Volleyball Thread

[Dr. Blackheart]

   

[StillAWarrior]

And, in a move that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, Shymansky was fired yesterday.

[Billy Hoyle]

And, in a move that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, Shymansky was fired yesterday.

he'll be hired by a SEC school soon.

[StillAWarrior]

Shymansky breaks his silence: 

"For the past month, I have cooperated with the University's request to remain silent regarding the underlying basis for my suspension. Now that I have been terminated, it is time to shed light on the details and end any wild speculation.

"I did not discriminate against, abuse or harass anyone — and there has never been an allegation of sexual misconduct against me. In an act of compassion, I advanced funds to cover a young woman's unanticipated summer expenses in 2017. She came to Iowa City expecting to be on full scholarship, but when that status changed, she had nowhere else to turn. I have prided myself on running an NCAA-compliant program. However, I understand that I didn't 'do it right' by NCAA standards in this one instance and I am prepared to accept whatever sanction is deemed appropriate by the NCAA.

"I was born and raised a Hawkeye and wish to stay a part of this great community. I know big things are in store for coach Brown and the rest of the exceptional young women on our volleyball program. As a man of faith, I humbly apologize to anyone that my actions may have negatively impacted, and look forward to the next chapter in my life."


Bond is a good coach and a good guy, I hope he lands on his feet soon, and expect he will.  I wouldn't hesitate to let one of my daughters play for him.

[StillAWarrior]

There's an interesting wrinkle to the UConn to the Big East story -- for me, at least.  One of the setters on UConn's roster is a local girl that my daughter has been playing against since they were little girls--CYO, HS and club.  They might get a couple more matches in 2020, coming full circle to end their careers.

[StillAWarrior]

MU volleyball getting a lot of love in the Big East Preseason rankings/awards:

Coaches Poll
1. Marquette (80 pts) (8 first place votes)
2. Creighton (73) (2)
3. St. John's (64)
4. Villanova (55)
5. Butler (48)
6. Georgetown (40)
7. DePaul (27)
8. Seton Hall (26)
9. Xavier (23)
10. Providence (14)


2019 Preseason All-BIG EAST

(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Anna Logan, Butler, R-Sr., OH
Megan Ballenger, Creighton, Sr., MB
Madelyn Cole, Creighton, Sr., S
Brittany Witt, Creighton, Sr., L
Brittany Maxwell, DePaul, R-Sr., RS
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH
Martha Konovodoff, Marquette, Jr., L
Hope Werch, Marquette, Jr., OH
Efronsini Alexakou, St. John’s, So., OH
Erica DiMaulo, St. John’s, Sr., S
Amanda Sanabia, St. John’s, Jr., L
Regan Lough, Villanova, Sr., L

POY: Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH

[StillAWarrior]

I think it's going to be really interesting to see how McLaughlin does at ND.  I would have to think that within a couple of years he's going to be in on many of the top players in the Midwest.  There is a lot of talent in Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.  I also think he'll continue recruiting out West and will be able to do it better than a lot of Midwest schools because of his contacts and the Notre Dame name.  Hiring Johnson from Xavier will give him some good inroads into the Midwest.  If he can take 1-2 top players from the Midwest each year and still draw using the ND name, coupled with his coaching skill, I think ND will be a top 25 team within a pretty short time.  The hire shows that they're committed to having a big-time volleyball program, and I think they'll be able to pull it off.

I was just looking through the thread for something and came across this old post.  It's a shame that McLaughlin had health issues and couldn't stick around long enough to see where it would lead.  He was heading in the right direction:

2014 RPI - 179 (McLaughlin hired after this season)
2015 RPI - 214
2016 RPI - 68
2017 RPI - 43  (McLaughlin retired after this season)
2018 RPI - 62

Obviously, the drop from 43 to 62 could be statistical noise and not any indicating of a post-McLaughlin slip.  It'll be interesting to see how they do over the next couple years.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Just turned on the PanAm games and Jenna Rosenthal is on the floor for team USA right now.

Didn’t expect to see that this morning.

[StillAWarrior]

Are those new jerseys this year?  I don't recall seeing them before.  Those are pretty nice.

[wadesworld]

Thinking about heading over to Tokyo for the Olympics next summer.  This should be the best shot at a gold medal the men's indoor team will have for the next couple Olympics with veterans like Anderson, Holt, and Shoji still being some of the best in the world at their positions and the younger guys now having medaled in an Olympics already (Russell, Sander, Jaeshke, Christensen).  I think the only thing the US lacks is a really strong second middle.  Jendryk is solid offensively but terrible defensively and Smith is just steady all around but not really the physical presence you need up front to keep blockers honest.  You also won't be playing in the #1 team's home country.  Right now I'd say it's 1A Poland, 1B USA, 1C Russia, 2A Brazil, 3A Italy.

Would try to get to a sand match and then the medal matches for both men's and women's indoor.  Hoping I can find a way to keep the cost down through some connections but we'll see what happens there.

[wadesworld]

MU has 2 matches tomorrow before a big matchup at BYU on Saturday.  It looks like Saturday's match is at 8:00 PM Central Time and will be streamed on BYUTV, which, at least for men's volleyball matches, is outstanding.  HD quality video from a good angle to see the whole court and all the action, plus they have (again, at least for the men's matches) 2 commentators who, while "homers" (in that they get excited for their Cougars), played and understand the game at a high level and give props to the opponent when due.  I will definitely be watching this one on Saturday.

They also play at Wisconsin on Thursday.

It looks like Marquette is scheduling very aggressively.  I don't know nearly enough to know what each of these teams brings back, but their non-conference schedule this year, along with the team's rank ahead of their name if they are ranked in the preseason poll, with last year's final RPI rankings is:

(N) Utah Valley - 92
(N) Boise State - 131
(A) 9 BYU - 5
(A) 5 Wisconsin - 6
(H) Syracuse - 36
(H) 20 Baylor - 17
(N) UCF - 10
(N) 6 Illinois - 2
(A) Illinois State - 29
(H) Green Bay - 127
(H) SLU - 192
(H) UNI - 13

Marquette finished last season 15th in the RPI and is ranked 16th in the preseason poll.  I'm guessing the aggressive scheduling is to make up for what might continue to be a pretty week Big East conference.  Creighton and Marquette are strong at the top and then there's a giant drop.  Stillawarrior can probably tell more about what returns/who might make a jump or fall off this year in the Big East.  Final Big East RPI rankings (with preseason ranking in front of the team name) from last season were:

18 Creighton 13
16 Marquette 15
St. John's 106
Nova 118
Georgetown 156
Xavier 186
Seton Hall 209
Butler 216
Providence 273
DePaul 276

That's pretty brutal, especially playing each of them twice.  So for Marquette they'll get their wins in conference play, but their RPI will take a hit due to the lack of strength in the conference.  So even if they lose every big game they play in the nonconference, it'll help them because their strength of schedule would otherwise be really bad without those matches.

It looks like the addition of UCONN might not help the Big East's women's volleyball much either, as they finished 147 in last year's RPI.

Other random observations/questions from the preseason top 25: can anyone beat Stanford come Tourney time?  I say no.  Big 10 with 5 teams ranked in the top 8.  Yikes.  Nebraska still at 2 despite losing Foecke?  They're always strong, but that's a generational talent on the outside.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Stanford is unreal. Don’t know how they weren’t unanimous no 1

[wadesworld]

Stanford is unreal. Don’t know how they weren’t unanimous no 1

Maybe Stanford's coach won't vote his own team number 1?  Not sure otherwise.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Easy W to start the year. Managed to play 13 people as well so they’ll probably be relatively fresh for Boise St. tonight.

Lines is legit, nice to have two go-to pin hitters.

[Mr. Nielsen]

This Thursday, Marquette is at Wisconsin on FS1.

[4everwarriors]

Tough kall der vs. GB/Bears, aina?

[Mr. Nielsen]

Tough kall der vs. GB/Bears, aina?

No problem for a multiple tv set up.

[wadesworld]

Also MU at BYU at 8:00 tonight on BYUTV. Thought it was only an online channel but just found out it’s channel 390 on Spectrum in Milwaukee.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Also MU at BYU at 8:00 tonight on BYUTV. Thought it was only an online channel but just found out it’s channel 390 on Spectrum in Milwaukee.

No, HD. Yet, it will do!

[wadesworld]

No, HD. Yet, it will do!

Ahh dang. The computer stream might be a better option then as that was always a great quality HD stream for men’s matches.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Holy sh!t....

Open the checkbook for Theis.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Impressive win for #16 Marquette at #9 BYU. Ended BYU's 26 home winning streak.

[wadesworld]

That was emphatic.  Interested to see how BYU does against Texas and Stanford.  I'd be surprised if they took a set off of either, their passing was bad and their serving was even worse.  But 25-12 is impressive no matter who you beat and even more so when it's in a place nobody other than BYU has won at in 26 matches.

Will be interesting to see how Marquette does at UW Thursday.  Playing in that environment tonight will help but I think UW is just a better team than MU.  If MU had a big setter and could run a 5-1 I'd be very excited about them.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Yea just rewatched it.

Lines is a stud, Haak was solid for Marquette last year on the pin, but she isn’t even in the same league as Lines.

So is Konovodoff, and the rest of the back row. Everyone knows of Mary Lake but I’d argue MK played with her, super underrated libero.

I’d say the one major problem with Marquette is the middle. Yea its probably the least important position, but Rosenthal probably makes MU a top-10 Team this year. Orf has improved a ton, but the block really isn’t good.

Normally I’d agree with you Wades regarding a 5-1, however, Marquette’s pins are so versatile I think the constant switching of positions and having three hitters up at all times works for the makeup of this team.

Hope the block improves, guess we’ll find out real quick how big of a problem it’s gonna be agains Bucky.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Holy sh!t....

Open the checkbook for Theis.

Lol. MU has lost three coaches in the past few months. BE Volleyball isn't keeping Ryan. MKE might.  Stan makes a ton more.

Congrats to MUVB!