WSU receives votes in the AVCA poll

[Volleyballfan]

After some great wins against CSU and OU, WSU receives 30 votes in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll. Way to go Lambo and girls!! Their hard work is paying off.

[RoyalShock]

:good:

[WuDrWu]

There is a lot of competition this season in the top 40-50 programs, more than I've seen in the 7 or 8 seasons I've been following the sport.

It's kind of hard to see WSU ahead of both Arizona and Louisville. Yet Oklahoma and Colorado State are still ranked.

This Shocker club can beat almost any team in the country, given an A game performance, on a given night.

I expect a route this weekend, then a monumental matchup in Crap Falls the following Friday. Not that long ago UNI was bitching up a storm at the streak WSU was on....now it's time for our girls to bring their impressive streak to an abrupt conclusion.



:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

[1972Shocker]

I expect a rout this weekend

That makes one of us Doc. I expect the normal knock down, drag out battle which has become the norm with MSU in recent years.

I do agree that the parity in the top 40-50 teams seems to be stronger than ever.

Arizona really did not play anyone after the Hawaii tournament. They were swept by Oregon and won over Oregon State to open PAC-10 play.

The Shocks four losses are to teams with a combined 35-11 record. Of those 11 losses six were to Top 16 teams.

I think San Francisco will prove to be a much better win then first thought and Northern Colorado is going to win a lot of matches this year.

As far as the MVC goes I'm starting to get a sense that while the top of the league is as good as ever (UNI, WSU, MSU and CU) the rest of the league may be down a little. Absolutely can not afford a stumble against any of the bottom six. If we take care of business against the bottom six and split with UNI, MSU and CU we should be dancing again.

[WuDrWu]

That makes one of us Doc.

I know I'm in the minority. I just can't see ISU taking us to 5 like they did MSU.

At this point anything worse than 15-3 in the Valley will be disappointing (and I am not expecting to get UNI either time).

One, I think the girls are that good, and two, I think MSU and CU are down a little. On the other hand I think Evansville could be dangerous.

21-8 should be good enough for an invitation to the dance with the quality wins so far and I totally agree with the USF and UNC assessment. Those matches should be top 100 by years end.

FlyingMoose linked to the Pablo rankings somewhere....I didn't realize last year's ending ranking affected this year's....that seems odd. Also, the RPI needs to be tweaked to adjust for road games. That is outdated it seems to me.

[1972Shocker]

I just can't see ISU taking us to 5 like they did MSU.

You have me a little confused. We are talking about the MSU match this coming Friday, right.

While we did dominate the ILS team that took MSU to 5 sets, I will give MSU somewhat of a pass on that one. Sounds like they simply were not ready to play (we did not look that great against INS on Friday either, although it didn't matter). MSU did come back to dispatch ILS rather handily in sets 3, 4 and 5.

You know the Bears will be up for the match with the Shocks and they bring quality athletes to the floor.

I'm looking for a tough match

[WuDrWu]

I was just speaking hypothetically. If I don't think ISUR can ever take a game from our girls, I don't expect the team they battled for 5 sets to provide a lot of distress either.

But I do realize the Bares are a different animal compared to the Redbirds...so to speak.

[1972Shocker]

I understand your point, however, predicting outcomes by comparing scores and results doesn't always work well in sports.

I think the Bears will be plenty tough.

A big and loud Shocker crowd would be of great value.

:goshocks:

[flyingMoose]

While we did dominate the ILS team that took MSU to 5 sets ...

Because the Wichita-Springfield swing is the toughest road trip in the Valley, it often happens that a team gives its better performance on Friday rather than Saturday, no matter where they play first. I think that is part of the ILS weekend results.

I agree with you about this Friday. I think we will win, but it will be no walk-in-the-park.

[WuDrWu]

USF just finished sweeping formerly undefeated and 16th ranked San Diego, a team that swept Missouri State.


I have no idea why WSU's RKPI and Pablo isn't higher.

[1972Shocker]

USF just finished sweeping formerly undefeated and 16th ranked San Diego, a team that swept Missouri State.


I have no idea why WSU's RKPI and Pablo isn't higher.

Way to go Dons. Scores were 18, 21 and 20. Tremendous effort against the previously undefeated Toreros.

And USF is a very young team also so they should keep improving as the year progresses.

Doc, I think we nailed it when we opined that the Shocks win over USF would prove be to be a very nice win this year.

I have also been a little surprised why our RKPI and Pablo rankings aren't higher, but if we can just keep winning that will take care of itself.

A win over MSU tonight would certainly be another important win for the Shocks and will take a strong performance by the Ladies. Looking forward to it.

[flyingMoose]

I have no idea why WSU's RKPI and Pablo isn't higher.

And they are ...? UNI and Missouri State, too, if you have them.

[WuDrWu]

I have no idea why WSU's RKPI and Pablo isn't higher.

And they are ...? UNI and Missouri State, too, if you have them.

For Sept 19


Pablo

UNI - 8
WSU -44
MSU -46

RKPI

UNI - 3
MSU - 18
WSU - 34


Also RKPI - Hawaii - 1 Arizona - 22 Louisville - 41 Oklahoma - 45 USF - 55 CSU - 61 Ole Miss 94 UNC - 121 EIU - 303

And a total of 6 Valley teams in the top 100 (UNI, MSU, WSU, CU, ISUR, UE).

[WuDrWu]

That's the first time I've seen the September 19th RKPI and that's closer to where I believe we belong.

Pablo is still off I think. Total guessing but I think we get into the 20-25 range before it's all said and done.

I think we have a chance to host, a small chance, if we can split with UNI and get to the finals in the tourney. 23-6 and we host. No pressure. :D


Hawaii, Minnesota, Florida and Kentucky are the regional sites and I think, but not sure, that they cannot also host first round matches. So I will call for Minnesota, WSU, Tulsa and OU in Wichita at Intrust. 7200 sold out lower bowl.

Who's with me?

:wsu_posters: :goshocks: :posterwu: :posterwsu:

[1972Shocker]

That would be wonderful Doc, although I would much prefer to host at Koch Arena but IBA would work if we have a conflict with Basketball at Koch.

I think if we split with UNI and MSU, win the rest and make it to the MVC Tournament finals we would have an excellent shot at hosting.

One thing that would help is if we can pick up our attendance for the remaining 7 home matches starting tonight.

A long, long way to go before our chances of hosting become a possibility though.

Let's take one step at a time. We need a big performance backed by a big crowd at Koch Arena vs the always tough Missouri State Bears tonight.

:goshocks: