Shockers at Indiana State

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers continue their road swing with this match at Terre Haute.

Set One

Indiana State 18-25 Shockers

After taking an early 3-0 lead, the Shocks fell behind 8-5. Then the Shockers took control of the set, running out to 17-9 and 24-14 leads. A late run by the Sycamores made the final score more respectable.

The Shocks used a 6-2 in this set. A surprise was Regan Peare as a hitter, coming into the rotation with Mackenzie Fyfe. The Shocks hit .306 to .179. Both Mikaela and Katie had five kills.


Off to the symphony - someone else can take this home.

[IAmWu]

Not sure I can live up to what Moose provides, but I'll do my best.

Set Two

Indiana State 22-25 Shockers

Shocks took a quick 10-4 lead. Sycamores closed it back down to 12-9 before the Shocks regained some control and were up 23-16 late in the set. Indiana State close it to 23-21 before the Shocks closed it out.

Shocks used a 6-2 again in this set, for the most part keeping the same rotation as the first set. The only real difference was Jenny Whitledge playing instead of Hanna on the back row. Mikaela has 9 kills, Katie has 8, and Jody has 6. Currently hitting .314 while holding the Sycamores to .247 after two.

[IAmWu]

Set Three

Indiana State 24-26 Shockers

Shocks take this one 3-0. Actually trailed in this set 15-11, but were able to come back and take an 18-16 lead. Back and forth after that until the shocks close it out on an ace by Shiman Fayad.

Mikaela finished with 13 kills, hitting .522. Katie finished with 10 kills, hitting .526. Emily finished with 19 assists with Mackenzie adding 15 in the 6-2. Dani led the team with 12 digs, Jody was second with 8.

The Sycamores actually ended up with a better hitting percentage, .234 to our .225, but Shocks had fewer errors which led to the win. Didn't have the chance to listen to the postgame show tonight, so if anyone did, feel free to chime in.

[The Mad Hatter]

Other Valley Scores:

Final
SIU 3-1 over UNI (25-16, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17)
Loyola 3-0 over Bradley (25-16, 25-22, 25-22)
Evansville 3-1 over Drake (25-22, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18)

In Progress
Illinois State 2-0 over Missouri State (25-18, 25-11)

[The Mad Hatter]

Illinois State finishes off the 3-0 win over Missouri State with a 32-30 win in the 3rd set.

[The Mad Hatter]

Current Standings
Wichita State 9-1
Loyola 7-3
SIU 7-3
UNI 7-4
Illinois State 7-4
MSU 6-4
Drake 4-7
Indiana State 3-8
Evansville 2-8
Bradley 0-10

[WuDrWu]

Wow....Missouri State. I know we didn't play our best against the Bears but man, they haven't even been competitive in a lot of sets lately.

[JayJ79]

WSU starting to get some separation atop the standings, with the next 5 all still in a cluster.
the top 6 starting to get some separation from the bottom 4.

Bradley has officially been mathematically eliminated from winning the regular season conference championship

[The Mad Hatter]

WSU starting to get some separation atop the standings, with the next 5 all still in a cluster.
the top 6 starting to get some separation from the bottom 4.

Bradley has officially been mathematically eliminated from winning the regular season conference championship

Somewhat, but since we still haven't played SIU, they can make up that gap in head to head alone. Obviously I like where WSU is at, but any of the top 6 still have a reasonable shot at the title.

[ShockerFever]

Wow....Missouri State. I know we didn't play our best against the Bears but man, they haven't even been competitive in a lot of sets lately.

The Super Bowl Effect, exhibit A.

[flyingMoose]

Reposted from "at Illinois State" thread since it should have been here originally.

The current RPI rankings with last week's ranking in parentheses:


38 (49) - Shockers
45 (44) - Missouri State
58 (58) - Northern Iowa
60 (72) - Illinois State
61 (61) - Southern Illinois
89 (71) - Loyola

[WuDrWu]

It's nice to see mostly positive movement from the top 6.

[flyingMoose]

The projected season-ending RPI of the six likely-to-make-the-Valley-tournament teams from the RPI Futures thread on Volley Talk based on their current Pablo rating: this week..(last week)..team..conference-record

32 (35) Shockers 16-2
48 (42) Missouri State 12-6
57 (62) Southern Illinois 12-6
58 (61) Northern Iowa 11-7
59 (67) Illinois State 12-6
71 (60) Loyola 12-6

Missouri State is going backward in their case for an at-large bid.

[JayJ79]

Missouri State is going backward in their case for an at-large bid.

WSU is the only team in the conference with a shot at an at-large.
MSU does get to host the MVC tourney this year, which could give them some help toward getting the AQ, but they'll have to play better than they have of late.

[1972Shocker]

I was out of town this past weekend and could not follow the matches in real time. However, I was glad to see the Shocks come through with a sweep of a tough road swing at ILS and INS. However, it was disappointing and a little concerning to hear of possible off the court issues. Perhaps not totally surprising considering the number of players Lambo has on his roster, but nevertheless not something you like to hear. Hopefully, Lambo will resolve any issues that may exist so that he and the team can focus on winning matches. Still a lot of work to do with road matches at MSU and SIU coming up.

15-3 probably wins the league this year and 14-4 probably will get you a 1st place tie but that may not secure you an at-large NCAA bid. Even if the Shocks can bet by MSU and SIU in the upcoming matches they still have to go on the road to Loyola and they still have to take on UNI and SIU at home.

This Shocker team is capable of running the table through the rest of the regular season but that will not be easy in the best of circumstances. Considering that Lambo still seems to be tinkering with and constantly moving pieces around in his lineup his style of play the last thing the Shocks need are off the court distractions especially with 5 very tough matches remaining in front of them.