The list is down to 10 finalists for the 2013 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence -- community, classroom, character and competition. The list of finalists is as follows:
Jennifer Cross, Michigan; Emily Hartong, Hawaii; Natalie Hagglund, Southern California; Caroline Jarmoc, Kansas; Chloe Mann, Florida; Ashley Potts, Western Kentucky; Ariel Scott, Penn State; Bailey Webster, Texas; Lauren Wicinski, Michigan State; Carly Wopat, Stanford.
Online voting for the Senior CLASS Award is now live, and will go through Dec. 9. Fans can vote once per day at http://www.seniorclassaward.com. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
Hagglund makes history
USC senior libero Natalie Hagglund became the program’s all-time career leader in digs on Wednesday when the fourth-ranked Women of Troy (19-3, 9-2 Pac-12) defeated No. 6 Stanford (15-5, 8-3) in five sets 16-25, 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 15-9 at Maples Pavilion. Several program milestones accompanied Hagglund’s historic evening. It is the first time the USC have defeated the Cardinal on The Farm since 2006 and is only the third time in school history that the Trojans have captured a sweep of the regular-season series against Stanford. The other two were in 2000 and 2003.
Hagglund’s season-high 36 digs brings her career total to 2,095 and moved her into fifth all-time in the Pac-12 record books. She also had a service ace and six assists on the night.
Marquette on the move
Marquette is coming off a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Al McGuire Center in which it did not drop a set, while moving into sole possession of first place in the Big East with a sweep of Creighton. With the win against the Bluejays, Marquette moved up in the RPI ranking to 14th in Division I.
Cal State Northridge earns Top 25 ranking
Thanks to a Big West win against powerhouse Hawaii, Cal State Northridge earned the program’s first Top 25 ranking since 1992. The Matadors are 18-4 overall and 8-1 in Big West play. Cal State Northridge has won seven of its past eight contests and will take on UC Riverside on Sunday .
Featured match of the weekend
One of the bigger matchups this weekend will feature No. 5 Florida at Texas A&M at 2 p.m. ET Sunday. The match will be aired live on ESPNU. The Orange and Blue have never dropped a match to the Aggies and swept Texas A&M earlier this season. The Gators are led by senior Chloe Mann, who leads the NCAA in hitting percentage (.506), while the Gators are also second in the nation with a .334 offensive clip.
Florida will have to watch out for senior setter Allie Sawatzky, one of top setters in the SEC, averaging 10.04 assists per set. A 6-foot-2 lefty, Sawatzky has not missed a start at setter in her Aggie career and was named preseason All-SEC, Texas A&M Invitational MVP and all-tourney at the UTSA Classic and UND Classic.
TV matches
Here’s the lineup for this weekend’s TV games:
• Nov. 1: North Carolina vs. Florida State, 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
• Nov. 1: Penn State vs. Michigan, 8 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)
• Nov. 1: Arizona State vs. Oregon, 9 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
• Nov. 1: USC vs. California, 9 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
• Nov. 1: UCLA vs. Stanford, 11 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
• Nov. 3: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
• Nov. 3: NC State vs. Florida State, 1 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
• Nov. 3: Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN3)
• Nov. 3: Florida vs. Texas A&M, 2 p.m. ET (ESPNU)
• Nov. 3: Georgia vs. Tennessee, 2 p.m. ET (CSS/CST)
• Nov. 3: Mississippi State vs. Auburn, 4 p.m. ET (CSS/CST)
• Nov. 3: Arizona vs. Oregon State, 6 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
• Nov. 3: UCLA vs. California, 6 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
