NCAA Girls
August 25, 2024
The Casablanca lead by no means will get previous.
As Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) mentioned within the film Casablanca after Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) shot the unhealthy man, “Main Strasser has been shot. Spherical up the same old suspects.”
And right here we go once more in NCAA Division I ladies’s volleyball.
Spherical up the same old suspects.
To wit, the AVCA preseason ballot, the one one the place a lot of the coaches dedicate a variety of thought and time to, as a result of they’re not in season, got here out final week. Don’t get us began on the ballot because the season progresses…
Anyway, take a look at the highest 10. Aside from Purdue and Oregon, each workforce has both gained an NCAA title or been to the ultimate 4 the previous 10 years. And Oregon went in 2012 and Purdue knocks on the door ever yr.
The NCAA season begins Tuesday in Louisville, web site of the NCAA Division I Girls’s Volleyball Championship in late December.
First up within the Yum! Heart within the AVCA First Serve Showcase is Kentucky, which gained all of it in spring 2021, versus Nebraska, which, within the final seven years has one title (2017) and three different appearances within the championship match.
Then host Louisville, which misplaced to ACC rival Pitt in a reverse sweep within the regional remaining a yr in the past after making it to the 2022 title match, performs Wisconsin, the 2021 champion.
Each matches will probably be on ESPN2.
It’s a big-time solution to start the faculty volleyball season.
2024: A courageous new world
That is the primary season with the Huge 4 as a substitute of the Energy 5 (ah, the Pac-12, relaxation in peace).
Keep in mind when it was beautiful for a convention to get eight groups within the NCAA Event? Don’t be shocked to see 12 or extra get in from the Huge Ten. The ACC has eight or 9 written throughout it. And search for the SEC and Huge 12 to get seven every, give or take. That’s greater than half the sphere of 64.
Within the new convention alignment, there are 31 conferences. Meaning 27 different conferences get an automated bid, with maybe three or 4 of these getting an extra at-large or two (whats up Huge East, Solar Belt, Huge West, WCC).
Altering panorama?
Simply think about the place the previous Pac-12 groups at the moment are. Stanford and Cal are within the ACC. The A, by the way in which, stands for Atlantic. Washington State and Oregon State are, at the least for now, within the WCC. The Huge 12 bought Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah and, in fact, UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon are within the Huge Ten.
Two-time defending-champion Texas and Oklahoma are within the SEC.
The numbers appear so out of whack with what we’re used to.
The ACC has 18 volleyball groups, the Huge 12 has 15, the Huge Ten has 18 and the SEC has 15 and subsequent yr lastly provides Vanderbilt. Sure, coach Anders Nelson and employees nonetheless have yet another yr to construct the inaugural program.
This may also be a school season main into not just one professional league, however two. The Professional Volleyball Federation begins its second season in January, whereas LOVB has its inaugural marketing campaign. And as soon as once more Athletes Limitless will probably be again at it within the fall.
NCAA volleyball TV time
Thanks, ladies’s hoops, and, extra particularly Caitlin Clark, since volleyball is reaping the profit.
An everyday-season match on ABC! Lastly.
Beginning with the AVCA First Serve Showcase proper via the NCAA title tilt on Sunday, December 22, ESPN will present essentially the most matches ever. Based on its information launch, greater than 2,600 matches will probably be proven on its platforms this fall, 2,450 on ESPN+
Click on right here for the information launch and an inventory of all of the matches on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, the ACC Community, and the SEC Community. A lot of the televised Huge 12 matches are on ESPN+.
The Huge Ten Community, Fox, FS1, NBC and Peacock will mix to indicate 83 B1G matches this season. That features the unbelievable gathering September 1-2 in Milwaukee, the School Volleyball Showcase at Fiserv Discussion board, when Wisconsin performs Texas on Fox, Stanford performs Minnesota on FS1, and the following day Wisconsin performs Stanford on Fox and Texas performs Minnesota on FS1.
The primary full weekend
So after the early begin in Louisville, issues start in earnest on Friday with 218 — 218! matches. The primary 4 weekends earlier than the beginning of convention performs is solely nuts to observe.
Listed below are just a few of the intriguing matches Friday: No. 7 Penn State at No. 15 Tennessee, No. 4 Pittsburgh at No. 10 Oregon, UCLA at No. 14 Georgia Tech, Kansas State at No. 8 Purdue, No. 21 USC at Pepperdine and No. 5 Stanford at Milwaukee, as a result of, nicely, it’s Stanford at Milwaukee, which is fairly cool.
There are a zillion extra matches on Saturday, together with Northern Iowa vs. Ohio State after which Dayton vs. the Buckeyes at No. 22 Dayton, Illinois at Bowling Inexperienced, TCU at Nebraska, USC again at Pepperdine, Western Kentucky at Kentucky, No. 17 Arizona State at Lipscomb, SMU at Hawai’i and Pitt vs. Lengthy Seashore State at Oregon.
Sunday options the showcase early event of the pre-conference season, with Stanford vs. Minnesota and Texas vs. Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Additionally Sunday, SMU vs. San Diego in Hawai’i, Tennessee at Louisville, UCLA vs. Coastal Carolina at GT, Lengthy Seashore State at Oregon and No. 25 Georgia vs. No. 20 Florida State.
Kentucky was speculated to open with Northern Kentucky, however as a substitute, due to the primary tourney, performs Nebraska. For that matter, earlier than beginning the SEC the Wildcats will play Western Kentucky, Penn State, James Madison, Ball State, Purdue or Houston, Louisville and Stanford. Huge high-fives to educate Craig Skinner.
And allow us to say this: The coaches of the highest groups in school volleyball deserve severe excessive fives for yearly taking part in one another within the preseason. The perfect play the very best, penalties be damned, and our sport is healthier for it.
Ehman’s B1G 20
Talking of the Huge Ten Community and ESPN, our buddy Emily Ehman, who has change into a volleyball trade inside herself, ranked the highest 20 returning gamers within the Huge Ten. By way of Saturday she had Nos. 20-6:
20. Rebekah Allick, Nebraska
19. Mia Tuaniga, USC
18. Anna Dodson, UCLA
17. Ramsey Gary, Indiana
16. Raven Colvin, Purdue
15. Mimi Colyer, Oregon
14. Chloe Chicoine, Purdue
13. Camryn Haworth, Indiana
12. Taylor Landfair, Nebraska
11. Raina Terry, Illinois
10. Harper Murray, Nebraska
9. Bergen Reilly, Nebraska
8. Anna Smrek, Wisconsin
7. Eva Hudson, Purdue
6. Emily Londot, Ohio State.
We’re gonna exit on a limb via easy technique of elimination and guess that the ultimate 5 are Nebraska’s Merritt Beason and Lexi Rodriguez, Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin and Carter Sales space and Penn State’s Jess Mruzik.
Comply with Emily on Twitter and Instagram at @emilyehman not solely to see the ultimate 5, however for all issues volleyball on a regular basis.
Roomies: Lipscomb vs. California Baptist
Lipscomb, the perennial ASUN contender, is residence in Nashville the primary weekend to California Baptist, No. 17 Arizona State and Butler.
The Lippy-CBU matchup is basically particular for the coaches, Lipscomb’s Brandon Rosenthal and CBU’s Branden Higa.
Rosenthal, who has taken the Bisons to eight NCAA Tournaments in his first 22 years, and Higa, who has been at CBU of the WAC since 2012 and guided this system in 2018 into Division I, have been school roomates at Pepperdine.
The 2 native Californians have been greatest mates for 30 years.
They’d their very own radio present in school — a midnight-to-2 a.m. gig referred to as B&B and the Pimp Crew — have been in one another’s weddings, they discuss just about daily and, now, for the primary time, are going to educate in opposition to one another.
Higa performed at Pepperdine for 3 seasons, whereas Rosenthal performed membership volleyball. Rosenthal, who grew to become one of many youngest Division I coaches when he took over at Lipscomb in 2003 at age 25, introduced Higa on as an assistant his second yr.
“I couldn’t pay him however flew him out for per week at a time to work with us,” Rosenthal mentioned.
“And we’re lastly attending to play a match,” Higa mentioned. “To compete in opposition to your greatest buddy is fairly cool. Will probably be an awesome second for us.”
Lippy is that this yr’s ASUN preseason decide to win the league, simply forward of Florida Gulf Coast.
Get them in your radar
Begin with the Solar Belt Convention. The perfect libero you haven’t seen is 5-foot-5 Louisiana-Lafayette’s Mio Yamamoto. The senior from Chigasaki, Japan, is the true deal. The Ragin’ Cajuns sparkplug was the 2023 Solar Belt libero of the yr …
The perfect setter you haven’t seen is Ryann Torres of Texas State. We wrote about her final yr after which she had a concussion between the time the story got here out and her subsequent match. However she bounced again sturdy and the 5-10 product of Buda, Texas, is an enormous purpose why Texas State is picked to win the SBC West. After which there’s Coastal Carolina’s Jalyn Stout, a sophomore from Gainesville, Florida, who’s generously listed at 5-10. The 2023 SBC freshman of the yr is a outstanding leaper with a completely vicious arm …
In 2022, Purdue’s Eva Hudson was the Huge Ten freshman of the yr, however ran out of gasoline in the direction of the top of the season. Final yr, she led the B1G in kills with 560, 14 greater than Ohio State’s Emily Londot. But it surely says right here the 6-1 product of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is definitely underrated and goes to take it to a different stage this season …
Utah had a tough go of it final yr, ending 11-19 total and 6-14 within the Pac-12, however a transfer to the Huge 12 is simply what coach Beth Launiere wants as she begins her thirty fifth yr in Salt Lake Metropolis. Search for senior outdoors Lauren Jardine and sophomre outdoors Kamryn Gibadio to have break-out seasons …
If we have been having a participant draft and I had the No. 1 decide, I’d take Stanford senior Kami Miner as a result of she’s a setter, however it could be onerous to go on Texas senior celebrity outdoors Madi Skinner. Search for them to be USA teammates in Los Angeles in 2028 …
Loss of life, taxes and Western Kentucky being nice: Coach Travis Hudson simply will get it finished yr after yr, and this occurs to be yr No. 30 for a man who has taken his program to 5 NCAA Tournaments in a row and 9 of the final 10 and 16 total. Senior outdoors Kaylee Cox, who was an all-Convention USA participant final season after transferring from Missouri, is the league preseason participant of the yr. By the way in which, her mother, Brenda, performed basketball at SMU and all three of her sisters are/have been hoopsters, together with Lauren, who gained a nationwide title at Baylor …
By no means sleep on coach Don Metil’s Towson, the three-time CAA champion … We’ve an enormous characteristic coming later within the week on Creighton, however let me simply this about essentially the most under-recognized nice participant in school volleyball: Norah Sis! … Control Boise senior proper facet Paige Bartsch, who led the Mountain West in kills and aces final season. Her twin sister Dani performs basketball at Montana …
All-Identify contenders, each on the all-WCC preseason workforce: Maui Robins, the junior outdoors for Portland, and Nemo Seashore, the sophomore outdoors for San Diego, who was the league freshman of the yr in 2023 …
There have been, as there are yearly, a ton of transfers. The final workforce to win all of it with out a switch from Kentucky in spring 2021 and the percentages are it by no means occurs once more. Michella Chester of NCAA.com broke it down with the highest 11 transfers, three of whom went to Texas and two who went to Nebraska.
For reference on any or all the above, click on right here for the 2023 VolleyballMag.com All-American groups story.
My groups …
I at all times root for my alma mater, Southern Illinois. The Salukis have made strides beneath coach Ed Allen — now ranked No. 6 amongst energetic NCAA Division I head coaches with 705 profession victories — and are picked to complete fifth within the Missouri Valley Convention … And I’ve at all times had a tender spot in my coronary heart for Stony Brook within the city the place I grew up on Lengthy Island. The Seawolves and eighth-year coach Kristin Belzung begin their third season within the CAA …
For the previous 39 years, I lived in Baton Rouge, so the hometown workforce was LSU, which is beginning its fiftieth yr of volleyball. That features journeys to the 1990 and 1991 NCAA nationwide semifinals. This system has a brand new web site, lsusports.web/vb50/, that options historic pictures and a few cool movies …
However now I stay 12 miles north of Boston and I’ve all types of latest hometown groups to observe, like Boston School, Harvard, and, about 17 miles up the highway, Merrimack. Wouldn’t you understand it, however BC is making a visit to LSU in September. BC, in fact, is within the ACC, and league residence matches embrace Pitt and SMU in early October, Florida State and Miami later within the month, and Notre Dame and Louisville in November.
Anyway, Merrimack, coached by Ray Lewis, is situated in North Andover and has moved from the NEC to the Metro Atlantic. I sit up for seeing them play and dare I say, “Go Warriors.”