others dont have their own volleyball tournaments, sever

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Dino Babers has watched his winning percentage as a head coach drop nearly 6 percent during his first year at Syracuse. Hes still adamant the program is headed in the right direction, even after a lopsided loss on Senior Day.I think theyve written the introduction, this senior class, Babers said Monday, two days after a 45-14 home loss to Florida State, which is up two notches this week to No. 15 in the AP Top 25 . I think this program is trending up.Syracuse (4-7, 2-5 ACC) was trending big-time five weeks ago after Babers gave a stirring postgame speech after the Orange upset then-No. 17 Virginia Tech in the Carrier Dome. That win was followed by another, at Boston College, before reality returned.Syracuse has now lost three straight , outscored by 100 points, also beaten by No. 4 Clemson (54-0) and N.C. State (35-20) during the late-season swoon.Before Saturdays game, the school handed out bobbleheads honoring former Orange All-America Floyd Little, one in a long line of stellar tailbacks the university is renowned for -- from Jim Brown to Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis to Little to Larry Csonka, and so on. Then, with its offensive line banged-up and starting quarterback Eric Dungey out for the second straight game, Syracuse was outgained 654-233 and its run game was stopped again in its tracks, managing 37 yards on 35 carries.Syracuse enters the final week of its regular season ranked 122nd in rushing (ahead of only six other teams), averaging 109.7 yards per game and 2.99 yards per carry, a telltale statistic for the teams scoring woes.Even with Dungey putting up big yardage numbers earlier in the season, the Oranges up-tempo attack has had a difficult time scoring -- Syracuse ranks 112th, averaging 22.5 points. Before he was hurt in early November against Clemson, the Orange averaged just over eight points in the second half of seven games against FBS teams, failing to score in six of 14 quarters after halftime.The key to any football game is being able to run the football and being able to stop the run on the other side, Babers said. When you can do those things, you can always be consistent. You can write it down, its never going to change.Before the opening kick on Saturday, Florida State passed the eye test, especially on defense. The Seminoles had seven players on the line 280 or bigger, and 5-10 freshman Levonta Taylor was the only player in the secondary under 6 feet.Recruiting that sort of lineup is foremost on the mind of Babers, now 41-23 as a head coach.Its been my most challenging year, mainly because of the process and making sure everyone understands how difficult this was, Babers said. A lot of guys are not playing the positions they were recruited for. As this process moves forward and we start to bring more personnel in, I think its only going to get better, faster. It takes time.Were going to be back to where we need to be. Were trying to build this to last so that it never breaks down again.Dungey, sidelined by a vicious first-quarter hit to the shoulder and head at Clemson, and backup Zack Mahoney are the only ones listed this week on the depth chart for Pitt. Babers said Mahoney likely will be the starter and reiterated that he did not know if Dungey had received results of further tests regarding his injury.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 Travis Konecny Jersey . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . 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Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season. Soon, well find out exactly what the road to Columbus, Ohio, looks like. The NCAA volleyball selection show will air at 9 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPNU, and some teams already have their automatic bids in hand. But there is still a lot to be decided in this last week of the regular season.Pac-12 dramaIt seems a bit hard to believe, but UCLA -- the only Pac-12 volleyball team to win a national championship in the past 10 seasons -- has not won a conference title since 1999. That could change this week, but it wont be easy.No. 7 Washington and No. 8 UCLA are atop the Pac-12 at 14-4, with No. 12 Stanford at 13-5. They are the only teams that still have a chance to claim the league title or a share of it.The schedule has worked out quite well in regard to intrigue: UCLA faces Washington in Seattle on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network).The winner of that match moves into the drivers seat, but then both have to face in-state rivals Saturday in their regular-season finales. Washington will be at No. 25 Washington State, while UCLA will host USC. Meanwhile, Stanford finishes at home against No. 19 Oregon and Cal.The Pac-12 officially began conference play for womens volleyball in 1986. Stanford has won 14 league titles outright and shared two others. UCLA is next with six outright, but all of those came between 1986 and 1993. The Bruins shared the title in 1999 with Stanford. Washington has won three outright and shared last year with USC.Huskers look to close out strongReigning NCAA champion Nebraska is in the No. 1 spot in the AVCA poll for the sixth straight week, and the Huskers are in position to claim their second Big Ten title.Nebraska joined the conference in 2011 and won the Big Ten that year. Since then, the title has gone to Penn State (2012 and 13), Wisconsin (2014) and Minnesota (2015).The Huskers are 26-1 overall and 17-1 in the Big Ten, their only defeat coming at home to Ohio State on Oct. 1. Since that loss, the Huskers have won 14 matches in a row, losing just five sets in that stretch.The Huskers dont yet have the conference title wrapped up, though. No. 3 Wisconsin is 16-2 and No. 2 Minnesota 15-3. Nebraska plays at Minnesota on Wednesday and finishes at home Saturday against No. 18 Michigan. Wisconsin plays at Minnesota on Saturday.Jayhawks making historyThe Kansas volleyball program has been around 41 years. The Jayhawks had never won a conference title in either the old Big Eight or the current Big 12. But that changed Saturday, despite the fact that star Kelsie Payne was sidelined with an ankle injury.No. 4 Kansas beat Iowa State 3-2 and the Jayhawks celebrated clinching at least a share of the Big 12 title. The Jayhawks can win it outright Saturday when they finish the regular season at Baylor. Thats no gimme, though. The Bears are 9-5 and in third place in the Big 12.The Cyclones, now 8-6 and in fourth place, wwere coming off an upset against Texas the week before.dddddddddddd That outcome greatly helped Kansas since it was the Longhorns second Big 12 loss. But Iowa State wasnt able to overcome Kansas; the Jayhawks prevailed 15-9 in the final set.No. 5 Texas, which has won or shared nine Big 12 titles, took over domination of the conference when Nebraska moved to the Big Ten in 2011. Texas had won every Big 12 title since, five in a row, until now.The Longhorns still can get a share of the championship this year, though, if they beat visiting West Virginia on Saturday and Kansas falls at Baylor. Kansas and Texas split their meetings this season, with each winning at home.Mutual respectMissouri and Florida had a five-set duel Sunday, which was exactly what you might have expected from two teams battling for the SEC title. The Tigers won the final set 15-10, after which Florida coach Mary Wise -- disappointed as she was that her Gators lost -- sought out Missouri senior Carly Kan to give her a hug and congratulations.Kan had season highs with 25 kills and 21 digs for the Tigers, who defeated the Gators in Columbia, Missouri, for the third year in a row.So heres how the SEC race sets up in the final week: No. 23 Kentucky is 15-2 and has just one conference game left: Wednesday at Tennessee on ESPNU (9 p.m. ET). No. 9 Florida and No. 22 Missouri are both 14-2, while Texas A&M (which won the SEC title last year) is 13-3.Missouri (at Georgia, vs. Tennessee), Florida (vs. Auburn, at Arkansas) and Texas A&M (vs. LSU, at Auburn) have two matches left. So its still possible that the SEC could finish in a four-way tie for first.Tournament timeWhile the Power Five conferences and a few others dont have their own volleyball tournaments, several leagues do. Heres some of the more notable conference tourney news. Winners receive an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.Conference USA: No. 20 Western Kentucky became the first volleyball team to win three consecutive Conference USA tournament titles, defeating Rice 3-2 Sunday behind Rachel Andersons career-high 31 kills. Western Kentucky has won 21 matches in a row.Atlantic 10: No. 24 Dayton extended its winning streak to 19 by beating Saint Louis 3-2 in the Atlantic 10 final Sunday. Its the seventh time in the past eight years that the Flyers have won the conference title.Missouri Valley: Missouri State, on a 16-match winning streak, will be the top seed in this weeks six-team Missouri Valley tournament, hosted by Northern Iowa Thursday through Saturday.Big East: The four-team tournament runs Friday to Saturday in Indianapolis. No. 21 Creighton is the top seed; the Bluejays advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals last year. They are on an 18-match winning streak. ' ' '