Dustin

Last home game I was at, Robinson was limping. I don't believe she played against NAU either, probably part of the reason they lost. Hope we can get her back soon.

I agree, it looks like two deals are in place. On the plus side, I see UND at BU is scheduled for TV. I did not know that until now.

Teeder11, Thanks for going to the scrimmage and providing updates. Hopefully the upcoming season is as grand as we dream!

I'll add too, that, while a loss on the road to a good team can be expected sometimes, it sure tightened up the conference standings. Room for error is getting smaller if a regular season championship is what we want.

As good as any collegiate team is (any sport, save football), it would be hard to run the table for the entire conference season when you play 20 games. At some point, you're just not going to be at your best. Was it a jinx? Maybe. But Northern Arizona is the 3rd best team in the league (maybe better, they already beat UND and PSU), playing in their home gym (at 7,000 ft), on the second game of the weekend. Let's just make sure we pay 'em back when they come to Grand Forks Nov. 21.

Pretty sure the NBC SN contract is with Notre Dame (much like NBC for Notre Dame football), and not with Hockey East.

The team and coaches have that very goal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgHninOOuPU Go to 16:15.

Wasn't expecting much of a challenge tonight, and I'm glad they proved me right. Now on to Northern Arizona!

I wonder how much it would cost to buy out the "exclusive" clause of the CBSSN contract.

Yeah I'm not saying it would happen, it would just be cool if it did. We already have 3 volleyball games on TV this year, which is 3 more than most volleyball programs can say.

ESPNU does college volleyball every Wednesday night. It would be cool to have them do game from the Betty.

Also of interest, the men's basketball team is playing at the University of Oregon tournament in Eugene the same weekend as the Big Sky volleyball championship in Portland.

Wins over E. Washington and Portland St. bumped our RPI to 109 this week. Highest in Big Sky is still Portland St. at 98.

For any first timers at the game today, I would say, as a volleyball regular, that it was an atypical performance and atmosphere. It was more of a chess match with all the tips and trick shots, instead of UND imposing their will. And the noon start time made for a more reserved crowd. Maybe it was just nervousness by the crowd with the result in question. I actually was hoping for a little bigger crowd considering the importance of the game. Anyway, the almost let a 2-0 start slip away, but this team, in contrast to a year ago, knows how to win. With the exception of some dynamite kills from #6, I didn't see anything that the defense couldn't handle.

Don't be surprised. It should be a great showcase of college volleyball to, what I hope will be, a great homecoming crowd. These ladies deserve our support.

Agreed about being sharper. Some, but not all, was the fact that Hardee used several reserves tonight. I'm sure he'll stick with his main 8or9 girls on Saturday, but they will have to be on their game. Should be a great showcase of college volleyball on Saturday.

Let's give the girls a nice welcome home party this Thursday night, and again Saturday afternoon! If I remember correctly, UND did not beat UNC last season, so this was sweet on multiple levels.

Just wanted to point out, that game is Oct. 12. It will be against Portland State, who also is currently 4-0 in Big Sky play. Hopefully a homecoming crowd makes for a nice turn-out, in what will likely be a very significent match for the regular season.

Hardee did a very cool thing and let every native North Dakotan (with the exception of Kellie Schmidt, who I'm suspecting is red shirting this season) play at least one serve.

I was surprised too that South Dakota beat them, but I think USD is the team to beat in the Summit League this year.

Very nice way to start the conference season. The girls looked like they had it together tonight, even after being on the road for nearly a month. Very excited to have them at home next week! Could be a rewarding season

Yes, same channel. Wonder if UND can do themselves a big favor and win that game on national television?

Exactly. You'd at least think that we could get a home game with Northern Iowa every other year.

Nice! Not sure what kind of team Fla. A&M is, but a road win is always good.

Getting back to your original post: Choice of conference was easy - Big Sky offered, Missouri Valley didn't. UND was being courted by the Summit League for non-football sports, but MVFC was not part of that deal. After UND accepted Big Sky offer, it looked as though South Dakota would too, and then MVFC made it a package deal with the Summit, and USD went there with the xDSU's. Overall, I think most UND fans are happy with the Big Sky over the Summit/MVFC. Live video of all football, basketball, and volleyball games is great, and at no cost to the fans. We also are happy with the conference stability over the Summit. I think Doug Fullerton has done a good job positioning the Big Sky for when the inevitable 3-tier D-1 football system happens. Adding the other Dakota schools to the Big Sky would be looked at favorably by UND, but I think the other Dakota schools love the MVFC. As for conference aspirations, I know full membership in the Missouri Valley would a dream come true for NDSU, although UND people are convinced that would never happen. As for the nickname, that saga is long and drawn out. Long story short - Fighting Sioux was on the NCAA list of offensive names back in 2005. UND and various nickname supporters tried (how hard depends on who you ask) to keep the name without sanctions from the NCAA, but to no avail. After 7 years of oftentimes ugly disagreement, the issue was finally put to rest in 2012 when 2/3 of North Dakotans voted to retire the name. Most are sad that it is gone. Most are content with no nickname being better than a new nickname (at least for right now.) UND overall is a proud athletics school with 11 national championship in 3 sports, including 1 in D-II football. I can assure you that contending for a national championship in FCS football is a high priority of the athletic department.