NCAA volleyball: WMU thumps Auburn as No. 7 seeds lose; no major upsets as tourney begins

Western Michigan not only knocked out Auburn, it opened play Thursday by sweeping the Tigers right out of the NCAA Tournament.

There were no other significant upsets among the 16 first-round matches, although Yale took a set off Penn State, Wright State took one off Louisville and Texas A&M did the same at Texas. Three of the four regional No. 7 seeds, including Auburn, lost.

There were no five-setters in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball, either, not in the NCAA nor in the NIVC’s nine matches.

Here’s what’s on tap Friday, a day in which again no matches are being played in the morning or early afternoon. All matches can be seen on ESPN+, which requires a subscription. The Texas-SMU can also be seen on this final year of the Longhorn Network. There are 24 NCAA matches today and there will be quite a bit of overlap. The ESPN 5th Set studio show is an alternative for viewers without multiple devices as it goes from match-to-match as warranted.

Go to our VolleyballMag.com TV & Listings page for the complete schedule, viewing times and links to broadcasts:

Second-round matches

6:30 P.M.. AT KANSAS: Kansas vs. Penn State 

7 P.M. AT LOUISVILLE: Louisville vs. Western Michigan

7 p.m. AT FLORIDA: Florida vs. Georgia Tech

7 P.M. AT KENTUCKY: Kentucky vs. Baylor

7 P.M. AT PURDUE: Purdue vs. Marquette

8 P.M. AT TEXAS: Texas vs. SMU

8 p.m. AT WISCONSIN: Wisconsin vs. Miami

10 P.M. AT OREGON: Oregon vs. Hawai’i

Frst-round matches

4 P.M. AT PITTSBURGH: America East-champion UMBC vs. Pac-12 at-large USC, followed by MEAC-champion Coppin State vs. ACC-champion Pittsburgh.

4:30 P.M. AT TENNESSEE: Sun Belt-champion Coastal Carolina vs. Conference USA-champion Western Kentucky, followed by Big South-champion vs. SEC at-large Tennessee.

5 P.M. AT CREIGHTON: Big 10 at-large Minnesota vs. Mountain West at-large Utah State, followed by Patriot League-champion Colgate vs. Big East-champion Creighton. 

5:30 P.M. AT NEBRASKA:…