Dustin

What an honor. https://fightinghawks.com/news/2018/8/27/womens-volleyball-volleyball-to-have-every-home-match-aired-on-tv.aspx

So, accept my apologies for such a delayed posting (got caught up in a work issue). My biggest takeaways of the night are: Kayla Williams (UConn transfer) was the star of the night. By my count, she had 14 kills, 2 errors, 2 blocks, and 2 service aces. She can jump serve. The other players with the most attempts were Jordan Vail, obviously, (8 kills, 2 errors, 4 blocks), and Lydia Rutten (9 kills, 3 errors, 3 blocks). Ashley Bruggeman and Brynn Nieukirk had quietly good nights with 13 kills, 0 errors, and 3 blocks between the two of them. 0 errors really stands out to me. Lexi Ahrens had a slow start, but ended with 7 kills, 4 errors, and 4 blocks. Roosa Rautio was the setter on the winning team for all three sets, so my guess is that's who gets the starting job. Alivia Fraase was solid defensively, as expected. I wouldn't be surprised if Morgan Hunt redshirts. She's tall (6'3"), but needs some meat on the bones. My guess at the starting line-up is Rautio, Fraase, Vail, Bruggeman, Williams, Rutten, and Nieukirk.

First time logging in for a while - wow! Did not realize we had lost Johnson and Mattson over the summer. Green/White scrimmage is tonight, and I will give updates between sets. Looking forward to owning the Summit in volleyball

Ne neither, and I'm thinking I won't get season tickets this year because of it. I still plan to go to games, but not sure of committing Sunday afternoons in the fall to volleyball. I wouldn't be surprised if attendance drops off with the irregular schedule. And I hope in 2019-20 UND exercises more clout when it comes to home games.

http://www.thesummitleague.org/sports/wvball/2018-19/schedule?teamId=084k7k5sgsnrbci6 Summit League has posted the conference schedule dates, but not times. Extremely disappointed that UND will now have a lot of home matches on Friday and Sunday.

The Gophers wouldn't want to risk playing a North Dakota school that could beat them

I ended up working late, and couldn't go anyways.

Anybody know if this is open to the public?

Maybe you misunderstood- I was saying big 10 schools rank hockey as #3.

Agreed. I say take the opportunity if given. We’d be silly to say no to the big 10, even if we lose some conference clout.

Yeah, I'm (almost) with you. I don't think being associated with the Big 10 can hurt. Until you realize that UND's #1 sport is the rest of the conference's #3 sport (if lucky). And that UND may not have much to say in terms of how the conference goes about its hockey business. UND in Big 10 hockey is kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't.

There is some truth to this, too. The problem with the NCHC is not the quality of hockey, but the lack of big names behind it. Any conference would be strengthened by Minny's and Wisco's hockey resumes and big-time athletics departments.

I wonder what he thinks now - the program he transferred from is a (somewhat unlikely) frozen four participant; whereas the juggernaut program he transferred to didn't make the tournament.

At this stage of the tournament, I also approach cheering this way. UND's "rivals" are the 6 other elite hockey programs with numerous national championships (Michigan, Denver, Wisconsin, Minnesota, BC, BU).

http://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/football/4425628-unds-john-santiago-and-brady-oliveira-brothers-football-and-faith Nice piece about Lightning and Thunder. My biggest impression of the article was how Santiago drops (as if out of nowhere) the desire for a National Championship - a pretty lofty goal for team that has played just one NCAA playoff game, but it's nice they have something to shoot for.

I think I've settled on rooting for Notre Dame for this reason. They've been close a few times (championship game in 2008, semifinal games in 2011, 2017, 2018), and having another big name school be relevant at hockey is good for the sport. I still wish the NCHC would have snagged them. I think it would have been worth it, even having to bow to their demands.

The region final didn't have UND last year, and attendance was terrible for that game. I was a little ashamed.

I can't speak for the rest of them, but I am definite "Yes" when it comes to NCAA hockey. (NHL season is too long and doesn't captivate my interest.) I watch as much of the NCAA tournament as possible, whether UND is playing or not. Once UND is not in the running, I cheer for schools that have never won the natty, or have not won it in a long time. I also watch WJC games (generally just the USA ones, but may watch a championship game regardless).

Regardless of whether there's a bracket challenge or not, I'm curious if there's a team that Sioux nation is pulling for? Personally, when UND is out of the running, I cheer for teams that have never won it, or teams that have a long drought. Of the 16 teams, 9 have never won it. 2 more have long droughts - Cornell at 48 years, and Michigan Tech at 43 years. Even Michigan is in a pretty good drought at 20 years. The other 4 have all won it once in the last 10 years - Denver in 2017, Providence in 2015, UMD in 2011, and BU in 2009. I'm actually not too picky this year, though I don't really want to see Denver repeat.

USD end-of-season RPI was 146, which is actually behind NDSU (145). Denver was 57, UND 71, and ORU 106. After USD, there's a big jump down to Omaha at 225. The rest are pretty much bottom feeders. In the Big Sky, Sac St. was 80, Portland St. 114, Idaho 123, and on down the line.

Since all of the winter sports are over, I, like many fans, am already looking ahead to next year. While I've seen several discussions on football, basketball, and hockey, I haven't seen any about the upcoming volleyball season. A few of the major things that stand out to me: 1) Summit League - some new opponents, some old rivals. Denver has the best thing going in Summit volleyball at the moment, so they will be our best competition right off the bat. Not sure who else will be able to make noise. 2) Scheduling - One of the things I noticed with Summit League scheduling is that games tend to be on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I deeply hope that UND's home games are NOT scheduled this way. I really liked Thursday night and Saturday late morning/early afternoon. Hopefully Graves will be able to exert some will in this area. 3) We graduated the most accomplished senior class in UND volleyball history last year. Our biggest names coming back are Alivia Fraase, Jordan Vail, Ashley Brueggeman, and Sidney Mattson. 2018 will be a completely different look than the last two years, so Pryor will have his work cut out for him if he expects another conference championship.

Can someone update this list for 2017-18? Looking for a ride to the game on Saturday.

Ah, makes a little more sense now.

Yeah, what's up with that?

The college volleyball season ended last night with Nebraska claiming its fifth national championship. They beat Florida 3-1.