Volleyball Headlines for November 1, 2009

Stanford moves into the top five after upsetting Washington last weekend in five sets. Washington's first loss of the season put them back one spot to number four and Hawaii takes its spot at number three.

The Pac-10 showed the most movement this week as lower seeds continued to take out the higher seeds. UCLA bounced back this week, beating USC in three to jump four spots to #12, while the Trojans fell three spots to #16. Arizona beat Oregon this week which earned them the #18 spot, while Oregon fell four spots to #15.

Elswehere in the country, both Florida and Michigan fell three spots after the Gators lost to LSU in three sets and the Wolverines fell to Wisconsin in four.

NCAA Week Seven Coaches Poll originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 12:54:25.

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The bottom 15 changed a bit as Colorado State found itself ranked for the first time this season. Long Beach State dropped out of the top 25 this week. The Beach debuted on the poll in Week Four and steadily climbed up to #20, but had two big losses to Pacific last week and UC Irvine this week to drop out of sight.

The wacky Pac-10 continued its roller coaster ride. Oregon beat #5 Stanford in five sets and #14 Cal in three to move up three spots to #12.

After stunning #6 Florida last week with a three set victory, newly ranked LSU continued to roll over its opponents and moves up four spots to #20.

NCAA Week Eight Coaches Poll originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 at 10:13:03.

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Stanford took Washington's spot at #4 after its two wins over the weekend. The Cardinal is now tied with the Huskies for first in the Pac-10, but they have two big matches this weekend against UCLA and USC. They'll need to win both to stay there.

There was an upset in the mid-west as well when then #14 Iowa State beat then #5 Nebraska in five. Iowa State moves up five spots to #9 and Nebraska falls three spots to #8 this week.

NCAA Week Nine Coaches Poll originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 09:08:17.

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The #1 Nittany Lions bageled their opponents for the first fourteen games of the season. But at the start of October, they dropped a game to unranked Iowa and one to unranked Ohio State. Then mid-month, they went five sets with then #11 Michigan for their closest call of the season.

Penn State is clearly head and shoulders above their regular season competition, but they lack the strength of schedule that some of the other top-ranked teams are experiencing week in and week out.

With only four ranked opponents so far this season, the lack of challenge could hurt them come playoff time. If unranked teams are starting to figure out how to take points and sets off them, Penn State may falter a bit when they face the top eight in December.

This weekend, the Nittany Lions take on Ohio State and #7 Minnesota. Two wins would bring their win-streak to 88-games, which would tie them with the 1971-74 UCLA basketball team for the NCAA record. An amazing feat for an amazing team.

If they can manage not to get too caught up in streaks, rankings and consecutive championships, they will definitely go down in history as one of the best teams ever. The pressure is on.

Penn State at Mid-Season originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 21:51:38.

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For the past three weeks of conference play, at least three higher ranked teams have fallen to lower ranked teams when going head-to-head. That's not to say that the rankings are inaccurate. On paper, the placement of the teams seems to be warranted. But somehow when the rubber meets the road, there is no accounting for the strength of will.

In the first week of conference play, #19 Arizona shocked both #13 UCLA and #14 USC, unranked Arizona State stole one from UCLA and #12 Cal beat #10 Stanford. The very next week, with fresh new rankings for all, things turned around again. This time #9 Cal lost to #13 USC and #16 UCLA while unranked Oregon State topped #7 Oregon.

This week the ranking shuffle settled again and once more the upsets prevailed. #16 UCLA beat #13 USC and #22 Arizona beat #7 Oregon. Most significantly though, the previously undefeated #3 Washington Huskies who hadn't lost a set, let alone a match, lost in five to #7 Stanford.

Stanford and Washington are fighting it out for the conference championship as they have for the last six years running. Stanford has won out the last three years in a row while Washington took the title the two previous years.

Despite the loss, Washington is still looking like the strongest team in the league. A few too many Washington errors coupled with outstanding play from Stanford role players like middle blocker Janet Okogbaa, tipped the scales in the Cardinal's favor. Okogbaa earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for her effort.

Keep an eye out. This rivalry should make for an interesting grudge match when Stanford travels to Washington early next month.

Up this week in the Pac-10:

#12 UCLA and #16 USC play at #4 Washington

#5 Stanford and #14 Cal play at #15 Oregon

The Pac-10's Wild Ride originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 18:29:34.

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I was happily enjoying a burger at my church picnic this weekend when a game of "volleyball" broke out. That word must be used loosely as there was nothing resembling the sport I know displayed on that grass court.

A flimsy net was precariously placed such that it seemed even the slightest contact would send it toppling to the ground. It was nothing short of a miracle that it stayed put despite all the folks rolling in it.

There were no sidelines, no end lines and no antennas. The ball was out if they said it was. There seemed to be no concrete rules of any kind.

What they did have was players. Lots and lots of players. At least ten by my count on one side of the court and there had to be twelve on the other.

And they played. Hard. They taunted each other. They trash-talked. They jokingly intimidated and accused each other of cheating in this game with no rules.

Don't get me wrong, it was painful to watch the upturned palms of their double-contact-lift-passes as they sent the ball over on one. Part of me wanted to run out on the court, stop the game entirely and force them into passing lines. And I probably would have if it hadn't been for one thing. They were just having too much fun.

How could I possibly object to lots of folks out on a grass court on a Saturday afternoon having a grand old time playing volleyball? Sometimes, you've just got to let 'em play.

On Jungle Ball originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 11:36:20.

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No surprise that Branagh/Youngs and Dalhausser/Rogers walked away with the most of the hardware including the Team of the Year awards. Phil and Nicole also took MVP and Best Offensive Player. Phil added Best Blocker to his list.

It was a big night for Lisa Rutledge, who took home two titles - Best Blocker and Most Improved Player. Well-deserved on both counts. She had about 100 more blocks than the next best blocker on the Tour and improved her ranking from 37th in 2008 to ninth this season.

Check out the link to the AVP site for the rest of the recipients. The AVP season is officially over, but there is one last FIVB tournament to be played in China next week before we say goodbye to the 2009 beach season.

AVP Awards originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 20:13:05.

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There is no easy answer here. Clearly, I played for some tough junior coaches who made us work extremely hard and get serious from a young age. If the team is aiming for a state championship or if it contains players with D-I aspirations, it may be necessary to inspire them to want to win at all times.

However, the sport is also supposed to be fun. And since most junior and high school teams are out there to enjoy themselves, I think the coach's reaction might have been a little harsh. Sure, in that particular drill the players were opponents. But most of the time they're teammates. It is never bad to encourage a teammate.

Now if your players start encouraging opposing teams during real matches, you may need to talk to them. Sportsmanship is great, but I think teaching players to want to beat their opponents is an integral part of the game.

The key is making sure that the players understand what their coach wants and expects from them before going straight to the reprimand.

Going for the Win originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 21:25:46.

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