Auburn sweeps Florida; Pitt tops GT; Marquette beats Creighton; Stanford, WSU, Oregon win

Stanford’s Elia Rubin attacks at Washngton/Stephen Burns photo

Auburn’s up-and-coming program pulled off an upset with national implications when the Tigers stunned No. 6 Florida, winning in Gainesville for the first time.

The sweep on Friday night also marked a breakthrough victory against a top-10 opponent by the Tigers, highlighting a busy day with noteworthy attendance figures across the country in NCAA women’s volleyball.

Elsewhere, second-ranked Nebraska continued to collect victories before huge crowds, No. 9 Pitt needed a reverse sweep to hold off No. 12 Georgia Tech in the lone match involving squads in the VolleyMag.com Super 16 Media Poll, No. 15 Creighton was swept by Marquette in a mild Big East upset, and No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Washington State and No. 5 Oregon took care of business in the Pac-12.

The recaps and top performances follow, but here’s a look at the schedule for Saturday.

The Big Ten has six matches, including Penn State, No. 14 in the VBM Super 16, playing host to Ohio State, No. 24 in the AVCA top 25. Top-ranked Wisconsin visits Illinois, No. 2 Nebraska goes to Michigan, No. 16 Minnesota is at Rutgers, AVCA No. 19 Purdue entertains Iowa, Indiana is at Maryland and Michigan State hosts Northwestern.

In the Big 12, No. 11 BYU travels to Oklahoma. AVCA No. 21 Houston plays at home against West Virginia and Cincinnati is at Tulane.

The ACC, Pac-12 and SEC are idle.

No. 15 Creighton looks to bounce back in a Big East match at DePaul, and AVCA No. 20 Dayton hosts George Mason again in the Atlantic 10.

A showdown between the top two teams in the Southern Conference sees undefeated The Citadel (17-0, 3-0) entertain red-hot Wofford (14-2, 5-0).

Four teams hope for first victories when 0-17 Lamar goes to Nicholls in the Southland, 0-17 St. Peter’s hosts Canisius in the Metro Atlantic, 0-14 Le Moyne is at Saint Francis of Pennsylvania in the Northeast Conference and 0-8 Hampton has a home-court Coastal Athletic match against Stony Brook.

Want to watch? We have the conference-by-conference schedule with viewing links for any match that is being shown in our VolleyballMag.com TV & Streaming Listings.

Under Coach Brent Crouch’s guidance, Auburn (13-3, 3-2 SEC) has risen from the depths of 0-8 during the 2021 COVID season to 13-15 in 2021 to 22-9 last year, earning an NCAA Tournament bid. The season before Crouch arrived on the Plains, the Tigers were 7-22.

With 4,150 fans at the O’Connell Center rooting on No. 6 Florida (11-3, 3-2), Auburn hit .387, its second-highest percentage of the season. Madison Scheer cracked with .667 efficiency (14 kills with two errors on 18 attempts) and Akasha Anderson wasn’t far behind at .400 (18 kills, four errors, 35 swings).

“A lot of emotions,” Crouch told the media. “We felt like we had them last time at home,” in a five-set heartbreaker, 17-15 in the fifth, on September 22, “so I wasn’t surprised we were able to compete with them here.

“Once we got into that second set, Bel (Zimmerman) went on a really good service run and I thought that was really the story. They had a hard time handling it.”

Zimmerman’s four serves set the stage for the Tigers to gain 6-2 separation in the set.

Elsewhere in the SEC, Kentucky (6-7, 1-4) took out host Missouri (10-6, 2-3) in four (26-24 in the fourth) before a crowd of 2,921. Brooklyn DeLaye recorded 18 kills and 11 digs, and Eleanor Beavin dug 23 balls. … Texas A&M (11-4, 3-2) defeated host Ole Miss (8-8, 2-3) in four sets. Logan Lednicky was busy for the Aggies, notching 22 kills on 53 swings with 10 errors, while adding seven blocks and eight digs. … Georgia (10-6, 1-3) swept on the road against Mississippi State (8-7, 1-4) as Sophie Fischer collected 16 kills and six blocks.

BIG TEN: No. 2 Nebraska (14-0, 5-0) put the hammer down in a 25-11 fourth set to punctuate its victory over Michigan State (11-5, 3-2), much to the dismay of a program-record throng of 8,789 at the Spartans’ Breslin Center. A 10-4 advantage in aces was a key for the Huskers, who got two service winners each from Merritt Beason, Lexi Rodriguez (13 digs), Lindsey Krause and Harper Murray (12 kills, seven digs). The Spartans hit just .088. … No. 14 Penn State (11-3, 5-0) had to sweat out a five-setter (15-11 in the tiebreaker) before taking down visiting Indiana (12-6, 2-3) before 2,436 at Rec Hall. The marginal difference in the match came in blocks, with the Nittany Lions collecting 16 (seven by Allie Holland, two solo) to the Hoosiers’ nine. …

Also, flying somewhat under the radar despite a solid resume, host Maryland (13-4, 3-2 Big Ten) thrilled a packed house at the 1,676 by defeating No. 16 Minnesota (6-7, 2-3) for the first time in program history. The Terrapins battled from behind to win the fourth set, then went up 8-2 in the tiebreaker before closing it out 15-10. Sam Csire stepped up for the victors with 20 kills, two aces, three blocks and seven digs. … With a crowd of 2,619 cheering on Michigan (3-11, 1-4) at the Crisler Center, the Wolverines got off the schneid in the league and ended a seven-match losing streak with a four-set victory over Northwestern (7-8, 1-4). Michigan dialed up eight aces, six by Valentina Vaulet, a freshman from Argentina, who added 11 kills. … Ohio State (6-8, 3-2) got 20 kills and 12 digs from Emily Londot during a four-set triumph at Rutgers (8-7, 0-5).

ACC: In the first battle among the league’s big three, No. 9 Pittsburgh (14-2, 5-0) dropped the first two sets to No. 12 Georgia Tech (13-2, 4-1), but rolled in the next three by a combined 65-40 margin, Supported by 2,204 fans at their Fitzgerald Field House, the Panthers swatted the Yellow Jackets behind Olivia Babcock’s 19 kills on .368 hitting, three aces and six blocks. Setter Rachel Fairbanks contributed five kills, 42 assists, two aces and eight digs. Tamara Otene ripped 23 kills and made 13 digs for Georgia Tech. … No. 7 Louisville (13-2, 4-1) rebounded from its loss at NC State with a four-set triumph over host North Carolina (7-7, 1-4) before 1,175 at Carmichael Arena. Elena Scott keyed the Cardinals’ defense with 19 digs. …

In other ACC matches, host Miami (11-5, 4-2) took every other set in a tense five-setter against NC State (13-3, 3-2), winning the tiebreaker 16-14 after trailing 14-8. Setter Savannah York keyed the Hurricanes’ effort with five kills on .500 hitting, 51 assists, two aces and nine digs, and Flormarie Heredia Colon had 25 kills and 11 digs. The Wolfpack’s Ava Brizard put down 19 kills. … Duke (11-5, 2-3) won in four over Notre Dame (8-5, 2-3) before 2,296 at its Cameron Indoor Stadium, with Gracie Johnson logging 19 kids and 13 digs. … Wake Forest (12-4, 3-2) prevailed on the road against Boston College (12-7, 1-4) in four. Libero Emma Farrell made 24 digs and dished out nine assists. … Visiting Clemson (11-6, 2-3) defeated Virginia (8-7, 1-4) in four. The first three were tight, but the Tigers claimed the fourth by 13. … Virginia Tech (11-5, 1-4) enjoyed a lopsided sweep at Syracuse (2-13, 0-5).

PAC-12: No. 3 Stanford (12-2, 5-0) had to work four sets to dispatch inury-depleted Washington (10-6, 1-4) before a crowd of 3,740 in Alaska Airlines Arena. Hitting at a robust .402 clip, the visiting Cardinals were led by Kendall Kipp’s .514 (21 kills with three errors on 35 swings). Ella Rubin chipped in 12 kills and 10 digs. …  No. 4 Washington State (15-1, 5-0) outscored visiting Cal (12-4, 1-4) 75-50 over three sets, much to the pleasure of 1,751 at Bohler Gym. The Cougars hit .417 and cranked eight aces. Middle hitter Magda Jehlarova picked up 10 kills on .500 hitting and four service winners. … A balanced attack with three hitters in double-digit kills, paced by Gabby Gonzales’ 13, propelled No. 5 Oregon (14-2, 4-1) in a sweep at Colorado (9-7, 1-4). The Ducks’ Kara McGhee was the picture of near-perfection with 10 kills on 11 errorless swings, along with 6 blocks (one solo). …

Also, Arizona State (16-1, 4-1 Pac-12) and USC (10-5, 4-1) battled over five sets before 1,837 fans at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils built a 9-5 advantage in the tiebreaker on a three-point serving run by Geli Cyr and went on to win 15-9. That snapped a nine-match winning streak by the visiting Trojans. … Utah (8-7, 3-2) rewarded 1,958 at the Huntsman Center with a block party during a four-set triumph over visiting Oregon State (5-10, 0-5). The Utes got 16 rejections, led by Allie Olsen with seven block assists and a solo. … Arizona (6-10, 1-4) treated its 2,811 fans at the McKale Center to a victory in four over UCLA (9-8, 1-4), its first win over the Bruins since 2018. Jaelyn Hodge was the top Wildcat with 16 kills and three aces.

BIG 12: No. 8 Texas (11-3, 6-0) sent 4,338 fans at Gregory Gym home happy with a workmanlike sweep of Kansas (12-4, 3-3). Madison Skinner put on a show with 22 kills on .514 efficiency. The Longhorns limited the visiting Jayhawks to .120 hitting … Host Baylor (8-7, 2-3) bounced back to earn a split of its back-to-backs against Kansas State (9-6, 3-3), winning in four. The Bears offset 21 kills from the Wildcats’ Aliyah Carter by getting 15 kills and three aces from Elise McGhee and 14 kills and four blocks from Manuela Bibinbe. … Behind 15 kills by Nayela Gonzalez and in front of a crowd of 2,581, Iowa State (13-3, 4-1) swept visiting Texas Tech (8-10, 1-5). … Cincinnati (9-5, 2-2) pulled a mild upset at TCU (10-6, 3-2) before 1,326, winning in five (16-14 in the fifth). The Bearcats’ Zeta Washington posted 19 kills and four blocks (three solo), while the Horned Frogs’ Melanie Para had 23 kills and 14 digs. … Host Houston (8-5, 1-3) swept West Virginia (7-10, 0-4).

Around the nation

Marquette (10-7, 6-0 Big East) held on to first-place in the league standings while knocking off No. 15 Creighton (12-4, 3-2) in three fairly tight sets, delighting a crowd of 2,209 at its Al McGuire Center. Aubrey Hamilton cranked 13 kills with an ace and two solo blocks, while Ella Foti had 12 digs and two service winners. … Also in the Big East, despite 23 kills and seven digs by Mary Grace Goyena, host Georgetown (11-6, 2-3) fell in a reverse sweep (15-10 in the fifth) to Providence (7-10, 1-4) …

Surging Dayton (17-2, 6-0 Atlantic 10) pushed its winning streak to 12 in a non-threatening home-court sweep of George Mason (6-12, 2-4). The Flyers racked up 10 service winners, three each by Lexie Almadovar and Karissa Kaminski (13 digs) …

Behind a monster .722 hitting performance from middle Sophie Davis (13-for-18, no errors), visiting James Madison (12-4, 5-0) remained perfect in the Sun Belt with a lopsided sweep of Old Dominion (9-10, 1-4). … Eastern Illinois continued its roll, improving to 16-1 and 6-0 in the Ohio Valley with a three-set blitzing over visiting Morehead State (8-10, 1-5). Natalie Mitchum led the Panthers with 11 kills on 19 errorless swings and four blocks. … Wofford (14-2, 5-0 SoCon) will take the momentum of a 10-match winning streak into its big tussle with The Citadel after topping host  UNC Greensboro (1-16, 0-6) in four sets. Libero Abbey Richman notched 16 digs and four assists. …

Northern Iowa (11-6, 5-0 Missouri Valley) pushed its winning streak to six and stayed clean in the Valley with a road sweep of Evansville (6-10, 1-4). Emily Holterhaus had 18 kills with one error on 24 attempts (.708) and adding four blocks. … Drake (11-6, 4-1) remained a game back in the MVC with a three-set score over host Indiana State (2-13, 0-5). The Bulldogs copped the first two sets by a combined 50-27 margin, but the third went to 33-31.  … Host Illinois-Chicago (13-6, 4-2 MVC) limited Bradley (7-11, 0-5) to .100 hitting in a decisive sweep, getting 10 kills on .563 hitting from Egyptian national Ayat Amin. …

The division leaders in the American Athletic took road victories. East pacesetter South Florida (11-6, 5-1) swept Texas-San Antonio and West leader Rice (12-4, 6-0) won in four over Memphis. … Yale (9-3) moved to 4-0 in the Ivy League with a four-set victory at Cornell. … Two of the three teams a game behind UC Santa Barbara in the Big West race kept pace. Hawai’i (11-5, 4-1) blew away Cal State Fullerton in three before 5,785 in Honolulu’s Stan Sheriff Center. Long Beach State (10-5, 4-1) prevailed in five sets over host Cal State Bakersfield, 15-9 in the tiebreaker.

All eyes are on Washington libero Grace Zilbert as she digs against Stanford/Stephen Burns photo

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