Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Dec 1, 2004 3:41:25 GMT -5
California could become Lions' winter wonderland
By Tim Ford
Collegian Staff Writer
Spending the winter break in warm and sunny Long Beach, Calif., certainly sounds appealing to any student cooped-up in the confines of cold State College, but it's an even more appealing locale to the No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball team.
Oh, and it sounds just as appealing to 63 other teams, right now, too.
The Nittany Lions (27-2, 18-2 Big Ten) open up the 2004 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament this weekend with the No. 2 seed overall, drawing American University (24-6) in the first round, and has hopes of competing in the Final Four in Long Beach.
If the No. 2 seed sounds confusing given the Lions' American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll ranking of No. 3 -- just wait. The Lions will be playing in the Seattle regional bracket, on the home court of No. 5 Washington (24-2), which is seeded No. 7 overall.
Huh?
"I think that the committee just had to put numbers next to names to put in the bracket," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said. "We could have easily been [No.] 7 and Washington [No.] 2, and I wouldn't have had a complaint."
The Huskies, who would face the Lions if both teams survive the first three rounds of tournament play, topped the AVCA charts at No. 1 for seven of the last nine weeks, and only fell to No. 5 after five-game losses to No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Southern California.
"I figure that with the amount of money that's involved with the BCS," Rose said, "if they can't get that worked out that's dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars, there's no reason in the world to think that a group of women on the NCAA volleyball committee would be able to iron out the Division I Championships in an efficient, clear manner. I think they massage the bracket a little bit to put teams where they wanted to put teams.
"I look at it as, never worry about the things you don't control. I've been in it for so long, I've seen a number of scenarios where people get good draws or bad draws, or good teams lose to teams you're not supposed to lose to."
American is the only team on the mind of Rose right now, he indicated at a press conference yesterday. The Eagles have earned a berth in the NCAA tournament five-times previous to this year, and have earned that berth the last three years, consecutively, as champions of the Patriot League conference.
The Lions, on the other hand, have been a tournament dynasty, earning the right to host their first- and second-round matches each year for the past 15 years.
Other than the Huskies, the biggest threats to the Lions in the Seattle region are No. 15 St. Mary's (Calif.) and No. 16 UCLA, seeded No. 10 and No. 15 overall, respectively. The Bruins finished fourth in the Pac-10 this year, and tiny St. Mary's -- a feisty women's volleyball power -- finished second in the West Coast Conference.
Certainly with the Big Ten championship and No. 2 overall seed behind them, the Lions could be the team-to-beat in the Seattle regional bracket, but Rose thinks otherwise.
"We're not a team that strikes fear into any of the opponents' hearts," Rose said. "I don't think people look at us at go, 'Woo baby.' We've had teams that could hit .400. This is a team that could hit .400 if we're allowed to add Friday and Saturday night's matches together."
The Lions national reputation is founded on the team's undefeated play on the road, including impressive road-wins over No. 4 Minnesota, No. 6 Stanford, and No. 7 Ohio State.
"Every time we were in trouble -- the team -- we were able to look each other in the eye and say, 'We're not going to lose,' " Kaleena Walters said. "Our team has definitely gone through a lot together this year, preseason at the beginning of the year was a little bit shaky. But I think that winning the Big Ten and getting into the tournament and potentially going far in the tournament is a reflection of just how hard we've worked and how much we've talked about it."
The hostile environment of Washington's Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion would certainly be the Lions toughest road-test yet if they can make it past the first two rounds.
For the Lions to reach their potential, and spend winter break in sunny Long Beach, they have to first take care of business against American on Friday.
"It's a six match season," Rose said. "And one team gets to win the National Championship at the end of that. And if this team is fortunate enough to get in that situation, I'm sure they'll play hard and get enthusiastic about it, and they'll make everyone who's into Penn State athletics very proud."
By Tim Ford
Collegian Staff Writer
Spending the winter break in warm and sunny Long Beach, Calif., certainly sounds appealing to any student cooped-up in the confines of cold State College, but it's an even more appealing locale to the No. 3 Penn State women's volleyball team.
Oh, and it sounds just as appealing to 63 other teams, right now, too.
The Nittany Lions (27-2, 18-2 Big Ten) open up the 2004 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament this weekend with the No. 2 seed overall, drawing American University (24-6) in the first round, and has hopes of competing in the Final Four in Long Beach.
If the No. 2 seed sounds confusing given the Lions' American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll ranking of No. 3 -- just wait. The Lions will be playing in the Seattle regional bracket, on the home court of No. 5 Washington (24-2), which is seeded No. 7 overall.
Huh?
"I think that the committee just had to put numbers next to names to put in the bracket," Penn State women's volleyball coach Russ Rose said. "We could have easily been [No.] 7 and Washington [No.] 2, and I wouldn't have had a complaint."
The Huskies, who would face the Lions if both teams survive the first three rounds of tournament play, topped the AVCA charts at No. 1 for seven of the last nine weeks, and only fell to No. 5 after five-game losses to No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Southern California.
"I figure that with the amount of money that's involved with the BCS," Rose said, "if they can't get that worked out that's dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars, there's no reason in the world to think that a group of women on the NCAA volleyball committee would be able to iron out the Division I Championships in an efficient, clear manner. I think they massage the bracket a little bit to put teams where they wanted to put teams.
"I look at it as, never worry about the things you don't control. I've been in it for so long, I've seen a number of scenarios where people get good draws or bad draws, or good teams lose to teams you're not supposed to lose to."
American is the only team on the mind of Rose right now, he indicated at a press conference yesterday. The Eagles have earned a berth in the NCAA tournament five-times previous to this year, and have earned that berth the last three years, consecutively, as champions of the Patriot League conference.
The Lions, on the other hand, have been a tournament dynasty, earning the right to host their first- and second-round matches each year for the past 15 years.
Other than the Huskies, the biggest threats to the Lions in the Seattle region are No. 15 St. Mary's (Calif.) and No. 16 UCLA, seeded No. 10 and No. 15 overall, respectively. The Bruins finished fourth in the Pac-10 this year, and tiny St. Mary's -- a feisty women's volleyball power -- finished second in the West Coast Conference.
Certainly with the Big Ten championship and No. 2 overall seed behind them, the Lions could be the team-to-beat in the Seattle regional bracket, but Rose thinks otherwise.
"We're not a team that strikes fear into any of the opponents' hearts," Rose said. "I don't think people look at us at go, 'Woo baby.' We've had teams that could hit .400. This is a team that could hit .400 if we're allowed to add Friday and Saturday night's matches together."
The Lions national reputation is founded on the team's undefeated play on the road, including impressive road-wins over No. 4 Minnesota, No. 6 Stanford, and No. 7 Ohio State.
"Every time we were in trouble -- the team -- we were able to look each other in the eye and say, 'We're not going to lose,' " Kaleena Walters said. "Our team has definitely gone through a lot together this year, preseason at the beginning of the year was a little bit shaky. But I think that winning the Big Ten and getting into the tournament and potentially going far in the tournament is a reflection of just how hard we've worked and how much we've talked about it."
The hostile environment of Washington's Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion would certainly be the Lions toughest road-test yet if they can make it past the first two rounds.
For the Lions to reach their potential, and spend winter break in sunny Long Beach, they have to first take care of business against American on Friday.
"It's a six match season," Rose said. "And one team gets to win the National Championship at the end of that. And if this team is fortunate enough to get in that situation, I'm sure they'll play hard and get enthusiastic about it, and they'll make everyone who's into Penn State athletics very proud."