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Volleyball 2018

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  • #61
    turns out that while it isn't as big a year as some of us may have hoped after the first weekend, it is kind of a standard UNI year. Very aggressive schedule that gives the chance to pick up a couple good resume-building wins, even though all the losses kind of sting. But frankly many of those losses are just to be expected. Currently, the "worst" loss at this point is Iowa State (and it really sucks that Hawkeye volleyball fans are going around claiming to be the best volleyball team in the state, which is totally lame, but anyway).

    I don't see any teams in the Valley that UNI can't beat (not like Missouri State last year). Illinois State is decent (I could see a split with them). Drake isn't terrible, and they often get up for the "in state rivalry game", so next Friday night in Des Moines could be a tough one. And Missouri State isn't going to be down for long. They'll get things figured out and can pose a challenge. If UNI plays up to their potential, they can certainly win all of their Valley matches, but they will inevitably have some off nights. I just hope those off nights don't cost any matches. I predict UNI being in a similar situation as last year, making the NCAAs, with a decent chance of getting a win in the first round. Then it just depends on which of the many midwestern seeded teams they end up facing in the second round (should they advance): Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, maybe even Creighton or Marquette. All considered bus trips, which saves the NCAA money. It'd be hilarious if UNI got sent to Texas (but I doubt that'd happen)..

    That's a few months down the road, though. Have to get through conference play first.

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    • #62
      Per Cyclonefanatic ISU's had a couple of injuries since playing us, and have been tweaking their lineup. Plus Iowa seems to be improving, by bringing in an Iowa-native coach who won't automatically ignore in-state kids, like their last half-dozen coaches have. It seems his relationship with coach Peterson is better too, since we were in their spring tournament and they in ours. I've been wondering if we might actually play them in the regular season, now that they are no longer an automatic RPI hit. I enjoy Iowa-UNI games across all sports (well except this seasons FB game); we play them in WBB, SB and soccer, so I'd like to see us play them in VB also.

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      • #63
        Originally posted by in_the_stands View Post
        Per Cyclonefanatic ISU's had a couple of injuries since playing us, and have been tweaking their lineup. Plus Iowa seems to be improving, by bringing in an Iowa-native coach who won't automatically ignore in-state kids, like their last half-dozen coaches have. It seems his relationship with coach Peterson is better too, since we were in their spring tournament and they in ours. I've been wondering if we might actually play them in the regular season, now that they are no longer an automatic RPI hit. I enjoy Iowa-UNI games across all sports (well except this seasons FB game); we play them in WBB, SB and soccer, so I'd like to see us play them in VB also.
        I don't know just how they would factor into the strategic RPI scheduling, but I'm sure they are better now in that regard than they used to be.
        It is kind of funny that there is a former UNI player on the Iowa coaching staff (Bre Payton), and Bond Shymansky married a former UNI player. But the two teams never play each other outside of spring scrimmages.

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        • #64
          Perhaps UNI and Iowa will find themselves in the same early season tournament someday. Or maybe coach Peterson is trying to use leverage to help coach Jacobsen with Iowa (VB won't play you until MBB plays you)

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          • #65
            We swept Drake tonight. Great start to conference play.

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            • #66
              Drake actually has a pretty good environment for a volleyball match. At least they did tonight (though I suppose it does help when you get a couple hundred fans of the visiting team in as well). Coach McBroom has the program moving in the right direction.

              They had a touching memorial to Celia Barquin Arozamena prior to the Anthem with UNI's Piper Thomas and a Drake player (McKenzie Smith, if memory serves) reading a statement, followed by a moment of silence.

              And on a less somber note, I'd like to give kudos to the floor wiper on the one side of the court (UNI's side in sets 1 and 3). She was out there after pretty much every point where someone had hit the deck. (where as some of the college kids that UNI get for that job seem to not pay much attention, and have to either be called out by the players and/or officials, or the players end up having to grab a towel and wipe the floor themselves).

              And the volleyball itself was fun to watch, too. Drake has a pretty good block that gave UNI some trouble at times, and we got some entertaining long rallies that often show up when UNI and Drake play. Panthers still had too many unforced errors for my liking, but were good enough to get the sweep.

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              • #67
                Panthers picked up a 3-0 win at Loyola on Friday night, followed by a 3-1 win at Valpo tonight. Both teams were undefeated in conference play going into their match against UNI (3-0 for Loyola, 4-0 for Valpo). The wins moved UNI to 4-0 in MVC play, and into a tie atop the conference with Illinois State and Bradley, which are the Panthers' next opponents coming up next weekend in the McLeod Center.

                Saturday night's match against Bradley features free admission to anyone showing their ticket from the NDSU@UNI football game from earlier that afternoon. I wonder if one could go back out to the lots after the football game, do some postgame tailgating, and then head into the McLeod Center for volleyball, or if they try to clear out the lots after the game.

                In any case, UNI is off to a good start in conference play, but the Redbirds will be a tough challenge. They've had a challenging, competitive preconference schedule, just like UNI, and the Panthers will have to be on their game Friday night.
                Speaking of being on one's game, Piper Thomas had a very good week, recording 50 kills total in the three matches (INS, @ LU, @ VU) with a very efficient hitting percentage, and a number of blocks.

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                • #68
                  Pretty stoked to be one of 6 people to go to the Bradley game without a football ticket. Hopefully it'll at least be a good atmosphere.

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                  • #69
                    Originally posted by sevelev711 View Post
                    Pretty stoked to be one of 6 people to go to the Bradley game without a football ticket. Hopefully it'll at least be a good atmosphere.
                    With the football game starting at 1 p.m., I'm not so sure that "free admission with football ticket" promotion will really increase attendance for volleyball any noticable amount.
                    The football game will get done around 4 or 5, and the casual fans aren't likely to stick around (or come back) for the 7 p.m. match. If it had been a 3 or 4 pm start for football, there might have been some people who stop over to the McLeod at least for a little bit after the FB game, but that won't be the case with this one. So it will likely just be the regular volleyball crowd (maybe even smaller, since some people might be too tired and/or drunk from a day of tailgating and football to want to make it to volleyball).

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                    • #70
                      Originally posted by vbfan19 View Post
                      With the football game starting at 1 p.m., I'm not so sure that "free admission with football ticket" promotion will really increase attendance for volleyball any noticable amount.
                      The football game will get done around 4 or 5, and the casual fans aren't likely to stick around (or come back) for the 7 p.m. match. If it had been a 3 or 4 pm start for football, there might have been some people who stop over to the McLeod at least for a little bit after the FB game, but that won't be the case with this one. So it will likely just be the regular volleyball crowd (maybe even smaller, since some people might be too tired and/or drunk from a day of tailgating and football to want to make it to volleyball).
                      The football garne is at 1 PM? That's silly. Especially with this promotion.

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                      • #71
                        Originally posted by sevelev711 View Post

                        The football game is at 1 PM? That's silly. Especially with this promotion.
                        Agreed especially with post-game tailgating limited to one hour after game conclusion. That will make it hard to keep people around.

                        Although one could always venture down to the Hill and snag some OP pizza and head to McLeod afterwards. However, the realist in me doesn't see alot of that happening.

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                        • #72
                          So you have an hour of post-football tailgating, then if they try to kick you out, say that you are tailgating before the volleyball match. And if they try to tell you that pre-volleyball tailgating is not a thing, bring up Title IX. Bam. problem solved.

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                          • #73
                            Originally posted by vbfan19 View Post
                            So you have an hour of post-football tailgating, then if they try to kick you out, say that you are tailgating before the volleyball match. And if they try to tell you that pre-volleyball tailgating is not a thing, bring up Title IX. Bam. problem solved.
                            Ah. Volleyball tailgating. Vbfan, are you spearheading the festivities? I m sure there could be a few takers (especially if it increases adult beverage time for some). Intriguing idea.

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                            • #74
                              They won't kick anyone out of the lots that want to stay for the volleyball match... In fact UNI ought to be encouraging folks to stick around and enjoy the weather (hopefully) and to join them for the volleyball afterward... You know a social media campaign showing how much fun you could have tailgating after the game and then sticking around for some great volleyball...
                              If computers ruled college basketball the way they do football, we'd have skipped all this March Madness monotony and just waited a month for the Kansas-Kentucky title game. And watched Northern Iowa play Cornell in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. ~ Dwight Perry The Seattle Times

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                              • #75
                                Panthers have been taking care of business in the MVC thus far, at 7-0, only two of which weren't sweeps. They're also on the cusp of being ranked again, at 26th, with a decent shot of crawling back in since #23 and #25 both play #15 and #20 this weekend. For UNI, they play "worst team" Southern Illinois and "biggest disappointment" Missouri State this weekend, before taking on Drake and top-25 Marquette back home the weekend after.

                                Also, the Panthers currently have the #16 RPI in the country. Might be important to take notice of that down the road...

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