FratHouseSports

So here are the latest women’s volleyball rankings and after that great recap that we did this weekend none of the changes in the top 25 should come as a surprise to you. Well maybe one change…somehow after losing to Illinois and suffering their second loss of the season Penn State has only dropped two spots to fourth in this weeks poll. One spot ahead of a 12-0 USC squad that has wins over #6 Hawaii and #11 UCLA.

Anyways…Florida who started out the season ranked 18th continues to chomp away at that competition, notched their seventh win over a ranked opponent this weekend, now finds themselves as the new number two in the nation behind 11-0 #1 ranked Stanford Cardinal. While Nebraska moved up one spot to third, right behind the only team to beat them this year (Florida) to round out the top five. The complete top 25 here.

We’re going to be updating this post this weekend with the scores and recaps, rather than trying to post a bunch of stuff on Monday. So make sure to check back if you like girls.

SOCCER SCORES – SUNDAY:
#14 Duke and #8 Maryland tie 1-1 – Technically speaking Maryland is still undefeated at 8-0-1, but thanks to Duke they no longer have a perfect record. It was Duke who struck first with a goal by Callie Simpkins in the 61st minute, but just 15 minutes later with only 15 minutes to play Maryland struck back with an unassisted goal by Ashley Grove.

#20 Illinois shut out against #18 Minnesota 1-0 – Minnesota won this one for their 11th straight non loss with a single goal from Katie Bethke in the 70th minute, her second on the season, to move the Gophers to 9-1-2 on the season. And even though the score was close, the game wasn’t. Minnesota dominated Illinois and didn’t even allow the Illini to take one shot on goal. So big ups to the Minnesota D.

#5 Notre Dame crushes #24 Louisville 5-0 - This is about as bad as a score can get in soccer. Notre Dame scored just 10 minutes into the game and tacked on one more before halftime before cruising to three more goals in the 2nd half. This win extends the Fighting Irish’s DI record unbeaten streak against BIG EAST foes to 69 matches.

VOLLEYBALL SCORES – SUNDAY:
#14 Minnesota falls to #22 Michigan – Damn…up 2-0 on the road versus Michigan and the Golden Gophers tricked off the game to lose the match in five sets (13-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23, 16-14). And I would feel sorry for them had this not been the second week in a row they let the shit happen. Game ball goes to UM outside hitter Alex Hunt who had a career high 28 kills in the epic comeback.

SOCCER SCORES – SATURDAY:
#2 Stanford outlast #3 Portland 2-1 - Stanford scored in the 21st minute (Mariah Nogueira) and again in the 36th minute (Christen Press) to take the lead 2-0 at half and they never looked back from their. Portland would put on on the board late in the 2nd half (80th minute – Danielle Foxhoven), but never really threatened the Cardinal. Stanford will be the new number one team in the nation when the new rankings come out on Tuesday.

VOLLEYBALL SCORES – SATURDAY:
#7 Washington loses #15 Oregon – Both teams came into this game undefeated and now only Oregon remains after beating Washington on their home floor for the first time in 10 over years (25-20, 13-25, 25-20, 30-28). The game ball in this one goes to Alaina Bergsma, who had a season high 21 kills to help move the Ducks to a perfect 14-0.

Friday Scores Below…

College Soccer: Top Four Showdown
It doesn’t get much bigger than this weekend in women’s college soccer. Tonight you’ve got #1 UNC taking on #4 Boston College tonight in the first game of ACC league play. Then we get a breather tomorrow before eight more ranked teams square off this weekend. There is only one top 25 game on Saturday, but boy is it a doosie, #2 Stanford going up against #3 Portland in a battle to see who is the best in the West…

…and competition doesn’t stop on Sunday either. #5 Notre Dame takes on #24 Louisville, #15 UCLA will be putting its 17 game home winning streak up against #10 Santa Clara, while #18 Minnesota does battle with #20 Illinois in a classic Big Ten matchup.

College Volleyball: A Battle of Undefeateds
There were some matches yesterday, but since nobody got upset how’s about we look ahead instead of back. The big matchup of the weekend is #2 Penn State at #9 Illinois, where the Illini will be trying to snap the Nittany Lion’s 65 match Big Ten win streak.

Then on the other side of the country the Pac 10 will be starting up league play, where four teams will be looking to remain undefeated. Headlining the Pac 10 openers is a game tomorrow between #6 USC (11-0) and rival #11 UCLA (9-1). And on Saturday, if both teams win their openers, we could have a matchup between two undefeateds when #7 Washington (11-0) travels to Eugene to take on #15 Oregon (12-0).

Much like the new football polls, the women’s volleyball poll stayed pretty much the same as last week. The only team to fall out of the top ten was 8th Texas who lost to Texas A&M in straight sets (25-22, 25-18, 25-23), marking the first time the Aggies had beat the Longhorns since way back in 2004. Other than that upset all the other top teams rolled.

#1 Stanford breezed by Saint Mary’s and San Fransisco. Penn State coming off their first loss in three years last week, took swept through all three matches against George Washington, Princeton and St. John’s this past weekend. But the most impressive team coming out of the weekend is the Florida Gators…they went on the road and defeated #22 Kentucky and then #18 Tennessee to move to 8-1 on the year with seven of those wins coming over top 25 opponents. The rest of the top 25 here.

The news of the weekend is that Penn State lost ending their 109 match winning streak. And call it deja vu because the team that beat them was Stanford, who just so happen to be the same school who handed the Nittany Lions their last loss way back in 2007.

So it’s no surprise that in this weeks rankings Stanford is number one…after all they not only beat former #1 Penn State, but then #5 Texas too. This week Texas is ranked 8th though after dropping matches to both Stanford and Florida, who has moved up to 3rd in the rankings behind Penn State. Nebraska (4) and Illinois (5) round out the top five. But the story of the top 10 this week is the four Pac 10 teams in the top 10, three of which are still undefeated, who will begin conference play this week.

The Complete Top 25 below…

For the second week in a row the number two team in the nation has fell. And for the umpteenth week in a row Penn State won. By going 3-0 this weekend the Nittany Lions extended their winning streak to 108 games, their home wining streak to 77 and did I mention they still haven’t lost a set this year. That might all change this week because coming up on Friday they’ll face their toughest opponent this year and one of the hottest teams in the nation, fourth ranked Florida.

But back to the upsets of the weekend. #2 Texas fell to #5 Illinois in straight sets at home. While #10 USC beat #4 Hawaii in five sets. And although there were some upsets, much of the top 10 remains the same with most teams flip-flopping positions…in fact their is only one team in the top 10 that wasn’t there last week, Cal.

The complete rankings below…

I seriously don’t know what’s up with all these volleyball chicks that want to be models, but I think it’s one of those things that you’d call a good problem. So here goes some pics of Devon Damelio…another slender, long legged, blonde hottie, who just happens to also be a college volleyball player (I’m starting to think volleyball girls are the hottest athletes).

Hotter pictures of Devon below…