Volleyball Today: Creighton tops Marquette; European update; Alvey interviews JT

Creighton, the only ranked team in action, came away with a four-set Big East victory over Marquette on Tuesday.

We’ve got the results and top performances and a preview of Wednesday’s NCAA Division I schedule.

This edition of Volleyball Today includes a look at USA players abroad and a link to a wonderful interview between Cincinnati coach Molly Alvey and the best player in the history of her program, two-time Olympian Jordan Thompson.

NCAA volleyball Wednesday

The lone ACC match pits North Carolina (10-1), not ranked but hold the No. 7 spot in the unofficial RPI, at Duke (6-7). Both team are 2-0 in the conference, tied with Pitt, Florida State, Louisville and SMU.

The only Big Ten match has VolleyballMag Super 16 No. 9 Wisconsin at Rutgers, which is in a six-way tie for last at 0-2 with Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State. That match is on the Big Ten Network.

There are five Big 12 matches, including VBM No. 14 Arizona State (12-2 home for Utah (12-1). Utah is not ranked, but is tied with Kansas, Baylor and BYU atop the league. ASU is 1-1. Also, AVCA No. 20 BYU goes to Arizona, No. 22 TCU goes to Houston, West Virginia is at UC and Cincinnati is at Iowa State.

Two of the SEC’s ranked teams are in action as VBM No. 7 Texas is home for South Carolina and No. 13 Kentucky plays host to Oklahoma. Both matches are on the SEC Network.

Winless watch: 0-12 Marist goes to Siena (1-12) in the MAAC.

NCAA Tuesday: Creighton defeats Marquette

Sixth-ranked Creighton improved to 12-2 and is 3-0 in the Big East after its 25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-12 victory over visiting Marquette (6-6, 2-1). The Bluejays relied on a balanced attack as Ava Martin had 15 kill, Norah Sis 14, Elise Goetziner 12 and six blocks, and Kiara Reinhardt nine kills. Reinhardt hit .467 and had an assist, a dig and five blocks. Maddy Bilinovic had 20 digs, three assists and three aces. Marquette, which hit .116, got nine kills each from Carsen Murray and Ella Foti and eight from Aubrey Hamilton …

The College of Charleston of the CAA beat visiting North Florida of the ASUN in five. Emily Banitt had 18 kills, two aces, 18 digs and two blocks, one solo, and Emily Dykes had 16 kills with one error in 33 attacks to go with five digs and two blocks … Loyola Chicago beat visiting Saint Louis in four as Marta Cvitkovic had 18 kills in the Atlantic 10 victory to go with two aces, 12 digs and a block … 

In the Horizon League, Wright State swept Northern Kentucky, JeriLynn Koehler had 17 kills with one error in 28 swing to hit .571 as Cleveland State beat Oakland in four, Purdue Fort Wayne swept IU Indianapolis as Iris Riegel had 14 kills with one error in 26 attacks, Milwaukee beat Green Bay in four as Natalie Schmitz had 16 kills in 31 errorless attacks, and Robert Morris beat visiting Youngstown State in five despite 26 kills by the Penguins’ Abbie Householder, who had an assist, an ace, 16 digs and four blocks. Jaaliyah Evans had 20 kills for Robert Morris, hitting .320, and added an assist, a dig and five blocks … 

Central Michigan swept Eastern Michigan in the MAC, and Bowling Green had to pull off a reverse sweep to win at Toledo. Mia Tyler led with 17 kills in the 22-25, 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 15-10 victory. Teammate Lauryn Hovey had 12 kills, hit .375, and had two assists, two aces, 17 digs and three blocks. Toledo’s Taylor Alt had 19 kills, an assist, seven digs and three blocks … 

In the only Mountain West match, New Mexico won in five at Air Force as Lauryn Payne had 23 kills and Kialah Jefferson had 22. Falanika Danielson had 27 digs and four assists. Air Force’s Ashley Bible had 19 kills, three aces, 17 digs and two blocks, one solo … 

Both OVC matches went five. Lindenwood won at Western Illinois as five players had nine or more kills, 20 by Rebecca Janke, who hit .362 and had four digs and three blocks, one solo. Keyana Cruse had 23 kills for WIU to go with 19 digs and five blocks, two solo. Southern Indiana prevailed against visiting UT Martin as it, too, had five players with nine or more kills, 13 by Paris Downing, who hit .379 and had two digs and four blocks, one solo … 

Southeastern Louisiana hit .378 in a Southland sweep at New Orleans. Cicily Hidalgo had nine kills with one error in 16 attacks to hit .500 and had 10 digs and three blocks.

USA players in Europe

The Italian League starts this weekend and can be seen on Volleyball World TV. 

Two matches of note Sunday include Chieri 76, featuring USA Olympian Avery Skinner, vs. Novara at 11:30 Eastern; and Imoco Conegeliano and Khalia Lanier vs. Busto Arsizo at noon. 

In Türkyie, Eczacıbaşı Dynavit, featuring Olympians Dana Rettke and Kathryn Plummer, plays VakifBank (Ali Frantti, Kendall Kipp) at 6 a.m. Eastern. 

Speaking of Conegeliano, it won its seventh Italian Super Cup in a row, rallying to win the last two sets and beat Vero Volley Milano in five. Lanier had two kills in the final. 

Other Americans won cup titles, as well. In France, Haylie Bennett had 10 kills and two blocks and Neptunes de Nantes beat Levallois Paris SC. Krystal Rivers led with 24 kills and three blocks as Stuttgart beat SSC Palmberg Schwerin to win back-to-back German Super Cup titles. 

Also in France, where many former NCAA standouts are playing this season, Morgahn Fingall had 14 kills, four blocks and an ace for Volero Le Cannet in a loss to Marcq en Baroeul; Lauren Matthews had 17 kills, hitting .419 with two blocks for Cannes in a sweep of Quimper; Katelyn Evans had 18 kills, two blocks and two aces for Volley Mulhouse Alsace i a four-set win over Mulhouse.

In Poland, eLan McCall and UNI Opole beat Metalkas Pałac Bydgoszcz. McCall had 15 kills and a block in the four-set victory.

Click here to see our story that lists all the USA women playing abroad.

Molly Alvey interviews Jordan Thompson

The coach interviewed her program’s biggest star:

Certainly the best player in the history of Cincinnati volleyball is Jordan Thompson, who exploded onto the NCAA national scene in a big way during her time as a Bearcat (2015-19). 

The opposite from Edina, Minnesota, is now a two-time Olympian who has had a tremendous pro career in both Türkiye and Italy. She will play for LOVB Houston this year.

JT, as USA coach Karch Kiraly calls her, recently inducted into the Cincinnati athletics hall of fame, sat down with her former coach, Molly Alvey, who is in her 13th season at the Ohio school, for this insightful YouTube interview:

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