We Speak Sports
Sigler, Mauch Headline Conference Honors in a Big Week of Volleyball Awards
Nebraska’s Teraya Sigler and Olivia Mauch swept top Big Ten honors, while stars from Kentucky, Florida, Louisville and Pitt also earned weekly awards.
The weekly award haul announced Oct. 19 reflected the weekend that was: Nebraska’s stars cashed in on a 2-0 week, and the SEC and ACC races produced honorees from all of their top contenders.
In the Big Ten, Nebraska outside hitter Teraya Sigler was named Player of the Week after averaging 3.29 kills per set on .391 hitting, highlighted by a career-high 15 kills against Purdue. Libero Olivia Mauch took Defensive Player of the Week honors with a career-high 21 digs and eight assists against the Boilermakers, becoming the first Husker libero with at least 20 digs and eight assists in a match since Lexi Rodriguez in 2023. Nebraska’s defense held Northwestern and Purdue to a combined .091 hitting percentage. Wisconsin’s Charlie Fuerbringer was the Big Ten Setter of the Week after piling up 90 assists in seven sets, 12.86 per set, as the Badgers hit .361, including her season-best 55-assist night at Iowa. Nebraska has now won nine of the Big Ten’s 33 weekly awards this season.
In the SEC, Kentucky setter Kassie O’Brien was named Player of the Week and Setter of the Week. Georgia’s Bianna Muoneke and Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye shared Offensive Player of the Week honors, while Florida’s Alec Rothe, who racked up 14 blocks across the Gators’ two Texas wins, and Kentucky’s Morgan Gaerte shared the Defensive Player of the Week award.
In the ACC, Louisville’s Chloe Chicoine was the Offensive Player of the Week, averaging 5.33 kills per set on .384 hitting, including 18 kills on a career-best .607 against Duke and 14 kills against North Carolina, the first ACC weekly award of her career. Pitt’s Izzy Starck was named the ACC Setter of the Week.
Photo: Nebraska Athletics
We Speak College Football
Saturday of Chaos: Five of the AP Top Seven Fall for the First Time Since 1936
College football has been playing with an AP poll since 1936. It had never seen a Saturday like this one: five of the top seven teams in the country — No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas — all lost on the same regular-season day, and the top two teams lost on the same day for the first time since Nov. 17, 2012. For the second straight week, the nation’s No. 1 team fell to an unranked opponent, something that hadn’t happened since 1990.
The carnage: Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens on a field goal as time expired, the Tigers’ first win there in 31 years. BYU toppled No. 2 Notre Dame 28-24 in Provo behind four total touchdowns from Bear Bachmeier, ending the Irish’s 16-game winning streak. Ohio State survived Indiana 19-15 in Bloomington, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak — but lost quarterback Julian Sayin to a shoulder injury. Tennessee’s defense strangled No. 6 Alabama 26-10 in Knoxville, holding the Crimson Tide to 201 yards. And Florida went into Austin and beat No. 7 Texas 27-24 behind first-time starter Tramell Jones Jr.
The survivors: No. 3 Miami needed two overtimes to escape Florida State 43-35 in a rivalry classic. No. 9 Ole Miss routed No. 13 Missouri 31-3, LSU blanked No. 16 Mississippi State 31-0, No. 10 Texas Tech hung 53 on Arizona State, and No. 15 Kentucky rallied to win 21-13 at Oklahoma. Michigan benched Bryce Underwood and still beat Penn State 21-18. Elsewhere, Utah edged Colorado 27-24, UCLA beat Wisconsin 17-7, Houston outlasted Oklahoma State 35-32, SMU topped Virginia 23-13, Wake Forest routed Cal 41-7, Oregon held off Nebraska 17-14, and Washington beat Purdue 38-26 on Friday night.
The new AP Top 25 tells the story of the shakeup: Miami is No. 1 with 40 first-place votes, BYU is No. 2 (20 first-place votes) and Ohio State No. 3 (9). Notre Dame sits fourth, Georgia fifth, Indiana sixth, followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Tennessee climbs to No. 11 and Kentucky to No. 12, while Alabama tumbles to No. 13, LSU rises to No. 18, Texas falls to No. 19 and Florida cracks the poll at No. 20. Missouri (No. 22), SMU (No. 23), Northwestern (No. 24) and Arizona (No. 25) round out the rankings.
Week 8 has a lot to live up to.
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