Dustin

Idaho State gets Hawaii.

Idaho State swept Portland State, so that makes me feel a little better. As far as Hardee goes, I love his confidence, even if he is arrogant. He's still building his volleyball empire, and I do think he can get the program to NCAA berths - hopefully as soon as next year.

It took 5 games, but Montana did prevail against NAU.

ISU will be UND's opponent. Bengals win 3-1.

Don't quite know if I'd consider this a confirmation, but on undsports.com, they have reported that starting next year, the regular season champ will host the conference tourney. http://www.undsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=209325913 Can't wait for the Betty to start hosting Big Sky tournaments!!

From bigskyconf.com: The team was selected by the league's coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

I don't which team I would want UND to play. If ISU wins, we'll be trying to beat a team for the third time - always tough. If UNC wins, that team has a knack for getting us off our game.

Midco would start dictating game times. This is the way major college games are scheduled all around the country.

If Midco and NDSU were to sign a contract, I don't think it would be at the expense of UND's coverage. If anything, having more live content to show bolsters their credibility as a sports network, and could further the chances of getting included on the satellite dishes, which would be good news for all of the Dakota schools.

I know!

I've been watching for plane tickets ever since I realized this about 2 months ago, but did not find any deals. Not sure what the alumni population is in Oregon, but hopefully they'll take advantage of the situation.

Could someone say what the big deal is with the conference opponents' logos on the wall? I like how the teams are in alphabetical order, and the big ND just happens to be in the middle.

I guess we're gonna have to win this tourney the hard way. Tough draws for UND.

I was hoping that, considering the importance of the game, the crowd would have been a little bigger. Thursday nights seem to be tough draws. Hopefully senior day on Saturday will bring a better attendance.

I wouldn't be surprised if some give verbals in the next few weeks since the high school seasons are just about done. I wonder who Hardee has been watching?

Updated tournament info: UND and PSU will be the top two seeds (order still TBD) and receive byes into the semi-finals. ISU and NAU will be the third and fourth seeds (order still TBD), and UM and either SAC or UNC will round out the tourney qualifiers. If SAC wins its final game (@UM), they're in. If SAC loses and UNC loses, SAC is still in. If SAC loses, and UNC wins, UNC will be in. My personal opinion is that I would love UNC to miss the tournament, because they have the potential to be a big-time spoiler.

Just thought I should clarify that the sweep was earlier in the season, not this game.

Not a championship yet. A win on Saturday will get at least a share.

I did not realize NAU was without a top player. Things make a little more sense now. Oh well. we got the bye into the semis.

Wow. Can't believe we got swept by this team. I guess that's why they play the games. Lisa Parlich absolutely decimated the defense.

Lisa Parlich with an emphatic kill to end set 2 - 25-16

Set one was a breeze - 25-15 UND

Northern Arizona @ North Dakota in Big Sky Conference Volleyball - 7 pm tonight. If you are in the Grand Forks area, please support our girls en route to a Big Sky championship! If you are not, you can catch the game live on Midco, Fox College Sports, DirecTV, and of course watchbigsky.com. I read on UNDSports.com that UND has not beaten NAU in volleyball since joining the Big Sky, so there's probably even a little extra spark in these girls. This should be a fantastic display of Big Sky volleyball with 2 of the top 4 teams battling. A win this weekend (either tonight or Saturday) will guarantee a bye into the semifinals at next week's conference tournament.

How 'bout no.

I wonder what the RPI would look like if UND had beaten PSU. I don't remember exactly what their RPI was last week, but PSU jumped about 15-20 spots after beating UND and UNC. There are now 3 Big Sky teams with higher RPI than the highest Summit League team.