The AVP beach volleyball tournament intensified on Saturday, leading into a busy weekend for NCAA volleyball. This weekend’s AVP semifinals are set following a dramatic double red-card incident involving Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb at the Chicago Open. Budinger and Miles Evans, the fourth seeds, will face third-seeded Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander, while ninth-seeded Tim Bomgren and Troy Field will compete against second-seeded Andy Benesh and Miles Partain.
On the women’s side, top-seeded Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will take on second-seeded Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes in a matchup of USA Olympians. The sixth-seeded Rodriguez, a former teammate of Kloth and Nuss at LSU, will face off against the third-seeded Canadian Olympians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson. In a match marked by the earlier red cards, Budinger and Evans defeated Crabb and Theo Brunner before being eliminated by Bomgren and Field.
The semifinals will be available for streaming on BallyLIVE, with the finals airing on CW.
In NCAA volleyball, a significant matchup occurred in Milwaukee where No. 1 Texas, the reigning two-time champion, clashed with No. 3 Wisconsin. They were followed by a match between No. 18 Minnesota and No. 5 Stanford. This weekend featured top teams vying for position in contrast to other sports, exemplified by the less competitive results in college football.
After a busy schedule that saw hundreds of matches, NCAA volleyball slows down on Sunday but still has several key matches lined up, including Georgia vs. Florida State, Tennessee vs. Louisville, Penn State vs. Temple, UC Davis vs. Purdue, and Florida vs. Michigan State.
Notable performances from Saturday included the Power 4 Cal, newly part of the ACC, overcoming San Francisco in five sets, led by Maggie Li with 24 kills. Cal went on to sweep Portland State, further showcasing their strength. Florida State achieved a convincing sweep over UC Santa Barbara, with Arkansas transfer Taylor Head contributing 15 kills. Boston College and Miami also secured impressive victories, with Miami hitting .417 against Colorado. No. 4 Pitt maintained their momentum with a sweeping win against Long Beach State.