Senior Night

[WuDrWu]

Well, I FULLY expect to be in Lincoln so my hopes are next to zero.

If by some miracle we get sent somewhere else, then it's possible, but the fact remains Lincoln or Austin is where we'll end up. The travel restrictions essentially demand it.

If we could have won Friday, and I believe had we won the 2nd set we would have won (see my bitching about the awful call late in the set) the match, then I think there is a 50/50 chance we would have hosted.

I'd love to see that just once in my lifetime while Lambo is here. This program deserves to know what it's like to have 10000 fans screaming for them and that's exactly what would happen if we hosted.

[WuDrWu]

UNI certainly deserves to be a No. 1 seed in a regional and, hopefully, they get to host a regional.

I think the Shocks are in, but how we do in the MVC Tournament will have a big impact on our seeding.

Seeding won't matter. We're a 2 or 3 no matter what so we play a 2 or 3.

The midwest isn't going to have more than 3 hosts, UNI, NU and UT most likely.

If we get in, we'll head to Lincoln or Austin.

[WuDrWu]

UNI certainly deserves to be a No. 1 seed in a regional and, hopefully, they get to host a regional.

I think the Shocks are in, but how we do in the MVC Tournament will have a big impact on our seeding.

UNI not only deserves to be a 1, they are a top 10 team or better. There isn't a team that I've seen they can't beat, and they were as good as I've ever seen them Friday.

There isn't the gap at the top like there has been in previous years. I'm not saying those teams aren't great, they most certainly are, but they are beatable.

NU when we went to Lincoln, could only lose to 3 or 4 teams in the country. Same with UT. There were only a couple of teams that even COULD beat them, much less did. Penn State was even in a whole other universe.

This year is far more even.

[1972Shocker]

UNI certainly deserves to be a No. 1 seed in a regional and, hopefully, they get to host a regional.

I think the Shocks are in, but how we do in the MVC Tournament will have a big impact on our seeding.

Seeding won't matter. We're a 2 or 3 no matter what so we play a 2 or 3.

The midwest isn't going to have more than 3 hosts, UNI, NU and UT most likely.

If we get in, we'll head to Lincoln or Austin.

I agree it doesn't matter if we are a 2 or 3. However, if we lose in Friday I wonder if there is a chance we could drop to 4? With our RPI you would not think so, but the memory of 2005 is still alive. (That will probably always haunt me.)

[WuDrWu]

No. Zero chance. There are too many auto bids that are going to be 4 seeds. There will not be an at large that is a 4 seed. That's just a numbers thing.

[JayJ79]

UNI certainly deserves to be a No. 1 seed in a regional and, hopefully, they get to host a regional.

I think the Shocks are in, but how we do in the MVC Tournament will have a big impact on our seeding.

They might deserve it, but I would be shocked if they actually gave UNI a regional 1 seed. I'm not even gonna hold my breath on a 2 seed. I'm guessing 3 or 4 seed (9-16 overall range). But who knows.

My guess is that it will be set up where we(UNI) would face Iowa State in the 2nd round, in Cedar Falls. Which is still a daunting task, but not insurmountable.

But in any case, can't look too far ahead. Still another exciting weekend of MVC volleyball, with the conference tourney. (I have a feeling UNI will face the same opponents that they did this weekend, playing MSU on Fri. and WSU on Sat.)

Any Shocker fans making the trip?

[WuDrWu]

2005 was a joke, but don't confuse that team with this team.


We still got screwed in 2005 but our non con was awful and we weren't nearly as good as this year.

[WuDrWu]

They might deserve it, but I would be shocked if they actually gave UNI a regional 1 seed. I'm not even gonna hold my breath on a 2 seed. I'm guessing 3 or 4 seed (9-16 overall range). But who knows.

My guess is that it will be set up where we would face Iowa State in the 2nd round, in Cedar Falls. Which is still a daunting task, but not insurmountable.

But in any case, can't look too far ahead. Still another exciting weekend of MVC volleyball, with the conference tourney. (I have a feeling UNI will face the same opponents that they did this weekend, playing MSU on Fri. and WSU on Sat.)

The ONLY way UNI doesn't host is financial and then my friend that's on your school, not your team. Those girls have done everything needed to host.

Now, I believe that UNI has bid strong enough to host (so I've heard) but I can understand your concern.

I hope you are right about Saturday. I doubt the outcome will be any different, but there have been at least 2 years WSU should have waltzed through the MVC tourney and didn't, so who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky this year.

[JayJ79]

The ONLY way UNI doesn't host is financial and then my friend that's on your school, not your team. Those girls have done everything needed to host.

Now, I believe that UNI has bid strong enough to host (so I've heard) but I can understand your concern.

Talked to Bobbi last week (she was on a local sportstalk call-in show for a bit), and asked her if UNI had put in a financial bid to host, and she said that the team had gotten good support from the administration in that regard.

So yes, they did put in a bid. But I have no clue how big of a bid they would have put in, or how the finances of such things work. UNI has decent volleyball attendance (around 2K on average, pales in comparison to WSU's average, but it's not bad when looking at teams around the country), but it doesn't have any sort of athletic dept. surplus to throw around and inflate bids like some of the BCS-type conferences do with their ridiculous football/TV money)

but I'll stop rambling on your board. haha

[WuDrWu]

Your insight is more than welcomed here.

Like I said, I've heard UNI has bid strong enough to host so I think you guys are okay.

Having ISU as the 2 is about as good as it's going to get for you, unless a middling Big10 team is sent there as a 2. Either way, at home, UNI should advance. Best of luck.

[1972Shocker]

Drake and Illinois State won't be pushovers on Thursday. Drake and Creighton split their regular season matches as did Illinois State and Missouri State with the home team winning in all matches.

I think Creighton will get Drake and will be a very tough semi-final opponent for the Shocks.

I think Missouri State has more talent than Illinois State but they have had there ups and downs and have been a little upredictable, especially in the 2nd half of the conference season where they went 5-4 including a close call with Bradley this past Friday.

I fully expect UNI to be in the Championship Game. I sure would like another shot at the Champs so I hope the Shocks can get there as well.

[dregn]

2005 was a joke, but don't confuse that team with this team.


We still got screwed in 2005 but our non con was awful and we weren't nearly as good as this year.

I agree in some form, although I think the biggest difference is we weren't nearly as deep on the bench as this years team.

As soon as Sara went down friday night my mind flashed straight back to 2005. A star player goes down late in the year when an at large bid appears to be automatic. I was very nervous to see how we'd respond. That year we brought someone off the bench to fill the spot that never saw significant playing time after that year. This year we bring in a future star.

Really in a lot of ways we're back to the beginning of the year in the middle. A solid M1 and a question mark at the M2 position. Hopefully what we saw last night is what we get for the rest of the year out of the M2 position. Fields improvement is the biggest thing in making me believe the NCAA won't repeat 2005.

[1972Shocker]

I believe the Valley will get 3 teams in. I beleive UNI and WSU are in.

That leave CU and MSU fighting for the 3rd spot. CU finished ahead of MU in the conference but I beleive MSU has the better RPI.

Needless to say both of these teams will be highly motivated for the MVC Tournament as they probably have the most to gain or lose with their tournament performances. Couple that with the fact that they are very solid teams will make them quite dangerous.

Drake and Illinois State have to win the MVC Tournament to make the dance. I don't think they have the firepower to win 3 matches against the quality of competition they would have to face to win the Tournament.

[flyingMoose]

Kudos to the teammate that waited for Sarah and walked with her up the tunnel at the end of the match. Was it Lindsey Engel?

[WuDrWu]

Kudos to the teammate that waited for Sarah and walked with her up the tunnel at the end of the match. Was it Lindsey Engel?

I think I know to what you are referring FM, and yes I believe it was indeed Lindsey E.