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Post by cwbvb13 on Mar 15, 2006 18:05:06 GMT -5
If it were up to the eaters, they would play every match at Crawford rather than Bren. They're a small gym team trying to transition to a large arena team. Their wins at Hawaii. LB and UCLA show that they can adapt, but with only one win at Bren in the history of the program, the home court advantage there has yet to be established. As to USC, they were beaten in their little gym quite handily by UCI. Thornton went down with an eye injury early in the third game, but it still didn't make a difference. USC is a young team much like UCI was last year. Grangiero is much like Spittle, and Killian is solid, but the rest of the team does not impress. Offense wins games and defense wins championships. Right now UCI has the best defense, front and backrow combined in the conference. There are better blocking teams but no better digging team. Their tough serving often results in a bad pass, limiting the offense, and making defense easier. It all works together and is fun to watch. Speraw is Coach of the Year right now. interesting point... the first night UCI beat BYU on a practically 'neutral' court.... if anything it was an advantage for BYU to play in there... since they are used to a bigger gym and housing a huge crowd...
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Post by volleydog on Mar 15, 2006 18:09:58 GMT -5
It is never an advantage to play on someone else's floor!! It might not be as big of a disadvantage as other teams....but no way BYU had an advantage in the Bren.
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Post by mikesmith on Mar 16, 2006 5:00:24 GMT -5
UCI in 3
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Post by 3talltrees on Mar 16, 2006 23:02:48 GMT -5
Any game scores to report?
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Post by lalalaluuuke on Mar 16, 2006 23:25:30 GMT -5
interesting point... the first night UCI beat BYU on a practically 'neutral' court.... if anything it was an advantage for BYU to play in there... since they are used to a bigger gym and housing a huge crowd... Practically "neutral" court? Give me a break. It was a home match with your own fans. Don't play down home court, it is a big fact. Why else would everyone be trying to get home court for the playoffs? BYU outperformed UCI in almost every statistical category both nights. Yes UCI was a better team, I won't take that away from them. But if those weren't home matches for UCI I think the results would probably be reversed. If those were played in the Smith Field House do you think BYU would have lost?
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Post by UCvBall on Mar 17, 2006 1:58:56 GMT -5
The reason why cwbvb13 said it was practically a neutral court was because it was split even 50/50 in the crowd, half BYU fans and half UCI fans... obviously BYU fans travel in packs when they go anywhere to play... I was there that first night, and it was just as loud on both side of the ball. The atmosphere was just intense the whole time because it was so evenly packed.. thats why it felt like a neutral site for both teams. I'm just explaining the reasoning, i'm not excluding the fact it was in Irvine... that is all.
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Post by lalalaluuuke on Mar 17, 2006 2:46:45 GMT -5
The reason why cwbvb13 said it was practically a neutral court was because it was split even 50/50 in the crowd, half BYU fans and half UCI fans... obviously BYU fans travel in packs when they go anywhere to play... I was there that first night, and it was just as loud on both side of the ball. The atmosphere was just intense the whole time because it was so evenly packed.. thats why it felt like a neutral site for both teams. I'm just explaining the reasoning, i'm not excluding the fact it was in Irvine... that is all. So it was a split or "neutral" crowd, not a neutral court. It was still 2 home matches for them. No traveling, hotel, elevation change, etc. Home is home. Same reason UCI never wins in Provo. Sucks playing on the road, especially if there is an elevation change. In matches that go 5 games, traveling takes its toll physically. Bottom line though, UCI held serve at home, that's what winners do.
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Post by cwbvb13 on Mar 17, 2006 4:43:34 GMT -5
im sorry im sorry yukon... i shouldnt of used the word 'neutral'... i take it back... i was commenting on the intersting points people made before me...
1. that in the history of UCI mens volleyball they have never won in there prior to that night (they were 0-7) 2. that all their games are in crawford court (a polar opposite of the bren center) and that this would be their first time playing in it in over a year)... they might be used to the smaller atomsphere... 3. that there were just as many BYU fans there in the bren center as UCI fans... who were just as loud...
with all this said i was agreeing with fuzzball who said "if it were up to the eaters, they would play every match at Crawford rather than Bren." They would have a good (or better) homecourt advantage in there...
lastly, i compared it to BYU's gym, saying that their feildhouse is alot more similar to the bren center than crawford court is to the bren center... with the size it is... and the 3800 screaming fans... where as shown in the article about night two... crawford court could only fit 800
thats what i was trying to comment on...
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gitrdun
Sophomore
Gitrdun and always have fun
Posts: 233
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Post by gitrdun on Mar 17, 2006 4:50:28 GMT -5
uci will have their hands full on thursday night . trojans are loaded for bear and will cut uci down in a thrilling 5 game match Every team in the MPSF has their hands full in every conference match. USC has been playing well and UCI will not overlook this team...the captain, the players and the staff will not allow it. I agree, it is going to be a very good match. Except when UCSD plays, apparently.
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Post by mikesmith on Mar 17, 2006 4:56:03 GMT -5
Again, Gitrdun...
Come on man
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Post by bigfan on Mar 17, 2006 10:40:18 GMT -5
UCI wins (3-0) 22, 26, 23.
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Post by CityTechLegend on Mar 18, 2006 2:03:43 GMT -5
And people were actually questioning if UCI could win this?...How could not give this respect?This is a solid win, but UCS still isn't back yet. Turhan is working hard but Speraw is miles ahead right with talent and those kids are getting better every year. They might just take the MPSF this season. Well, that is unless BYU and Hawai'i don't get their act together before the playoffs. But I'm just stating the obvious.
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Post by volleylife on Mar 18, 2006 17:32:06 GMT -5
And people were actually questioning if UCI could win this?...How could not give this respect?This is a solid win, but UCS still isn't back yet. Turhan is working hard but Speraw is miles ahead right with talent and those kids are getting better every year. They might just take the MPSF this season. Well, that is unless BYU and Hawai'i don't get their act together before the playoffs. But I'm just stating the obvious. BYU and Hawaii ARE going to get there act together and were going to see those two battling it out for the MPSF and NCAA title. Those two teams are going to start playing better and figure out a very predictable UCI team
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Post by shibbybeam on Mar 18, 2006 19:53:30 GMT -5
And people were actually questioning if UCI could win this?...How could not give this respect?This is a solid win, but UCS still isn't back yet. Turhan is working hard but Speraw is miles ahead right with talent and those kids are getting better every year. They might just take the MPSF this season. Well, that is unless BYU and Hawai'i don't get their act together before the playoffs. But I'm just stating the obvious. BYU and Hawaii ARE going to get there act together and were going to see those two battling it out for the MPSF and NCAA title. Those two teams are going to start playing better and figure out a very predictable UCI team If UCI is able to win against Pep tonight, they are almost guarenteed to make it to the Final Four 4. Unless some things happened and they lost to Beach, Northridge, and Santa Barbara (which I dont see happening) they should at least get the at large bid. Besides that no matter who plays UCI in the MPSF, they will have a very tough time getting past the Eaters. You are saying that BYU and Hawaii will get their act together, well UCI has had their act together for quite some time now and the coaching staff will not allow them to let up.
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Post by UCvBall on Mar 19, 2006 1:05:43 GMT -5
FYI, they just won tonight against Pepperdine, 3-1. Like Shibby said, they've had their act together for a while now, they have won the last 14 games they played... that is an amazing streak...
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