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2017 PSU Women's VB Thread

articles about the matches this weekend, and the NCAA tournament:


VolleyMob: 2017 NCAA Tournament Selection Show - Live Recap

VolleyMob: NCAA Tournament Field -- A Quick Breakdown

Daily Collegian: No. 1 Penn State women's volleyball survives road tests to end regular season with Big Ten championship

Big Ten Network: Nebraska, Penn State split Big Ten women's volleyball crown

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Gophers volleyball falls to Penn State in four sets; NCAA tournament up next

NCAA.com: No. 1 Penn State still too much for Wisconsin

ESPN: Texas in tough spot in NCAA volleyball bracket, SEC co-champs Florida, Kentucky rewarded

StateCollege.com: Penn State Women's Volleyball Earns No. 1 Seed in NCAA Tournament

The Diamondback: Maryland volleyball is the first team left out of the NCAA tournament

CDT: Penn State gets top seed for NCAA tournament

Black Shoe Diaries: Penn State Women's Volleyball Gets Top Seed in NCAA Tourney
 
interesting to look at all the results in the NCAA bracket.

PSU defeated Pitt, so they'll host the regional matches. They'll face Missouri, who upset Wichita St (#16 seed), 3-1. In the bottom of the regional bracket, Michigan St upset #9 seed Creighton, 3-1, and Illinois upset #8 seed Washington, 3-2. So MSU will face the Illini in the other regional match, with the winner to face the PSU - Mizzou winner.

In the regional bracket that is aligned with PSU's bracket in terms of the semis, #4 seed Kentucky won and will host that regional. Kentucky defeated Western Kentucky, 3-2. They'll take on #13 seed BYU, who defeated Oregon, 3-0. In the top half of that regional, #4 Nebraska defeated Washington St, 3-0. They'll take on Colorado, who upset #12 seed Baylor, 3-0.

Looking out west, #3 seed Stanford held seed so they'll host their regional. They'll face Wisconsin, who upset #14 seed Iowa St, 3-0. The winner of that match will face the winner of the match between #6 seed Texas vs. #11 seed Utah.

Down south, #2 seed Florida held seed so they'll host their regional. They'll face #15 seed UCLA, who also held seed. The winner of that match will face the winner of the #7 seed Minnesota vs. #10 seed USC, both of whom held seed to get to their match-up.

From the B1G, PSU, MSU, Illini, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are still alive.
 
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articles in advance of today's NCAA Regional match, against Missouri



StateCollege.com: Penn State Volleyball Legacy Lainy Pierce Writing Her Own Story

Daily Collegian: Why Penn State women's volleyball has the necessary experience to advance back to the Final Four

CDT: Penn State volleyball's Ali Frantti, Tori Gorrell living the dream they've shared since junior high

Kansas City Star: Mizzou volleyball faces 'a tall order' in Sweet 16 matchup at Penn State

Columbia Missourian: Missouri volleyball takes on toughest task yet against No. 1 Penn State

Lock Haven Express: PSU Women's Volleyball se to host Park Regional

VolleyMob: Penn State Supplies "Excuse Letter" for Fans Coming to Sweet 16 Match

VolleyMob: Scouting the NCAA University Park Regional -- Sweet 16 & Beyond

Northern Kentucky Tribune: Edgewood native Thelen plays key role for top-ranked Penn State volleyball program
 
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Starting with the Sweet 16/Regional Semifinals, where all 16 teams will be in action over the course of Friday December 8. The time listings are all based on Eastern Time:

Noon – #13 BYU at #4 Kentucky
2 p.m. – Colorado vs. #5 Nebraska
2 p.m. – Missouri at #1 Penn State
4 p.m. – Illinois vs. Michigan State
4 p.m. – #15 UCLA at #2 Florida
6 p.m. – #10 USC vs. #7 Minnesota
9 p.m. – #11 Utah vs. #6 Texas
11 p.m. – Wisconsin at #3 Stanford
​
Additionally, all of the games will be available on either ESPNU or ESPN3. In the next round, the Elite Eight, all four matches will be on ESPNU and WatchESPN. Those take place on Saturday December 9, the day after the previous round. The time listings once again for the Regional Finals are based on Eastern Time:

4 p.m. – Kentucky Regional
6 p.m. – Florida Regional
8 p.m. – Penn State Regional
10 p.m. – Stanford Regional
​
 
Last edited:
 
Now on in our bracket

No. 4 Kentucky vs.
No. 5 Nebraska,

4 p.m. ET on ESPNU​
 
One thing I didn't like was Nebraska being on Penn State's side. They should of been a #1 like the #3 overall.
 
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NedFromYork said:
One thing I didn't like was Nebraska being on Penn State's side. They should of been a #1 like the #3 overall.
Click to expand...

This was inevitable. The NCAA doesn't want a conference final as occured in the PSU vs UW final. They didn't expect UW to make it to the Final Four, maybe not even PSU given a heavily weighted freshman class.
 
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NedFromYork said:
One thing I didn't like was Nebraska being on Penn State's side. They should of been a #1 like the #3 overall.
Click to expand...

I was talking to a guy at the game yesterday saying the same thing. He was actually on the committee that seeded the teams. I forget his name, but he’s from Iona. He said Nebraska’s loss to NIU (I believe that what’s he said) was a horrible non conference loss and did them in. Unlike football, they have a list of criteria for rankings and pretty much use that exclusively for seeding.
 
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NedFromYork said:
One thing I didn't like was Nebraska being on Penn State's side. They should of been a #1 like the #3 overall.
Click to expand...

Sproul said:
I was talking to a guy at the game yesterday saying the same thing. He was actually on the committee that seeded the teams. I forget his name, but he’s from Iona. He said Nebraska’s loss to NIU (I believe that what’s he said) was a horrible non conference loss and did them in. Unlike football, they have a list of criteria for rankings and pretty much use that exclusively for seeding.
Click to expand...

In the grand scheme, there are no easy opponents in the Final Four. If PSU were facing Stanford, or Florida in their semi, some PSU fans would be lamenting facing them, and grumbling that the other semi was easier. I think that's a mistake. At this point in the playoffs, all the teams are very good.

As for Nebraska being a 2 or 3 seed, I don't see how that would have happened. The final RPI was:

1. PSU
2. Florida
3. Kentucky
4. Texas
5. Stanford
6. Nebraska
7. Minnesota
8. Washington
9. Utah
10. Creighton

Let's look at records at the end of the season:

PSU: 29-1
Florida: 29-1
Kentucky: 26-3
Texas: 24-2
Stanford: 26-3
Nebraska: 26-4
Minny: 26-5

On the road, their records were:

PSU: 12-0
Florida: 9-0
Kentucky: 10-2
Texas: 11-1
Stanford: 13-1
Nebraska: 10-2

On neutral courts, their records were:

PSU: 5-0
Florida: 2-0
Kentucky: 3-0
Texas: 3-0
Stanford: 2-2
Nebraska: 1-2

So PSU got the #1 seed, Florida got the #2 seed, Stanford got the #3 seed, Kentucky got the #4 seed, Nebraska got the #5 seed, Texas got the #6 seed, Minny got the #7 seed, Washington got the #8 seed, etc.

Seeds 1, 2, and 3 held through the Regionals. #4 seed Kentucky fell to #5 seed, Nebraska, in the Regional Final. By seed, that would be the closest two seeds that would meet in the Regionals.

By being the #1 seed, PSU gets to face the lowest seed in a semifinal. The fact that it's the only team to have defeated PSU this season does give one pause, but it doesn't mean that the seeds were inaccurate.

During the season, Nebraska lost to Oregon, Florida, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Oregon and Florida loses were in August (the start of the season), the UNI loss was in mid-September, and the Wisky loss was in mid-October. The UNI loss was an odd one, in terms of the level of the competition, but Nebraska lost that 3-1, winning only the 3rd set.

Seeds aren't the end all and be all in a tournament. You can make an argument that the most dangerous team in the tournament was Southern Cal, the #10 seed. They defeated #7 seed Minnesota, 3-0, and darn near defeated #2 seed Florida in the Regional Final. They were up 2-1 in the Regional Final, and in set 4 they were up 21-18, and 24-23, before losing the 4th set. They were also were up 8-4, and 9-5 in the 5th set, before Florida went on a 10-2 run to win the set and the match.

Any of the four remaining teams has the talent to win the championship. PSU appears to have more firepower on their front line than does Nebraska, but it's not a big advantage. What worries me most about Nebraska is that their first pass may have been the most consistent I saw in the Regional competition. They were consistently very accurate with their first pass, which enabled their setter to comfortably set up kill shots by the OHs or MBs. By comparison, PSU, Stanford, and Florida each seemed to have certain rotations where they were having some trouble with the first pass. Sometimes in competitions where the talent level is so close, it's little things like consistently accurate first passes that can make the different. But on the flip side, there are times where all the talent kind of neutralizes each other, but the elite player or players on one side make the difference.

I think Stanford will defeat Florida, but it wouldn't surprise me if Florida won that semi. In the PSU - Nebraska semi, the results of the earlier match do give me some concern, as does the consistency of Nebraska's first pass. I see that semi as a pick'em.

We should be treated to some great volleyball on Thursday evening. Hopefully PSU will advance to play on Saturday.
 
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Tom McAndrew said:
In the grand scheme, there are no easy opponents in the Final Four. If PSU were facing Stanford, or Florida in their semi, some PSU fans would be lamenting facing them, and grumbling that the other semi was easier. I think that's a mistake. At this point in the playoffs, all the teams are very good.

As for Nebraska being a 2 or 3 seed, I don't see how that would have happened. The final RPI was:

1. PSU
2. Florida
3. Kentucky
4. Texas
5. Stanford
6. Nebraska
7. Minnesota
8. Washington
9. Utah
10. Creighton

Let's look at records at the end of the season:

PSU: 29-1
Florida: 29-1
Kentucky: 26-3
Texas: 24-2
Stanford: 26-3
Nebraska: 26-4
Minny: 26-5

On the road, their records were:

PSU: 12-0
Florida: 9-0
Kentucky: 10-2
Texas: 11-1
Stanford: 13-1
Nebraska: 10-2

On neutral courts, their records were:

PSU: 5-0
Florida: 2-0
Kentucky: 3-0
Texas: 3-0
Stanford: 2-2
Nebraska: 1-2

So PSU got the #1 seed, Florida got the #2 seed, Stanford got the #3 seed, Kentucky got the #4 seed, Nebraska got the #5 seed, Texas got the #6 seed, Minny got the #7 seed, Washington got the #8 seed, etc.

Seeds 1, 2, and 3 held through the Regionals. #4 seed Kentucky fell to #5 seed, Nebraska, in the Regional Final. By seed, that would be the closest two seeds that would meet in the Regionals.

By being the #1 seed, PSU gets to face the lowest seed in a semifinal. The fact that it's the only team to have defeated PSU this season does give one pause, but it doesn't mean that the seeds were inaccurate.

During the season, Nebraska lost to Oregon, Florida, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Oregon and Florida loses were in August (the start of the season), the UNI loss was in mid-September, and the Wisky loss was in mid-October. The UNI loss was an odd one, in terms of the level of the competition, but Nebraska lost that 3-1, winning only the 3rd set.

Seeds aren't the end all and be all in a tournament. You can make an argument that the most dangerous team in the tournament was Southern Cal, the #10 seed. They defeated #7 seed Minnesota, 3-0, and darn near defeated #2 seed Florida in the Regional Final. They were up 2-1 in the Regional Final, and in set 4 they were up 21-18, and 24-23, before losing the 4th set. They were also were up 8-4, and 9-5 in the 5th set, before Florida went on a 10-2 run to win the set and the match.

Any of the four remaining teams has the talent to win the championship. PSU appears to have more firepower on their front line than does Nebraska, but it's not a big advantage. What worries me most about Nebraska is that their first pass may have been the most consistent I saw in the Regional competition. They were consistently very accurate with their first pass, which enabled their setter to comfortably set up kill shots by the OHs or MBs. By comparison, PSU, Stanford, and Florida each seemed to have certain rotations where they were having some trouble with the first pass. Sometimes in competitions where the talent level is so close, it's little things like consistently accurate first passes that can make the different. But on the flip side, there are times where all the talent kind of neutralizes each other, but the elite player or players on one side make the difference.

I think Stanford will defeat Florida, but it wouldn't surprise me if Florida won that semi. In the PSU - Nebraska semi, the results of the earlier match do give me some concern, as does the consistency of Nebraska's first pass. I see that semi as a pick'em.

We should be treated to some great volleyball on Thursday evening. Hopefully PSU will advance to play on Saturday.
Click to expand...
A totally excellent summary! Thanks
 
Tom McAndrew said:
In the grand scheme, there are no easy opponents in the Final Four. If PSU were facing Stanford, or Florida in their semi, some PSU fans would be lamenting facing them, and grumbling that the other semi was easier. I think that's a mistake. At this point in the playoffs, all the teams are very good.

As for Nebraska being a 2 or 3 seed, I don't see how that would have happened. The final RPI was:

1. PSU
2. Florida
3. Kentucky
4. Texas
5. Stanford
6. Nebraska
7. Minnesota
8. Washington
9. Utah
10. Creighton

Let's look at records at the end of the season:

PSU: 29-1
Florida: 29-1
Kentucky: 26-3
Texas: 24-2
Stanford: 26-3
Nebraska: 26-4
Minny: 26-5

On the road, their records were:

PSU: 12-0
Florida: 9-0
Kentucky: 10-2
Texas: 11-1
Stanford: 13-1
Nebraska: 10-2

On neutral courts, their records were:

PSU: 5-0
Florida: 2-0
Kentucky: 3-0
Texas: 3-0
Stanford: 2-2
Nebraska: 1-2

So PSU got the #1 seed, Florida got the #2 seed, Stanford got the #3 seed, Kentucky got the #4 seed, Nebraska got the #5 seed, Texas got the #6 seed, Minny got the #7 seed, Washington got the #8 seed, etc.

Seeds 1, 2, and 3 held through the Regionals. #4 seed Kentucky fell to #5 seed, Nebraska, in the Regional Final. By seed, that would be the closest two seeds that would meet in the Regionals.

By being the #1 seed, PSU gets to face the lowest seed in a semifinal. The fact that it's the only team to have defeated PSU this season does give one pause, but it doesn't mean that the seeds were inaccurate.

During the season, Nebraska lost to Oregon, Florida, Northern Iowa, and Wisconsin. The Oregon and Florida loses were in August (the start of the season), the UNI loss was in mid-September, and the Wisky loss was in mid-October. The UNI loss was an odd one, in terms of the level of the competition, but Nebraska lost that 3-1, winning only the 3rd set.

Seeds aren't the end all and be all in a tournament. You can make an argument that the most dangerous team in the tournament was Southern Cal, the #10 seed. They defeated #7 seed Minnesota, 3-0, and darn near defeated #2 seed Florida in the Regional Final. They were up 2-1 in the Regional Final, and in set 4 they were up 21-18, and 24-23, before losing the 4th set. They were also were up 8-4, and 9-5 in the 5th set, before Florida went on a 10-2 run to win the set and the match.

Any of the four remaining teams has the talent to win the championship. PSU appears to have more firepower on their front line than does Nebraska, but it's not a big advantage. What worries me most about Nebraska is that their first pass may have been the most consistent I saw in the Regional competition. They were consistently very accurate with their first pass, which enabled their setter to comfortably set up kill shots by the OHs or MBs. By comparison, PSU, Stanford, and Florida each seemed to have certain rotations where they were having some trouble with the first pass. Sometimes in competitions where the talent level is so close, it's little things like consistently accurate first passes that can make the different. But on the flip side, there are times where all the talent kind of neutralizes each other, but the elite player or players on one side make the difference.

I think Stanford will defeat Florida, but it wouldn't surprise me if Florida won that semi. In the PSU - Nebraska semi, the results of the earlier match do give me some concern, as does the consistency of Nebraska's first pass. I see that semi as a pick'em.

We should be treated to some great volleyball on Thursday evening. Hopefully PSU will advance to play on Saturday.
Click to expand...
In regards to the losses. The first two losses of the year was bc our Setter did not play. She is our captain and Big Ten Setter of the Year.

NIU...no idea what happened....However, I believe it was a wake up call that you have to bring it every game.

I said this on the MB but I think our match with PSU comes down to who is the better "passing" team. It all starts with a good pass.
 
I have watched a lot of volleyball (daughter played D-1 for a few years). The first pass is critical at this level. There are two aspects of the game that affect the first pass: the quality of the back row players and the degree of difficulty of the serve. A good serving team can get the opponent "out of system" and scrambling on that first pass, making life difficult for the setter and creating problems running the offense. During the match watch how much the setter has to move to retrieve the pass. That will be a barometer as to how well the team is playing. Nebraska's setter may be the best remaining setter in the Final Four. PSU has to serve to spots and serve tough to prevail.
 
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jferretti said:
I have watched a lot of volleyball (daughter played D-1 for a few years). The first pass is critical at this level. There are two aspects of the game that affect the first pass: the quality of the back row players and the degree of difficulty of the serve. A good serving team can get the opponent "out of system" and scrambling on that first pass, making life difficult for the setter and creating problems running the offense. During the match watch how much the setter has to move to retrieve the pass. That will be a barometer as to how well the team is playing. Nebraska's setter may be the best remaining setter in the Final Four. PSU has to serve to spots and serve tough to prevail.
Click to expand...
Yep. Passing will be huge. Look for Nebraska to target Simone all night.
 
HuskerLivInTN said:
Yep. Passing will be huge. Look for Nebraska to target Simone all night.
Click to expand...

Simone and Frantti. IMHO, Nebraska is a better passing team than PSU so we will need to overcome that to win this match. Great serving to get Nebby out of system would also help a lot. Either way, it should be a great match.
 
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Erial_Lion said:
Honestly, I would have expected PSU to be a bit of a favorite, so it did surprise me.
Click to expand...


Well, Neb wrecked us at Rec Hall earlier this year AND they’re likely to have more fans in KC than PSU, Stanford and Florida combined. A toss-up is probably pretty accurate.
 
Here are the statistical rankings for just the tournament thru 4 matches (though some teams as shown did not play four matches). For example, Nebraska is 1st in Aces per set while PSU is 22nd. Nebraska also is 1st in Opponents Hitting %. Stanford is 1st in Blocks per set and Hitting %.

Make of it what you want. It's history. The real tourney starts tomorrow.

Edit: who thinks RR already has this written in his notebook?

24993556_10213503459594534_120344774646566956_n.jpg
 
WVB Lands Six on AVCA All-America Teams

The Penn State women's volleyball team saw six student-athletes named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America teams on Thursday as seniors Simone Lee and [URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/haleigh_washington_910491.html']Haleigh Washington led the way with First Team honors, while sophomore [URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/kendall_white_1016593.html']Kendall White earned Second Team honors. Ali Frantti, [URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/heidi_thelen_910479.html']Heidi Thelen, and [URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/abby_detering_1016588.html']Abby Detering were named to the Honorable Mention All-American list, as announced by the organization's office. [/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]
[URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/haleigh_washington_910491.html'][URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/ali_frantti_910445.html'][URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/heidi_thelen_910479.html'][URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/abby_detering_1016588.html']
This marks Washington's third selection to the First Team All-America and Lee's second such honor. Frantti earns her third All-America honor after earning First Team in 2014 and Honorable Mention in 2015

This marks the first career All-America honors for Thelen, White, and Detering. White is the first libero to earn All-America status for Penn State since 2005 when [URL='http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/kaleena_walters_406449.html']Kaleena Walters earned a place on the Honorable Mention team.

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/121317aac.html[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]
 
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WVB

PENN STATE vs NEB

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017

ESPN

7 PM

​
 
All this talk about Star Wars....I thought it was all about PSU’s WVBers. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

FONZIE’S BARKING FOR THE LADIES TONIGHT!
 
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