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Post by rhinovb14 on May 8, 2009 8:50:06 GMT -5
I really don't think that it's such a surprise that USC won. Murphy Troy is a beast and McKibben is just flat out a better setter. PSU couldn't find any rhythm in the middle which should have been their bread and butter. I thought Price played great, but Del Valle fell short. Sans Anderson and Luke, it just isn't the same team. Gaos (sp?) is inexperienced and got absolutely abused on the block....When was he going to seal the line??? USC is really hot right now. If Irvine plays like they did against OSU, USC will roll.
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Post by notsocal2 on May 8, 2009 9:28:12 GMT -5
Wow - USC looked terrific, was very impressed w/ obviously troy, but also the setter as well as both outsides - the freshman with a great backrow and offspeed presence, and bourne w/ really just swinging away. Fergy certainly has the stars aligned, and will see if this lasts for a few more days.
PSU looked good out of the box and then the mpsf reality set in, ... and yes - the chemistry different, which I'd also attribute to last year's setter was missing - not to mention that at some point someone forgot to block line on troy, ...
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Post by ciscokeed on May 8, 2009 9:33:12 GMT -5
Strange to see a mens team winning with defense and transition offense. Hurts me to complement a troy team, but they were really fun to watch. McKibben is a rock, and Ciarelli is on his way to being a star...Congrats to the coaching staff, that team obviously enjoys playing together, and they are loose and dangerous...
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Post by imbetterthenu on May 8, 2009 9:49:10 GMT -5
This is amazing. I was soooo unimpressed with Penn State. I was at the game, and thought they were awful. From all the talk on this page I thought I was going to see this team that would dominate. You can say what you want about them having a "bad game" the fact is they had 3 bad games this year....all against MPSF teams. I guess anyone can look like and be an all american when they play weak teams all season.
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Post by bigfan on May 8, 2009 10:03:26 GMT -5
Congrats to USC!
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Post by cheeseburger on May 8, 2009 11:56:22 GMT -5
I have to say that Anderson would have been an amazing equalizer. I'm not sure I'd jump on the PSU would have been an automatic champ, because Murray helped make Anderson good. But they would have been the odds on favorite. But what this match did was expose that the AA voting committee were being huge apologists putting so many non-MPSF players on the AA team. The fact of the matter is that this year the nation was dominated by the MPSF teams, many of who were lead by kids from all over the country. The top seven teams in the nation were also the top seven teams in the MPSF. Holt will be something great at the next level, and he was deserving of the accollades. The others, Price included, just didn't look like AAs. who are u? the MPSF spokesperson? keep going ucsdfan, cuz jt1265 won't be dissing you about a psu win on saturday - now he needs something to write about for the next two days. or will he just stop posting early? so who do you want to play - the best team, or the team that's hot right now?
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Post by jt1265 on May 8, 2009 12:16:04 GMT -5
who are u? the MPSF spokesperson? keep going ucsdfan, cuz jt1265 won't be dissing you about a psu win on saturday - now he needs something to write about for the next two days. or will he just stop posting early? so who do you want to play - the best team, or the team that's hot right now? how bout I write about u two dirt bags? Im just saying if you are going to preach about posting unbiased entries and keeping it objective then why all the dissing from u's twos part? I think everyone should see the match again and reassess if really Goas what "terrible" just look at the connections with his middle hitters and outsides in the first set and a half. That after that his team broke up and he was trying to do what he could, that is another story. Proly you two all that you do is watch MPSF matches season long and then come the FF complain about how PSU gets automatic bid blah blah blah. What a bunch of cry babies. Dont like it? Do something about it. Make the MPSF its own volleyball league... good luck with that
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Post by jt1265 on May 8, 2009 12:23:23 GMT -5
I really don't think that it's such a surprise that USC won. Murphy Troy is a beast and McKibben is just flat out a better setter. PSU couldn't find any rhythm in the middle which should have been their bread and butter. I thought Price played great, but Del Valle fell short. Sans Anderson and Luke, it just isn't the same team. Gaos (sp?) is inexperienced and got absolutely abused on the block....When was he going to seal the line??? USC is really hot right now. If Irvine plays like they did against OSU, USC will roll. Plus i dont think you are two inexperienced when u have been the captain for your country at NORCECA's and World Championships...
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Post by volleyballer4life on May 8, 2009 12:42:10 GMT -5
keep going ucsdfan, cuz jt1265 won't be dissing you about a psu win on saturday - now he needs something to write about for the next two days. or will he just stop posting early? so who do you want to play - the best team, or the team that's hot right now? how bout I write about u two dirt bags? Im just saying if you are going to preach about posting unbiased entries and keeping it objective then why all the dissing from u's twos part? I think everyone should see the match again and reassess if really Goas what "terrible" just look at the connections with his middle hitters and outsides in the first set and a half. That after that his team broke up and he was trying to do what he could, that is another story. Proly you two all that you do is watch MPSF matches season long and then come the FF complain about how PSU gets automatic bid blah blah blah. What a bunch of cry babies. Dont like it? Do something about it. Make the MPSF its own volleyball league... good luck with that Right now, the english language is crying somewhere... absolutely brutal. I am from the midwest and played my ball on the east coast. I was able to attend the PSU/LBSU match in March, and watched the semis last night. I love Penn State - they have an incredible starting line-up in regards to talent. However... they say its difficult to repeat, and Anderson/Murray aside, you just didn't have that killer instinct that made them so good last year. Anderson brought a lot to the table physically, but it went beyond that. I remember he was blocked 2-3 points in a row in the semis last year, and all of a sudden you could see the "there's no way we're losing this match" switch turn on. He ended up with 13 kills in the 3rd set, en route to a 3rd/4th set thrashing of their opponent. With this Penn State team? I never saw a player with that ability to take over a game when it was do-or-die time. Price was close, but as good as he is, he isn't at a Matt Anderson level. It seemed like there was no sense of urgency on their side of the court, only aggravation when things weren't going their way. On the other end, USC just has that look right now. Bench going nuts after every play, players on the court always fired up... a perfect example of a team simply peaking at the right time. Hopefully UCI plays with a bit more passion after their encounter last week... Could be a great match!
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Post by vbvet1 on May 8, 2009 12:54:20 GMT -5
While USC played well, they did not play as well as last week. The question is whether they can sustain execution for 1 more match. The run USC has had points out the relative strength of the leagues this year.
OSU and PSU had moments of solid play, but their mistakes cost them dearly. This appears to be the result of a weak schedule that does not demand consistent play.
As a midwesterner it is hard to admit, but there is no doubt that the MPSF had at least the top 5/6 teams in the country this year. The lack of regular season competition hurts the MIVA and EIVA teams. While the top teams in the MIVA and EIVA have agreed to play each other home and home, it is not enough to prepare them like the MPSF competition does.
In addition, it is unfortunate that the NCAA D1 budget committee refuses to support expansion of the championship. It would be great to see the tournament champions of each league and the remaining top teams competing in a season ending event that brings out the best in each team.
This year teams such as Pepperdine, Csun, BYU, Lewis, Lbsu, Stanford and others deserve to play in a national season ending event. Besides, it would help men's vb immensely.
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Post by cyberVBmidwest on May 8, 2009 13:51:38 GMT -5
This year teams such as Pepperdine, Csun, BYU, Lewis, Lbsu, Stanford and others deserve to play in a national season ending event. Besides, it would help men's vb immensely. I would love to see more teams get into the championship post season but it doesn't look good unless we get more DI/DII teams. It gets worse once the DIII teams are removed from the process. Potential strategies might include: add more teams, split existing teams into more conferences that can qualify for an AQ, hmmmm that is probably all I can think of at the moment. I thought I heard that there is some ratio of teams in a division to how many teams can be allowed into the playoff system. Has anyone else heard about that NCAA guideline?
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Post by coldplayer on May 8, 2009 14:15:11 GMT -5
Totally agreed with volleyballer4life & vbvet1!
Seriously, the NCAA committee needs to expand the tournament to at least 16 teams! It's insulting to the players, coaches, fans, & the sport! We just won the gold medal in the Olympics for crying out loud & we are not developing/supporting the sport?!
It's the same kind of crap we see, even in local gyms, where there is open play for basketball almost every day of the week & only a day or two for volleyball!
What can we, volleyball players, do to change the tide?!
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Post by cheeseburger on May 8, 2009 15:16:44 GMT -5
keep going ucsdfan, cuz jt1265 won't be dissing you about a psu win on saturday - now he needs something to write about for the next two days. or will he just stop posting early? so who do you want to play - the best team, or the team that's hot right now? how bout I write about u two dirt bags? wow, i haven't been called something the quality of "dirt bag" since, oh, sixth grade. fortunately, people have been way more imaginative in the 35 years since then. you want an unbiased, objective statement? ok, here's one: penn state was the best team in the nation last year. psu isn't this year. spin that any way you want...
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Post by cyberVBmidwest on May 8, 2009 16:08:51 GMT -5
Seriously, the NCAA committee needs to expand the tournament to at least 16 teams! It's insulting to the players, coaches, fans, & the sport! What can we, volleyball players, do to change the tide?! 16 Teams out of the total of 30 nationwide? Don't hold your breath unless you can convince the PAC 10, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, etc... to sponsor mens' VB. I would settle for a total of 6 which still would mean 20% of the teams get into the championship playoffs.
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Post by vball on May 8, 2009 16:32:59 GMT -5
Thank you to USC for getting rid of PSU and proving once again that the MPSF is clearly better.
PSU-I was pulling for you just so we wouldn't have to listen to the stupid USC band play again Saturday night. The band at a men's volleyball game-really?
Finals should be a good game. If UCI plays the way they did last night, they'll lose for sure. I would like for UCI to win if they didn't have Ammerman on their team, especially since it would mean USC would lose.
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