NCAA womens volleyball playoffs

[TheFarmFan]

Jaela Auguste, the freshman middle for Florida, is a player I watched in high school and am very impressed by. I believe she won SEC FOY this year? Between her and Stuckey and Martin, I find Florida easy to root for.

 

[bballnut90]

I am and have been for many years, a Penn State fan.

I’m thrilled to see them back as a title contender after this past decade of declining play. Their coach was considered to be an underwhelming hire to take over for Russ and she’s done an outstanding job. Going way back, they had many brilliant teams in the 90s and their teams in the late 00s are the best of all time and played in some of the best matches of all time.

 

[donalddoowop]

I’m thrilled to see them back as a title contender after this past decade of declining play. Their coach was considered to be an underwhelming hire to take over for Russ and she’s done an outstanding job. Going way back, they had many brilliant teams in the 90s and their teams in the late 00s are the best of all time and played in some of the best matches of all time.

It was the late 00s when I started liking them. They reminded me of the volleyball version of UConn WBB.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Starting up again tonight, Regional Semis. Pitt beat Oregon, Kentucky beat Missouri. Stanford up 2-1 against Florida.

I watched a few minutes of that current match. The commentators said something along the line of Coach Hambly doesn't care how many service errors his team has (they have WAY more than their opponents this year). He claims he's never seen a metric that convinces him service errors hurt. He'd much rather have his team trying to serve tough.

He may be right. Service errors drive me nuts when I'm watching, but I realize you can't serve lollipops so you are going to have some errors. I thought it was interesting.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Stanford wins 3-1. All chalk so far today.

 

[nwhoopfan]

No 3 Peat for Texas. Creighton beat them 3-1. Jays were higher seeded (#2 vs. #3), but still kind of a surprise?

Regional Finals are:

Pitt vs. Kentucky
Louisville vs. Stanford
Penn St. vs. Creighton

2 more matches tonight to determine the other match up. Although if it's not Nebraska vs. Wisconsin it will be shocking, not giving Dayton or Texas A&M much of a chance.


So it's looking like some of the old powerhouses, and a few new powerhouses, and one interloper.

 

[nwhoopfan]

So...Big 10 solidarity is NOT a thing apparently. Fans in Lincoln are firmly behind Texas A&M, not Wisconsin. Very tight match, it's in the 5th set about halfway thru and Badgers lead by 2. Aggies have been giving Bucky all they want and then some.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Whoa! Wisconsin ran out to an 11-6 lead, now only up 13-12. This is a good match.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Badgers escape 15-13. Logan Lednicky had a heck of a match for A&M.

 

[Plebe]

I normally root for Texas volleyball, but I'm really happy to see Creighton make their run. They've had some disappointing early exits in recent years and they're about to graduate some very key seniors in Kendra Wait and Norah Sis. KBB has long been rumored for just about every big coaching vacancy, but I'm hoping she stays with the Jays.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Nebraska won last night, but Dayton did take a set off them.

Pitt swept Kentucky to advance to the Final 4 for the 4th year in a row. Set 1 and 2 were extremely tight, Panthers pulled away to win comfortably in Set 3.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Louisville 3-1 over Stanford. Next up Pitt in a semifinal. Those 2 are probably getting sick of playing each other, but one of them will get a chance to win a Championship. Other semi could be Big 10 vs. Big 10 unless Creighton pulls a shocker.

 

[Plebe]

Louisville 3-1 over Stanford. Next up Pitt in a semifinal. Those 2 are probably getting sick of playing each other, but one of them will get a chance to win a Championship. Other semi could be Big 10 vs. Big 10 unless Creighton pulls a shocker.

I really wish the Louisville-Pitt and/or Penn State-Nebraska matchups wouldn't have to happen before the final.

 

[blkknight1]

It kinda sucks that the vast majority of volleyball power is concentrated in such a small place that you see the elite matches multiple times a year. I was hoping to see the SEC challenge some of that B10 supremacy.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Nebraska swept Wisconsin. Only 1 spot in the Final 4 remaining to be decided.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It kinda sucks that the vast majority of volleyball power is concentrated in such a small place that you see the elite matches multiple times a year. I was hoping to see the SEC challenge some of that B10 supremacy.

While the teams still standing at the end seem like the usual suspects (although go back 5 years ago or so and who would've thought Pitt and Louisville would be included in that group), I think parity is creeping into wvb. A lot of the matches were close, even starting in the second round. Used to be the powerhouses could sleepwalk straight into the Final 4 or at least the Regional Final many years. Those days are thankfully gone I think.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Couple of interesting tidbits. Penn St. and Creighton have never faced each other before. Hard to believe.

I knew it's been a while since Penn St. had reached the Final 4. Last time was 2017. That's a little longer than I thought. Creighton has never been, they have one previous Regional Final appearance.

 

[Plebe]

Bummed for Creighton, they let set 3 slip away and then just couldn't get anything going in set 5.

Creighton lost only 3 matches, each in 5 sets, in true road games at the gym of 3 of the 4 top teams in the country.

 

[bballnut90]

Rooting for a Louisville/Penn State final. Would guarantee a women coached team wins a championship which has never happened in the history of the sport.

 

[Plebe]

Rooting for a Louisville/Penn State final. Would guarantee a women coached team wins a championship which has never happened in the history of the sport.

Nothing against DBK but I don't like that a team gets to play a Final Four in its home arena. Louisville could win the entire tournament without ever leaving home.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Louisville up 2-1 vs. Pitt. Set 3 was a battle, Cards took it 29-27, had to stave off I believe 4 set points.

UL was up early in Set 4 but Anna DeBeer got hurt and had to be helped off the court. We'll see how that effects the outcome.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Louisville ran away with Set 4 after DeBeer had to leave.

Once again not Pitt's year. Wisconsin had to knock on the door for a long time before they finally got one, so maybe the Panthers will get it done eventually.

 

[bballnut90]

Louisville ran away with Set 4 after DeBeer had to leave.

Once again not Pitt's year. Wisconsin had to knock on the door for a long time before they finally got one, so maybe the Panthers will get it done eventually.

I think they have a great shot next year with Stafford/Babcock back. Babcock is unreal and should win POY this season, Stafford is probably the best returning player next season after Olivia. They just need to pick a good transfer setter and they'll be great again.

 

[bballnut90]

Maybe the most insane semifinal matches of all time. Just wow. Pitt/Louisville was an absolutely great match with brilliant play from both sides. Penn State/Nebraska was more of a slug fest but insanely competitive and Penn State was dead in the water but found a way to win. Incredible day of volleyball. Both underdogs won and we are guaranteed the first female head coach to win a championship.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Whoa! It was 2-0 Nebraska, I forgot to check back in and see the result.

So the much anticipated Pitt vs. Nebraska title match turned into Louisville vs. Penn St.