NCAA volleyball: WMU thumps Auburn as No. 7 seeds lose; no major upsets as tourney begins

Western Michigan not only knocked out Auburn, it opened play Thursday by sweeping the Tigers right out of the NCAA Tournament.

There were no other significant upsets among the 16 first-round matches, although Yale took a set off Penn State, Wright State took one off Louisville and Texas A&M did the same at Texas. Three of the four regional No. 7 seeds, including Auburn, lost.

There were no five-setters in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, either, not in the NCAA nor in the NIVC’s nine matches.

Here’s what’s on tap Friday, a day in which again no matches are being played in the morning or early afternoon. All matches can be seen on ESPN+, which requires a subscription. The Texas-SMU can also be seen on this final year of the Longhorn Network. There are 24 NCAA matches today and there will be quite a bit of overlap. The ESPN 5th Set studio show is an alternative for viewers without multiple devices as it goes from match-to-match as warranted.

Go to our VolleyballMag.com TV & Listings page for the complete schedule, viewing times and links to broadcasts:

Second-round matches

6:30 P.M.. AT KANSAS: Kansas vs. Penn State 

7 P.M. AT LOUISVILLE: Louisville vs. Western Michigan

7 p.m. AT FLORIDA: Florida vs. Georgia Tech

7 P.M. AT KENTUCKY: Kentucky vs. Baylor

7 P.M. AT PURDUE: Purdue vs. Marquette

8 P.M. AT TEXAS: Texas vs. SMU

8 p.m. AT WISCONSIN: Wisconsin vs. Miami

10 P.M. AT OREGON: Oregon vs. Hawai’i

Frst-round matches

4 P.M. AT PITTSBURGH: America East-champion UMBC vs. Pac-12 at-large USC, followed by MEAC-champion Coppin State vs. ACC-champion Pittsburgh.

4:30 P.M. AT TENNESSEE: Sun Belt-champion Coastal Carolina vs. Conference USA-champion Western Kentucky, followed by Big South-champion vs. SEC at-large Tennessee.

5 P.M. AT CREIGHTON: Big 10 at-large Minnesota vs. Mountain West at-large Utah State, followed by Patriot League-champion Colgate vs. Big East-champion Creighton. 

5:30 P.M. AT NEBRASKA: CAA-champion Delaware vs. SEC at-large Missouri, followed by NEC-champion LIU vs. Big Ten-champion Nebraska.

5:30 P.M. AT ARKANSAS: Big 12 at-large TCU vs. ACC-champion Florida State, followed by WAC at-large Stephen F. Austin vs. SEC at-large Arkansas.

6:30 P.M. AT BYU: SEC at-large Georgia vs. Pac-12 at-large Arizona State, followed by Big Sky-champion Weber State vs. Big 12 at-large BYU.

7 P.M. AT WASHINGTON STATE: West Coast-champion Pepperdine vs. Atlantic 10-champion Dayton, followed by WAC-champion Grand Canyon vs. Pac-12 at-large Washington State.

7:30 P.M. AT STANFORD: Big West at-large UC Santa Barbara vs. Big 12 at-large Houston, followed by Mountain West-champion Fresno State vs. Pac-12-champion Stanford.

Thursday’s recaps

Western Michigan (31-2), which went 18-0 in the MAC, won its 21st match in a row with a 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 pasting of the SEC’s Auburn (20-10).  The Broncos, riding the program’s longest win streak since 1983, are in the second round for the first time since 2008. WMU hit .367 and got 14 kills each from Maggie King and Anna Calgano. King hit .303 and had an assist, an ace and seven digs, and Calgano hit 429 after having two errors in 28 attacks, two blocks and two digs. Andelyn Simkins had 25 digs, four assists and six of her team’s 11 aces against just two serving errors. Logan Case had two kills in four tries, 44 assists and five digs. Auburn’s Madison Scheer had 11 kills and Bella Bell and Kyla Swanson seven each …

Louisville (25-4) of the ACC had to battle back to beat Horizon League-champion Wright State (21-11) after losing the first set, 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-20. Cara Cresse led the Cardinals with 13 kills and hit .500 after having two errors in 22 attacks to go with five blocks, two solo. Charitie Luper had nine kills, three blocks and nine digs. Elle Glock had 35 assists, a block and eight digs, and Elena Scott had 21 digs and five assists. Louisville hit .192, while Wright State hit .084. Sam Ott led with 18 kills, a block and 12 digs. Jenny Wessling had 26 digs, three assists and an ace … 

The Big Ten’s Penn State (22-8) got all it could handle from Ivy League-champion Yale (21-4) before running away in the fourth set of a 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-16 victory. Yale led 7-0 in the third set and the set was tied 22-22 before Penn State won it. Jess Mruzik led Penn State with 19 kills and had one error in 37 attacks to hit .486. She added two assists, an ace, a block and six digs. Five other Nittany Lions had five or more kills, eight by Taylor Trammel, who had one error in 13 attacks, a dig and four blocks, two solo. Mac Podraza had a kill, 42 assists, three aces, a block and 10 digs. Her team hit .373. Yale, which hit .194, got 15 kills from Audrey Leak, 10 from Gigi Barr and nine from Betsy Goodenow … 

Kansas (24-5) of the Big 12 swept The Summit League’s Omaha (15-14) as Reagan Cooper lead a balanced attack with 11 kills in the 25-16, 25-19, 28-26 victory. Copper hit .308 and had a dig and two blocks …Omaha’s Amanda Hardt and McKenna Ruch had eight kills each. Ruch had five blocks, one solo …

The ACC’s Georgia Tech (23-6) battled for two sets before cruising to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 25-12 victory over South Alabama (22-9) of the Sun Belt. The Yellow Jackets, who hit .318, got 15 kills from Tamara Otene, who had an ace, 13 digs and four blocks. Larissa Mendes had 12 kills with one error in 24 attacks and DeAndra Pierce had 11 kills with one error in 15 swings and four blocks. Hannah Maddux finished with 24 of South Alabama’s 45 kills kills with 10 errors in 66 swings to hit .212. That included a fourth-set in which she ran out of gas and had three kills and six errors in 16 attacks …

Florida (19-9) of the SEC made short work of ASUN-champion Florida Gulf Coast (26-7), which hit .060 in the 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 outcome. Florida, which hit .313, got 14 kills from Kennedy Martin, who had two errors in 27 attacks to hit .444 and added an assist, 11 digs and a block. Sofia Victoria had 11 kills, two assists and three blocks. Elli McKissock had 20 digs, two assists and three aces and Kennedy Muff had two kills in three errorless tries, 36 assists, an ace, a block and two digs … 

Baylor (17-12) of the Big 12 hit .422 and rolled to a 25-15, 25-19, 25-29 sweep of James Madison (21-10) of the Sun Belt, the seventh seed in the Kentucky region. Elise McGhee led with 16 kills and hit .519 after having two errors in 27 attacks to go with five of her team’s seven aces, a block and four digs. Manuela Bibinbe had 10 kills with two errors in 15 attacks, two digs and four blocks, and Allie Sczech had nine kills in 17 errorless swings, two blocks and a dig. JMU’s Sophie Davis had nine kills with one error in 21 attacks … 

SEC-champion Kentucky (20-7) won its 17th in a row, a 25-16, 25-15, 25-6 sweep of the SoCon’s Wofford (23-8). The Wildcats, who hit .390, got 13 kills from Brooklyn DeLeye and 12 from Elise Goetzinger. DeLeye hit .55 and had a block and nine digs. Goetzinger had one error in 21 swings to hit. 524 and had three blocks. Azhani Tealer had six kills in seven errorless attacks …

Marquette (21-10) of the Big East overpowered Ohio Valley-champion Eastern Illinois (28-5) 25-19, 25-16, 25-14. The Golden Eagles, who hit .362, got 13 kills from Jenna Reitsma, who hit .423 and had three aces, two blocks and a dig. Aubrey Hamilton had 10 kills with one error in 26 attacks, an assist, ana ce, two blocks and six digs. Yadhira Anchante had 25 assists, two aces, two blocks and 14 digs … 

Purdue (22-8) of the Big Ten blasted MAAC-champion Fairfield (22-7), hitting .478 in the 25-17, 25-13, 25-12. The hitting percentage was a program best in an NCAA match. Eva Hudson had 16 kills with one error in 27 attacks and three digs, and Chloe Chicoine had 15 kills with two errors in 29 swings, two assists, two aces and nine digs … 

American Athletic-champion SMU (26-6) won its 16th in a row, a 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 sweep of the Sun Belt’s Texas State (20-10). Jamison Wheeler led the Mustangs with 17 kills, hitting .483, and had two assists, a block and nine digs. Naya Shime had 14 kills, hit .480, and had two aces and 11 digs … 

Defending national-champion Texas (23-4) of the Big 12 dropped the first set to the SEC’s Texas A&M (16-13) and then won 21-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-20. Madisen Skinner led with 20 kills, an assist, an ace, five blocks and four digs. Asjia O’Neal, who is averaging just 1.86 kills per set, had 14 kills with no errors on 26 attacks, an assist, four digs and whopping 10 blocks, two solo. Emma Halter had 14 digs, four assits and an ace, and Ella Swindle had four kills, 35 assists, five blocks and 10 digs …

Freshman Grace Lopez went off for a career-best 30 kills as Miami (18-11) of the ACC beat Missouri Valley-champion Northern Iowa (26-7), which had won 21 in a row, 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 25-20. Lopez, a freshman outside from Puerto Rico, had four errors in 49 attacks to hit .531 and added three blocks nine digs. Her teammates combined for 27 kills, eight by Flormarie Heredia Colon, who had three aces, three blocks and three digs. Kira Fallert led UNI with 18 kills, hit .342, and had an assist, ana ce, a block and 12 digs …

Wisconsin (27-3) of the Big Ten hit .488 an ddispatched SWAC-champion Jackson State (17-13) as the Badgers had an 11-4 blocks advantage in the 25-18, 25-9, 25-18 victory. Wisconsin had 46 kills and six errors in 82 swing. Sarah Franklin led with 12 kills and had one error in 21 attacks, three blocks and a dig. Temi Thomas-Ailara had 10 kills with two errors in 16 attacks and Anna Smrek had eight kills with one error in 17 swings and six blocks. Carter Book had six kills in 10 errorless attacks ans eight blocks, one solo. JSU hit .064 … 

Big West-champion Hawai’i (24-8) battled to a 16-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 win over seventh-seeded Iowa State (20-10) of the Big 12. Caylen Alexander led the Rainbow Wahine with 18 kills, an assist, an ace, a block and six digs. Amber Igiede had 14 kills with one error in 35 attacks to hit .371 and had an assist, four digs and four blocks. Kennedi Evans had six kills and seven blocks, one solo, and Tali Hakas had six kills with one error in 19 attacks, five blocks and 14 digs.Kate Lang had 45 assists, ana ce, three blocks and 13 digs. Iowa State’s Maya Duckworth had 15 kills, an assist, five of her team’s eight aces, 11 digs and two blocks, one solo. Alexis Engelbrecht had 13 kills, hit .478, and had an assist, six digs and two blocks, one solo … 

Oregon (27-5) of the Pac-12 routed Southeastern Louisiana (28-5), the Southland Conference champion which had won 22 in a row. Oregon hit .385 in the 25-16, 25-13, 25-13 victory as six Ducks had four or more kills. Mimi Colyer led with 11 and hit .435 after having one error in 23 attacks to go with two digs and four blocks, one solo. Southeastern Louisiana hit .000.

NIVC

Tulsa won its first-round match over Kansas City in four as Kayley Cassaday had 23 kills and took over the NCAA lead in kills this season. She has 615, moving ahead of Evansville’s Giula Cardona, who has 593 and is finished for the season. Skylar Fields, who is third with 586, opens NCAA play today when USC faces UMBC.

Ball State hit .421 and beat Middle Tennessee in four as Aniya Kennedy and Kendall Barnes had 17 kills each, Wichita State swept Arkansas State, Clemson swept Eastern Kentucky, Wyoming beat South Dakota in four and Northern Colorado swept Valparaiso.

In second-round action Thursday, Drake swept DePaul.

Here is Friday’s schedule. Go to our VolleyballMag.com TV & Listings page for the complete schedule, viewing times and links to broadcasts:

First-round matches

Buffalo vs. South Florida
Howard vs. St. John’s
Winthrop vs. Georgia Southern
The Citadel vs. East Carolina
Florida Atlantic vs. UT Arlington
North Texas vs. UTEP

Second-round matches

Tulsa vs. Wichita State
Clemson vs. Ball State
Wyoming vs. Northern Colorado
Montana State vs. Sacramento State

Click here for the NIVC website.

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