is at 14.27) and service aces (U-M is first at 1.78; PSU is at 1.64). The match also will feature the league's top two individual servers, as PSU's Alyssa D'Errico is tops at 0.59 aces per set, while Michigan's Alex Hunt is second at 0.54.
• The Penn State-Michigan match in Keen Arena is sold out. The Nittany Lions have won 12 in a row against the Wolverines (with eight of those being in straight sets).
• The Minnesota-Illinois contest is a special event called Spike the Record at Illini Madness, in which the match will be held in Assembly Hall immediately before the first Illinois basketball practices. Illinois has announced it is attempting to break the NCAA record for attendance at a regular-season volleyball match held in conjunction with a special promotion of another event. That record is 16,126 fans, and it was set at a five-set victory for North Carolina over Duke on Oct. 17, 2003, in a match held before UNC's first men's basketball practice.
• Each of the last three matches between Minnesota and Illinois have ended in five-set victories for the Gophers.
• The Pac-10 has four matches between ranked squads this weekend. On Friday, it will be 14th-ranked California at No. 15 Oregon, as well as No. 12 UCLA at fourth-ranked Washington. The following evening, No. 5 Stanford will be at Oregon, while Washington plays host to No. 16 USC.
• Stanford has won 39 straight against the Ducks and is 46-2 all-time in the series. Oregon's last victory came in 1989.
• Also on Friday, the co-leaders in the Big West Conference will meet, as No. 21 UC Irvine plays host to 25th-ranked Long Beach State. Both are 4-1 in league action.
• Long Beach State is the top defensive team in the Big West, allowing opponents to hit .173 this season - while UC Irvine is next-best at .177.
• LBSU and UCI split their meetings a season ago, but The Beach has won eight of the last 10 and is 57-7 all-time against the Anteaters.
• The top two teams in the Atlantic 10 will play this weekend, as well, as No. 20 Saint Louis heads to Dayton, which is receiving votes. The Billikens are 4-0 in conference action this season and have won 21 straight A-10 regular-season matches - while the Flyers are 5-0 in the A-10. Dayton is the last team to beat SLU in league action, a four-set match on Oct. 28, 2007.
• The West Coast Conference also has a matchup of two of its elite teams, as 23rd-ranked San Diego will play host to Saint Mary's - the lone team without a WCC defeat - on Saturday.
• There are five other matches where a ranked team plays a road match against a squad receiving votes in this week's poll. On Friday, No. 5 Stanford is at Oregon State, and No. 13 USC at Washington State. No. 1 Penn State will be at Michigan State - the first team outside the rankings - on Saturday, when 12th-ranked UCLA plays Washington State and No. 14 Cal takes on Oregon State, as well.
• There will be seven matches that feature some television coverage, though four of those will be shown on a tape-delayed basis and the other three are on local channels.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD WATCH
Friday, October 16
No. 17 Florida State at Maryland, 5:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 1 Penn State at No. 11 Michigan, 7 p.m. - TV: ESPN2 (airs Sunday at 1 p.m. ET) | Live Stats
No. 9 Florida at Auburn, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 20 Saint Louis at Xavier, 7 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Georgetown at Marquette, 7 p.m. - TV: MUTV | Free Video | Live Stats
No. 6 Minnesota at No. 10 Illinois, 7:30 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network (airs Sunday at 7 p.m.) | Live Stats
Arkansas at No. 24 LSU, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 12 UCLA at No. 4 Washington, 9 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 5 Stanford at Oregon State, 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 14 California at No. 15 Oregon, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 16 USC at Washington State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 18 Arizona at Arizona State, 10 p.m. - TV: FSN (delayed) | Live Stats
No. 25 Long Beach State at No. 21 UC Irvine, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Saturday, October 17
No. 19 Baylor at Oklahoma, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Colorado at No. 22 Texas A&M, 3 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Saint Mary's at No. 23 San Diego, 4 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 1 Penn State at Michigan State, 6:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Ohio State at No. 11 Michigan, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 20 Saint Louis at Dayton, 7 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 2 Texas at Texas Tech, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 7 Nebraska at Missouri, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 6 Minnesota at Northwestern, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 8 Kentucky at Mississippi State, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 16 USC at No. 4 Washington, 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 5 Stanford at No. 15 Oregon, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 12 UCLA at Washington State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 14 California at Oregon State, 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
UC Riverside at No. 21 UC Irvine, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Cal State Northridge at No. 25 Long Beach State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Portland State at Northern Arizona, 10 p.m. - TV: Universityhouse & FSN (both delayed) | Live Stats
New Mexico State at No. 3 Hawai'i, 1 a.m. - TV: KFVE | Live Stats
Sunday, October 18
No. 17 Florida State at Boston College, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Houston at UCF, 1 p.m. - TV: Bright House Sports Network | Live Stats
No. 9 Florida at Georgia, 1:30 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
No. 8 Kentucky at Alabama, 2:30 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Mississippi at No. 24 LSU, 2:30 p.m. - Live Stats

Megan Hodge had 21 kills in Penn State's sweep

Two of the remaining unbeatens faced difficult road tests over the weekend. One came through unscathed and the other fell in five. Top-ranked Penn State was up to the challenge again, sweeping No. 5 Minnesota 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 in front of 4,785 fans to extend its NCAA-record winning streak to 82 matches. The Nittany Lions were led by three-time All-America outside hitter Megan Hodge, who pounded 21 kills on .340 hitting and 11 digs. Senior setter Alisha Glass helped PSU to a .328 team hitting mark. Penn State has won 10 straight against the Gophers, including five consecutive sweeps.

Third-ranked Washington was defeated for the first time this season, losing in five (19-25, 25-15, 23-25, 25-23, 15-12) against No. 7 Stanford. The Huskies had won 46 consecutive sets to start the season before the Cardinal broke through in the second frame of the match. Senior middle blocker Janet Okogbaa led Stanford with a career-best 21 kills on .528 hitting and was in on seven of the team's 15 blocks. Both teams hit well, as freshman setter Karissa Cook led Stanford to a .257 mark, and junior Jenna Hagglund's UW attack finished at .254. The Huskies' serving was a big factor, as UW made 17 service errors, but managed just three aces.

The Cardinal beat No. 25 Washington State 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22 on Friday, thanks to 20 kills on .354 hitting from junior outside hitter Alix Klineman and 19 kills from her classmate, Cassidy Lichtman. Stanford - the two-time defending Pac-10 champs - dropped its conference opener, but has since reeled off four consecutive victories, all against nationally-ranked opponents.

Hagglund led Washington to a .490 attack percentage in a 25-16, 25-22, 25-23 victory over No. 15 California on Friday. Junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson had 19 kills on .471 hitting for UW, while junior Carli Lloyd set Cal to a .349 mark. The Golden Bears ended a three-match skid with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 win against No. 25 Washington State on Saturday. Lloyd's offense hit .396, with senior outside hitter Hana Cutura posting 19 kills on .567 hitting.

No. 22 Arizona also ended a three-match losing streak this weekend, overcoming a pair of outstanding individual efforts en route to two victories. Oregon State senior outside hitter Rachel Rourke had 29 kills on Friday, but Arizona used 96 digs to pull out a 25-27, 25-20, 25-21, 24-26, 15-6 win. On Saturday, it was Oregon senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe who registered 26 kills, but Arizona junior setter Paige Weber orchestrated a balanced and potent attack that had a .302 hitting percentage and featured five players with double-figure kills.

The other matchup of ranked teams over the weekend saw No. 16 UCLA gain a sweep of 13th-ranked USC at home in front of 3,180 fans. Senior outside hitter Kaitlin Sather had 15 kills, while sophomore libero Lainey Gera finished with 23 digs.

Sixth-ranked Florida had won 26 in a row against LSU before being swept by the Tigers on Sunday night, 28-26, 25-20, 25-22. Senior Sam Dabbs set the Tigers to a .333 hitting mark, while senior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper posted 18 kills on 26 error-less swings for a .692 hitting mark. It was LSU's first victory over Florida since 1991.

Allison Wack and Wisconsin posted two impressive wins

Heading into the weekend, Wisconsin found itself with a 6-7 overall record and near the bottom of the Big Ten standings with a 1-3 league mark. But the Badgers had one of the most-impressive weekends of anyone, sweeping No. 18 Michigan State on Friday and then knocking off eighth-ranked Michigan in four sets on Saturday. The Badgers won 25-16, 27-25, 29-27 in front of a crowd of 3,566 against the Spartans, as senior outside hitter Brittney Dolgner posted 15 kills on .444 hitting. UW then delighted a crowd of 4,601 in a 26-28, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21 win against the Wolverines that saw Allison Wack register 18 kills on .472 hitting.

Another team that came into the weekend at 1-3 in Big Ten play, Iowa, also played well. The Hawkeyes nearly pulled off an upset of No. 8 Michigan on Friday before the Wolverines rallied for a five-set win. Then Iowa dominated 18th-ranked Michigan State 25-14, 25-15, 25-19 on Sunday, as junior Mara Hilgenberg set her offense to a .356 hitting mark.

Texas A&M, the first team outside the Top 25, got a four-set (25-18, 31-29, 12-25, 25-23) road upset victory against No. 17 Baylor in front of a record crowd of 3,022. Senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman had 20 kills for TAMU. Pacific also notched an upset of a ranked team, defeating No. 20 Long Beach State 25-16, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22. Senior setter Olivia Riley helped the Tigers to a .366 hitting mark, as senior outside hitter Mallori Gibson had 21 kills on .400 hitting and junior outside hitter Svenja Engelhardt notched 20 kills on .459 hitting. Senior outside hitter Naomi Washington had 20 kills in defeat for The Beach.

Other noteworthy results included No. 2 Texas remaining unbeaten with a 27-25, 26-24, 25-15 victory over Oklahoma, and No. 19 Florida State defeating Duke in five sets (25-18, 25-27, 25-20, 23-25, 15-10). The Seminoles had lost 12 in a row against the Blue Devils - who had been the last team unbeaten in ACC action.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
A Look Back at Yesterday's Highlights
Five nationally-ranked teams played last night and all came through with victories - though a few were somewhat challenged. Topping that group was No. 1 Penn State, which dropped a set for the second time in less than a week but eventually won in four (25-17, 23-25, 25-15, 25-13) against Ohio State with senior Alisha Glass setting the Lions to a .353 mark. No. 6 Florida lost the first set at South Carolina but rallied for a 4-26, 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 victory. Sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy became the first Division I player to post four triple-doubles this season, with 12 kills, 25 assists and 17 digs.

Victoria Henson posted 24 kills, 14 digs and six blocks to help No. 14 Iowa State gain a 25-23, 22-25, 25-10, 25-21 win at Oklahoma. Elsewhere in the Big 12, senior Taylor Barnes led No. 17 Baylor to a .309 hitting mark and a 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 win at Texas Tech. No. 9 Nebraska swept Kansas 25-20, 25-20, 25-21 thanks to 15 kills on .448 hitting from Hannah Werth.

WEEKEND PREVIEW
• The biggest test of the season thus far is on the horizon for top-ranked Penn State which has dropped two sets in the last three matches. The Nittany Lions will be at No. 5 Minnesota on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.
• The Gophers are 13-3 overall and have registered sweeps in all four of their Big Ten contests. PSU has won nine straight vs. Minnesota, including four consecutive three-set decisions.
• The Pac-10 has a record eight teams in the national rankings this week, and of the seven matches between ranked teams set for this weekend, all but one features Pac-10 teams.
• No. 3 Washington - the only DI team that has yet to lose a set - has another tough weekend ahead, as the Cougars will head to the Bay Area for matches against No. 15 California and seventh-ranked Stanford. The Huskies are the only team that is unbeaten in Pac-10 play, at 4-0.
• No. 25 Washington State also heads to the Bay Area and will face No. 7 Stanford on Friday and 15th-ranked Cal on Saturday. The Cougars - who are ranked for the first time in more than six years - are 13-1 overall and in second place in the Pac-10 standings at 3-1. Stanford is one-half game back at 2-1 in league play, while every other team already has been beaten at least twice in conference action.
• Saturday's match in Palo Alto pits the teams that have taken the top two spots in the Pac-10 standings in each of the last five years. Stanford edged out Washington for the league title in each of the last three seasons after the Huskies finished first ahead of the Cardinal in both 2004 and '05.
• In other Pac-10 activity between ranked teams, No. 13 USC is at No. 16 UCLA on Friday and seventh-ranked Oregon plays on the road against No. 22 Arizona on Saturday.
• Second-ranked Texas plays host to Oklahoma on Saturday. The Sooners beat the Longhorns in five in the last match between the schools - which stands as the last tim UT was beaten at home. Texas does hold a 33-2 advantage in the all-time series.
• Another big match in the Big 12 pits No. 17 Baylor against Texas A&M, which is the first team outside of the top 25.
• No. 12 Illinois has a big weekend, as it welcomes a pair of teams that are receiving votes in the poll this week: Indiana and Purdue.
• Elsewhere, No. 19 Florida State hits the road to face the only team unbeaten in ACC action, Duke, and the two remaining unbeatens in BIG EAST play - Notre Dame and Cincinnati - play at Notre Dame.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Complete Top 25 and TV Schedule (All Times Eastern)
New Mexico at BYU, 9 p.m. - TV: BYU Television | Live Stats
Wyoming at Air Force, 9:30 p.m. - TV: The Mtn. | Free Video | Live Stats
San Francisco at No. 24 San Diego, 10 p.m. - Free Video | Live Stats
Nevada at No. 4 Hawai'I, 1 a.m. - TV: KFVE | Free Audio | Live Stats

The sixth in-season edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 was released yesterday. You can view it here. Here are a few notes about them:

• Washington State moved into the poll at 25th this week, marking the first national ranking for the Cougars since the preseason poll in 2003. Wichita State, which was 25th a week ago, fell out of the rankings. All of the other 24 teams retained their rankings.
• The Pac-10 now has a record eight of its 10 members listed in the top 25. No. 3 Washington leads the way and is followed by No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Oregon, No. 13 USC, No. 15 California, No. 16 UCLA, No. 22 Arizona and No. 25 Washington State. Also, Oregon State is the third team listed outside of the top 25.
• The Big Ten has five ranked teams while the Big 12 has four and both the SEC and Big West have two. The top 10 is quite balanced, with three Big Ten teams, a pair each from the Pac-10, Big 12 and SEC and one WAC squad.
• It is the first time that the SEC has had multiple teams in the top 10 since Oct. 23, 2006, when Florida was seventh and LSU was 10th.
• The biggest upward movers this week were Kentucky and Michigan State, which both rose five spots. The Wildcats are now 10th - UK's highest ranking since 1993 - and the Spartans are 18th. The largest drop was by California, which slipped six positions to 15th.
• Penn State is No. 1 for the 30th consecutive poll - an AVCA record - since taking over the top spot on Oct. 29, 2007.
• Texas has been No. 2 in every poll this season, which matches the highest ranking in program history.
• The top three spots remained largely unchanged, though Texas and Washington both picked up a first-place vote that had gone to Penn State a week ago. The Nittany Lions still received 48 votes for the top spot, while the Longhorns got nine and UW received three.
• Minnesota rose three spots to fifth this week, which marks the highest ranking for the Gophers since Sept. 19, 2005.
• Baylor moved up two spots to 17th, which is the highest-ever listing for the Bears.
• Long Beach State also is up two to 20th, which marks the 49ers' highest ranking since the preseason poll in 2007.

The latest edition of NCAA statistics also were released yesterday. The complete listings can be found here. The Division I leaders in each category are below.

TEAM
Service Aces - Georgia State, 2.31
Assists - Iowa State, 14.20
Blocks - Idaho, 3.17
Digs - NJIT, 20.84
Hitting Percentage - Penn State, .436
Kills - Iowa State, 15.00
Winning Percentage - Penn State and Washington and Texas, 1.000
INDIVIDUAL
Service Aces - Heather Meyers, Oregon, 0.76
Assists - Kaylee Manns, Iowa State, 12.29
Blocks - Alli Arbogast, USF, 1.74
Digs - Sabrina Baby, NJIT, 6.58
Hitting Percentage - Arielle Wilson, Penn State, .575
Kills - Yun Yi Zhang, Temple, 5.64

Sarah Mendoza had 41 combined kills in Kentucky's wins

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
A Look Back at the Weekend Highlights
It was another exciting weekend of action, with many of the biggest matches not decided until a fifth set. One of the big winners was 11th-ranked Stanford, which picked up a pair of big road victories. The Cardinal beat No. 16 UCLA for the 17th straight time by scores of 20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20 before sweeping 13th-ranked USC (25-23, 35-33, 25-18). Junior outside hitter Alix Klineman, an All-American in each of the past two seasons, led the way in both matches. She posted 23 kills, 10 digs and five blocks against the Bruins and had 24 kills on .357 hitting to go with 11 digs vs. the Women of Troy. The middle set of the latter match was a classic, with Stanford saving five set points before finally converting on its seventh set point with a Klineman kill.

No. 15 Kentucky had a weekend of ups and downs, but persevered to come out with a pair of five-set triumphs. The Wildcats traveled to fifth-ranked Florida on Friday and managed to win just nine points in the opening set. But UK would rally and eventually take a 9-25, 25-19, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11 victory. Junior Sarah Mendoza paced the Wildcats with 20 kills. It ended a 19-match losing streak in Gainesville and marked Kentucky's first win there in exactly 20 years and one day. On Sunday, Kentucky won the first two sets, but was stretched to the limit by South Carolina before finally prevailing 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 15-13. Mendoza had 21 more kills and 12 digs. Senior outside hitter Ivana Kujundzic had 22 kills and 12 digs for South Carolina. Kentucky is the lone SEC team to remain unbeaten in league play, at 4-0.

No. 12 Illinois also played a pair of five-setters on the road - but the Illini could manage just one victory. On Friday, 23rd-ranked Michigan State saved four match points in the fourth set and rallied for a 25-20, 20-25, 24-26, 28-26, 15-10 win over Illinois. The Fighting Illini dropped the first two sets the following evening against No. 6 Michigan, but senior outside hitter Kylie McCulley led Illinois back to a 21-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-11 win in which the U of I had a 15-3 blocking edge.

Both USC and UCLA managed to earn weekend splits with tough home wins over ninth-ranked California. The Trojans needed five sets to do so on Friday, saving three match points and finally converting on their fourth chance in a 22-25, 29-27, 25-19, 16-25, 22-20 decision. Both Jessica Gysin from USC and Cal's Mindi Wiley posted 21 kills in the match, while Trojan Alex Jupiter and Hana Cutura of the Bears had 19 apiece. On Saturday, UCLA beat Cal 25-20, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22.

One of the biggest accomplishments of the weekend was turned in by Iowa, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes won just a single set in two matches. That set, though, was the third frame on Friday against top-ranked Penn State in what would eventually be a 25-16, 25-10, 24-26, 25-18 win for the Nittany Lions. The Hawkeyes saved a match point en route to ending Penn State's streak of 141 consecutive set victories in regular-season play - a string that reached back to Nov. 27, 2004, when Michigan took a set from PSU. Senior setter Alisha Glass helped Penn State to .381 hitting in the match and her classmate, Megan Hodge, had 20 kills. The Lions then swept Wisconsin (25-18, 25-20, 25-16) on Saturday to tie their own Big Ten record for consecutive conference victories, at 49. PSU has won an NCAA-record 80 in a row overall.

Third-ranked Washington is now the only Division I school to have yet to be defeated in a set this season, as the Huskies delivered two more impressive wins over the weekend. UW was challenged early against Arizona State, but eventually prevailed 25-23, 25-16, 25-22. Junior setter Jenna Hagglund and Washington then dominated No. 18 Arizona, outhitting the Wildcats .413-.094 en route to a 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 win. UW has won all 42 sets in its 14 matches this season (including four against ranked opponents), by an average score of 25.0-16.7. Washington's closest set was the second one against Oregon on Sept. 25, when the Ducks actually held a set point before the Huskies prevailed 26-24.

The other unbeaten team remained that way, as Texas won 25-20, 25-21, 25-21 at Kansas State. Senior setter Ashley Engle had 10 kills on 12 attempts herself and also led the Longhorns to .392 hitting.

There was even more great action in the Pac-10, as Oregon State upset No. 7 Oregon in five sets, 25-21, 21-25, 10-25, 25-22, 16-14, in front of a Gill Coliseum record crowd of 3,576. Beavers' senior outside hitter Rachel Rourke had 29 kills, including seven in the final set - in which OSU survived a match point. One of the other unranked but dangerous conference squads, Washington State, turned in an outstanding weekend by sweeping 18th-ranked Arizona 25-21, 25-22, 26-24 on Friday, despite 18 kills from Arizona's Tiffany Owens. The Cougars then rallied for a five-set (25-19, 24-26, 13-25, 25-17, 15-10) victory against Arizona State. WSU sophomore outside hitter Meagan Ganzer had 20 kills in the match, while freshman libero Oceana Bush registered a school-record 39 digs. Junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves pounded 26 kills for ASU.

Freshman rightside hitter Monique Mead had 19 kills and 14 digs to lead Georgia Tech to a five-set (19-25, 27-25, 15-25, 27-25, 16-14) win at No. 17 Florida State. The Seminoles had their 11-match winning streak snapped despite senior Nikki Baker setting them to a .336 hitting percentage (compared to .190 for the Yellow Jackets). FSU was also challenged by Clemson, but used 24 kills from senior middle blocker Brianna Barry to grab a 26-24, 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 15-7 win.

Two other ranked teams were upset over the weekend, as well. No. 20 San Diego was swept (25-18, 25-23, 25-23) on the road by Pepperdine, which had lost four straight. Both teams hit well, with senior Kiah Fiers leading the Waves to a .365 mark and junior Kelsi Myers setting USD to a .316 attack percentage. Creighton earned its first-ever win over a nationally-ranked team with a 26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 win against No. 25 Wichita State. Junior libero Nayka Benitez (36 digs) and senior middle blocker Jessica Houts (nine blocks) led the Blue Jays defense, which held the Shockers to .059 hitting en route to improving to 6-9. No. 22 Long Beach State avoided the upset bug with a five-set win over UC Santa Barbara. Senior outside hitter Naomi Washington had 23 kills for the 49ers.