Skip to main content
Volleyball On SI

Multiple Unbeaten and Ranked Volleyball Teams Fall in Wild Conference Opening Weekend

The first weekend of conference play provided fans plenty of storylines - from unbeaten teams falling to surprising and historic upsets.
Abbie Harris|
Michigan State's head volleyball coach Kristen Kelsay helped lead the Spartans to their first top-15 win in three years on Sunday against Penn State.
Michigan State's head volleyball coach Kristen Kelsay helped lead the Spartans to their first top-15 win in three years on Sunday against Penn State. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After over a month of non-conference games, volleyball fans can settle into the familiar as their teams begin facing off against known entities as they battle for conference supremacy. For some, this means a one and done match that will determine conference seeding. For others, it sets the stage for a fiery rematch later.

Read on for the highlights from opening week across the major conferences.

Undefeated No More

Coming into conference play, there were seven remaining undefeated teams: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Pitt, Vanderbilt (RV), Kansas State (RV), Michigan State (RV), Washington (RV), and Harvard.

After the opening weekend, that list is down to four.

The Vanderbilt Commodores hosted the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats in their conference opener and came in with a program-best 9-0 start. Vanderbilt started strong, perhaps catching Kentucky off guard and won the first set. They couldn't maintain that start and ultimately fell to the nine-time SEC champions 3-1.

In the Big Ten, the Washington Huskies and the Michigan State Spartans faced off in a battle of unbeatens in their conference opener.  The teams fought hard in the first set, with 11 ties and four lead changes until Washington closed it out and handed Michigan State its first first-set loss of the season. They traded the next two sets, with Washington dominating set 2 and Michigan State owning set 3.

Ultimately, the Huskies emerged undefeated and the Spartans lost their first match of the season.

The Kansas State Wildcats opened their conference season with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the UCF Knights before falling 1-3 to the Houston Cougars.

Both teams battled in the first two sets, but Houston capitalized on Kansas State's youth to take a 2-0 lead. The Wildcats fired back in the third, forcing a fourth and, ultimately, final set, where the Cougars were able to hold on to the lead and end Kansas State’s perfect season.

Top 25 Upsets

One of volleyball's most popular commentators, Emily Ehman's favorite thing to say once conference play starts is, “throw the record out the window,” meaning that at any time, teams can rise to their opponents and surprise everyone.

This week, there was no exception with eight upsets in the top 25 alone.

Huff Hall in conference play has been good for the Illinois Fighting Illini so far this year, as they upset both the No. 15 Minnesota Golden Gophers and the No. 23 USC Trojans at home. These wins not only extend their winning streak to six and earn them their first two ranked wins of the season; they are also the first back-to-back ranked victories for Chris Tamas’ squad since 2019.

Minnesota’s weekend didn’t get better. They lost 1-3 to No. 20 Oregon. This is the first time the Gophers have faced back-to-back upsets since losing to unranked Maryland and Rutgers in 2023 and the first time they have lost their first two conference games since 2003.

The West Virginia Mountaineers shocked the Big 12 with a 3-2 victory over the No. 9 Arizona State Sun Devils.

The win is West Virginia’s highest-ranked win in program history, its first top-10 victory since 2020, fourth consecutive conference-opening win, and its first win against Arizona State in the teams’ limited history.

The No. 17 Baylor Bears had a rough conference opening weekend. After losing a heartbreaking five-set thriller to the No. 22 BYU Cougars, they dropped 1-3 to the unranked Utah Utes. The Bears hit a Big 12 record of .393 in their match against the Cougars but could not keep up with BYU’s impressive service runs.

Utah, on the other hand, earned its second ranked win of the season, sweeping No. 21 Colorado before Baylor, and extended its win streak to five.

The Utes’ 10-3 start is the best in program history under a first-year coach, as Alyssa D’Errico was hired after 36-season veteran Beth Launiere retired last December.

Michigan State bounced back from its first loss of the season to Washington to take down No. 14 Penn State. The win is the Spartans' first top-15 win in three years, a 3-2 victory over then-No. 13 Penn State.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
Abbie Harris
ABBIE HARRIS

Abbie Harris has been talking about women's sports to anyone who would listen, and sometimes to those who wouldn't, for as long as she can remember. She has been the host of a weekly Nebraska women's sports podcast for over a year, primarily covering volleyball, women's basketball, and softball. Harris holds three degrees, including a Ph.D. from Saint Louis.

Share on XFollow AbbieSomething
Home/College