Athletes Unlimited, which begins its fourth season on Thursday, conducted the first draft of 2024 on Monday.
The AVCA has a new top 25, and in NCAA Division I, there were six matches Monday and 14 more Tuesday, just one involving a ranked team.
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The fourth season begins Thursday in Mesa, Arizona. The four captains — Morgan Hentz, Brooke Nuneville, Natalia Valentin-Anderson and Bethania De La Cruz — drafted their teams Monday.Â
Click here for the season schedule that begins Thursday. Both matches — Hentz vs. Valentin-Anderson at 8 p.m. Eastern, followed by Nuneviller vs. De La Cruz — can be seen on Bally Sports regional networks.
AVCA top 25
The AVCA Division I Women’s Volleyball Poll, like the VolleyballMag Super 16 Media Poll, continued to have Pittsburgh and Nebraska as 1-2.Â
Penn State and Louisville moved up a spot each, to 3-4, while Stanford dropped to No. 5 after getting swept by Louisville.Â
The rest of the top 10 showed Creighton, Texas, Kansas, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Auburn is in at No. 24 and Washington (12-0), one of the four unbeatens — along with South Dakota State (13-0), Pitt (12-0) and San Jose State (9-0) — is at No. 25.
Click here for the complete AVCA top 25.Â
NCAA volleyball Tuesday
There are 14 matches on the schedule, including No. Creighton (11-2) home for Marquette (6-5) in a Big East rivalry that has provided plenty of fierce competition over the years. Both teams are off to 2-0 Big East starts. That match can be seen on FS1.
It is, however, one of only two matches that pits two teams with winning records. The other is in the Ohio Valley when Lindenwood (8-6, 2-0) goes to Western Illinois (8-5, 2-0). In the MAC, Central Michigan (11-3, 2-0) plays at Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-0), which is .500.
NCAA volleyball Monday
Four of the outcomes were in the SWAC, where Alabama State won in five at Grambling. Jyriah Morgan led the Hornets with 17 kills, three digs, an ace and three blocks, one solo. Christyn Ashby had 14 kills, hit .400, and had a block. Grambling’s Essence Allen had 20 kills, eight digs and five blocks. Texas Southern beat visiting Southern in four despite hitting .031 (SU hit .023). Alabama A&M swept at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View swept visiting Alcorn.
Howard swept at South Carolina State in the MEAC as Rya McKinnon had 17 kills, hit .355, and added an assist, an ace, eight digs and a block.
And Utah Valley improved to 10-4, 1-1 in the WAC, with a four-set win at Seattle U (2-10, 0-2). Sami Blackett had 19 kills, an assist, two aces, two blocks and six digs for the Wolverines. Seattle’s Arianna Bilby had 21 kills and 13 digs.
Ehman, Feinswog NCAA Zoom
And, in case you missed it Monday:
