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Volleyball Headlines
Truckee volleyball: Wolverines win Northern 3A title (Sierra Sun)
Truckee volleyball: Wolverines win Northern 3A title Staff Writer TRUCKEE - The Truckee High volleyball team swept Yerington in straight sets, 25-15, 25-16, 25-22, on Saturday to win the Northern 3A championship and earn the North's top seed entering state. Check back Monday, and see Wednesday's Sports & Outdoors, for a full story.
State volleyball brackets posted (Seattle Times)
The state volleyball brackets are up on the WIAA website.
Marshall, Minneota volleyball advance to state volleyball (Marshall Independent)
Photos by Matt Dahlsheid, right photo by Jenny Kirk Both the Marshall and Minneota girls' volleyball teams advanced to state Saturday during section play at Southwest Minnesota State University. Marshall defeated Montevideo to go their their ninth straight state trip. Minneota came from behind to win against Windom Area.
KO volleyball team reflects on successful season (Klein Sun)
The Klein Oak High volleyball team had been competitive over the past few seasons, but the Lady Panthers raised their level of play this fall.
PREP PLAYOFFS: Murrieta Valley water polo, Elsinore volleyball earn No. 1 seeds (The Californian)
Murrieta Valley's boys water polo team dropped two matches all year. Elsinore's girls volleyball did the same. Both were rewarded with No. 1 seeds when the CIF Southern Section offices released playoff pairings Sunday.
VOLLEYBALL: Bulldogs, Minutemaids have eyes on same postseason prize (The Telegraph)
One volleyball team participates in the Prairie State Conference and the other one will be a Prairie player next year. Both squads are alive, well and eyeing more postseason fun.
Gophers defeat Purdue in volleyball for ninth consecutive time (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
Junior Hailey Cowles had 12 kills to lead the Gophers volleyball team to its ninth consecutive victory over Purdue, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17 on Sunday at the Sports Pavilion.
Mt. Carmel repeats as volleyball champs (Daily Courier)
While this is the second year in a row that the Mt. Carmel Christian School volleyball team won the Keystone Christian Education Association AAA state championship, this year they did it with a perfect record.
Clemson defeats Boston College, 3-1, in Sunday Volleyball Action (The Greenville News)
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Clemson volleyball defeated Boston College 3-1 on Sunday afternoon to earn their 20th win of the season and tenth ACC win. Freshman Sandra Adeleyehad a career-high 23 kills and hit .564. Clemson is now 20-9 and 10-5 in the ACC, while BC falls to 11-15 and 1-14 in conference play. Set scores were 25-19, 25-14, 26-28, and 25-10.
ECSU garners volleyball honors (The Daily Advance)
For the second consecutive season, Elizabeth City State head volleyball coach Linda Bell has been named the CIAA Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Volleyball Commentary
To Win or Not to Win Here's the latest dilemma from the high school ranks. A coach asked me what I thought of this situation: the coach's best player always does well when she's in the game, but for some reason the team doesn't. Apparently she gets great stats, but the team loses. When they put her on the bench and a less skilled player is in her spot, the team wins. The coach thinks it is ridiculous not to play her best player and so do the player's parents. What's a coach to do? This is an unusual situation to be sure. But I would have to say that you must go with the line up that wins games. Your best starting six on paper is not always the best starting six in reality. Don't underestimate chemistry and other 'x' factors that may make the difference between winning and losing. As a coach, your job is to win games as much as you possibly can. If you don't, you could soon be relieved of your duties. You should do what it takes to get the W, even if that means benching your best player. There's a lesson in this for the player as well. Volleyball is a team sport. If you're the team's best player, it is not enough for you to just concern yourself with your own stats. Your job is to bring your team up to your level and make everyone around you better. Until this player can do that, she should remain on the bench. To Win or Not to Win originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 23:52:54.
Penn State at Mid-Season Don't look now, but as the season drags on, the unbeatable Penn State women's team is starting to drop a few sets here and there. That could be good news for all the other top teams vying to knock them off in the playoffs. 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.
Analysis of an Athlete: Sand vs. Indoor As the talk of NCAA women's sand volleyball gets more serious, the debate over what the consequences will be continues. My concerns when I first heard the news were two-fold: that it could have a negative effect on indoor volleyball and whether it was really necessary considering that U.S. beach teams continue to win in its absence. Both those concerns were adequately put to the test in Ali Wood Lamberson's recent analysis. Lamberson took note of the differences between the games and the players that she based on statistics from top indoor players and top beach players. Turns out there are some major differences. According to the stats, successful beach players are shorter, have different skills and are less likely to have been indoor All-Americans. The point being that the majority of players who will switch to sand will not take away from the elite indoor pool. Her stats are compelling. On height - 58% of top FIVB and 40% of top AVP beach players are under 6 feet tall while only 25% of AVCA D-I All Americans were under 6 feet and 40% were over 6'2" tall. Analysis of an Athlete: Sand vs. Indoor originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 00:20:32.
NCAA Week Nine Coaches Poll Week nine brought the first change we've seen in the AVCA Coaches Poll's top four all season. Previously #4 Washington was stunned by a loss to unranked Washington State in four sets. The loss takes Washington down one spot to #5 and brought Washington State onto the poll for the first time at #21. 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.
Going for the Win Someone asked me a tough question the other day. As a high school coach, she was running a drill in which one side of the court was trying to beat their teammates on the other side. During the drill, one of her players shouted words of encouragement to her competition. The coach reacted by calling the player over and setting her straight. That kind of thing would not be tolerated. Later she wondered if she did the right thing. 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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