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Post by snickers on Nov 25, 2006 9:18:32 GMT -5
Meghan has made a strong case for herself in conference play. Going into last night's match against Purdue, she had the second-most kills (213) among Minnesota players in confernce matches, ranked second in kills-per-game (3.09), ranked third in hitting percentage (.266), ranked second in points-per-game (3.76) and tied for most service aces (24). Then she hits .500 last night (14-0-28). She has also led the team in kills for many of the conference matches....not to mention plays all-the-way-around and is part of 2-3 serve receive rotations. I hope she is recognized as part of the first team; She deserves it.
My Big 10 All-Confernce pics from Minnesota:
Nelson Cumpston Piniata Jones
Bowman (HM)
It's possible that we might sneak in 4 players -- Penn State got 5 in last year and we got two. If we get only three players in, I think it will be a toss-up between Jones and Cumpston, but both are very deserving.
Then there is KBow -- probably our MVP this year. If we had won the conference, she probably would be a lock for first team. Could still make it.
Piniata -- Probably Defensive Player of the Year.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2006 10:12:14 GMT -5
Definitely Cumpston and Peniata.
Nelson probably.
Bowman should be.
Jones is probably too many.
Personally, I think you could make a very strong case for Hebert as Coach of the Year, too.
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Post by Bluto on Nov 25, 2006 10:30:52 GMT -5
You may be making a valid case for Cumpston as Team MVP on the Gopher's, but where does she stand statistically with the rest of the conference? Nice player having a good year, but I don't see her as all-conference.
Peniata - yes. Nelson or Jones - one or both, but not Cumpston, IMO.
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Post by abcd098 on Nov 25, 2006 11:18:40 GMT -5
In conference matches, Nelson is leading the team in kills/game and hitting percentage. She is also putting up 0.99 blocks per game and is a senior. I would say she is a lock for All-Big Ten. I say that Peniata will also get in, she leads the Big Ten in digs and is also a senior. She will likely be DPOY.
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Post by ugopher on Nov 25, 2006 11:19:24 GMT -5
Without Cumpston there is no way the Gophers finish in 2nd. She has given MN the outside attack they need as well as playing all around.
I know are bigger names that will get votes and players with better stats. But the two turnarounds that happened for MN were when Bowman and Peniata returned and Cumpston moved into the left side on a permanent basis.
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Post by wiscvball on Nov 25, 2006 11:22:40 GMT -5
I'm not sure about Cumpston making first team. Her numbers are solid, but not eye-popping. She's averaging 3.09 kpg in big ten play, hitting .266 and adding 2.04 digs per game. Her blocking is so-so at .42, but has nice service numbers with about .35 aces per game.
She's been playing much better of late, so that might factor into the decision as well. Her stats should only get better with just Indiana left on the sched.
I think Nelson and Peniata are locks for first team. Nelson has 3.5 kpg hitting .344 with 1 bpg. Peniata should be DPOY in the big ten. Bowman is the glue on Minnesota's team, but her hitting % is too low to make first team. Fans who follow Minnesota VB know how important she is to the team, but I don't know if the rest of the big ten will be able to see past the down hitting % and kpg.
Like Cumpston, Jones could make a case for HM and I would guess that one of them would land on that team. I am just not sure if Minnesota has more than two players on the first team at this point. Last year, UW finished second and only received 2 nods whereas Minnesota got 2 or 3 in 3rd place. Something similar could happen this year with Simpson, Dolgner, Reineke from UW making it (if they did) and only 2 from Minnesota on.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Hartmann on the pre-season first team next year.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2006 13:42:16 GMT -5
Cumpston's #s are right up there with the other OHs being considered.
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Post by wiscvball on Nov 25, 2006 16:56:04 GMT -5
Cumpston's #s are right up there with the other OHs being considered. Which begs the question of who the other outsides being considered are? Cumpston's offensive numbers don't stack up against Schatzle or Johnson of MSU - both are well over 4.5 kpg and at about the same or higher efficiency, but don't have the digs in the backrow that Cumpston does - though Schatzle is very close. Hodge and Fawcett have all-american type offensive numbers - and they are both first team locks. Dolgner has 1.7 kpg more than Cumpston at the same efficiency with .5 digs more per game - but she is a freshman, so that might hurt her. Then you have Szerzsen and Meyer from OSU who both have pretty good offensive numbers - though I'm not sure what Szerzsen's % in big ten play is - i don't think it's enough to be first team, so Cumpston probably wins that battle. Cumpston does have the advantage of playing on the team that will finish second in the big ten, and her play is getting stronger down the stretch. However, to just be over 3 kpg and 2 dpg isn't that special for an outside hitter. I like her on the HM team, but I think Jones would probably be selected for the first team before Cumpston would be. **Also, I want to qualify that I'm not trying to knock Cumpston, she ripped UW apart twice this year, so I have a lot of respect for her play. When I saw her in the spring tourney, she looked like someone who was all-big ten caliber. Huge jump serve, missles from the backrow, etc... she was just pretty inconsistent in the first half of the season, but is putting it together now. I'm sure Gopher fans would take a snub of her on the All-BT team if she led them on a deep tourney run. It's just that her numbers over the course of the 20 match big ten season are relatively average for an outside hitter.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2006 17:22:56 GMT -5
Meyers ain't an OH -- or rather her numbers when she WAS an OH were not good.
MSU's OHs have inflated numbers.
Of course, they may just give 6 to PSU again this year...
It doesn't matter to me, but Cumpston's a big reason why MN finished 2nd. Maybe she'll get POW this week?
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Post by st15 on Nov 25, 2006 18:23:41 GMT -5
The All Big 10 team should be announced this Tuesday, correct?
What do you all think about POY? I'd like to see Meredith Nelson named POY, although I'm not sure how likely that is.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2006 18:25:02 GMT -5
It'll be a PSU player and no one's ever answered about whether a freshman can win it or not.
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Post by st15 on Nov 25, 2006 18:35:57 GMT -5
I've already asked, but not gotten a response, to whether a freshman can get POY in the Big10. Do they not have a separate FOY award? Hypothetically speaking, the same player can get Big Ten FOY and POY. I just checked to make sure and was given the same answer. I guess it can happen. I'd rather not see Megan Hodge as Big 10 POY.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2006 18:47:27 GMT -5
I don't think she should be either, but it's hard to argue that she wasn't PSU's MVP -- and PSU will get the POY.
Harmotto? Maybe.
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Post by Keystonekid on Nov 25, 2006 20:37:10 GMT -5
Hodge going off again tonight, I think she both should and will be POY. I think Harmotto would be PSU second choice, although she has been playing injured for at least three weeks. I think coaches really like and respect how she plays, on top of the obvious quality of her play.
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Post by spikerthemovie on Nov 25, 2006 21:18:12 GMT -5
I suspect POY is Fawcett, but as to the all-Big Ten team, Nelson and Peniata are locks, Jones probably has to wait for next year. I think the Bowman/Cumpston choice is a toughie (I do think MN gets three players, conceivably but probably not four, on the team). I'd go with Cumpston because enough coaches have seen her having a huge impact on the dismantling of their teams and because the aces make her stats a little snappier. Interested to see how it shakes out, though.
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