Thursday went off without a hitch, with top seeds taking control of the day. Pool play paved the way for Bracket Play on Friday and Saturday. Let’s take a closer look at the pools:

Pool A: Defending Champion Texas A&M rolled out to a strong start, not dropping a set in Pool A. NC State edged out St. Louis to take 2nd place.

Pool B: Virginia had an easy day, while Texas Tech finished 2nd.

Pool C: Miami (Ohio) stepped it up in Pool C, taking all of their matches. Meanwhile, 2006 semi-finalist Villanova, and Pacific Northwest Champion Oregon finished 3rd and 4th respectively.

Pool D: Southern powerhouse Georgia breezed through Pool play, only losing 2 sets. Delaware was able to beat Harvard 27-18 to advance to silver.

Pool E: Perennial Gold Bracketer Michigan did it again without dropping a set. Simon Fraser took 2nd place.

Pool F: USC played well enough to take their three matches and advance. Meanwhile, Lehigh edged out Miami (FL) 21-18 to advanced to Silver.

Pool G: UCLA had no trouble on Thursday, as they easily advanced to Gold. UCF took 2nd place in Pool G.

Pool H: Intermountain Champion Colorado advanced with a 29-20 win over Wisconsin- Milwaukee who took 2nd place. VCU finished 3rd.

Pool I: After a tough 26-20 win over Western Washington, Florida rolled through Pool I. WWU finished in 2nd place.

Pool J: Southern Champion Georgia Tech got to a good start on Thursday, winning Pool J. Central Michigan took Silver with a 26-23 win over Oregon State.

Pool K: Minnesota and Texas battled it out in Pool K, with Texas coming out on top with a 25-17 win.

Pool L: Cal-Berkeley had an easy Thursday, losing only 26 games the entire day. Elon had a strong showing finishing 2nd.

Pool M: Southwest Champion New Mexico came up short against Virginia Tech, as VT took Pool M with a 25-14 win.

Pool N: Middle States Champion Penn State had a strong day, only dropping one set. Georgetown battled through to finish 2nd.

Pool O: Cornell survived against two tough squads in Alabama and Illinois. Illinois was about to beat out Alabama for 2nd place with a 26-22 win.

Pool P: Stanford was able to beat Midwest Champion Wisconsin 27-22 for the biggest upsets of Thursday. Wisconsin took 2nd to advance to Silver.

The toughest pool had to have been Pool O, where no teams won in straight sets, and every team won at least 12 games per match. Pool play provided a great test for top teams in preparing for the next round.