Texas.
And never the Longhorns.
Though you can begin there, since defending-champion Texas is ranked No. 1 within the AVCA preseason ballot earlier than an NCAA season that begins Wednesday.
Slightly, the state of Texas looms massive, with 4 groups in that prime 25 and one other getting votes, others not ranked however picked to win their respective conferences, and key gamers from the state of Texas sprinkled all through the land.
When the final ball hit the ground in December, Texas swept Louisville for the NCAA title. It was the primary title for Texas in 12 years and, within the grand scheme of issues, extra of the identical. Simply 12 packages have gained the title because the NCAA started holding ladies’s volleyball championships in 1982: Stanford (9 instances), Penn State (7), Nebraska (5), UCLA (4), Texas (3) Hawai’i (3), Lengthy Seaside State (3), USC (3), Pacific (2), Kentucky (1), Wisconsin (1) and Washington (1).
Is there a workforce exterior that listing that would break by way of in a period that has seen two new groups win previously few years with Kentucky within the COVID-delayed 2020 season within the spring of 2021 and Wisconsin simply half a 12 months later?
Up to now decade, the one groups to even make the finals who haven’t gained all of it have been Oregon in 2012, BYU in 2014 and Louisville final 12 months.
Don’t maintain your breath.
A coach from a top-10 program requested privately the opposite day if I assumed there was parity within the sport. Certain, I stated, among the many prime dozen or so groups. After that? It’s a three-tiered system, with the few that may win all of it, the following 20 or so who could make noise and infrequently upset the NCAA bracket, and all the remainder.
San Diego, the workforce from the West Coast Convention that caught lightning in a bottle and made the nationwide semifinals and gave Texas all it may deal with, gave everybody hope with its slogan, “Why Not Us?”
So why not another person this 12 months?
The groups on the prime are just too good.
Anyway …
The season begins Friday and listed here are some random ideas and notes earlier than the primary serve with a day that has a whopping 226 matches.
Larger in Texas
The AVCA preseason polls lists Texas No. 1 and contains No. 15 Baylor, No. 19 Houston and No. 23 Rice. TCU additionally bought votes.
Stephen F. Austin, situated in Nacogdoches, Texas, is the preseason decide to win the WAC, a league that additionally contains UTRGV (Texas Rio Grande Valley), which is picked third, UT Arlington, picked ffith, Tarleton State at No. 9 and Abilene Christian at No. 10.
Eleven of SFA’s gamers are from Texas, together with Ielan Bradley, the WAC preseason participant of the 12 months who’s from Cypress, Texas, and Haley Hoang, the preseason libero of the, who’s from Plano, Texas.
SMU is the preseason decide to win the American Athletic Convention, a league with a a lot totally different look now that perennial favorites UCF and Houston have moved to the Massive 12. Apparently, SMU was not listed within the getting-votes part of the AVCA Ballot, however was picked to complete forward of Rice. Additionally within the ACC are Texas groups North Texas and UTSA. The AAC preseason participant of the 12 months is exterior Jamison Wheeler, who’s from Austin. Six of her teammates are from Texas.
Houston Christian is the decide to win the Southland Convention, a league that features Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UIW, Texas A&M-Commerce and Lamar. Perennial Solar Belt favourite Texas State was picked to complete second within the West Division.
A fast run by way of the highest 10 exhibits that Texas has simply 5 gamers from Texas. Second-ranked Wisconsin has none, No. 3 Stanford has one (senior center Annabelle Smith), No. 4 Louisville has three together with UCLA switch Charitie Luper, No. 5 Nebraska has Ally Batenhorst, No. 5 Pittsburgh has two, No. 7 Minnesota has none since Jenna Wenaas transferred to Texas, No. 8 Penn State has none, No. 9 Oregon has two together with Baylor switch Kara McGhee, and No. 10 Kentucky has 4.
There are, after all, manner too many Texas groups and gamers to proceed speaking about, however you get the purpose. In accordance with our pal Wealthy Kern at richkern.com, who compiles an annual listing of all NCAA Division I gamers, there are 855 this 12 months.
There are 513 from California.
What a primary weekend
Cue up Tom Petty (I Received’t Again Down), as a result of in NCAA Division I volleyball, the most effective groups play every from the get go. For that matter, the four-weekend pre-conference schedule is only a volleyball junkies’ delight.
Right here’s a sampling of Friday’s slate with a reminder that elsewhere on this web site are our TV & Streaming Listings with a viewing hyperlink to each match that’s being proven.
The showcase gathering of the primary weekend is at Minnesota, the place the Gophers and Wisconsin play Baylor and TCU.
In Tampa, Florida, web site of December’s NCAA nationwide semifinals and ultimate and AVCA conference, No. 11 Florida performs No. 8 Penn State and Georgia Tech performs USF.
In Missoula, Montana, No. 5 Penn State performs No. 17 BYU. No. 12 Marquette performs No. 24 Western Kentucky.
Prime-ranked Texas opens at Lengthy Seaside State.
Houston is house for No. 22 USC.
No. 21 Washington State performs Wright State, which went unbeaten within the Horizon League final 12 months.
There are a gazillion extra matches Saturday with simply as many intriguing battles. Washington State performs Louisville, No. 16 Purdue performs No. 18 Creighton, Penn State performs Georgia Tech, USC travels throughout Houston to Rice and Stanford performs Colorado State
On the house entrance — my house — UCLA performs at LSU on Friday and Saturday nights. That is their first assembly since 2008. And talking of Texas, LSU has 9 Texas gamers on its roster from our bordering state, together with one participant to look at, graduate-student center Anita Anwusi.
New P5 ladies coaches
There are six ladies taking up Energy 5 groups (no matter Energy 5 means now within the new realigned world), and 4 of them are first-time Division I head coaches.
UCF promoted longtime assistant Jenny Maurer when Todd Dagenais left to educate within the Professional Volleyball Federation. Maurer had beforehand been a head coach at Bradley and Lehigh. Daybreak Sullivan is at Missouri after a five-year profitable run at UNLV.
The brand new first-time head coaches are Rita Stubbs, the longtime assistant who was promoted at Arizona when Dave Rubio retired; Lindsey Behonick, the Pitt assistant now at Oregon State; Erin Lindsey, the USA Volleyball national-team assistant now at Michigan and dealing with each jobs on this Olympic run; and Leslie Gabriel, the longtime assistant at Washington who was promoted at her alma mater when Keegan Cook dinner left for Minnesota.
In your viewing pleasure
Final week, we did a Zoom with Notre Dame coach Salima Rockwell, Southern MIss coach Jenny Hazelwood and the Massive Ten Community’s Emily Ehman. It’s price it for the leisure worth alone, however we bought deep into the NCAA volleyball weeds. Click on right here to look at.
This previous Tuesday, Emily and I have been joined by ESPN play-by-play afficionado Paul Sunderland for the only objective of previewing the season. Plenty of nice information. Click on right here to look at.
Emily Ehman has performed fairly a bit this preseason for the Massive Ten Community, together with rating the highest gamers. See these on Twitter @emilyehman.
Additionally, NCAA.com’s Michella Chester has performed her personal rankings and lists, together with the highest gamers at every place and itemizing the highest matches of the pre-conference season. See these on Twitter @michellachester and on Instagram @ncaavolleyball
Totally different view of stats
A brand new web site has launched referred to as evollve.internet. They’ve an analogous in-depth web site masking ladies’s basketball and this their first foray into volleyball.
As they informed us:
“On our web site, you can find some normal stats that present up in a field rating, however additionally, you will discover progressive new stats for the sport. Our workforce has labored collectively to include into the location a number of necessary metrics that, whereas they will not be mainstream within the volleyball world but, are key components in measuring a workforce’s success. Along with our Evollve score, a metric that goals to guage workforce energy by beginning with the share of factors a workforce has gained and adjusting for energy of schedule, we even have made a number of different superior stats publicly obtainable for the primary time, reminiscent of kill price and ace price.
“We’re launching with workforce stats for NCAA Division I ladies’s volleyball, and we have now plans so as to add extra metrics and new options as we proceed to develop. We look ahead to participating with the volleyball group and serving to to maneuver the sport ahead by way of extra entry to information and knowledge.”