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Post by firedup on May 9, 2014 2:23:01 GMT -5
On paper, LBSU seems poised for the top of the Big West. UH will have tons of new talent, its going to come down to how Dave wants to utilize them if at all. UH return's Adolpho in the middle and Olevao and Taylor on the outside. Setter is Higgin's to run and the lib is up for grabs. I don't think so, on paper Hawaii still should be the favorite, the have the best middle in Magill, best outside in Taylor and best recruit in Kalen Greeley, and replacing their setter shouldn't be too hard, she wasn't very good. Long beach will have a hard time getting back in the tourney. Kalei will impress. Hits a heavy ball is a fantastic kid with an outstanding work ethic. Great get.
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Post by kauaiwahinefan on May 9, 2014 6:48:12 GMT -5
Long Beach State will have to fill the void of Aigner-Swesey Sheridan Atkinson 6'7'' RS Hannah Hendrickson 6'4'' OH Sara Wantanabe 5'6' Lib Ashley Murray 6'2'' MB Missy Owens 6'2'' Setter (+ two foreign transfers, and transfer setter Janelle Hudson from Iowa State) Hawaii possibly only has one freshman that will have an impact, Greeley and IMO is very overrated. Magill will help them however. Megan Huff, 6-2 MB Clare Anderson, 5-5 DS Kalei Greeley, 6-2 OH Gianna Guinasso, 5-9 DS Savannah Kahakai, 5-8 L/OH (+transfer Olivia Magill) Also Hawaii has Kendra koelsch 6-1 opp/ setter and hoping Keani Passi makes a huge impact. Only at 5-10 but I'm praying an Aneli type player
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Post by network155 on May 9, 2014 11:34:33 GMT -5
Long Beach State will have to fill the void of Aigner-Swesey Sheridan Atkinson 6'7'' RS Hannah Hendrickson 6'4'' OH Sara Wantanabe 5'6' Lib Ashley Murray 6'2'' MB Missy Owens 6'2'' Setter (+ two foreign transfers, and transfer setter Janelle Hudson from Iowa State) Hawaii possibly only has one freshman that will have an impact, Greeley and IMO is very overrated. Magill will help them however. Megan Huff, 6-2 MB Clare Anderson, 5-5 DS Kalei Greeley, 6-2 OH Gianna Guinasso, 5-9 DS Savannah Kahakai, 5-8 L/OH (+transfer Olivia Magill) Don't forget Kendra Koelsch 6-1 Setter/OPP and Keani Passi 5-10 Rightside. These two players bring a lot of experience. Also, 6-3 MB from Canada, Emliy Maglio. I don't think LBSU is as good as Hawaii's other than the fact they are tall. I'd say the foreigners will have more of an impact to the 49ers. In my opinion, UCSB is and should be the preseason favorite coming into this season. But from the look of things, Hawaii should be a contender to win the conference at the end of the season.
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Post by skeleton on May 9, 2014 12:44:17 GMT -5
I'm not particularly close to the Long Beach program so this may not be terribly accurate, but I believe they lose Aigner-Swesey, one of their big guns, and that's about it. They still have Reid, Okpala, and maybe Hampton, depending on her health. Also, I think sophomore Joy Miley will step up and be a force for them on the pins this year. Their setting situation has probably improved a fair bit with transfer Hudson. All in all, I think they will be better than last year and are positioned to give Hawaii a run for their money. Anyone with better information please jump in and correct me. I believe Hampton is also leaving. Transferring to Clemson
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Post by HawaiiVB on May 9, 2014 13:43:42 GMT -5
Long Beach State will have to fill the void of Aigner-Swesey Sheridan Atkinson 6'7'' RS Hannah Hendrickson 6'4'' OH Sara Wantanabe 5'6' Lib Ashley Murray 6'2'' MB Missy Owens 6'2'' Setter (+ two foreign transfers, and transfer setter Janelle Hudson from Iowa State) Hawaii possibly only has one freshman that will have an impact, Greeley and IMO is very overrated. Magill will help them however. Megan Huff, 6-2 MB Clare Anderson, 5-5 DS Kalei Greeley, 6-2 OH Gianna Guinasso, 5-9 DS Savannah Kahakai, 5-8 L/OH (+transfer Olivia Magill) You are missing Emily Maglio 6' 3" MB Canada and kendra Koelsch 6' 1" Setter/Opp both are very good in their respective leagues.
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Post by SmokeDogg on May 12, 2014 23:28:46 GMT -5
Looking at this page: stats.bigwest.org/sports/wvball/2013-14/leaders it looks like the Big West will be down this year. It also looks like Hawaii looses the most. Then UCSB and CSUF have big loses, Santa Barbara and Fullerton both lose their top two hitters. however Both Santa Barbara and Fullerton had great Freshman last year, so it will depend on the new kids for both to see if they will improve. However, Santa Barbara is already at the top. Fullerton must blend their Freshman into the rotation quickly for them to raise in the standings. My guesses in groups of three: 1. Long Beach (might drop into the second group like last year) 1. Northridge (all depends on replacing their setter) 1. Hawaii (one great Freshman returns, only Hawaiian fans know about their great, super, fantastic, unstoppable transfers) 4. Santa Barbara (they had two of the best Freshman last year) 4. Fullerton (should have the best back row defense in the league and I think their incoming Freshman will be great) 4. Cal Poly (I expect big improvement???) 7. Irvine (they improved last year, should be better this year???) 8. Riverside (if they come in 8th and not the bottom, I will be the only person who is correct) 9. Davis (know nothing about them therefor must be at the bottom)
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Post by WahineFan44 on May 12, 2014 23:35:18 GMT -5
Looking at this page: stats.bigwest.org/sports/wvball/2013-14/leaders it looks like the Big West will be down this year. It also looks like Hawaii looses the most. Then UCSB and CSUF have big loses, Santa Barbara and Fullerton both lose their top two hitters. however Both Santa Barbara and Fullerton had great Freshman last year, so it will depend on the new kids for both to see if they will improve. However, Santa Barbara is already at the top. Fullerton must blend their Freshman into the rotation quickly for them to raise in the standings. My guesses in groups of three: 1. Long Beach (might drop into the second group like last year) 1. Northridge (all depends on replacing their setter) 1. Hawaii (one great Freshman returns, only Hawaiian fans know about their great, super, fantastic, unstoppable transfers) 4. Santa Barbara (they had two of the best Freshman last year) 4. Fullerton (should have the best back row defense in the league and I think their incoming Freshman will be great) 4. Cal Poly (I expect big improvement???) 7. Irvine (they improved last year, should be better this year???) 8. Riverside (if they come in 8th and not the bottom, I will be the only person who is correct) 9. Davis (know nothing about them therefor must be at the bottom) Lol two of the best freshman? Nikki and ali were the best freshman and Nikki was the best one of the two IMO. The only reason ali won was because of the great year ucsb had and she was the primary offense. Nikki would of won regional freshman of the year if it wasn't for a mess up.
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Post by SmokeDogg on May 13, 2014 1:58:04 GMT -5
Mess up? Hawaii coaches were not allowed to have the final say?
I was not slighting Nikki Taylor, She is a great player. But I think Nikki got some of her kills because Emily Hartong, 1st team All American, was your opponents defensive focus, not Nikki. Ali Spint was not Santa Barbara's leader in kills, Katey Thompson was. But I do not think defenses keyed on Katey the way they did on Emily.
The four best freshman last year were: Fullerton's McKenna Painton who led the league in digs/set UCSB's Phoebe Grunt who led the league in blocks UCSB's Ali Spint league Freshman of the Year Hawaii's Nikki Taylor potential MVP of the league
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Post by WahineFan44 on May 13, 2014 2:09:14 GMT -5
Mess up? Hawaii coaches were not allowed to have the final say? I was not slighting Nikki Taylor, She is a great player. But I think Nikki got some of her kills because Emily Hartong, 1st team All American, was your opponents defensive focus, not Nikki. Ali Spint was not Santa Barbara's leader in kills, Katey Thompson was. But I do not think defenses keyed on Katey the way they did on Emily. The four best freshman last year were: Fullerton's McKenna Painton who led the league in digs/set UCSB's Phoebe Grunt who led the league in blocks UCSB's Ali Spint league Freshman of the Year Hawaii's Nikki Taylor potential MVP of the league There was an error in the submission. It's a separate submission for regional foy, and hawaii didn't do it. Nikki received more votes than the regional foy from wsu.
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Post by VivaLaVolley on May 13, 2014 2:29:29 GMT -5
The top 7 KPS leaders from last year were all Seniors.
I expect this years top hitters in the Big West in terms of KPS to be...
1. Marisa Bubica , UCI (gets nod over Taylor from Hawaii because she will get more attempts.) 2. Nikki Taylor, Hawaii 3. Casey Hinger, CSUN 4. N. Allen, CSUN 5. Alex Reid, LBSU
With 5 setters gone to graduation or transfer (Consani), their will be a lot of new setters in the conference this year as well. Gedryn and Uiato should prove to be the biggest losses.
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Post by karrietfan on May 13, 2014 16:45:16 GMT -5
Mess up? Hawaii coaches were not allowed to have the final say? I was not slighting Nikki Taylor, She is a great player. But I think Nikki got some of her kills because Emily Hartong, 1st team All American, was your opponents defensive focus, not Nikki. Ali Spint was not Santa Barbara's leader in kills, Katey Thompson was. But I do not think defenses keyed on Katey the way they did on Emily. The four best freshman last year were: Fullerton's McKenna Painton who led the league in digs/set UCSB's Phoebe Grunt who led the league in blocks UCSB's Ali Spint league Freshman of the Year Hawaii's Nikki Taylor potential MVP of the league There was an error in the submission. It's a separate submission for regional foy, and hawaii didn't do it. Nikki received more votes than the regional foy from wsu. What you have stated for a separate submission for the regional FOY is true. Starting last year they reorganized the teams in the leagues for the regional awards and the Big West and other conferences were divided in different regional areas. Hawaii and UCSB were in different regions. After the coaches voted for the players in their respective positions, Nikki Taylor received the most votes among the freshmen in the North West Region (? not sure). I emailed the director of the regional awards of that area, why Nikki wasn't declared the winner. He responded that a submission for the award is required from the respective schools to officially nominate that player, which Hawaii failed to do. I believe the failure of this is on the Hawaii WVB media director who failed to review the rules of nominations and awards that was in place from the new reorganization. On the FOY for the Big West. My take on why Ali was chosen over Nikki as the FOY. Correct me as I did not watch the entire UCSB 2013 season, but Ali was chosen over Nikki because she played all 6 rotations all season whereas Nikki did not, and did so only from the latter part of the BW season.
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Post by afdad on May 14, 2014 16:21:43 GMT -5
I think UCI and Cal Poly will surprise many. UCI returns virtually all their starters from 2013 and adds 3 red shirts that will immediately impact the depth of the program. I think a lot you forget that UCI freshman were nominated several times for Big West player of the week and arguably should have won on at least one occasion, 25 and 17 kills respectively, while hitting close to .500. Anderson, is a very good setter, will have anther year under her belt, and Bubica ,Lee, and Pickrell, had A very strong spring campaign beating UCLA at the UCI tourney. Cal Poly has a great freshman in Taylor Gruenwald and adds what appears to be A very strong incoming class for 2014. While I agree that LBSU , UCSB, AND Hawaii deserve the pre season predictions, I think the Big West will be more competitive 1-6 than last season. OH, and UCI has a put together a pretty good class for 2014 as well. Just my two cents. Really enjoy keeping up with all the conference Teams.
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Post by roy on May 14, 2014 18:36:28 GMT -5
I think UCI and Cal Poly will surprise many. UCI returns virtually all their starters from 2013 and adds 3 red shirts that will immediately impact the depth of the program. I think a lot you forget that UCI freshman were nominated several times for Big West player of the week and arguably should have won on at least one occasion, 25 and 17 kills respectively, while hitting close to .500. Anderson, is a very good setter, will have anther year under her belt, and Bubica ,Lee, and Pickrell, had A very strong spring campaign beating UCLA at the UCI tourney. Cal Poly has a great freshman in Taylor Gruenwald and adds what appears to be A very strong incoming class for 2014. While I agree that LBSU , UCSB, AND Hawaii deserve the pre season predictions, I think the Big West will be more competitive 1-6 than last season. OH, and UCI has a put together a pretty good class for 2014 as well. Just my two cents. Really enjoy keeping up with all the conference Teams. I was starting to get sold on Cal Poly, but then their 2014 roster came out and I'm not quite sure about them anymore. Their are a lot of holes to fill in the line up. They lost a lot of weapons and it seems like their libero is the only primary passer they are returning.
I agree about UCI. They have the players to do well. How high they finish is still up in the air. 5-11 in conference last season, and while they lose players, they still return players who saw playing time and can contribute right away.
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Post by network155 on May 14, 2014 19:14:30 GMT -5
I think UCI and Cal Poly will surprise many. UCI returns virtually all their starters from 2013 and adds 3 red shirts that will immediately impact the depth of the program. I think a lot you forget that UCI freshman were nominated several times for Big West player of the week and arguably should have won on at least one occasion, 25 and 17 kills respectively, while hitting close to .500. Anderson, is a very good setter, will have anther year under her belt, and Bubica ,Lee, and Pickrell, had A very strong spring campaign beating UCLA at the UCI tourney. Cal Poly has a great freshman in Taylor Gruenwald and adds what appears to be A very strong incoming class for 2014. While I agree that LBSU , UCSB, AND Hawaii deserve the pre season predictions, I think the Big West will be more competitive 1-6 than last season. OH, and UCI has a put together a pretty good class for 2014 as well. Just my two cents. Really enjoy keeping up with all the conference Teams. I sure hope so. Would love for the conference to be strong from top to bottom. And I hope that teams like Northridge and UCSB will continue to challenge for the conference title. Long Beach State, I'm not sure about them especially just finding out about Haleigh Hampton transferring, changes the whole dynamic of things with the Beach. They lose Aigner-Swesey also, who was their big gun lastseason, they return Reid and Okpala, other than that, I'm not sure how they will do this season. Another poster mentioned foreign players coming in. They do have a very good incoming class coming in as well.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on May 14, 2014 20:58:54 GMT -5
Hampton is not a loss, unless one considers the loss of the Hampton that never materialized. The Hampton from 2013 was not a loss - the Hampton of 2011 maybe, but that is now 3 years ago.
Okpala is the major returnee and best player. Wallace is just as capable as Hampton of 2013, so will interesting (if she starts) as a full time middle.
LB has an experienced setter xfer from Iowa State - hence if LB has truly upgraded at setter, then LB can contend - setter stability has been LB's Achilles for 4 years.
Aigner-Swesey was solid, and needs to be replaced, but she wasn't really a difference maker.
The key is getting one of the new OH's (or Miley), the setter position seems to be a strength. - so can't really make LB the favorite, but hard to elevate any other team over them given LB does have an experienced setter with big-time experience.
Gedryn was Northridge for the last 4 years, but who knows.
Aside from that, LB returns a very solid experienced core.
the loss of all the setters in the league and 3 key seniors from UCSB points to a league that will be hard pressed to get more than 2 teams in the NCAAs - hard to put Irvine as a threat when they return a lot of players from a sub-par team - gotta prove it - they had a RPI friendly schedule last year, and didn't take advantage of it.
#1a & #1 b) Hawaii & LB
North, UCSB, Poly, Irvine
Full, can't think of a reason to elevate them or drop them from this spot
then Davis, UCR
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