Concordia St. Paul 2014 season

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Since I knew the Gophers would have no problem with BC and who wants to watch Live Stats anyhow, I made it over to Concordia for their match against Wheeling Jesuit. They won 3-0 (17, 23, 19) to go 3-0 for the year.

Some thoughts:

*Emily McDonough only played 1 game last night against SWMS and wasn't on the bench today. I assume she is injured. This meant they are playing frosh Mariya Sampson at OH, not a strength this year to begin with. She did OK -- did really well from the service line -- but I hope McDonough is not seriously injured.

*Emma Lange is going to be a force this year. She's playing opposite, which means they also have a huge block over there, but she's also crossing into the middle frequently, where she was absolutely pounding the ball.

*Kasey Williams set well and played some good defense.

*Strength of the team will be their middle attack, especially if you include Lange in the equation. Riley Hanson continues to look great and Schiller is solid.

*Only 11 players on the roster, including McDonough. No backup setter. Maybe that would be Lisa Atkinson? They need Williams to stay healthy.

*Wheeling's libero, Mackenzie Ripley, was very good.


So is Concordia good enough to win #8? I don't think so. But a lot of people have lost money betting against them. Metaphorically.

[Deleted]

Emma, once a would-be Badger, now a Bear force.

See Pet Peeve thread.

[magic32]

As of Right now McDonough is out for the year with a torn ACL.

[Deleted]

Crap.

[Deleted]

Concordia now 4-0, following 3-1 win over Missouri S&T. Lange had 22 kills in 31 swings.

[magic32]

Lange was unstoppable tonight. She played great, even had some nice sets.

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This thread has gone dormant.

CU played arch-rival UMD tonight and lost in 4. 25-21, 26-28, 23-25, 23-25. REALLY good match.

Sampson is no longer a liability on the outside, so CU is going to be a contender, I think. But they make more errors than past teams. Unless they can clean that up, they'll be beatable.

UMD is really good. Hinsch is a great setter and Rainey's a terrific libero. I would not be surprised if they win it all. But they probably play CU twice more, including the Regional. That's a hurdle they still need to clear.

DII volleyball is really fun to watch, especially when it's these two teams.

[magic32]

I am going to have to disagree with you Ruffda. Not only is Sampson a liability, I think both outsides are going to be a liability towards the end of the season. Personally, I think the final part of the season is going to come down to how well or how poorly the outsides play. If they play well then that will open up the middles, if they play poorly than the other teams will focus on the middles. This team misses leadership, they need somebody to step-up and be a leader.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

Nov 4, 2014 22:19:29 GMT -5 @ruffda said:

This thread has gone dormant.

CU played arch-rival UMD tonight and lost in 4. 25-21, 26-28, 23-25, 23-25. REALLY good match.

Sampson is no longer a liability on the outside, so CU is going to be a contender, I think. But they make more errors than past teams. Unless they can clean that up, they'll be beatable.

UMD is really good. Hinsch is a great setter and Rainey's a terrific libero. I would not be surprised if they win it all. But they probably play CU twice more, including the Regional. That's a hurdle they still need to clear.

DII volleyball is really fun to watch, especially when it's these two teams.

Isn't UMD #1 in Pablo?

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I don't know. It wouldn't surprise me. They are #2 AVCA, I believe.

Let me check. Yes. They are. And they were the favorite even with HCA.

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2014 13:39:29 GMT -5 magic32 said:

I am going to have to disagree with you Ruffda. Not only is Sampson a liability, I think both outsides are going to be a liability towards the end of the season. Personally, I think the final part of the season is going to come down to how well or how poorly the outsides play. If they play well then that will open up the middles, if they play poorly than the other teams will focus on the middles. This team misses leadership, they need somebody to step-up and be a leader.

I don't disagree. Liability is relative. I just mean she's not the glaring weakness you might expect from a frosh OH and has really improved since the beginning of the year. Like I said, their ball control isn't what it's been in the past and that could, probably will, be their downfall.

Last night's match was a good example. MSU gave them a good match. It was 1-1 and the Mavericks were up in the 3rd, mainly by exploiting Schlaak on serve receive. But CU still managed to take it up a notch. From 14-17 (15-17 maybe?), they won 11 of the next 12 points, took g3 and then dominated in g4.

They still have a way of shifting gears and they're still a lot of fun to watch. They hit .343 for the match -- .405 in g4.

Box

NSIC tournament concludes this weekend at UMD.

[ugopher]

Looked at the box score, it was 14-17.

Also, per the box score, there were three referees. What is that all about?

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Yes, they had someone standing in the middle of the court. THAT sure was causing problems.

Probably the scorekeeper.

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Interesting to see that Lori Rittenhouse and Bre Payton are Amie's assistants.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

Nov 12, 2014 12:40:44 GMT -5 @ruffda said:

Interesting to see that Lori Rittenhouse and Bre Payton are Amie's assistants.

Oh, the wonderful Bre Payton! I miss her.

She absolutely adored my older son. She loved to see him.