2023 Season (Tupac Era)

[loyalundfan]

This loss puts UND down two to SDSU for that final conference tournament spot. A lot can still happen, but this was a BIG one. 
 

Uninspired volleyball tonight. Does McCormick bring all the energy? Lots of mistakes.  Norris and Gayle not good again, and Olson doesn’t see action. No timeouts taken in 4th set loss. 
 

Middles were the bright spot. Love watching Stockman play and O’dell had a good match!

[Dustin]

Yes, I was expecting much better, especially after last year's surprise turnaround.  Sophomore slump?

[SiouxFan100]

To be fair - we have been competitive for the most part this year. For the most part I have enjoyed watching this year. 

[gfhockey]

How long is tupacs contract good for

[SiouxFan100]

I don’t feel comfortable when the coach says never mind about wins and losses pre conference.

[loyalundfan]

Lost to St. Thomas today in 4 sets. 

[gfhockey]

How long has his contract good for?

[Oxbow6]

On 10/27/2023 at 1:42 PM, SiouxFan100 said:

I don’t feel comfortable when the coach says never mind about wins and losses pre conference.

Really?? If true and he breaks out the juice boxes, orange slices and participation ribbons after matches then there's some issues.

[fightingsioux4life]

6 hours ago, Oxbow6 said:

Really?? If true and he breaks out the juice boxes, orange slices and participation ribbons after matches then there's some issues.

Don't go there. Remember, as long as the student-athletes are doing well in the classroom and in the community, wins and losses don't matter. And our coaches will continue getting contract extensions. It's the UND way. (sarcasm) 

[undVBfan]

Oh, so many things to discuss... 

Regarding the non-conference schedule. The Summit is a AQ conference. The only thing that matters regarding post-season is winning the conference. So, the non-conference doesn't matter, record wise. Tough competition is good for growth, weak competition is good for the record. Teams that NEED to get better with post-season in mind schedule for growth, teams that need to salvage a record schedule for the record. I think this season was more towards growth, but it's not like Nebraska or Wisconsin were on the schedule. 

I'm frustrated by the season, but in fairness, I think I was hoping for too much, too soon. The coaching change was needed, and was SUCH as breathe of fresh air compared to the previous staff. That alone create unfair expectations. They showed promise early, but I think we are expecting too much way to too early. I clearly see things moving in the right direction. Instant results would be nice, but it's not going to happen. I have faith in the coaching staff and what they are trying to do, and I've been watching UND volleyball for WAY longer than most. 

Regarding this season, lots of underclass players are on the floor. That is not an excuse, but I have to believe we wouldn't be better if the seniors were on the court. The coaches put on the floor who they feel will do the best. If the freshmen or sophomores aren't getting it done right now, I believe the "older" players would be doing worse. I have no inside knowledge of why some players aren't playing, but I do have faith that there are reason for who ends up on the court. We also don't know about the "other" reason players don't play, such as unannounced injuries or personnel reasons. 

The current coaching staff needs room. Not an endless runway, but a runway. They need time to put their young recruits into the system. I would be worried about anyone that would completely turn the program around in a year or two, I would question the recruiting tactics. It takes time. We live in a microwave society and I think this is is an oven problem. It would be nice if they were winning more today, but I give them two, or more like three years minimum. If things are better next year, which I expect, it'll keep moving in the right direction. And it'll grow from there. It takes years of unrecognized growth for the "came from nowhere" moment.

Just my $0.02, and you get what you pay for. 

 

 

[The Sicatoka]

On December 21, 2021, Jesse Tupac was named the 14th head coach of the North Dakota volleyball program. 

It has not been two calendar years. 

Like someone said, oven not microwave. 

[Dustin]

At this point last year, UND actually had a chance to be regular season conference champions (or co-champions, depending on tie-breaking procedures) if they ran the table, so there was some buzz about what the Tupacs were doing in year 1.  Ultimately, UND fell flat right after that (lost ALL remaining matches), and ended up 6th in conference, and then lost the Summit League quarterfinal.  So yeah, there was some expectations for year 2 that were probably unwarranted.  Even next year might still be up and down, as we will not have Stockman.  I thought somebody said Norris still has eligibility next year, but not sure on that.  But year 4 Tupac should have all the pieces lined up to start putting his stamp on the program.

[nodak651]

What do ya know... team that loses in the non conference loses during the conference portion of the season as well.  Can we promise not to cherry coat a bad non conference record ever again?  UND used to compete against some of the best teams in the country.  Our schedule was not that difficult to start the year and we lost to some bad teams, and we are still losing to some bad teams.  

[undVBfan]

No cherry coating, no one is happy about the season, it's just the reality of the situation. Until some big donor starts writing some 5 or 6 figure NIL checks, it's going to take time. Patience you must have, my young padawan. 

[SiouxFan100]

One thing to say we need patience - another thing to say wins and losses don’t matter.

[fightingsioux4life]

14 minutes ago, SiouxFan100 said:

One thing to say we need patience - another thing to say wins and losses don’t matter.

Spot on.

[gfhockey]

9 hours ago, undVBfan said:

No cherry coating, no one is happy about the season, it's just the reality of the situation. Until some big donor starts writing some 5 or 6 figure NIL checks, it's going to take time. Patience you must have, my young padawan. 

Are vb playas really getting paid too

[SiouxFan100]

Not much going on here. Too bad. I do think we are going in the right direction but to not make the Summit tournament wasn’t on my radar screen. That is if I understand what is needed to get in.

We lost some really close matches that would have made a big difference. Hopefully the ladies keep their heads up and finish strong.

[Dustin]

Yeah, I didn't realize we had been eliminated from the Summit League Tournament (by my math, at least).  Pretty big disappointment.

[gfhockey]

1 hour ago, Dustin said:

Yeah, I didn't realize we had been eliminated from the Summit League Tournament (by my math, at least).  Pretty big disappointment.

I bet Tupac gets a extensy 

[fightingsioux4life]

3 minutes ago, gfhockey said:

I bet Tupac gets a extensy 

I think Tupac needs more time to get his players and systems in place.

That being said, this season was a disappointment. Not many signs of progress.

[loyalundfan]

On 11/8/2023 at 9:15 AM, Dustin said:

Yeah, I didn't realize we had been eliminated from the Summit League Tournament (by my math, at least).  Pretty big disappointment.

Well,  the loss tonight sealed it if it hadn’t already. Tonight was bad, another 0-3 loss with no line up changes. Gayle consistently hitting .000 or negative, so Olson must not have the coaches trust for some reason. Potentially because she’s not a good passer, but Gayle was aced twice tonight with no blocks…

Only announced 1 on signing day yesterday, so that means everyone is coming back but the two middles, or they have transfers in mind. 
 

Again, it’s only year two, and 3 of the staff is new this year, so it is still a building year and a learning process, even though it is a disappointment. Almost everyone on the court are last staffs recruits (McCormick, Norris, Timperly, Gayle, Barber, Stockman, Hornyak) so once they have their recruits in, we’ll get to see what their style/type is!  Next year has to have some improvement, in my opinion!

[NewUndFan]

11 hours ago, loyalundfan said:

Well,  the loss tonight sealed it if it hadn’t already. Tonight was bad, another 0-3 loss with no line up changes. Gayle consistently hitting .000 or negative, so Olson must not have the coaches trust for some reason. Potentially because she’s not a good passer, but Gayle was aced twice tonight with no blocks…

Only announced 1 on signing day yesterday, so that means everyone is coming back but the two middles, or they have transfers in mind. 
 

Again, it’s only year two, and 3 of the staff is new this year, so it is still a building year and a learning process, even though it is a disappointment. Almost everyone on the court are last staffs recruits (McCormick, Norris, Timperly, Gayle, Barber, Stockman, Hornyak) so once they have their recruits in, we’ll get to see what their style/type is!  Next year has to have some improvement, in my opinion!

I think we need a setter also.  I see the sets and they are not as crisp as other teams I have watched.  Also I believe most of the team was recruited by the current staff.  I know Gayle, Barber, Stockman for sure were recruited by current coaches.  I dont get why Olson is not playing either or any type of line up change makes no sense.  

[loyalundfan]

3 hours ago, NewUndFan said:

I think we need a setter also.  I see the sets and they are not as crisp as other teams I have watched.  Also I believe most of the team was recruited by the current staff.  I know Gayle, Barber, Stockman for sure were recruited by current coaches.  I dont get why Olson is not playing either or any type of line up change makes no sense.  

 

Article from December 2021 before Tupac was hired. Barber committed and signed with previous staff. 

https://fightinghawks.com/news/2021/12/14/womens-volleyball-und-volleyball-adds-four-signees.aspx 
 

2019 roster- Gayle was on team. Might have even been a Pryor recruit. 
https://fightinghawks.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/2019

 

And thought stockman transferred after 2021 season before Tupac was hired, but could be wrong on her. Timperly committed to Tiffin (her Instagram says committed September of 2021), but all other freshmen this year are Tupacs. De Jong, Lugo, and O’Dell are the only three non freshmen that I can see that didn’t have a commitment on their Instagram before Tupacs hiring. 

[NewUndFan]

41 minutes ago, loyalundfan said:

 

Article from December 2021 before Tupac was hired. Barber committed and signed with previous staff. 

https://fightinghawks.com/news/2021/12/14/womens-volleyball-und-volleyball-adds-four-signees.aspx 
 

2019 roster- Gayle was on team. Might have even been a Pryor recruit. 
https://fightinghawks.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/2019

 

And thought stockman transferred after 2021 season before Tupac was hired, but could be wrong on her. Timperly committed to Tiffin (her Instagram says committed September of 2021), but all other freshmen this year are Tupacs. De Jong, Lugo, and O’Dell are the only three non freshmen that I can see that didn’t have a commitment on their Instagram before Tupacs hiring. 

My mistake then on Gayle and Barber. Memory isn't as good as I thought.   I do know they recruited Stockman because I thought they got a really good find to turn the team around.   i am looking forward to see what all his own recruits can do.