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[1972Shocker]

Home wins over SIU and E-ville just don't carry that much cache' with the voters.

However, if we can close out the season with road wins over UNI and MSU and then win the MVC Tournamemnt with wins over 2 good opponents then I can still see us crawling back into the Top 10.

[shockerfan132]

I agree with the thought that Wichita State cannot and would not be able to hold their own against a PAC 10 regular season BUT...

The shocks did beat USC in the spring of 2007 at Pepperdine. 8D

[SpanglerFan316]

Do a serious examination of the Top 20 teams and tell me what you see. If you look at these teams and forget who they played, I think you will find that WSU looks pretty good. WSU has skill, experience and talent at all positions except setter. WSU plays great defense.

If you don't want to ignore who someone played, then remember that WSU swept Oklahoma (at OU) and Oklahoma beat Texas (at UT). WSU beat Northwestern and Northwestern beat Illinois. WSU beat Michigan State and Michigan State beat Michigan and Wisconsin. WSU has won every match so far this year.

[rrshock]

Do a serious examination of the Top 20 teams and tell me what you see. If you look at these teams and forget who they played, I think you will find that WSU looks pretty good. WSU has skill, experience and talent at all positions except setter. WSU plays great defense.

If you don't want to ignore who someone played, then remember that WSU swept Oklahoma (at OU) and Oklahoma beat Texas (at UT). WSU beat Northwestern and Northwestern beat Illinois. WSU beat Michigan State and Michigan State beat Michigan and Wisconsin. WSU has won every match so far this year.

WSU has skill at the setter position, she just happens to be a freshman.

[SpanglerFan316]

Do a serious examination of the Top 20 teams and tell me what you see. If you look at these teams and forget who they played, I think you will find that WSU looks pretty good. WSU has skill, experience and talent at all positions except setter. WSU plays great defense.

If you don't want to ignore who someone played, then remember that WSU swept Oklahoma (at OU) and Oklahoma beat Texas (at UT). WSU beat Northwestern and Northwestern beat Illinois. WSU beat Michigan State and Michigan State beat Michigan and Wisconsin. WSU has won every match so far this year.

WSU has skill at the setter position, she just happens to be a freshman.

WSU has skill, experience and talent at all positions except setter.

[shox8498]

I agree somewhat with rrshock....if Hooper is inexperienced, I'll take that inexperience any day of the week. I know.....it's all semantics, not trying to prolong any "argument" on that.

But remember, it was ME Hooper's service that helped get WSU back into the match with UNI......something like 14 points in a row.

And I think that MEH has taken that quick-dump and almost made me forget how good Abby Harsh was the past 4 years. Hooper does that even better, IMHO.

We're blessed.

[1972Shocker]

MEH's signature play, at least from my perspective, is the blind, one-handed reverse tip she seems to get in once or twice a match.

Very difficult to anticipate and defend and it's a move you don't see very many setters employ.

If MEH has a weakness in her game it is probably her digging and passing, which I doubt is anything she had to worry too much about prior to college. I have no doubt she will get much better in that aspect of the game as her career progresses.

The one thing that is indisputable at this point is MEH is a very key component on a 26-0 team.

[SpanglerFan316]

If I was to discuss the Shocker VB team with external (i.e. non-MVC) fans, I could point to the experience we have at MB, OH, L, DS, etc. While I think MEH is wonderful and important to our team, she is a freshman.

[1972Shocker]

So far no wins or losses that would lead you to believe Shocks will move up in the rankings.

K-State did take #4 Texas to 5 Sets tonight but lost 15-9 in Set 5.

Two key matches do remain though that could benefit the Shocks.

Arizona is at #9 UCLA and Arizona State is at #10 USC. An upset in either on or both of those matches should allow the Shocks to move back into the Top 10.

[SpanglerFan316]

You're probably right but WSU's sweep of UNI might influence some voters. I think a lot of anti-WSU fans were looking for UNI to beat the Shocks. Now 26-0 looks better than 16-8 or 14-8 IMHO.
#9 UCLA 967 16-8
#10 Southern California 922 14-8
#11 Wichita State 911 26-0

[shock10]

WSU 28-0 and 17-0 in MVC.

[SpanglerFan316]

WSU 28-0 and 17-0 in MVC.

Sorry. I copied the information on the AVCA page with the November 10, 2008 Poll. This week's results were:
#9 UCLA (18-8, 8-7 Pacific 10 Conference)
11/14 def. Arizona State 3-0;
11/15 def. Arizona 3-0;

#10 Southern California (16-8, 9-6 Pacific 10 Conference)
11/14 def. Arizona 3-0;
11/15 def. Arizona State 3-0;

#11 Wichita State (28-0, 17-0 Missouri Valley Conference)
11/14 def. Bradley 3-0;
11/15 def. Northern Iowa 3-0.

http://www.avca.org/divisions/division-one-women/results/