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NCAA Volleyball Sees Five Upsets in One Day of College Action

After a wild Wednesday, NCAA volleyball remained relatively quiet until five teams upset their opponents on Sunday, October 11.
Abbie Harris|
Southern California's Adonia Faumuina (1) attacks ball versus Michigan State at Galen Center.
Southern California's Adonia Faumuina (1) attacks ball versus Michigan State at Galen Center. | USC Athletics

Following a wild Wednesday that saw the No. 5 SMU Mustangs upset the No. 2 Pitt Panthers 3-1 on their home court, snapping their 58-match home winning streak and the Oklahoma Sooners upset the reigning national champions No. 19 Texas A&M Aggies 3-2, volleyball fans wondered when and where the next wild win would hit.

For the next three days, however, the favored team won and often won in dominant fashion. A few teams dropped a set here or there but all in all, volleyball played out the way many expected it to.

Until Sunday, Oct. 11 rolled around. Of the sixteen matchups featuring ranked teams, 11 of the favored teams won their matches, including six sweeps. But the five other ranked matches that day proved that on any given day, no team is safe.

Read on for highlights from some of the biggest upsets and wildest matches from across the country

No. 24 Vanderbilt Wrangled No. 7 Florida in Four Sets

This may only be the Vanderbilt Commordore's second official season as an NCAA team in 45 years but they're already proving to be a national powerhouse as they earned their second ranked win of the season and their first top-five win as they beat the Florida Gators 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-16).

The win snapped Florida's 11-game winning streak.

Vanderbilt was able to jump out to an early lead in set one with an efficient .267 offense and a strong defense. Florida responded quickly in the second, improving their block and forcing errors. Early in the third, the Gators held a lead but the Commodores fought back and the teams traded points until Nashville native middle blocker Kayla Dunlap and setter Avery Scoggins called the final two points.

Vanderbilt carried that momentum into the fourth, pulling out to an 18-8 lead. The Commodores clinched the match on their 6th service ace (initially called out but overturned upon review) and, as a result, entered the NCAA top 25 for the first time in program history.

The teams were led by Samantha Wunsch (Vanderbilt), who had 15 kills on 37 swings and 16 points. Setter Avery Scoggins had 44 assists and led Vanderbilt to a .252 hitting percentage. For Florida, setter Taylor Parks had 11 kills and 30 assists. Both teams' liberos, Lilly Hayes (Florida) and Hailee Mack (Vanderbilt), earned 16 digs.

Both teams move to a 13-2 record.

Oklahoma Upsets Second SEC Foe, Sweeping No. 12 Texas 3-0

Days after beating the reigning National Champions, No. 19 Texas A&M, the Oklahoma Sooners swept the Texas Longhorns, earning their second straight ranked win. This match was the first time Oklahoma has beaten ranked teams back-to-back since 2009, their first sweep of a ranked opponent since 2014, and their first home win over Texas since 2011.

Oklahoma took the lead early in the first and fought off Texas' late-set comeback, but the Sooners held on and took advantage of some Longhorn errors to take the first 25-23. Oklahoma maintained their control during the second set, pulling away for an early 11-9 lead, expanding to 21-15 and ultimately winning 25-18 and holding Texas to a match-low .062. In the third set, the Sooners once again got an early lead, but the Longhorns chipped away and forced the game into extra points. Back-to-back errors sealed the upset for the Sooners in front of their home crowd.

Oklahoma's POS Alyssa Flack led the match with 19 kills at a .395 clip, earning 20 points. Texas' senior outside Torrey Stafford continued to lead her team with 17 kills, a .359 hitting percentage, and 17.5 points. Oklahoma setter Avaya Warren guided her team to a .318 hitting percentage off of 43 assists.

Texas is now 8-6 and Oklahoma is 10-4.

No. 19 Texas A&M Faced Second Surprising Loss of the Weekend vs Arkansas

More history was made in the SEC this weekend when the Arkansas Razorbacks earned their first ranked win since 2023 as they upset the Texas A&M Aggies 3-1. It was a rough weekend for the Aggies, who came into the match following a heartbreaking 2-3 loss to Oklahoma a few days prior.

This is the first time since 2023 that Texas A&M has lost back-to-back games against unranked teams.

Arkansas jumped out to an early 12-8 lead in the first and maintained that hold to win 25-20. The second set started a little closer, but the Razorbacks were the first to reach 10 and never looked back, dominating the Aggies to a 25-17 win, forcing a must-win set for Texas A&M. Opposite Kyndal Stowers and the Aggies refused to be swept, however, and chipped away in the third, eventually took the lead late and held on to win 25-20.

Texas A&M carried that set 3 momentum early into set 4, but Arkansas continued to push their offense and take advantage of errors to win the set (25-22) and the match.

Stowers led the match with her 20 kills at a .351 clip for 23 points and Texas A&M's libero Gabi Rodriguez had 21 digs. Arkansas' setter Maggie McCarroll had 34 assists while guiding her team to a .203 efficiency. The Razorbacks' defense, led by middle blocker Aleki Alexander and outside hitter Laci Bohannan's 8 and 6 blocks, respectively, and libero Gaby Cornier's 13 digs, held the Aggies to a .114 efficiency.

Texas A&M is now 10-7 overall and Arkansas is 9-7.

USC (RV), Under Interim Coach, Got the Best of No. 18 Indiana

The USC Trojans snapped a four-match losing streak Sunday with their upset over the No. 18 Indiana Hoosiers. Their stunning sweep was also the first win for interim head coach Megan Moenoa, who took over after Brad Keller took an indefinite personal leave on Oct. 5.

The Hoosiers' loss marks their first back-to-back home losses in nearly two years.

Early on, the teams were evenly paced, with 14 ties and 11 lead changes, including a final lead change once Indiana hit set point at 24-22. But USC's outside hitter Adonia Faumuina was (at least partially) responsible for 3 of the final 4 points of the set to win 26-24.

The Hoosiers started the second set strong, but the Spartans responded and held on to win 25-19.

The third set was similar. Indiana got an early start, but USC rallied back for a six-point swing. The teams had 10 ties, and the Hoosiers fought off three match points, but it just wasn't enough to prevent the sweep, 25-22.

USC's outside hitter Abigail Mullen and Indiana's outside hitter Jaidyn Jager both had 11 kills on 27 and 33 swings, respectively. Both teams' setters had 31 assists though USC's Milly McGee ran a slightly more efficient offense at .277 compared to Indiana's .206.

Indiana is now 10-5 and USC has pulled back to .500 at 8-8.

No. 8 Arizona State Shuts Down No. 10 TCU

Yes, I promise the Arizona State Sun Devils beating the TCU Horned Frogs was an upset. It was perhaps the least shocking result of the weekend, but at the time of the game, TCU was No. 8 and ASU was 11. The most surprising thing about the match was that TCU was swept and that they were held to under 20 points in each set. The win snapped the Horned Frogs' 12-match win streak, which was the second-longest streak in the nation.

Arizona State put on an absolute volleyball clinic from start to finish.

Starting strong in the first set, the Sun Devil's service pressure and net defense stifled a traditionally potent offense, 25-16. TCU made adjustments behind the service line in the second, but they were once again unable to get their offense flowing or slow down Arizona State, 25-17.

The third set was all Sun Devils, as they hit a match-high .379 and held TCU to a match-low .000 as they completely dominated their way to a 25-10 win to remain undefeated at home in the Big 12.

The match was led by TCU's middle blocker Evan Hendrix's 12 kills on 44 swings and 12 points, but Arizona State had multiple players hit .360 or higher, including opposite Noemie Glover, outside hitter Aniya Clinton, middle blocker Ella Lomigora and setters Isabella Costantini and Ella Mottola. The Sun Devils out-blocked the Horned Frogs 12-2, led by middle blocker Zoey Burgess, Mottola, Clinton, Lomigora and outside hitter Una Vajagic.

Arizona State is now 11-3 and TCU is 13-2.

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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.

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