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Post by valeixo888 on Jan 8, 2007 22:39:10 GMT -5
So looking ahead to 2007. With the graduations, who do you think will be winners and losers? We all know the Stanfords, Texases, and Nebraskas will be on top still, but who will rise and fall?
The Winners
-Florida St-With all those freshman and such, they should move up, no?
-Louisville and Notre Dame-These Big East teams were loaded with Freshman, and should definetely improve. Norte Dame should be scary in a few years!
-Cal Poly-I don't think they lose many players and were a top 16 team this year!
-Utah and Colorado St-Both Mountain West teams lots little to no seniors.
-USC and Arizona-They have to get better, lost no one and probably getting good recruits
-Florida-This is Florida's last chance with these great freshman recruits, they are now seniors! McCray, Killingsworth, hampton, McGinnis
-Pepperdine-Young team, should improve
The Losers
-Oklahoma-Ok great year, but didn't they lose 5 seniors? Could this be another Washington in the making?
-Missouri-Losing Hunter was tough, but losing Wilson and Van Der Kooi will be SUPER tough
-Minnesota-Bowman, Nelson, Cumpston, and Peniata all gone!! Lots of pressure on Jones, Rhoerig and Hartman
-Cal and UCLA-Losing some key players. Was Pressey a senior?
-San Diego-losing Carlson and Dawson?! Who will get the kills?!?!
Any comments?!
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Post by bearwatch on Jan 8, 2007 22:49:53 GMT -5
Big XII:
Moving up-
Baylor, with 4 freshman starters returning and a great class coming in.
Texas, could be scary good.
Neb, will be scary good.
TX A&M, will resurge
Moving down:
Missouri, lost the their best players.
Oklahoma, 5 seniors lost.
Colorado, losing Nu is huge but they might be OK
Iowa State, Losing some key players.
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Post by doc on Jan 8, 2007 22:50:40 GMT -5
Good list of teams. Cal Poly will be very good. My only dissagreement is with Minnesota in the Loser group. I know they lose a lot but also have a solid group returning and a very talented recruiting class coming in. I would put them in the neutral catagory.
I see a lot of midwest teams and Valley teams so I will give my perspective on the Valley.
Missouri State & UNI both advanced to 2nd round this year. Both will be very good again with UNI returning almost everyone and having a couple of talented players coming off of red shirt years. Will be the favorite to win the Valley again. Wichita State returnes everyone and Creighton could be the best of the bunch. CU has everyone back plus a OH who was their best hitter hasn't played this past year due to injury. Also supposed to have a really good jc libero coming in.
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Post by doc on Jan 8, 2007 23:00:01 GMT -5
Judging by their performance tonight I would add Ohio State to the loser category. Oops wrong sport.  |
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Post by aishaxs on Jan 8, 2007 23:10:50 GMT -5
-Cal and UCLA-Losing some key players. Was Pressey a senior? I am pretty sure that Angie Pressey is going to be a senior this year (2007). I think Cal's only great loss in 2006 was Samantha Carter. UCLA lost Nana T_T Im happy that Nellie Spicer isn't gone yet. She's amazing. |
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Post by BearClause on Jan 8, 2007 23:10:59 GMT -5
-Cal and UCLA-Losing some key players. Was Pressey a senior? Pressey was a junior. Cal's key losses are Samantha Carter (setter) and Jillian Davis (libero). Cal's backup setter Bryte Nielson had problems against Washington, but that was the first time she's ever been placed in a pressure situation. I'm guessing freshman Carli Lloyd will probably start at setter. There should be at least two really good candidates to take over the libero position. Now that the season is over, I'd say that the injury situation really hurt. Kat Reilly was out before the season started, and I believe she'll be a redshirt soph in 2007. I thought she was the prohibitive favorite to start at middle. I was happy that Natalie Smart was finally getting playing time, but I don't think that was the plan going into the season. What ended up happening was a hybrid middle/RS swap with Morgan Beck where Morgan was a middle more than Natalie to take advantage of her quickness. Cal should be better off when Kat Reilly plays middle and Morgan Beck plays only left or right. Cat Dailey and Mindi Wiley both broke fingers in pre-season practice, although they both eventually got playing time. They could have been valuable later in the season had they been able to get some early playing time. |
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Jan 9, 2007 0:53:58 GMT -5
I think San Diego will experience some growing pains with the graduation of Carlson and Dawson, but I also think that they will be bolstered by two terrific freshmen in Ali Troost and Ashton Basch. They should still compete with Pepperdine and Santa Clara for the West Coast Conference title despite the losses.
I also think Cal Poly will be a very dangerous team next year and should get to the Sweet Sixteen at the very least.
USC will be back in the mix of things in terms of a Final Four berth. I think Kimmie Roleder and Zoe Garrett will really make a difference for their team. I still except Asia Kaczor, Jessica Gysin, and Diane Copenhagen to lead the team, but those two will just add to the Trojans' attack. Roleder might have a hard time finding playing time in the front row with Kaczor, Gysin, and Copenhagen returning, but her passing and digging skills are superb.
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Post by Pirate VB Fan on Jan 9, 2007 1:02:46 GMT -5
-Oklahoma-Ok great year, but didn't they lose 5 seniors? Could this be another Washington in the making? What is the comment about Washington supposed to mean? I was very proud that they made it to the Final Four after losing 7 seniors. |
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Post by cbrown1709 on Jan 9, 2007 1:45:32 GMT -5
I think that is what he meant. Can they pull a Washington and loose 5 players but come back and play very very well, and have a very successful season. And surprise people.
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Post by Tex_VB_Fan on Jan 9, 2007 3:07:30 GMT -5
So looking ahead to 2007. With the graduations, who do you think will be winners and losers? We all know the Stanfords, Texases, and Nebraskas will be on top still, but who will rise and fall? The Winners -Florida St-With all those freshman and such, they should move up, no? -Louisville and Notre Dame-These Big East teams were loaded with Freshman, and should definetely improve. Norte Dame should be scary in a few years! -Cal Poly-I don't think they lose many players and were a top 16 team this year! -Utah and Colorado St-Both Mountain West teams lots little to no seniors. -USC and Arizona-They have to get better, lost no one and probably getting good recruits -Florida-This is Florida's last chance with these great freshman recruits, they are now seniors! McCray, Killingsworth, hampton, McGinnis -Pepperdine-Young team, should improve The Losers -Oklahoma-Ok great year, but didn't they lose 5 seniors? Could this be another Washington in the making? -Missouri-Losing Hunter was tough, but losing Wilson and Van Der Kooi will be SUPER tough -Minnesota-Bowman, Nelson, Cumpston, and Peniata all gone!! Lots of pressure on Jones, Rhoerig and Hartman -Cal and UCLA-Losing some key players. Was Pressey a senior? -San Diego-losing Carlson and Dawson?! Who will get the kills?!?! Any comments?! PSU was left out. Should also be one of the top teams with 5 starters returning. |
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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 9, 2007 8:31:31 GMT -5
OKlahoma lost 5 seniors, but the key here is that they lost five starting seniors. They will have five seniors again in 2007. One was a starter last year, Sarah Weiland, one was a DS with significant playing time, Hannah Sharpe. The only other starter is sophomore to be Bridget Laplante. Marianna Blum, who came in to pass for Laplante in the back row is expected to step in at outside. I think the main problems with OU will be at setting, middle, and with team cohesion. Its just one of those things, if you can get the older ones confidence and the younger ones playing time, they should be fine. If not, well, its gonna ber tough, but better than their 2005 season.
I am interested in seeing how Minnesota reacts to Boos leaving, he is such a large part of that teams makeup and training that it could be quite telling. Although elevating the second assistant was a great move for continuity.
I think one of the surprise teams will be St. Louis. They have great D, a terrific RS in Sammi McCloud, a great setter in Roth and an unbelievable Linbero in Behrens, they should win the A10 again and progress further into the tournament.
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Post by rocket on Jan 9, 2007 8:51:10 GMT -5
I don't think Oklahoma is going to have the transfers drop out of the sky like Washington did this past year. If Oklahoma bounces back - it will be out of resiliency and outworking everybody else in the league.
Minnesota has plenty of talent hanging around to compete with the upper tier of the Big Ten. I will be surprised if their freshmen make a major impact, although the two from Minnie are very athletic.
St. Louis loses a couple of hammers on the outside. I seriously doubt that Dayton will not respond to the tournament loss to SLU by bouncing back next fall to win the A10.
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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 9, 2007 10:24:35 GMT -5
I don't think Oklahoma is going to have the transfers drop out of the sky like Washington did this past year. If Oklahoma bounces back - it will be out of resiliency and outworking everybody else in the league. Minnesota has plenty of talent hanging around to compete with the upper tier of the Big Ten. I will be surprised if their freshmen make a major impact, although the two from Minnie are very athletic. St. Louis loses a couple of hammers on the outside. I seriously doubt that Dayton will not respond to the tournament loss to SLU by bouncing back next fall to win the A10. I agree on OU. Menishkova is a huge loss, but Powers not so much. I think they will miss Powers leadership but not her hitting. They have a couple of kids who will be sophomores that could be awesome on the left side. |
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Post by brybry2 on Jan 9, 2007 12:29:09 GMT -5
USC will be back in the mix of things in terms of a Final Four berth. I think Kimmie Roleder and Zoe Garrett will really make a difference for their team. I still except Asia Kaczor, Jessica Gysin, and Diane Copenhagen to lead the team, but those two will just add to the Trojans' attack. Roleder might have a hard time finding playing time in the front row with Kaczor, Gysin, and Copenhagen returning, but her passing and digging skills are superb. I haven't seen Roleder play. How is she in hitting? She could definitely find playing time. This past season it was common for at least one of USC's outsides to struggle. I wonder if Urango will contend for outside hitter or will she be taking over the libero spot. |
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Post by Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU on Jan 9, 2007 14:02:04 GMT -5
PSU should be ranked #2 or #3 considering Stanford. We all know that Nebraska will be the #1 ranked team when comes preseason. My Longhorns will probably be #4 or #5......
Texas and Pepperdine could cause alot of problems for the top teams next season IF all goes well.
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