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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley Mass helped Iowa State beat Nebraska for the first time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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