9/19/19: Ranked Beavers best Sharks

Top 25 Upset Watch
#21 Babson 3, Simmons 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/18/19: #6 Chicago downs #1 Calvin, #14 UWW sweeps #13 UWEC

Northland Tri
Northland, Finlandia, North Central (Minn.)
Northland 3, North Central (Minn.) 0; North Central (Minn.) 3, Finlandia 1; Northland 3, Finlandia 0.

WIAC
#14 UW-Whitewater 3, #13 UW-Eau Claire 0 UWW outhit UWEC, .184 to .000.
UW-Oshkosh 3, UW-La Crosse 0 UWO’s Sundholm: 9 kills, 11 digs.
UW-Stevens Point 3, UW-River Falls 0 UWSP’s Gehl: 16 kills, 22 digs.

CCIW
#10 Carthage 3, Illinois Wesleyan 0 CC’s Horner hit 12-1-18.
Augustana 3, North Central 1 AC’s Bialobok: 19 kills.
Millikin 3, Carroll 2 MU’s Jackson: 17 kills.
Wheaton 3, North Park 1 WC’s Brown: 12 kills.

MIAC
#8 Saint Benedict 3, Bethel 2 CSB’s M. Weiss: 14 kills, 10 blocks.
#18 St. Thomas 3, St. Olaf 1 UST’s Egan: 12 kills.
Carleton 3, Macalester 1 CC’s Loe: 14 kills, 22 digs.
Concordia 3, St. Catherine 2 CC’s Brakke: 11 kills, 11 digs.
Hamline 3, Saint Mary’s 1 HU’s Hurrle: 18 kills, 4 blocks.

ARC
Coe 3, Dubuque 1 CC’s Tidman: 13 kills, 21 digs.
Wartburg 3, Luther 0 WC outhit LC, .223 to -.010.
Nebraska Wesleyan 3, Buena Vista 2 NWU’s Bellinghausen: 17 kills.
Central 3, Simpson 2 CC’s Larson: 15 kills.

NACC
Aurora 3, Illinois Tech 0 AU outhit IIT, .314 to -.014.
Concordia Wisconsin 3, Lakeland 1 CUW’s Pavlik ht 12-1-21.
Dominican 3, Concordia Chicago 1 DU: 16 aces.
Edgewood 3, Alverno 0 EC: 19 aces.
MSOE 3, Marian 2 MSOE’s Wallach: 14 kills, 29 digs.
Wisconsin Lutheran 3, Rockford 0 WLC outhit RU, .400 to -.022.

Nonconference
#6 Chicago 3, #1 Calvin 1 UC’s Paulson: 17 kills, 15 digs.
#22 Transylvania 3, Spalding 0 TU: 47 kills, hit .378.
Elmhurst 3, Lake Forest 2 EC’s Zurliene: 10 kills, 16 digs 5 aces.
Rose-Hulman 3, Webster 1 RHIT’s Canon: 17 kills.
St. Louis Pharmacy 3, Fontbonne 0 STLCOP is NAIA.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#5 Berry 3, Oglethorpe 0
#12 Carnegie Mellon 3, Point Park 0

-Ricky Nelson

9/17/19: St. Kate’s gets 1st win over UNW since 2007

WIAC
UW-Platteville 3, UW-Stout 2 UWP’s Kudronowicz: 14 kills, 13 digs.

Nonconference
Gustavus Adolphus 3, Minnesota Morris 0 GAC outhit UMM, .398 to .116.
St. Catherine 3, Northwestern 0 SCU’s Cutts: 10 kills, 5 blocks.
Illinois College 3, Fontbonne 0 IC’s Pankey: 14 kills.
Monmouth 3, Blackburn 0 MC outhit BC, .223 to .073.
Lincoln Christian 3, Principia 0 LCU is NAIA.
Maranatha Baptist 3, Mount Mary 1 MBU outhit MMU, .355 to -.056.

Top 25 Upset Watch
#16 Ohio Northern 3, Bluffton 0
#21 Babson 3, WPI 0

-Ricky Nelson

2019 AVCA Week 3 poll: Calvin claims top spot

Unbeaten Calvin is the new top team in the country, as expected, in the AVCA Week 3 poll as defending national champion and previous No. 1 Emory suffered its first loss of the year over the weekend.

Emory, which fell one spot, is followed in the poll by No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 4 Johnson & Wales (R.I.) and No. 5 Berry.

Central and Midwest teams in the Week 3 top 25: No. 6 Chicago; No. 8 Saint Benedict; No. 10 Carthage; No. 13 Wisconsin-Eau Claire; No. 14 Wisconsin-Whitewater; No. 16 Augsburg; No. 18 St. Thomas (Minn.).

Central and Midwest teams receiving votes this week: Washington-St. Louis; St. Olaf; Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Gustavus Adolphus; Aurora; Loras; Northwestern.

My Week 3 top 10 had Carnegie Mellon, Augsburg, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Ohio Northern instead of Johnson & Wales (R.I.), Chicago, Juniata and Trinity (Texas).

-Ricky Nelson

9/16/19: MLC wins home opener

Nonconference
Martin Luther 3, Crown 1 MLC’s Aguilar: 13 kills, 4 blocks.

-Ricky Nelson

2019 Last Team Standing down to 16 contenders

The initial list of 16 contenders for 2019’s Last Team Standing include last year’s Last Team Standing and presumptive new No. 1 team in the country (Calvin), four squads from the same New England conference (NESCAC) and one program from an institution — Tom Brady’s neighbor fresh off accreditation probation — that has yet to make its season debut (Pine Manor).

The Last Team Standing page lists all of the contenders along with their schedules through September.

Does Pine Manor have a waiver this season? That team appears in need of matches to reach the 17 minimum contests.

-Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson’s 2019 Week 3 top 10

The AVCA poll comes out Tuesday.

My rank, (My Week 2 rank, AVCA Week 2 rank), record, key results last week
1 (1,2). Calvin 9-0 W: Christopher Newport.
2 (2,1). Emory 8-1 W: Juniata. L: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
3 (8,3). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 9-2 W: Emory; Washington-St. Louis. L: Juniata.
4 (NR,19). Carthage 11-1 W: Wisconsin-Eau Claire; St. Thomas (Minn.).
5 (4,4). Berry 8-2 W: Wittenberg; Heidelberg. L: Ohio Northern.
6 (3,10). Carnegie Mellon 10-1 W: Hope; Muskingum. L: Susquehanna.
7 (5,17). Augsburg 10-2 L: Loras.
8 (9,12). Saint Benedict 11-1 W: Northwestern.
9 (NR,15). Wisconsin-Whitewater 8-3 W: Ohio Northern; Heidelberg. L: Wittenberg.
10 (NR,21). Ohio Northern 7-3 W: Berry. L: Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Dropped out: No. 6 Johnson & Wales (R.I.) (8-1); No. 7 St. Thomas (10-2); No. 10 Wesleyan (6-0).

-Ricky Nelson