Who is ready for yet another week of incredible volleyball matchups? Last week, Wisconsin took down then-No. 5 Purdue and re-entered my Power 10 rankings, Ohio State downed Penn State in a five-set thriller — and much more happened. This week, I am featuring two Big Ten battles and a Big 12 rivalry with the No. 1 team in the nation.
Here are my top 3 college volleyball matchups to watch this week:
No. 6 Ohio State at No. 10 Minnesota | 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 12 on BTN
You won’t have to wait long for our first big matchup of the week, and this one is our only top-10 battle on the list. Ohio State and Minnesota face off Wednesday, and I expect it to be a good. The Buckeyes are coming off of a huge five-set win over Penn State. This was a match that looked like it was going to be an easy sweep. OSU was up 17-11 in the third set before PSU sparked a HUGE comeback to win the third and fourth. The Buckeyes came out victorious in five, but they did let Penn State come firing back and could have lost the match. Some great signs from the match, though — Gabby Gonzales and Jenaisya Moore were fantastic, and very efficient, Mac Podraza ran an outstanding offense, and they served a really tough match. OSU isn’t typically known for being a tough serving team — but they came out and got Penn State off the net with ease. They will need to continue all of this and more against Minnesota.
The Gophers are really strong at the pins with Taylor Landfair and now McKenna Wucherer, but they are not bulletproof. They got some big time wins early in the season, then they had a few uncharacteristic losses. The Buckeyes and Gophers have similar records and wins, yes, but the Gophers have worse losses. These are two pretty similar teams, though, and I am so excited to see them head-to-head.
THE BEST: The top players at every position, right now
No. 14 Penn State at No. 3 Nebraska | 8:30 p.m. ET Friday, Oct. 14 on BTN
I am ready to see Nebraska in another tough battle. The last full-out battle of a match was against Ohio State on Sept. 24 and the Huskers came out on top. Since then, Michigan was the only ranked team they have faced (No. 24), and they pulled off a sweep. The Huskers have been sitting in the top three all season long, but they have the thick of the Big Ten coming up — and it starts with Penn State. The Nittany Lions did drop in the rankings to No. 14, but this…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NCAA RSS…