Every day at VolleyMob we will preview several of the most notable and interesting matches in NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball. We will offer an inside look at some of those top matchups each day as we carry along through the 2017 season.
As week four began on Tuesday after an off day on Monday, we continue the action with a few intriguing storylines on Wednesday, September 13. It’s getting down to crunch time to score those last non-conference victories – either for resume boosters or to inflate your win total – before conference play commences.
*Note: VolleyMob’s Top 25 is utilized for a team’s ranking
*The entire week’s schedule can be seen here.
THE BIG MATCH:
#6 Texas (6-2) at Texas A&M (3-3) – 8 pm ET (SEC Network/Live Stats)
Texas A&M welcomes in-state rival Texas to College Station for another edition of the Lone Star Showdown, one that Texas won last season in straight sets.
After starting the season as the top team in the preseason poll, Texas has fallen twice – once on the road to the current number one team in the country in Florida and another time last week at home to the top team in the AVCA Coaches Poll in Minnesota. Texas still has all their goals in front of them and have a dominant offense, one that Lexi Sun is making more dynamic as she has won the Big 12 Freshman of the Week two straight times.
Don’t let the Aggies record fool you, they’ve played a loaded schedule thus far that has featured three top-10 opponents (and now four). In fact, based on the current VolleyMob Top 25, all three of Texas A&M’s losses have come to top-five competition in Penn State, Stanford and Wisconsin. They even came a set away from upsetting the Nittany Lions and beyond being familiar with the Longhorns, won’t be afraid of the hype brought in with that number six ranking.
OTHER NOTABLE MATCHES:
LSU (8-1) at #24 Baylor (6-3) – 8 pm ET (Fox Southwest Plus/Audio/Game Tracker)
LSU is off to a hot start, but just faltered to North Carolina last week for their first loss of the season. They can more than make up for the loss as they have an opportunity for a ranked win on the road against a Bears squad that earned a top-15 win last week against BYU.
Loyola Marymount (5-3) at #12 UCLA (5-2) – 7:30 pm ET (Pac-12 Networks/Audio/Live Stats)
The most intriguing story line from this match is UCLA’s Sarah Sponcil, a former three-year star at Loyola Marymount. Beyond the battle that will go on between these west coast opponents, Sponcil will look to lead the UCLA offense as she has transitioned to a setter with the Bruins and is posting over 11 assists per set.
BEST OF THE REST:
Georgia (8-2) at Kennesaw State (5-1) – 5 pm ET (SEC Network+/Live Stats)
Portland State (6-3) at Portland (7-2) – 10 pm ET (WCC TV/Live Stats)
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