OT--womens volleyball tournament

[nwhoopfan]

That time of year. I know at least a few others here follow it. Washington was in rebuild mode this year and didn't make the post season. Honestly can't remember the last time that happened. Otherwise looks like most of the usual suspects. A couple first round upsets already, two #7 seeds taken out. Western Michigan beat Auburn (I didn't even know they played volleyball at Auburn...) and Hawaii took down Iowa St.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Maybe I should walk that back a little. I didn't follow very closely this year. Seems like the SEC is way more represented than it used to be. If I counted correctly they have 8 teams in, and 6 of them are seeded. Including Auburn and Arkansas, who don't come to mind as volleyball powers. Georgia made the field as well. Maybe all that cash the SEC schools are raking in has trickled down to volleyball and there are more schools taking the sport seriously now.

 

[nwhoopfan]

But anyway you've got Nebraska, Wisconsin, Stanford and Texas all #1 or #2 seeds. And new powers Louisville and Pitt are top 2 seeds. They've been very consistent for 4 years now or so.

 

[LETTERL]

NC State's volleyball program has long been an afterthought in the ACC. In 50 years, we have won the ACC one time (1989) and have only made the NCAAT 3 times. This year, we had one of our best teams ever...beating #2 Louisville at home and finishing 5th place in the ACC...and for the first time ever, NC State received votes for the top 25 in the national NVCA poll for one week.

However, we were passed over for an NCAAT bid...but 6th-place Miami got a bid to the national tournament. Miami did win the head-to-head meeting between the two teams..and NC State had an inexcusable home loss to Boston College in a match NC State led 2-0.

Our coach, Luka Slabe, seems to have our program headed in the right direction and I'm hoping next year is our year.

 

[bballnut90]

#3 Wisconsin in my opinion is the team to beat. They look like the best team in the country with Anna Smrek back and have unbelievable size and physicality at every position. They are not the best passing team but are loaded.

#1 Nebraska is young but incredibly solid at every position. They could win it this year but I think they're a year away. Scary thing is that everyone comes back again next season. I think odds are we'll see Wisconsin-Nebraska in the title game once again this year.

Stanford is very strong and has their best shot to win since 2019. Kendall Kipp might be the NPOY (looks like a 2 person race between her and Sarah Franklin of Wisconsin). A lot of potential national team players but I don't see this team having quite the same tenacity and consistency as the 2 above.

Pitt has had a brilliant year and has 2 of the best freshmen in the country. I think they absolutely could play spoiler and upset Nebraska in the semis if they get there. Dan Fisher has been brilliant at Pitt once again.

Louisville again reloads and has been great this year. They don't have quite the same fire power and overall consistency they had a year ago with Chaussee/Lazaro gone but they're always tough. I don't think they can win a title this year but they could make the semis again.

Oregon is extremely good this year and has probably the best setter in the country. Excellent middles and a great RS as well. Their success hinges on their outsides ability to score points. I think they have a tough matchup with Wisconsin, but Oregon has the size to compete with the Badgers. I could see them pulling off an upset if they can push the match to 4 or 5 sets. If they get past Wisconsin, they absolutely could win it all.

Texas is also very physical and talented. I don't think they have the setting or pin hitters (aside from Skinner) to win a title though. Getting past Stanford on the road is also an uphill battle for them to get to the semis.

Kentucky is an interesting wild card. They started out the year horrendously going 4-7 but they've won 16 straight. They're strong at every position and could give Nebraska a tough match, but I think it's too much of an uphill battle beating Nebraska in Lincoln. I think they have a shot at pulling off the upset but it's a slim one.

 

[Plebe]

NC State's volleyball program has long been an afterthought in the ACC. In 50 years, we have won the ACC one time (1989) and have only made the NCAAT 3 times. This year, we had one of our best teams ever...beating #2 Louisville at home and finishing 5th place in the ACC...and for the first time ever, NC State received votes for the top 25 in the national NVCA poll for one week.

However, we were passed over for an NCAAT bid...but 6th-place Miami got a bid to the national tournament. Miami did win the head-to-head meeting between the two teams..and NC State had an inexcusable home loss to Boston College in a match NC State led 2-0.

This is a good example of why conference standings don't determine NCAA selection, especially in conferences with imbalanced scheduling. Miami played a tougher ACC slate, as they had to play Pitt, Georgia Tech and Florida State twice each, whereas NC State played each of these teams only once.

Miami also finished with 3 wins over the top 50 and 2 wins over the top 25, whereas NC State only had great win over Louisville.

It was a close call. Miami was one of the last 4 in while both NC State and Duke were among the first 8 out.

The only major injustice in bubble selection was how SF Austin got in over Kansas State.

 

[Plebe]

Maybe I should walk that back a little. I didn't follow very closely this year. Seems like the SEC is way more represented than it used to be. If I counted correctly they have 8 teams in, and 6 of them are seeded. Including Auburn and Arkansas, who don't come to mind as volleyball powers. Georgia made the field as well. Maybe all that cash the SEC schools are raking in has trickled down to volleyball and there are more schools taking the sport seriously now.

Arkansas and Auburn are both coached by former Pac-12 coaches (Jason Watson, formerly at ASU; and Brent Crouch, previously at USC). Arkansas last year made the NCAAT for the first time in almost a decade. This year they tied for 2nd in the SEC behind Kentucky and cracked the top 10 of the AVCA poll for the first time ever.

The SEC has now had the most teams in the NCAA tournament in each of the past two years. The times they are a-changing.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hmm, unseeded Minnesota "upset" #6 seed Utah St. Without knowing anything specifically about either team this year, that kinda feels like the committee was playing tricks here. There have been some really good teams from non P5 conferences over the years, but I'm not the least bit surprised to see Minny win, seems like kind of a gift seeding for a Big 10 team who was down this season apparently compared to their usual.

And it wasn't even close, 3-0 sweep -17 -14 -23.

Utah St. got swept by BYU, Texas A&M, TCU, Nebraska. Beat a REALLY down Utah team. Maybe only win of consequence was against Northern Iowa? Mountain West has almost no history in volleyball. The selection committee often does a terrible job, this looks like another case.

 

[nwhoopfan]

The SEC has now had the most teams in the NCAA tournament in each of the past two years. The times they are a-changing.

Adding Texas isn't going to hurt. I've lost track of coaching changes. Yeah, if you can throw around more money than teams in other conferences, eventually you're going to end up with a collection of decent coaches.

Hey how about ASU though, had their best season in forever this year. First year head coach after Tomasevich left.

 

[Centerstream]

I do enjoy watching a good NCAA Women's Volleyball match, especially during the Tournament.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well so much for Northern Iowa. #8 seed, lost to the aforementioned Miami (FL).

 

[nwhoopfan]

Look at Utah St.'s schedule compared to Hawaii. USU won a few more games, but Hawaii has a lot more wins against tourney teams. USC X2, Florida St., Pepperdine. 'Bows unseeded. How does that make any sense?

 

[Plebe]

Look at Utah St.'s schedule compared to Hawaii. USU won a few more games, but Hawaii has a lot more wins against tourney teams. USC X2, Florida St., Pepperdine. 'Bows unseeded. How does that make any sense?

Hawaii had 4 top 50 wins but none over the top 25. Utah State had 3 top 50 wins including one top 25 win. Not a big difference there. The RPI was very unkind to Hawaii. I think they were in the 60s or 70s and it was clear they had to win their conference tournament to get a bid, which they did.

 

[Plebe]

Hmm, unseeded Minnesota "upset" #6 seed Utah St. Without knowing anything specifically about either team this year, that kinda feels like the committee was playing tricks here. There have been some really good teams from non P5 conferences over the years, but I'm not the least bit surprised to see Minny win, seems like kind of a gift seeding for a Big 10 team who was down this season apparently compared to their usual.
And it wasn't even close, 3-0 sweep -17 -14 -23.

Utah St. got swept by BYU, Texas A&M, TCU, Nebraska. Beat a REALLY down Utah team. Maybe only win of consequence was against Northern Iowa? Mountain West has almost no history in volleyball. The selection committee often does a terrible job, this looks like another case.

Also, Minnesota was not that impressive throughout the season. 1-10 against the top 25 and they lost to both Maryland and (gulp) Rutgers. If you know anything about Rutgers volleyball, Minnesota is lucky they weren’t automatically disqualified just for that one loss.

Just because a higher seed loses to a lower seed doesn’t mean the teams were mis-seeded. That’s why they play the games. Sometimes one team gets hot or turns cold. You can’t made grand generalizations from a sample size of one or grand presumptions based on conference affiliation.

 

[donalddoowop]

Been waiting to see a TV schedule but have not seen one. I thought the tourney was to start yesterday.

 

[Plebe]

Been waiting to see a TV schedule but have not seen one. I thought the tourney was to start yesterday.

It did start yesterday. Today is a mixture of 1st and 2nd round matches. All these matches are being streamed on ESPN+.

You can see the listings here:

TV & Streaming Listings - Volleyballmag.com

volleyballmag.com

Click on the tab "NCAA Indoor" and then the date (December 1, for today).

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Been waiting to see a TV schedule but have not seen one. I thought the tourney was to start yesterday.

Almost - possibly all - streaming I would think, for the first 2 rounds. Regionals have been on TV, I think, ESPN family of networks as they like to say, for the last several years.

As someone noted above, Rutgers is awful. They were briefly respectable late '90's or very early 2000's, I don't remember exactly, but never good and awful since.

Arizona has the new coach and folks who follow more closely say it may move in the right direction, the retired David Rubio is apparently extremely pleased with his decision. Never a top program, but for quite a while could be expected to make the NCAA's. Hope it gets back there.

Yes, I'll watch games on TV during the tournament. It's been a few years since we used our season tix to see a match in person.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Hawaii had 4 top 50 wins but none over the top 25. Utah State had 3 top 50 wins including one top 25 win. Not a big difference there. The RPI was very unkind to Hawaii. I think they were in the 60s or 70s and it was clear they had to win their conference tournament to get a bid, which they did.

I'm just not seeing it with Utah St.'s schedule. What am I missing? Okay, a win over SMU.

Not that they're the ultimate authorities, but it looks like pretty much everybody on VolleyTalk called Minnesota over Utah St. Might be telling.

 

[Plebe]

I'm just not seeing it with Utah St.'s schedule. What am I missing? Okay, a win over SMU.

Not that they're the ultimate authorities, but it looks like pretty much everybody on VolleyTalk called Minnesota over Utah St. Might be telling.

VolleyTalk has a lot of power 5 (and particularly Big Ten) homers, so of course most of them (not everybody) picked Minnesota.

Again, Minnesota lost to Rutgers. Words can't describe what a bad loss that is. Minnesota seemed to hit a good stride in the last 3 weeks of the season, however, and gave Nebraska all they could handle in the regular season finale.

These games between the lower-seeded teams and the upper tier of unseeded teams, playing on a neutral court, are not far from toss-ups and can go either way. It's kinda like the 8 vs 9, 7 vs 10 and 6 vs 11 games in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. "Upsets" regularly happen, and some of them are even in lopsided scores.

 

[Plebe]

I'm just not seeing it with Utah St.'s schedule. What am I missing? Okay, a win over SMU.

Not that they're the ultimate authorities, but it looks like pretty much everybody on VolleyTalk called Minnesota over Utah St. Might be telling.

Speaking of Volleytalk, username "trojansc", the absolute supreme guru of bracketology there, projected Utah State as an 8 seed (and so would consider them slightly over-seeded at 6), and he projected Minnesota as an unseeded at-large team.

 

[nwhoopfan]

VolleyTalk has a lot of power 5 (and particularly Big Ten) homers

Big 10 homers on VolleyTalk?! No, that can't be true.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Well Pac 12 got thru the 1st round unscathed, Oregon already on to the 3rd round. Nobody has dropped a set so far. Well I'm a little ahead of myself but Wazzu is up 23-16 in the 3rd so I'm taking that to the bank.

 

[bballnut90]

Hmm, unseeded Minnesota "upset" #6 seed Utah St. Without knowing anything specifically about either team this year, that kinda feels like the committee was playing tricks here. There have been some really good teams from non P5 conferences over the years, but I'm not the least bit surprised to see Minny win, seems like kind of a gift seeding for a Big 10 team who was down this season apparently compared to their usual.

And it wasn't even close, 3-0 sweep -17 -14 -23.

Utah St. got swept by BYU, Texas A&M, TCU, Nebraska. Beat a REALLY down Utah team. Maybe only win of consequence was against Northern Iowa? Mountain West has almost no history in volleyball. The selection committee often does a terrible job, this looks like another case.

Minnesota was trash most of the year but found their stride at the end of the season. They're a team that has a LOT of talent but just hasn't had good chemistry which is a death sentence in volleyball.

 

[donalddoowop]

Well Pac 12 got thru the 1st round unscathed, Oregon already on to the 3rd round. Nobody has dropped a set so far. Well I'm a little ahead of myself but Wazzu is up 23-16 in the 3rd so I'm taking that to the bank.

You should be feeling good tonight. The volleyball and football teams from Washington won.

 

[Plebe]

Well Pac 12 got thru the 1st round unscathed, Oregon already on to the 3rd round. Nobody has dropped a set so far. Well I'm a little ahead of myself but Wazzu is up 23-16 in the 3rd so I'm taking that to the bank.

Well it's only five teams so not as many chances to get upset as other conferences

USC was given a gift by the committee to pair them against UMBC in the first round. If Skylar Fields gets like 40 kills and hits about .600, maybe they have a chance against Pitt tomorrow.

Arizona State at BYU could be a really good match.

I expect Wazzu to beat Dayton at home, but this could also be a good match.

I won't comment on my Coogs' chances of shocking Stanford tomorrow