Sterling’s Bree Borum and Lexi Rodriguez, Rock Falls’ Maya Sands set for NCAA volleyball tournament

College volleyball

Three Sauk Valley natives to watch at NCAA tournament: Three Sauk Valley-area natives are set to compete in the NCAA women’s volleyball championships, which start Thursday. Sterling High School grads Bree Borum (Loyola Chicago) and Lexi Rodriguez (Nebraska), and Rock Falls grad Maya Sands (Missouri) are all key pieces on their respective teams.

Borum, a senior at Loyola, joins the Atlantic 10-champion Ramblers (21-11, 13-5 A-10) to face fifth-seeded BYU (19-9, 12-6 Big 12) at 2:30 p.m Thursday. Borum was named the A-10 Setter of the Year for the third straight season. She was also a first-team All-Atlantic 10 and All-Academic Team selection. She had four triple-doubles this season and 19 double-doubles, eclipsing 1,000 career digs and 3,000 career assists.

Rodriguez, a senior at Nebraska, joins the No. 1-seeded Cornhuskers (29-2, 19-1 Big Ten) to face Florida A&M (27-6, 16-0 SWAC) at 7 p.m. Friday. The Big Ten champions and last year’s NCAA runners-up are the No. 2 overall seed and will host the first two rounds Friday and Saturday. Pittsburgh is the No. 1 overall seed. Rodriguez is one of the team’s leaders at libero this season as a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and three-time American Volleyball Coaches Associaton All-American.

Sands, a junior at Missouri, joins the No. 7-seeded Tigers (20-8, 11-5 SEC) against Texas State (22-8, 13-3 Sun Belt) in the first round at noon Thursday. She was named the Southeastern Conference Libero of the Year and an All-SEC first-team selection for the Tigers for the second straight year.

Thursday’s first-round matches can be streamed on ESPN+.

In the National Invitational Volleyball Championships, outside hitter Brook Borum plays for the tournament host Virginia Cavaliers (21-10), which have a first-round bye. They play the winner of Saturday’s match between North Carolina A&T and St. John’s at 6 p.m. Sunday. More information can be found at womensnivc.com. It is UVA’s first postseason appearance of any kind since 1999 and just its third overall. Brook is third on the team in kills with 228 (2.05 kills per set) and second in digs with 260 (2.34 per set).