The last of the NCAA volleyball unbeatens fell in a wild week. Here's a look around the sport two weeks into conference play.
Ohio State rules in Lincoln
As coveted as a win over Nebraska is for any team in volleyball, it's old hat for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have defeated Nebraska the past three times the teams have met, including taking the final three sets to win in Lincoln on Saturday in front of 8,368 Big Red fans, many of whom had come after the afternoon football game between the Cornhuskers and Illinois.
The loss snapped the Cornhuskers' 28-match winning streak that dated to last season's Oct. 24 four-set loss to Wisconsin. It leaves the sport without an unbeaten team going into the second half of the season.
"Our kids walk in there with a confidence. It's a great environment to play in with a lot of aficionados who have a really high volleyball IQ." Geoff Carlston
Twelve serving errors cost the Huskers, but credit the Buckeyes, who routed Nebraska in the final set 25-13. Ohio State took the point on all 13 of the Husker serves in the fourth set and outscored the defending national champions by a combined 20 points in the final three sets.
Coach Geoff Carlston, whose seniors have never lost at Nebraska, won't divulge any secrets.
"Our kids walk in there with a confidence," he said. "It's a great environment to play in with a lot of aficionados who have a really high volleyball IQ."
Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska owns a winning record against every opponent except Ohio State. Ohio State has won four of its past five over Nebraska and is 4-3 in Lincoln.
Ohio State's Luisa Schirmer attacked .480 on 14 kills in the final three sets and added 12 digs, while teammate Taylor Sandbothe had 12 kills and nine blocks, hitting at a clip of .346. Setter Taylor Hughes' 11 kills was a career best.
Ohio State's win was even more notable given that starter Audra Appold, tied for second on the Buckeyes with 172 kills, was sidelined with illness.
The win marked the Buckeyes' first on the road over a No. 1 ranked team. And lest anyone forget, the final four is in the Buckeyes' gym.
Ohio State (12-4) moved from 19 to 14 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. Nebraska fell to No. 3.
Welcome to the top, Minnesota
Minnesota takes over the top spot in the poll, the first time the Golden Gophers have reached the No. 1 ranking since Sept. 27, 2004.
Minnesota (12-1, 4-0 Big Ten) has won 11 straight, defeating Indiana and Purdue last weekend on the road. The Golden Gophers dropped the second match of the season at Stanford 3-1 and have not played a five-set match in 2016.
Against the Boilermakers, Sarah Wilhite had 19 kills, hitting .621, and Hannah Tapp had 10 kills at a .444 clip. It was a difficult weekend in West Lafayette for the home team -- on Friday, Purdue dropped a five-setter to Wisconsin. Purdue (11-4, 1-3) moved from 14 to 17 in the poll.
Minnesota is No. 2 in the first RPI released by the NCAA on Monday; Wisconsin is No. 1.
Kudos to volleyball in the North Star State: Minnesota Duluth took over the top spot in this week's Division II poll behind a 15-0 mark. The previous No. 1, Concordia St. Paul (also of Minnesota), fell to No. 2.
Kentucky pulls another win in Gainesville
Just like last year, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated Florida on the Gators' home floor, but this one wasn't just a victory -- it was a sweep of the fifth-ranked Gators, who dropped to 11th.
Missouri was the last SEC team to sweep Florida in Gainesville, on Nov. 13, 2013. Kentucky had not swept Florida since the 1990 season.
Florida (13-2, 3-1) had its string of 12 straight wins snapped after hitting .128. Kentucky had 11 blocks, including seven from junior Kaz Brown.
Freshman Leah Edmond posted a match-high 19 kills; Brown and junior Darian Mack each had nine.
Kentucky and Missouri are tied for first in the SEC with 4-0 records. Kentucky (11-4) checks into the poll tied for 25th with Western Kentucky.
Washington State tops Pac-12 headliners
Washington State knocked off its third straight top-10 opponent, upsetting then-No. 9 Stanford on Friday in five sets. The Cougars improved to No. 10 in this week's poll.
Fittingly, the game was played before 2,522 in Pullman, Washington, the highest fan turnout there in 14 years. The crowd got to see the home team record its first win over the Cardinal since 2002.
The Cougars topped Washington and UCLA the week before on the road. Washington State improved to 14-2, 4-0 in the Pac-12, after sweeping Cal on Sunday.
Kyra Holt, last week's espnW player of the week, had 17 kills and five blocks against Stanford and became the program's all-time scoring leader, finishing the weekend with a career total of 1,739 points.
Also notable: It was the second straight five-set win for a team that had lost its previous 11 matches that went the distance prior to the win over UCLA.
Washington State's 4-0 start in the Pac-12 is its best in 19 years.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, No. 19 Colorado bounced UCLA behind 27 digs from senior libero Cierra Simpson. Make that four straight triple-doubles for Gabby Simpson behind 12 kills, 30 assists and 13 digs. The junior from Colorado Springs has five triple-doubles in her career; the school record is 10.
No. 20 Oregon (11-2, 4-0) has put together a string of 11 straight, hitting .313 as a team and holding opponents to .171.
Credit freshmen Ronika Stone and Jolie Rasmussen with Oregon's potency on offense. Stone led the Ducks with 13 kills on a blistering .632 hitting to go with five blocks in Saturday's victory over Arizona. Rasmussen added nine kills, hitting .320.
Stone, the Pac-12 freshman of the week, is the highest-rated recruit in Oregon history. Her .442 hitting percentage is second in the conference.
Texas and Florida are the lone teams to beat the Ducks this season. On tap this weekend: Washington and Washington State, both home matches for the Ducks.
Streaking San Diego
Quietly, San Diego (13-2, 4-0 West Coast) keeps rising in the rankings behind a 12-game winning streak, including a sweep over BYU on Friday. The Toreros, unranked in the preseason poll, inched from No. 6 to No. 5 this week.
San Diego's slate includes wins over Stanford, Colorado, UCLA, Santa Clara and a five-setter against Loyola Marymount from 0-2 down a week ago. The Toreros' only two losses were to Minnesota and Wisconsin.
San Diego came into the season with a highly touted recruiting class. Among the newbies: 6-2 Canadian Thana Fayad and Spaniard Anna Newsome.
Coach Brent Hilliard says Fayad has a chance to be the best outside hitter in program history and regards Newsome, of Sabadell, Barcelona, as "99 percent more developed than the setters coming into college."