undVBfan

I've heard of one cut for sure, rumors of others. Some not coming back might be cut, or might have read the proverbial writing on the wall and walked away. Or they're tired of the grind and just want to be a student. There are lots of reasons why a student might not return. I will say I'm glad my job isn't to look at 16-18 year old's and predict how they will play in college in the next 2-6 years. Yes, it's their job, but still... I'm sure they (and every other coach in the world) are in a constant search for a better crystal ball. Regarding "his own" players not coming back, unfortunately it's a business. If they see a chance to improve, I think they need to do it, regardless of who initially recruited a player. Loyalty can only go so far, in *any* business.

I didn't list names for the middles, but had Washington as one of the two middles returning, and the only one who saw significant playing time (98 sets). I fully expect her to be back, and hope she'll be back. She's a little undersized, but is quick and has good hops. Everything else being equal you want a big physical presence at the net, but quickness and the ability to read can more than make up for a missing inch or two of height.

Matthea Dalton | 5-9 | OH | Fremont, Nebraska | Fremont HS Sara Gray | 5-9 | OH | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Holy Cross HS Ava Galvan | 6-3 | MB | Agoura Hills, California | Agoura Hills HS Kimanni Rugley | 6-0 | MB | Pearland, Texas | Pearland HS Sadie White | 5-8 | S | Herriman, Utah | Mountain Ridge HS Reagan McIntosh | 6-0 | S | Middle Tennessee State Kelly Kelsick | 5-8 | L | Pearland, Texas | Shadow Creek HS Katie Paez | 5-5 | L | Virginia Commonwealth Kenya Prescott | 5-5 | L/DS | University of Iowa/Des Moines Area Community College 4 players from last season are officially gone. I've heard rumors of cuts, but will refrain from speculating on specific personnel changes until the spring roster is posted. What we do know is that up to 5 more players from this season will not be on the roster next season. I'm not sure about limits on redshirts; I suspect at least 2 or 3 of the incoming freshman won't see the court more than the few allowed matches for a redshirt, so we're looking at likely 2-3 more players not returning in the fall. Where are we likely to see changes: 3 DS/Liberos are coming in, with only one (Hornyak) gone. It's not too much of a stretch to say we'll see some movement here. I believe McCormick was the Libero, in my mind higher ranking than a DS, so I suspect she'll be around for her senior year. Beyond that, who knows. 2 returning middles, both were freshman last year. Two new middles, so a combined 2 years of college experience amongst all of them. I would think one of the new middles will be redshirt this fall. We need a physical presence at middle, so it will be interesting to see who steps up. 2 returning setters, and two new setters. That's a lot of setters. 🙂 Riviere also hit, which could help save subs in the 6-2. The pins coming back are Perugini (played every set - 102), Barber (101- all but 1), Riviere (94), Imoh (56), Cooper (43), and Edlund (26). The last three were freshman. Cooper looked like she would have seen a LOT of playing time had she not been injured. With a 5-1 you have 3 starters, 4 with a 6-2. So many people for not enough spots. It should make for some great competition in spring ball and in August.

I wouldn't read too much into this, he likely got an assistant position elsewhere. Almost no one looks to be the DOVO as a end goal; it's just a way to get in the door and gain experience until a better opportunity comes up. And I suspect the pay is lacking, at best. I keep looking for the Spring 25 roster. It will be interesting so see who is still around, and more to the point, who is not.

Even more action in the portal. Looks like two more liberoes will be joining the Hawkes. You can NEVER pass to well (good, both? 🙂). We were out of system way too much (every team says that), hopefully this is a step in the right direction. Up to 9 new faces in the fall. I'll have to keep looking for the spring 25 roster. Katie Paez, (maybe Las Vegas -> VCU) looks to have two years left. Kenya Prescott, (somewhere in IA -> Des Moines CC -> Iowa) will likely have one year left - she shows in the stats as having played last year.

I was about to write nothing yet - there wasn't as of a few days ago. Now we have another setter. Reagan McIntosh, from Verona Wisconsin via Middle Tennessee State. 3 years left. Looks like she was mostly used as a DS, so hopefully the defensive skills are good. 🙂 Given the number of signings this fall (now 7) and the number of players we know are leaving (4 at senior day) there is more roster activity to come. Our portal activity has been much less interesting than for some. Purdue is very surprising, San Jose State not so much. 🤪

It was what I thought it would be. Everyone played, teams were mixed up, so the coaches got lots of looks at everyone, but not a lot of take-aways for the rest us. At least not for me. I did see some nice things. There were a few legit backrow attacks, which could help take the stress off of the outsides on a less than perfect pass. They set the outsides on 2 on freeballs a few times, maybe influenced by the beach option offense? I don't see any of the freshman making too much of an impact right now. Saw flashes of doing some nice things, but it's ALOT to go from high school to college and be able to compete right away. Maybe I'm wrong, which would be a good thing; (healthy) competition at all positions tends to improve performance. Saturday will be a better indication of potential. I believe it is still just an exhibition, but I suspect both teams will be playing their starters, at least for the first couple of sets.

Time to start thinking/talking about the upcoming season Green/White scrimmage Saturday (8/17) @ 12 PM. Expect players to be switched around from team to team. Last year a few guys from the men's club team played. It'll be good to see them play again, but I wouldn't plan on taking anything from the match in terms of how they will do this year. Exhibition against Mankato State 8/24 @ 12 PM. I suspect this will be the first real look at the new team, at least the first set or two. It too might be something where everyone plays at some point.

I pretty sure Olson is gone, grad school at Colorado State (I think). De Jong is in the transfer portal. Not a complete surprise, given the limited amount of playing time to date. Haven't heard anything about Gayle. Regardless of anything else, I hope she's healthy. She would definitely be a plus, if available. Harper, the middle transfer from U Mary, should help. The competition in the Summit won't be substantially better than what she saw from the best teams from the Northern Sun. She should bring some much needed experience to the middle while the middle recruits get up to speed with the college game, literally and figuratively.

Yes, Merseli, thanks.

First, scrimmage against NDSU on Saturday. It looked like a scrimmage against BSU. Everyone played, which is what I expected. Obviously they need to get better everywhere, as does everyone else. :-) I think the coaches were more interesting in seeing everyone in competition than winning the "match." Thoughts from last year, looking forward include: Need for outsides who can terminate out-of-systems balls. We can't always count on a tempo set against a single block, sometimes we just need to be more physical than they are. A legit backrow threat, something to take the pressure off the outsides when the pass isn't perfect. It's been years since I recall having someone hit out of the pipe as a first option. Maybe the junior college transfers from Eastern Europe (or wherever) that played for Prior? The middles are where I see the most work to be done. We lost 2 experienced, 5+ year middles. That is going to be a challenge to replace for this next year. Being an effective middle blocker is SO much more than the number of blocks they get. They need to be physical enough to be a legit threat when set, and to be able to slow down the other team at the net.

Scrimmage tonight at 7 PM against Bemidji State. If it is like last year they will likely play at least 4, and probably 5 sets, regardless of scores. I suspect everyone coming back will play, and they might be "creative" with the subbing.

No cherry coating, no one is happy about the season, it's just the reality of the situation. Until some big donor starts writing some 5 or 6 figure NIL checks, it's going to take time. Patience you must have, my young padawan.

Oh, so many things to discuss... Regarding the non-conference schedule. The Summit is a AQ conference. The only thing that matters regarding post-season is winning the conference. So, the non-conference doesn't matter, record wise. Tough competition is good for growth, weak competition is good for the record. Teams that NEED to get better with post-season in mind schedule for growth, teams that need to salvage a record schedule for the record. I think this season was more towards growth, but it's not like Nebraska or Wisconsin were on the schedule. I'm frustrated by the season, but in fairness, I think I was hoping for too much, too soon. The coaching change was needed, and was SUCH as breathe of fresh air compared to the previous staff. That alone create unfair expectations. They showed promise early, but I think we are expecting too much way to too early. I clearly see things moving in the right direction. Instant results would be nice, but it's not going to happen. I have faith in the coaching staff and what they are trying to do, and I've been watching UND volleyball for WAY longer than most. Regarding this season, lots of underclass players are on the floor. That is not an excuse, but I have to believe we wouldn't be better if the seniors were on the court. The coaches put on the floor who they feel will do the best. If the freshmen or sophomores aren't getting it done right now, I believe the "older" players would be doing worse. I have no inside knowledge of why some players aren't playing, but I do have faith that there are reason for who ends up on the court. We also don't know about the "other" reason players don't play, such as unannounced injuries or personnel reasons. The current coaching staff needs room. Not an endless runway, but a runway. They need time to put their young recruits into the system. I would be worried about anyone that would completely turn the program around in a year or two, I would question the recruiting tactics. It takes time. We live in a microwave society and I think this is is an oven problem. It would be nice if they were winning more today, but I give them two, or more like three years minimum. If things are better next year, which I expect, it'll keep moving in the right direction. And it'll grow from there. It takes years of unrecognized growth for the "came from nowhere" moment. Just my $0.02, and you get what you pay for.

One thing I found interesting during the introductions is they played UNO's "intro video," for lack of a better name. At home matches (for all sports) we always play our video, but not the visiting teams. I took that as a cool thing to do for UNO during this match. I doubt they will do that for any other match, unless B1G conference rules state otherwise.