THE EVE EDITION
FIRST BLUSH | THU OCT 8
Thursday turns first to a heavy college schedule, led by unbeaten #1 Nebraska’s trip to #15 Indiana, a program the Huskers have beaten 25 times in 26 meetings. Ranked volleyball fills the evening behind the Huskers.
Women’s soccer carries ACC and Big 12 weight. #18 Notre Dame hosts #14 Virginia after its first loss of the season, while #20 BYU takes a three-match winning streak to Morgantown for West Virginia’s annual Pink Match.
TNA’s final Impact before Bound For Glory takes over prime time in San Antonio, where M by Elegance defends the Knockouts Television Championship against Elayna Black without The Elegance Brand at ringside, and the Knockouts World Championship gets its last words before Sunday. The night ends in Beijing, where Zheng Qinwen faces #6 Elina Svitolina at 3:00 AM Friday for a place in the China Open semifinals.
#1 Nebraska at #15 Indiana
Nebraska takes a 15-0 record, a 4-0 Big Ten mark and the nation’s #1 ranking into Wilkinson Hall, against a program it leads 25-1 all-time; Indiana’s only win came in the first meeting, in 1978. The Huskers swept Penn State and Maryland on the road last week behind Harper Murray and middle blocker Andi Jackson, the Big Ten Player of the Week two weeks running. Indiana is 10-3 and 3-1 after pushing #7 Wisconsin to five sets from two sets down, then beating Rutgers.
EVE’s Edge: Nebraska in three. The Huskers have not lost a match all season and have swept Indiana in 19 of 24 Big Ten meetings since 2011. A loud Wilkinson Hall will push the Hoosiers, but Nebraska is too deep to give away a set two days before Wisconsin visits Lincoln.
#14 Virginia at #18 Notre Dame
Notre Dame has won the last two meetings with Virginia, the most recent a 1-0 win in Charlottesville in 2024, and the Irish come home off their first loss of the season, 4-1 at #1 North Carolina. They are 4-1-6 with six draws in 11 matches after being picked as the preseason ACC favorite. Junior Lily Joseph leads the team with six goals, and Izzy Engle, last season’s ACC Offensive Player of the Year, has three. Virginia is 6-2-2 and 2-2 in the ACC after a 4-0 rout of Syracuse.
EVE’s Edge: Notre Dame, 1-0. The Irish are 50-7-11 at Alumni Stadium over the last five seasons, and Sonoma Kasica leads the ACC in saves per game. Virginia will get its chances, but one goal should be enough for the Irish again.
M by Elegance (c) vs. Elayna Black
M by Elegance, the first Knockouts Television Champion, makes her second defense after beating Kiera Hogan in her first, and this time The Elegance Brand is banned from ringside. Elayna Black, formerly Cora Jade in NXT, earned the shot by winning a four-way contender’s match on September 24 and is chasing her first TNA title. The championship carries a 10-minute time limit, so on the last Impact before Sunday’s Bound For Glory in Tampa, one mistake can decide it.
EVE’s Edge: M by Elegance retains. Black will push the pace early, and M has no help at ringside this time, but champions rarely lose on the final show before a big event, and she has already beaten Kiera Hogan once with the title on the line.
#20 BYU at #16 West Virginia
BYU, the reigning Big 12 Tournament champion, brings a three-match winning streak and an unbeaten conference record to Morgantown for West Virginia’s annual Pink Match. The Cougars are 7-2-2 and 3-0-1 in league play after rallying past Kansas State. West Virginia is 7-1-2 and unbeaten at home, while BYU is just 1-2-1 on the road and opens a trip that continues at Cincinnati. The programs have split their two previous meetings.
EVE’s Edge: BYU, 2-1. West Virginia has the home crowd and the better overall record, and BYU has struggled away from Provo, but the Cougars have won three straight and have not lost in the Big 12. Expect them to hand the Mountaineers their first home loss of the season on Pink Match night.
Zheng Qinwen vs. #6 Elina Svitolina
Zheng Qinwen has needed three sets in three of her four matches in Beijing, most recently a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win over Alina Charaeva. Svitolina has taken the cleaner route, beating #21 Ann Li 6-2, 6-3 to reach another WTA 1000 quarterfinal. In their first career meeting, Zheng brings the heavier first-strike game and a home crowd, while Svitolina brings far more experience this deep in a big draw. The winner faces Iga Świątek or Elise Mertens in the semifinals.
EVE’s Edge: Zheng in three. Svitolina will try to drag her into long, physical rallies and make her pay for the week’s hard miles, but Zheng’s first strike wins enough short points to get through, and Beijing will carry her if it goes the distance again.
ELSEWHERE
#3 Louisville hosts California at 7:00 PM on ACCNX, while #7 Wisconsin visits #24 Illinois at 8:30 PM on BTN in another ranked Big Ten volleyball matchup. #17 BYU is also on the road at Houston at 7:30 PM on ESPN+, giving the evening a second layer of ranked volleyball behind Nebraska’s trip to Indiana.
Women’s soccer stays busy throughout the night. #2 Michigan State hosts Minnesota, #5 Alabama visits Florida and #8 Stanford travels to Syracuse at 7:00 PM. Later, #12 Texas Tech visits Oklahoma State, #6 Ohio State goes to Wisconsin, #7 Baylor faces #24 Colorado and #13 Washington closes the night against Iowa at 10:00 PM.
The rest of the Knockouts division builds toward Sunday as well. Knockouts World Champion Xia Brookside and challenger Indi Hartwell deliver their final words before their title match at Bound For Glory. Additional women’s appearances and segments may still be added before bell time.