(Photo: Ryan Bafaloukos/WCSN)
No. 1: Stanford (last week: No. 1), 10-0
Nothing new here. The Cardinal continued to dominate their opponents, including a strong four-set victory at then-No. 19 San Diego last weekend. Stanford has been nothing but dominant in their non-conference schedule with wins over then-No. 1 Penn State and then-No. 9 Illinois. Efficiency has been the Cardinal’s game, and they are led in that regard by junior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku who is hitting at an unearthly .510 percent with a team-high 120 kills. They kick off their conference play tomorrow against California.
No. 4: Washington (last week: No. 5), 11-0
In the biggest matchup of the weekend, the Huskies downed then-No. 4 Wisconsin in a five-set slugfest in which Washington found themselves a set down on two occasions. The Huskies’ defensive presence above the net made the difference as they amassed 22 blocks for the match compared to just 7.5 blocks for the Badgers. Once again, Washington was lead by senior outside hitter Krista Vansant and her 17 kills, eleven digs and six blocks. They were also paced by junior libero Cassie Strickland’s 20 digs. Washington will look to stay perfect as they square off against in-state rivals Washington State on Wednesday.
No. 9: Southern California (last week: 10), 7-3
USC steadied the ship after losing in four sets to Wisconsin by sweeping Maryland to close out their non-conference schedule. The match provided junior outside hitter Samantha Bricio with more than just another win. Her six aces put her ahead of April Ross on USC’s all-time service aces list and just six aces away from topping the 170 aces mark Nancy Hillman set in 1988. One could safely assume Bricio will break the Trojan record tomorrow against rival UCLA.
No. 13: Oregon (last week: 14), 9-0
Oregon continues to climb the national rankings as they moved up the AVCA poll for the third consecutive week. Per their status quo, senior outside hitter Liz Brenner leads the way on offense with her intelligent play and has a team-high 105 kills. After a weekend without play, the Ducks will enter the conference season following their match against Seattle tomorrow night.
No. 18: Arizona (last week: 20), 11-1
The Wildcats took care of business against Tulane and UMBC this weekend, sweeping both teams in Tucson. Moving up for the third consecutive week, the No. 18 ranking is the highest Arizona has been ranked since November 2011. They will host Arizona State in their conference opener and will likely look to senior outside hitter Madi Kingdon to carry the workload as she has all season. Kingdon has over 300 more attack attempts than any other Wildcat and over 100 more kills than any of her teammates as well.
No. 19: Arizona State (last week: 18), 10-2
Forced to find a new offensive identity with the absence of junior middle blocker Whitney Follette, the Sun Devils dropped a five-set match to then-No. 8 Colorado State before sweeping North Carolina Central and Pepperdine in a Saturday doubleheader. Despite missing their most efficient offensive starter in Follette, sophomore outside hitter Kizzy Willey stepped up over the weekend, most notably against CSU as she posted a career-high 13 kills in their loss. ASU will need other players to continue to pick up the slack as they travel to Tucson to play Arizona in their conference opener. The Sun Devils have dropped in the AVCA polls for two straight weeks following their No. 15 ranking in week two.
No. 20: UCLA (last week: 22), 9-2
The Bruins swept their three matches in Fullerton, Calif., advancing past Georgetown, Yale and Cal State Fullerton. UCLA may be the most impressive team throughout their non-conference schedule with an upset-victory over then-No. 9 Illinois and then-No. 22 Hawaii, both on the road. Senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe has paced the Bruins’ offense, averaging 6.16 kills per set, which leads the country. Her setter, senior Julie Cosani had herself a non-conference season to write home about as well as she averaged 12.18 assists per set, strong enough to rank second in the country in that category. UCLA will play USC to open their Pac-12 schedule tomorrow night.
Unranked:
California (8-2)
Colorado (8-4)
Oregon State (10-1)
Utah (10-1)
Washington State (9-3)
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
