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The Saint Louis volleyball team pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory when it stunned No. 3 Stanford in four sets Sept. 5 in the Billiken Invitational.

The following day, UC Santa Barbara coaching legend Kathy Gregory became the sixth coach to record 800 career victories when the Gauchos swept Utah State.

On Oct. 8, Lara Newberry, a senior libero at Tennessee-Chattanooga, broke the NCAA record of 2,791 career digs held by Minnesota's Paula Gentile.

Those are just a few of the highlights from the first half of the 2008 volleyball season, which unofficially began with August's Runza/AVCA Showcase in Omaha, Neb., and will end on the same court with the national championship at Qwest Center on Dec. 20. Here's a look back at the first eight weeks and a look ahead to the second half of the regular season.

Big 10

Top story: The word "dominating" does not adequately describe Penn State's performance during the first half of the season. The Nittany Lions are 20-0 and have not lost a set since last year's national championship match. Penn State could become the fifth undefeated national champion -- joining USC (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women champion in 1977), Long Beach State (1998), Nebraska (2000) and USC (2003) -- but the Nittany Lions have a chance to become the first to win a title without losing a set.

Penn State has won 46 consecutive matches since falling in five sets to Stanford on Sept. 15, 2007, at the Yale Classic. The Nittany Lions need seven more victories to surpass USC's NCAA-record 52-match winning streak.

First-half MVP: Picking an MVP from Penn State is almost as hard as trying to defend against the Nittany Lions, but the logical choice is senior outside hitter Nicole Fawcett. A three-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Fawcett averages a team-leading 4.74 points per game and 3.88 kills per game. She is second on the team with 422 attacks and has a .410 hitting percentage.

Looking ahead: PSU has already defeated second-place Minnesota on the road, but the Nittany Lions still have to play at the four other teams at the top of the Big Ten standings, including back-to-back matches at Illinois and Purdue -- which are third and fourth, respectively -- Nov. 15-16.

Pac-10

Top story: Last year, Cal advanced to the Final Four for the first time in the program's history. This year, the Golden Bears are trying to accomplish another first that is arguably more difficult: winning the Pac-10 title. Since volleyball became a conference sport in 1986, Cal has never finished higher than a tie for third. But after defeating Stanford at Maples Arena on Sunday for the first time since 1979, the Bears are off to their best start in the history of the program and stand alone atop the Pac-10 standings with a perfect 7-0 record.

First-half MVP: Cal sophomore setter Carli Lloyd leads the Pac-10 and ranks second in the nation in assists, averaging 12.07 per set. Lloyd also averages 2.24 digs and 0.21 service aces per set.

Looking ahead: No team has ever won a share of the Pac-10 title with three or more conference losses. That means the conference race will likely come down to a three-way battle between Cal, Stanford and Washington. The Bears have a paw up by virtue of their road victories over the Cardinal and the Huskies. With two losses already, UW faces must-win situations when it plays at Stanford on Oct. 31 and at Cal on Nov. 2. More than likely, a share of the conference crown will be on the line when Stanford makes the short trip to Berkeley on Nov. 14.

Big 12

Top story: After losing four All-Americans -- Christina Houghtelling, Sarah Pavan and Tracy Stalls to graduation and setter Rachel Holloway, who stopped playing for personal reasons -- 2008 appeared to be the season Nebraska would be knocked from the top of the Big 12 standings. But someone forgot to mention this to the Huskers.

Since defeating Stanford and USC in the Runza/AVCA Showcase on opening weekend, the Huskers have run off 16 more victories and have lost just five sets. Nebraska defeated its two primary challengers for the Big 12 title, Kansas State and Texas, in its first two conference matches and appears to be headed toward at least a share of its 11th Big 12 title in 13 seasons.

First-half MVP: Senior Jordan Larson is well on her way to becoming the sixth outside hitter from Nebraska to earn All-America honors three times. She averages 4.50 points, 3.81 kills, 3.03 digs and 0.37 aces per set despite being the focal point of every opponent's defensive game plan.

Looking ahead: The Big 12 championship will be decided Nov. 19 when Nebraska travels to Austin for a showdown with Texas. The Huskers are in line for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and will probably be sent to Fort Collins, Colo., for the regional at Colorado State University. The site of this year's Final Four is Qwest Center Omaha, Nebraska's home away from home and the site of its last national championship in 2006.

SEC

Top story: Two stories in the SEC this season have combined to make an intriguing race in the Eastern Division. Kentucky started its season with a 9-2 record during its nonconference schedule, and after winning its first six conference matches, the Wildcats were rewarded with their first appearance in the national rankings since 1993.

The second story is Florida's freshman class, which has lived up to its billing as the No. 1-ranked class by both Volleyball Magazine and PrepVolleyball.com. Three true freshmen -- setter Cindy Bathelt, setter/opposite Kelly Murphy and outside hitter Colleen Ward -- are making significant contributions, and redshirt freshman Kristy Jaeckel is leading the Gators in both points and kills per set. Despite having only three upperclassmen, Florida is 16-1 overall and 10-0 in the conference.

First-half MVP: With a pair of freshmen running Florida's 6-2 offense, the contributions of junior libero Elyse Cusack cannot be overstated. The Gators' All-American is averaging 4.37 digs per set and her passing ignites the attack, which leads the SEC with a .270 hitting percentage and 13.83 kills per set.

Looking ahead: If both teams continue their current winning streaks, Kentucky will get its chance to tie Florida at the top of the Eastern Division standings when the Gators visit Lexington on Nov. 16.

Missouri Valley

Top story: What does Wichita State have in common with No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Nebraska? They are the only remaining undefeated teams in Division I women's volleyball. The Shockers improved to 20-0 with a pair of victories last weekend and moved up two spots to No. 12 in this week's ACVA Coaches Top 25, the highest ranking in the program's history. It also is the highest ranking for a Missouri Valley Conference team since Northern Iowa was No. 6 on Sept. 15, 2003.

First-half MVP: Wichita State is led by junior outside hitter Emily Stockman, who averages 4.31 points, 3.69 kills and 0.30 aces per set. She is also second on the team with 2.86 digs per set. She was the MVP of the Washington State Cougar Challenge and the Wichita State Shocker Classic and was named to the all-tournament team at the Oklahoma Sooner Legends/Nike Invitational.

Looking ahead: Wichita State enters the second half of its conference schedule with a two-match lead over Creighton and Northern Iowa. Since the Valley began sponsoring women's volleyball in 1992, teams that have had at least a share of the lead at the midpoint of the conference schedule have won at least a share of the regular-season title in 14 of 15 seasons. The Shockers will play host to the Bluejays on Friday and travel to UNI on Nov. 15.

West Coast Conference

Top story: The WCC has three teams ranked in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll, but the team receiving votes -- San Francisco -- is the only undefeated team in conference play, with a 5-0 record, and has posted wins over then-No. 15 San Diego and at then-No. 18 Santa Clara. And with their 15-4 overall record, the Dons are on the verge of being nationally ranked for the first time since they were No. 24 on Sept. 29, 2003, the first and only time they cracked the top 25.

First-half MVP: Senior outside hitter Julie Rubenstein is ranked among the WCC statistical leaders in five of seven categories and has led Pepperdine to a 16-1 overall record and a No. 15 ranking. Rubenstein is ranked No. 2 in points (5.05) and kills per set (4.27), No. 3 in service aces (0.35), No. 9 in hitting percentage (.327) and No. 15 in digs (2.39).

Looking ahead: San Francisco will face a major test Saturday when the Dons play host to Pepperdine, and USF will play five of its final seven conference matches on the road, including visits to San Diego and Malibu. Pepperdine may have the more favorable schedule down the stretch, with four of five remaining matches against the other top three teams at home.

Western Athletic Conference

Top Story: New Mexico State joined some exclusive company when the Aggies swept Hawaii in Honolulu on Oct. 12. Since the Rainbow Wahine began playing in the Stan Sheriff Center in 1994, only 18 programs have won a total of 30 matches on Hawaii's home court and only 18 of those victories were in three sets. It was the Aggies' first-ever victory over a top-10 opponent.

First-half MVP: Since losing two of three matches to open the season, Hawaii has won 14 of 15, due in part to the emergence of sophomore setter Dani Mafua. She ranks 20th in the nation averaging 11.04 assists per game, while the Rainbow Wahine are fourth in assists (13.75) and kills (14.75) per set and 10th with a .282 team hitting percentage.

Looking ahead: While the Aggies may ultimately have earned a share of the WAC regular-season title with its victory over the Rainbow Wahine, the real prize will be handed out in November when Hawaii plays host to the conference tournament for the first time. NMSU has defeated UH two of the past three years, but Hawaii has a 20-3 postseason record at home.

Dave Reed is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.