I watched a bit of the matches off and on. I was really pulling for Utah. So close, but couldn't quite pull it off.
The Stanford-Wisconsin match was an offensive showcase. Both teams hit for high percentages from what I gathered. You never know with volleyball, but if Texas and Stanford both play similarly to how they played today, the Cardinal should definitely prevail.
I haven't seen Florida play at all this year. USC seems like a bit of a long shot but I didn't expect them to sweep Minnesota today either.
I'll be shocked if Penn St. and Nebraska don't advance, that would be a heck of a show down with those 2 in a semi final next weekend.
Yeah, I was pulling for Utah as well. Adora Anae is one of my favorite players to watch, and Utah has really come on strong in the past couple years. When they first joined the Pac-12, they were near the bottom of the conference. I like seeing new programs rise up and achieve success.
Stanford is an all-around better team than Texas, but Texas has amazing offensive weapons in Ogbogu, White and Nwanebu. Their passing and setting are just extremely inconsistent. If they pass well and their freshman setter holds her own, they can hang with anyone.
Florida has three great players: middle hitter Rhamat Alhassan, outside hitter Carli Snyder, and opposite Shainah Joseph. Alhassan and Snyder are likely to be First Team All-Americans. Florida is certainly beatable but when they're clicking, watch out.
Even though the committee seeded Kentucky #4 and they're hosting regionals, everyone seems to think Nebraska will roll them tomorrow. Certainly Nebraska has been impressive thus far, absolutely crushing Washington State and Colorado. It would be very hard to bet against them.
Nebraska has pretty much always been the team I've rooted against. But they are an outstanding team with a very balanced attack, and their combination of blocking and digging may be the strongest in the country.