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Post by mmvb805 on Oct 10, 2024 14:06:59 GMT -5
All the top teams lost some key pieces and have some big pieces coming in that will need to mesh with the returnees to be successful. The preseason ranking at this point is a crapshot. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see UCI #2 or even #1 based on who LBSU and Hawaii lost. The end of season rankings could be a lot different, but until play starts i think there are a lot of questions for whomever starts in the top 5. The biggest loss for LBSU was Torwie. They “lost” Knipe, but have Nikolov who is much better. As for Torwie, they have McRaven and Bouchkov who will be formidable in the middle. They are in a much better spot than UCI. The only question mark for LBSU is who will be the third pin - they have Siapanis, Varga, and will it be Kandev? Or Daniil? Both are good options |
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Post by wilbur on Oct 10, 2024 15:12:02 GMT -5
Karlous is who I expect to set for the year, they have some young prospects but they need a lot of development. Karlous set the year before and they were good, he maybe a liability in the front row but if you can side out at a high % it is a small concession... having a setter that puts up a good block but doesn't side out several times that Karlous would have is more of a penalty.
He was not as good in his role last year as he was 2 years ago but he is a proven starter at UCI and Pepp.
LB, UH, UCI is the obvious default order to me, but UCI can challenge for #1.
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Post by bruinsgold on Oct 10, 2024 15:23:35 GMT -5
All the top teams lost some key pieces and have some big pieces coming in that will need to mesh with the returnees to be successful. The preseason ranking at this point is a crapshot. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see UCI #2 or even #1 based on who LBSU and Hawaii lost. The end of season rankings could be a lot different, but until play starts i think there are a lot of questions for whomever starts in the top 5. The biggest loss for LBSU was Torwie. They “lost” Knipe, but have Nikolov who is much better. As for Torwie, they have McRaven and Bouchkov who will be formidable in the middle. They are in a much better spot than UCI. The only question mark for LBSU is who will be the third pin - they have Siapanis, Varga, and will it be Kandev? Or Daniil? Both are good options I'd argue Briggs as Long Beach's biggest "loss." I'm sure Larson (or whoever else) will be great, but no one will be what Briggs was for them. Certainly not from the beginning. Still, I'd put them #1 over UCI to start the year. |
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Post by wilbur on Oct 10, 2024 15:40:50 GMT -5
The biggest loss for LBSU was Torwie. They “lost” Knipe, but have Nikolov who is much better. As for Torwie, they have McRaven and Bouchkov who will be formidable in the middle. They are in a much better spot than UCI. The only question mark for LBSU is who will be the third pin - they have Siapanis, Varga, and will it be Kandev? Or Daniil? Both are good options I'd argue Briggs as Long Beach's biggest "loss." I'm sure Larson (or whoever else) will be great, but no one will be what Briggs was for them. Certainly not from the beginning. Still, I'd put them #1 over UCI to start the year. 100% this. A healthy Godbold was also a big contributor. It appeared that he was well below 100% at the end of the year, when he was full power he was as important as Towrie. |
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Post by mmvb805 on Oct 10, 2024 17:38:14 GMT -5
The biggest loss for LBSU was Torwie. They “lost” Knipe, but have Nikolov who is much better. As for Torwie, they have McRaven and Bouchkov who will be formidable in the middle. They are in a much better spot than UCI. The only question mark for LBSU is who will be the third pin - they have Siapanis, Varga, and will it be Kandev? Or Daniil? Both are good options I'd argue Briggs as Long Beach's biggest "loss." I'm sure Larson (or whoever else) will be great, but no one will be what Briggs was for them. Certainly not from the beginning. Still, I'd put them #1 over UCI to start the year. I was only thinking offensively, but yes, you are right, Briggs is a huge loss |
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Post by Timeless on Oct 10, 2024 17:42:02 GMT -5
Power was the best passer in the country.
Sheward to Karlous is a pretty big drop off.
Passing is going to be a mess.
Ranking UCI #1 sounds like bait to me.
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Post by mmvb805 on Oct 10, 2024 17:59:35 GMT -5
Power was the best passer in the country. Sheward to Karlous is a pretty big drop off. Passing is going to be a mess. Ranking UCI #1 sounds like bait to me. Exactly my thinking. Henno is great, but they lost their starting setter, they lost their best passer, and Flexen can’t pass well or play defense. Offensively, they’re fine, but that’s not what we’re worried about |
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Post by TheReignman on Oct 10, 2024 18:05:58 GMT -5
Hello all, I would like to make an early prediction on where everyone will be ranked this year for pre season polls. My rankings for the Big West, MPSF, and Miva are as follows: Big West 1. Long Beach 2. Hawaii 3. UC Irvine 4. CSun 5. UCSB 6. UCSD MPSF (Not positive on who will be in the conference this year) 1. UCLA 2. BYU 3. USC 4. Stanford 5. GCU 6. Pepperdine 7. Concordia Miva 1. Ball State 2. Loyola 3. Lewis 4. Ohio State 5. Mckendree 6. Lindenwood 7. Purdue Fort Wayne 8. Queens 9. Quincy Please share your own preseason predictions in this thread. Also post your predictions with the other conferences that I left out of here. ChesterCoins will have something to say about those MIVA rankings |
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Post by volleyjesus on Oct 10, 2024 18:24:00 GMT -5
Hello all, I would like to make an early prediction on where everyone will be ranked this year for pre season polls. My rankings for the Big West, MPSF, and Miva are as follows: Big West 1. Long Beach 2. Hawaii 3. UC Irvine 4. CSun 5. UCSB 6. UCSD MPSF (Not positive on who will be in the conference this year) 1. UCLA 2. BYU 3. USC 4. Stanford 5. GCU 6. Pepperdine 7. Concordia Miva 1. Ball State 2. Loyola 3. Lewis 4. Ohio State 5. Mckendree 6. Lindenwood 7. Purdue Fort Wayne 8. Queens 9. Quincy Please share your own preseason predictions in this thread. Also post your predictions with the other conferences that I left out of here. ChesterCoins will have something to say about those MIVA rankings Out of all of my rankings, I think my MIVA rankings will be the most accurate. |
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Post by Psychopotamus on Oct 10, 2024 18:40:38 GMT -5
Power was the best passer in the country. Sheward to Karlous is a pretty big drop off. Passing is going to be a mess. Ranking UCI #1 sounds like bait to me. At this point my rankings for the conference would be: 1) LBSU 2) UCI 3) Hawaii In my mind the race is a lot closer than a lot of other posters seem to have. I agree with the assessment that Briggs was the biggest loss and that Nikolov should be an upgrade at setter. They were in the finals and return the bulk of their lineup with a potentially huge upgrade at the setter position. However, I don't think you can underestimate the value of having a true terminal hitter. Hawaii went from a favorite to not making the tourney after Hakas went down. Henno is the only one who fits that bill at the moment in the Big West. The setting (with the load Sheward carried at the end of the season) and third pin are the questions, but overall UCI is returning the bulk of their offense. Hawaii is definitely the biggest unknown. They probably have the highest upside of the three with potentially 3 or 4 new starters who could make an impact. They were also the only one of the three who didnt make it to the tourney (granted it probably would have been very different with Hakas), but they did struggle to field a consistent lineup and at times looked spectacular and at other times looked glaringly mediocre. |
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Post by ManapuaSurprise on Oct 11, 2024 4:56:12 GMT -5
UC Irvine returns Henno, Flexen, D'Arcy, Grigoriev, and Karlous... I'd put them at #1 for BWC I’m surprised you’d put them over Hawaii or LBSU. When I watched Flexen play over the summer, his passing was genuinely awful, along with his defense. Unless that dramatically improved, I don’t see them being able to be as competitive because they lost Power Trying not to be a homer. UCI return more starters and UH lost key pieces. The incomings are not battle-tested vs older, physically stronger opponents (except probly Ofeck). I want to be proved wrong tho |
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Post by 49erbeach on Oct 11, 2024 9:42:28 GMT -5
All the top teams lost some key pieces and have some big pieces coming in that will need to mesh with the returnees to be successful. The preseason ranking at this point is a crapshot. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see UCI #2 or even #1 based on who LBSU and Hawaii lost. The end of season rankings could be a lot different, but until play starts i think there are a lot of questions for whomever starts in the top 5. The biggest loss for LBSU was Torwie. They “lost” Knipe, but have Nikolov who is much better. As for Torwie, they have McRaven and Bouchkov who will be formidable in the middle. They are in a much better spot than UCI. The only question mark for LBSU is who will be the third pin - they have Siapanis, Varga, and will it be Kandev? Or Daniil? Both are good options Beach also lost Mason Briggs. Larson the heir apparent? Never mind, I just read the rest of the posts. Godbold too. Agree with everyone, when on he was lights out too bad he ended his career at LB hobbled. The upgrade at setter should minimize the loss at libero. That makes sense to me somehow. |
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Post by soljah808 on Oct 11, 2024 15:32:42 GMT -5
I’m surprised you’d put them over Hawaii or LBSU. When I watched Flexen play over the summer, his passing was genuinely awful, along with his defense. Unless that dramatically improved, I don’t see them being able to be as competitive because they lost Power Trying not to be a homer. UCI return more starters and UH lost key pieces. The incomings are not battle-tested vs older, physically stronger opponents (except probly Ofeck). I want to be proved wrong tho True but the problem is they lost their passing. Passing and setting has always been the issues with UCI. If the passing isn't there, I don't care who you are (Henno or not), they won't be as spectacular as people expect. They got the offense....but it's the passing and defense and setting (Karlous is seasoned but he is a huge liability up front) that will be the determination of their outcome. With that said....Hawaii is a question mark for sure. But they also have their setting and defense all back for the most part. Should be exciting regardless for the BWC as always. |
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Post by warriyorcat on Oct 11, 2024 17:13:32 GMT -5
Hello all, I would like to make an early prediction on where everyone will be ranked this year for pre season polls. My rankings for the Big West, MPSF, and Miva are as follows: Big West 1. Long Beach 2. Hawaii 3. UC Irvine 4. CSun 5. UCSB 6. UCSD MPSF (Not positive on who will be in the conference this year) 1. UCLA 2. BYU 3. USC 4. Stanford 5. GCU 6. Pepperdine 7. Concordia Miva 1. Ball State 2. Loyola 3. Lewis 4. Ohio State 5. Mckendree 6. Lindenwood 7. Purdue Fort Wayne 8. Queens 9. Quincy Please share your own preseason predictions in this thread. Also post your predictions with the other conferences that I left out of here. For the MIVA, how does the new HC vacancy at Loyola impact the rankings? I feel like they'll either be fine or it's gonna be a Cat-5 mid season and there's no in between |
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Post by letsgo22 on Oct 11, 2024 17:29:25 GMT -5
I assume Loyola will go the interim route for the season, but who knows. Loyola returns some really good experienced and inexperienced players. You never know how a coaching change will affect the team.
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