Sports
The 10 greatest upsets in NCAA volleyball tournament history
In the 2019 NCAA DI women’s volleyball tournament, there were two pretty big upsets with Cincinnati taking down No. 6 Pittsburgh (No. 1 in RPI) and Louisville defeating No. 2 seed Texas in a five-set showdown. We gathered and ranked what we think are 10 of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament since its inception in 1981.
For this list, we considered each team’s RPI entering the NCAA tournament, the conferences each team came from, the location of the upset and whether or not they received an at-large or an automatic bid.
10. 2007: Sacramento State over Minnesota (first round)
In the final year of six straight Big Sky championships and NCAA tournament bids, Sacramento State pulled off the biggest upset of the 2007 tournament when it beat at-large Big Ten team Minnesota in four sets.
In the final RPI rankings of the season, Minnesota finished 31st and Sacramento State finished 55th. We can only assume that gap was much greater on selection day. Regardless, a Big Ten team getting beat in the first round by a team from the Big Sky was unprecedented. The Big Sky hasn’t advanced in the tournament since the 2007 Hornets, who lost to No. 1 Stanford in the second round.
9. 2000: Southeast Missouri State beat North Carolina (first round)
North Carolina might not have been a national seed, but as the automatic bid from the ACC, losing in the first round to the Ohio Valley champion is shocking. Now, the Redhawks were undefeated in the OVC that year, but were 6-8 in the nonconference season.
RPI rankings do not exist from 2000 in the NCAA’s archive, so we weren’t able to compare their actual rankings at the time of the upset. The Redhawks lost to No. 14 Florida in the next round.
8. 2002: Temple beat No. 12 overall seed Penn State (second round)
Can you imagine Penn State losing on its home court in the second round of the tournament today? Me neither. But in 2002 — six years before Penn State would win the first of four straight national championships — the A-10 champs rolled out of Rec Hall with the upset of the tournament.
To date, it is Temple’s only trip to the regional semifinals. The Owls have not made it to the NCAA tournament since 2002.
WATCH: Every ace from the 2019 volleyball semifinals and finals
7. 2013: American beat No. 16 Duke (second round)
Any time a national seed gets beat in the first weekend, it’s an upset. When it comes to an automatic bid in straight sets, it’s a bit more shocking. Especially when considering this American team upset Georgia in the first round before beating the Blue Devils to advance to the regional semifinals.
Ranked 45th in RPI to start the tournament to Duke’s No. 12 RPI ranking, American provided the biggest surprise of the first weekend and the only time a national seed has lost to a team from the Patriot League. The Eagles, who won 34 games that year, also took a set from No. 1 Texas before losing in the next round.
6. 2019: Louisville over No. 2 Texas (third round)
Louisville pulled off an upset of No. 2-seeded Texas to advance to the program’s first appearance in the final eight of the tournament. Texas was a strong favorite going in. The Longhorns sported very strong offensive numbers and held the No. 1 spot for a good portion of the second half of the regular season. The thing about Texas this season was that no one had beaten them at Gregory Gymnasium. Their crowd was unmatched. Many predictions had Texas cruising through to the national semifinals.
Louisville took the first two sets 25-22 before losing the next two. But the Cardinals finished off the upset with a 15-12 win in the fifth set. The Cardinal were led by a career-best 23 kills from redshirt freshman Aiko Jones. This win was the biggest upset of the 2019 volleyball tournament. Following the win, the Cardinals fell to Minnesota.
5. 2014: BYU beat No. 2 Texas (national semifinal)
There have been just a handful of teams that have made it to the national semifinals as an unseeded team. But only BYU made it to the national championship match after beating the second-ranked Longhorns in four sets.
The Cougars also beat No. 11 Arizona, No. 6 Florida State and No. 16 Nebraska to make it to the semifinals. They would fall to Penn State in the title match, but their run is still remembered well four years later. Most didn’t give BYU a chance against Texas, which entered the match with two losses.
4. 2011: Kansas State beat No. 2 Nebraska (second round)
Winners of the Big Ten in its first year as a member, Nebraska was a hot pick to win the national championship. But Big 12 at-large selection Kansas State wanted to give a proper farewell gift to its former conference opponent.
No. 2 seeds get upset in the tournament, no doubt. It just rarely happens in the first weekend, to Nebraska, in front of about 8,000 people in Lincoln. Kansas State was 26th in RPI entering the tournament, so the Wildcats were a solid team. This was just a game that stopped the volleyball world still.
3. 2015: American beat Kentucky (first round)
Yes, American was still good after its 2013 run, and it pulled off a more shocking upset against Kentucky, which was 21st in RPI. The Eagles were 77th despite an undefeated Patriot League season.
It seems that when American pulls off these upsets, the match isn’t ever in doubt. It swept the Wildcats before losing to Ohio State in straight sets in the second round. Kentucky was 21-9 that season.
2. 2012: Michigan beat No. 2 Stanford (regional final)
Like 2014 BYU, Michigan is one of the unseeded teams to advance to the national semifinals. Both runs were incredible, but this one was a greater upset for it came basically on the road — in California — against the No. 1 RPI team, Stanford. Michigan was 31st in RPI.
The Wolverines had lost 11 times in the regular season, but when it came to the tournament, they were unstoppable, knocking off the Cardinal in four sets.
1. 2010: Missouri beat No. 5 Northern Iowa (first round)
This is still the highest seed to lose in the first round since teams were seeded 1-16 beginning in 2000, so naturally it had to be the top upset in tournament history.
At 30-2 and an RPI ranking of fourth, some felt the Panthers were deserving of a top-four seed. Nonetheless, the Missouri Valley champs couldn’t defend home court in the first match of the tournament against a Missouri team that snuck into the tournament. Missouri went on to lose in the regional semifinals to No. 12 Duke, but this result is about as close as volleyball has come to the basketball equivalent of a double-digit seed knocking off a No. 1 seed.
WATCH: Kerri Walsh’s Stanford volleyball highlights
Honorable mention upsets:
2019: Cincinnati over No. 6 Pittsburgh (second round)
1995: Michigan State over Hawaii (regional final)
2005: Santa Clara over No. 4 Arizona (regional final)
2005: No. 15 Tennessee over No. 2 Penn State (regional semis)
2006: Middle Tennessee State over Louisville (first round)
2010: No. 16 Purdue over No. 1 Florida (regional semis)
2010: Tulsa over No. 13 LSU (first round)
2010: Washington beat No. 2 Nebraska (regional semis)
2013: Purdue over No. 4 Missouri (second round)
2014: Arkansas Little-Rock beat No. 16 Kansas (first round)
2025: Cal Poly over No. 4 Southern California (second round)
Sports
Jane Hedengren Obliterates the NCAA 5K Record in Boston
Two weeks after finishing second at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships, freshman Jane Hedengren shattered the collegiate record in the 5,000 meters.
On Saturday, December 6, the Brigham Young University standout won the women’s elite race in 14:44.79 at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. With a huge surge in the second half of the race, Hedengren improved on the previous indoor collegiate record (14:52.57) set by Doris Lemngole of Alabama at the same meet in Boston last year.
Hedengren also broke the combined collegiate record (indoor and outdoor track), 14:52.18, set by Parker Valby at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hedengren is now No. 2 on the U.S. all-time list and No. 11 on the world all-time list in the event, indoors.
“This season, there’s been a lot of growth, and I think there’s still so much to build on, lots of gratitude approaching this race and this season, and I’m excited to keep working,” Hedengren told Nia Gibson on the FloTrack broadcast after the race.
Hedengren showed her dominance early at Boston University’s indoor facility. From the gun, Hedengren and Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico both positioned themselves behind pacesetter Ellie Leather through the first mile in 4:48, on pace for a 14:55 finish. By the 2K split, both athletes had pulled ahead of the chase pack by 50 meters.
That gap continued to grow heading into the halfway mark as the cross-country rivals dueled for the lead. Just after the 3,000-meter split, which the pair covered in 8:59, Hedengren surged ahead of Kosgei and never looked back.
For the last 2,000 meters, Hedengren knocked off blazing 34 to 35-second splits for each lap until throwing down an impressive 66-second close for the final 400 meters. Her teammate, Riley Chamberlain, battled for second-place in 14:58.97, a 25-second personal best. Kosgei finished third in 15:05:41.
Before she graduated from Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, last spring, Hedengren broke nine national records on the track—including the 5,000 meters in April when she became the first high school girl to go sub-15 for the distance.
At 19 years old, Hedengren has already emerged as an NCAA leader in her first season running for the Cougars. In October, she dominated the Pre-National Invitational and shattered the course record in her collegiate cross-country debut. She went on to win the Big 12 Championships and NCAA Mountain Region Championships by huge margins.
In late November, Hedengren was competing for the win at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships but couldn’t match the closing speed of Lemngole, the defending champion. With a surge in the last kilometer of the race in Columbia, Missouri, the junior from Kenya claimed the 6K title in 18:25, about 13 seconds ahead of Hedengren.
In a quick turnaround to the track season, Hedengren earned a form of redemption in Boston. She is the most recent athlete in the last several years to break the collegiate record at the indoor season opener, which many elite athletes utilize as a final push of fitness before the holidays. Lemngole—and Valby prior to her—set the indoor record at the same meet.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
Sports
Gophers volleyball wins NCAA Tournament opener, avoids St. Thomas matchup
Minnesota volleyball opened NCAA Tournament play on Friday at Maturi Pavilion with a dominant sweep over Fairfield University. It marks the 11th straight year that the Gophers have won a first-round game.
And we dance on 💃 pic.twitter.com/k5zoEO1vPU
— Minnesota Volleyball (@GopherVBall) December 6, 2025
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The Gophers were seeded fourth in their region after a 22-9 regular-season campaign. The other game in their Minneapolis pod was five-seed Iowa State against in-state foe St. Thomas, which played its first-ever game in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. The Cyclones won a five-set battle before Minnesota’s game.
“I’m proud of our team for playing our brand of volleyball. Serving, blocking and playing really clean. Tomorrow will be a big challenge. Iowa State is a great team in a lot of facets, especially defensively,” Minnesota head coach Keegan Cook said after the game.
Minnesota already beat St. Thomas three sets to one in a nonconference game in August, but an NCAA Tournament clash in the Tommies’ first season eligible would’ve felt like a huge contest. Ultimately, Iowa State will face the Gophers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT at Maturi Pavilion with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
The Cyclones had an impressive 22-7 regular-season campaign, and a 12-6 mark in the Big 12. Saturday’s showdown should be a great contest between two of the better college volleyball programs in the Midwest.
More from Gophers On SI
Sports
Elliot and Thuotte Highlight Men’s Indoor Track and Field Season Opener
BOSTON, Mass. — Regis College men’s track and field kicked off their indoor season today at the Reggie Lewis Center, competing in the Suffolk Relays and setting two new program records.
Senior Brady Elliot (Charlestown, N.H.) made an impressive debut for the Pride, placing second in the men’s high jump with a leap of 1.85 meters, establishing a new indoor program record. Elliot also competed in the long jump, finishing 12th with a distance of 6.06 meters. Joseph Doughty (Woburn, Mass.) added a seventh-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.70 meters.
Justin Thuotte (Lebanon, Conn.) earned three top-ten finishes. His best came in the shot put, where he took third with throw of 12.82 meters to set a new personal best. Thuotte also placed fifth in the long jump, setting a new indoor program record with a leap of 6.65 meters, and finished seventh in the weight throw with a mark of 13.28 meters. Ryan Sweeney (Lynn, Mass.) joined Thuotte on the shot put leaderboard, finishing fourth with a toss of 12.65 meters. Sweeney also set a personal best in the weight throw with an 11.28 meter toss.
Jalen Jones (Everett, Mass.) claimed fifth place in the triple jump with a mark of 11.94 meters. Meanwhile, DJ Marks (Medford, Mass.) and Luc Willems (Belchertown, Mass.) rounded out the top ten finishers in the high jump and men’s 1000m, respectively. Marks cleared 1.60 meters in the high jump, and Willems crossed the line in 3:18.18 in the 1000-meter run.
In the men’s 1600 sprint medley relay, the team of Zach Olaywole (Marlborough, Mass.), Jones, Elliot, and Nathan Thomas (Medford, Mass.) finished 13th overall with a time of 4:13.28.
The Pride will quickly turn around as they head to UMass Boston tomorrow for the Beacon Season Opener.
Sports
No. 25 Women’s Volleyball Falls to No. 3 Texas in NCAA Second Round – Penn State
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 25 Penn State’s 45th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament came to an end in the second round Saturday with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-9, 25-19) loss to No. 3 Texas at Gregory Gymnasium. The Nittany Lions close the season at 19-13 overall, while the Longhorns move on with a record of 25-3.
The loss snapped Penn State’s seven-match NCAA Tournament winning streak, which included six victories on the way to last year’s national title. The Nittany Lions remain second in the nation with eight national titles, trailing only Stanford’s nine.
Kennedy Martin tallied 16 kills for Penn State and has now recorded double-digit kills for the 83rd-consecutive match when she plays at least three sets. Caroline Jurevicius finished with seven kills, while Emmi Sellman chipped in with five.
Gillian Grimes wrapped up an outstanding collegiate career with a team-high 11 digs. She leaves Penn State as a two-time All-Big Ten honoree, making the first team this season and the second team as a junior last season. She now turns her attention to the pro ranks, where she will play for the San Diego Mojo of Major League Volleyball. Grimes was recently picked by the Mojo in the third round of the MLV Draft.
Torrey Stafford led Texas to the win, hitting .556 with 21 kills. Abby Vander Wal joined her in double-digits with 10 kills, while Cari Spears was next with nine.
Penn State now holds an 11-10 lead in the all-time series with Texas. The teams are knotted at 2-2 in NCAA Tournament matchups against each other.
Saturday’s matchup featured the past three national champions as Texas won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 and Penn State took home the trophy last season.
The 2025 Penn State women’s volleyball season is presented by Musselman’s.
Sports
Men’s Track and Field Starts 2026 Campaign With Strong Showing at Springfield College Season Opener
Springfield, Mass. – December 6, 2025 – The Springfield College men’s track and field team had a strong showing as it hosted the Springfield College Season Opener for the first meet of the season.
Shane Erb (Marion, Iowa) took first place in the mile after finishing with a time of 4:23.30 and was the second place finisher in the 3000-meter run after crossing the finish line at 9:02.42. Erb’s mile time ranks sixth in Division III to start the campaign, while his 3,000-meter time ranks 14th.
Mike Anderson (Cromwell, Conn.) and Isaiah Hannah (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finished first and second, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles. Anderson finished with a time of 8.16 to tie his school record he broke just a season ago, while Hannah finished at 8.59. Anderson’s time currently ranks second in Division III this season.
In his debut, Luca Kabel (Merrimack, N.H.) won the 60-meter dash crossing the finish line at 7.04. He also competed in the 200-meter dash where he finished second at 22.58.
Colin Hansen (Ipswich, Mass.) won the 400-meter dash at 50.54 and Seth Twarog (Hubbardston, Mass.) was close behind at 50.70 which was good for a second place finish with both now ranking inside the top-20 nationally to kick off the seaosn. Parker Ruger (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) won the 600-meter run finishing in 1:26.74 while Eli Burt (Topsham, Maine) came in third at 1:29.34 in their first meets for the Pride.
The 4×400-meter relay team of Twarog, Ruger, Hansen, and first-year Caleb March (Hampden, Maine) took the win after crossing the finish line at 3:37.78.
In the field events, Alex McKenney (Ossining, N.Y.) won the pole vault after clearing 4.45-meters (14 feet, 7.25 inches), which currently stands eighth in the country, while Jamil Manu (Manchester, Conn.) claimed second in the high jump after jumping 1.92-meters (6 feet, 3.50 inches).
Martin Nyagilo (Randolph, Mass.) won the shot put with a throw of 15.21-meters (49 feet, 10.75 inches), a mark that ranks sixth in the country early in the season and Peyton Blanchard (Kennebunk, Maine) came in third with a mark of 14.28-meters (47 feet, 2.25 inches). Charles Botelho (Middleboro, Mass.) finished third in the weight throw with mark of 15.01-meters (49.3 feet).
Springfield will await the new year and travel to Tufts on Saturday, January 17 for the Branwen Smith-King Invitational.
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Sports
West Fargo volleyball coach Kelsey Titus resigns after four seasons – InForum
WEST FARGO — West Fargo High School volleyball coach Kelsey Titus has resigned after four seasons guiding the Packers.
West Fargo activities director Justin Behm confirmed the resignation to The Forum late Friday.
In an email to The Forum Saturday, Titus cited family as the primary reason in her decision to step down.
“The main reason is to be more present with my family,” Titus said. “The decision was extremely difficult as I have absolutely loved my time coaching at West Fargo. (Behm) has been an incredible person to work for and with. I am extremely grateful for his support and guidance.
“The decision came after a lot of prayer. My husband is also a (football) coach, and having both of us coaching in the fall — with a very active 7-year-old — has become challenging. As hard as it is to be done, I know that being more involved and present in our son’s activities is where I am supposed to be. I have peace knowing it’s where the Lord wants me to be.”
David Samson/The Forum
Titus took the reins of the West Fargo program ahead of the 2022 season. Over four seasons, she led the Packers to a 96-48 record that included two state tournament appearances and an East Region tournament championship.
The Packers first advanced to state under Titus during her first season in 2022 where the team placed fifth that season. The 2025 campaign was West Fargo’s strongest with Titus at the helm, finishing 28-8 overall to go with a third-place finish at the state tournament and the East Region tournament title — which ended in
a five-set thriller
over crosstown rival West Fargo Sheyenne.
Titus coached three all-conference and all-state players throughout her tenure. Raina Chwialkowski was a four-time all-conference selection under Titus while Ellee McIntosh was named to the all-conference team three times. Olivia Soine was an all-conference player for Titus in 2022.
Chwialkowski was also an all-state selection four times, McIntosh three times and Soine one time. Chwialkowski was named both East Region and Division AA Senior Athlete of the Year in the sport of volleyball this season. She’ll head to NCAA Division I Maryland next season to continue her career while McIntosh will play for North Dakota.
Titus received Division AA Coach of the Year honors this season upon conclusion of the state tournament. West Fargo
defeated Bismarck in five sets
during this year’s Division AA quarterfinals before
falling to Fargo Davies
in the semis. The Packers proceeded to defeat Bismarck Century in five sets in the third-place match.
“The girls have truly bought in to our culture and have been so much fun to work with,” Titus said. “I truly feel blessed to have gotten the chance to coach such wonderful young women. They mean so much to me and my family. This past season was an incredible one for me to witness on and off the court. I am so thankful for the girls and their trust in me and our coaching staff. These girls are truly special and have brought so much joy into the game of volleyball, to each other and to us coaches.”
Titus previously served as an assistant volleyball coach at the University of Jamestown for seven seasons prior to coming to West Fargo. There, she also served as associate athletic director for three years.
A search for Titus’ successor will begin immediately.
“Again, I can’t thank West Fargo High School and Justin Behm enough for the opportunity and the trust they put in me to run the volleyball program the last four years,” Titus said. “I also want to thank my coaching staff — they have become such a huge part of my life and I’m so thankful they chose to do this with me. I will forever be grateful for my time at West Fargo High School. Go Packers.”
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