NCAA women's volleyball scores for Dec. 6
Seven Pac-12 women's volleyball teams continued their NCAA Tournament journeys on Saturday. Here's how it all played out.
The Washington Huskies defeated Hawaii in sets of 25-20, 19-25, 25-16 and 25-14, and Krista Vansant produced 22 kills on .298 hitting to become the Huskies' all-time kills leader. Washington's Melanie Wade closed the evening in Seattle with eight blocks to help push the No. 3 the Huskies into a Sweet 16 match against Nebraska, which itself advanced on Saturday by dropping Utah.
Stanford outhit Michigan State .310 to .200 and four players recorded 10 or more kills in a balanced 3-1 victory for the Cardinal in Maples Pavilion. Jordan Burgess led the No. 1 team in the tournament with 15 kills, 13 digs and three blocks. Meanwhile, both Inky Ajanaku and Merete Lutz hit double-digit kills while hitting .450 or better. At 31-1 on the year, Stanford now advances to the Sweet 16 where it will face Oregon State.
The 22-11 UCLA Bruins swept Long Beach State on Saturday and finished the match with .369 hitting behind All-Pac-12 performer Karsta Lowe's 24 kills and nine digs. Claire Felix added seven blocks in the victory and with the win, the Bruins earned themselves a Sweet 16 date with No. 5 Penn State on Dec. 12. UCLA won its 56th match in a row when hitting .300 or better.
Oregon State trailed Arkansas-Little Rock 1-2 but won the fourth and fifth sets to overcome the Trojans 3-2 in Topeka, Kan. Mary-Kate Marshall led OSU with 23 kills, while Laura Schaudt finished with six blocks for the Beavs, who snapped a 25-match winning streak for UALR. Even more, libero Darcy Reeder set the school record for a match with 41 digs and another Oregon State record with 592 total for the season. Next up for Oregon State: A Sweet 16 matchup against No. 1 Stanford, which beat Michigan State in four sets on Saturday.
Adora Anae finished with 20 kills, Shelby Dalton added 18 more but the Utah Utes fell in five sets to the No. 14 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to finish their season with a 20-13 record. Utah competed well and outplayed Nebraska is some areas, but it ultimately got bit by 11 service errors to just three by the Huskers.
Colorado went blow for blow with Colorado State and rallied from two sets down with victories in the third and fourth sets, but in the end, the rival Rams prevailed, winning 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 26-24 and 14-16. CU (20-14) got a big performance from senior Taylor Simpson, whose 32 kills set a career mark and set a Buffs school record, giving her 10 matches this season when she surpassed the 20-kill mark.
The season comes to an end for the Trojans with their second-round loss to North Carolina. The No. 7 Tar Heels used their homecourt advantage to drop USC in four sets (23-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-15). For USC, Samantha Bricio put in 20 kills and Hannah Schraer led the way with four blocks as the Trojans finish the year with a 16-16 record. North Carolina advances to face the Oregon Ducks on Dec. 12.