The Women's College Volleyball season has wrapped up its first week of play. After beating Texas last year, Kentucky grabbed its first every Division 1 Championship, but with a new season comes new challenges, and the question is, who has shown themselves to be potential threats to the reigning champ? This weeks content has brought on a whole slew of
Texas Looks to Prove it Can Win
The runner ups of last years tournament looked incredibly strong this past weekend. Not only did they win easier games against UTSA and University of San Diego, but they easily took care of a powerhouse #7 Minnesota in a 3-1 win. Led by Logan Eggelston's 42.5 points over those 3 games, the Longhorns are looking at another strong change to win it all.
Ohio State looks Incredible
Ohio State added to the Big 10's dominance of the sport this past weekend by beating then #4 ranked Washington. The Buckeye's are perennially in the top 25, but have lacked the talent to beat other powerhouses of the Big 10 in the past, like Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Minnesota. If the beginning of this season is any indication however, it appears that Ohio State is more than capable of keeping up with the top programs, and could be a candidate to win the Big 10.
Penn State's Struggles Continue
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Penn State in the late 2000's had one of the most impressive runs in sporting history, winning 4 straight national championships. They followed that feat up by winning back to back in 2013 and 2014. That was the past however, and in the present they're struggling. In the last 5 years, the old powerhouse has only made it to the Final Four once, Finishing 6th in the big ten, the lowest the program has ever placed in the conference. This year they didn't start out on the right foot either, losing to #24 Georgia Tech this past weekend, and while they beat St. John and UCF. this dropped them down from #12 to #17. With such a lackluster season last year, and a rough start to the season this year, this could be the start of the dark ages for Penn State
Marquette is Making a Statement
Marquette is consistently good in the regular season, and then takes a hard dive come tournament time. Constantly facing tough Big Ten opponents, and losing in the early rounds. This year might be different. Marquette entered the top 25 after its impressive 3-0 start to the season. While there were no massive names on the schedule, they won each game handedly and proved they are ready to compete. with such a strong opening week, they are setting themselves up nicely to make an upset. As in 2 weeks they face #3 ranked Kentucky and and #2 ranked Wisconsin.
