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.

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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

Kourtney Edwards and TCU will make their NCAA tournament debut on Thursday

The wait is almost over, as the 2009 NCAA Championship will get underway on Thursday, with eight first-round matches - those being hosted by Texas, Illinois, Florida and Colorado State - scheduled to take place. On Friday, we'll have the second-round contests at each of those four sites, plus 22 first-round matches. Saturday will feature 11 more second-round matches, plus the two first-round clashes at Florida State. The second-round match at FSU will be the lone contest on Sunday.

The best way to follow the entire tournament is via NCAA.com's interactive bracket, which features the latest official matchup information, as well as live scoring of every match, video and audio links, pre-game statistical comparisons and individual leaders, and tournament statistical leaders.

Another cool thing to check out is the NCAA.com Bracket Challenge game, where you can view matchup information and make your predictions on who will win every match. You can even create a group and invite your friends to compete against you. You must fill out your bracket before the first tournament match - Florida International vs. Miami (Fla.) at 5 p.m. ET - begins.

Now let's take a look at Thursday's matches:

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL VS. MIAMI (Fla.)
Gainesville, Florida - 5 p.m. ET
FIU Basics: 31-3, 17-0 Sun Belt (1st, East Division), 15th in RPI, listed in tie for 35th in AVCA poll, 24-1 in last 25, 8-1 at neutral sites, 20-2 away from home, 1-2 all-time in NCAAs (2nd appearance in a row; 3rd overall)
Miami Basics: 18-12, 11-9 ACC (T-5th), 47th in RPI, 6-4 in last 10, 2-1 at neutral sites, 8-6 away from home, 2-1 all-time in NCAAs (1st appearance since 2002; 2nd overall
Notes: FIU senior outside hittger Yarimar Rosa, the national leader in kills in 2008 (5.12), was the Sun Belt Player of the Year in both 2008 and '09. FIU has one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking ninth in kills (14.65), 12th in assists (13.54) and 22nd in hitting percentage (.262), while Natalia Valentin ranks sixth individually in assists (11.96). Only Penn State has won more matches than FIU This season. You can read a feature on Miami senior libero Cassie Loessberg here. Previous 2009 Meeting: FIU won 26-24, 26-24, 25-17 on Sept. 10 at FIU; FIU hit .303; FIU's Yarimar Rosa had 17 kills and Chanel Araujo had 18 digs; no Miami player had more than eight kills

RICE VS. TCU
Austin, Texas - 5:30 p.m. ET
Rice Basics: 23-8, 11-5 C-USA (4th), Conference USA tournament champion, 39th in RPI, listed 41st in AVCA poll, won nine in a row, 2-0 at neutral sites, 11-3 away from home, 0-2 all-time in NCAAs (2nd appearance in a row; 3rd overall)
TCU Basics: 26-6, 13-3 MWC (2nd), 43rd in RPI, listed in tie for 37th in AVCA poll, 11-1 in last 12, 6-0 at neutral sites, 15-4 away from home, first appearance in NCAAs
Notes: Rice outside hitter Jessie Boulavsky is a first-team Academic All-American (one of just four in the tournament), having posted a 4.00 GPA in psychology and pre-med. Rice ranks third in Division I in assists (13.95) and kills (14.93), as well as sixth in digs (18.11). Neither team has ever won an NCAA tournament match.

DAYTON VS. MILWAUKEE
Champaign, Illinois - 5:30 p.m. ET
Dayton Basics: 29-3, 14-1 A-10 (T-1st), Atlantic 10 tournament champion, 23rd in RPI, 23rd in AVCA poll, won 9 in a row and 19 of last 20, 5-1 at neutral sites, 15-3 away from home, 2-5 all-time in NCAAs (3rd appearance in a row; 6th overall)
Milwaukee Basics: 16-14, 10-6 Horizon League (T-3rd), Horizon League tournament champion, 139th in RPI, won 11 in a row, 3-2 at neutral sites, 8-10 away from home, 0-7 all-time in NCAAs (2nd appearance in a row; 8th overall)
Notes: Dayton middle blocker Lindsay Fletemier, the Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year, ranks eighth in the nation in hitting percentage (.405). Milwaukee libero Lauren Felsing is a two-time Academic All-American (2nd team in '08, 3rd team in '09). Milwaukee lost on Oct. 11 to fall to 5-14, but has not lost since.

TEXAS STATE AT (2) TEXAS
Austin, Texas - 7 p.m. ET
Texas Basics: 24-1, 19-1 Big 12 (1st), 1st in RPI, 2nd in AVCA poll, won 6 in a row, 10-0 at home, 53-24 all-time in NCAAs, including five final fours and the 1988 title (6th appearance in a row; 26th overall)
Texas State Basics: 22-12, 13-3 Southland (1st, West Division), 108th in RPI, won 13 in a row, 6-6 in true road matches, 11-10 away from home, 0-6 all-time in NCAAs (first appearance since 2007; 7th overall)
Notes: Texas has won 20 in a row at home and has won 30 of 31 sets at home this season. 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. She is first among players in the tournament in points (5.86; 3rd overall in DI), as well as second in kills (4.87; 5th overall). Texas ranks second to Penn State among all DI teams in hitting percentage (.335), as well as second to PSU among tourney teams in blocks (3.04; 4th overall). Texas has won 42 in a row against fellow Lone Star State schools, dating back to 2004.

(6) WASHINGTON VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
Fort Collins, Colorado - 7 p.m. ET
Washington Basics: 23-5, 13-5 Pac-10 (T-2nd), 5th in RPI, 6th in AVCA poll, 3-3 in last 6, 5-0 at neutral sites, 14-3 away from home, 28-12 all-time in NCAAs, including three final fours and 2003 title (8th straight appearance; 14th overall)
Northern Colorado Basics: 21-11, 12-4 Big Sky (T-2nd), Big Sky tournament champion, 106th in RPI, 9-2 in last 11, 3-3 at neutral sites, 12-8 way from home, first appearance in NCAAs since moving to Division I in 2004.
Notes: Washington ranks fifth among DI schools in hitting percentage (.288), while Bianca Rowland ranks third individually in hitting (.460). UW senior Jill Collymore - who is second among all tournament players in aces (0.54; 9th overall in DI) - is a two-time Academic All-American (2nd team in '09, 3rd team in '08). This is the first time any Northern Colorado team has ever qualified for the NCAA tournament.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON AT (16) FLORIDA
Gainesville, Florida - 7:30 p.m. ET
Florida Basics: 22-5, 16-4 SEC (2nd, Eastern Division), 16th in RPI, 14th in AVCA poll, 11-2 in last 13, 12-2 at home, 49-19 all-time in NCAAs, including 7 final fours (19th appearance in a row; 20th overall)
College of Charleston Basics: 18-12, 12-4 SoCon (2nd, South Division), Southern Conference tournament champion, 95th in RPI, 11-2 in last 13, 6-6 in true road matches, 9-10 away from home, 1-5 all-time in NCAAs (first appearance since 2007; 6th overall)
Notes: UF's Kelly Murphy was the AVCA National Freshman of the Year and a third-team All-American in 2008. Florida ranks seventh nationally in hitting percentage (.288), as well as 13th in kills (14.56) and 19th in assists). The College of Charleston is 29th in blocks (2.57).

IPFW AT (5) ILLINOIS
Champaign, Illinois - 8 p.m. ET
Illinois Basics: 24-5, 16-4 Big Ten (2nd), 4th in RPI, 8th in AVCA poll, 15-2 in the last 17, 11-1 at home, 23-17 all-time in NCAAs, including two final fours (2nd straight appearance; 18th overall)
IPFW: 20-11, 11-7 Summit League (3rd), Summite League tournament champion, 128th in RPI, 8-2 in last 10, 7-5 in true road matches, 9-5 away from home, first NCAA appearance since moving to Division I in 2001.
Notes: Illinois junior middle blocker Johannah Bangert is the nation's leader in blocks per set, at 1.58. U of I junior outside hitter Laure DeBruler ranks sixth among tournament players in kills (4.49; 14th overall) and seventh in points (4.98; 14th overall). Illinois has won 19 matches in a row at home, excluding contests against Penn State.

MIDDLE TENNESSEE AT COLORADO STATE
Fort Collins, Colorado - 9:30 p.m. ET
Colorado State Basics: 23-5, 15-1 Mountain West (1st), 18th in RPI, 25th in AVCA poll, 7-1 in last 8 and 19-2 in last 21, 13-3 at home, 18-20 all-time in NCAAs (15th consecutive appearance; 20th overall)
Middle Tennessee Basics: 25-9, 15-2 Sun Belt (2nd, East Division), 30th in RPI, 5-1 in last 6 and 15-2 in last 17, 9-3 in true road matches, 11-6 away from home, 4-4 all-time in NCAAs (4th consecutive appearance; 5th overall)
Notes: CSU junior outside hitter Danielle Minch is the Mountain West Player of the Year. Colorado State is 16th in the nation in blocks, at 2.70 per set. Middle Tennessee ranks ninth nationally - and second among unseeded tournament teams - in hitting percentage (.285). Individually, MTSU's Stacy Oladinni is one of just nine DI players to be hitting over .400 (.403).

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.

Northern Colorado will make its first-ever trip to an NCAA Division I Championship

It's finally here - the day we've all waited for since the summer. The 64-team field for the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship will be announced live today at 3 p.m. ET on ESPNews.

Today I review yesterday's action, take a look at the situation for at-large qualifiers and provide the final table of automatic qualifiers. But before all of that, here are a few burning questions I have, heading into the selection show:

• Penn State and Texas have been atop the college volleyball world all season, but who will be the other two teams to earn top-four seeds and, whereby, get shielded from facing the Nittany Lions or Longhorns before the semifinals? Some candidates figure to be Hawai'i, Stanford, Washington and Illinois.
• Speaking of the Rainbow Wahine, what will the committee do with them? UH stands 28-2 and has won 24 straight matches and has been ranked third in the AVCA poll (which is not used at all for selection purposes) for the last seven weeks. But Hawai'i stands just 22nd in the RPI, thanks in part to no other team in the WAC being among the RPI top 75.
• On the flip side, what will the committee think of Florida State? The Seminoles have had one of their best seasons ever and come into the tournament - their first since 2002 - with a 28-2 record and a 16-match winning streak. FSU has climbed to an all-time high of 14th in the national rankings, but has been near the top of the RPI since it was first released and currently stands third.
• Which of the three power conferences will get the most teams into the tournament? The Big Ten has nine teams in the top 66 of the RPI, whil the Pac-10 has nine in the top 65 and the Big 12 has eight in the top 60. To get an answer to this question, we'll be watching to see the fates of teams like Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin, Oregon State, Washington State, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
• Will North Dakota State (45th in the RPI), Furman (49th) and Delaware (52nd) garner at-large bids? All three have had great seasons, dominated en route to claiming regular-season titles in their conferences, but then faltered in their league tournaments.

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The final two automatic bids were decided on Saturday, with 20th-ranked Northern Iowa and Northern Colorado punching their tickets to the tournament. The Panthers beat Wichita State 26-28, 25-19, 25-11, 25-18 in the final of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship to improve to 30-2 on the season and run their winning streak to 28. Sophomore middle blocker Michelle Burow had 15 kills on .500 hitting and junior libero Ellie Blankenship notched 27 digs to lead UNI.

In the final conference tournament, Northern Colorado - in just its fourth season of NCAA Division I play - knocked off top-seeded Portland State 25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 25-19 in the championship match of the Big Sky Conference tournament. Senior outside hitter Kenzie Shreve led the Bears with 28 kills on .429 hitting, as Northern Colorado earned its first NCAA Championship invitation in any sport since moving up to the Division I level.

Elsewhere, there were two huge matchups between the elites in the Big Ten, but both ended in sweeps by the home squads. Top-ranked Penn State beat No. 12 Michigan 25-21, 25-13, 25-23 to extend its NCAA-record winning streak to 96 and conclude a second-consecutive perfect regular season. Senior All-America outside hitter Megan Hodge had 17 kills on .351 hitting and 11 digs to lead PSU. No. 13 Minnesota knocked off fifth-ranked Illinois 25-23, 25-23, 25-22, thanks in large part to junior middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer, who had 18 kills on just 30 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage and was in on five blocks.

The other two matchups of ranked teams both ended in four-set victories by the home teams. No. 16 USC beat 19th-ranked Arizona (23-25, 25-22, 36-34, 25-23) behind a career-high 23 kills from senior outside hitter Jessica Gysin and 34 digs from senior libero Alli Hillgren. In non-conference action, 15th-ranked Florida topped No. 25 Notre Dame 25-13, 27-29, 25-15, 25-9 in front of a crowd of 3,875. Sophomore Kelly Murphy set the Gators to a .365 hitting mark, and senior libero Elyse Cusack recorded 23 digs for UF.

One ranked team was upset by a ranked team on Saturday, as New Mexico State knocked off No. 23 Colorado State on the road by scores of 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 26-24. The Aggies got 16 kills and 13 digs from junior outside hitter Kayleigh Giddens and 15 kills on .344 hitting, plus 13 digs from senior outside hitter Krista Altermatt.

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AT-LARGE QUALIFIERS, AT A GLANCE
Now that all of the automatic bids have been determined, let's take a quick look at how the committee determines which schools receive at-large berths to the NCAA Championship. Here is are a few excerpts from the championship manual:

Selection Requirements
To be considered during the at-large selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost-record above .500.

Selection Criteria
The following criteria shall be employed by a governing sports committee in selecting participants for NCAA Championships competition:

• Won-lost record
• Strength of schedule; and
• Eligibility and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships;

In addition ... the volleyball committee has received approval from the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet to consider the following criteria in the selection of at-large teams for the volleyball championship (not necessarily in priority order):

Primary Criteria

• Ratings Percentage Index
• Head-to-head competition
• Results versus common opponents
• Significant wins and losses

Secondary Criteria
If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, the secondary criteria will be reviewed. All the criteria listed will be evaluated.

• Late season performance (last 10 games)
• Location of contest

Additionally, input is provided by regional advisory committees for consideration by the volleyball committee. Coaches' polls and/or any other outside polls or rankings are not used as a selection criterion by the volleyball committee for selection purposes.

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If the NCAA Championship field was determined based soley on the latest RPI listing (released on Monday and available here) - then the last five teams to make the field as at-large participants would be North Dakota State (RPI: 45; did not play this week), UC Santa Barbara (RPI: 46; def. San Diego State 3-2 on Tuesday), the University of Miami (RPI: 47; lost 3-1 to No. 14 Florida State on Wednesday), Oklahoma (RPI: 48; lost 3-0 to No. 2 Texas on Wednesday and lost 3-0 at No. 7 Iowa State on Saturday) and Furman (RPI: 49; did not play this week). The first five teams out would be Georgia Tech (RPI: 50; def. Clemson 3-2 on Friday), Missouri State (RPI: 51; lost 3-2 to Wichita State on Friday), Delaware (RPI: 52; lost to George Mason 3-2 on Monday; def. Liberty 3-0 on Friday; def. Pittsburgh 3-1 on Saturday), Washington State (RPI: 53; lost 3-1 to Oregon on Wednesday and def. Oregon State 3-2 on Friday) and South Florida (RPI: 54; lost 3-2 to Central Florida on Wednesday).

A field determined in that way would include seven teams from the Pac-10, as well as six each from the Big Ten and Big 12, plus four from the BIG EAST and SEC, three from the ACC and Mountain West and two each from Conference USA, the Atlantic 10, Big West, Missouri Valley, Sun Belt, SoCon and Summit League. All other conferences would have just one participant.

To get an idea of some of the teams competing for at-large bids, below is a breakdown of the RPI top 100 by conference, with the leagues featuring the most top-100 teams listed first and the automatic qualifiers noted. Remember that the latest RPI only includes results through last Sunday (Nov. 22).

BIG TEN CONFERENCE (11 in top 100; 6 in top 50)
Penn State - 2 (automatic qualifier)
Illinois - 4
Michigan - 9
Minnesota - 13
Ohio State - 31
Michigan State - 37
Purdue - 55
Northwestern - 59
Wisconsin - 66
Indiana - 79
Iowa - 92

PACIFIC-10 CONFERENCE (10 in top 100; 7 in top 50)
Washington - 5
Stanford - 6 (automatic qualifier)
California - 8
UCLA - 11
Arizona - 17
USC - 25
Oregon - 26
Washington State - 53
Oregon State - 65
Arizona State - 81

BIG 12 CONFERENCE (8 in top 100; 6 in top 50)
Texas - 1 (automatic qualifier)
Iowa State - 7
Nebraska - 10
Baylor - 33
Texas A&M - 40
Oklahoma - 48
Kansas - 56
Missouri - 58

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE (8 in top 100; 4 in top 50)
Florida State - 3 (automatic qualifier)
Duke - 27
Miami - 47
Georgia Tech - 50
Clemson - 57
North Carolina - 64
Virginia Tech - 70
Virginia - 99

BIG EAST CONFERENCE (7 in top 100; 4 in top 50)
Notre Dame - 14
Louisville - 38 (automatic qualifier)
Cincinnati - 42
Pittsburgh - 44
South Florida - 54
Marquette - 85
Syracuse - 86

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE (6 in top 100; 4 in top 50)
LSU - 12 (automatic qualifier)
Florida - 16
Tennessee - 19
Kentucky - 21
Auburn - 73
South Carolina - 100

CONFERENCE USA (6 in top 100; 2 in top 50)
Tulane - 32
Rice - 39 (automatic qualifier)
Southern Miss - 61
Tulsa - 67
SMU - 74
Marshall - 83

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE (5 in top 100; 3 in top 50)
Colorado State - 18 (automatic qualifier)
New Mexico - 41
TCU - 43
Utah - 75
BYU - 94

ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE (5 in top 100; 2 in top 50)
Dayton - 23 (automatic qualifier)
Saint Louis - 29
Xavier - 62
George Washington - 88
Temple - 89

BIG WEST CONFERENCE (5 in top 100; 2 in top 50)
Long Beach State - 36 (automatic qualifier)
UC Santa Barbara - 46
UC Irvine - 69
Cal State Fullerton - 87
UC Davis - 96

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE (5 in top 100; 2 in top 50)
Northern Iowa - 20 (automatic qualifier)
Wichita State - 28
Missouri State - 51
Creighton - 90
Drake - 98

WEST COAST CONFERENCE (4 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
Saint Mary's - 35 (automatic qualifier)
San Diego - 60
Pepperdine - 72
Santa Clara - 97

SUN BELT CONFERENCE (3 in top 100; 2 in top 50)
Florida International - 15
Middle Tennessee - 30 (automatic qualifier)
Western Kentucky - 71

COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (3 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Delaware - 52
George Mason - 77 (automatic qualifier)
VCU - 78

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE (2 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
Ohio - 24 (automatic qualifier)
Western Michigan - 68

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE (2 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
Furman - 49
College of Charleston - 95 (automatic qualifier)

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (2 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
Hawai'i - 22 (automatic qualifier)
New Mexico State - 76

IVY LEAGUE (2 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Yale - 80
Penn - 91 (automatic qualifier)

ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE (1 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
Lipscomb - 34 (automatic qualifier)

SUMMIT LEAGUE (1 in top 100; 1 in top 50)
North Dakota State - 45
[IPFW - 128 (automatic qualifier)]

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE (1 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Albany - 63
[Binghamton - 180 (automatic qualifier)]

BIG SKY CONFERENCE (1 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Portland State - 84
[Northern Colorado - 106 (automatic qualifier)]

OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE (1 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Jacksonville State - 82 (automatic qualifier)

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE (1 in top 100; 0 in top 50)
Central Arkansas - 93
[Texas State - 108 (automatic qualifier)]

Conference	Automatic Qualifier
America East	Binghamton (15-15, 5-5; RPI: 180) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Atlantic Coast	No. 14 Florida State (28-2, 18-1; RPI: 3) Regular-Season Champion
Atlantic Sun	Lipscomb (28-3, 20-0; RPI: 34) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Atlantic 10	No. 24 Dayton (29-3, 14-1; RPI: 23) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Big East	Louisville (21-10, 10-4; RPI: 38) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Big Sky	Northern Colorado (21-11, 12-4; RPI: 106) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Big South	Coastal Carolina (20-13, 10-6; RPI: 133) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Big Ten	No. 1 Penn State (32-0, 18-0; RPI: 2) Regular-Season Champion
Big 12	No. 2 Texas (24-1, 18-1; RPI: 1) Regular-Season Champion
Big West	Long Beach State (22-8, 12-4; RPI: 34) Regular-Season Champion
Colonial Athletic	George Mason (23-8, 10-4; RPI: 77) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Conference USA	Rice (23-8, 11-5; RPI: 39) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Horizon League	Milwaukee (16-14, 10-6; RPI: 139 Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Ivy Group	Penn (22-5, 13-1; RPI: 91) Regular-Season Champion
Metro Atlantic Athletic	Niagara (23-8, 14-4; RPI: 162) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Mid-American	Ohio (26-6, 15-1; RPI: 24) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Mid-Eastern Athletic	Florida A&M (17-8, 8-0; RPI: 138) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Missouri Valley	No. 20 Northern Iowa (30-2, 18-0; RPI: 20) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Mountain West	No. 23 Colorado State (23-5, 15-1; RPI: 18) Regular-Season Champion
Northeast	Long Island (21-13, 16-0; RPI: 190) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Ohio Valley	Jacksonville State (26-7, 17-1; RPI: 82) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Pacific-10	No. 6 Stanford (21-7, 14-4; RPI: 6) Regular-Season Champion
Patriot	Army (26-5, 12-2; RPI: 103) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Southeastern	No. 17 LSU (23-6, 18-2; RPI: 12) Regular-Season Champion
Southern	College of Charleston (18-12, 12-4; RPI: 95) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Southland	Texas State (22-12, 13-3; RPI: 108) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Southwestern Athletic	Alabama A&M (22-12, 8-0; RPI: 229) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Summit	IPFW (20-11, 11-7; RPI: 128) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
Sun Belt	Middle Tennessee (25-9, 15-2; RPI: 30) Tournament Champion Tournament Central
West Coast	No. 21 Saint Mary's (22-4, 13-1; RPI: 35) Regular-Season Champion
Western Athletic	No. 3 Hawai'i (28-2, 16-0; RPI: 22) Tournament Champion Tournament Central

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

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.

Natalia Valentin and Florida International are 14-0 in Sun Belt Conference play

With only three and a half weeks left before the NCAA Championship field is announced (Sunday, Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN News), it's time to examine how some of the big conference races are shaping up. First we'll take a quick look at what's happening at the top of the standings in each of the 13 leagues that have at least one team that is ranked or receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll. Below that, we revisit the 19 squads across the country that continue to remain perfect in conference action.

Atlantic 10
Dayton leads the way with an 11-1 league mark, with four matches to go. No. 21 Saint Louis stands one-half game back, at 10-1, with five to play - though the Flyers topped the Billikens in the teams' only meeting of the regular season. The conference tournament - which has been won by one of those two schools for each of the last six years (Dayton in 2003, '04, '05 and '07; Saint Louis in 2006 and '08) - takes place Nov. 20-22 in Dayton, with six teams qualifying. The championship match (Nov. 22, 4 p.m. ET) will be televised live by CBS College Sports Network.

Atlantic Coast
No. 16 Florida State is atop the standings with a 12-1 conference record, with seven matches remaining. The Seminoles have a one-game lead on Duke (11-2), and those two will meet on Friday in Tallahassee. FSU - which has won just one regular-season ACC crown (co-champions with Duke in 1992) - took a five-set decision in Durham last month. Georgia Tech - the only team to have defeated the Seminoles in ACC action - is 10-3 and will play host to FSU on Nov. 14. The ACC does not have a conference tournament.

Big 12
Second-ranked Texas stands a perfect 13-0 in one of the nation's toughest conferences and has a two-game lead over No. 8 Iowa State (11-2) with seven matches to play. The Longhorns and Cyclones will hook up tonight in Ames. UT - seeking its first outright Big 12 title since 1997 after being co-champs in each of the last two years - won in three sets in Austin in September. Iowa State has never finished higher than fourth since the Big 12 was founded in 1996. The Big 12 does not have a conference tournament.

BIG EAST
Notre Dame remains unbeaten in league play with a 10-0 record and four matches left. Cincinnati - which lost in five sets at Notre Dame in October - is right behind at 9-1, with Pittsburgh at 8-2. The Fighting Irish are seeking their first BIG EAST title since 2005, after having claimed at least of a share of the regular-season crown each year from 1999-2005. The BIG EAST Championship takes place Nov. 20-22 in Louisville (the Cardinals are the defending champions), with the top eight teams qualifying. The championship match (Nov. 22, 3 p.m. ET) will be televised by ESPNU.

Big Ten
Top-reanked Penn State has won 57 consecutive Big Ten matches and again stands atop the conference with a 12-0 record and eight matches to play. No. 5 Illinois is two back at 10-2, and the Fighting Illini will head to Happy Valley on Nov. 13. PSU - which is seeking its seventh consecutive outright Big Ten crown - won in three sets at Illinois in September. The Big Ten does not have a conference tournament.

Big West
UC Davis sits atop the conference standings with a 9-2 mark with five matches to play. UC Santa Barbara - which lost in five at UCD in October - is right behind at 9-3, while Long Beach State is in third at 7-3. The Aggies will play at LBSU - which beat UC Davis in three on Oct. 9 - on Saturday and will play host to UCSB on Nov. 13. In just its third season as a member of the Big West, UC Davis went 1-15 in league action in 2007 and 4-12 a year ago. The Big West does not have a conference tournament.

Missouri Valley
No. 25 Northern Iowa leads the way with a 12-0 record in league action and six matches remaining. Missouri State - which lost in four at UNI on Oct. 17 - is in second place with a 10-2 mark. Those teams will hook up again on Nov. 13 in Springfield, Mo. The State Farm MVC Championship takes place from Nov. 26-28 in Omaha. UNI has won eight of the last 11 MVC tournaments - though the Bears knocked off the Panthers in the title match in 2008.

Mountain West
Colorado State is in first place with a 10-1 record and six matches remaining. TCU - the lone squad to defeat the Rams in league play (3-0 on Oct. 22; CSU won 3-0 at home on Sept. 26) - is right behind at 10-2, while Utah is in third at 8-2. CSU will be at Utah on Nov. 12, having swept the Utes at home on Oct. 17. The MWC does not have a conference tournament.

Pacific-10
No. 4 Washington leads the way with a 9-2 league mark and seven matches remaining, while fifth-ranked Stanford and No. 7 UCLA are right behind with 8-3 records. The Huskies will play host to Stanford on Friday and head to UCLA on Nov. 14. The Cardinal dealt UW its first loss of the season in a five-set decision on Oct. 10, while the Huskies won in four against the Bruins on Oct. 16. Stanford has been the conference champion in each of the past three years. The Pac-10 does not have a conference tournament.

Southeastern
No. 11 Kentucky is atop the Eastern Division with a 10-1 mark and seven matches remaining. Right behind is ninth-ranked Florida, at 10-2, and Tennessee is in third at 8-3. The Wildcats will wind up the season with matches against those two, first visiting Gainesville on Nov. 22 and then welcoming the Lady Vols on Nov. 25. UK won in five at home against Florida on Oct. 2 and lost 3-1 to Tennessee on Oct. 21. In the Western Division, No. 19 LSU is 10-2 with six matches remaining and is three clear of second-place Auburn (6-5). The SEC does not have a conference tournament.

Sun Belt
Florida International is 14-0 in conference play, but Middle Tennessee (12-0) is right behind in the East Division. The Panthers won the first matchup between the teams, in four sets at home on Oct. 4. On Saturday, FIU heads to Murfreesboro, Tenn., for the rematch. The West Division is wide open, with New Orleans and Denver currently tied for first at 8-5. Arkansas State is right behind at 9-6, while Arkansas-Little Rock is 8-7 and North Texas is 6-7. The Pioneers play host to the Privateers on Thursday. The Sun Belt Championship takes place from Nov. 19-21 in Bowling Green, Ky.

West Coast
No. 25 Saint Mary's is on top of the standings with an 8-1 conference mark, with five to play. Right behind is 22nd-ranked San Diego, which is 7-2 and beat the Gaels in four sets on Oct. 17. SMC plays host to the Toreros on Nov. 14. USD has claimed at least a share of the WCC title in each of the last three seasons, while Saint Mary's has not won a conference crown since joining the WCC in 1987. The WCC does not have a conference tournament.

Western Athletic
No. 3 Hawai'i - which has won at least a share of the WAC regular-season title in all 13 years of league membership - is on pace to extend that streak, with an 11-0 record in league action with five to play. New Mexico State is in second with a 9-3 mark, while Idaho is 8-3. The Rainbow Wahine will play at Idaho on Nov. 14 after sweeping the Vandals at home in September. The six-team WAC Championship will be Nov. 23-25 in Las Vegas. The championship match (Nov. 25, 6:30 p.m. MT) will be televised by ESPNU.

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Teams Undefeated in Conference Play

Conference	School	Conf. Record	This Week
America East	Albany	7-0	Friday at UMBC Sunday at Stony Brook
Atlantic Sun	Lipscomb	17-0	Saturday at USC Upstate
Big 12	Texas	13-0	Wednesday at Iowa State Saturday at Missouri
BIG EAST	Notre Dame	10-0	Friday at Marquette Sunday at Syracuse
Big Ten	Penn State	12-0	Friday at Wisconsin Saturday at Iowa
Ivy	Penn	9-0	Friday at Columbia Saturday at Cornell
MEAC	Florida A&M	5-0	Thursday vs. Bethune-Cookman Saturday at Bethune-Cookman
MEAC	Maryland Eastern Shore	8-0	Friday vs. Coppin State Sunday vs. Howard
Missouri Valley	Northern Iowa	12-0	Friday vs. Illinois State Saturday vs. Indiana State
Northeast	Long Island	12-0	Saturday at Saint Francis (Pa.) Sunday at Robert Morris
Ohio Valley	Jacksonville State	14-0	Friday vs. Austin Peay Saturday vs. Tennessee State
Patriot	Army	10-0	Friday at Navy Saturday at American
Southern	Furman	12-0	Friday at UNC Greensboro Saturday vs. Belmont
Southland	Central Arkansas	12-0	Thursday vs. McNeese State Saturday vs. Stephen F. Austin
SWAC	Grambling State	7-0	Wednesday at Mississippi Valley
SWAC	Alabama A&M	6-0	Thursday vs. Alabama State
Summit	North Dakota State	15-0	Saturday vs. South Dakota State
Sun Belt	Florida International	14-0	Friday at Western Kentucky Sunday at Middle Tennessee
WAC	Hawai'i	11-0	Friday vs. Fresno State Sunday vs. Utah State

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TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Top 25 and Television Schedule
Purdue at Indiana, 7 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network | Live Stats
No. 2 Texas at No. 8 Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Missouri at No. 10 Nebraska, 8 p.m. - TV: NET | Free Video | Live Stats
Oklahoma at No. 20 Baylor, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 23 Texas A&M at Kansas State, 8 p.m. - TV: FSN | Live Stats
Kansas at Colorado, 9 p.m. - TV: FSN | Live Stats

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

Iowa State's Rachel Hockaday

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
A Look at Last Night's Highlights
There were two big matchups of nationally-ranked teams last night in Big 12 action, but both of those ended in sweeps. No. 13 Iowa State got 15 kills from sophomore outside hitter Rachel Hockaday and edged No. 22 Texas A&M by scores of 26-24, 25-21, 26-24, while No. 7 Nebraska won 28-26, 25-17, 25-17 on the road against No. 17 Baylor. Junior libero Kayla Banwarth had 22 digs for the Huskers, while junior setter Sydney Anderson led NU to a .320 hitting mark.

The other ranked teams that played on Wednesday had little trouble. No. 2 Texas moved to 13-0 with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-12 win at Kansas. Senior All-America outside hitter Destinee Hooker had 18 kills and sophomore Michelle Kocher set the Longhorns to a .356 attack percentage. Senior libero Ashley Edinger had 19 digs in leading No. 10 Illinois to a 25-20, 25-16, 25-19 victory against Northwestern. No. 4 Hawai'i had its scheduled match against Louisiana Tech postponed until Monday when severe weather cancelled the Bulldogs' scheduled flights to Honolulu.

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Jordana Price and Florida State are No. 2 in the RPI

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

• It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Texas is atop the RPI, since the Longhorns are unbeaten and eight of their victories have come against ranked teams. The more interesting thing is that two-time defending NCAA champion and current national No. 1 Penn State is not second in the RPI. Instead, the Nittany Lions - riding an NCAA-record 82-match winning streak - are third. Florida State - which is ranked 17th - is second in the RPI. The Seminoles are 15-2, with their defeats both coming in five sets - against Florida and Georgia Tech. FSU's top wins have come against Illinois, Notre Dame and Duke.
• Both Arizona and LSU also are considerably higher in the RPI than in the AVCA poll. The Wildcats are ranked 18th, but sixth in the RPI - while LSU moved into the rankings at 24th this week, but is 11th in the RPI.
• There are four teams that appear in the top 20 of the RPI but are not ranked in the AVCA poll: Michigan State (14th), Notre Dame (16th), Florida International (18th) and Tennessee (20th).
• Ohio is 24th in the RPI, but is not even receiving votes (and appearing on multiple ballots) in the AVCA poll.
• Four of the top seven teams in the RPI are from the Big Ten: No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Michigan and No. 7 Minnesota.
• Hawai'i is ranked third in this week's AVCA poll, but the Rainbow Wahine are just 25th in the first RPI.
• Other teams appearing considerably lower in the RPI than in the AVCA poll include Stanford (ranked 5th; RPI of 17th), Nebraska (7th; 27th), UCLA (12th; 26th), Saint Louis (20th; 33rd), UC Irvine (21st; 54th) and San Diego (23rd; 52nd).
• 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 Northwestern, Middle Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Miami (Fla.). The first four teams out would be Kansas, San Diego, Virginia Tech and UC Irvine.
• A field determined in that way would include nine teams each from the Big Ten and the Pac-10, as well as 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.

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Kanani Danielson and the Rainbow Wahine have their highest ranking in five years

The seventh in-season edition of the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 was released on Monday. You can view it here. Here are a few notes:

• Big victories last weekend propelled Texas A&M (22nd) and LSU (24th) into the Top 25 this week, with both Michigan State (18th last week) and Washington State (25th) dropping out following 0-2 weekends.
• Texas A&M is in the rankings for the first time since Sept. 10, 2007, and it is the highest ranking for the Aggies since they were 20th on Sept. 19, 2005. LSU reenters the poll for the first time since Sept. 1, 2008.
• The Pac-10 still leads all conferences with seven ranked teams (all at 18th or higher), while the Big 12 boasts a season-high five squads in the rankings this week. The Big Ten has a season low of four teams in the rankings, but all of them are among the top 11. The SEC has a season-high three teams ranked while the Big West is the only other league with multiple ranked squads.
• For the seventh 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 biggest upward movers this week were UCLA and Arizona, which both rose four spots. The Bruins are now 12th and the Wildcats are 18th, which matches a season high. The largest drop was by Long Beach State, which is down five positions to 25th.
• Penn State is No. 1 for the 31st 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).
• PSU received 53 first-place votes (five more than last week), while UT got seven (down two from last week). This is the first poll all season in which only two teams are receiving first-place votes - as Washington had garnered at least one in every previous edition.
• Hawai'i slid up a spot to third this week - which marks the highest ranking for the Rainbow Wahine since Dec. 6, 2004.
• Kentucky climbed two more spots to eighth, which is the highest listing for the Wildcats since Oct. 5, 1993.
• Florida State moved up two spots to 17th to match the highest ranking in program history, first done on Oct. 12, 1993, and also done two weeks ago.
• Though no teams from the Missouri Valley Conference are ranked, three league members - Northern Iowa (listed 31st), Missouri State (T-34th) and Wichita State (36th) - are receiving votes.
• Florida International is receiving votes in this week's poll, listed in a tie for 40th with nine points. It is just the second time in history that the Panthers have received votes in the AVCA poll.

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

TEAM
Service Aces - Georgia State, 2.22
Assists - Texas A&M, 14.25
Blocks - Texas, 3.21
Digs - NJIT, 20.82
Hitting Percentage - Penn State, .421
Kills - Penn State, 15.07
Winning Percentage - Penn State and Texas, 1.000
INDIVIDUAL
Service Aces - Heather Meyers, Oregon, 0.70
Assists - Alisha Glass, Penn State, 12.20
Blocks - Alli Arbogast, USF, 1.69
Digs - Sabrina Baby, NJIT, 6.63
Hitting Percentage - Arielle Wilson, Penn State, .576
Kills - Yun Yi Zhang, Temple, 5.64

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.

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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

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.

Indiana's Ashley Benson had 21 kills vs. Purdue

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
A Look Back at Last Night's Highlights
We were treated to a pair of five-set nationally-televised matches last night that produced some exciting volleyball. Oklahoma honored the memory of Javi Restrepo, the son of OU head coach Santiago Restrepo (read more here), and the Sooners - who entered the match having dropped 23 in a row against Nebraska - came out firing en route to taking the opening set 25-17. Eventually, though, it was sophomore middle blocker Brooke Delano and freshman Hannah Werth who keyed a run in the fifth set that allowed the 10th-ranked Huskers to claim a 17-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-27, 15-10 triumph. Werth led all players with 17 kills, while junior libero Kayla Banwarth had 26 digs.

Junior middle blocker Ashley Benson and freshman outside hitter Jordan Haverly led Indiana to a 25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 17-25, 15-13 victory at Purdue (which was just three spots outside of the Top 25 this week). Benson had a match-high 21 kills on .349 hitting, while Haverly posted 19 kills on .395 to help the Hoosiers to their first road win over their biggest rival since 2002.

No. 2 Texas also kept rolling with a 28-26, 25-20, 25-21 win against the second team outside of the rankings, Texas A&M. Senior outside hitter Destinee Hooker had 17 kills on .469 hitting and 12 digs to lead the Longhorns. The Aggies did hold a 5.5-4 edge in blocks against Texas, which came into the match leading Division I in the category.

WHAT'S IN STORE
This Week's Top Matchups
The weekend figures to have several more interesting matchups. Tomorrow we'll have a more-detailed listing of the big matches (including ways to follow them), but below are some notes about the action that looms.

• A clash of the titans in the SEC is set for Friday evening, as No. 5 Florida (10-1, 4-0 SEC) and 15th-ranked Kentucky (13-1, 3-0) - the SEC's only two ranked teams and the only squads still unbeaten in its league play - will play in Gainesville. It also is Gators GO GREEN Night.
• Kentucky - sporting its highest national ranking since 1993 - rallied for a five-set victory at home against Florida last November to snap a 38-match winning streak by the Gators in the series. UK has lost 19 straight at Florida, with the last Wildcats' victory coming in 1989.
• The Pac-10 - which has seven of its members ranked in the top 18 this week and the other three all receiving votes - is, not surprisingly, rife with great matchups. The Los Angeles area will play host to four clashes of ranked teams, as No. 9 California (8-3, 1-0) and 11th-ranked Stanford (7-4, 0-1) head South to face 13th-ranked USC (12-2, 1-1) and No. 16 UCLA (11-4, 1-1). The Bears and Trojans play on Friday night at the same time that the Bruins try to snap a 16-match skid against the Cardinal. On Saturday evening, it will be Cal-UCLA and Stanford-USC.
• No. 12 Illinois (9-2, 1-1) - which was swept by Penn State to wind up last weekend - faces a difficult road trip. The Fighting Illini will be at No. 23 Michigan State (12-2, 0-2) on Friday and at sixth-ranked Michigan (14-1, 2-0) on Saturday.
• No. 3 Washington (12-0, 2-0) figures to face the toughest test among the unbeatens, as the Huskies welcome Arizona State (11-3, 1-1) - which is receiving votes - on Friday and 18th-ranked Arizona (12-1, 1-1) on Saturday.
• Top-ranked Penn State (14-0, 2-0) looks to extend its NCAA-record 78-match winning streak with home matches against Iowa (9-5, 1-1) and Wisconsin (5-6, 0-2).
• Second-ranked Texas (10-0, 5-0) hits the road to face Kansas State (6-7, 0-3) on Friday.
• UC Santa Barbara (11-2, 2-0) - which turned in a thrilling come-from-behind upset of UC Irvine last weekend and is now the first team outside of the Top 25 - has a tough road trip ahead. The Gauchos will play at No. 22 Long Beach State (8-3, 1-0) on Friday and then take on Cal State Fullerton (9-5, 0-1) - which upset UCLA a few weeks ago - on Saturday.
• Two of the most-efficient hitters in the country will go against each other on Sunday, as Indiana junior Ashley Benson - who came into the week ranking ninth nationally in hitting percentage (.427) - will face Minnesota junior Lauren Gibbemeyer (6th, .446) in Bloomington. Both teams also rank among the national top 20 in team blocking; Minnesota (11-3, 2-0) is 10th (2.88), while IU (13-4, 2-1) is 19th (2.69). The Gophers open the weekend with a road match against Purdue (9-5, 1-2).
• Sophomore Darlene Ramdin of St. John's (8-10, 1-1) - who ranks third in Division I with 4.93 kills per set - will face a challenge on Sunday against USF (9-3, 2-0). The Bulls are seventh in the nation in team blocking (2.93 per set).
• A couple other noteworthy matches: seventh-ranked Oregon (11-1, 1-1) heads to Oregon State (9-5, 0-2) on Friday and No. 20 San Diego (8-3, 0-0) is at Pepperdine (7-5, 0-0) on Saturday.

TODAY'S SCOREBOARD WATCH
Complete Top 25 and TV Schedule, Plus Some Other Big Matches (All Times Eastern)
No. 4 Hawai'i at Louisiana Tech, 8 p.m. - Watch Free | Live Stats
Utah at UNLV, 9:30 p.m. - TV: The Mtn. | Live Stats
No. 20 San Diego at Loyola Marymount, 10 p.m. - Watch Free | Live Stats
Saint Mary's at Pepperdine, 10 p.m. - Live Stats

Penn State's Arielle Wilson Courtesy Penn State Athletic Communications

In some ways, this past weekend crystallized something that had been becoming apparent throughout the entire non-conference season: there are three teams - Penn State, Texas and Washington - in college volleyball that appear to be standing above the rest. After all, the weekend began with eight unbeaten teams remaining in Division I, but wound up with just three - the schools that have held the top three positions in the AVCA Top 25 for the last four weeks. All of them faced difficult road matchups last weekend - and each appeared to barely break a sweat en route to victory. Check back later this week for a comparison of these teams. But for now, let's take a look at what they did over the weekend, as well as some other noteworthy results.

Top-ranked Penn State faced a nationally-ranked team for just the second time this season on Saturday evening (and the first provided somewhat of a scare to the Nittany Lions who - gasp! - nearly dropped a set before recovering for a 29-27, 25-18, 25-14 win at then-No. 20 Saint Louis during the season's opening weekend). But PSU cut through 15th-ranked Illinois with ease in a 25-11, 25-17, 25-17 decision. Senior setter and two-time All-American Alisha Glass led her offense to 48 kills - spread among just four players - on a .451 attack percentage. Freshman Darcy Dorton had a team-high 14 kills on .545 hitting, while junior middle blocker Arielle Wilson converted 13 kills on just 16 attempts (.750) and senior outside hitter Megan Hodge - a three-time first-team All-American and the Most Outstanding Player in both of the last two NCAA Championships - finished with 12 kills and 10 digs. The Lions also limited Illinois to .147 hitting and had 16 more digs than the Illini - who got 16 kills from sophomore outside hitter Michelle Bartsch. PSU has won 78 consecutive matches, an NCAA record.

Second-ranked Texas dealt No. 6 Nebraska a rare home defeat on Saturday afternoon, by scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17. It ended the Cornhuskers' 82-match winning streak at the NU Coliseum (Nebraska's NCAA-record overall home winning streak was snapped at 90 by UCLA earlier this month at the Devaney Center). UT also became the first Big 12 team to win in Lincoln since Missouri did so in 2003 (ending a 56-match streak) and earned its first victory at Nebraska since 1988. Senior outside hitter and two-time All-American Destinee Hooker led the way with 15 kills on .308 hitting to go with 12 digs. The Longhorns held Nebraska to a .132 hitting mark in the match. Eight of Texas' nine victories this season have come against ranked teams.

No. 3 Washington posted its third sweep of a top-10 team this season with a 25-18, 26-24, 25-19 victory against seventh-ranked Oregon in a battle of unbeatens on Friday evening. Junior outside hitter Kindra Carlson led the Huskies with 13 kills, while senior libero Tamari Miyashiro - who became UW's all-time leader in digs later in the weekend - had 18 digs to help hold Oregon to .143 hitting. Washington also served up 11 aces (and only four errors) against a Ducks team that had been leading Division I in service aces per set. Oregon did get 17 kills and 11 digs from senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe. The Huskies have yet to drop a set in 12 matches this season.

In another big matchup, senior All-America outside hitter Hana Cutura had 21 kills to lead No. 12 California past 10th-ranked Stanford in five sets (19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-12) in front of 4,189 fans. Junior All-America outside hitter Alix Klineman had 23 for the Cardinal, which also got a triple-double (14 kills, 16 assists, 11 digs) from junior Cassidy Licthman.

UCSB's Rebecca Saraceno Courtesy UC Santa Barbara Athletic Communications

Pac-10 parity also was on display in Arizona, as No. 13 USC, No. 14 UCLA, No. 19 Arizona and Arizona State all went 1-1. Junior outside hitter Sarah Reaves (15 kills, 10 digs) led ASU to a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 upset of UCLA, but the Bruins would rebound for a four-set road victory (22-25, 27-25, 25-14, 25-13) at Arizona. Junior outside hitter Dicey McGraw had 20 kills and 15 digs for UCLA in the latter contest. The Wildcats posted a 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21 triumph against USC, with junior outside hitter Tiffany Owens registering 16 kills and 13 digs. The Women of Troy then got a huge night from sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter - who had 31 kills on .433 hitting and 20 digs - to beat the Sun Devils 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22. Reaves had 20 kills and 10 digs in that match.

In the Big Ten, No. 16 Michigan State dropped a pair of matches in the Hoosier State after opening the season with 12 straight wins. Purdue beat the Spartans 25-14, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21 on Friday, while Indiana topped MSU 25-19, 18-25, 25-23, 25-18 the following night, with IU junior middle blocker Ashley Benson leading all players with 14 kills on .545 hitting. The Boilermakers almost made it a pair of upsets, but ended up falling in five against No. 8 Michigan, 17-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-20, 15-13. Senior outside hitter Juliana Paz led the Wolverines with 18 kills.

No. 20 Wichita State had won 36 straight regular-season matches and 38 in a row on the road against Missouri Valley Conference foes before Missouri State prevailed 22-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 15-6 on Friday evening. Senior outside hitter Addie Foley had 18 kills and 15 digs to lead the Bears, while senior outside hitter Emily Stockman posted 27 kills and 12 digs in the losing effort for WSU.

UC Santa Barbara turned in the rally of the weekend, as the Gauchos were down two sets and 19-11 in the third before coming back for a 23-25, 27-29, 27-25, 25-16, 15-9 upset victory against No. 21 UC Irvine on Saturday. Senior outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno led UCSB's effort with 29 kills and 15 digs.

Purdue sophomore middle hitter Tiffany Fisher (courtesy Purdue Sports Information)

We have finally reached the first weekend where virtually every conference will feature league matchups - meaning familiar rivalries will be renewed all over the country. There are lots of intriguing matchups waiting for us, and below are some notes about some of them - followed by a listing of the entire Top 25 schedule, as well as some other big matches slated for the weekend.

• The nation's top three teams - Penn State, Texas and Washington - have each been quite impressive en route to remaining unbeaten this season. But all three now face stiff road tests. The Longhorns take on No. 6 Nebraska - which recently had its NCAA-record 90-match home winning streak ended - on Saturday afternoon, while the Nittany Lions will be at No. 15 Illinois for an evening match. The Huskies have a Friday night match against No. 7 Oregon in a battle of undefeated teams.
• The Pac-10 schedule is riddled with great matchups, including four contests between ranked teams and two battles of unbeatens. No. 13 USC and 14th-ranked UCLA go East to take on No. 19 Arizona and Arizona State (10-2), while third-ranked Washington and undefeated Washington State (11-0) head South to face No. 7 Oregon and Oregon State (9-3). Also, No. 10 Stanford and No. 12 California hook up in Berkeley.
• Purdue - which is 8-3 and the fifth team outside of the Top 25 this week - faces a big home weekend. The Boilermakers will play host to 16th-ranked and unbeaten Michigan State on Friday before welcoming No. 8 Michigan on Sunday.
• Two other potential matchups of note come on Saturday: Kansas State at No. 11 Iowa State and UC Santa Barbara at No. 21 UC Irvine.
• There are eight Division I teams (including four in the Pac-10) that remain unbeaten. Six of those - No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Washington, No. 7 Oregon, No. 16 Michigan State and No. 19 Arizona - are currently in the Top 25. Another, Washington State, is receiving votes in the poll. The other undefeated team is Southern Illinois, which stands 11-0 on the strength of a trio of five-set victories. The Salukis hit the road to face Northern Iowa (which is receiving votes) and Bradley this weekend.
• There are eight televised matches this weekend. Three are on local channels, while two others are tape-delayed. See below for details.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD WATCH
Complete Top 25 Schedule, Plus Some Other Big Matches (All Times Eastern)
Friday, September 25
Mississippi State at No. 5 Florida, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 8 Michigan at Indiana, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 16 Michigan State at Purdue, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
Mississippi at No. 17 Kentucky, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
Virginia Tech at No. 18 Florida State, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 23 Saint Louis at Rhode Island, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 1 Penn State at Northwestern, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Wisconsin at No. 9 Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Ohio State at No. 15 Illinois, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 20 Wichita State at Missouri State, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Southern Illinois at Northern Iowa, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 3 Washington at No. 7 Oregon, 10 p.m.
No. 10 Stanford at No. 12 California, 10 p.m. - TV: Fox Sports Net (airs on Sunday) - Live Stats
No. 13 USC at No. 19 Arizona, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 14 UCLA at Arizona State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 21 UC Irvine at Cal Poly, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
San Diego State at No. 22 San Diego, 10 p.m. - Watch Free - Live Stats
Washington State at Oregon State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats

Saturday, September 26
No. 2 Texas at No. 6 Nebraska, 2 p.m. - TV: NET - Watch Free - Live Stats
No. 23 Saint Louis at Fordham, 2 p.m. - Live Stats
Kansas at No. 24 Baylor, 2 p.m. - Live Stats
Kansas State at No. 11 Iowa State, 3 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 16 Michigan State at Indiana, 7 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 1 Penn State at No. 15 Illinois, 8 p.m. - TV: Big Ten Network - Live Stats
Iowa at No. 9 Minnesota, 8 p.m. - Live Stats
Southern Illinois at Bradley, 8 p.m.
No. 13 USC at Arizona State, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 14 UCLA at Arizona, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 21 UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
No. 25 Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton, 10 p.m. - Live Stats
Idaho at No. 4 Hawai'I, 1 a.m. - TV: KFVE - Live Stats

Sunday, September 27
Virginia at No. 18 Florida State, Noon - Live Stats
No. 8 Michigan at Purdue, 1 p.m. - Live Stats
Alabama at No. 5 Florida, 1:30 p.m. - Live Stats
Arkansas at No. 17 Kentucky, 1:30 p.m. - TV: CWKYT - Live Stats
UCF at Marshall, 2 p.m. - TV: CBS College Sports (airs on Wednesday at 7 p.m.) - Live Stats
Mississippi State at South Carolina, 3 p.m. - TV: Fox Sports Net - Live Stats
Washington State at No. 7 Oregon, 4 p.m.
No. 3 Washington at Oregon State, 5 p.m. - Watch Free - Live Stats
Mississippi at Tennessee, 5 p.m. - TV: ESPNU - Live Stats