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Post by robonthemic on Dec 20, 2019 2:42:58 GMT -5
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Post by ACE on Dec 20, 2019 23:19:16 GMT -5
Losing Worsley and SVT are big losses for the Bows, but they do return the best middle and opposite in the country, and I believe we have the best Libero as well. My only worry this upcoming season for the Bows is the setting, and how Thelle will connect with the hitters. I would add, Hawaii returns the best L2 in the country. Will he be moved to L1? Who knows.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2019 7:41:37 GMT -5
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Post by aaronic on Dec 30, 2019 23:46:58 GMT -5
Barring no unexpected surprises,, Hawaii looks to be the clear favorite right now, for the first time ever lol
No other team seems to come close.
UCSB needs to replace Chavers, he was aces. Wilcox and the middles are a strong nucleus, but Chavers was their go-to the entire season last year. That’s a big loss.
UCI, if you were to have asked me two seasons ago, on paper they looked solid enough to be a contender this year, but with the season they had last year, not very optimistic about this year. There’s no question on paper they have the talent, but they had an even better team last year, and didn’t look good at the end of last season. But it’s still UCI. What a conundrum. FWIW, I still wouldn’t be surprised if they also do really well this year.
LBSU is going to be interesting to watch. Everyone is expecting a tough rebuilding year, but it’s still the Beach. If they can serve and pass well they could catch people by surprise.
CSUN and UCSD will likely end up in the lower half of the standings. CSUN loses a lot of offense from last year in Kalchev alone. They also lose Enriques, I think.
All the BWC teams lose a lot of key players from last year. But Hawaii loses the least. Make no mistake if this was last year, and this was the Warrior team they would have probably finished third.
Worsley was the MVP of last season, but even for any team, to lose a Setter is a HUGE loss to begin with. The loss of SVT was also huge. He was Hawaii’s only shot at beating the top teams last year; was actually Rado’s probably only weakness last year- being able to come through offensively vs the top teams. Going off topic here, but if Rado doesn’t improve that part of the game, I can see Hawaii having another disappointing season.
Can’t wait for conference season to start !
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Post by ACE on Dec 31, 2019 4:09:03 GMT -5
Barring no unexpected surprises,, Hawaii looks to be the clear favorite right now, for the first time ever lol No other team seems to come close. UCSB needs to replace Chavers, he was aces. Wilcox and the middles are a strong nucleus, but Chavers was their go-to the entire season last year. That’s a big loss. UCI, if you were to have asked me two seasons ago, on paper they looked solid enough to be a contender this year, but with the season they had last year, not very optimistic about this year. There’s no question on paper they have the talent, but they had an even better team last year, and didn’t look good at the end of last season. But it’s still UCI. What a conundrum. FWIW, I still wouldn’t be surprised if they also do really well this year. LBSU is going to be interesting to watch. Everyone is expecting a tough rebuilding year, but it’s still the Beach. If they can serve and pass well they could catch people by surprise. CSUN and UCSD will likely end up in the lower half of the standings. CSUN loses a lot of offense from last year in Kalchev alone. They also lose Enriques, I think. All the BWC teams lose a lot of key players from last year. But Hawaii loses the least. Make no mistake if this was last year, and this was the Warrior team they would have probably finished third. Worsley was the MVP of last season, but even for any team, to lose a Setter is a HUGE loss to begin with. The loss of SVT was also huge. He was Hawaii’s only shot at beating the top teams last year; was actually Rado’s probably only weakness last year- being able to come through offensively vs the top teams. Going off topic here, but if Rado doesn’t improve that part of the game, I can see Hawaii having another disappointing season. Can’t wait for conference season to start ! My uncle said the same to me yesterday...Rado was a no show against top competition. Remember the only game Hawaii won against the Beach was not only in Hawaii, but a game Hawaii didn't set Rado at all in set 5. If I had to take a guess, right now, for the starting line up... S - 6'6 Thelle Soph MB - 6'10 Gasman Sr. MB - 6'7 Voss Fr. OH - 6'2 Cowell Sr. OH - 6'7 Humler Soph L - 6'1 Worsley Jr. Didn't everyone play for some sort of National Team this summer?
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Post by aaronic on Dec 31, 2019 6:16:13 GMT -5
Barring no unexpected surprises,, Hawaii looks to be the clear favorite right now, for the first time ever lol No other team seems to come close. UCSB needs to replace Chavers, he was aces. Wilcox and the middles are a strong nucleus, but Chavers was their go-to the entire season last year. That’s a big loss. UCI, if you were to have asked me two seasons ago, on paper they looked solid enough to be a contender this year, but with the season they had last year, not very optimistic about this year. There’s no question on paper they have the talent, but they had an even better team last year, and didn’t look good at the end of last season. But it’s still UCI. What a conundrum. FWIW, I still wouldn’t be surprised if they also do really well this year. LBSU is going to be interesting to watch. Everyone is expecting a tough rebuilding year, but it’s still the Beach. If they can serve and pass well they could catch people by surprise. CSUN and UCSD will likely end up in the lower half of the standings. CSUN loses a lot of offense from last year in Kalchev alone. They also lose Enriques, I think. All the BWC teams lose a lot of key players from last year. But Hawaii loses the least. Make no mistake if this was last year, and this was the Warrior team they would have probably finished third. Worsley was the MVP of last season, but even for any team, to lose a Setter is a HUGE loss to begin with. The loss of SVT was also huge. He was Hawaii’s only shot at beating the top teams last year; was actually Rado’s probably only weakness last year- being able to come through offensively vs the top teams. Going off topic here, but if Rado doesn’t improve that part of the game, I can see Hawaii having another disappointing season. Can’t wait for conference season to start ! My uncle said the same to me yesterday...Rado was a no show against top competition. Remember the only game Hawaii won against the Beach was not only in Hawaii, but a game Hawaii didn't set Rado at all in set 5. If I had to take a guess, right now, for the starting line up... S - 6'6 Thelle Soph MB - 6'10 Gasman Sr. MB - 6'7 Voss Fr. OH - 6'2 Cowell Sr. OH - 6'7 Humler Soph L - 6'1 Worsley Jr. Didn't everyone play for some sort of National Team this summer? “Supposedly” I haven’t kept up with stuff outside the US teams. Cowell and Gasman played for different national teams during the Summer. I remember Cowell played in the Pan-Am games. Gasman I don’t remember which, was it the A2 national team? Anyway, chemistry is going to be another issue, but looking at that projected lineup, some pretty impressive offensive arms return. Up until now, thought the Setter position would be one of the bigger question marks heading into this season. But based on the offensive arsenal returning, anyone who can set a volleyball will probably look good. lol BTW, passing also looks to be solid.
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Post by live2play on Dec 31, 2019 12:13:12 GMT -5
Couldn't find that Volleyballmag posted this article or not but they do an analysis of not only the BW conference for 2020, but all of them based on players lost and gained this season. volleyballmag.com/ncaa-mens-volleyball-123019/
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Post by goblin on Dec 31, 2019 14:24:56 GMT -5
My memories of last season are fading fast but as I recall, only Long Beach could really contain Rado. He pretty much torched everyone else. He was Joe's primary bailout hitter when we were out of system but Joe also set him in system to take some heat off Stihn. I wouldn't trade him for any other RS hitter in today's D1 game
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Post by ucsdfan on Dec 31, 2019 15:42:54 GMT -5
n reverse order:
UCSD They have one of their strongest teams in years. Unfortunately, they play in the toughest conference in Men's college volleyball. Wyatt Harrison (OH1) has put together two very nice seasons and should once again carry most of the pin hitting load. The platooning at the setter position of Blake Crisp and Connor Walbrecht may be coming to and end, with Crisp settling in as the starter. With good hands and great sense of the court, they have the right piece in place. Ryan Lew is an unsung star at libero who anchors the strength of this team: passing. OH2 is up for grabs and the middles of Avilion and Benetz have experience. They should find their groove early in the season and stockpile a few wins before the start conference play.
CSUN Literally everyone is overlooking the Matadors. While losing Kalchev is a big loss on paper, they picked up a great transfer from Concordia in Luke Krzmarzick and Ksawery Tomsia moves back to his natural position of OH this season. Two-year starter Maciej Ptasynski will step up nicely into the top pin hitter role on a team with three strong pin hitters. Daniel Wtter and Paul Rzepnieswski are an excellent pair of middles that rank in the top six or seven nationally. Unfortunately, sixth or seventh in the nation equates to about fourth in the Big West. Taylor Ittner returns as the starter having played with all but one of the hitters last season. They will be in midseason form by the second week of the season. Their biggest loss is at libero, where one of 217 different Enriques boys was playing last season. Freshman Johnny Anselmo has the blood lines to be a great libero, but he'll have to beat out Sean Mitchell to get his chance this season.
the Beach Their preseason #4 ranking at first glance may seem to a direct result from being defending national champs, but despite the major losses to graduation, they have some great talent chomping at the bit. They return Simon Andersen at MB and he has the talent to be the most dominant middle in the conference. Joining him will be Shane Holdaway who is going to fill in nicely for departed Nick Amado. At the pins they lost superstar DeFalco, one of the nation's top two opposites Ensing, and Richard. Ethan Siegfried has good experience and took over as the starter with five matches remaining last season, so they have experience at OH1. The battle for OH2 and opposite look to be between Spencer Olivier, Alexander Anastassiades, and Ryan Poole. It will take some matches for Coach Knipe to figure out his rotation and their positions, but they have definite talent there. Look for Olivier to have a breakout season after patiently waiting two years for a spot to open up on the court. Mason Briggs is an incredibly talented libero who even as a freshman commands the court. The Beach's success will come down to Carlos Rivera and his ability to run the offense. He has looked strong in preseason tournaments and the CanAm Holiday Classic. They will need half a season to gel, which puts them on target to be a force come conference time.
UCSB This team has gotten ton of love from voters in every poll, so there are some high expectations. For the first month of last season, Corey Chavers was the best player in the nation. Overall he was one of the top three OHs in the nation. It will be very hard to replace that, and if Coach McLaughlin stays to form, about five different players will be the starter du jour. Look for a few of these hitters to have amazing matches one week and on the bench the next, until someone keeps the top spot on the depth chart. The season will likely start with Wilcox and McFarland as the two OHs, but don't be surprised to see Chalmers, Cajuste, DeWeese, or Hancock getting reps there. At opposite, the human-spring Haotian Xia should see the bulk of the minutes, with Spencer Frederick getting starts here and there. The strength of this team is setting, where it has been a platoon of DeWeese and McGarry for the past three seasons. With DeWeese being tried at other positions, it looks like McGarry will be driving the bus. He is the best setter in the conference and should quarterback a successful offense. Veteran Grady Yould will anchor the passing, a solid part of their play. At MB they have a star in Keenan Sanders and plenty of depth to roll out a couple different players at MB2. If Hawai'i gets upset this year, UCSB is a likely candidate to do it in the Thunderdome.
UCI It's surprising how many people have written UCI off, mostly based on a preseason scrimmage against a juggernaut in Hawai'i. There are a good number of pieces to replace, but you have the best coach in the conference at the helm and talent waiting for the chance to be on the court. You start with the best hitter in the conference in Joel Schneidmiller at OH. Passing is a concern here, but Coach Kniffin will surround him with a great freshman libero in Lau and last year's libero, JB Kam, playing OH2. Once they get enough reps together, this team has a huge upside. Kam is an underrated hitter who will take zeroes when needed and keep hitting errors to a minimum. At opposite they have 'sortof' returning starter Alexandre Nsakanda who will be dominant. He's not on many radars at the moment, but he has potential to be an All American this season. Taking a page out of the early 2000's Pepperdine playbook, they have trees at MB. Starting 7'0" Scott Stadick and the short middle 6'11" Sean Dennis, they will be a blocking force. You will hear RobontheMic saying "return to sender" a lot this season. Where there is concern is at setter with converted MB Patrick Vorenkamp taking the starting job. Not having Sean Farmer around no doubt changed plans this season, but with a setter as head coach, the setting will develop over the course of the season. If there is any reason to be concerned it's the large number of defections and transfers of upperclassmen the last few seasons. They have a roster of only 16 players. Coach Kniffin will have to find a way to make use of the highly talented Jonny Bowles, and may experiment with either Nsakanda or Bowles at OH2 and prayers to the serve receive gods.
Hawai'i How do you replace Stinj van Tilburg, Joe Worsley, and Dalton Solbrig? With Filip Humler, Jake Thelle, and Guilherme Voss of course. This team is so loaded with talent that losing All Americans doesn't dampen their chances to to win it all this season. Everyone loves Rado, but their success all starts with superlibero Gage Worsley. Arguably the best libero in the nation, he will anchor the defense like no other player in the nation giving you grit, crisp passing, and great court vision. This will take a good deal of pressure of Thelle, as he steps in to replace Joe Worsley. If there is any concern you may have about Hawai'i's chance to dominate, it has to come from the setter spot. But with the great passing and strong hitting, it's the dream job for any college setter. Rado is one of the top three opposites in the nation (probably number 1 ahead of Garcia and Mandalaris) who will get his. Colton Cowell has an incredible volleyball IQ and puts his beach instincts to great use indoors. Look for him to do whatever the team needs from passing dimes to getting timely kills. Filip Humler came in as a heralded freshman that now has his moment to shine. After some early season jitters have passed, looked for him to put up some great numbers. The team can afford average passing at OH1 with two top tier passers sharing the back row. In a conference with great MBs, they probably have the best pair. It's hard to say for sure until freshman Voss shows his stuff, but look for them to be the pride of the conference at middle.
There will be no easy conference matches this season. Look for the Big West to have the best out of conference win-loss record in the nation. Anything less than an 0.800 winning percentage against non-conference opponents will be a surprise.
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Post by Volleyfan024 on Dec 31, 2019 17:16:54 GMT -5
n reverse order: UCSDThey have one of their strongest teams in years. Unfortunately, they play in the toughest conference in Men's college volleyball. Wyatt Harrison (OH1) has put together two very nice seasons and should once again carry most of the pin hitting load. The platooning at the setter position of Blake Crisp and Connor Walbrecht may be coming to and end, with Crisp settling in as the starter. With good hands and great sense of the court, they have the right piece in place. Ryan Lew is an unsung star at libero who anchors the strength of this team: passing. OH2 is up for grabs and the middles of Avilion and Benetz have experience. They should find their groove early in the season and stockpile a few wins before the start conference play. CSUNLiterally everyone is overlooking the Matadors. While losing Kalchev is a big loss on paper, they picked up a great transfer from Concordia in Luke Krzmarzick and Ksawery Tomsia moves back to his natural position of OH this season. Two-year starter Maciej Ptasynski will step up nicely into the top pin hitter role on a team with three strong pin hitters. Daniel Wtter and Paul Rzepnieswski are an excellent pair of middles that rank in the top six or seven nationally. Unfortunately, sixth or seventh in the nation equates to about fourth in the Big West. Taylor Ittner returns as the starter having played with all but one of the hitters last season. They will be in midseason form by the second week of the season. Their biggest loss is at libero, where one of 217 different Enriques boys was playing last season. Freshman Johnny Anselmo has the blood lines to be a great libero, but he'll have to beat out Sean Mitchell to get his chance this season. the BeachTheir preseason #4 ranking at first glance may seem to a direct result from being defending national champs, but despite the major losses to graduation, they have some great talent chomping at the bit. They return Simon Andersen at MB and he has the talent to be the most dominant middle in the conference. Joining him will be Shane Holdaway who is going to fill in nicely for departed Nick Amado. At the pins they lost superstar DeFalco, one of the nation's top two opposites Ensing, and Richard. Ethan Siegfried has good experience and took over as the starter with five matches remaining last season, so they have experience at OH1. The battle for OH2 and opposite look to be between Spencer Olivier, Alexander Anastassiades, and Ryan Poole. It will take some matches for Coach Knipe to figure out his rotation and their positions, but they have definite talent there. Look for Olivier to have a breakout season after patiently waiting two years for a spot to open up on the court. Mason Briggs is an incredibly talented libero who even as a freshman commands the court. The Beach's success will come down to Carlos Rivera and his ability to run the offense. He has looked strong in preseason tournaments and the CanAm Holiday Classic. They will need half a season to gel, which puts them on target to be a force come conference time. UCSBThis team has gotten ton of love from voters in every poll, so there are some high expectations. For the first month of last season, Corey Chavers was the best player in the nation. Overall he was one of the top three OHs in the nation. It will be very hard to replace that, and if Coach McLaughlin stays to form, about five different players will be the starter du jour. Look for a few of these hitters to have amazing matches one week and on the bench the next, until someone keeps the top spot on the depth chart. The season will likely start with Wilcox and McFarland as the two OHs, but don't be surprised to see Chalmers, Cajuste, DeWeese, or Hancock getting reps there. At opposite, the human-spring Haotian Xia should see the bulk of the minutes, with Spencer Frederick getting starts here and there. The strength of this team is setting, where it has been a platoon of DeWeese and McGarry for the past three seasons. With DeWeese being tried at other positions, it looks like McGarry will be driving the bus. He is the best setter in the conference and should quarterback a successful offense. Veteran Grady Yould will anchor the passing, a solid part of their play. At MB they have a star in Keenan Sanders and plenty of depth to roll out a couple different players at MB2. If Hawai'i gets upset this year, UCSB is a likely candidate to do it in the Thunderdome. UCIIt's surprising how many people have written UCI off, mostly based on a preseason scrimmage against a juggernaut in Hawai'i. There are a good number of pieces to replace, but you have the best coach in the conference at the helm and talent waiting for the chance to be on the court. You start with the best hitter in the conference in Joel Schneidmiller at OH. Passing is a concern here, but Coach Kniffin will surround him with a great freshman libero in Lau and last year's libero, JB Kam, playing OH2. Once they get enough reps together, this team has a huge upside. Kam is an underrated hitter who will take zeroes when needed and keep hitting errors to a minimum. At opposite they have ' sortof' returning starter Alexandre Nsakanda who will be dominant. He's not on many radars at the moment, but he has potential to be an All American this season. Taking a page out of the early 2000's Pepperdine playbook, they have trees at MB. Starting 7'0" Scott Stadick and the short middle 6'11" Sean Dennis, they will be a blocking force. You will hear RobontheMic saying "return to sender" a lot this season. Where there is concern is at setter with converted MB Patrick Vorenkamp taking the starting job. Not having Sean Farmer around no doubt changed plans this season, but with a setter as head coach, the setting will develop over the course of the season. If there is any reason to be concerned it's the large number of defections and transfers of upperclassmen the last few seasons. They have a roster of only 16 players. Coach Kniffin will have to find a way to make use of the highly talented Jonny Bowles, and may experiment with either Nsakanda or Bowles at OH2 and prayers to the serve receive gods. Hawai'iHow do you replace Stinj van Tilburg, Joe Worsley, and Dalton Solbrig? With Filip Humler, Jake Thelle, and Guilherme Voss of course. This team is so loaded with talent that losing All Americans doesn't dampen their chances to to win it all this season. Everyone loves Rado, but their success all starts with superlibero Gage Worsley. Arguably the best libero in the nation, he will anchor the defense like no other player in the nation giving you grit, crisp passing, and great court vision. This will take a good deal of pressure of Thelle, as he steps in to replace Joe Worsley. If there is any concern you may have about Hawai'i's chance to dominate, it has to come from the setter spot. But with the great passing and strong hitting, it's the dream job for any college setter. Rado is one of the top three opposites in the nation (probably number 1 ahead of Garcia and Mandalaris) who will get his. Colton Cowell has an incredible volleyball IQ and puts his beach instincts to great use indoors. Look for him to do whatever the team needs from passing dimes to getting timely kills. Filip Humler came in as a heralded freshman that now has his moment to shine. After some early season jitters have passed, looked for him to put up some great numbers. The team can afford average passing at OH1 with two top tier passers sharing the back row. In a conference with great MBs, they probably have the best pair. It's hard to say for sure until freshman Voss shows his stuff, but look for them to be the pride of the conference at middle. There will be no easy conference matches this season. Look for the Big West to have the best out of conference win-loss record in the nation. Anything less than an 0.800 winning percentage against non-conference opponents will be a surprise. As usual, I agree with nearly all of your analysis: UCSD: the Harrison/McCauley tandem at OH will be the best since Spangler/Eberts CSUN: If they serve and pass, the Matadome will be a dogfight no matter who the opponent. Long Beach: They have the talent, but will it be consistent? This year is a stop gap before reloading in the next 2 years. UCSB: Will be the most consistent team that doesn’t play on an island. Hoping Rick will pick a setter and go with it. UCI: Has Vorenkamp been a starting setter at any point since middle school? If Bowles will not be more than 1st pin off the bench/serving sub, they need to redshirt him. Hawaii: How much will they miss Joe and Stijn? Not many floor leaders better than Joe or bailout hitters better than Stijn. Rado needs to keep out of his own head and Thelle just needs to put up a hittable ball.
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Post by fandad on Dec 31, 2019 17:57:19 GMT -5
n reverse order: UCSDThey have one of their strongest teams in years. Unfortunately, they play in the toughest conference in Men's college volleyball. Wyatt Harrison (OH1) has put together two very nice seasons and should once again carry most of the pin hitting load. The platooning at the setter position of Blake Crisp and Connor Walbrecht may be coming to and end, with Crisp settling in as the starter. With good hands and great sense of the court, they have the right piece in place. Ryan Lew is an unsung star at libero who anchors the strength of this team: passing. OH2 is up for grabs and the middles of Avilion and Benetz have experience. They should find their groove early in the season and stockpile a few wins before the start conference play. CSUNLiterally everyone is overlooking the Matadors. While losing Kalchev is a big loss on paper, they picked up a great transfer from Concordia in Luke Krzmarzick and Ksawery Tomsia moves back to his natural position of OH this season. Two-year starter Maciej Ptasynski will step up nicely into the top pin hitter role on a team with three strong pin hitters. Daniel Wtter and Paul Rzepnieswski are an excellent pair of middles that rank in the top six or seven nationally. Unfortunately, sixth or seventh in the nation equates to about fourth in the Big West. Taylor Ittner returns as the starter having played with all but one of the hitters last season. They will be in midseason form by the second week of the season. Their biggest loss is at libero, where one of 217 different Enriques boys was playing last season. Freshman Johnny Anselmo has the blood lines to be a great libero, but he'll have to beat out Sean Mitchell to get his chance this season. the BeachTheir preseason #4 ranking at first glance may seem to a direct result from being defending national champs, but despite the major losses to graduation, they have some great talent chomping at the bit. They return Simon Andersen at MB and he has the talent to be the most dominant middle in the conference. Joining him will be Shane Holdaway who is going to fill in nicely for departed Nick Amado. At the pins they lost superstar DeFalco, one of the nation's top two opposites Ensing, and Richard. Ethan Siegfried has good experience and took over as the starter with five matches remaining last season, so they have experience at OH1. The battle for OH2 and opposite look to be between Spencer Olivier, Alexander Anastassiades, and Ryan Poole. It will take some matches for Coach Knipe to figure out his rotation and their positions, but they have definite talent there. Look for Olivier to have a breakout season after patiently waiting two years for a spot to open up on the court. Mason Briggs is an incredibly talented libero who even as a freshman commands the court. The Beach's success will come down to Carlos Rivera and his ability to run the offense. He has looked strong in preseason tournaments and the CanAm Holiday Classic. They will need half a season to gel, which puts them on target to be a force come conference time. UCSBThis team has gotten ton of love from voters in every poll, so there are some high expectations. For the first month of last season, Corey Chavers was the best player in the nation. Overall he was one of the top three OHs in the nation. It will be very hard to replace that, and if Coach McLaughlin stays to form, about five different players will be the starter du jour. Look for a few of these hitters to have amazing matches one week and on the bench the next, until someone keeps the top spot on the depth chart. The season will likely start with Wilcox and McFarland as the two OHs, but don't be surprised to see Chalmers, Cajuste, DeWeese, or Hancock getting reps there. At opposite, the human-spring Haotian Xia should see the bulk of the minutes, with Spencer Frederick getting starts here and there. The strength of this team is setting, where it has been a platoon of DeWeese and McGarry for the past three seasons. With DeWeese being tried at other positions, it looks like McGarry will be driving the bus. He is the best setter in the conference and should quarterback a successful offense. Veteran Grady Yould will anchor the passing, a solid part of their play. At MB they have a star in Keenan Sanders and plenty of depth to roll out a couple different players at MB2. If Hawai'i gets upset this year, UCSB is a likely candidate to do it in the Thunderdome. UCIIt's surprising how many people have written UCI off, mostly based on a preseason scrimmage against a juggernaut in Hawai'i. There are a good number of pieces to replace, but you have the best coach in the conference at the helm and talent waiting for the chance to be on the court. You start with the best hitter in the conference in Joel Schneidmiller at OH. Passing is a concern here, but Coach Kniffin will surround him with a great freshman libero in Lau and last year's libero, JB Kam, playing OH2. Once they get enough reps together, this team has a huge upside. Kam is an underrated hitter who will take zeroes when needed and keep hitting errors to a minimum. At opposite they have ' sortof' returning starter Alexandre Nsakanda who will be dominant. He's not on many radars at the moment, but he has potential to be an All American this season. Taking a page out of the early 2000's Pepperdine playbook, they have trees at MB. Starting 7'0" Scott Stadick and the short middle 6'11" Sean Dennis, they will be a blocking force. You will hear RobontheMic saying "return to sender" a lot this season. Where there is concern is at setter with converted MB Patrick Vorenkamp taking the starting job. Not having Sean Farmer around no doubt changed plans this season, but with a setter as head coach, the setting will develop over the course of the season. If there is any reason to be concerned it's the large number of defections and transfers of upperclassmen the last few seasons. They have a roster of only 16 players. Coach Kniffin will have to find a way to make use of the highly talented Jonny Bowles, and may experiment with either Nsakanda or Bowles at OH2 and prayers to the serve receive gods. Hawai'iHow do you replace Stinj van Tilburg, Joe Worsley, and Dalton Solbrig? With Filip Humler, Jake Thelle, and Guilherme Voss of course. This team is so loaded with talent that losing All Americans doesn't dampen their chances to to win it all this season. Everyone loves Rado, but their success all starts with superlibero Gage Worsley. Arguably the best libero in the nation, he will anchor the defense like no other player in the nation giving you grit, crisp passing, and great court vision. This will take a good deal of pressure of Thelle, as he steps in to replace Joe Worsley. If there is any concern you may have about Hawai'i's chance to dominate, it has to come from the setter spot. But with the great passing and strong hitting, it's the dream job for any college setter. Rado is one of the top three opposites in the nation (probably number 1 ahead of Garcia and Mandalaris) who will get his. Colton Cowell has an incredible volleyball IQ and puts his beach instincts to great use indoors. Look for him to do whatever the team needs from passing dimes to getting timely kills. Filip Humler came in as a heralded freshman that now has his moment to shine. After some early season jitters have passed, looked for him to put up some great numbers. The team can afford average passing at OH1 with two top tier passers sharing the back row. In a conference with great MBs, they probably have the best pair. It's hard to say for sure until freshman Voss shows his stuff, but look for them to be the pride of the conference at middle. There will be no easy conference matches this season. Look for the Big West to have the best out of conference win-loss record in the nation. Anything less than an 0.800 winning percentage against non-conference opponents will be a surprise. As usual, I agree with nearly all of your analysis: UCSD: the Harrison/McCauley tandem at OH will be the best since Spangler/Eberts CSUN: If they serve and pass, the Matadome will be a dogfight no matter who the opponent. Long Beach: They have the talent, but will it be consistent? This year is a stop gap before reloading in the next 2 years. UCSB: Will be the most consistent team that doesn’t play on an island. Hoping Rick will pick a setter and go with it. UCI: Has Vorenkamp been a starting setter at any point since middle school? If Bowles will not be more than 1st pin off the bench/serving sub, they need to redshirt him. Hawaii: How much will they miss Joe and Stijn? Not many floor leaders better than Joe or bailout hitters better than Stijn. Rado needs to keep out of his own head and Thelle just needs to put up a hittable ball. As a UCSB fan, I have been frustrated by the revolving door at setter the last 3 years. I personally had felt the team was generally better with Deweese, but I would agree more that the team would have been better off if McLaughlin had just chosen chosen one of the guys and stuck with him. If it's McGarry, that sounds great. Dubbing him the "best setter in the conference" may be a bit of a stretch, though. I think Taylor Ittner would have something to say about that. Speaking of setters, the situation at Irvine will be very interesting. I know nothing of Vorenkamp's ability to set, but would hardly be surprised if he is better than Brian Garcia. Not sure what happened there. Losing Farmer must have been a surprise, but Garcia's ability has been way overestimated. It would be a shame if they can't get the ball to all the talented hitters on that roster, though. And I think it's too late to redshirt Bowles. Didn't he already sub in to serve against Princeton the other night?
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Post by wilbur on Jan 1, 2020 22:50:31 GMT -5
Did UCSDfan put UCI above UCSB or was there some poll I missed that has this? I am a UCSB fan but that is a stretch. UCI has got talent but without a proven setter may be a rudderless ship and Kniffen labeled best coach in the conference is kinda funny, to me at least.
I think McGarry will be setting but don't fault Rick for keeping it dynamic in the past. I recall last year Randy was starting a lot until he got injured and Cassey took over and the team kept rolling. Wouldn't be surprised to see Randy win the OPP spot. UCSB hasn't had a solid OPP in a long time, if a Gaucho OPP can put above average numbers up this season the team will be very hard to stop.
I see CSUN having another season where they get overlooked... and beat at least a couple top teams and still finishing right above UCSD. 500 season and losing in BW semis will be above my expectations.
LB has talent but experienced starters are important and they have almost none.
UH will will be hard to stop unless, well I can't think of any plausible reason short of injuries to multiple starters.
UCSD, not worth talking about lol. Gotta leave that there as retribution for ranking oversight
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Post by ucsdfan on Jan 2, 2020 9:44:51 GMT -5
Did UCSDfan put UCI above UCSB or was there some poll I missed that has this? I am a UCSB fan but that is a stretch. UCI has got talent but without a proven setter may be a rudderless ship and Kniffen labeled best coach in the conference is kinda funny, to me at least. I think McGarry will be setting but don't fault Rick for keeping it dynamic in the past. I recall last year Randy was starting a lot until he got injured and Cassey took over and the team kept rolling. Wouldn't be surprised to see Randy win the OPP spot. UCSB hasn't had a solid OPP in a long time, if a Gaucho OPP can put above average numbers up this season the team will be very hard to stop. I see CSUN having another season where they get overlooked... and beat at least a couple top teams and still finishing right above UCSD. 500 season and losing in BW semis will be above my expectations. LB has talent but experienced starters are important and they have almost none. UH will will be hard to stop unless, well I can't think of any plausible reason short of injuries to multiple starters. UCSD, not worth talking about lol. Gotta leave that there as retribution for ranking oversight Hey, I get that it can feel like you are being personally attacked if you read something that doesn't say your favorite team is great. No worries at all. I call them like I see them, based mostly on numbers and trends. Honestly, having run the fantasy league for many years, I probably put too much emphasis on the actual numbers. As far as Kniffin being the best coach, I considered two things: NCAA titles and years of overachieving (finishing higher than their preseason ranking as chosen by the conference coaches.) You have some excellent coaches in the conference, and Knipe certainly has the titles under his belt. You could make an argument for him to get it, but I'll admit that I think Larry Bird's quote of "when you have that much talent, all a coach really does is roll out the balls at practice" influenced my opinion. Campbell used to overachieve for many years, but has not for the last ten so I didn't annoint him. Wade has assembled great team chemistry and floor instincts the last couple of seasons, but there were too many years of the talent underacheiving to give him the nod. Ring does quite well getting the most out of a team without scholarships, but his teams don't overachieve. McLaughlin has had some teams overachieve, but he has also had the best setter and hitters in the conference on his roster and struggled to be 0.500 (MPSF days.) Ranking teams 2 through 5 is really tough in this confernece. I agree that you could make a strong argument that UCSB is second. Or that Long Beach can grow to second. Or that CSUN with the most experienced starters (six, although one started for another team last year) is second. I chose UCI (after going back and forth) because Nsakanda is this year's break out player for the conference (I got grief for having Chavers in that spot last year) and their middles will make every match a block party. They definitely have some kinks to work out at setter, but as I mentioned, having a former setter (an overachieving one at that) as head coach will help with setter development. Other UCI setters under Kniffin that didn't look promising at first include: Chris Austin, Roberto Frazzoni, Michael Saeta, and Danta Chakravorti. All of them were unheralded and two were considered to be playing out of position when they got the setter nod. UCI's hitting percentage over that run has been as impressive as teams that had highly recruited all American setters. Kniffin has done it before and will do it again. Good luck to UCSB this season. It's going to be a fun season where the Big West should once again be the frontrunner to get both at large bids.
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Post by robonthemic on Jan 2, 2020 13:06:11 GMT -5
n reverse order: CSUNTheir biggest loss is at libero, where one of 217 different Enriques boys was playing last season. I busted a gut laughing on this one. The only thing you failed to mention was how CSUN has the most challenging names outside of the Polish National Team to pronounce
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Post by ucsdfan on Jan 2, 2020 13:34:58 GMT -5
n reverse order: CSUNTheir biggest loss is at libero, where one of 217 different Enriques boys was playing last season. I busted a gut laughing on this one. The only thing you failed to mention was how CSUN has the most challenging names outside of the Polish National Team to pronounce Yep, announcing a CSUN match will be like that Southwest Airlines commercial a few years back where the announcer kept butchering the names. I think I've already read that at VT, and I laughed loud enough to scare the cat three rooms away. Are you training to get ready to say all those names? You know you're going to have to call a touch by the MB where the OH1 passes the deflection and the opposite takes a swing. I'd type their names, but I know I'd misspell them. Good luck with your tongue twister. I sure hope the CSUN announcer gets hazzard pay.
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