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Volleyball 2018

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  • Originally posted by vbfan19 View Post
    Nonsense. UNI had an RPI of 15 going into this weekend (it might drop a little after tonight, but will still stay in top 20).
    Their losses are to RPI 7, 63 (Iowa State), 10, 10, 2, 17, 20, and 41.
    And they have wins over RPI 17, 9, 72, 41, 62 and 62, along with thirteen other wins.

    They'll be fine unless they lose to SIU, Evansville, or Indiana State, as well as a loss in the conference tourney (even then, they'd still have a decent shot).

    If they can win out AND win the conference tourney, I think they'll be back in the conversation for possible seed/hosting.
    You know more about this than I do, so I'll definitely defer, but I just don't have confidence in getting an at-large. Too much scarring from basketball, I guess.

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    • Agreed about their libero, TV crew said she had 42 digs.

      Boy, Thomas has been back to classic form lately; after she hits they should be checking for dents in the floor. Been so much fun watching her and Taylor blast away the last couple of seasons, going to miss her next year.

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      • UNI handled Mo State with ease this time around, which is very good to see.

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        • 3-0, even though the Bears got the first point in each set. In fact, they got the first 5 or 6 in set one. Ahead about 7-1 before we took over. Glad we swept & the BB game started on time. Late night drive home.

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          • Originally posted by '70 Grad View Post
            3-0, even though the Bears got the first point in each set. In fact, they got the first 5 or 6 in set one. Ahead about 7-1 before we took over.
            The Bears started out the first set on a 6-0 run (and UNI just looked terrible on some of those points), and they also started the second set on a 4-0 run (a set that UNI went on to win 25-13).
            Both of those runs happened when MSU's Leah Vokolek (daughter of asst. UNI football coach DJ Vokolek) was serving. So I don't know if the Panthers just really struggled receiving her serve or what).

            the third set started out a bit more evenly, but I noticed that MSU didn't have Vokolek serving in that one.

            Anyhow, UNI's last three regular season matches are against the bottom 3 teams in the standing (home against SIU (1-14 in the MVC) tonight, then on the road at Evansville and Indiana State (both at 3-13 in the league) next weekend), so they really should be able to win out (though the Sycamores did beat Bradley, and UNI dropped a set to SIU when they played in Carbondale, and these teams have had some competitive matches against some of the other teams, so they can't just sleepwalk through it).

            The Panthers are in a good position for a NCAA tournament spot (I'd say a lock, but if they somehow dropped 2 of the next 3 and lost in the conference tournament, that definitely wouldn't look good). Their RPI currently even puts them in the discussion for maybe even getting to host the first weekend, but these last 3 matches will drop them a couple spots (even with wins), and likely knock them out of contention for a top 16 seed.

            In any case, I look forward to celebrating the careers of our three seniors (Lexi Astor, Kendyl Sorge, and Piper Thomas) at tonight's Senior Night

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            • One of the more knowledgeable posters on Volleytalk has bumped UNI back into hosting, projecting UNI as a 15 seed, hosting Yale in the first round, with Marquette and Kansas playing in the other match.
              I certainly wouldn't mind that matchup (even though that means possibly having to face Marquette again and then heading up into the mountains to take on BYU).

              Though admittedly, while this poster is quite good at predicting who makes the tournament, the projections of seeds and matchups is usually more hit-and-miss
              RPI Futures is a season ending projected RPI based on the current wins and losses and the projected win probabilities for all remaining matches on the schedule per Pablo rating. RP

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              • My predictions for how the MVC tournament seeding ends up after next weekend's final regular season matches.

                #1 UNI (I think the Panthers can take care of business against the 8th and 9th place teams, even on the road) vs. the winner of:
                - #4/5 Valpo vs. #4/5 Missouri State (these two teams play each other in Springfield on Fri., with the winner likely taking the #4 seed, but there isn't really much difference between 4 and 5, so I don't care)

                #2 Illinois State (Bradley might give them a good match in Peoria on Friday, but the Redbirds are playing quite well right now. Either way, as long as UNI wins their matches, the Panthers get the #1) vs. the winner of:
                - #3 Bradley (they've already locked up the #3) vs. #6 [Loyola or Drake] (depends how the Bulldogs and Ramblers fare in their remaining matches. LU currently is a match ahead, but if DU wins both matches while LU loses at MSU and wins at SIU, Drake would hold the tiebreak thanks to their win over Bradley. But if Loyola knocks off the Bears again, they'd claim the last spot in the tourney)

                In this scenario, UNI should definitely cheer for Valpo in the quarterfinals. Not only would that mean the Panthers not having to face the Bears on their home court, but an additional match against Valpo is better for UNI's RPI than a match against MSU..

                But of course, first things first, UNI needs to be sure to avoid any upsets in Indiana.

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                • Panthers really struggling at Evansville tonight. The Aces are really more competitive than their record would indicate, especially playing at home in their tiny gym with the low ceiling. The Aces are giving UNI fits with some aggressive topspin jump serves.
                  But UNI is definitely not playing their best volleyball. Evansville won the first set, then UNI benefitted from a questionable 4-hit call against the Aces in the second set, where the Panthers were able to even the match with a 25-23 set 2 win. Then in set 3, Evansville jumped up to a 5-0 lead after numerous UNI errors. followed by a bunch of errors by the Aces.

                  Though in other Valley action, Bradley is up 2 sets to none over Illinois State.

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                  • Have to hand it to the Aces, they were playing hard and loose. Couldn't believe how hard they were hitting; they looked more like us than themselves. OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if Drake 3-0's them tomorrow night.

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                    • volleyball team must have been spending too much time with the football and basketball teams. They lose to Evansville for only the second time ever.
                      Costs UNI any chance of ncaa tournament seeding/hosting. And they better win at least their next two matches (at Indiana State tomorrow and their semifinal match in the MVC), or they could have a nervous time next Sunday.

                      Bradley did pull off the upset of Illinois State, so UNI can still secure a share of the regular season conference championship and the #1 seed for the MVC tourney, but this was definitely disappointing as hell.

                      And in addition to the disappointment of the loss tonight, and a grueling 5-setter, with Karlie Taylor taking a bajillion swings on alot of out-of-system plays, UNI has to take a 2.5 hour bus ride tonight, and their match at Indiana State which starts in a little over 20 hours from now. Could possibly lead to another upset.

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                      • Originally posted by in_the_stands View Post
                        Have to hand it to the Aces, they were playing hard and loose. Couldn't believe how hard they were hitting; they looked more like us than themselves. OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if Drake 3-0's them tomorrow night.
                        Evansville has been a hard-swinging team all year, but much of the year has been error-prone. But tonight they were able to reduce those errors, and UNI struggled on serve receive all frickin night (giving up 12 service aces).

                        Look for any future opponents to try to incorporate the top-spin jump serve against UNI.

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                        • Yeah... that's less then ideal.

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                          • Originally posted by vbfan19 View Post
                            volleyball team must have been spending too much time with the football and basketball teams.

                            Bradley did pull off the upset of Illinois State, so UNI can still secure a share of the regular season conference championship and the #1 seed for the MVC tourney, but this was definitely disappointing as hell.
                            I feel like a golden opportunity was blown tonight. This would have been an opportunity to pull away with sole possession of the conference title. I am hoping that Saturday goes much better for the ladies. Hopefully, the service reception is less problematic.

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                            • Very, very disappointing way to end the regular season. The Panthers were kind of given a gift last night by Illinois State getting swept. However, now they should be awfully thankful of ISU’s loss.

                              Not that it was anything of a guarantee, but that first and second round hosting opportunity was right in our reach. There could be all the other factors surrounding the game last night, but plain and simple the Panthers didn’t perform like they needed to.

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                              • Panthers didn't look super crisp, but were able to sweep the Sycamores tonight to secure a share of the regular season MVC championship (with Illinois State) and the #1 seed for the conference tournament next week in Springfield, MO.

                                Kind of amusing that the volleyball match ended at almost the exact same time as the football game (well, within a minute or so, given the difference in time delay between radio broadcast and espn video feed)

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