# #

Update

Pac-12 Networks programming may be unavailable due to technical maintenance.

2017 NCAA Volleyball Championship: Five Pac-12 teams advance to third round

by Jocelyn Perry
Dec 2, 2017

It was an exciting day of Pac-12 action in NCAA volleyball, but four Pac-12 teams survived the day and are headed through to the third round: Stanford, Colorado, UCLA and USC with Utah getting a head start on their fellow Pac-12ers with a four-set victory over Purdue on Friday. Here's how Saturday's action went down. 

3-seed Stanford 3, Colorado State 0

StanfordThe reigning national champs in Stanford hosted one of the Mountain West’s top teams in Colorado State and completed the sweep, 25-14, 25-15, 25-9.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer totaled 14 kills to lead all players on a staggering .600 hitting percentage, dominating the court. After cruising to a 25-14 first-set win, Stanford put on a show in the second set. Jenna Gray rattled off four-straight aces as the Card took a 2-0 lead with a 25-15 victory in the second set.

The trip to the second round was never in doubt for the Cardinal, as Stanford remained undefeated at home and will head to the Sweet Sixteen.

Colorado 3, 12-seed Baylor 0

Colorado

Don't call it an upset! The Buffs went to Waco and took on former Big 12 rival and 12-seed Baylor, getting the upset in a sweeping 3-0 fashion.

Frankie Shebby led the Buffs with her double-double 11 kills and 14 digs, helping send CU to its first NCAA Third Round since 1997.

Colorado went up two sets to none quickly, using a dominant 25-12 set one to get things going.

Alexa Smith led the Buff charge, hitting .412 on eight kills through two sets.

Colorado will next take on 5-seed Nebraska in the Sweet 16.

10-seed USC 3, San Diego 2

USC

10-seed USC welcomed San Diego to the Galen Center in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship and the Trojans would be victorious in a five-set thriller.

USC rallied off two-straight set wins to cap the fifth, 15-11, to advance to the NCAA regional semifinals.

Down two sets to one, and down 12-11 in the fourth, USC fought to take the set lead and never looked back.

The Trojans got off to a quick start, as outside hitter Khalia Lanier helped USC out-hit the Toreros on four kills and one service ace to take the first set, 25-22. USD stormed back in the second set, as the Toreros and the Trojans were knotted up 10 times before USD broke the stalemate and took the set, 26-24.

Down by four points late in the third set, Jordan Dunn and Brittany Finch combined for a key block as the Trojans rallied for a 4-1 streak to trim the USC deficit to 22-20. Despite another late push, USD took a 2-1 match lead with another 26-24 set win.

While fighting to stay alive in the fourth set, USC’s Victoria Garrick became the 17th Trojan to hit the 1,000 career digs plateau:

USC will play the winner of Minnesota-UNI.

15-seed UCLA 3, Cal Poly 1

UCLAUCLA dropped the first set, 26-28, but Reily Buechler took command of the Bruins quickly and helped UCLA snap Cal Poly’s 22-match winning streak, 3-1 (26-28, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18). Buechler rattled off 26 kills to lead all players on an impressive .436 hitting percentage.

After dropping the first set, UCLA slowly and methodically wore down Cal Poly to capture three straight sets and the match. Tied at 14 all in the fourth set, UCLA went on a five-point run to command the lead. Buechler helped the Bruins with four of UCLA’s six final points to capture the victory.

15-seed UCLA advances to play 2-seed Florida in the second round.

Utah The Utes advanced to the third round with a dominant 3-1 win over Purdue in the second round. Adora Anae led the way with 27 kills, setting a Utah single-match record, and 12 digs. They'll face six-seeded Texas in the third round.

8-seed Washington 2, Illinois 3

Washington

Illinois played spoiler as the visitors to the 8-seed Huskies in Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday night. The two teams played to the wire in a five-set thriller (22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 17-25, 9-15) that left the Illini advancing to the third round.

The Illini outhit the Dawgs, .364-.227, but UW’s Kara Bajema rattled off 26 kills to lead both teams.

Illinois got out to a quick start, taking the first set, 25-22. The Huskies responded going up two sets to one, as Carly DeHoog finished the third frame with four kills to put the Dawgs on top.

The Huskies couldn’t handle Illinois, as the Illini commanded a 10-2 run in the fourth set to even the match at two all.

Washington’s season came to a close with a 9-15 loss in the final set. UW finishes with a 25-8 record and second-place finish in the Pac-12.

5-seed Nebraska 3, Washington State 0

Washington StateWashington State fell in three sets to five-seed Nebraska, 25-13, 25-13, 25-18, to wrap up their postseason play. The Cougs traveled to Lincoln to take on a tall task, defeating the 2015 National Champion Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Jocelyn Urias led WSU offensively hitting .154 with five kills and added two digs.

Junior Alexis Dirige topped WSU great Kelly Hyder for most single-season digs in program history. Hydder amounted 565 digs in 2006.

The Cougs finish the season with an 18-16 overall record and ninth-place finish in the Pac-12.

13-seed BYU 3, Oregon 0

Oregon

Oregon battled 13-seed BYU in an offensive thriller. While BYU topped the Ducks, 3-0: 25-20, 25-21, 25-19, both teams hit featured talent on the outside tonight.

Oregon’s Taylor Agost racked up 18 kills on a .457 hitting percentage, but the Ducks couldn’t contain BYU’s Veronica Jones-Perry and her 27 kills.

Attempting to tap the breaks with BYU up two sets to none, Oregon went on a 4-1 run to cut BYU’s third-set lead to 20-18. BYU answered with a 5-1 run of its own, ending Oregon’s season.

The Ducks wrap up the season with an 18-12 record and eighth-place finish in the Pac-12.

Related News & Videos