2017 Season

[UNDMOORHEAD]

Congrats on the repeat ladies. The only thing harder then winning is repeating.

[Dustin]

17 minutes ago, SiouxVolley said:

Vail is becoming a force to be reckoned with.

Absolutely. She had a great conference tournament. Bruggeman too. 

[SiouxVolley]

One announcer mentioned some senior grad transferring next year to play beach volleyball.  The camera was on Griffin so I assume that is who they were talking about.  Have a pit at the IPF with the new stands.  Better for spectators than women's triathlon.

[sprig]

When will the ladies return to Grand Forks?  Hopefully they walk in during today's basketball game.

[Teeder11]

Wondering about Amelia Johnson?  Always love keeping track of the former ND H.S./ Miin. section 8 players. But I did not see her in Sacramento.  Miss something??

[homer]

Glad to see the ladies get the win.  It was looking pretty bad after set 3.  They had all the momentum and had our blockers guessing a bit.  

[UNDBIZ]

6 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

One announcer mentioned some senior grad transferring next year to play beach volleyball.  The camera was on Griffin so I assume that is who they were talking about.  Have a pit at the IPF with the new stands.  Better for spectators than women's triathlon.

I believe they were talking about Griffin and Merseli planning to play pro beach volleyball together. 

[Teeder11]

2 minutes ago, UNDBIZ said:

I believe they were talking about Griffin and Merseli planning to play pro beach volleyball together. 

You are correct, sir. 

 

[Stromer]

1 hour ago, Teeder11 said:

Wondering about Amelia Johnson?  Always love keeping track of the former ND H.S./ Miin. section 8 players. But I did not see her in Sacramento.  Miss something??

I noticed she was missing the last regular season game against UNC and was wondering the same thing.

[SiouxVolley]

Still amazed by the teams Set 4 performance.  Always knew that gear was possible, but they never showed it until crunch time.

Pryor gave Kaczorowska credit for a stern talk that turned things around.  Would like to see that gear sgain.

[gfhockey]

When’s selection show

[southpaw]

1 hour ago, gfhockey said:

When’s selection show

Next Sunday

[SWSiouxMN]

Before the season had started, the expectations for this squad could not have been higher.  I'd say they met them.  30 wins and back to the NCAA tournament.  Yeah they didn't win the regular season title, but regular season titles don't mean as much if you don't punch the ticket into the tournament.

As for the game last night.  When you have been there and done that and you have a senior class that developed a championship pedigree in their 4 years and have a knack for coming back from holes, was it all that surprising that they pulled it out?  

This is a special senior class, which contains potentially 2 of the best players to ever step on the court for UND volleyball. 

As stated many times, Hardee built the foundation of the program, but Pryor has taken this to another level.  It is imperative that Faison locks him and his staff up long term.  

Next year they do have to replace a lot, but they have several good pieces where they could make a run the Summit.  Why not go for 3 in a row?

 

 

 

 

[geaux_sioux]

34 minutes ago, SWSiouxMN said:

Before the season had started, the expectations for this squad could not have been higher.  I'd say they met them.  30 wins and back to the NCAA tournament.  Yeah they didn't win the regular season title, but regular season titles don't mean as much if you don't punch the ticket into the tournament.

As for the game last night.  When you have been there and done that and you have a senior class that developed a championship pedigree in their 4 years and have a knack for coming back from holes, was it all that surprising that they pulled it out?  

This is a special senior class, which contains potentially 2 of the best players to ever step on the court for UND volleyball. 

As stated many times, Hardee built the foundation of the program, but Pryor has taken this to another level.  It is imperative that Faison locks him and his staff up long term.  

Next year they do have to replace a lot, but they have several good pieces where they could make a run the Summit.  Why not go for 3 in a row?

 

 

 

 

I think you can say Griffin Dooley and Merseli are all top 5 all time. Vail has a chance to be a force next year as the centerpiece.

[Dustin]

1 hour ago, SWSiouxMN said:

 

Before the season had started, the expectations for this squad could not have been higher.  I’d say they met them.

 

Was a little disappointed with some of the conference losses that cost them the chance to host again. That was really the only way the season could have been sweeter.

[Dustin]

1 hour ago, geaux_sioux said:

I think you can say Griffin Dooley and Merseli are all top 5 all time.

Dooley and Griffin, yes. Not ready to give Merselli that honor.  I would argue for Lexi Robinson over her, but not sure she’s even top 5. Other names I would add to a top 5 consideration are Nikki Husfeldt, McKenzie Hart, Ronni Munkeby, Lisa Parlich, and Chelsea Moser. 

[SiouxVolley]

3 hours ago, Dustin said:

Was a little disappointed with some of the conference losses that cost them the chance to host again. That was really the only way the season could have been sweeter.

The reason I posted the Massey rankings is that this program and team had what I believe a goal of qualifying as an at-large team if needed.  RPI and PABLO rankings are probably better rankings for the selection committee, but qualifying as at large is what I believe Pryor wants for this program eventually.  A top 40 spot is probably needed.

We were blessed with Dooley and Griffin, who by rights could have gone to a more power league, but Vail seems to have reached close to her enormous potential as a P5 power spiker.  Denver has qualified from the Summit for the 4th year in a row and have much of their starters returning  so next year will be a challenge.

[Dustin]

20 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Hopefully we will get the second team in the region, not the seeded one.

That would take a ranking higher than 48, correct?

[SiouxVolley]

8 hours ago, Dustin said:

That would take a ranking higher than 48, correct?

Our current ranking after Sac St win rose 10 places to 59 on Massey.  The RPI and PABLO ones seem to be worse.  It would take higher than a 40 in all likelihood.

The Montana St loss killed our rating a couple of weeks ago.  The selection committee doesn't give any credibility to leagues like the Big Sky or Summit.  The MVC has some because they have actually won some NCAA games and often have teams that rate well like UNI and Wichita St (now gone).  Our best win is Sac St followed closely by NMSU at #64.  Even the win over Ole Miss doesn't count for much as there are rated in the 90's.

[SiouxVolley]

Surprisingly, the Big Sky is the 11th rated conference out of 32 in VB this year, but it still has a losing non conference record.  The Summit is #19 as schools like SDSU and W Ill have been horrid this year.  College volleyball,is so dominated by the P5 and WCC and Big West.  There are horrible teams in the P5 though, like Rutgers, Mississippi St, and BC.  Most of the P5 schools in the east and south dont pay it much attention.  There are exceptions though, like Penn St, Florida, Kentucky and Texas, which are have been stellar teams.

[Dustin]

3 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Surprisingly, the Big Sky is the 11th rated conference out of 32 in VB this year, but it still has a losing non conference record.  The Summit is #19

I was wondering what conference RPI was against the Summit. I assumed because Denver was #60 in the 11/12/17 NCAA RPI (UND was #81) that the Summit League would be higher.  I thought the Big Sky had a lot of parity at the top this year - there was only one sweep in 7 conference tournament games (Idaho over Idaho St in the quarterfinal).

[Dustin]

11/19/17 RPI has UND at #72 and Denver at #55.  I am very curious how we stack up against the Pios next year.

[SWSiouxMN]

23 hours ago, Dustin said:

11/19/17 RPI has UND at #72 and Denver at #55.  I am very curious how we stack up against the Pios next year.

I think we should be fine in the Summit year 1.  I expect them to be picked near the top batting Denver and OR.  I wouldn't sleep on USD, they are getting a pretty good player from Canby MN in Peterson.

Be interesting to see what NDSU does in the next year or two.  I still think their coach will turn that program around. 

[SiouxVolley]

Surprised that there isn't a public watch party for the team.  Many schools that have made it have one, like Western Kentucky and Austin Peay.  Would be easy to open up the Betty and show the ESPNU show at 8 PM.

[Teeder11]

2 hours ago, SiouxVolley said:

Surprised that there isn't a public watch party for the team.  Many schools that have made it have one, like Western Kentucky and Austin Peay.  Would be easy to open up the Betty and show the ESPNU show at 8 PM.

Pryor seems to be bringing an "act like you've been there before" mentality to this year's squad.. but that said, I agree with your overall point. Community engagement and letting the fans embrace the moment is important too.