SoCal teams dominate NorCal

Cal and Stanford marched into the weekend rated the nation’s top two Division 1 women’s volleyball teams. #1 Cal—last season’s national runner-up—was undefeated; #2 Stanford’s only loss was to Cal.

#7 UCLA and (ridiculously under-ranked) #12 USC were the host schools. Earlier today, USC blanked Stanford 3-0, by the barest of margins (25-23, 26-24, 25-23), less than 24 hours after sweeping Cal 3-0.

UCLA took five sets Friday night to defeat Stanford, then won the first two sets tonight against Cal (25-17, 25-20).Cal came storming back to take the third set, 25-19, but the Bruins rolled in the decisive fourth and final set, jumping to a 16-4 lead before winning 25-15. UCLA’s Rachel Kidder did not match her Stanford match numbers … she had 12 kills and 8 errors on 45 swings (.089). As usual, Tarah Murrey carried the load for Cal with 18 kills, 5 errors (.210).

#15 Oregon remains the only undefeated Pac-12 team after sweeping Utah tonight. The Ducks have just one loss (Minnesota) on the season, but have yet to play UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford or Washington. They’ll be in Seattle this Friday.

Oregon State also continues its dominance over the lower half of the league with a 3-0 shellacking of Colorado.

On Sunday, Washington visits Arizona State, and WSU plays at Arizona.