Bewerbungen » nce champion Washington, the No. 8 seed led

The first weekend of the NCAA volleyball tournament provided its share of upsets, but the top four seeds advanced without much drama. So No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Texas get to be hosts for the regional semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday. Heres a look at what weve seen so far, and what may be in store.Can anybody beat the home teams?This year the NCAA went away from predetermined sites for the regionals, which had been the format since 2003, and opted to have the highest remaining seed in each region host. Its safe to say the top four project as overwhelming favorites to advance to the final four in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 15 and 17.Why? Their combined record at home this season is 59-3.Minnesota was 15-0 at the Sports Pavilion both this season and in 2015. The Golden Gophers havent lost at home since falling on Oct. 22, 2014, to Nebraska in five sets.Wisconsin is 13-1 at UW Field House this season; its home loss was to Minnesota on Oct. 12. Meanwhile, the Badgers handed Texas -- 15-1 at home -- its only defeat at Gregory Gymnasium this year, on Sept. 18. Texas has lost at home only eight times since 2007.Defending NCAA champion Nebraska is 16-1 this year in the Devaney Center, falling only to Ohio State on Oct. 1.A big part of these teams success is their fan support. Nebraska leads the nation in average attendance at home matches (8,199), with Wisconsin third (5,915), Minnesota fourth (4,766) and Texas ninth (2,250).Theyre always great, Nebraska libero Justine Wong-Orantes said of the Huskers faithful. But I think I felt it more now that its tournament time. They know when were struggling and when we need to be picked up.Lincoln regional: Morning madnessNobody shows up like Nebraska fans. But for the semifinal, theyll need to do it on a weekday morning. With all the regionals being held in the Central time zone, somebody has to go early. Turns out it will be the match between two enormous heavyweights in the sport.The four-time champion Huskers will face seven-time champ Penn State at 11 a.m. CT Friday. What a way to start the regional semifinals.The Big Ten-champion Huskers swept both their early-round foes, New Hampshire and TCU, and the program now has 100 victories all time in the NCAA tournament. The Huskers beat the No. 16 seed Nittany Lions twice this season, although the match at Penn State went five sets.Nebraska leads their series 18-10 and has won five of the last six meetings. Penn State, at 24-9, has its most losses since 1987, when the Nittany Lions went 27-9 and lost in the NCAA tournaments first round.While one semifinal is an all-Big Ten affair, the other matches two Pac-12 teams. Conference champion Washington, the No. 8 seed led by league player of the year Courtney Schwan, beat Arizona in both their regular-season meetings. But the Wildcats, despite losing four of their last six matches in the regular season, are coming off an upset of No. 9 seed Michigan State.Arizona, at 20-14, has the most losses of any team in the Sweet 16. But the Wildcats made it this far, and thats what matters.Austin regional: Giants and sleepersConsistency remains the Longhorns hallmark, even if this season cost coach Jerritt Elliott some shut-eye.This season hasnt been as easy as seasons past -- Ive lost a lot more sleep, he said about trying to solve some of Texas supposed shortcomings. Still, here is Texas in the Sweet 16 for the 11th consecutive season. The Longhorns have made the final four seven of the last eight years.The problem, though, has come in finishing the job. For all their success, the Longhorns have just two NCAA titles: in 1988 and 2012. Theyve had a few stinging upsets in recent years, including 2014, when they lost to BYU in the national semifinals.Now Texas will face the No. 13 seed Cougars in the regional semis. The Longhorns are 65-9 in NCAA matches played in Austin, Texas.The Longhorns didnt win the Big 12 title this season; Kansas did. But that ended up being the highlight of the Jayhawks season, as the No. 5 seeds were upset in the second round by Creighton. The Bluejays, who are in their second consecutive Sweet 16, won two five-set matches to get here.Creighton will take on No. 12 seed Michigan. Of the six Big Ten teams still in the tournament, the Wolverines are the only one in this regional.Madison regional: Unseeded but still kickingWhile Wisconsin and No. 6 Stanford breezed into the Sweet 16, their opponents, Ohio State and Florida State, had to grind through five-set matches to advance.Ohio State outlasted No. 14 seed Kansas State 17-15 in the fifth behind Taylor Hughes second triple-double of the season (41 assists, 15 digs, 14 kills). The Buckeyes are two matches away from playing in the final four in their hometown, but Wisconsin -- which swept Ohio State in both their Big Ten matches this season -- is a daunting roadblock.Wisconsin was especially impressive in its second-round sweep of Washington State, holding the Cougars to zero hitting percentage in the final two sets. Coach Kelly Sheffield said of his Badgers, I think our team just keeps getting better and better.In the other semifinal, six-time NCAA champ Stanford meets Florida State for the first time. The Cardinal swept Denver and Boise State in the first two rounds and have won 13 of their last 14 matches.Rookies are leading the way for Stanford, including Pac-12 freshman of the year Kathryn Plummer. Stanford is the top blocking team in the nation but must be wary of Florida State, which rallied from a deep hole to stun No. 11 seed Florida in one of the most dramatic matches of the tournament. The Gators were just two points away from a sweep, but the Seminoles came back and took the fifth set 15-12.We were in it to win a national championship and we had the talent to do so, Florida libero Caroline Knop said after the loss. Unfortunately, tonight we werent tough enough.Minneapolis regional: A little bit of everythingFour different conferences are represented at Minnesota. The Big Tens Gophers, who have made four trips to the final four, will take on SEC co-champion Missouri, which got some revenge against Purdue with a 3-1 victory in the second round. The Tigers were 35-0 in 2013 before falling to the Boilermakers in the second round.No. 15 seed Missouri is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010 and has never made the final four.I really thought that for us to have a shot, we were going to have to play really clean, Tigers coach Wayne Kreklow said. We talked a lot about that: staying aggressive but being smart.The Tigers will need more of that against Minnesota, which is led by Big Ten player of the year Sarah Wilhite and setter of the year Samantha Seliger-Swenson. The Gophers swept North Dakota and Hawaii, the latter match impacted when Big West player of the year Nikki Taylor, a senior, was lost three points in with an ankle injury.In the other semifinal, North Carolina is seeking to make its second regional final in the past three years. But the ACC-champion Tar Heels have not faced a Pac-12 team this season. They play the Pac-12s UCLA, which has won four NCAA titles, the most recent in 2011. Air Max 97 Mens Sale . 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FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- A short work week couldnt slow the Atlanta Falcons high-scoring offense.The Falcons now hope having extra time off will provide an opportunity for some key players to recover from injuries.The Falcons showed no signs of missing tight end Jacob Tamme and running back Tevin Coleman in Thursday nights 43-28 win at Tampa Bay. Tamme, the starter, was held out with a shoulder injury. Coleman, who has shared time with starter Devonta Freeman, was inactive due to a hamstring injury.Atlanta also held out pass-rush specialist Dwight Freeney (quadriceps). Cornerback Desmond Trufant missed the second half with a shoulder injury.Atlanta now has a long weekend off before playing at Philadelphia on Nov. 13, followed by a bye week. Thats a good opportunity for rest and recovery -- not that the Falcons played like a team that needs a break.I was really pleased with the players and their readiness for the game, coach Dan Quinn said Friday. I thought we had a real edge about us. It was really evident. We looked fresh, we looked fast going through it.Quinn said he had no update on Trufant. He said he is hopeful Coleman can return against the Eagles. He said he expects to know more about both players on Wednesday.With Matt Ryan passing for 344 yards with four touchdowns -- each to a different receiver -- the Falcons (6-3) topped 40 points for the third time this season and strengthened their hold on first place in the NFC South.Quinn called the win another example of what we believe this team can be. The contributions continue to come from every man on the roster.The extra time off the next three weeks will provide valuable recovery tiime, but the Falcons showed impressive depth in keeping their offense moving against the Buccaneers.ddddddddddddBackup tight ends Levine Toilolo and Austin Hooper had touchdown catches. Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel helped replace Coleman with two carries for 24 yards, including a 9-yard scoring run.The Falcons put the game away with three straight touchdowns after leading only 20-14 at halftime.Short week or not we still stuck to our routine and we nailed it as a whole team, said defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who had two sacks.The win provided evidence of the teams growth since opening the season with a 31-24 home loss to Tampa Bay.For me, thats like the best thing from a confidence standpoint is that we continue to get better week in and week out, Ryan said.Ryan is enjoying a dramatic return to top form after throwing only 21 touchdown passes, his fewest since his rookie season, last season. Ryan has 23 touchdown passes, the most in the NFL, with only four interceptions.Quinn said the team is a lot different, I thought, from Week 1 to Week 9. We showed weve improved in a number of areas in all three phases.The improvement is reflected in Atlantas 3-1 division record.The Falcons were only 1-5 in the division last season, when they finished 8-8 overall. The poor play against NFC South opponents kept Atlanta out of the playoffs.Another key area of improvement is the pass rush. The Falcons have 21 sacks, already surpassing their league-low 19 in 2015.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '