9/30/22: Oshkosh knocks off #13 Stevens Point

Millikin Invite
Millikin, Simpson, Central, Fontbonne
Millikin 3, Simpson 0; Central 3, Fontbonne 0.

Faith Baptist Bible Tourney
Maranatha Baptist, North Central (Minn.), Faith Baptist Bible, Randall, Grace Christian
North Central (Minn.) 3, Randall 0; Maranatha Baptist 3, Randall 2; North Central (Minn.) 3, Grace Christian 1; Maranatha Baptist 3, Faith Baptist Bible 1.

WIAC
#9 UW-Whitewater 3, UW-River Falls 0 UWW outhit UWRF, .266 to .040.
#11 UW-Eau Claire 3, UW-La Crosse 1 UWEC’s Barrett: 14 kills, 13 digs.
UW-Oshkosh 3, #13 UW-Stevens Point 1 UWO’s Sundholm: 19 kills, 16 digs.
UW-Platteville 3, UW-Stout 0 UWP’s Carlson: 18 kills.

CCIW
Augustana 3, #21 Illinois Wesleyan 2 AC’s Baehr-Ross: 29 assists, 20 digs.
North Central 3, Carroll 1 NCC’s Brown: 19 kills.

MIAC
#16 Augsburg 3, Hamline 0 AU’s Van Well hit 11-1-18.
#20 Gustavus Adolphus 3, Carleton 1 GAC’s Turn: 18 kills, 12 digs.
Concordia 3, St. Catherine 2 CC’s Brakke: 16 kills, 13 digs.
St. Scholastica 3, Saint Mary’s 0 CSS’s Remer: 14 kills.

NACC
Aurora 3, Marian 0 AU’s Gruse hit 8-1-14.
Concordia Wisconsin 3, Rockford 0 CUW outhit RU, .298 to .010.
St. Norbert 3, Dominican 1 SNC’s Clement: 21 kills.
Edgewood 3, Benedictine 1 EC’s Bunch: 28 digs.
Illinois Tech 3, MSOE 1 IIT’s Nguyen: 32 digs.
Wisconsin Lutheran 3, Alverno 0 WLC: 16 aces.
Lakeland 3, Concordia Chicago 0 LU’s Stevens: 15 kills.

UMAC
UW-Superior 3, Minnesota Morris 0 UWS’s Stark: 14 kills.
Northland 3, Crown 0 NC’s Fossum: 13 kills, 13 digs.

MWC
Grinnell 3, Beloit 0 GC’s Keller: 12 kills.
Illinois College 3, Ripon 1 IC’s Knuffman: 16 kills.

Nonconference
#22 Albion 3, Earlham 0 AC’s Hepner hit 14-0-23.
St. Olaf 3, Dubuque 1 SOC’s Moore: 16 kills.
North Park 3, Kalamazoo 0 NPU: 19 aces.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3, Cal Lutheran 0
#6 Emory, Maryville (Tenn.) [ppd.]
#7 Berry 3, Rhodes 0
#14 Wesleyan 3, Colby 1
#23 Tufts 3, Middlebury 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/29/22: Fontbonne improves to 2-1 in SLIAC

SLIAC
Webster 3, Spalding 1 WU’s Gray: 28 digs.
Fontbonne 3, Blackburn 0 FU’s Kaempfe: 14 kills.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#14 Wesleyan 3, #17 MIT 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/28/22: Defending champs win slugfest, UNW no longer unbeaten

CCIW
North Park 3, Millikin 2 NPU’s Rodriguez: 23 kills, 14 digs.
Carthage 3, Wheaton 0 CC: 15 aces.

MIAC
Bethel 3, Saint Benedict 0 BU’s Cotter: 18 kills.
Macalester 3, St. Olaf 2 MC’s Geber: 14 kills, 7 blocks.

ARC
Dubuque 3, Luther 0 UD’s Powell: 20 kills, 13 digs.
Simpson 3, Buena Vista 1 SC’s Jacobs: 21 kills.

SLIAC
Greenville 3, Eureka 0 GU’s Hill: 22 digs.
Westminster 3, Fontbonne 2 WC’s Wanyonyi: 21 kills, 19 digs.

Nonconference
#11 UW-Eau Claire 3, #3 Northwestern 2 UWEC’s Barrett: 14 kills.
#5 Washington-St. Louis 3, Illinois College 1 WUSTL’s Sells: 16 kills, 10 digs.
#13 UW-Stevens Point 3, St. Catherine 2 UWSP’s Kopp: 20 kills, 23 digs.
Denison 3, Bluffton 0 DU’s Johns hit 12-1-16.
Cornell 3, Loras 0 CC’s Green: 33 assists, 11 digs.
UW-River Falls 3, Hamline 0 UWRF’s Meredith: 13 kills, 10 digs, 5 aces.
Rose-Hulman 3, DePauw 1 RHIT’s Korte: 17 kills.
Carleton 3, Crown 1 Carleton’s Candra: 20 kills, 12 digs.
Wilmington 3, Anderson 2 WC’s O’Brien: 47 digs.
Manchester 3, Saint Mary’s (Ind.) 0 MU outhit SMC, .291 to .067.
Mount Mary 3, Alverno 0 MMU’s Powers: 12 kills.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#8 Calvin 3, #15 Hope 0
#12 Wittenberg 3, Ohio Northern 1
#18 Otterbein 3, Muskingum 1
#22 Albion 3, Alma 0

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is your Last Team Standing (2022).

-Ricky Nelson

9/27/22: Elmhurst ends 6-match skid

CCIW
Elmhurst 3, North Central 2 EC’s Wiley: 15 kills, 16 digs.

ARC
Nebraska Wesleyan 3, Central 0 NWU’s Thomas: 17 kills.

UMAC
Martin Luther 3, North Central 1 MLC’s Kieselhorst: 13 kills, 11 assists, 8 digs, 4 aces.

SLIAC
Greenville 3, Spalding 0 GU’s Bonacorsi: 11 kills, 15 digs.
Webster 3, Eureka 0 WU’s Katz: 11 kills, 15 digs.
Blackburn 3, Principia 0 BC outhit PC, .171 to -.141.

Nonconference
#20 Gustavus Adolphus 3, Bethany Lutheran 0 GAC’s Turn: 15 kills, 13 digs.
Wartburg 3, Grinnell 0 WC’s Kracht: 6 kills, 16 assists, 10 digs, 4 aces.
Mount St. Joseph 3, Thomas More 2 MSJU’s Abshire: 19 kills.
UW-Stout 3, UW-Superior 0 Stout’s Barrett: 32 assists, 13 digs.
Augustana 3, Dominican 0 AC’s Schipper: 14 kills.
UW-Platteville 3, Edgewood 0 UWP’s Carlson: 10 kills, 4 aces.
Carroll 3, Lawrence 0 CU outhit LU, .275 to .049.
Lake Forest 3, Rockford 0 LFC’s Gegen: 14 kills.
Centre 3, Franklin 2 CC’s Goddin: 15 kills.
Concordia (Minn.) 3, Mayville St. 1 CC’s Lill: 50 assists.
Hanover 3, Asbury 1 HC: 13 aces.
Northland 3, Finlandia 1 NC’s Wynn: 16 kills, 19 digs.
Maranatha Baptist 3, Alverno 0 MBU’s Kemlo hit 12-2-20.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3, Redlands 0
#4 Juniata 3, Bloomsburg 1
#6 Emory 3, Lee 0
#17 MIT 3, Springfield 0
#19 Babson 3, WPI 0

-Ricky Nelson

2022 AVCA Week 4 poll: Not much new to report

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is still the unanimous top team in the AVCA Week 4 poll. The poll appears to be firming up as just one new team (Illinois Wesleyan) entered and one team fell from the previous week’s top 10.

This week’s top five included No. 2 Trinity (Texas), No. 3 Northwestern, No. 4 Juniata and No. 5 Washington-St. Louis. Like most (all?) years, we’ve reached the autopilot phase of the proceedings.

Other Region VIII and Region IX teams in the Week 4 top 25: No. 9 Wisconsin-Whitewater; No. 11 Wisconsin-Eau Claire; No. 13 Wisconsin-Stevens Point; No. 16 Augsburg; No. 20 Gustavus Adolphus; No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan.

Region VIII/IX teams receiving votes this week: Transylvania; Coe; Chicago; Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Wartburg; Bethel; Aurora; Millikin; Mount St. Joseph; North Park.

My Week 4 top 10 had Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Illinois Wesleyan instead of the AVCA’s Berry and Calvin.

-Ricky Nelson

2022 NCAA stats: Regions VIII/IX pretty good at terminating

Just a periodic status check across the statistical landscape. Below are the Region VIII and Region IX players and teams in the top 10. National leaders not from Regions VIII/IX in italics. Stats thru Sept. 25.

Aces
1. Max Ludlow, NVU-Johnson 57
9. Sophia Harrison, Rose-Hulman 39
9. KellyAnn Sotiros, UW-Whitewater 39
1. Suffolk 194
7. UW-Whitewater 159
10. North Park 156

Aces/Set
1. Bianka Catral, CCNY 1.60
1. Penn St. Abington 5.62

Assists
1. Grace Ward, Transylvania 630
2. Grace Michalske, UW-Stevens Point 592
3. Maddy Maahs, Coe 573
4. Kaitlyn Beebe, Aurora 556
5. Sam Buckley, Washington-St. Louis 549
8. Audrey Spolidoro, Saint Benedict 538
1. UW-Oshkosh 805
2. UW-Whitewater 767
3. UW-River Falls 762
4. Transylvania 732
5. Westminster (Mo.) 728
8. North Park 698
9. UW-Stevens Point 694
10. Aurora 686

Assists/Set
1. Lauren Lee, Hope 10.80
4. Grace Ward, Transylvania 10.50
8. Charlie Nelson, UW-Eau Claire 10.28
9. Grace Michalske, UW-Stevens Point 10.21
10. Sam Buckley, Washington-St. Louis 10.17
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 13.74
2. Northwestern 13.41
8. Millikin 12.28
9. North Park 12.25
10. Transylvania 12.20

Blocks
1. Meg Dion, Stevens 73
6. Kiera Brown, Northwestern 60
6. Riley Kindt, UW-Oshkosh 60
9. Addy Gruse, Aurora 58
9. Rory Light, Cornell 58
1. Smith 143.5
2. UW-Oshkosh 136.5
3. UW-Whitewater 136
6. Carthage 128.5
8. Manchester 126
9. Chicago 125

Blocks/Set
1. Rory Light, Cornell 1.49
2. Kiera Brown, Northwestern 1.46
1. Trinity (Texas) 2.80
5. Northwestern 2.47
6. Cornell 2.44

Digs
1. Abby Fregien, UW-Oshkosh 398
3. Alcia Draper, St. Scholastica 337
6. Lily Ebright, Rose-Hulman 294
8. Payton Lowrey, Grinnell 292
10. Jen Humbolt, Illinois College 289
1. UW-Oshkosh 1,390
3. North Park 1,124
4. UW-Whitewater 1,090
6. Coe 1,069
8. St. Scholastica 1,048
10. Saint Benedict 1,037

Digs/Set
1. Marylyn Schroyer, Northwestern 6.32
5. Alcia Draper, St. Scholastica 6.13
6. Emme Patton, Knox 6.09
1. Mary Hardin-Baylor 20.94
5. North Park 19.72
10. St. Scholastica 19.05

Kills
1. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 292
2. Ashley Kopp, UW-Stevens Point 279
3. Kameri Meredith, UW-River Falls 255
4. Sidney Hoverman, UW-Stout 245
5. Sydnei Avery, Aurora 241
7. Carissa Sundholm, UW-Oshkosh 220
9. Cate Scheper, Transylvania 214
1. UW-Oshkosh 896
2. UW-River Falls 837
3. UW-Whitewater 818
4. Transylvania 796
5. Westminster (Mo.) 787
7. UW-Stevens Point 761
8. Aurora 759
9. Bluffton 752

Kills/Set
1. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 5.12
3. Ashley Kopp, UW-Stevens Point 4.81
1. Northwestern 14.75

Hitting Percentage
1. Caleigh Golabek, Ramapo .472
2. Allison Feigenbaum, Wartburg .448
6. Kirsten Anderson, UW-Whitewater .426
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps .311
2. Northwestern .306
8. Washington-St. Louis .248

Points/Set
1. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 5.73
3. Ashley Kopp, UW-Stevens Point 5.50

-Ricky Nelson

9/26/22: Take a breather

Nothing going on in Regions VIII/IX or the top 25 today. See you Tuesday.

-Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson’s 2022 Week 4 top 10

The AVCA poll comes out Tuesday.

My rank, (My Week 3 rank, AVCA Week 3 rank), record, key results last week
1 (1,1). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 13-0 [None].
2 (2,3). Northwestern 13-0 [None].
3 (4,2). Trinity (Texas) 11-2 [None].
4 (6,4). Juniata 10-1 W: Muskingum.
5 (NR,15). Wisconsin-Whitewater 15-2 W: Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Aurora; Illinois Wesleyan.
6 (3,6). Washington-St. Louis 14-1 W: Aurora. L: Illinois Wesleyan.
7 (9,7). Emory 7-3 [Idle].
8 (8,12). Wisconsin-Stevens Point 13-2 W: Carthage. L: Wisconsin-Whitewater.
9 (NR,NR). Illinois Wesleyan 10-3 W: Washington-St. Louis; Carthage. L: Wisconsin-Whitewater.
10 (NR,9). NYU 10-3 W: Wesleyan (Conn.); Susquehanna. L: Tufts.
Dropped out: No. 5 Albion (13-2); Wittenberg (11-3); No. 10 Calvin (9-3).

The battle for Last Team Standing (2022) escalated quickly and is down to two teams. Not exactly a mystery as to which teams those are.

-Ricky Nelson

9/25/22: Austin upsets #20 Tigers

Top 25 Upset Watch
#2 Trinity (Texas) 3, Dallas 0
#10 Berry 3, #23 Birmingham-Southern 0
Austin 3, #20 Colorado College 2

-Ricky Nelson

9/24/22: #12 Pointers win pair of 5-setters at home

UW-Stevens Point Invite
#12 UW-Stevens Point, Concordia Wisconsin, St. Olaf, Carthage, St. Norbert, UW-River Falls, St. Scholastica
Concordia Wisconsin 3, UW-River Falls 2; St. Norbert 3, St. Scholastica 2; #12 UW-Stevens Point 3, Carthage 2; #12 UW-Stevens Point 3, Concordia Wisconsin 2; St. Olaf 3, St. Norbert 2; Carthage 3, St. Olaf 2.

Wartburg Invite
#14 Gustavus Adolphus, Wartburg, Coe, UW-Stout, Concordia (Minn.)
UW-Stout 3, Concordia (Minn.) 1; Wartburg 3, #14 Gustavus Adolphus 0; Coe 3, #14 Gustavus Adolphus 1; Coe 3, Concordia (Minn.) 0.

Illinois Wesleyan Classic
#15 UW-Whitewater, Aurora, Illinois Wesleyan, Heidelberg
Illinois Wesleyan 3, Heidelberg 0; #15 UW-Whitewater 3, Aurora 1; #15 UW-Whitewater 3, Illinois Wesleyan 1; Aurora 3, Heidelberg 1.

Albion Tri
#18 Albion, Franklin, Trine
#18 Albion 3, Trine 0; Franklin 3, #18 Albion 2; Trine 3, Franklin 1.

Luther Tourney
#21 Augsburg, Luther, Dubuque, Hamline, Carroll, Lawrence
#21 Augsburg 3, Dubuque 0; Hamline 3, Lawrence 0; #21 Augsburg 3, Lawrence 0; Dubuque 3, Hamline 1; Carroll 3, Luther 2.

Mount St. Joseph Tourney
Transylvania, Mount St. Joseph, Ohio Northern, Christopher Newport
Ohio Northern 3, Mount St. Joseph 1; Transylvania 3, Christopher Newport 0.

North Park Invite
UW-Oshkosh, North Park, Kean, Baldwin Wallace
UW-Oshkosh 3, Kean 0; North Park 3, Baldwin Wallace 1; UW-Oshkosh 3, North Park 0.

MSOE Invite
UW-Platteville, Carleton, Nebraska Wesleyan, MSOE, Mount Mary
Nebraska Wesleyan 3, Carleton 0; UW-Platteville 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 0; Carleton 3, Mount Mary 0; UW-Platteville 3, MSOE 0; MSOE 3, Mount Mary 1.

Rose-Hulman Invite
Concordia Chicago, Illinois Tech, Manchester, Rose-Hulman
Concordia Chicago 3, Manchester 2; Rose-Hulman 3, Illinois Tech 2; Rose-Hulman 3, Concordia Chicago 0; Illinois Tech 3, Manchester 0.

Ripon Invite
Ripon, Saint Mary’s (Minn.), Lakeland, Maranatha Baptist, Finlandia
Ripon 3, Finlandia 0; Lakeland 3, Ripon 1; Saint Mary’s (Minn.) 3, Maranatha Baptist 0; Maranatha Baptist 3, Finlandia 0; Lakeland 3, Saint Mary’s (Minn.) 1.

Bluffton Classic
Bluffton, Rochester, Capital, Olivet
Bluffton 3, Capital 1; Bluffton 3, Olivet 2.

Loras Tri
UW-La Crosse, Loras, Edgewood
UW-La Crosse 3, Loras 1; UW-La Crosse 3, Edgewood 0; Loras 3, Edgewood 2.

Earlham Tri
Earlham, Anderson, Asbury
Earlham 3, Asbury 0; Anderson 3, Asbury 0.

DePauw Tri
Hanover, DePauw, Oberlin
Hanover 3, Oberlin 0; Hanover 3, DePauw 1.

Olivet Nazarene Classic
Marian, Olivet Nazarene, Cardinal Stritch, Governors St., Columbia (Mo.), Campbellsville
Cardinal Stritch 3, Marian 0; Columbia (Mo.) 3, Marian 0.

CCIW
Wheaton 3, Elmhurst 0 WC’s Traweek: 10 kills.
Augustana 3, Millikin 1 AC’s Hurst: 15 kills.

MWC
Cornell 3, Monmouth 0 CC’s McLaughlin hit 14-1-25.
Grinnell 3, Illinois College 2 GC’s Miles: 13 kills, 6 blocks.
Beloit 3, Knox 1 BC’s Sanchez: 14 kills, 24 digs.

UMAC
Minnesota Morris 3, North Central 0 UMM’s Jones hit 11-0-19.
UW-Superior 3, Bethany Lutheran 1 UWS’s Pryd: 16 kills, 23 digs.
Martin Luther 3, Northland 0 MLC outhit NC, .167 to .000.

SLIAC
Greenville 3, Blackburn 0 GU’s Hill: 26 digs.
Greenville 3, Webster 1 GU’s Patton: 15 kills, 15 digs.
Blackburn 3, Webster 2 BC’s Eitzenhefer: 11 kills.
Spalding 3, Westminster 2 SU’s Branch: 22 kills, 19 digs.
Westminster 3, Eureka 0 WC’s Bixby: 13 kills.
Spalding 3, Eureka 0 SU’s Branch: 12 kills, 15 digs.

Nonconference
#3 Northwestern 3, Saint Benedict 1 UNW’s Schmidt: 14 kills.
North Central (Ill.) 3, Dominican 0 NCC’s Barickman: 37 assists.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3, La Verne 0
#2 Trinity (Texas) 3, Austin 0
#2 Trinity (Texas) 3, Centenary (La.) 0
#4 Juniata 3, Eastern 0
#4 Juniata 3, Muskingum 0
#5 Calvin 3, Saint Mary’s (Ind.) 0
#8 Wittenberg 3, Wooster 0
#24 Tufts 3, #9 NYU 2
#9 NYU 3, #16 Wesleyan 2
#10 Berry 3, Millsaps 0
#16 Wesleyan 3, Susquehanna 0
#17 Hope 3, Kalamazoo 0
#19 MIT 3, WPI 1
#19 MIT 3, Colby-Sawyer 0
#20 Colorado College 3, Centenary (La.) 1
#20 Colorado College 3, Dallas 0
#22 Babson 3, Mount Holyoke 0
#22 Babson 3, UMass Dartmouth 1
#23 Birmingham-Southern 3, Oglethorpe 1
Susquehanna 3, #24 Tufts 1
#25 Johns Hopkins 3, Swarthmore 0

-Ricky Nelson