Volleyball Thread

[wadesworld]

Side note, thank god it's not the Pac 12 stream tonight. That was rough to watch.

Agreed.

[Macallan 18]

So has order been restored to the men's volleyball world now that two Southern California schools are playing for the National Title? Somewhere Al Scates is smiling.

Any talk of adding an extra at-large to the tournament now that the Big West has an auto bid? Would have liked to see Hawai'i get a shot in the tournament considering they were the only team to beat the Beach this season. Although they didn't do themselves any favors getting man handled in the Big West title game.

[wadesworld]

So has order been restored to the men's volleyball world now that two Southern California schools are playing for the National Title? Somewhere Al Scates is smiling.

Any talk of adding an extra at-large to the tournament now that the Big West has an auto bid? Would have liked to see Hawai'i get a shot in the tournament considering they were the only team to beat the Beach this season. Although they didn't do themselves any favors getting man handled in the Big West title game.

They should've gone to 8 even before the MPSF split into 2 conferences in my opinion.  The current format of 7 teams is the worst you could possibly come up with.  OSU and Harvard would have had to win 4 matches to win the title while LBSU and BYU would've had to win 2 matches.  UCLA looked better from the bit I saw of their match with BYU than LBSU did in their match against OSU, but LBSU overall has shown to be the best team in the country so far.  It will be interesting to see what the crowd is like.  UCLA is at home, but it's not like LBSU fans have far to travel.  Hopefully both sides show up and they get some excitement in the building.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Would rather not see Speraw win, but UCLA serving so well right now.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Would rather not see Speraw win, but UCLA serving so well right now.

Said they, and now UCLA can't find the court from the serve to save their life.

[wadesworld]

Speraw is a pretty good guy. Too philosophical in his coaching for my personal liking but clearly a very good coach. Doesn't hurt that they sent some sweet UCLA gear my way for Christmas a couple years ago.

UCLA is far and away a much classier program. DeFalco is known to be as big of a d bag as you'll find in volleyball. Tuaniga can be obnoxious and most of the LBSU staff just make it worse. They used to run a program that I believe got shut down by USAV because of the antics of the club. Believe they were banned for 5 years? And then i believe they made a new one after that and it isn't much better.

Fun volleyball to watch though. Thought it was fairly clean, a lot of very impressive plays. Much better than the semifinals that I saw. UCLA needed to close out that fourth set. They had LBSU dead in the water. Once LBSU chipped away there was no doubt in my mind they were winning the match.

Ma'a is my favorite player to watch and Giymah is right up there. Missry has developed into a really good player from what was an all offense no defense guy in high school.

[wadesworld]

Also a friend of mine sent a job posting for the MU Director of Volleyball Operations job. I have no interest in it as I think it would be a huge grind for little pay, but it would be kind fun just to send in an application.

[Mr. Nielsen]

2018 schedule is not out yet, but I have the home part.

Women's Volleyball (Al McGuire Center - 15 matches)   
Friday, Sept. 7 USC 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 8 BYU 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9 Syracuse noon
Friday, Sept. 14 Wisconsin 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 15 Tulsa 1 p.m. & Illinois State 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 28 Georgetown* 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 29 Villanova* 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 3 Xavier* 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 10 Butler* 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 19 DePaul* 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 26 Creighton* 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27 Providence* 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 16 Seton Hall* 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17 St. John's* 6 p.m.

[StillAWarrior]

Friday, Sept. 28 Georgetown* 7 p.m.

At least for now, I plan to be there for the Georgetown match.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I haven't been back to campus since about 1992...way too long.  Looking forward to seeing the Al and all the other new facilities.  It's hard to believe McCormick won't be there.

My middle daughter and I are going to take a college visit road trip to correspond with the Hoyas at MU (and at DePaul the following day).  We'll visit MU, DePaul, Loyola and maybe one or two others.  Based on what she seems to prefer, I think my daughter will really like Marquette.

[rocket surgeon]

  So Wades, a few days ago you said they should go to 8 teams for the men's volleyball tournament  https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=42281.msg1021973#msg1021973.

   But back in 2016 Chicos already made that same suggestion, go from 6 to 8 and you killed him saying he wanted every team in, give everybody a trophy.  https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=42281.msg1021973#msg1021973

Looks like he was ahead of you by a few years.  🙂  When the Carolinas champ is included, it's a joke.  Leaving Loyola and Hawaii out so Kings College can play in this is wrong.  Open it up to 8 or 10 like Chicos suggested and now you seem to agree two years later....right?  Am I right?
   
  everyone is entitled to change their minds, but just wondering if you didn't like the suggestion because, you know, it was chicos and agreeing with him would be like cheering on the vermin, eyn'a?

[wadesworld]

  So Wades, a few days ago you said they should go to 8 teams for the men's volleyball tournament  https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=42281.msg1021973#msg1021973.

   But back in 2016 Chicos already made that same suggestion, go from 6 to 8 and you killed him saying he wanted every team in, give everybody a trophy.  https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=42281.msg1021973#msg1021973

Looks like he was ahead of you by a few years.  🙂  When the Carolinas champ is included, it's a joke.  Leaving Loyola and Hawaii out so Kings College can play in this is wrong.  Open it up to 8 or 10 like Chicos suggested and now you seem to agree two years later....right?  Am I right?
   
  everyone is entitled to change their minds, but just wondering if you didn't like the suggestion because, you know, it was chicos and agreeing with him would be like cheering on the vermin, eyn'a?

I would prefer 3 conferences and a 4 team Tournament. I would prefer 8 over 7. 7 is as bad as you could possibly make it.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

I would prefer 3 conferences and a 4 team Tournament. I would prefer 8 over 7. 7 is as bad as you could possibly make it.

Kinda surprised the B1G hasn't jumped on mens volleyball yet. I know there would be title IX stuff to deal with but it's a cheap sport, and there's plenty of talent across B1G country in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

[WarriorDad]

UCLA women I saw won the beach national title. 

MU needs to start a men's vball program before the Big Ten gets into this.  Only 4 or 5 scholarships, some pretty good in state players in Wisconsin, Illinois area, plus the ability to recruit from California, Florida.  Same reason as Lacrosse, but the costs are even lower and the opportunity is there.  No DI programs in Wisconsin.  The programs in Illinois are very good in Loyola and Lewis. Indiana has a few DI programs, and of course Ohio State.  That's it.  Ripe opportunity for MU to seize it.

Add women's golf, low cost sport, to equal out Title IX. 

[barfolomew]

UCLA women I saw won the beach national title. 

MU needs to start a men's vball program before the Big Ten gets into this.  Only 4 or 5 scholarships, some pretty good in state players in Wisconsin, Illinois area, plus the ability to recruit from California, Florida.  Same reason as Lacrosse, but the costs are even lower and the opportunity is there.  No DI programs in Wisconsin.  The programs in Illinois are very good in Loyola and Lewis. Indiana has a few DI programs, and of course Ohio State.  That's it.  Ripe opportunity for MU to seize it.

Add women's golf, low cost sport, to equal out Title IX.

Yes, I agree with this.
Men's/Women's vball seasons won't conflict for time at the Al, and not sure if they can or do run Men's/Women's golf events concurrently, but even if not, it shouldn't be huge extra cost.

[StillAWarrior]

Marquette is credited with the second best recruiting class in the Big East for next year...but way behind Creighton.

Creighton is listed as the 10th best class in the country.  The rich get richer.

Marquette is included among "Highest Honorable Mention" (placing them in the 31-55 range).  Here's the blurb:  MARQUETTE: Ellie Koontz, 6-1 RS, Academy of Holy Angels (Minneapolis, Minnesota); Claire Mosher, 5-10 S, Waterloo (Wisconsin); Katie Schoessow, 5-5 DS, Mukwonago (Wisconsin)

Villanova is the only other Big East team listed, in the "High Honorable Mention" (56-99)

This is all from PrepVolleyball.com, which is widely regarded as the top source for HS/Club volleyball.

[StillAWarrior]

Marquette was selected as the preseason No. 1 by the Big East Coaches.  Also, Allie Barber was picked as the preseason POY.  Rosenthal and Werch were also named to the preseason all-conference team.  Great recognition for the volleyball program.

Here's the MU link.  Here's the Big East link.

[StillAWarrior]

Marquette should be really, really good this year.  They lost almost nothing from last year's team -- just a DS/L (Geoffroy) and a part-time RS (Kastrup).  They're returning essentially 100% of their kills, 100% of their blocks, 99% of their assists, 87% of their digs, and 90% of their aces.  Overall, they're returning 99% of their points.  That's amazing, and pretty rare.  And they've got a couple solid freshman.  My daughter said that Marquette was, by far, the toughest team she faced last season...and they're all coming back.

The Big East coaches know what's up, and picked Marquette first in the conference.  The rest of the country will take a little while longer to come around.  Currently, Marquette is first on the "others receiving votes" list.  They'll be ranked soon enough.

[wadesworld]

Marquette should be really, really good this year.  They lost almost nothing from last year's team -- just a DS/L (Geoffroy) and a part-time RS (Kastrup).  They're returning essentially 100% of their kills, 100% of their blocks, 99% of their assists, 87% of their digs, and 90% of their aces.  Overall, they're returning 99% of their points.  That's amazing, and pretty rare.  And they've got a couple solid freshman.  My daughter said that Marquette was, by far, the toughest team she faced last season...and they're all coming back.

The Big East coaches know what's up, and picked Marquette first in the conference.  The rest of the country will take a little while longer to come around.  Currently, Marquette is first on the "others receiving votes" list.  They'll be ranked soon enough.

Didn't realize that Marquette was supposed to be this good.  Surprised they were predicted to win the BE over Creighton.  Creighton beat a top 5 team in Kentucky in their first match of the season but then got swept by Northern Iowa (who then also beat Kentucky) and lost a 5 setter at USC (ranked 7th in the country right now).

Marquette hosts USC and BYU next Friday and Saturday, respectively.  Nice home tests early in the season.  USC plays at Florida this weekend, so between Kentucky, Northern Iowa, and Creighton at home and then at Florida, at Marquette, and vs. BYU neutral their schedule is pretty dang tough early.

[StillAWarrior]

Didn't realize that Marquette was supposed to be this good.  Surprised they were predicted to win the BE over Creighton.  Creighton beat a top 5 team in Kentucky in their first match of the season but then got swept by Northern Iowa (who then also beat Kentucky) and lost a 5 setter at USC (ranked 7th in the country right now).

Marquette hosts USC and BYU next Friday and Saturday, respectively.  Nice home tests early in the season.  USC plays at Florida this weekend, so between Kentucky, Northern Iowa, and Creighton at home and then at Florida, at Marquette, and vs. BYU neutral their schedule is pretty dang tough early.

That is a brutal early season schedule; one that will get them recognition sooner rather than later.  By the way, don't sleep on Kansas State or Western Kentucky either.  Both are quality teams.  KState swept Hawaii twice this past weekend in Hawaii, and WKy has been solid in recent years.  Using the "Pablo" rankings (which I don't fully understand...but are widely respected and cited), WKy is 24, MU is 33 and KState is 66.  So, Marquette has a couple good matches this weekend before they play BYU (No. 9/Pablo 9) and USC (No. 7/Pablo 11) next weekend.

And Creighton is still a very solid team.  Marquette/Creighton will be 1-2 in the Big East.  I think it might be Marquette's year to get over the hump.  The rest of the conference will be fighting for 3-10.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Took care of business in their easy tournament, which is what good teams do. Brutal part of the schedule coming up though with USC, BYU, and Wisconsin being three of their next four matches.

[StillAWarrior]

Here are the rankings for the Big East recruits from Prepvolleyball.com.  As a reminder, Prep ranks the top 100 senior recruits by number.  They also list the "next 150" without ranking them which gets us to the top 250 recruits.  Finally, they list 35 "just missed" recruits.

The Big East seems to have had an off year in recruiting.  There were no ranked recruits to the conference this year.  Compare this to three ranked recruits last year (Creighton x2 and Marquette) and four ranked recruits two years ago (Creighton x2 and Marquette x2).

Here are the final tallies for the Big East as of right now (there are still a few "undecided" recruits).

Villanova (2) (both in "the 150")
Creighton (2) (1 in "the 150"; one "just missed")
Xavier (2) (1 in "the 150"; one "just missed")
Georgetown (2) (2 "just missed")
Marquette (1) (1 in "the 150")
DePaul (1) (1 "just missed")

Here's a description of Marquette's recruit:  Hannah Vanden Berg, 5-11 OH, Little Chute (Wisconsin), FC Elite – Marquette

And here are the last two recruiting years for comparison:

2017

Creighton (3) (42, 49 + 1 "Next 150")
Marquette (2) (86 + 1 "Next 150")
Villanova (1) (1 "Next 150")
DePaul (1) (1 "Next 150")

2016

Marquette (4) (39, 78, +2 Next 150)
Creighton (2) (98, 99)
Butler (2)
Xavier (2)
Georgetown (1)

[StillAWarrior]

Took care of business in their easy tournament, which is what good teams do. Brutal part of the schedule coming up though with USC, BYU, and Wisconsin being three of their next four matches.

That's a great weekend.  I totally agree that this was the "easy" tournament as compared to next week, but those are two nice wins for Marquette.  I'm really excited to see how they do over the next couple weeks.

[StillAWarrior]

The list already needs to be updated.  When I made the initial post, I had heard rumors from a reliable source that one of those "undecided" seniors would be heading to the Big East.  And just like that, it happens.

Georgetown's new coach is working hard to elevate the Hoyas in the Big East.  Apparently, they just got a commitment from the No. 33 recruit in the country.  And, she'll be joining her sister who transferred in this season from USC as a RS-Freshman (and who was No. 75 in 2017).  That's the highest ranked recruit in the Big East since I've been paying attention.

Here are the revised final tallies for the Big East as of right now (there are still a few "undecided" recruits).

Georgetown (3) (No. 33; 2 "just missed")
Villanova (2) (both in "the 150")
Creighton (2) (1 in "the 150"; one "just missed")
Xavier (2) (1 in "the 150"; one "just missed")
Marquette (1) (1 in "the 150")
DePaul (1) (1 "just missed")

Here's a description of Marquette's recruit:  Hannah Vanden Berg, 5-11 OH, Little Chute (Wisconsin), FC Elite – Marquette

[StillAWarrior]

The Big East coaches know what's up, and picked Marquette first in the conference.  The rest of the country will take a little while longer to come around.  Currently, Marquette is first on the "others receiving votes" list.  They'll be ranked soon enough.

Marquette entered the rankings at No. 25 this week.  Hopefully they'll have a great weekend against BYU and USC and solidify their spot and move up a bit.  But even if they lose those matches, they shouldn't fall far (if at all) and will work their way back in before long.

[Mr. Nielsen]

https://twitter.com/DanielleJosetti/status/1036694558896279552