Post by bayarea on Sept 25, 2014 16:47:09 GMT -5
The WCC finished OOC play with a .666 winning percentage, and no team worse than 4-6. (And that wasn't even Portland!)
WCC CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS TONIGHT!
Thursday matches:
BYU faces Gonzaga with coverage on BYUtv, 7pm MT
Pacific hosts LMU, which could be a very, very competitive match. Coverage on theW.tv at 7pm PT
Pepperdine hosts St. Mary's at 7pm PT with coverage on theW.tv
On Friday, San Francisco hosts Santa Clara at 7pm PT, with coverage on theW.tv
Team Strengths and Weaknesses (I've seen most but not all of the teams play, so please help fill in missing insight about these teams):
BYU is 9-2. Ranked #11 this week. BYU leads the nation in blocking, and has the 3 top blockers in the WCC with 6'4 Soph MB Boswell, 6' Soph MB Young, and 6'7" Senior Opp Jennifer Hamson totaling almost all of the team's 3.69 blocks/set. Their hitting percentage is only 5th at .259, but they hold their opponents to the lowest percentage in conference. They run a 5-1 with 5'11" Jr setter Camry Godfrey Willardson. Hamson is getting 3.72 kills/set hitting .359. Boswell is hitting .397. Junior OH Alexa Gray is not hitting quite as well this year, currently at .211. The team is only 7th in conference in kills/set and digs/set, probably partially due to blocking so well. They are playing mostly juniors and seniors with the standout sophomore MB's. They were a unanimous pick to win the conference, but should have quite a few challenging and exciting matches this year.
Santa Clara is at 10-3. They were #36 in votes tallied on last week's poll, after upsetting Duke. Santa Clara leads the nation in aces/set, and leads the conference in hitting percentage at .306. Freshman MB Kaity Edwards leads the conference in hitting percentage (.462), and 5'11" freshman setter, Kirsten Mead, leads the WCC in assists/game (and is 4th nationally) with 11.93. They have two very good sophomore OH's in Nikki Hess and Sabrina Clayton, with Clayton being the team's kill leader (3.36 kills/set). Senior OPP Taylor Milton has been named to 3 pre-conference All-Tournament Teams. They are last in conference in blocking and digging, though junior libero Dani Rottman leads the conference with 4.48 digs/set. They are running a 5-1 and have a young team, playing 1 senior, 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen, with a junior libero.
San Diego is at 7-5 after losses to Stanford and CSUN. They dropped to #24 in the polls. Apparently stud OH/MB Alaysia Brown did not play against CSUN due to injury, and their success going forward depends a lot on her being healthy. They have an easy conference first week hosting Portland and Gonzaga, before being tested by a road match at LMU. USD runs a 6-2 offense with senior spitfire Jianna Bonomi and freshman Kristen Gengenbacher. They are hitting .228 in pre-conference matches, and are only 8th in conference in blocking. Alaysia Brown is the kill leader with 3.83 kills/set, hitting .277. Oregon transfer Canace Finley has 2.5 kills/set, hitting .250. Libero Hunter Jennings is picking up 4.05 digs/set.
LMU blazed through their pre-conference schedule at 12-0 to move to #21 on this week's poll. They open conference play at Pacific on Thursday, and at St. Mary's on Saturday. I expect they will continue their unbeaten streak at least until they host San Diego on Sept. 30 and they may be favored to win that one if USD doesn't improve and get healthy. LMU isn't the conference leader in any stats category, but is near the top in each category, which is clearly working well for them. Jr Setter Hannah Tedrow runs a 5-1 and was WCC Player of the Week last week. They are running a fast offense. Their freshman "setter" recruit, Sarah Sponcil, is playing as a 6 rotation OH, showing her beach savvy, and making smart plays. Sr OH Kaitlyn DeWitt is the kill leader (4.12 kills/set), and Sr MB Litara Keil has the best hitting percentage (.340), and leads the conference in Aces/set. Freshman libero Kristin Castellanos has been a big contributor with 4.07 digs/set. Juniors Rachel Suaava and Amber Mirabello are also playing very well.
Gonzaga is 8-3, although the toughest teams they have beaten were a 5 set win over Wyoming, and 4 set win over Portland State. Gonzaga leads the conference in kills/set, but is 9th in digs, and last in aces. Blocking is 5th. 6'3" RJr OH Savannah Blinn leads the WCC with 4.62 kills/set, and hits .352. Soph and Jr OH's Jordan Gasser and McKayla Ferris are also big offensive contributors. They are running a 5-1 with JR setter Lauren Joseph (10.93 assists/game). They are off to their best preseason start in program history. Their starters this year are experienced sophomores and juniors, but they will get tested immediately with their first four games being against BYU, USD, Pepperdine and LMU.
Pacific is 11-2, although they highest ranked team they have beaten so far is Cal. They host LMU and Pepperdine in the first week, before traveling to Santa Clara. If they keep playing well, they should stay in the top 5 conference teams. (Edited) They have great setting this year, running a 5-2 with junior setter Kimmy Whitson (front row) and freshman Andi Shelton (back row), and are hitting .280 for the season so far. Their kill leader is 6' Soph OH Lexi Elman at 3.78 kills/game with 6'1" Jr Opp Kat Schultz at 3.35. 6'3" Sr MB Gillian Howard is getting 1.05 blocks/game. Their freshman libero, Katrin Gotterba, has been doing a superb job.
San Francisco is now 7-5. They went on a 5-game losing streak to some tough competition before beating UTEP and Nevada last weekend. They host Santa Clara Friday and St. Mary's on Sept. 30. 6'4" SR MB Valentina Zaloznik has been playing very well, and is hitting .355 with 1.09 blocks/game. They seem to be running a 5-1 part of the time with Soph setter Kiara McKibbon, and partially a 6-2 with Juria Vlasic. Soph Katarina Pilepic has been hammering the ball with 3.04 kills/set, hitting .213. They have also been getting a lot of kills from SR Anja Segota. Freshman OH Jessica Gaffney has been struggling to get kills, currently hitting .083, but freshman libero Kim Gutierrez is doing a great job with 4.47 digs/set.
Pepperdine is struggling at 5-7 under first year coach Troy Tanner. The highest ranked team they have beaten was a 5 set win over Utah State. They travel to St. Mary's and Pacific this week. No gimmes there, though they could split win/loss. They are down near the bottom of the conference in a lot of statistically categories (kills, assists, blocks, digs and opponent hitting percentage). There is a lot of talent on this team, so hopefully they can turn it around. Excellent Jr Setter, Becca Strehlow, is running a 6-2 with RS SR Chanel Brown, and Strehlow stays in to hit Opp. She is leading the team in digs with 3.39, and is a huge contributor in all categories, with 1.91 kills/set (hitting .197) and 6.41 assists/set. Jillian Bergeson is the kill leader with 2.98 kills/set. Soph OH Gaby Palmieri is right behind her with 2.85 kills/set, and both are hitting .257. SR Samantha Cash is hitting .358. I haven't really seen them play yet, so I'm not sure what is not working well for this team.
St. Mary's is still struggling at 4-6, also with their best win a sweep of Utah State. They host Pepperdine and LMU this week before traveling to San Francisco. They will probably really have to fight for most of their conference wins. I saw part of their Cal match, and, wow...what a difference from last year when OH's Shaw and Graven hammered down kill after kill. In the match I saw, there were many miscommunications between players. They do have a young team, with 3 freshmen playing regularly. They are running a 6-2 with 6'1" RS Jr setter Dalas Dodd and 5'5" freshman setter Mary Hernandez, which seems like it would be a difficult adjustment for the hitters. (Edited: They switched to a 5-1 with Dodd in their first WCC match.) They are currently last in conference in hitting percentage (.207) and assists. However they are 3rd in blocks with 2.24 blocks/set. Samantha Tinsley leads the team with 3.41 kills/set, hitting .164. Natalie Loos is getting 1.13 blocks/set (5th in conference) while getting 2.87 kills/set, hitting .324. Freshman Alexis Salmons is hitting .311 with 2.03 kills/set. Freshman OH Clare Powers is hitting .155 with 1.82 kills/set.
I thought Portland could pull out a winning pre-conference record this season, but, still, their 5-6 record is a big improvement over recent years. They will start conference play with the difficulty of away games at San Diego and then BYU, before hosting LMU and Pepperdine. Tough going, ahead. Portland is running a 6-2 with freshman setter Ali Koumelis and Soph Djurdjina Milovic. Overall team hitting percentage is low at .217. Senior Emily Liger is second in conference with 4.62 kills/set, hitting .293. Soph Makayla Lindburg is picking up 2.95 kills/set, hitting .183 and Soph Katie Sullivan is getting 1.76 kills/set hitting .228. Senior libero Katie Mardesich is second in conference with 4.47 digs/set.
I think BYU and LMU are staying on top for now. Depending on injuries, I see San Diego, Santa Clara, Pacific and San Francisco all jockeying for position in the top 5. And we will see if St. Mary's and Pepperdine can turn it around in conference play. Every match of the conference will hold the potential for an upset. It should be a very exciting season.
WCC CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS TONIGHT!
Thursday matches:
BYU faces Gonzaga with coverage on BYUtv, 7pm MT
Pacific hosts LMU, which could be a very, very competitive match. Coverage on theW.tv at 7pm PT
Pepperdine hosts St. Mary's at 7pm PT with coverage on theW.tv
On Friday, San Francisco hosts Santa Clara at 7pm PT, with coverage on theW.tv
Team Strengths and Weaknesses (I've seen most but not all of the teams play, so please help fill in missing insight about these teams):
BYU is 9-2. Ranked #11 this week. BYU leads the nation in blocking, and has the 3 top blockers in the WCC with 6'4 Soph MB Boswell, 6' Soph MB Young, and 6'7" Senior Opp Jennifer Hamson totaling almost all of the team's 3.69 blocks/set. Their hitting percentage is only 5th at .259, but they hold their opponents to the lowest percentage in conference. They run a 5-1 with 5'11" Jr setter Camry Godfrey Willardson. Hamson is getting 3.72 kills/set hitting .359. Boswell is hitting .397. Junior OH Alexa Gray is not hitting quite as well this year, currently at .211. The team is only 7th in conference in kills/set and digs/set, probably partially due to blocking so well. They are playing mostly juniors and seniors with the standout sophomore MB's. They were a unanimous pick to win the conference, but should have quite a few challenging and exciting matches this year.
Santa Clara is at 10-3. They were #36 in votes tallied on last week's poll, after upsetting Duke. Santa Clara leads the nation in aces/set, and leads the conference in hitting percentage at .306. Freshman MB Kaity Edwards leads the conference in hitting percentage (.462), and 5'11" freshman setter, Kirsten Mead, leads the WCC in assists/game (and is 4th nationally) with 11.93. They have two very good sophomore OH's in Nikki Hess and Sabrina Clayton, with Clayton being the team's kill leader (3.36 kills/set). Senior OPP Taylor Milton has been named to 3 pre-conference All-Tournament Teams. They are last in conference in blocking and digging, though junior libero Dani Rottman leads the conference with 4.48 digs/set. They are running a 5-1 and have a young team, playing 1 senior, 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen, with a junior libero.
San Diego is at 7-5 after losses to Stanford and CSUN. They dropped to #24 in the polls. Apparently stud OH/MB Alaysia Brown did not play against CSUN due to injury, and their success going forward depends a lot on her being healthy. They have an easy conference first week hosting Portland and Gonzaga, before being tested by a road match at LMU. USD runs a 6-2 offense with senior spitfire Jianna Bonomi and freshman Kristen Gengenbacher. They are hitting .228 in pre-conference matches, and are only 8th in conference in blocking. Alaysia Brown is the kill leader with 3.83 kills/set, hitting .277. Oregon transfer Canace Finley has 2.5 kills/set, hitting .250. Libero Hunter Jennings is picking up 4.05 digs/set.
LMU blazed through their pre-conference schedule at 12-0 to move to #21 on this week's poll. They open conference play at Pacific on Thursday, and at St. Mary's on Saturday. I expect they will continue their unbeaten streak at least until they host San Diego on Sept. 30 and they may be favored to win that one if USD doesn't improve and get healthy. LMU isn't the conference leader in any stats category, but is near the top in each category, which is clearly working well for them. Jr Setter Hannah Tedrow runs a 5-1 and was WCC Player of the Week last week. They are running a fast offense. Their freshman "setter" recruit, Sarah Sponcil, is playing as a 6 rotation OH, showing her beach savvy, and making smart plays. Sr OH Kaitlyn DeWitt is the kill leader (4.12 kills/set), and Sr MB Litara Keil has the best hitting percentage (.340), and leads the conference in Aces/set. Freshman libero Kristin Castellanos has been a big contributor with 4.07 digs/set. Juniors Rachel Suaava and Amber Mirabello are also playing very well.
Gonzaga is 8-3, although the toughest teams they have beaten were a 5 set win over Wyoming, and 4 set win over Portland State. Gonzaga leads the conference in kills/set, but is 9th in digs, and last in aces. Blocking is 5th. 6'3" RJr OH Savannah Blinn leads the WCC with 4.62 kills/set, and hits .352. Soph and Jr OH's Jordan Gasser and McKayla Ferris are also big offensive contributors. They are running a 5-1 with JR setter Lauren Joseph (10.93 assists/game). They are off to their best preseason start in program history. Their starters this year are experienced sophomores and juniors, but they will get tested immediately with their first four games being against BYU, USD, Pepperdine and LMU.
Pacific is 11-2, although they highest ranked team they have beaten so far is Cal. They host LMU and Pepperdine in the first week, before traveling to Santa Clara. If they keep playing well, they should stay in the top 5 conference teams. (Edited) They have great setting this year, running a 5-2 with junior setter Kimmy Whitson (front row) and freshman Andi Shelton (back row), and are hitting .280 for the season so far. Their kill leader is 6' Soph OH Lexi Elman at 3.78 kills/game with 6'1" Jr Opp Kat Schultz at 3.35. 6'3" Sr MB Gillian Howard is getting 1.05 blocks/game. Their freshman libero, Katrin Gotterba, has been doing a superb job.
San Francisco is now 7-5. They went on a 5-game losing streak to some tough competition before beating UTEP and Nevada last weekend. They host Santa Clara Friday and St. Mary's on Sept. 30. 6'4" SR MB Valentina Zaloznik has been playing very well, and is hitting .355 with 1.09 blocks/game. They seem to be running a 5-1 part of the time with Soph setter Kiara McKibbon, and partially a 6-2 with Juria Vlasic. Soph Katarina Pilepic has been hammering the ball with 3.04 kills/set, hitting .213. They have also been getting a lot of kills from SR Anja Segota. Freshman OH Jessica Gaffney has been struggling to get kills, currently hitting .083, but freshman libero Kim Gutierrez is doing a great job with 4.47 digs/set.
Pepperdine is struggling at 5-7 under first year coach Troy Tanner. The highest ranked team they have beaten was a 5 set win over Utah State. They travel to St. Mary's and Pacific this week. No gimmes there, though they could split win/loss. They are down near the bottom of the conference in a lot of statistically categories (kills, assists, blocks, digs and opponent hitting percentage). There is a lot of talent on this team, so hopefully they can turn it around. Excellent Jr Setter, Becca Strehlow, is running a 6-2 with RS SR Chanel Brown, and Strehlow stays in to hit Opp. She is leading the team in digs with 3.39, and is a huge contributor in all categories, with 1.91 kills/set (hitting .197) and 6.41 assists/set. Jillian Bergeson is the kill leader with 2.98 kills/set. Soph OH Gaby Palmieri is right behind her with 2.85 kills/set, and both are hitting .257. SR Samantha Cash is hitting .358. I haven't really seen them play yet, so I'm not sure what is not working well for this team.
St. Mary's is still struggling at 4-6, also with their best win a sweep of Utah State. They host Pepperdine and LMU this week before traveling to San Francisco. They will probably really have to fight for most of their conference wins. I saw part of their Cal match, and, wow...what a difference from last year when OH's Shaw and Graven hammered down kill after kill. In the match I saw, there were many miscommunications between players. They do have a young team, with 3 freshmen playing regularly. They are running a 6-2 with 6'1" RS Jr setter Dalas Dodd and 5'5" freshman setter Mary Hernandez, which seems like it would be a difficult adjustment for the hitters. (Edited: They switched to a 5-1 with Dodd in their first WCC match.) They are currently last in conference in hitting percentage (.207) and assists. However they are 3rd in blocks with 2.24 blocks/set. Samantha Tinsley leads the team with 3.41 kills/set, hitting .164. Natalie Loos is getting 1.13 blocks/set (5th in conference) while getting 2.87 kills/set, hitting .324. Freshman Alexis Salmons is hitting .311 with 2.03 kills/set. Freshman OH Clare Powers is hitting .155 with 1.82 kills/set.
I thought Portland could pull out a winning pre-conference record this season, but, still, their 5-6 record is a big improvement over recent years. They will start conference play with the difficulty of away games at San Diego and then BYU, before hosting LMU and Pepperdine. Tough going, ahead. Portland is running a 6-2 with freshman setter Ali Koumelis and Soph Djurdjina Milovic. Overall team hitting percentage is low at .217. Senior Emily Liger is second in conference with 4.62 kills/set, hitting .293. Soph Makayla Lindburg is picking up 2.95 kills/set, hitting .183 and Soph Katie Sullivan is getting 1.76 kills/set hitting .228. Senior libero Katie Mardesich is second in conference with 4.47 digs/set.
I think BYU and LMU are staying on top for now. Depending on injuries, I see San Diego, Santa Clara, Pacific and San Francisco all jockeying for position in the top 5. And we will see if St. Mary's and Pepperdine can turn it around in conference play. Every match of the conference will hold the potential for an upset. It should be a very exciting season.
