Post by Badger Alum on Oct 21, 2007 19:10:53 GMT -5
The Badgers and Penn State match was fantastic. Two heavyweights going at it. Great volleyball. Both teams are excellent and both teams will go far into the NCAA tournament. There was so much positive to take from this match.
The ending of this match was disgusting. The refs should be fined and removed from future Big 10 matches based on their pathetic performance. They butchered the outcome of this match so we really don’t know if the right team won the match. Don’t get me wrong. If these 2 teams played 100 times, each team would probably win 50. However, on this day, I believe the Badgers were the better team and the refs took the game away from them. Plain and simple.
Everyone in the Field House saw a great block on Harmotto hit her in the head before it went out of bounds. Everyone in the Field House saw it but the refs. It was shocking. Players on both sides of the net knew it. The Badgers celebrated the play. Penn State looked depressed. The up ref, who was terrible all match (equally for both sides), made the call by himself very quickly and then ran out of the Field House. I think he realized his mistake right away but didn’t have the stomach to reverse it. He literally ran out of the Field House.
Their was this weird quite in the Field House immediately after because no one thought the refs could miss such an obvious play. It would have been 14-14 and the Badgers would have had all the momentum. Many folks thought there might be a net or something like that that the crowd was unaware.
Afterward, I went up to one of the Badger assistant coaches to see if they ever got an explanation of what happened. While I was talking to him, one of the Penn State coaches came over and apologized to him.
It was embarrassing for everyone involved. I’m sure Penn State would have preferred to win the game fairly. Obviously the Badgers would have preferred to have the game decided on the court and not by a clueless ref.
Here is a quote from Waite after the match: “We felt there was a touch on the last play and that would have got it to 14 so then we would have got the momentum. It could have been different”
It’s very rare that a ref could decide the outcome of a game. Usually there are so many other factors involved. But this was about as even of a match as possible. Instead of 14-14 tie in game 5, the refs decided to end the match without reason.
The Big Ten should reprimand those refs. What they did at the end of that volleyball match is horrific. The Badgers have a legitimate grip with the Big 10 over their poor performance.
The ending of this match was disgusting. The refs should be fined and removed from future Big 10 matches based on their pathetic performance. They butchered the outcome of this match so we really don’t know if the right team won the match. Don’t get me wrong. If these 2 teams played 100 times, each team would probably win 50. However, on this day, I believe the Badgers were the better team and the refs took the game away from them. Plain and simple.
Everyone in the Field House saw a great block on Harmotto hit her in the head before it went out of bounds. Everyone in the Field House saw it but the refs. It was shocking. Players on both sides of the net knew it. The Badgers celebrated the play. Penn State looked depressed. The up ref, who was terrible all match (equally for both sides), made the call by himself very quickly and then ran out of the Field House. I think he realized his mistake right away but didn’t have the stomach to reverse it. He literally ran out of the Field House.
Their was this weird quite in the Field House immediately after because no one thought the refs could miss such an obvious play. It would have been 14-14 and the Badgers would have had all the momentum. Many folks thought there might be a net or something like that that the crowd was unaware.
Afterward, I went up to one of the Badger assistant coaches to see if they ever got an explanation of what happened. While I was talking to him, one of the Penn State coaches came over and apologized to him.
It was embarrassing for everyone involved. I’m sure Penn State would have preferred to win the game fairly. Obviously the Badgers would have preferred to have the game decided on the court and not by a clueless ref.
Here is a quote from Waite after the match: “We felt there was a touch on the last play and that would have got it to 14 so then we would have got the momentum. It could have been different”
It’s very rare that a ref could decide the outcome of a game. Usually there are so many other factors involved. But this was about as even of a match as possible. Instead of 14-14 tie in game 5, the refs decided to end the match without reason.
The Big Ten should reprimand those refs. What they did at the end of that volleyball match is horrific. The Badgers have a legitimate grip with the Big 10 over their poor performance.
