OT: - NCAA Womens Volleyball Regional Semifinals 12-6 ESPNU | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: NCAA Womens Volleyball Regional Semifinals 12-6 ESPNU

Stanford sweeps Texas.

I can already hear all the Big 10 fans claiming the Penn St.-Nebraska semi final is the "real championship match."
 
nwhoopfan said:
Stanford sweeps Texas.

I can already hear all the Big 10 fans claiming the Penn St.-Nebraska semi final is the "real championship match."
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I think most of them respect (fear) Stanford because of what happened last year. Stanford beat #3 Wisconsin and #2 Minnesota on the way to the title. And Stanford has almost the entire team back from last year.

Florida? Not as much respect there.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Stanford sweeps Texas.

I can already hear all the Big 10 fans claiming the Penn St.-Nebraska semi final is the "real championship match."
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I don't think anyone really thinks that. Stanford looks like the best team in the country at this point with Plummer killing everything and Hentz digging everything. I think they sweep Florida in the semis-- Stanford matches up better at most positions and is more consistent.

Penn State/Nebraska should be a heck of a match up though. Nebraska beat Penn State with ease in the first meeting and has had Penn State's number more than anyone else over the last several years. That said, Penn State on paper looks more formidable with Washington/Lee being so terminal and other strong contributors like Frantti, Detering and Thelen who can have big nights. I think Nebraska runs a cleaner system in a 5-1 with Hunter and 2 outsides that play all around. There are more inconsistencies in a 6-2 and I don't think either of Penn State's setters do as good of a job as Hunter. Penn State will be more prone to getting rattled and could self destruct. I don't see that happening with Nebraska. Could go either way, but I think

If it's Stanford/Penn State in the finals, I think Stanford wins. They aren't losing 3x in the same year to Penn State and I don't think Penn State can stop Plummer.

If it's Stanford/Nebraska, I think Nebraska takes it all.

If it's Florida in the finals, Big 10 gets another trophy.
 
Plebe said:
And Stanford has almost the entire team back from last year.
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Inky Ajanaku was pretty much irreplaceable, although Stanford obviously had a fine season without her. I always secretly suspected those smart kids at Stanford figured out a way to clone Foluke Akinradewo and brought her back as Inky.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Inky Ajanaku was pretty much irreplaceable, although Stanford obviously had a fine season without her. I always secretly suspected those smart kids at Stanford figured out a way to clone Foluke Akinradewo and brought her back as Inky.
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Very similar players. Foluke was more dynamic as a hitter but Inky was the stronger blocker IMO. Her replacement, Alade, has been fantastic.
 
Yeah Stanford keeps finding those long, lanky MBs that can jump out of the gym.
 
.-.
Looking like Nebraska is going to cruise to a National Title, up 2-0 against Florida.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Looking like Nebraska is going to cruise to a National Title, up 2-0 against Florida.
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Nebraska will go down as the luckiest champion ever. Penn State had match point on them in set 4 of the semifinal, and had a transition opportunity on that match point, but the setter flukishly was tripped by her teammate on the way to set the ball.
 
Plebe said:
Nebraska will go down as the luckiest champion ever. Penn State had match point on them in set 4 of the semifinal, and had a transition opportunity on that match point, but the setter flukishly was tripped by her teammate on the way to set the ball.
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I wasn't planning on watching that match, but tuned in during the 3rd set. That was a really entertaining, back and forth match w/ some high level of play. Yeah, that one is gonna haunt PSU for a while. Hard to believe they've lost 7 straight matches to Nebraska.

Stanford was pretty disappointing in the second semifinal. Woke up after the 2nd set and forced it to 5, but they were just horrible in the 5th set.
 
Plebe said:
Nebraska will go down as the luckiest champion ever. Penn State had match point on them in set 4 of the semifinal, and had a transition opportunity on that match point, but the setter flukishly was tripped by her teammate on the way to set the ball.
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I thought they were clearly the better team against Penn State. I thought Penn State was very lucky to pull out sets 2 and 3.....that was a very lucky play though on match point. Nebraska might be the first champion to win it all after facing match point in the tournament. I normally don't love the Huskers, but it was hard not to root for them this tournament. They played by far the strongest volleyball of anyone in the tournament. Their passing, defense and setting were outstanding.

Tonight was kind of an underwhelming title game which didn't have any close sets (very unlike the epic semifinals), but happy for the Huskers. I loved Alhassan for Florida, but I wish it was Nebraska vs. Stanford....it would've been a better matchup IMO. Stanford played some pretty bad volleyball on Thursday and really struggled at the end. As always I'm sad to see volleyball end, long offseason ahead.
 
bballnut90 said:
I thought they were clearly the better team against Penn State. I thought Penn State was very lucky to pull out sets 2 and 3.....that was a very lucky play though on match point. Nebraska might be the first champion to win it all after facing match point in the tournament. I normally don't love the Huskers, but it was hard not to root for them this tournament. They played by far the strongest volleyball of anyone in the tournament. Their passing, defense and setting were outstanding.

Tonight was kind of an underwhelming title game which didn't have any close sets (very unlike the epic semifinals), but happy for the Huskers. I loved Alhassan for Florida, but I wish it was Nebraska vs. Stanford....it would've been a better matchup IMO. Stanford played some pretty bad volleyball on Thursday and really struggled at the end. As always I'm sad to see volleyball end, long offseason ahead.
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With Nebraska, it seems like they never win it all in the years when they are heavily favored (such as last year), but they find a way to win when they're either the underdog or considered one among several equal contenders (such as this year).

In any event, they were the best team for the last two months of the season and the best team won. Congrats to Husker Nation.

Now I get to go back to making fun of their basketball team :)
 
Plebe said:
With Nebraska, it seems like they never win it all in the years when they are heavily favored (such as last year), but they find a way to win when they're either the underdog or considered one among several equal contenders (such as this year).

In any event, they were the best team for the last two months of the season and the best team won. Congrats to Husker Nation.

Now I get to go back to making fun of their basketball team :)
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It is strange how they almost always falter when they're the heavy favorite....most people thought they'd win it in 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2016. Each of those years they had full rosters coming back from a championship team or a #1 seeded team and each year there was lots of talk about them going undefeated. Every one of those years they ended the season short of expectations, and in each of those losses they were swept.
 
.-.
'05 was sweet! I don't think very many people understood how good UW was that year. They whooped Nebraska, and it wasn't a fluke. Might be the only Championship the Huskies ever win, but at least they have that. I joined probably a couple hundred people on campus that were waiting to welcome the team back, that was a pretty cool experience.
 
One more thing, I saw a report that Mick Haley won't be returning as USC's coach next season. W/ Dunning retiring last year and now Haley, the Pac 12 lost a couple coaching icons.


edited--perused volleytalk...sounds like it was not Haley's choice to leave. His contract was expiring and was not renewed. Also sounds like USC took the low road. Didn't let Haley announce he was leaving, and choosing to do it on the same day as the National Championship match, questionable.
 
Last edited:
nwhoopfan said:
You were too quick, I was just editing my prior post.
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Sad way to see him go out. Mick wasn't my favorite coach but I give him huge props for consistently fielding Final Four contending teams and for adjusting his coaching tactics and style of play over the years. USC's dreadful moonball offense back in 2014 led them to a 16-16 record...the following year after having multiple top 10 recruits transfer out, he dumped the slow system and went with a faster system for the first time and it resulted in the #1 overall seed and a near Final Four berth. He also completely changed his demeanor on the sidelines and it paid dividends. Hope he finds an opportunity with another program if he's still wanting to coach. He deserved to go out on his terms, especially after the job he did this year at USC.
 
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