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NCAA volleyball has a new No. 1 yet again and plenty of story lines to dig into with teams in the thick of conference play.A first for WisconsinThree weeks, three No. 1 teams.Wisconsin takes over the top spot in this weeks American Volleyball Coaches Association poll -- a first in program history.Minnesotas reign at No. 1 lasted just a week; the Golden Gophers were upset by Penn State last Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Ohio State ended Nebraskas run at the top, defeating the Cornhuskers in Lincoln.Behind arguably the best setter in the game, Lauren Carlini, and perhaps the best freshman, Molly Haggerty, the Badgers are 14-1, the best start in program history. Their lone loss is a five-setter at North Carolina when starting outside hitter Lauryn Gillis was sidelined with an ankle injury.Wisconsin, which beat Rutgers and Illinois last week, heads into the most brutal stretch of its schedule, starting with Wednesdays date against No. 3 Minnesota. The Battle of the Border match in Madison is sold out; the Badgers have won 18 straight Big Ten matches, dating back to last years loss on Oct. 17 to Minnesota.The Badgers have also won 14 consecutive at home, and that dates back to, you guessed it, last years Oct. 14 loss to the Golden Gophers.Thats among the reasons why the talk wasnt about the No. 1 ranking in Mondays practice. When youve got Minnesota in front of you, a final four team that returns six of seven, a team that won the Big Ten, you better really be spending very little attention on that, Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said. Its a nonfactor because of whats in front of us.A Wisconsin win would give Sheffield his 100th coaching victory at the school.After Minnesota, dates with No. 18 Michigan (Saturday) and No. 2 Nebraska (Oct. 21) are on tap.Nittany Lions back in the huntAlong with Wisconsin, the other undefeated team in the Big Ten is Penn State (14-3, 6-0), which moves up to No. 10 this week.The Nittany Lions dropped out of the top 10 after going 2-3 through their first five games, their worst start to a season in 36 years. Since then, Penn State has won 12 in a row, avenging last seasons loss to Minnesota when the Nittany Lions were the top-ranked team.Wednesdays match was a five-setter; Penn State trailed 11-3 to start but regrouped for a tie at 22-22. Fending off a pair of sets points, the Nittany Lions forced another tie at 24-24. Finally, kills by Simone Lee and Ali Frantti put Penn State on top 29-27.After Minnesota snagged the next two, Penn State dominated the fourth and fifth, 25-14 and 15-10.Lees 30 kills were the most by a Penn State player in the 25-point rally-scoring era.Coach Russ Rose credits part of Penn States improvement with solidifying its lineup, particularly at setter. Abby Detering and Bryanna Weiskircher shared time early; Detering has since earned the starting spot.Penn State pride kicked in along the way, too.We were disappointed in how we lost some of the matches earlier, Rose said. Were competing a little harder, and while that doesnt necessarily make you a better volleyball player, it makes you tougher as a group.Penn State showed off its versatility against Minnesota. Junior middle blocker Haleigh Washington logged a season-best 14 kills without an error to go with three blocks. Frantti had her second double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs; Detering had 61 assists and 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Heidi Thelen also had 14 kills, a career high, with five blocks.Freshman Kendall Whites 21 digs were a match high.The season is young, Rose reminded, and the Nittany Lions still have nine opponents in the Top 25 left on the slate. First up: No. 22 Purdue on the road on Friday.Not the usual suspects leading Pac-12 raceThe regulars are still in the mix in the Pac-12, but the top two spots belong to No. 13 Washington State (15-3) and No. 16 Oregon (12-3). Both teams are 5-1 in conference.Oregon had won 11 straight prior to losing on Friday to Washington. But the Ducks sit atop an unpredictable Pac-12 after sweeping a streaking Washington State team on Sunday.The Cougars have been the surprise team in the nation thus far, with wins over No. 7 Washington, No. 20 UCLA and No. 12 Stanford. They had won five straight and 14 of 15 prior to falling to Oregon.Dropping the first set 25-21, Washington State managed just 10 and 14 points in the next two, hitting a mere .056 for the match.We arent sneaking up on anybody, Cougars coach Jen Greeny said.Oregon coach Jim Moore was happy to see his team rebound so well after being swept by the Huskies.There was a different feeling before this game. We felt like we were protecting something, he said. We have to learn to be the top team. We have to stop wanting to be the underdog. We have to start accepting the fact that were good and people expect you to win.Four teams are tied for second place at 4-2 in the Pac-12, and one of them is Utah (13-4), which moves into the poll at No. 21. The Utes four-set victory over Stanford was their second in program history and first since 2000. The Utes have three wins over top-25 opponents. In addition to Stanford, Utah topped Colorado and Brigham Young in September.None of this is according to plan in the Pac-12. Washington State was picked ninth in the conferences preseason poll, Utah was eighth and Oregon was fourth.Stanford (10-4, 4-2) was picked to win the league and UCLA (12-4, 3-3) was second.Also in the Pac-12 last week, USC won its 1,000th program match with Fridays defeat of Arizona State. The Trojans are the 17th Division I program to achieve that feat.Gritty Baylor making a roar in Big 12Two seasons in, and coach Ryan McGuyre is making a splash with a Baylor program that continues to overachieve despite a plethora of injuries.After a 3-2 loss at Florida State a month ago, the Bears were 4-4. Since then theyve gone 11-1, a stretch that includes three wins over ranked opponents (Kansas State, Washington State and TCU). Prior to this season, Baylor had not upset a ranked team since 2012.The Bears are 15-5 behind a group that expected to be sitting more than playing, a plan that changed starting in preseason.A phone call from the Baylor trainer delivered disappointing news to McGuyre. Senior middle Tola Itiola would be out due to a knee injury. She was a big part of the plan, McGuyre said.So was 2015 kills leader Shelly Fanning, who is nursing a stress fracture in her foot.In the absence of Itiola, redshirt freshman Jaelyn Jackson anchored the middle and led the Bears in blocking, but then she was lost to an ACL tear sustained at Kansas State.That leaves Baylor with a reshuffled lineup that relies heavily on senior setter Morgan Reed and redshirt junior Katie Staiger, averaging a team-best 5.54 kills per set.Shes having an All-American season, McGuyre said of Staiger.No. 4 Texas awaits on Wednesday; the unranked Bears are 2-77 against the Longhorns. Texas has won 28 straight with Baylors last win coming in a five-setter on Oct. 27, 2001.On paper were the underdogs, McGuyre said. Were trying to play fast, trying to play aggressive. You have so many girls playing that were backups, and theyre cherishing the opportunity to play.Theyre surprising me. Theyre keeping the standards high. Theres no guarantee we win a match the rest of the year. The Big 12s tough, but we fight hard and things have been working out for us.Long Beach State unbeaten in the Big WestLong Beach State (12-7, 6-0) sits alone atop the Big West after Saturday nights defeat of then-No. 12 Hawaii in five. After trailing the entire final set, the 49ers tied it at 11-11 and pulled ahead behind a Hawaii hitting error and kills from Ashley Murray and Nele Barber.The 49ers won their sixth match in a row in front of 3,212 at the Pyramid, the largest home crowd in 15 years. It was teams first win over a top-15 opponent since 2010.The victory snapped seven straight by the Rainbow Wahine (12-5, 5-1) and was Hawaiis first loss in the Big West in 27 matches. The last conference opponent to beat Hawaii prior to Saturday? Long Beach State on Nov. 7, 2014.Tonight was what Long Beach State and Hawaii have been doing forever, 49ers coach Brian Gimmillaro said. It was great volleyball. What you saw is what volleyball is supposed to look like.Hawaii dropped from No. 12 to No. 17 in the poll; Long Beach State remains unranked. Lamar McHan Jersey . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Tom Owen Jersey . The Dane followed up his first European Tour title last weekend with eight birdies and just a single dropped shot on Thursday for a one-stroke advantage over South Africas Allan Versfeld and Portugals Ricardo Santos. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/custom-richard-dent-jersey-large-1548d.html .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Dave Wilcox Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Robbie Gould Jersey . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. LONG POND, Pa. -- Jeff Gordon had the inside line, a lead and his first win of the season in sight, usually a sure thing for Poconos top winner. Kasey Kahne was about out of time to pass his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. "It was either to go for it and make it work," Kahne said. "Or not." Cruising from the outside, Kahne got the jump he needed, zipped past Gordon and pulled away with two laps left Sunday to win at Pocono Raceway. "I about gave it away when Jeff got by me," Kahne said. Kahne recovered in the No. 5 Chevrolet for his second victory of the season, all but securing his spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He had the car to beat for the final half of the 400-mile race until a late caution bunched up the field. Gordon nudged past Kahne after some thrilling two-wide racing and seemed poised to win at Pocono for the seventh time. After the final caution, Kahne was simply too fast, too strong to be denied his first win at Pocono since 2008. So close to the checkered, this loss stung Gordon. Even worse, his runner-up finish came on his 42nd birthday in his 42nd career Pocono start. "I thought all I needed to do was get in here and got to the bottom and Id be good," Gordon said. "He got a killer run and blasted by on the outside of me. Caught me by surprise. It just kills your momentum." Kurt Busch, who also celebrated a birthday, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. The top five cars were Chevrolets. Busch helped out Kahne with one final push down the frontstretch to find some needed speed. "That was kind of the race at that point," Kahne said. "Once I cleared (Gordon) getting into two, from there it was just, dont make a mistake and try to run the quick lap on the last one." Kahne, Gordon and Earnhardt made it an outstanding race for Hendrick. Teammate and series points leader Jimmie Johnson was 13th after a blown tire knocked him out of the lead. Kahne had stretched his lead to almost 8 seconds when a caution for debris came out with 12 laps left. Gordon, who won at Pocono each of the last two years, was strong in the No. 24 and had the lead as he tried to extend his record for career wins at Pocono. Matt Kenseth spun with four laps left to erase Gordons lead and set up the thrilling finish. Gordon led again until Kahne ran him down with a hard, sweeping run past his teammate for the win. "We had them. We certainly had the position," Gordon said. "Im pretty disappointed I let him get inside of me on (turn) one.dddddddddddd" Kahne also won this season at Bristol. He jumped a spot to eighth in the points standings and need a win to make sure hed at least qualify for a wild-card spot should he fall below 10th place. Kahne was third last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and seems to be heating up with five races left until the Chase field is set. With two wins, hed also be closer to Johnson and Kenseth once the points are reset when Chase field is set. Kahnes 16th career win should make him a Chase lock. "The Chase is what its all about in NASCAR," Kahne said. "You need to make it." Gordon, who has six Pocono wins, finished second last week and has three straight top 10s to also position himself for a spot in the 12-driver field. He had won at Pocono each of the last two seasons. When Gordon leads late at Pocono, he usually wins. Just not this time. "Im frustrated right now because we had a shot at it," Gordon said. "We know how important wins are." Gordon hangs on to ninth in the standings, but could be out of a Chase spot if he falls outside the top 10 without a win. Johnson, who set a track record in qualifying, again had the dominant car for half the race until he blew a front tire. A week after a slow, final pit stop cost him a win at Indianapolis, Johnson was done in this time by a tire issue that ended his chance to win. Johnson, who won the June race from the pole, stretched his points lead to 77 over Clint Bowyer. Danica Patrick lost control of her car, triggered a four-car crash and was 35th. Kenseths late spin knocked him to 22nd. But it was that spin that made the difference for Kahne. He may not have caught Gordon without the final caution. "We had speed. I could move around," Kahne said. "But to actually clear him and make the pass, I think it would have been really difficult. Im glad that second caution came out there and gave us another shot." Kahne took a moment in Victory Lane to remember his friend, Jason Leffler. Leffler was killed in June on a dirt track in New Jersey only days after racing in the Pocono Cup race. Kahne and Leffler were friends and travelled together on the way home from the June race. "Just me and him," Kahne said. "We spent a bunch of time together and then that happened that Wednesday. It was tough. There are so many people that are good friends with Jason and knew him really well. I just wanted to mention something about him." ' ' '