Arizona 3, No. 1 Southern California 0 Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. -- For the first time in 20 years, Arizona (15-5, 5-3 Pac-12) knocked off the No. 1 team in the country. The Wildcats played their most compete match of the season as they pulled the upset of top-ranked USC (17-2, 7-1 Pac-12) in sweeping fashion, 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-21), on Sunday inside McKale Center.
Arizona last defeated a No. 1 team on Nov. 3, 1993 when it knocked off then unbeaten UCLA inside McKale Center. The Wildcats swept UCLA and USC in back to back for the first time since 2001, the same year Arizona advanced to the national semifinals. The sweep of USC was also the first time the Wildcats have ever swept a No. 1 team.
The Wildcats turned in their best offensive effort in conference play as they hit .324 for the match, their highest percentage in Pac-12 play and their highest since hitting .352 in a sweep of Loyola Maryland back on Sept. 20.
Freshman setter Penina Snuka was spectacular as she dished out 43 assists to go with 10 digs and two kills for her league-leading 10th double-double of the season. The 43 assists equal the most by any player in the Pac-12 this season in a three-set match.
Madi Kingdon had a productive and efficient afternoon as she recorded a match-high 20 kills on .340 hitting to go with six digs and a service ace. Olivia Magill added 11 kills on .370 hitting and tied teammate Taylor Arizobal for match-high honors with three blocks. Arizobal also added seven kills with no errors on .389 hitting. Halli Amaro was also efficient on the night as she recorded seven kills on .400 hitting.
Arizona also played spectacular defense on the afternoon as Jane Croson finished with a match-high 17 digs to go along with nine kills. Candace Nicholson had 12 digs and Ronni Lewis was the fourth member of the Wildcats with 10 or more digs as contributed 11 digs.
No. 18 Missouri 3, No. 2 Florida 1 Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri earned its first win against a top-five opponent as it upended second-ranked Florida, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-18) on Sunday afternoon in front of a season-high 4,202 fans at the Hearnes Center. The win improves the Tigers to 23-0 and 7-0 in SEC play as they are alone atop the SEC standings place as the league's only unbeaten team in conference play.
Mizzou joins Colorado State as the only teams in the nation to not lose a match this season. The Tigers handed the Gators their second loss of the season and first SEC loss while snapping a 13-match SEC winning streak by the Gators.
In the first top-25 matchup at the Hearnes Center since 2006 and with the nation's top two offenses on display, Mizzou got the best of the Gators. Coming into the match, Mizzou and Florida ranked Nos. 1 and 2 nationally in hitting and Mizzou finished the match hitting .303 while limiting Florida to .237 hitting, its second-lowest of the season. The Tigers are just the fourth team to hit .300 against the Gators this season, joining just Penn State, Stanford and Western Michigan. Senior setter Molly Kreklow was tremendous in the win, spreading 45 assists and setting up open hitters throughout the match. Seven different Tigers finished with kills in the match and five players finished with double-digit point totals.
Junior outside hitter Emily Wilson proved to be an X-factor for the Tiger offense as she led the team with 14 kills on .351 hitting to lead the offensive charge. Freshman Carly Kan was also strong all over the floor on Sunday despite playing against a much bigger Florida front line. But as she has done all season, Kan, a freshman, rose to the occasion and tallied 13 kills on .379 hitting with 12 digs, good for her third double-double of the season and third in four matches. Florida slowed two-time all-American Lisa Henning for the first three sets, but she turned it around in the fourth and tallied seven kills on .500 hitting in the final frame. In fact, Henning and Mizzou hit .471 with 17 kills and one error in the decisive frame. Henning finished the match with 12 kills.
No. 4 Penn State 3, Northwestern 0 Box Score
EVANSTON, ILL. -- Head coach Russ Rose moved into sole possession of second place on the NCAA Division I wins list with victory number 1,107 as No. 4 Penn State (16-2, 7-1) swept Northwestern (12-8, 4-4) in straight sets (25-17, 25-15, 25-17) on Sunday afternoon at the Welsh Ryan Arena.
The Nittany Lion triumph extends the current PSU winning streak to seven consecutive matches and puts Rose 12 victories shy of matching current Hawaii head coach Dave Shoji for first on the all-time list with 1,119 career wins.
Junior Nia Grant matched a career-high mark with a team-high 11 kills on .769 hitting, adding one ace and one block. Sophomore Megan Courtney followed closely behind with 11 kills, while also recording seven digs. Senior Katie Slay led the squad in blocking with eight blocks, adding four kills, while redshirt freshman Paulina Prieto Cerame recorded a career-high mark with two aces.
Junior Micha Hancock paced the team to a .385 overall hitting clip, including a .565 performance in the opening frame. Hancock dished out 36 assists, adding four kills, two aces and a season-high five blocks.
No. 15 Wisconsin 3, No. 5 Michigan State 1 Box Score
MADISON, Wis.-- After a disheartening loss to No. 16 Michigan on Friday, Wisconsin bounced back to beat No. 5 Michigan State 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 in front of 4,327 fans at the Field House on Sunday afternoon. This marks the team's first win against a top-five opponent since 2006. The Badgers improve to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten Conference for sole possession of fifth place.
"That's a really talented team that we beat [Sunday]," UW head coach Kelly Sheffield said. "The only way our team is going to be able to win is ... with really good serves and really good ball control, knowing our assignments and being very tough and hard-nosed defensively. I think we were great in all of those areas. That's why we were able to come up with the win."
Wisconsin won the match with its back-court defense, outdigging the Spartans 63-61, behind a match-high 27 digs from senior Annemarie Hickey. Junior Deme Morales added 14 digs for UW.
The Badgers also won with their serve. Despite getting aced a season-high six times, UW aced the Spartans four times and forced them out of their offense numerous times with tough serves. Service errors were also key as Michigan State (17-3, 6-2) recorded 13 errors, compared to nine for the Badgers.
No. 6 Washington 3, No. 7 Stanford 2 Box Score
SEATTLE -- A back and forth roller coaster befitting two of the top-10 teams in the country went No. 6 Washington’s way as the Huskies (15-1, 7-1 Pac-12) overcame No. 7 Stanford in five sets. A season-high crowd of 4,914 fans witnessed the Dawgs overcome a rough first set and rally for a 14-25, 25-21, 25-11, 22-25, 15-12 win that moves the Huskies into a tie for first in the Pac-12.
Junior All-American Krista Vansant had the first 20-20 match of her career, as she had a match-high 23 kills to go with a career-best 20 digs, adding two aces. Another double-double came from sophomore Cassie Strickland, who had her season-best in kills with 12 and had 13 digs. A third double-double was posted by senior Jenni Nogueras, who had 27 assists and 10 digs. Fellow setter Katy Beals had 24 assists, two aces and eight digs, and senior libero Jenna Orlandini had 16 digs plus three aces.
For the third year in a row, the Huskies and Cardinal went the distance in Seattle, with the Huskies winning Sunday and in 2011, and Stanford winning 3-2 last year. A loss from USC has UW tied atop the conference standings at 7-1 with Stanford right behind at 6-2.
Stanford (13-4, 6-2 Pac-12) outhit the Huskies, .287 to .210, but the Huskies had more kills, 63-61, and a big edge at the service line where UW hit 10 aces while Stanford managed only one. Brittany Howard had 14 kills to lead a balanced Stanford attack, but UW held the Pac-12’s leading hitter, Carly Wopat, to just .133 on offense after she came in hitting .498 for the year.
This was the first top-10 win of the season for the Huskies against their first top-10 opponent. It’s also the first win this season for the Huskies after losing the first set, something they’d only done once before. It’s the second five-setter on the season, as UW also won 3-2 over Gonzaga back in the first week of the season.
