International Volleyball

Volleyball Today: ASU thumps Kansas; Skinner, Texas snap skid; USA pairs slump in Brazil sand

Volleyball Today: ASU thumps Kansas; Skinner, Texas snap skid; USA pairs slump in Brazil sand

Mississippi State’s Kailin Newsome hits against the Texas block of Ayden Ames and Averi Carlson/Hallie Walker, Mississippi State Athletics photo

Arizona State served notice to the Big 12 — and the rest of the NCAA — that Forks Up is for real.

The Sun Devils, No. 9 in the VolleyballMag Super 16 Media Poll, are now tied for first in the Big 12 after knocking off visiting No. 6 Kansas 26-24, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25 to force atop the standings. ASU is 23-2, 11-1 in the conference, while Kansas is 20-2, 11-1. 

Madisen Skinner went off for 25 kills and No. 13 Texas snapped out of its three-match losing streak with a four-set SEC victory at Mississippi State. Two other ranked teams won in the Big 12, No. 17 Baylor and No. 23 Utah.

None of the 13 matches on the Wednesday slate went five sets.

There’s a pro beach tournament in Brazil and Wednesday’s qualifier was awfully tough for Americans. Just one USA pair is left in the entire field after a brutal performance in the qualifier.

It’s all in this edition of Volleyball Today:

NCAA volleyball Thursday

The No. 2 team in the VolleyballMag Super 16 Media Poll, Nebraska — 22-1, 12-0 in the Big Ten and riding a 19-match winning streak — makes its first West Coast trip in the new B1G. The Huskers play at No. 12 Oregon (17-4, 9-3) at 10 p.m. Eastern and it’s on the Big Ten Network.

Also in the B1G, No. 13 Minnesota (16-6, 9-3) goes to Washington (17-5, 7-5), where Keegan Cook was head coach from 2015-22, UCLA (10-11, 4-8) is home for Rutgers (5-18, 0-12) and Michigan (16-7, 6-6) goes to Maryland (10-13, 1-11).

There are two Big 12 matches when No. 18 TCU is home for UCF and West Virginia goes to Cincinnati.

The last unbeaten team, South Dakota State (22-0, 11-0 Summit) is home for St. Thomas. Also in The Summit League, South Dakota is at North Dakota State, Kansas City is at Denver and North Dakota is at Oral Roberts.

Southland-leading Southeastern Louisiana — 20-4, 12-0 and on a 20-match winning streak — is home for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Stephen F. Austin, two games back, is home for McNeese, Nicholls is at Lamar, Texas A&M-Commerce is at Houston Christian, UIW is at Northwestern State and UTRGV is at New Orleans.

There’s a showdown at the top of the West Coast Conference, where Loyola Marymount is 18-4, 10-1 and on a seven-match winning streak. The Lions make the short drive to second-place Pepperdine (12-8, 9-1). LMU won their match in five on October 12. Also in…

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