OT: NCAA womens volleyball playoffs | The Boneyard
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OT: NCAA womens volleyball playoffs

nwhoopfan

nwhoopfan

hopeless West Coast homer
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We usually get a thread going for this at some point. Regional Finals happening today. Pitt and Kentucky have punched their tickets to the last weekend of the season, knocking out Purdue and Creighton. Remaining matchups today are Nebraska vs. Texas A&M and Texas vs. Wisconsin. Mostly the usual suspects. A&M is certainly not that though. Probably wouldn't call Kentucky a powerhouse, but they did win a Championship several years ago. Without a dog in the fight, I think I'm behind Pitt to break through and get a Natty. Pretty amazing how they came from nowhere to now being in their 5th straight Final 4.
 
I didn't follow much this year. I know Nebraska came out of the gate looking really good. I see they are undefeated and ranked #1, probably were wire to wire. So they must be the prohibitive favorite to win the whole thing, right? Uh...Texas A&M jumped out to a 2-0 lead against them. I know it's not over and I probably just jinxed it, but that is pretty shocking regardless.
 
Well, no surprise we're going 5. Set 4 was 37-35. Bunch of serving errors on set point for both teams.
 
Watched the very end of Pitt v Purdue last night and the last two serves to win the match were aces. Very impressive.
 
Wisconsin on the verge of taking Set 1. If the Horns prevail in this match, it will mean...no Big 10 team in the Final 4. Crazy! It would also be 3 from the SEC.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
A&M almost coughed up a 12-7 lead in set 5 but held on 15-13. That's gotta be one of the biggest upsets in history, right?
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Easily one of the biggest of all time. Only one that is comparable IMO is 2007 Nebraska getting swept by Cal, but that was on a neutral court and this was at home in front of an insane crowd. In women’s basketball terms this was comparable to 2017 UCONN/Mississippi State or 2013 Baylor/Louisville.
 
The Stanford WVB folks on my fan board report that Nebraska not making the final four is a huge upset. Pretty much everyone in my parts had pegged them as the going away favorite.
 
A Final Four with NONE of: Nebraska, Penn St., Stanford or Texas is quite rare.

Wisconsin and Pitt are new regulars, so that kind of balances it out a bit. Louisville had become a recent regular also, but Texas A&M knocked them out before taking care of Nebraska.

edit--if I looked at wiki correctly, it had happened 4 times prior to this season, since the NCAA playoffs started in 1981; think about that for a minute; vast majority of the seasons had at least 2 of those 4 teams in the Final Four
 
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nwhoopfan said:
A Final Four with NONE of: Nebraska, Penn St., Stanford or Texas is quite rare.

Wisconsin and Pitt are new regulars, so that kind of balances it out a bit. Louisville had become a recent regular also, but Texas A&M knocked them out before taking care of Nebraska.

edit--if I looked at wiki correctly, it had happened 4 times prior to this season, since the NCAA playoffs started in 1981; think about that for a minute; vast majority of the seasons had at least 2 of those 4 teams in the Final Four
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WoW! I kept checking the scores for the Nebraska/ A&M game and the Texas/Wisconsin game since they were the premier games being played. Never thought that Nebraska would lose though. It’s wide open. Kentucky is the highest ranked team remaining followed by Pitt, Texas A&M and then Wisconsin. Can the #3 seeds knock off #1 seeds, again?
 
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I'm going to add WCVB to my watch list next year, as it's much more entertaining than many years ago when you only scored points if you were serving. And oh man, the reaction reflexes of these players are insane.
 
BRS24 said:
I'm going to add WCVB to my watch list next year, as it's much more entertaining than many years ago when you only scored points if you were serving. And oh man, the reaction reflexes of these players are insane.
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Not to mention, there is a trend of daughters of former NBA and NFL athletes choosing this sport over basketball. Saw an IG post about it and was surprised by how many there are currently, like Garnett's daughter. There could be some interesting storylines depending on how their careers go.
 
cancontent said:
Not to mention, there is a trend of daughters of former NBA and NFL athletes choosing this sport over basketball. Saw an IG post about it and was surprised by how many there are currently, like Garnett's daughter. There could be some interesting storylines depending on how their careers go.
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Yup. And not to derail this thread, however we're seeing a HUGE increase in girls flag football here in FL, and n some areas, it's coming at the expense of soccer.
 
TheFarmFan said:
The Stanford WVB folks on my fan board report that Nebraska not making the final four is a huge upset. Pretty much everyone in my parts had pegged them as the going away favorite.
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I thought they were the best team I’ve seen since Penn State in 2008/2009. Elite All American players at every position, great depth and just destroying everyone left and right as the season went along. They had won like 69 of the last 70 sets they played and were breaking a lot of records and on track to be considered among the best teams of all time.

Knowing what know now, the Big Ten being soft this year did them no favors and likely made them look more dominant than they would have against better competition.
 
cancontent said:
Not to mention, there is a trend of daughters of former NBA and NFL athletes choosing this sport over basketball. Saw an IG post about it and was surprised by how many there are currently, like Garnett's daughter. There could be some interesting storylines depending on how their careers go.
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Jermaine O’Neal, former NBA player, his daughter played for Texas a few years ago. She’s a two-time National Champion and plays professionally. Some years ago, there was uptick in females gravitating towards volleyball instead of basketball. Don’t remember the reasons behind it.
 
TheGOAT23 said:
Some years ago, there was uptick in females gravitating towards volleyball instead of basketball. Don’t remember the reasons behind it.
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I think this subject has been discussed to great degree at some point on the website volleytalk.
 
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A&M swept Pitt to advance to the Championship match. Scores were fairly close. Maybe Pitt never will break thru to win a Title.
 
I was rooting for Pitt as I really enjoy watching Babcock, but A&M has been a machine these past two matches. Wisconsin/Kentucky certainly have their work cut out for them.
 
Kentucky beat Wisconsin 3-2.


All SEC Championship match? That makes me feel kinda weird. Come on SEC, volleyball was the one sport the rest of the country could have that wasn't yours.
 
Kentucky jumped all over them to start Set 1, but A&M stormed back to go up 1-0. Early in Set 2 now.
 
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