Dec. 2, 2005
Purdue 3, VCU 0:
The No. 14-seed Purdue volleyball team used tough serving and on-the-mark passing en route to a 3-0 victory over Virginia Commonwealth in the NCAA Tournament first round Friday night. The Boilermakers won the match 30-27, 30-24, 30-21, marking their second straight victory in the NCAA first round and giving the team its 24th victory of the season, a feat last accomplished during the 1987 season.
"We are really excited to win our first round match against a good VCU team," head coach Dave Shondell said. "They have some very good athletes and they competed hard in the first two games, then we loosened up and played well in Game 3. We played three freshmen out there tonight and they fared pretty well in their first NCAA Tournament match." Full Story
Minnesota 3, Winthrop 0:
The 17th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (25-7) defeated Winthrop (28-6) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in three games by scores of 30-13, 30-13, 30-24 on Friday, Dec. 2 at the Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville, Tenn. The victory moves Minnesota to 11-0 all-time in first-round NCAA Tournament matches.
"Coming into tonight we knew Winthrop played a unique style offense," said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. "We knew we had to identify their patterns on offense to put up a successful block and we knew we had to serve tough to make it hard for them to get in system. I thought we did both well. On our side of the net, I thought we did a very good passing tonight. I thought our passing was very crisp, and that along with our service game helped us put forward a very smooth performance in tonight's match." Full Story
Wisconsin 3, Loyola Chicago 0:
The 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badger volleyball team defeated Loyola Chicago 30-18, 30-26, 30-14 in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Friday night at the UW Field House. Wisconsin plays 16th-ranked Cal, who defeated Valparaiso 3-0 to advance, in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the UW Field House. Full Story
Ohio State 3, Marshall 0:
The 19th-ranked Ohio State (22-8 overall) women's volleyball team swept Marshall (26-6), 3-0 (30-25, 30-26, 30-22) Friday night to advance to the second round of the NCAA Championship. The Buckeyes will face Ohio (32-2) a 3-1 (28-30, 30-18, 30-22, 30-23) winner over Alabama (23-11) Saturday at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena. OSU's Ami Stevens (So., Centerburg, Ohio) scored a team-high 14.5 points for the Buckeyes with Nicole Britenriker (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) and Danielle Meyer (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) adding 11.5 each. Stevens had a team-high 13 kills (.357), a solo block and an assist block. Britenriker posted nine kills (.615) and five assist blocks while Meyer had nine kills (.300), an ace serve and three assist blocks. For Marshall, Kelly-Anne Billingy recorded a match-high 17 points with 13 kills (.125), two ace serve, a solo block and two assist blocks. Amber Sims added 11 points with 10 kills (.368) and a solo block. Full Story
Penn State 3, Binghamton 0:
Nittany Lions advance to second round Saturday night at 7pm vs. Long Island. The second-ranked Penn State women's volleyball team needed only an hour and 11 minutes to take down Binghamton in three games (30-15, 30-8, 30-10) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Nittany Lions improve to 30-2 while the Bearcats end their season at 20-12. Penn State will take on Long Island in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Rec Hall on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. The Blackbirds downed Cornell in three games (31-29, 30-24, 35-33) in the first match on Friday.
Binghamton's eight points in the second game equals the lowest score Penn State has held an opponent to during the rally scoring era. The Nittany Lions held Northwestern to eight points on Nov. 12, 2004. The win also gives Penn State 30 wins for the year, the Lions' 18th 30-win season under head coach Russ Rose and their first since the 2003 season. Full Story
Northwestern 3, Texas A&M 2:
Northwestern entered the 2005 NCAA Tournament without a win in its previous six appearances. Texas A&M had made the Big Dance in 13 consecutive seasons under 13-year head coach Laurie Corbelli, and had never lost a first-round match.
With history looming dark against Northwestern, the Wildcats did the only thing they could do. They blocked it out. Literally.
Behind one of the best defensive nights at the net in program history, Northwestern overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Aggies, 30-26, 20-30, 28-30, 30-27, 15-12, and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Full Story
