NCAA Volleyball tournament results

[AztecBuff]

Assume this is only of interest to the few volleyball fans on the board, but early results in the 1st round of the tourney (began this afternoon) of note-

1) After going 10-0 in 1st round matches last year, the Pac is off to a tough 0-2 start early in the 1st round THIS year, with Oregon and ASU already out. It should be said both had much tougher matchups than any Pac team had last year, with Oregon losing to #10 Wisconsin in a tough 4 sets, and ASU losing BAD (25-13 25-17 25-21) to #19 Florida State (who the Buffs beat at the Keg the 2nd match of the year WHILE losing one of their 7 starters to injury THAT match).

2) Playing at Stanford, CSU is also already out, as they lost to Loyola Marymount in 4 sets. (Going in, this was thought to be one of the closer 1st round matches overall, as both teams were in the 20's in RPI.)

Note- for those wanting to follow the tourney, the interactive NCAA bracket is at http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/volleyball-women/d1/2015

I haven't found a good single place to find out which matches can be seen where via stream or TV, but have had luck a couple times so far just going into threads for the various matches of interest on the Volleytalk forum- http://volleytalk.proboards.com/board/5/women-girls-volleyball-forum . (Stanford is about to go up 2 sets to 0 over New Mexico State, so hopefully the Pac will get one in the win column soon.)

Also, for updates specifically on the Pac 12 teams results, (username) mikegarrison has started a Volleytalk thread with that info- http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/61176/pac-12-2015-tournament-tracking .

 

[buffgal]

We finished ahead of Oregon and Arizona State in the Pac 12.

I'm actually glad CSU is out in the first round.

 

[AztecBuff]

Last night, the Pac did get 2 wins, as highly ranked teams (#6) Stanford and (#2) USC won their 1st round matches relatively easily. They'll be trying to earn trips to the "Sweet 16" in matches against tougher opponents tonight.

Earlier today, the 3rd of 3 Pac teams picked ahead of the Buffs for the tournament that finished behind them in the standings was eliminated in the 1st round, as a surprisingly tough W. Kentucky (#20 ranked, #13 RPI) team steamrolled the Arizona Wildcats 25-22, 25-15, 25-17 . (I'd say this one does have an asterisk, however, as the Volleytalk forum did say Arizona's best hitter didn't play for some reason (assume injury?).)

(I'm currently watching a stream of the Harvard - Corn match, and the Crimson actually toolk the 1st set. Neb. probably still a 90% favorite (they're up 5-0 in the 2nd), but it would be a huge and awesome upset if the Crimson can win a couple more sets!)

 

[AztecBuff]

Forgot to update this thread. After the round of 32, 3 Pac teams remain- USC, Washington and UCLA. (Stanford was upset by Loyola Marymount.) The Big 10 is continuing its rise, with 6 of their teams still remaining of the 16.

For anyone who just likes watching good volleyball, today are all the Sweet 16 matches, and all but one (which is on ESPNU) are being streamed on ESPN3. From a thread in Volleytalk ( http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/61103/2015-tournament-bracket-streaming-information?page=5 ), times and coverage (note times referenced are Eastern) for both today's Sweet 16 matches and Saturday's regional finals:

Lexington Region
#4 Nebraska vs #13 BYU, 5 p.m. ET/ESPN3
#5 Washington vs #12 Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. ET/ESPN3
Regional Final Dec. 12, 4 p.m. ET/ESPNU/WatchESPN

Des Moines Region
#2 Minnesota vs Illinois, 6 p.m. ET/ESPN3
#7 Penn State vs Hawaii, 8:30 p.m. ET/ESPN3
Regional Final Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m. ET/ESPNU/WatchESPN

Austin Region
#6 Wisconsin vs #11 Florida, 5:30 p.m. ET/ESPN3
#3 Texas vs #14 UCLA, 8 p.m. ET/ESPN3
Regional Final Dec. 12, 9 p.m. ET/ESPNU/WatchESPN

San Diego Region
#9 Kansas vs Loyola Marymount, 8:30 p.m. ET/ESPN3
#1 USC vs #16 Creighton, 11 p.m. ET/ESPNU/WatchESPN
Regional Final Dec. 12, 11 p.m. ET/ESPNU/WatchESPN

Read more: http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thr...et-streaming-information?page=5#ixzz3u3Q7YaHo

 

[AztecBuff]

Well, still 2 Pac teams remaining.

Regional Final matchups this afternoon/ evening (All on ESPNU/ WatchESPN)-

In Lexington (2:00 MT)- #4 Nebraska Vs. #5 Washington
(Huskies and Huskers seem to end up meeting A LOT in the tournament. Go HuskIES! The Huskers cruised yesterday in a sweep against BYU, who knocked them out of the tourney last year. Washington had to go 5 tough sets to get by THE Ohio State Univ. in the later match. Hopefully they won't be fatigued. If the HuskERS get the win today, they may almost be considered the overall favorites to win the championship, as their rabid fan base will be supporting them in effective home matches in the final 4, being held (as it often seems to be) in Omaha next weekend.)

In Des Moines (4:30 PM MT)- #2 Minnesota vs. Hawaii
(Hawaii pulled off the big upset of the Sweet 16, sweeping defending champ (and winner of 6 out of the last 8) Penn State last night. I believe (???) I heard the announcers say Minnesota has set history for going farther in the tournament than any non-tournament team the prior year than any team in history.)

In Austin (7:00 MT)- #3 Texas vs. #11 Florida
(Texas snagged a home match for their Regional Final with a win over the Bruins, while Florida pulled a mild upset over Wisconsin. Florida must not get THAT intimidated by the Texas crowd, however, as they've beaten Texas in Austin the last 2 regular seasons.)

In San Diego (9:30 MT)- #1 USC and #9 Kansas
(USC surprisingly lost the 1st set to Creighton, but didn't let them get to 20 in the final 3 games. Kansas has now gone farther than they ever have, so should be a loose and dangerous opponent for the Trojans. In addition to team ramifications, it's said in Volleytalk the National Player of the Year award often goes to "the best player who leads her team to the Final 4" award. If that is the case this year, then a USC win will probably guarantee Samantha Bricio (deservedly) wins that individual honor.)

 

[MObuff]

Just watching the Florida vs. Texas match, and I caught a glimpse of the guy I would like to see as the next CU volleyball coach. Erik Sullivan is an asst at the U. of Texas. He was an assistant coach at CU from 2004-07. I believe he was the libero for the US Nat'l team when he was playing. I want a coach who has been on sideline with actual coaching experience on playing and beating the big guns in college volleyball. Check out his bio.
http://texassports.com/coaches.aspx?rc=551&path=
I am one of the few who would be disappointed if CU did hire CSU's coach. Hilbert's teams have been knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round 3 out of the 4 past years.

 

[buffgal]

One of the reasons CSU gets knocked out so early is their conference is so weak. Playing who they play in their conference does not prepare CSU for national competition.

Between last night and today, I've now watched all four matches. Was shocked to see Kansas upset USC. Kansas was going right at Briccio and it seemed to work as they won. So the Pac 12 has no teams in the Final Four. Two teams from the Big1G and two teams from the Big 12. Kansas has only lost twice all season--both times to Texas.

I just want CU to hire a coach who can take us to the next level and keep the talent we have here and keep the two high school All Americans signed to NLIs coming to CU.

Just googled Hilbert and he's under contract to CSU until 2018. He is paid a base salary of $200K and a $1 million dollar buyout clause. CSU wants to keep him.

 

[AztecBuff]

Was too lazy to update this thread earlier, but thought I'd do so now since it is national championship game day. A few things:
1) Today's championship match probably features many/ most (???) Buff fans least liked schools, as it's Texas facing off against Nebraska in Omaha. For those who want to check the match out (I assume before the Buff basketball game), it starts at 5:30 MT, and is on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. I couldn't find live stats yet, but assume a link may be available at http://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d1/2015/12/19/texas-nebraska and/ or http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=210588399 come match-time.

As to local rooting interests, the only Colorado player on either teams' roster today is Nicole Dalton (from Parker) who plays for Texas. (I believe Ms. Dalton, now a redshirt junior, was a VERY highly rated (Easily Top 10 if not Top 5) recruit as a Gabby Simpson-like versatile player who was going to be a setter- hitter combo at Texas. However, I believe she's had some major injuries over her college career, so now has transformed into a valuable defensive specialist/ server for the Longhorns.)

2) The final 4 teams were 2 teams from the Big 10 (#2 seed Minnesota and #4 Nebraska) and 2 Big 12 teams (#3 Texas and #9 Kansas), with Texas taking down Minnesota in 4 close sets, while Nebraska had a somewhat easier time against the Jayhawks, although KS did also win a set.

3) Someone in the Volleytalk forum posted this might have been only the 3rd time in 20 years OR MORE that a Pac 10/ 12 team didn't make the Final 4, with both Washington and USC going down in the regional finals, to Nebraska and Kansas, respectively. (Must have been an extra painful heart breaker loss for the #1 overall seeded Trojans, as they were up 13-9 in the 5th set, but gave up a 6 point Jayhawk scoring run and lost 15-13.)

 

[buffgal]

Final match wasn't even close. Nebraska took down Texas 3-0. Have to admit they have an excellent team even if they were playing in Omaha and it was definitely a "home" match for them.