BlueGrass Battle - Fri, Aug 29 and Sat, Aug 30

[bunck]

Just me, or did we lose the stream. Going to live stats.

I still have it, up 6-4 in the 5th with an ace.

[1972Shocker]

I still have it, up 6-4 in the 5th with an ace.

Just got it back. Shocks 9-8 after a double-touch called on the Shocks.

[bunck]

9-6 lead goes to 9-8, timeout WSU.

[bunck]

Tied at 12... ---- 12-13 ----- 12-14 ---- service error 13-14 ---- Raudsepp ties it at 14 ---- 14-15 ----- Raudsepp ties it again at 15 ----- Reilly kill up 16-15 ---- Floyd kill WSU wins 17-15 in 5!!!

[1972Shocker]

I like the effort and tenacity the Shocks have shown against Butler.

[1972Shocker]

How about that. Shocks save 3 match points enroute to the 17-15 win. This could prove to be huge for the psyche of this team.

[WuShock16]

Huge wins on multiple levels. This win could come in handy on Selection Sunday.

[bunck]

Gutsy as hell for a young team.

[1972Shocker]

Huge wins on multiple levels. This win could come in handy on Selection Sunday.

Perhaps but we have a long way to go to before that's an issue. At this point I thinking the Valley Tournament looms very large in terms of the Shocks post-season hopes.

[WuDrWu]

Indiana State looking to go to 2-0 on the young season, up 2-0 on Akron. Akron is picked last in the MAC. Wright State was picked last in the Horizon. The Indiana State tournament might be the worst volleyball tournament in the world.

The Indiana State tourney actually was WORSE than I first thought. The Trees beat Chicago State 3-1 (25-13, 25-14, 23-25, 25-16) and North Carolina A&T 3-1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-11, 25-10).

Chicago State was the unanimous selection for last place in the WAC and NC A&T was picked 2nd in the southern division of the MEAC.

[WuDrWu]

Illinois State had an impressive first weekend. They beat Central Arkansas in 5 (the Sugar Bears are 59-4 in the last 2 seasons), then beat preseason #9 Big10 Ohio State 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 21-25, 25-23, 16-14) and then late today dropped the championship match to Oregon on their home court 3-2 ( 23-25, 25-10, 25-12, 22-25, 15-8).

The Ducks were picked 5th in the PAC12, essentially meaning they have about a 50/50 chance of making the Final Four.

Illinois State looks far the best team after week 1.

[JayJ79]

I was bored, so I compiled all the MVC results from the weekend (simply wins and losses) and compared last year's final Pablo ratings of all the opponents (not entirely applicable to this years teams, given the turnover in players and whatnot, but still). I also included the AVCA preseason poll rankings if applicable (including unofficial "rankings" for those receiving votes).

MVC 15-16 overall
Good wins:  ILS over 38 Ohio State, WSU over 42 Butler, ILS over 84 Central Arkansas

Bradley (0-3):  
L 165 @DePaul 
L 199 Hampton  (n)
L 263 Stony Broom (n) 

Drake (3-0):
W 158 UMKC (n)
W 174 Central Mich (n)
W 271 @Omaha

Evansville (0-3):
L 152 @Belmont
L 177 Youngstown State (n)
L 246 Kennesaw State (n)

Illinois State (2-1):
L  14 @ (#26) Oregon
W  38 Ohio State (n)
W  84 Central Arkansas (n)

@Indiana State (4-0):
W 233 Akron
W 289 Wright State
W 306 Chicago State
W 319 North Carolina A&T

Loyola (2-1):
L 188 Rhode Island (n)
W 226 @Delaware
W 259 Albany (n)

Missouri State (1-2):
L  23 @Utah
L  71 New Mexico State (n)
W 256 Montana State (n)

UNI (2-1):
L  51 Alabama (n)
W 170 Southeast Missouri (n)
W 179 @Saint Louis

Southern Illinois (0-3):
L  18 @ #11 Illinois
L  27 #20 North Carolina (n)
L  49 (#38) Long Beach State (n)

Wichita State (1-2):
L  30 @ #19 Kentucky
W  42 Butler (n)
L  65 Virginia Tech (n)

[Shocker-maniac]

Tough weekend for the Shockers against some very good competition. The Butler victory gives us something to build on. I think that this team will continue to improve and will be competitive in the Valley.

[xazshox]

5 Set Victorries early

Is it my imagination, or am I remembering this correctly? It seems to me that the Shox have made a habit of winning an early game in recent seasons in 5 sets after falling behind by 2 sets to zero. Anyone else remember that, too?

[flyingMoose]

The Butler victory gives us something to build on. I think that this team will continue to improve and will be competitive in the Valley.

Lambo in his post-game comments remarked that the third set of the Butler match was a time for a team to pack it in - last match of a tournament that is not going well, down 2-0 in a hot gym - but they didn't. He was proud of them for that. And when the Shocks started coming back, Butler tightened up, hitting roll shots instead of taking swings at the ball like they had done earlier, for example.