FRESNO, Calif. -- Head coach Tom Hilbert stressed all week that he thought Saturday would be the toughest road test of the conference season. The No. 10 Rams were up for the challenge, sweeping Fresno State (25-13, 25-16, 25-21) at the Save Mart Center.
With the victory, Colorado State (27-0, 18-0 MW) - after clinching its fifth consecutive Mountain West championship last weekend - finished the regular season undefeated on the road for the first time in program history, extending its true road winning streak to 17 matches.
"We played with maturity," Hilbert said. "We're playing clean, we're playing aggressively when we need to and we're doing the right things. We played exceptionally well today."
CSU hit at a .384 clip, with just seven attack errors on 99 swings. Junior Marlee Reynolds had a team-best 13 kills, while Kelsey Snider, also a junior, had 12 on .611 hitting.
No. 1 Texas 3, Kansas State 0
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas clinched the Big 12 Conference title outright with a sweep of the Kansas State Wildcats (25-20, 25-19, 25-15) on Saturday afternoon at Gregory Gym in front of a packed house of 4,284 fans. Junior Khat Bell registered a match-high 13 kills as Texas (21-2, 14-0 Big 12) extended its winning streak to 17. This is Texas' third consecutive Big 12 title and sixth in the last seven seasons.
Senior setter Hannah Allison posted a match-high 40 assists to set up the Longhorn attack. The All-American duo of Haley Eckerman and Bailey Webster notched 10 and 12 kills, respectively, as Texas outhit Kansas State .379 to .180.
Kansas State's Chelsea Keating and Kaitlynn Pelger led the way for the Wildcats with eight kills apiece.
No. 2 Penn State 3, Northwestern 1
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Double-digit kill performances by four Nittany Lions led No. 2 Penn State (25-2, 16-1) to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 31-33, 25-20) victory against Northwestern (16-13, 8-9) on Friday evening at Rec Hall. The win extends the current PSU winning streak to 16 consecutive matches.
Sophomore Megan Courtney led the offense with a career-high 21 kills, adding 17 digs for her fifth double-double of the season. Senior Deja McClendon posted her seventh double-double of the season, registering 16 kills and 11 digs. Senior Ariel Scott and junior Nia Grant each added 11 kills in the triumph, led by Grant's match-high .529 hitting percentage.
Recording two aces, junior Micha Hancock set a new program record as she tallied two aces to bring her career total to 237, which moves her in front of Ellen Hensler (1982-86) into sole possession of first place on the all-time list.
Junior Dominique Gonzalez anchored the defense with a season-high 24 digs, while senior Katie Slay led the blocking with five blocks.
No. 6 Nebraska 3, Indiana 0
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Nebraska (22-5, 15-3) made quick work of the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday night, sweeping IU 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-11).
Kelsey Robinson led Nebraska offensively with 15 kills on 29 swings for a hitting clip of .448. Kadie Rolfzen notched seven kills, while Amber Rolfzen and Melanie Keil both had five kills. Mary Pollmiller handed out 31 assists on the night, Meghan Haggerty posted seven blocks and Justine Wong-Orantes posted a match-high 12 digs.
Nebraska hit a season-high .418 for the match, while Indiana was held to a .111 hitting clip. The Huskers only recorded six hitting errors in the match, with zero coming in the final set. Nebraska out-dug the Hoosiers 37-32 and out-blocked IU 15-4.
No. 9 San Diego 3, BYU 2
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Behind a balanced offensive attack, San Diego rallied to pick up a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind win against BYU in the West Coast Conference championship match. It was USD's 15th consecutive win.
With the 27-25, 15-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-11 win, the Toreros conclude the regular-season 24-3 overall and claim the WCC championship. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 22-6 overall and 15-3 in the WCC. USD will now await the NCAA selection show on Dec. 1 to learn where and who they will pay against in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Taylor Hollins led the team with 16 kills, while also recording seven digs and one block. Brown was the second of five Toreros in double digit kills, as she had 14, while recording five blocks. Both Chloe Ferrari and Lozic had 13 kills apiece, while Lozic posted a double-double with 17 digs. C'era Oliveira recorded a career-high 34 digs to pace the defense. The 34 digs are the third highest single-match digs in program history.
