Part three comes now. I'll give Conference Carolinas a quick look tomorrow, but by then it'll be time for some matches, I think. Once again, we visit the teams in alphabetical order.
George Mason
What we expected: A drop-off from their runner-up campaign of 2013, but still contending for a playoff berth. And a patch on the jersey after the tragic offseason death of Pat Sibley.
What we've been getting: It's been a bumpy road for the Patriots so far. They've dropped their first two conference contests, to Sacred Heart and Harvard, and can only claim counting wins against Grand Canyon and Barton (they also won two against a Puerto Rican university, but those obviously don't count). Further losses have come against Ohio State, Grand Canyon (split the double shot), Ball State, and IPFW. Most nights have been competitive, one way or the other, so at least there's that.
Going forward: The Patriots enjoy a three-week homestand starting this week, so they'll look to make a bit of hay while the sun is shining. All six matches are EIVA conference contests, so it'll matter for their postseason chances. They've got a Midwest death march (Loyola/Lewis) lined up for March, and still have to play Penn State twice, so there's some difficult nights ahead. Being that they seem to be in an uphill battle to claim a playoff spot, it's probably fair to say that Mason have, if slightly, fallen short of expectations. They can certainly still reach them by season's end.
Harvard
What we expected: The most potentially serious challenge to Penn State's EIVA hegemony.
What we've been getting: So far so good. The Crimson went 1-3 in their non-conference, with the one win coming over Division III MIT (they did also split a non-counting double shot with Université Laval, one of the top teams in Canada this year). But as for the EIVA, it's three-for-three thus far, with wins over Mason, Sacred Heart, and Ivy League brothers Princeton. It's obviously still early yet, but middle blocker Caleb Zimmick's attack efficiency for the season sitting at a gawdy .519 obviously turns heads and widens eyes.
Going forward: The Crimson get their first tussle with Penn State this weekend. It's at State College, where Penn State just don't lose, so I'll be a little bit more interested in the return match on 4 April. There's some more MIVA non-conference play ahead for Harvard. It'd be good to see them pull out a W in one of those matches. It's tough to grade Harvard on having met expectations or not so far, considering the conference season is really what matters for them. But you'll notice I bolded a couple of words in that last sentence, so let's move on.
NJIT
What we expected: A lower-tier finish, with most of their 2013 contingent gone to graduation. Newcomers are bound to have growing pains.
What we've been getting: Yeah, pretty normal service. The Highlanders are 4-4 as of this writing, with wins over Limestone, Barton, and a couple of tiny New Jersey schools. They're 0-3 to begin EIVA season. It's fair to point out that all three were on the road, one was Penn State, and other two were 5-setters, but it still seems hard to expect a whole lot of competitiveness from this squad.
Going forward: More of the same, on both counts. There's some small schools and some MIVA remaining on the Highlanders' plate, along with, of course, further EIVA play. Notably, the Highlanders end the season with a three-week homestand, a chance to put a nice capper on the year for the home supporters.
I dunno, I tend to write short entries when I think teams will be bad. And sure, I doubt NJIT will make the EIVA tournament, but I don't think they'll be dreadfully bad. I'm just not finding much to say. Considering I SWAG'd them in 7th place and they're by no means embarrassing themselves, I'll give them a mark of met expectations thus far in 2014.
Penn State
What we expected: The usual EIVA dominance and a sixteenth consecutive NCAA tournament berth.
What we've been getting: The usual EIVA dominance and some signs of fight against teams in other conferences. I think Penn State may be better than they were a season ago. They played competitive matches with UCLA and Hawaii at the Outrigger, despite losing both, before knocking off Big Ten brothers Ohio State. They haven't lost since returning to the mainland, dispatching with middle-order MIVA teams, their first few EIVA opponents, and not dropping a set against Conference Carolinas opponents (which is actually sorta rare). Now it's true they haven't had any road matches on the mainland yet, but as far as 'you can only beat the teams you play,' the Nittany Lions are doing that as well as can be expected. Aaron Russell has been his usual brilliant self, and the team have found a nice contributor in redshirt freshman middle blocker Matt Callaway, who could well be poising himself for conference freshman of the year honours. Callaway and libero Connor Curry, who is also having a fine 2014, are already the only Nittany Lions to have played every set so far in 2014.
Going forward: The schedule does get harder for Penn State. After this weekend's matches, they play just 2 of their final 13 at home, and among those road matches are a West coast trip and a Loyola/Lewis trip. They'll also have a third clash with the Buckeyes (they traditionally play a home-and-home, despite not being conference foes in men's volleyball). But it's Penn State. It's the EIVA. They've definitely met expectations; you could argue they've slightly exceeded them, and in terms of their position in this conference expectations are nothing less than everything. They're doing quite well.
Princeton
What we expected: A possible challenge to Penn State's dominance, but quite likely another EIVA tournament berth.
What we've been getting: It's early yet for Princeton, what with their season traditionally starting later than everyone else's because of the university's exam schedule, but it's been a rough go. The Tigers started off losing five in a row, including to NAIA Concordia-Irvine and their first two home matches against Ball State and IPFW. The schnied ended against Sacred Heart this past Friday
Going forward: It's a really interesting conference schedule for the Tigers. After two more non-conference matches this week, they have a long conference homestand. And then a long conference road trip. And….that's it. A really streaky schedule. The lone exception is George Mason; the Tigers face the Patriots in their last two regular season matches, first on the road and then in their one home match after 8 March. It's too early to judge them against expectations so far — they get an incomplete. The only one I'll issue.
Rutgers-Newark
What we expected: A lack of any competitiveness with teams at this level. Probably a few wins against smaller schools.
What we've been getting: Yeah, tha's about the long and the short of it. They're at 4-3 as of this writing, with all four wins coming against Division III schools. I keep hearing that the Scarlet Raiders themselves will be dropping down to D-III play, and it makes all the sense in the world for them to do so, but they haven't yet. They also lost a match against D-III team, and six straight sets to St Francis and Penn State. Normal service.
Going forward: I mean, we know what this program is, so there's no point in beleaguering it. There's more tiny schools on the schedule going forward, and more National Collegiate-level matches in which they probably have no chance. It is what it is, so they've met expectations.
Sacred Heart
What we expected: A lower-level EIVA finish. The better of NJIT and RUN, but little else.
What we've been getting: A win over Mason means they've already slightly exceeded that prediction. It's looking like they've got a good chance to be better than they were a season ago. They started off the season with five matches against MIVA competition, and managed to defeat Lindenwood. Sure, two of their wins on the season are against East Mennonite and Stevens Tech, and I don't even know what those are (D-III? NAIA? Community colleges?) but still it seems to be a solid start. Outside hitter Brad Borsay was expected to lead the way, and so he has, putting up a solid three and a half kills per set on .270 hitting.
Going forward: Well, the Pioneers get their first taste of Penn State this weekend, to keep their win-loss-win string of the last five matches going. The schedule going forward is pretty typical of a team at this level, with some matches against smaller college teams. The task to improve upon last season remains in front of them, and it looks doable. So far they've slightly exceeded expectations, as mentioned above. There's prospects to exceed them further.
St Francis
What we expected: A team fighting to break through the mini-glass ceiling separating the top four EIVA teams from the bottom four.
What we've been getting: Not too bad so far. The Red Flash are 7-4 as of this writing, 2-1 in conference. They seem to have had an off night against Conference Carolinas' Lees-McRae, losing that match in five sets, but really none of their other results are howlingly bad, and wins over Rutgers and NJIT in conference are certainly what you need to see from a team with any ambitions. They also have taken care of the top teams in Conference Carolinas, Erskine and Mount Olive, along with a season-opening win against Ball State. Logan Patterson has been as-advertised, and he's been getting some backup from his middle blockers to help pace the Red Flash offence.
Going forward: St Francis have relatively little remaining non-conference play, in contrast to other East coast teams. They've got a West coast road trip against Baptist and Concordia-Irvine (who sure are playing a lot of National Collegiate level teams this year) and a Loyola/Lewis trip. Besides that, it's just conference play. The question of whether they can sneak into the playoffs probably gets answered late, as they play four of their final five on the road. And the odd home match? It's against Penn State. So that's a difficult final couple of weeks, but I say there's reasons for confidence. They've marginally exceeded expectations so far, and could well say the same at season's end.
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