2023 Volleyball Season

[flyingMoose]

Bracketology is finally in (although he was originally going to skip a week). See above.

[flyingMoose]

October 30

Here are the weekly odds and ends, mostly from VT.

a)
RPIs and KPIs

The NCAA RPI through October 29 via figstats and the KPI via faktorsports.com/

23/23 SMU
47/43 Rice
55/51 Shockers

The difference between RPI and KPI for the Shockers has largely disappeared.


b)
Here are the top Pablo numbers in the AAC with last week's Pablo in parentheses.

6390 (6410) SMU
5940 (6155) Shockers
5925 (5915) Rice

A big drop for the Shockers - no surprise there. FAU is at 5070, third best in the East, and ninth in the AAC.

Pablo is structured so that 5000 is an average team.


c)
The VT geek that calculates an end-of-season RPI using the Pablo values has -

24 (26) SMU
42 (49) Rice
54 (47) Shockers

and % chance of finishing in the T45 in RPI -

SMU - 100.0% (100.0%)
Rice - 69.6% (40.8%)
Shockers - 12.2% (40.6%)


d)
Here are selected comments from this week's Bracketology-

FIRST 8 TEAMS OUT:
UCSB, Drake, UCLA, St. John's, Wichita State, Rice, Loyola Marymount, Texas State

Madison Regional (#2)

(1) Wisconsin vs. Alabama State*
Iowa State vs. (8) SMU*

(4) Georgia Tech

(2) Washington State

(3) Tennessee

[Critter's Pa]

October 30

Here are the weekly odds and ends, mostly from VT.

a)
RPIs and KPIs

The NCAA RPI through October 29 via figstats and the KPI via faktorsports.com/

23/23 SMU
47/43 Rice
55/51 Shockers

The difference between RPI and KPI for the Shockers has largely disappeared.

Glad we didn't drop more. The loss and back-to-back 5 setters must have been enough to cut KPI difference in half.

I think we are playing for second place and it may not be enough to get an NCAA at large bid. Who knows, maybe sweeping Rice would elevate the RPI enough to be in the mix, and that is the only way- winning out- the Shockers will have any shot at the NCAA tournament.

[flyingMoose]

The Odds and Ends for October 30 is complete. See above.

[1972Shocker]

I guess it's appropriate that Natalie found a Frosty costume.

[flyingMoose]

November 6

Here are the weekly odds and ends, mostly from VT. All of this is a bit moot now, of course, concerning the Shockers.

a)
RPIs and KPIs

The NCAA RPI through October 29 via figstats and the KPI via faktorsports.com/

18/20 SMU
52/46 Rice
65/57 Shockers


b)
Here are the top Pablo numbers in the AAC with last week's Pablo in parentheses.

6850 (6390) SMU
5890 (5940) Shockers
5870 (5925) Rice

Pablo is structured so that 5000 is an average team.


c)
The VT geek that calculates an end-of-season RPI using the Pablo values has -

23 (24) SMU
41 (42) Rice
64 (54) Shockers

and % chance of finishing in the T45 in RPI -

SMU - 100.0% (100.0%)
Rice - 66.4% (69.6%)
Shockers - 3.2% (12.2%).

Hope springs eternal I suppose.


d)
Here are selected comments from this week's Bracketology-


FIRST 8 TEAMS OUT:
Rice, Drake, Long Beach State, UCLA, Kansas State, UCF, Loyola Marymount, Washington

The Shockers are no longer on this list.


Louisville Regional (#4)

(1) Louisville

(4) Creighton

(2) Texas vs. SE Louisiana*
Texas State vs. (7) SMU

(3) BYU

[1972Shocker]

[flyingMoose]

November 13

The Shockers are still mentioned in the Bracketology, so we can do this another week.

a)
RPIs and KPIs

The NCAA RPI through November 12 via figstats and the KPI via faktorsports.com/

25/22 SMU
55/50 Shockers
61/55 Rice


b)
Here are the top Pablo numbers in the AAC with last week's Pablo in parentheses.

6385 (6850) SMU
5920 (5890) Shockers
5760 (5870) Rice

Pablo is structured so that 5000 is an average team.


c)
The VT geek that calculates an end-of-season RPI using the Pablo values has -

25 (23) SMU
52 (41) Rice
62 (64) Shockers

and % chance of finishing in the T45 in RPI -

SMU - 100.0% (100.0%)
Rice - 12.4% (66.4%)
Shockers - 0.4% (3.2%).


d)
Here are selected comments from this week's Bracketology-


FIRST 4 TEAMS OUT:
Wake Forest, Drake, Loyola-Chicago, St. John's

Still In the At-Large Hunt:
Loyola Marymount, Wichita State, Colorado, Washington, Clemson, Rice, Coastal Carolina, UCF, Hawaii, Long Beach State


Bad losses:

-Practically every bubble team has at least one sub-100 loss.

... here are teams with MULTIPLE sub-100 losses:

Wichita State (#125 Texas Tech, #135 Notre Dame, #144 Florida Atlantic)


Palo Alto Regional (#2)

(1) Stanford

(4) Florida

(2) Texas vs. Texas A&M Corpus-Christi
Texas State vs. (7) SMU

(3) Tennessee

[1972Shocker]

[1972Shocker]

FAU knocked off USF 3-1 in Boca Raton pm Thursday to move into a first place tie with USF in the East Division at 11-6.

Won't be any concern about the East Division stealing an auto-bid this year.

[flyingMoose]

November 20

The Shockers are still mentioned but not in a particularly hopeful way.

a)
RPIs and KPIs

The NCAA RPI through November 19 via figstats and the KPI via faktorsports.com/

25/22 SMU
60/50 Shockers - The big gap between the two values has reappeared
58/55 Rice


b)
Here are the top Pablo numbers in the AAC with last week's Pablo in parentheses.

6430 (6385) SMU
5915 (5920) Shockers
5785 (5760) Rice

Pablo is structured so that 5000 is an average team.


c)
The VT geek that calculates an end-of-season RPI using the Pablo values has -

xx (25) SMU
xx (52) Rice
xx (62) Shockers

and % chance of finishing in the T45 in RPI -

SMU - 100.0% (100.0%)
Rice - xx.x% (12.4%)
Shockers - xx.x% (0.4%).


d)
Here are selected comments from this week's Bracketology-


FIRST 6 TEAMS OUT (no order):
Loyola-Chicago, Stephen F. Austin, NC State, Loyola Marymount, Drake, UCLA

6 other Teams NOT Dead Yet:
Colorado State, Wichita State, Rice, St. John's, UCF, Long Beach State


Palo Alto Regional (#2)

(1) Stanford vs. Denver*
UCSB vs. (8) SMU*

(4) Kansas

(2) Kentucky

(3) Purdue vs. Wright State
Western Michigan vs. (6) Houston*

[1972Shocker]

AAC Post-Season Honors should be out pretty soon.

Last year 12 player recieved 1st team All-Conference honors and 8 received 2nd team All-Coference honors.

Not sure if those numbers will be expanded any due to the increased number of teams in the conference this year.

In any case, I will be disappointed if Sophia and Frosty are not selected to the 1st team. i would think that Swifty, izzi and Gabi wil get some consideration for 2nd team honors. Whether thy mqk i or not remains to be seen. The AAC does not give out hornorable mention honors which is fine. 20 players on the 1st and 2nd teams is plenty.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Four Shockers Named All-Conference

Wichita State earned four selections to the 2023 American Athletic Conference postseason All-Conference team, as middle blocker Natalie Foster and opposite Sophia Rohling were named to the First Team and middle blocker Morgan Stout and setter Izzi Strand were chosen to the Second Team.

Foster earns her third career all-conference honor following a Second Team selection in 2021 and a First Team spot in 2022. The talented middle leads all qualified players in the American Athletic Conference and ranks 17^th nationally with a .404 hitting percentage in the regular season, becoming the first Wichita State player to hit .400 since Abbie Lehman in 2017. Foster paces the Shockers in points per set (3.42) and is second in both kills per set (2.81) and blocks per set (0.95), establishing a new career high with 106.0 total rejections.

The native of Mattawan, Michigan produced several dominant performances to help power Wichita State to its current 21-8 record. She did not commit an attack error three times over the course of a match (Illinois State, Tulane, UTSA), including a new career-best .800 hitting percentage in the UTSA contest when she scored 12 times on 15 attempts. Foster delivered a season-high 17 kills in the second meeting against Rice on November 18 and notched at least six kills in every match this season. For her career, Foster owns 50 matches with double-digit kills and a combined hitting percentage of .371.

Rohling produced the best season of her five-year Wichita State career, crafting new personal bests in almost every meaningful offensive category to earn her third All-Conference honor (2021 Spring First Team, 2022 Second Team). The native of Thayer, Kansas breached the 300-kill mark with 309 terminations, averaging 3.00 kills per set and 3.37 points per set. Since the start of conference play, Rohling has elevated her game to the next level, hitting .302 while leading the Shockers with 498 attempts. She had double-digit kills in 13 of 19 conference matches, including a season-best 19 on the road at Tulane and 18 in a home win over North Texas.

Arguably the best outing of her season came in Wichita State's stunning win over eventual conference champion SMU, when Rohling hit .500 against the Mustangs with 14 kills and just one error in 26 swings. Rohling also upped her game defensively with the opportunity to play back row, setting a new career high in digs that included her first career double-double in a win over Rice on November 17. The 6'3 lefty added 59.0 total blocks for a combined sum of 347.0 points. Both Rohling and Foster reached the 1,000 career kill mark in 2023, joining Brylee Kelly to give Wichita State the nation's only trio of players with 1,000 career kills on the same roster.

Stout compiled a breakout 2023 season, registering the first postseason All-Conference nod of her career. The redshirt junior raised her hitting percentage a staggering 155 points from 2022, vaulting near the top of the conference leaderboard with a .333 mark despite an increase of more than 250 attempts compared to a year ago. Stout authored a handful of superlative performances, including a 17-kill, 20-point match in a road win at Memphis, 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks in a win at Rice and 15 kills on the road at Texas Tech. Her 2.35 kills per set and 2.96 points per set rank third on the team, while she once again leads the Shockers in blocks with 110.0 total rejections and 1.00 per set.

Stout was a consistent force in conference play, culminating in an AAC Offensive Player of the Week honor after hitting .524 with 13 kills in a home win over UAB. All told, Stout hit .350 in conference matches and had double-digit kills seven times. For her career, the native of Fowler, Kansas has produced 691.0 total points after setting new career best in kills, aces, digs and blocks in 2023.

Strand stepped right into the Shocker lineup in her first season with the program and quickly established herself as one of the conference's top setters. As the lone setter in Wichita State's 5-1 offense, the UC San Diego transfer totaled 1,161 assists, a figure that leads the conference and ranks 31^st nationally. Her 10.37 assists per set are second on the circuit and 37^th nationally while her .399 set percentage ranks third. Strand established a new career high with 60 assists in a road win at Tulane on October 13 and recorded at least 50 helpers on three other occasions. When calling her own number, Strand racked up 88 kills at a .211 clip, highlighted by eight terminations in the season opener against Notre Dame.

The native of Carlsbad, California became a reliable cog in the Shockers excellent defensive unit, contributing 2.41 digs per set and 0.36 blocks per set. She had a season-best 16 digs on the road at Rice on November 18 and six blocks in Wichita State's road win over Illinois on September 1.

2023 American Athletic Conference Postseason Awards

Player of the Year
Emma Clothier, Gr., MB, SMU

Libero of the Year
Sina Uluave, Gr., SMU

Setter of the Year
Celia Cullen, Sr., SMU

Freshman of the Year
Avery Burks, OH, Tulane

Coach of the Year
Sam Erger, SMU

First Team All-Conference
Angeles Alderete, So., OH, East Carolina
Sh'Diamond, Holly, Sr., MB, North Texas
Emilia Weske, Gr., RS, Rice*
Maria Clara Andrade, So., OH, South Florida
Buse Hazan, So., OH, South Florida
Emma Clothier, Gr., MB, SMU*
Celia Cullen, Sr., S, SMU*
Sina Uluave, Sr., L, SMU
Jamison Wheeler, Jr., OH, SMU*
Kayley Cassaday, Gr., OH, Tulsa
Natalie Foster, Jr., MB, Wichita State*
Sophia Rohling, Sr., OPP, Wichita State
*denotes unanimous selection

Second Team All-Conference
Valeria Rosado, Jr., OH/RS, Florida Atlantic
Danyle Courtley, Sr., OH, Rice
Nia McCardell, Sr., L, Rice
Caroline Dykes, Jr., S, South Florida
Natalie Perdue, Sr., OH, SMU
Mia Soerensen, So., OPP, UTSA
Morgan Stout, R-Jr., MB, Wichita State
Izzi Strand, Sr., S, Wichita State

[1972Shocker]

Congrats to Frosty, Sophia, Switty and Izzi.. Well deserved recognition.

No surprise the SMU dominated the specialty award. Of interest was form Shocker Sina Uluave was Libero of the Year.

The AAC did not expand the number of selections which I think was the right decision.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: Podcast With Brylee Kelly On Shocker Volleyball

[quote]Listen to the pod
Wichita State senior left Brylee Kelly talks about her six years as a Shocker and why her affection for the program and coach Chris Lamb made it the right choice to stay. She details the ups and downs of her senior season and her advice for young athletes. We also discuss what former Shocker Mikaela Raudsepp said that convinced Kelly to choose Wichita State and how teammates Morgan Stout and Katie Galligan made big moves this season.
Kelly is a redshirt senior on the Wichita State volleyball team. She earned All-American Athletic Conference honors in 2021 and 2022.

The Shockers open play in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship at 6 p.m. Thursday vs. Arkansas State in Koch Arena. The Shockers are 21-8. Arkansas State is 16-14. The winner plays at 1:30 p.m. Friday against either Tulsa or Kansas City.