undVBfan

It would seem reasonable to assume Kortney has 3 years left, good catch. I don't know anything about Sierra, the grad transfer. If she graduated in 4 years, and didn't have the COVID year count, maybe she has 2 years left? Grad school generally isn't finished in a year, even for someone without the athletic schedule. I can't remember if beach volleyball is considered a different sport for eligibility reasons, so maybe it's a moot point. I also can't remember the age restriction for NCAA, when do the age limitations kick in? It seems to me this is an issue for hockey if a player seems too much time in juniors.

Signees have been announced. Taylor Pribyl - OH/MB transfer (didn't see her listed in 2020 stats, so likely 3 years left) Jocelyn Julson - DS from Bismarck Century (Chwialkowski and Hart are Srs. and Damon is in the portal) Sierra Ellett - OH grad transfer, so I assume one and done. Played beach, not indoors, at ASU; also mentioned in an earlier post. Father played in the NHL for 16 years, 7 in Winnipeg. Kortney Carney - Setter from NDSCS, so should have 2 years left. Peyton will be a Jr. and Norris will be a So, so an interesting recruit. Competition never hurts. Julianne Carlat - MB. Hope this brings better passing and the ability to terminate a high ball from the outside. Of course, every team ever wants better passing and the ability to put away a ball out-of-system. Riedl and Antic, both OHs, were 2nd and 3rd in Kills last season, so it'll be interesting to see who steps up this year.

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere, but it looks like a grad transfer with some beach experience is heading to UND. This might be the vague twitter reference from early April. I wonder if a hockey/Winnipeg connection has anything to do with it?

I'm not dead yet, said with my worst English accent. Coach's Twitter post read like it would be an assistant, but there doesn't seem to be a reason to delay that type of announcement. That is all I have to go on, maybe others have heard more. Could it be a transfer player? When can they announce signings?

Yeah, you're right, masks were the problem this year. The players probably also wear their seat belts when driving. Pure craziness...

I commented about this earlier, but this year seemed doomed long before the season started, and not of coach's doing. Given the volume of experience that was lost, mostly unplanned, a shortened season was not what they needed this year. At least they had sort-of a year, but not the number of matches that would let us see some real growth over the course of the season. Next year needs to be better, everyone needs to see the ship is pointed in the right direction. I still think, and really hope, Coach can get it done, but he'll be running out of chances soon if this next year doesn't show promise. Hardee has been busy since leaving UND. Several assistant positions, including beach, a cup of coffee at an NAIA school, and now a high school coach. Lucky high school. I know he graduated from somewhere on the east coast, so hopefully he's happy being closer to "home."

It's been a struggle, but we knew it would be. Limited recruiting and some big unplanned losses really didn't help. Next year will be a better indication of where we are going as a program. I'm still hopeful they'll start to right the ship by then. To be fair to coach I think we owe him next season for sure to see where we are going. They've been better the second match of every series. Could be some letdown by the other team, but I also think there is some growth. But I see way too many tips and rolls, struggles between setters and hitters. No way they get better until they fix that. I don't know if it's the setting or the hitters timing, I'm not in the gym. Likely a combination of both that hopefully gets helped with time and practice. Let's try not to be fair-weather fans and support the team during the last home series against NDSU.

I don't think it's time to bail on Coach Tiffin quite yet. It's only the start of his second season. He's lost of bunch of experience in the past 6-7 months that wasn't part of the plan, and one could argue, not his fault. The timing of his hiring meant he didn't get a full shot at recruiting his first summer and this past summer had to be a mess for recruiting. Not being competitive against SU doesn't help, but I don't think it's fair to give up on him right now. He's got some of his people in the pipeline, let's see how they do with some experience.

Morgan Hunt is not listed as well. She was a redshirt freshman, so not a lot of court time last year, and with the new middle on the roster maybe it's not surprising. Rutten had a ton of experience (appears to have played in all but one set last year), and will be missed. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out between Ahrens/Wall/Albinson for the two middles, especially for M1.

I haven't seen the video myself, but I was told they were singing/syncing along with a song that featured an abundant use of the n-word. And now reading it's more than just the supposed song. Regardless, whatever it was isn't good.

My mom played for the Wheelock Wolves a very long time ago. How many know where Wheelock is located (without consulting the Google )? I wouldn't spend any time working on a shirt, I can't imagine there are many around anywhere that went to Wheelock. And as I think about it, they wouldn't fit into this category. I seem to recall her saying they were Class C.

Not that this is news right now, but yes, we have a winner. https://www.jamestownsun.com/sports/volleyball/4847938-Top-transfer-Hegerle-joining-GPAC-champion-Jimmies#.Xg6uy4tkB88.twitter

Good for her, that's a very grown up decision. You don't always see smart, big picture decisions made from young adults her age. At her age I was just trying not to get kicked out of school, so I guess she's doing OK. UJ would be an option. They generally run a 6-2, and whether they thought they needed another setter or not, every team will find room for a quality addition. And the coach is probably familiar with her and her talents. UJ had a nice run, making the semis of NAIA, so the level of success there would definitely be appealing.

To comment on several other posts: My earlier comments about a coaching change appear to be nothing. I hadn't heard anything, there were a couple of sightings and other occurrences made me wonder if something was in the works. It appears not to be. Unless it does happen later. :-) Again, I haven't heard anything. Wow, Plummer and Stanford were good, real good. The rest of the world has to be happy she's done with her eligibility. Seeing her run the BIC reminding me how much UND counted on Merseli (sp?) in the pipe as a nice outlet when the pass wasn't there. And sometimes as a first option. USD had a nice run, good for them. They were solid and deserved to be in the big show, and this run showed that. And if nothing else they bring more good attention to the Summit. The comments about the schedule and Summit were fair. It's not all on the Summit, and I have no interest in placing blame. I'd just like match times that are more conducive to getting people in the seats. Especially for me. :-) I heard a rumor, so I took at look. Anyone see anyone missing from the roster? Inquiring minds want to know (to steal a line from an old magazine). https://gobison.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster

It definitely wasn't the year anyone was hoping for, but I wouldn't throw in the towel on everything quite yet. I can't imagine my whole professional career riding on the whims and emotions of 18-22 year-olds. Not too much would have to be different for everything to have worked out much better this year. If a couple of players stick around from a year or two ago all of a sudden we have an experienced team. CSP picked up a setter from us, Liberty got an outside hitter, the Connecticut experiment could have worked out, or a libero could have decided that is wasn't more important to just be a student (wow, a student-athlete making that very grown-up decision). Add any 2 or 3 of those into the mix this year and it could have played out very differently. Players leave for a variety of reasons, but I suspect (immediate) playing time or wanting to be closer to home would be major factors. It's hard to blame a player for either of those choices. We took our lumps this year, just like we've handed out a few in previous years. I suspect things will get better soon. Now if the Summit could just fix the match times so that it would be easier to get the matches and I'd be much happier. I did like the Big Sky scheduling. Anyone heard anything about the coaching staff? I have NO knowledge about anything, and don't want to start any rumors, but there have been a couple of things I've noticed in the past few weeks that make me wonder if a change is coming. Maybe it's nothing, or just a coincidence (or two ). Or maybe it's something. If we haven't heard anything by soon after the first of year then there's nothing to see here, just keep moving.

There is no way for a coach to really predict what will happen over 4-5 once players get to campus. I suspect the coaches would love if they had 3 seniors, 3 juniors, and such every year, but it doesn't work like that. Players get injured, move (closer to) home, get tired of the grind, or get beat out by younger players and don't want to be practice players for the rest of their careers. There a lots of reasons why programs end up looking like this, and UND seems to have had a little bit of all-of-the-above. If everyone sticks around in a year or two we'll wonder why we have all the seniors. :-) Minnesota, Stanford, USC, Nebraska, and such, they're figuring out how to work the RPI to either ensure they make the tourney in a bad year, or get the highest seed possible in a normal year. Some schools (Florida St comes to mind) have really work the RPI formula through scheduling. We're basically an AQ conference, so we just need to figure out how to get into the best position possible to win the conference tourney. I suspect it's up to the coach and his staff if he wants to go for confidence or challenges early in the year.

I agree that Canada has been largely untapped, except maybe for the most elite players. And given the financial benefits of playing in the US (full ride and maybe COA, does volleyball offer COA?) vs. Canada (I believe tuition only, and likely limited $$$ at that) you would think we would be more successful.

I feel good about the selection. I think we would have been good either way, but I really like the choice. Recruiting is going to be key, as in all college sports. It sounds like he has that background to do well. I think recruiting is less about having "connections" and "knowing the region" and more about the person being able to sell his vision, and by association, the program to perspective student-athletes. Everyone needs connections, but the coach still has to seal the deal. I also like the choice because he gave up a head coaching position to come here in December to be an assistant. To be let go by the new head coach now would have been painful. That is not a good enough reason to hire him, but hopefully any karma from hiring him will a nice bonus. I also like that's he's keeping the current staff, apparently minus Mia, but I've speculated she was done either way. Whether they stay long or not is another story (see Dan Brown), but at least they have the chance to make it work.

Do you live in Grand Forks? It's not a big place. And I think he really liked driving the Bronco. :-)

I wish we Let's be honest, we're North Dakota. It's not a bad job, but someone who thinks they have a realistic shot at a P5 school isn't going to apply here. Someone who wants a stop to show that they should get a chance at a P5 school will apply here. We need to be realistic. And I don't know why you seem to think the current applicants won't be good. What would we have said about Hardee or Pryor before they ended up here? To us, they were no-ones until they had a nice runs here. Why can't Lamppa or Tiffin be the next guy you never heard of until now who did well here? And if either Pryor or Hardee had been here longer, it's likely they would have been looking for what's next. Unless you get someone seriously committed to the area, we're a place for people looking for a landing on the way down or for people looking to move up. A new-ish AD and 3 head coach openings at the same time might have had an influence on potential applicants. You may or may not think that some/most of this was for the best, but the rest of the world might not see anything other than lots of turnover in the athletic department.

I've met Lamppa. He had a nice run at USD, then went to Washington State with the then coach from SDSU (Palieo, or something like that). That guy didn't last long in Pullman, and it looks like he's been doing the assistant routine waiting for his next change. Got to say hi when ISU was in town. Nice enough guy, would likely do well in the community. That's not to say Tiffin wouldn't also do well, I just have no personal knowledge about him.

Has anyone heard anything about the assistants? I feel especially bad for Tiffin. He moved here roughly around semester break, so that's not a long tenure with UND before having to worry about your job. The new coach might keep some/all of the staff, but I suspect he/she will want to have the freedom to bring in their own staff if they want. It wouldn't surprise me if Mia is gone. Not for volleyball reasons, but because she's graduated and may be be looking for what's next in life. I thought I heard she was ready to go but was asked to stay by the coach. It true, there will likely be no such loyalties to the next coach. Unless she's the next coach. :-)

I thought I heard it was down to 2 candidates, but I can't verify that, nor do I have any idea who they are (if true). Anyone with any insights? I haven't heard of anyone who even applied.

I don't think there is any way the CSP coach is interested. I think he has too good of a setup where is at right now. And if he was looking for "bigger and better," I suspect he would have had plenty of opportunities in the past. While UND isn't a bad job, I don't think it's the job he was waiting for to make the move. If Hugh retires and UM comes calling, that might be another story. :-) Found a name from the past on the FIVB website. I had heard Amanda was a serious beach player before coming to UND. She was undersized for the front row in D1, but not for a defender on the sand. Turkey is 2* event (all the Olympic hopefuls are at a 4* in Brazil this week), so Tokyo isn't an option, but if she keeps progressing Paris could be a possibility in 2024. http://worldtour.2019.fivb.com/en/806

I don't think these are fair statements. I don't know any of the coaches *really well*, but I've been around this sport long enough, and have had pretty good contact with another coach to see the time/travel commitment it takes at the D1 level. With a couple of young kids at home I can't blame him for wanting to step back from the travel schedule. Travel for conference and recruiting at a D3 school, especially in an urban area, has to be significantly less. If it was a move to a D1 school or anywhere other than Texas I think I would have a different opinion, but I can't blame a guy for wanting to spend less time away from home. And about the Bronco, I think he was just waiting until he could get the classic plates, or whatever they call the special plates for older cars.