The 16 remaining teams in college volleyball asked us to “hold that thought” a week ago tomorrow. Tonight, the conversation begins anew, as 16 become 8.
It’s unfortunate, but the match I’m most eager to see, Wichita State vs. USC, is on at the exact wrong time for me to watch more than one other match to its entirety (unless WSU/USC is over really quickly). I’m still gonna watch it, it’s just a shame that it can’t be in the leadoff slot instead of the BYU/Oregon or Kentucky/Penn State matches that I don’t care nearly as much about. And the hotly anticipated BYU Hawaii/Concordia St. Paul match in D-II is also on at that same time. My screen will be crowded!
Last week’s webcasts were carried by the NCAA itself. Tonight the broadcaster is ESPN3 via their WatchESPN website. I can’t believe I only found this thing a few weeks ago. It’s basically taken over for Netflix at my house. Almost any live sporting event carried on any of the family of networks (there are occasional exceptions) is made available there for on-demand streaming after it ends, and about half of them are free live streams, too. It’s not just the ones that carry the ‘ESPN3’ branding that stream for free (that branding is used only on events exclusive to webcast), but regular ESPN and even ESPNU events are sometimes streamed free. And I promise I’m not getting anything out of shilling it like this, it’s just straight-up a fantastic site.
I figure I might as well get my first look at Penn State for this tournament, so I’ll watch the first set and change of UK/PSU. It looked like Kentucky came out with a few jitters. At the beginning of the first set, Penn State’s big hitters Ariel Scott, Deja McClendon, and Megan Courtney could do no wrong. Kentucky’s first two points came on service errors, and at 5-2 it looked like a mismatch on the court. But the Wildcats stayed tenacious, and sort of figured out that Penn State’s block wasn’t really there. Alexandra Morganand Whitney Billings scored repeated kills, excelling on their favorite, the slide play. The ‘cats actually ran out to a 13-9 advantage before the Nittany Lions started eating into it. It was 15-13 Kentucky at the automatic timeout.
A close line/out call went Penn State’s way for a Kentucky hitting error to tie the match at 17. Katie Slay‘s kill (Slay’s kill…I slay me!) off the quick set put the Nittany Lions back on top by a point, prompting Kentucky’s timeout. Just two points later, Kentucky burned their second timeout, after a kill off Scott’s hand that wound up about 20 rows deep in the stands. Scott’s sixth kill of the set ended a very long rally on the first point after the timeout to put the Nittany Lions up by four. They closed out the set 25-18 on a Wildcat hitting error that the Nittany Lion back row almost played anyway.
The second set was pretty boring for starters (I think it actually put me to sleep for a moment….long day at work). Mostly just sideout after sideout until Penn State ran off three straight points to go up 14-11. It seems the automatic timeout occurred there, as ESPN’s graphics didn’t indicate the timeout was charged to either side. Kentucky closed it to within one, but did not draw even again. At 18-15, it looked for all the world like Kentucky would get a sideout on a Penn State blocking error, but the ball was called in, prompting their timeout. That margin stayed mostly the same to Penn State’s 25-21 second set win.
Looks like Penn State is solidly, if marginally, the better team. I don’t mind turning away for USC/Wichita State.
Unlike Kentucky over in West Lafayette, the Shockers didn’t look like they came out intimidated in the slightest. They came out swinging and blocking effectively, running the middle just as effectively as they did last weekend. Incidentally, I dropped Wichita State coach Chris Lamb a congratulatory email after last weekend. I was sort of hoping he’d take two seconds to send me a ‘Thanks for the support’ reply, but I can appreciate that his box was probably blowing up with emails, and from people he knows personally rather than some stranger from a thousand miles away.
The matchup here is basically power and size (USC) vs. speed (WSU). The Shockers rotated their options nicely at the beginning of the first set, with Elizabeth Field, Sam Sanders, Emily Adney, and first-weekend superstar Ashley Andrade all checking in with kills. USC got most of their offense from Katie Fuller and Sara Shaw, and the match was absurdly close at the outset. It was tied at just about every numeral point. One point where the Trojans had an obvious advantage was in jousts up the middle, with Alexis Olgard having several inches’ reach advantage over Andrade. The Trojans’ 15-12 lead at the automatic timeout was the first time either side went up by three. The USC scoring run extended to 18-13, and Wichita State called time.
The Shockers took the first three out of the timeout to get back within two, with Andrade coming up big with a block/joust that was perfectly timed, making it 18-16. A short while later, her service ace made it 19-18, prompting the Trojans’ timeout. Bricio’s second hitting error of the set (against just one kill, for a negative attack percentage) knotted the set again for a moment, but USC then ran off three in a row again to make it 22-19. Out of the resultant Shocker timeout, Bricio impressively scored a back row kill against a triple block, on her own serve, and followed it up with a service ace. The Shockers staved off one set point with a right-side double block, but the Trojans returned the favor on the next rally to finish out the set 25-20.
The Trojans put the hammer down at the beginning of set two, taking the first five points ahead of the Shockers’ timeout. Adney finally sided the Shockers out of the timeout, as a rare miscue from the Trojan back row let the ball fall in harmlessly. Feekin scored a dandy kill, her first of the match I believe, sliding for a ball on her knees to get to it. I’ve seen setters make sets doing that, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an attack from that position. And maybe USC haven’t either, as there really was no defense to it. Wichita State played the set much more evenly as it went on, but that’s only of so much value when you give up 5 in a row to start the set. Hayley Crone‘s big jump serve ran the Trojans out to 7 at 20-13, and it was damage done, with the set sending 25-19.
One name I haven’t mentioned yet, which is a minor crime, is Natalie Hagglund. The Trojan libero played an amazing first two sets. She had 10 digs, but it seemed like way more than 10 times that she was coming up with huge plays on defense. And as I’ve said before, it’s not all just about keeping a ball alive, it’s keeping the ball alive with a useful contact. And Hagglund may be better at that than anyone in the nation. So many times, Hagglund came running for a ball to keep it alive and send it straight to setter Hayley Crone such that Crone barely even had to move to play the ball. Makes running the offense all the smoother. Hagglund even ran the offense to an extent, consistently calling shot angles for her hitters in the front row.
Set three started out even more closely and competitively than set one. Ties occurred at each numeral rank through 6, USC finally going up two with a right-side double block. Shaw made it three in a row from the left side before Katie Reilly sided the Shockers back out. Bricio’s rough start certainly evened out as the match went on, as her kill to make it 10-7 Trojans was her tenth, making her the first player into double digits in kills. But USC gradually took control. Bricio’s 12th kill made it 15-10 at the automatic timeout. The Shockers came no closer. At 21-14, the Shockers rotated in a couple of freshmen, including MaryAshton Floyd, who uncorked a service ace on her first play. That was a pretty neat moment.
#6 USC d. Wichita State (25-20, 25-19, 25-17)
Wichita State were probably in over their heads here. At times they looked bloody brilliant, but at others they simply looked overmatched. Spunky team, though, and I’ll keep my eye out for them next season. They lose libero Jackie Church as well as Emily Adney off this team, but with respect, I think they’ll be easy to replace. The Shockers have numerous scoring options, and Kelsey Banwart saw lots of playing time this season as a DS, so she’ll integrate as the regular libero with little trouble. The Shockers will be in bigger trouble after next season, as Andrade, Feekin, Field, and Sanders on this squad were all juniors this year.
I managed to switch over to Washington/Nebraska just as the first serve happened. This regional in Omaha, you better believe the crowd was drenched in Cornhusker red. This is actually my first time seeing the ‘Huskers this season. Their big star is senior outside hitter Gina Mancuso (hard U….man-CUE-so), a player who has gotten Player of the Year talk.
The Huskies fed their leader Krista Vansant early and often in the first set. She also got most of the Cornhuskers’ serves early on, and maybe you think Nebraska weren’t sure if she was entirely over the ankle injury she sustained late in the regular season. After an early exchange of points, the Huskers ran out to 9-6 behind an excellent athletic play from Mancuso as she jumped sideways to get a block, and then had to come running back to take the ball from the setter for a hitting attempt (which of course was successful). Another big kill from Mancuso made it 11-7 to prompt Washington’s timeout.
Remember when I said all those nice things about Watch ESPN? Well, here’s something against them. They constantly ran this stupid-ass PSA during breaks in the action. Seriously, I felt I got measurably dumber every time it came on. Ordinarily they don’t show commercials at all, so I wonder why they kept going to that one.
12-8 was an outstanding point, as both sides appeared to have a kill multiple times only to have diving defense save the day. Vansant eventually got the Huskies a sideout with a soft tip. At 14-10, the Husky back row shouted “Out!” on a serve that was in by a good foot and a half. Washington burned their second and final timeout trailing by six. Meghan Haggerty and Hannah Werth (yep, baseball star Jayson’s kid sis) came up with a big right-side double block at the end of the rally on 17-10, another block put the Huskers up nine, and the crowd were loving it! Nebraska made it 8 unanswered points with yet another block to double up the Huskies 20-10, a pretty shocking run if you ask me. Werth, sporting some trendy goggles, smashed home a sideout after a service error finally stopped the run to double the Huskies up again at 22-11. It was just goofy. The final was 25-14.
Karch Kiraly (yay!) made the sage point, though, that every set win is just a single set, and you go up 1-0 whether you win 25-23 or 25-0. He also pointed to the Olympic gold medal final he coached this summer, where the USA handily won the first set but then lost three straight to Brazil to lose the match.
I think the crowd support was a big factor. This was basically a true road match for Washington, and they entered having lost three out of the last five of those they had.
The Huskers’ dismantlement of their Pac-12 rivals (the two schools have met in the NCAA tournament several times) continued into set 2, as they took six of the first seven points ahead of another early Husky timeout. Props to Kiraly’s broadcast partner Beth Mowins for correctly pronouncing “libero” (LEE-buh-roh, for those of you playing the home game). Almost everyone pronounces it (lih-BEAR-oh), which is just gggrrrrrrr.
At 8-5, Haggerty bounced her swing right off Jenni Nogueras‘ coconut and out. That’s gotta hurt. From getting as close as 3, the Huskies made a couple of careless mistakes in setting and ball handling (which, if anything, is their weakness) to get Nebraska back up 6 at 13-7. Washington coach Jim McLaughlin had to call time again there, with both off the table. The Huskies took three of the first four points out of the timeout to make it 14-10, and Nebraska called time for the first time in the night after Washington closed to within 3 again at 16-13.
Coming out of the timeout, Kiraly got to look like an absolute genius. In fairness, he pretty much is one, so it was merited. He made the distinction in volleyball from other net sports such as tennis and its derivatives in that the serving side does not really hold the advantage. It’s easier to score on serve reception than on serve (I can’t even imagine how interminable matches under sideout scoring must have been). He proceeded to say that “if Nebraska gets a good pass here, they’ll have the first crack to set up their offense to take a big swing for a kill.” And then that’s exactly what happened! Nice job, Coach.
Mancuso followed with two elegantly-placed kills to get it back to Nebraska’s biggest lead of the set at 19-13. Just that quickly, though, Washington rattled off three in a row to get back to within 3 as a deficit. With Kylin Muñoz‘s rejection of Mancuso, Nebraska took their last timeout with just a 2-point advantage. More dissension in the Husky back row on 20-17, as someone shouted “Out!” (and even Kiraly said he thought the serve was out), but Washington libero Jenna Orlandini decided to play the ball anyway. The decision cost her, as Nebraska ended up winning the rally. Facing set point at 24-18, the Huskies staved off three but Morgan Broekhuis came up with the big kill from the left side to send Nebraska to the locker room up 2-0.
The Cornhuskers went to an early 6-3 lead in the third set, but a nice run on Vansant’s serve ended that advantage and in fact tilted it ever so slightly in Washington’s favor. The lead went to 2 for the first time when Katy Beals‘ serve left the Huskers only to return an overpass. You almost never win those points. The lead extended to four with a perfect triple block of Mancuso to make it 14-10. Nebraska managed to close to 16-14 on the basis of a disputed four contacts call. The Huskies asserted that the Nebraska hitter had touched the ball over the net, but the up referee disagreed. At 17-16 Washington burned a timeout.
With a distinct lack of any middle attack on the Husky side, the Nebraska blockers started cheating to the outside, getting two straight points out of the timeout. An ugly miscommunication on the Husky front line made it 19-17, and they called their second timeout. When Cassie Strickland‘s swing hit the antenna, the Huskers went up 3 at 21-18. But the Huskies then took four of the next five to tie it at 22, Vansant drawing them even with a left-side roll shot prompting Nebraska’s final timeout. Nebraska sided out coming out of the timeout, and a net violation got them to match point. They thought they’d won it on the first attempt on a wide hit from the Washington side, but a touch was called. No matter — Broekhuis put home a definitive exclamation mark on the left side to close out the sweep
#4 Nebraska d. #13 Washington (25-14, 25-21, 25-23)
I greatly underestimated Nebraska. And I also expected a little more out of Washington. But I think this ultimately was a bad matchup for the Huskies. The Nebraska team were just perfectly capable of tapping into what weaknesses Washington have. Their strengths and weaknesses aren’t exactly something you need ace scouting to know, but they usually can obliterate you with their block. Even top-flight competition in the Pac-12. Sure wasn’t the case tonight.
I then checked out the last few points of Purdue/Minnesota. Looks like this was quite a good match. The first three sets were all decided by 2 points, with Purdue winning the first and Minnesota the second and third. I joined late in the fourth set with the Gophers holding the advantage, and they held on to close out the match. Their reward is a date with Penn State. Um, congratulations?
Next I joined the battle for Michigan in, uhhh…Berkeley. The Wolverines took the first two sets from the Spartans and had a small lead in the third as I joined. Curiously, both coaches sat on their timeouts for the majority of the set. Michigan State finally blinked first calling time at 21-18. Out of that timeout, a Wolverine service error and a Spartan service ace made it a 1-point set and Michigan’s first timeout. Michigan’s Lexi Erwin, who had a pretty good match all things considered, made two big hitting errors out of the timeout, the first on a block, to draw Michigan State even at 22. The Wolverines managed to side out afterward, and Michigan State called time perhaps to ice the server. Erwin made it match point on what looked like it was supposed to be a free ball, but it managed to find an undefended area. Michigan State fought it back to deuce with an amazing serve to get the Wolverines out of system and allow for an overpass. Remember – you never win those. But Michigan got a third match point at 25-24 and converted from the right side with Jennifer Cross.
That left Iowa State/Stanford as the final match of the night, to air without any competition. I wasn’t expecting this match to be very competitive. For my money, Stanford are the best team in the country. Iowa State are talented, and you must remember they did beat Texas in the regular season’s final days, but you could also make the argument that the Longhorns had little (maybe nothing) to play for in that match.
Stanford asserted themselves early, taking six of the first seven points with some really stunning displays of athleticism that would take a full paragraph to describe completely. Iowa State scored a couple on serve to draw within 3, and the set stabilized there for a time with the two sides trading points. Perhaps the Cyclones came out with a few jitters. This wasn’t exactly a home match for Stanford, but it’s pretty close (NorCal). The automatic timeout with the Cardinal up 15-11.
Stanford took the first two points back from it to go up six, with Iowa State taking a charged timeout afterwards. The Cyclones took the first two back from that timeout with a nice setter kill and an easy destruction of an overpass. Long rally on 17-13 followed, one that went to Stanford. Those are usually Iowa State’s bread and butter, but like I said, I didn’t figure this match to be especially competitive. A Cyclone hitting error made it 19-13, and the run just extended from there. A net violation called on Madi Bugg finally sided the Cyclones out at 22-14. Inky Ajanaku might have gotten away with a carry on the next point, as it appeared that she all but caught the ball in midair on a middle blocker quick set play. It worked for the kill, though. The final set score in the first was 25-16.
Play was briefly delayed at the beginning of the third set because Iowa State ran out a different lineup on the court than was on the sheet their coach handed the scorer’s table. Color commentator Holly McPeak noted that they had made some changes since the first set. I’m afraid I don’t know the team well enough to say what they were.
The second set was much more competitive than the first. The Cardinal ran out to little 2-point leads time and again, and the Cyclones would answer by drawing even. Allison Landwehr‘s middle kill got the Cyclones their first lead of the set at 11-10. Stanford then ran out to a 3-point lead, and the Cyclones ran back to 14-13. A right-side kill for the Cardinal made it 15-13 at the automatic timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Cyclones ran the set even again at 16 with a right-side block stuffing Ajanaku. Stanford again rattled off a couple in a row to go ahead, and after a long rally on 19-18 went Stanford’s way, Iowa State called time. Staunch the momentum shifter, give the girls a breather – take your pick. The next timeout came at 22-19 Stanford, as the Cyclones drew even a few times and did go up a point once, but were never really able to snap the elastic. A service ace from Bugg followed by an ugly miscommunication on the Cyclone side of the net made it set point. Bugg served it out with a second ace within a minute.
Stanford took the first five points in set three. It can’t have been jitters this time, can it? Iowa State’s block was just…well, nonexistent, really. Their coach was audibly squawking at them for their lapses on defense. But just like in the first set, the Cyclones came to life a little after falling behind so big so early, closing to 6-4 and then tying the set at 7. Stanford took an early timeout there, after Tenesha Matlock led a double block on Ajanaku to knot the set.
At 8-7, Karissa Cook did her serve before the up referee signaled for it. And good thing – that first serve attempt went straight into the net. On the legal service, the Cardinal scored a kill from the middle with Ajanaku. The run extended to 10-7 before the Cyclones sided out (which they gave right back with a service error). The Cyclones closed to within one at 13-12, but then were forced to take their timeout when the Cardinal ran it back to 15-12. The Cardinal seized a 4-point lead at 18-14 with a left side kill through a gaping seam in the Cyclone block. Iowa State took their last timeout there, but they looked pretty defeated coming back from it, and the final linescore is evidence of the run the Cardinal went on to close it out.
#2 Stanford d. #15 Iowa State (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)
Maybe I’m just getting tired, but I can’t help but notice that I named very few names in that last rundown. I think it’s a testament to Stanford’s team play. Offense and defense alike came from far and wide. It was a strong team effort.
And…wow. After a relatively large number of upsets in the first two rounds, the Elite 8 are seven of the top eight seeds. Michigan don’t stand a chance tomorrow (wouldn’t mind being proven wrong – it sure wouldn’t be the first time).
Full NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 results
#5 Oregon d. #12 BYU (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12)
#1 Penn State d. #16 Kentucky (25-18, 25-21, 25-12)
#6 USC d. Wichita State (25-20, 25-19, 25-17)
#4 Nebraska d. #13 Washington (25-14, 25-21, 25-23)
#8 Minnesota d. Purdue (23-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-21) Easily the most competitive match of the night
#3 Texas d. #14 Florida (25-22, 26-24, 25-17)
Michigan d. Michigan State (25-16, 26-24, 26-24)
#2 Stanford d. #15 Iowa State (25-16, 25-19, 25-17)
D-II update – The legend continues
I screwed up. I thought both tournaments continued tonight. As it happens, the D-II Elite Eight was played last night, not tonight. I just completely missed it. I didn’t intend to miss it (much like I didn’t intend to not write one word about the Division III tournament – I just never knew when it was happening). It’s fair to say I’d be paying more attention if my Viks were still in it, but they’re not, and c’est la vie.
(La vie)
The Final Four matchup I anticipated did indeed happen, that being BYU Hawaii against Concordia-St. Paul. I watched a few points of this match and kept tabs on a ticker. Between that and checking the box score now, it seems this match was a bit clownshoes. Concordia hit .401 for the match, including .643 in the second set. They had 70 kills in those four sets which is…a lot. It’s not quite as clownshoes as those attack percentages, but it’s a lot. BYUH had only 52 kills. Each side had just 11 attack errors in the match. The difference then, a bit surprisingly for such a fun-‘n-gun match, was digs. The Golden Bears outdug the Seasiders 80-61, and that led to their (20-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-14) win.
I think that was for all practical purposes the national championship match itself. The second semifinal matched Tampa with Indianapolis, and they’re…yeah, good teams, but not up to the level of Concordia or BYUH. I said on Selection Sunday that I thought U-Indy’s regional was the weakest. I’m frankly a little surprised they won in the round of eight, but they proved they were the weakest team of the Final Four (and hey, props to them, they made the Final Four) with Tampa winning a fairly comfortable (25-18, 25-20, 27-25) decision.
Tampa have faced Concordia for the national title before, and they of course suffered the same fate everyone has when playing this juggernaut in the NCAA tournament. I’ll be absolutely stunned if they don’t again tomorrow.
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