Giant slaying defined a thrilling opening weekend of college volleyball, as Long Beach State stunned top-ranked Texas and four top-10 teams suffered early setbacks. Let’s turn to NCAA Digital’s Michella Chester for her take on the chaos unfolding atop women’s college volleyball.
What a crazy opening week of volleyball! 🏐@BadgerVB takes the No. 1 spot in @michellachester‘s Power 10 after the first week of volleyball 🙌#NCAAWVB pic.twitter.com/cwJooZQlRI
— NCAA Women’s Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) August 28, 2023
1. Wisconsin
The Badgers jumped all over their opportunity to claim the top spot after Texas’ sea-side slip up, breezing through the Big 10-Big 12 Challenge with 3-1 and 3-0 victories over Baylor and TCU respectively.
Sarah Franklin made a spectacular return from a career-threatening bout with blood clots in UW’s season-opener against the Bears. The junior outside hitter led the Badgers with seven first-set kills as the Badgers blitzed Baylor with a .424 kill percentage in the first set en route to a comfortable victory. Wisconsin would do one better the following day with a clean-sweep over the Horned Frogs, as Julia Orzol turned in a complete shift with eight kills and 11 digs while middle-blocker Devyn Robinson spearheaded the offense with a game-high 15 kills.
Wisconsin’s elite depth was on full display in its dominance over quality competition over the weekend, also earning the Badgers the top spot in Monday’s AVCA rankings.
2. Stanford
Another one for the W column‼️#GoStanford x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/9NaVuNZII4
— Stanford Women’s Volleyball (@StanfordWVB) August 27, 2023
Stanford faced early adversity against a pair of promising Centennial State foes, ultimately earning a pair of comfortable victories to inch up one spot in Chester’s rankings. The Cardinal’s two-day road trip opened starkly in Greeley, as a packed gym helped push Big Sky preseason favorites Northern Colorado out to an 8-4 lead. Stanford ultimately rallied for a narrow 25-22 victory in set one, and after a comfortable second-set win the Cardinal needed some extra volleyball to overcome Northern Colorado 32-30.
About 30 miles northwest, Stanford would take on Mountain West contenders Colorado State, who would actually take the third set 25-20 before the Cardinal surged back with a dominant fourth set to head back to…
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