Post by Kingsley on Dec 22, 2019 2:21:32 GMT -5
The confetti has fallen (metaphorically). The trophies and awards have been distributed. The offseason starts now.
That means it's time to do what we do best: prognosticate.
To help springboard somearguments discussions on what next year may bring, I decided to profile the entire Big Ten Conference. Why the Big Ten? Well, because there's some fans of Big Ten teams on this board that I want to annoy. Duh.
The most important thing to note from the outset is that this is a flexible document. Edits are coming. The portal season is nigh. I'll provide some pertinent links at the bottom of this post that help inform some of the changes made to my ever-changing creation.
So, here it is. This is more than you wanted to know about the Big Ten:
2020 Season Preview
By Kingsley
Wisconsin Badgers
2019 Overall Record: 27-7
Conference Record: 18-2 (1st)
NCAA Tournament Placement: National Finals (L, 0-3 vs Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 2
Head Coach: Kelly Sheffield (8th season at Wisconsin)
Record at Wisconsin: 187-48
Returning Starters:
Lauren Barnes, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Sydney Hilley, SR, 6'0" S (First-Team All-American)
Izzy Ashburn, SO, 5'11" S/DS
Dana Rettke, SR, 6'8" MB (First-Team All-American)
Danielle Hart, R-JR, 6'4" MB
Grace Loberg, SR, 6'3" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Molly Haggerty, R-SR, 6'1" OH (Second-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Mallory Dixon, 5'9" S (Grad transfer to South Carolina)
Sarah Dodd, 5'4" DS/L
*Madison Duello, 6'3" RS
*Tiffany Clark, 5'11" L
*M.E. Dodge, 5'10" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Jade Demps, FR, 6'2" OH/RS
MJ Hammill, FR, 6'0" S
Devyn Robinson, FR, 6'2" MB
Deahna Kraft, GRAD, 6'0" OH/DS (Transfer from Pepperdine beach)
2019 Summary:
Wisconsin was the coaches' preseason pick to win the conference. Initially, though, it looked like the Badgers were going to struggle to live up to this expectation. The marvelous Wisky faithful on this board will have no problem admitting that they hopped on the ol' struggle bus in pre-conference. Home losses to Marquette, Baylor, and Washington were capped off with a road loss to U-Dub in which the Badgers frankly got embarrassed. It took a while for the light to turn on for Wisconsin's re-tooled backcourt. Many people will tell you that the moment of illumination for this metaphorical light bulb occurred sometime during the Penn State match early in conference play. The Badgers dropped the first set and had a significant deficit in the second, only to come back and stomp the Nittany Lions the rest of the way. Bucky quickly followed this up with emphatic victories over Nebraska and Minnesota. Things continued to go smoothly until Wisconsin decided to take a day off against Ohio State. Despite this, the Badgers continued to show they were the class of the conference as they completed season sweeps over the Huskers and Golden Gophers. There was a tough loss in reverse sweep-fashion at Penn State on the last weekend of the regular season, but it had little impact on final seeding for Wisconsin. With the UW Fieldhouse looking on, Wisconsin swept every match through regionals, including a third sweep over Nebraska. They avenged their loss to Baylor in Pittsburgh, sending the Badgers to their third national championship appearance in program history. In the title clash against the mighty Stanford juggernaut, Wisconsin fell in straight sets to finish as the national runner-up.
2020 Preview:
After a very successful 2019 campaign, Badger fans can reasonably expect comparable success in 2020. Mind you, there are some important pieces to replace. Allow me to articulate some key points for Wisconsin with a series of interrogatives:
Who plays on the right side? Is Courtney Gorum ready for big-time volleyball? Where’s Julia Wohlert? Will Sheffield explore any lineup permutations that put Devyn Robinson on the floor? How about Jade Demps, another highly-touted true freshman?
And then there’s the backcourt. What’s the plan here? Wisconsin, under normal circumstances (let’s ignore the marathon deuce sets for a moment), DS’ed both their left sides and their right side in 2019. I think it’s safe to assume that whoever plays on the right pin in 2020 will need a DS. M.E. Dodge graduates, as does the extraordinary libero, Tiffany Clark. Here, I think, is the biggest question of all regarding Wisconsin’s backcourt: Does Molly Haggerty play six rotations? That’s the biggie. Tiffany Clark will inevitably be difficult to replace. I want to know who’s playing middle back.
Despite this, I’m still going to give a glowing review of the Badgers. Rettke should be a four-time first-team all-American. Sydney Hilley is the best setter in the conference by a country mile. The left sides are back. Molly Haggerty is her freshman self. These facts alone will help supersede some of my question marks. Expect a top three finish in the conference for Wisconsin.
Further Reading:
Wisconsin 2020 by rainbowbadger
Wisconsin 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
National Championship Thread by ilikecorn
Minnesota Golden Gophers
2019 Overall Record: 27-6
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: National Semifinals (L, 0-3 vs Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 4
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (9th season at Minnesota)
Record at Minnesota: 216-53
Returning Starters:
Rachel Kilkelly, SO, 5'9" DS/L
CC McGraw, JR, 5'9" L (Honorable Mention All-American)
Airi Miyabe, SR, 6’0” OH/RS
Stephanie Samedy, SR, 6'2" RS (Second-Team All-American)
Adanna Rollins, JR, 6'0" OH
Regan Pittman, R-SR, 6'5" MB (First-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Taylor Morgan, 6'0" MB
*Kylie Miller, 5'11" S
Lauren Litzau, 5'8" DS/L
*Alexis Hart, 6'0" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Incoming Players:
Cami Appiani, FR, 5'8" DS/L
Taylor Landfair, FR, 6'4" OH
Melani Shaffmaster, FR, 6'3" S
Jenna Wenaas, FR, 6'1" OH
Katie Myers, R-JR, 6'2" MB (Transfer from Maryland)
Hunter Atherton, SR, 5’10” S (Grad Transfer from North Carolina)
2019 Summary:
I’m trying to come up with a name for my new mixtape about the 2019 season for Minnesota. I’ve narrowed it down to either Multi-Minnesota or A Tale of Twin Cities.
Seriously, what a wacko season for Goldy. But, don’t get me wrong. It was a wacko season with a lot of wins. Let’s talk about that.
Of course, Minnesota’s 2019 season was ushered in with a 3-0 loss from Bizarro World to Florida State. That was followed up with a sweep loss at Texas in which the Gophers squandered fourteen set points. After this rough start, Minnesota decided to crush Florida and beat Stanford, because why not? Things got even more freaky, though, when starting setter Kylie Miller went down with an injury. Bayley McMenimen was inserted into the lineup, and the Golden Gophers generally kept winning besides being easily handled by Wisconsin. There was a litany of close calls: scraping past Iowa on the road, pulling off a reverse sweep at Michigan, and winning a deuce fifth set at home against Ohio State, to name a few. But they all count as wins. Somewhere in the middle of conference play, Minnesota switched to a 6-2 with McMenimen and Tamara Dolonga running the offense. Airi Miyabe was inserted on the right side. Stephanie Samedy was also relegated to only playing across the front row, which hurt some people’s feelings. Regardless, Minnesota won the conference matches that they were supposed to, dropped a wild match to Nebraska, and got an emphatic victory at Penn State to close out the regular season.
Minnesota’s tournament run was not lacking drama. The Gophers came back from down two match points to Creighton in the fourth set to force five and ultimately winning the match. After coming out victorious in another five-set slugfest against Florida in the regional semifinals, Minnesota jumped Cinderella and stole her slippers to advance to the Final Four. While Minny was largely overmatched in their 3-0 loss to Stanford to end the season, it is truly a marvel that Minnesota got as far as they did. It is a season to be proud of.
2020 Preview:
There are a few significant pieces that Minnesota will have to replace. First, Kylie Miller graduates after completing her one-off stint as the starting setter for the Golden Gophers. Unless Minnesota wants to replicate the McMenimen-Dolonga 6-2 thing that they had to do last season, the Gophers might end up looking to true freshman Melani Shaffmaster to run the show right away. Shaffmaster is tall, physical, and a good attacker. The question is whether she is far enough in her development to set for an elite program this early in her career. We’ll see if she gets that chance.
Alexis Hart and Taylor Morgan depart after making a big impact on the program. Enter Taylor Landfair, the top dog in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Landfair will get first crack at filling the vacant spot on the left pin. While Landfair has a ton of six-rotation experience with SPVB, she’s replacing a pin hitter who never had to play in the backcourt. We’ll see. On the other pin, there are questions about whether Jenna Wenaas will have what it takes to displace Rollins in the starting lineup. In any case, at least one of Minnesota’s left sides should be asked to play all the way around. The open middle spot, meanwhile, is Rubright’s to lose.
Pittman and Samedy will still be there to anchor this team, so it looks like another good Minnesota team is in the works for 2020.
Further Reading:
Minnesota 2020 by B1Gminnesotafan
Minnesota 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Nebraska Cornhuskers
2019 Overall Record: 28-5
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Finals (L, 0-3 at Wisconsin)
Final AVCA Ranking: 5
Head Coach: John Cook (21st season at Nebraska)
Record at Nebraska: 588-80
Returning Starters:
Nicklin Hames, JR, 5'10" S (Honorable Mention All-American)
Kenzie Knuckles, SO, 5'8" L
Madi Kubik, SO, 6'3" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Lexi Sun, SR, 6'2" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Jazz Sweet, SR, 6'3" RS
Callie Schwarzenbach, JR, 6'5" MB
Lauren Stivrins, R-SR, 6'4" MB (Second-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Capri Davis, 6'1" OH (Transfer to Texas)
Anezka Szabo, 6'3" RS (Transfer to Kansas)
Chen Abramovich, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer to Cal Poly)
*Megan Miller, JR, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer to Northwestern)
Incoming Players:
Kalynn Meyer, FR, 6'3" MB
Annika Evans, FR, 5'9" S
Abby Johnson, FR, 6'4" MB/RS
Keonilei Akana, FR, 5'9" DS/L
Kayla Caffey, R-JR, 6'0" MB (Transfer from Missouri)
2019 Summary:
Here comes Cornboy to talk about his team.
What can I say? It has been well-documented that the Huskers played a true freshman six-rotation outside hitter and a true freshman libero. The growing pains that Nebraska experienced from this kind of lineup are not particularly groundbreaking. 2019 was not going to be Nebraska’s year, but let’s talk about the year they had anyway.
Nebraska started the year with a good win over Creighton. They then proceeded to lay the smackdown on UCLA during a time when Mike Sealy was still trying to decide whether the season had started. The Huskers won their next five non-conference matches before being completely outclassed by Stanford in Lincoln.
Nebraska found themselves in a lot of competitive matches in conference play, with five conference matches going five sets. They generally found ways to win those close matches, with the exception of an ugly loss to the Boilermakers in West Lafayette. Purdue, in fact, was the only team in 2019 to beat Nebraska that did not play for a national title in Pittsburgh.
The Huskers clearly honed in on consistent improvement from their new and inexperienced lineup as the year went along. There were glimpses of this, including Madi Kubik’s spectacular performance in the fifth set to down Minnesota on the road. Nevertheless, Nebraska could never figure out how to break the Badgers, and the Huskers were slated into the Madison regional for the NCAA tournament.
Nebraska traveled to the UW Fieldhouse after a nail-biting four-set victory over Missouri in the second round. After dispatching the Rainbow Wahine, Nebraska fell to Wisconsin in straight sets for the third time in 2019 to end the season in the regional finals.
2020 Preview:
If the Letter of Volleytalk Grievances has not yet reached your mailbox, then let me be the first to inform you that the Final Four will be in Omaha in 2020. Whether that’s added motivation or pressure remains to be seen. We know how it has worked out in past years, but this is a new decade.
The other obvious thing to note for Nebraska is that the gang’s all here. All the starters return. There’s not a lot to talk about here, as there are few question marks. The only uncertainty is this: can the Huskers, with the same lineup, improve on the areas that held them back in 2019? Find better passing. Find more consistent setting. These things are clear to everyone around the program. The departure of Capri Davis means that there is a scholarship opening that will be filled one way or another. Sophie Fischer? Transfer DS? Transfer middle? We’ll see.
The bottom line is this: whether or not Big Red can actually make the improvements described above will ultimately decide if Destination Omaha 2020 is fulfilled.
Further Reading:
Nebraska 2020 by vup
Nebraska 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Banwarth Named Head Coach at Ole Miss
Tyler Hildebrand Named Associate Head Coach
Penn State Nittany Lions
2019 Overall Record: 27-6
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Finals (L, 0-3 at Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 7
Head Coach: Russ Rose (42nd season at Penn State)
Record at Penn State: 1299-212
Returning Starters:
Jonni Parker, JR, 6'0" RS (Honorable Mention All-American)
Gabby Blossom, JR, 5'9" S (Third-Team All-American)
Jenna Hampton, JR, 5'7" DS/L
Serena Gray, JR, 6'2" MB (Honorable Mention All-American)
Allyson Cathey, JR, 6'1" OH
Kaitlyn Hord, JR, 6'4" MB (First-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Emily Sciorra, 5'4" DS/L
*Kendall White, 5'5" L (Second-Team All-American)
Sydney Ferguson, 6'3" OH (Transfer to NC State)
Amanda Phegley, 6'4" OH (Transfer to North Carolina)
Brooklynn Hill, 5’5” DS/L (Transfer to ?)
*Tori Gorrell, 6'2" OH
*Keeton Holcomb, 5'7" DS/L
Kristin Krause, 5'7" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Maddy Bilinovic, FR, 5'7" L
Macy van den Elzen, FR, 6'4" OH
Annie Cate Fitzpatrick, FR, 6'0" OH
Anastasiya Kudryashova, JR, 6'4" OH (Transfer from Rutgers)
Keatan Broughton, JR, 5'5" DS/L (Transfer from West Virginia)
2019 Summary:
It’s not terribly controversial to say that Penn State had some personnel issues in 2019. The root of this problem was on the left pin, where the Nittany Lions had to go with middle-turned-outside Tori Gorrell and Allyson Cathey. Both of these players experienced some rough patches throughout the year that sometimes led to some very uncharacteristic Penn State collapses. More on that later.
Penn State started the year with some relatively weak competition before dropping a hard-fought match to Stanford at home. A week later, PSU got clubbed in Rec Hall by Pitt, only to turn around and beat Pitt on their home floor two days later. This was the Panthers’ only loss of the regular season.
The Nittany Lions went into November with only one conference loss. It was a wild ride to get there, though. PSU blew some significant leads at Wisconsin to let that match slip away. They had to reverse sweep Illinois at home and took five sets to beat Maryland. After falling in a five-set thriller at Nebraska, Penn State got on another hot streak that was capped off with a reverse sweep over the conference champion, Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions dropped the season finale to Minnesota and finished in a tie for second in the conference. They accomplished this despite the aforementioned struggles of their left side hitters that often resulted in benchings and the insertion of true freshman Lauren Clark.
Penn State entered the NCAA tournament as the eleven seed and won a couple of barnburners against Princeton and Towson to open play. The barn was then scorched to the ground as they picked up a five-set victory in the regional semifinals against a professional volleyball player. Alas, the 2019 season came to an end like the 2018 season with a regional final loss to Stanford in Maples.
2020 Preview:
So, I’m going to pick up some of the points made in the 2019 preview and use them to start off the 2020 preview.
What does PSU do at the outside hitter spot? The answer, in my eyes, is simple yet unsatisfying: wait and see. Here’s the deal. Russ Rose is about to go shopping. The “incoming players” section for Penn State that you see in December will not be the same come August. It’s too obvious. Penn State needs impact players to transfer into their program for next year. I believe it’ll happen, too.
As of the original posting of this preview, I’m not really in a position to wave my hands over the crystal ball and tell you with good confidence what Penn State is going to accomplish next year. If there is one team in the Big Ten that you could point to and say that they need a big offseason, it’s PSU. Their first priority is to get an outside hitter that can play six rotations. In 2019, Penn State had no pins that could pass. They ran a two-passer formation in every rotation with Kendall White covering about 2/3 of the backcourt and a DS covering the other 1/3. Kendall White is gone now. I don’t think there’s another DS on the roster that can shoulder the responsibilities that Kendall had. The Nittany Lions need another passer.
If Penn State can land a dynamite player (or two) for the left pin, they’re in excellent shape. Hord and Gray speak for themselves. Gabby Blossom’s ability to force the middles worked wonders last year for a team that was often inept on the left.
Keep an eye on this one.
Further Reading:
Penn State -- 2020 by NittanyLions
DigNittany
Purdue Boilermakers
2019 Overall Record: 24-8
Conference Record: 14-6 (5th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Semifinals (L, 1-3 at Baylor)
Final AVCA Ranking: 13
Head Coach: Dave Shondell (18th season at Purdue)
Record at Purdue: 372-192 (.660)
Returning Starters:
Hayley Bush, R-JR, 5'10" S
Caitlyn Newton, SR, 6'1" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Marissa Hornung, JR, 5'7" L
Emma Ellis, SO, 6'2" OH
Jael Johnson, JR, 6'2" MB
Jena Otec, SR, 5'10" DS/L
Grace Cleveland, JR, 6'3" RS (Third-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Shavona Cuttino, 6'2" MB
*Blake Mohler, 6'2" MB (Honorable Mention All-American)
Incoming Players:
Molly Brown, FR, 6'2" MB/RS
Savana Chacon, FR, 5'8" DS/L
Lourdes Myers, FR, 6'2" MB/RS
Taylor Trammell, FR, 6'2" MB
2019 Summary:
Purdue has become a perennially solid team under Dave Shondell. Lately, they’ve had ample talent on their roster to become a perfect spoiler(maker). After four straight seasons that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Boilers were looking for something more in 2019.
Purdue’s non-conference campaign was successful, aside from a five-set loss at Notre Dame. Particularly impressive was their trip to the Bluegrass State, where they picked up wins against Louisville and Kentucky. The Boilermakers stumbled out of the gates in conference play, getting swept on back-to-back nights on the notorious Wisconsin-Minnesota road trip. Their four-set loss to Illinois a week later was their only conference loss to a team that did not finish in the top four in the conference. Purdue’s only win against the Big Four, however, was a five-set triumph over Nebraska. Nevertheless, the Boilermakers finished their conference slate with a couple of bruising victories over the Michigan schools and set their sights on the NCAA tournament.
In a surprising twist, Purdue snagged the 16th and final seed on Selection Sunday. The Boiler Block was assembled on short notice to bring the hype for a couple more matches. Purdue defeated Wright State in the first round and finally got the monkey off their back with a 3-1 victory over Marquette to advance past the second round. Unfortunately, after an uninspiring performance from the Purdue backcourt, the Boilermakers had their season end in Waco to top-seeded Baylor.
2020 Preview:
Purdue will be a force in 2020. Like Nebraska, there’s not a ton to say here, because almost everyone is back. Granted, replacing Blake Mohler is not easy. Jael Johnson and Shavona Cuttino essentially shared one of the middle spots last year, so Johnson should be set to take on a bigger role. The other middle spot will go to one of the true freshman signed to the 2020 class, barring a transfer coming in. Caitlyn Newton had some problems staying healthy last year, but having her at 100% will bode well for the diversity of Purdue’s offense. Newton will be a six-rotation player once again. I’ll be interested to see, too, if they further develop Grace Cleveland into a back row attacking threat out of zone one. They gave her a good amount of looks at that last year. Look for it to continue. Purdue was a pretty good digging team and a pretty shaky passing team last year. The libero spot finally settled on Hornung in 2019. This continuity should lead to better success next year.
It’s time for Purdue to challenge the Big Ten’s elite teams.
Further Reading:
Purdue 2020 by exit237a
Purdue 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Michigan Wolverines
2019 Overall Record: 21-11
Conference Record: 13-7 (6th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Second Round (L, 0-3 at Kentucky)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Mark Rosen (22nd season at Michigan)
Record at Michigan: 429-265 (.618)
Returning Starters:
Paige Jones, JR, 6'1" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Natalie Smith, SR, 5'7" L
Jess Robinson, SO, 6'2" MB
May Pertofsky, SO, 6'1" MB/OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Kyleigh Hamacher, 5'4" DS/L
Katerina Rocafort, 5'8" S/DS
Ellie Brooks, 5'11" OH/RS
*Mackenzi Welsh, 6'1" S (Honorable Mention All-American)
Katarina Glavinic, 6'3" RS
*Sydney Wetterstrom, 6'1" OH/RS
*Cori Crocker, 6'3" MB
Incoming Players:
Scottee Johnson, FR, 6'0" S
Jenni Liu, SO, 6'0" S (Transfer from Blinn College)
Jess Mruzik, FR, 6'1" OH
Kendall Murray, FR, 6'2" OH
Hannah Grant, R-FR, 5'8" DS/L (Transfer from Michigan State)
2019 Summary:
You like middle blockers? Michigan used three of ‘em. Indeed, leave it to a prestigious academic institution like Michigan to hurt my brain with all this complicated junk. Way to meddle with my scouting report, Mark. Cori Crocker and Jess Robinson filled more of the traditional middle roles, whereas true freshman May Pertofsky really hit on any pin besides a pushpin. The focal point of the team, though, was not the middles. It was Paige Jones. If, at any point, you thought in past years that Michigan’s imbalanced distribution to Carly Skjodt was ridiculous, Michigan decided to out-do themselves with Paige Jones in 2019. But, really, who can blame them? She’s great.
Enough drivel about personnel. What did they actually do? The first matches of the season quickly revealed what would be the main problem for Michigan in 2019: passing and backcourt defense. Michigan got aced ten times and allowed a .507 team hitting percentage in their blowout loss to Missouri. They later dropped road conference matches to Dayton and Notre Dame, both in five sets.
The Wolverines opened up conference play 5-0, with all those matches coming against teams in the lower half of the conference. Their passing issues showed up again in the loss to Nebraska, as a few balls were shanked in Kingsley’s direction. Unlike previous years, Michigan went through their conference slate without picking up a win against one of the Big Ten’s marquee teams. They squandered their golden opportunity to do this with a five-set home loss to Minnesota after leading 2-0.
Michigan entered the NCAA tournament as the two seed in the Kentucky subregional. They defeated Northern Kentucky in the first round before falling to the SEC champs the following night.
2020 Preview:
Michigan may have a true freshman setter on deck. With the departure of Mackenzi Welsh, Michigan may turn to Scottee Johnson to take the reins in her first year with the Wolverines. In all fairness, this may not be the only Michigan school to break in a true freshman setter in 2020. Spoiler alert.
Cori Crocker is graduating, so the easiest fix for that dilemma may be to just get out of the goofy three-middle system that they ran last year. I could see them staying with that system if they feel comfortable with inserting Kiara Shannon back into the starting lineup after a one-year hiatus. I’ll let Mark work out the middle blocker spot and deal with my anxiety later.
Lest I forget to mention that Michigan finally gets Jess Mruzik on campus this year. She’ll start right away. I can see her playing six rotations, too. Paige Jones, of course, is back. Michigan’s success will be dependent on how quickly the true freshman duo develops. Time will tell.
Further Reading:
Michigan 2020 by bprtbone
Michigan 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Illinois Fighting Illini
2019 Overall Record: 16-14
Conference Record: 11-9 (7th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: First Round (L, 2-3 vs Utah)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Chris Tamas (4th season at Illinois)
Record at Illinois: 71-29
Returning Starters:
Kennedy Collins, SO, 6'3" MB
Taylor Kuper, JR, 5'8" DS/L
Diana Brown, R-SO, 6'0" S
Mica Allison, JR, 6'0" S/RS
Megan Cooney, SR, 6'4" OH/RS
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Jacqueline Quade, 6'2" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Beth Prince, 6'3" OH
*Ashlyn Fleming, 6'4" MB
*Caroline Welsh, 5'8" DS
*Morgan O'Brien, SR, 5'8" L (No Longer on Roster)
Incoming Players:
Raina Terry, FR, 6'1" OH
Maddie Whittington, FR, 6'4" MB/RS
Sophie Gregus, FR, 6'1" OH/RS
2019 Summary:
Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli are hard to replace. 2019 was going to be our way of finding out just how hard it is.
Illinois started off with a pair of wacky five-set victories over Tennessee. The struggle bus got rolling with four consecutive losses to Washington, Colorado, Illinois State, and UCF. Illinois was caught facing these solid programs with a redshirt freshman setter, a true freshman middle blocker, and a multitude of injuries across the roster. The Illini picked up a good win over Marquette, however, and had a good performance in the conference opener against Nebraska before eventually falling in five sets. Despite their overall record in conference play, Illinois was particularly competitive in their matches against the top teams in the Big Ten. They let a 2-1 lead at Wisconsin slip away and fell to Penn State after leading 2-0.
Jacqueline Quade, a 2018 first-team all-American, had some ups and downs in her senior campaign. To be fair, the pins around her were never fully healthy. Beth Prince seldom played. Mica Allison, normally a setter, was summoned to play opposite. This makeshift lineup had Illinois teetering all year long, and they really tipped over in their loss to Northwestern in the season finale.
Despite this, Illinois made it into the NCAA tournament as one of the last four teams in. In all-too-familiar fashion, Illinois lost in the first round to Utah after leading the match two sets to one.
2020 Preview:
Illinois is now presented with two more players that are very difficult to replace in Jacqueline Quade and Ashlyn Fleming. Fleming’s spot will be filled by either Rylee Hinton or Kyla Swanson. Hinton was an early enrollee for 2019, so she may have the edge.
Figuring out the open OH spot is a tougher one for me. First, I have to wonder if Bruna Vrankovic is going to develop into the kind of offensive threat that the Illini expect her to be. If it’s not her in 2020, who else can the Illini go with? I can certainly envision Chris Tamas exploring the transfer market for an outside hitter unless there’s a spark from Vrankovic, Ellie Holzman, or even the true freshman, Raina Terry. This is the biggest question mark for me regarding Illinois.
The other element to this is that both Quade and departing defensive specialist Caroline Welsh were two of Illinois’ primary fixtures in serve receive and backcourt defense. Illinois will have to break in a young DS and find a new source of backcourt offense and passing from an outside hitter. Again, Illinois should explore the option of adding a new piece to their roster in the offseason. As of now, this looks like a bit of a transition year.
Further Reading:
Illinois 2020 by Pasquale
Illinois 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Ohio State Buckeyes
2019 Overall Record: 15-17
Conference Record: 8-12 (8th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2016 -- Regional Semifinals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Jen Flynn Oldenburg (1st season at Ohio State)
Record at Ohio State: 0-0
Returning Starters:
Becca Mauer, SR, 5'9" S
Kylie Murr, SO, 5'6" L
Hannah Gruensfelder, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Gabby Gonzales, SO, 6'3" OH
Mac Podraza, SO, 6'2" S/RS
Lauren Witte, SR, 6'4" MB
Jenaisya Moore, SO, 6'0" OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Madison Smeathers, 6'3" MB (Graduate transfer to LBSU for beach)
Camry Halm, 5'2" DS/L
Abby Julian, 5'7" DS/L
*Bia Franklin, 5'11" DS/OH
*Elle Sandbothe, 6'0" MB
Incoming Players:
Emily Londot, FR, 6'4" RS
Sarah Morbitzer, FR, 5'5" DS/L
Rylee Rader, FR, 6'1" MB
Josie Vondran, JR, 6'0" S (Transfer from Dayton)
2019 Summary:
Allow me to impart a little factoid upon you fine folks: the only Buckeye to appear in every set OSU played this season was true freshman libero, Kylie Murr. I could realistically end the 2019 recap of Ohio State's season with this sentence and let that fact speak for itself, but my supervisor has informed me that I need to adhere to a certain word count. So, I'm going to keep talking.
Because Kylie Murr was the only constant for Ohio State this season, I had to be pretty judicious about who to consider a "starter" for the purposes of this composition. I tried to go to the Buckeye head coach to get his thoughts, but the receptionist told me he wasn't in the office today.
Bah. Enough. What I'm trying to communicate here is that an abundance of youth and a lack of lineup continuity ultimately led to an up-and-down season that, as a whole, was very substandard for The Ohio State University. OSU got pushed around by a few good teams from lower conferences like UW-Green Bay, Tulane, and Western Kentucky. Regarding conference play, Ohio State peaked from October 30th to November 8th. During this period, they lost a five-set heartbreaker at Minnesota and defeated conference champion Wisconsin. Things didn’t go well during any other time in the conference season, as they generally beat up on lower teams and got beat up by better teams. The home loss to Northwestern in straight sets late in the season, though, was a colossal disappointment that buried any outside chance of the Buckeyes making the postseason. Head coach Geoff Carlston was fired shortly after the conclusion of the season.
2020 Preview:
The first priority for Ohio State is to get a head coach. Wonderful analysis, I know. You’re welcome.
The second priority is for this unnamed coach person to hold on to the players on the roster as well as the players that are coming in. It’s certainly something to follow this offseason, and I’ll be sure to drop any updates on this thread.
If we can assume, as of the publication of this preview, that Ohio State holds on to everyone, then the Buckeyes have a nice corps of young talent for 2020. There were four freshman that received significant playing time for Ohio State last year (Murr, Gonzalez, Podraza, Moore). Murr will anchor the libero spot for the rest of her career. Gonzalez found her groove in a few matches late in the year. Moore got reps in the back row. I mean, this group could really put something together down the line.
I think the next head coach will find a way to put Londot and Rader on the floor. They’re both the kind of talented players that will jump out to a coach who is getting their first exposure to the Ohio State program and its players. Elle Sandbothe has finished her one year with the Buckeyes, meaning the chance is there for Rader. Londot, too, might be the best option on the right side once she steps on campus. In any case, I think it’s entirely possible that this young team, with a new head coach, might actually get a step better in 2020.
Further Reading:
Ohio State 2020 by volleynerdmw
Ohio State 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Carlston Out At Ohio State by andrewwmic
Jen Flynn Oldenburg Named Ohio State Women's Volleyball Head Coach
Michigan State Spartans
2019 Overall Record: 15-15
Conference Record: 6-14 (9th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2017 -- Regional Finals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Cathy George (16th season at Michigan State)
Record at Michigan State: 287-203
Returning Starters:
Meredith Norris, SR, 6'3" OH
Jayme Cox, SR, 5'6" L
Biamba Kabengele, SO, 6'0" OH
Alyssa Chronowski, SR, 6'2" OH
Elena Shklyar, JR, 6'1" S
Lauren Swartz, R-SR, 6'5" RS
Naya Gros, JR, 6'3" MB
Molly Johnson, JR, 6'4" RS
Rebecka Poljan, JR, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Audrey Alford, 5'9" S
Maggie Midgette, 5'10" S
*Samantha McLean, 5'8" DS/L
Hannah Grant, 5'8" DS/L (Transfer to Michigan)
Incoming Players:
Celia Cullen, FR, 6'1" S
Sarah Franklin, FR, 6'4" OH
Lia Moore, FR, 6'0" OH
Cecilee Max-Brown, SO, 6'0" OH (Transfer from Oregon State)
2019 Summary:
Once again we find another team that played a metric ton of players in 2019. MSU's lineup carousel can be attributed to injuries, inconsistent individual performance, and running a 6-2. Graduate transfer setter Audrey Alford came in to set the offense with sophomore Elena Shklyar. Michigan State ran their pins “by committee” for much of the year, with six-rotation outside hitter Meredith Norris as one of the few constants in the lineup. Like Ohio State’s Kylie Murr, Naya Gros was the only player to appear in every set for Michigan State.
So, with a patchwork lineup, the Spartans naturally ran into some problems in 2019. These problems didn’t really start in non-conference, however, as Michigan State filled their schedule with a sweet batch of cupcakes. Indeed, the Spartans entered Big Ten play with just one loss. In conference play, however, MSU failed to pick up a win against a team in the top half of the Big Ten. They came close in the last weekend of the year with a five-set home loss to the Boilermakers, but just could never get it done. The Spartans also had their share of bad conference losses, including getting swept by Northwestern and Indiana.
It has been an uninspiring couple of years for the Michigan State volleyball program after the Super Squad reached the regional finals in 2017.
2020 Preview:
Did I mention that there was another Michigan team preparing to start a true freshman at setter? Here we are!
It feels like Michigan State just sleepwalked for the past two years in a non-viable 6-2 while waiting for Celia Cullen to arrive. Well, she’s here, and she better be ready. A local product and Legacy kid, Cullen will have to play across the net from her buddy Jess Mruzik for the next four years. That’s swell. Personally, I just want to see MSU go back to a 5-1.
Cullen aside, it’s easy to see that MSU has a lot of returning pin hitters with playing experience. Norris, as mentioned, has a lot of backcourt reps under her belt. There just needs to be some semblance of continuity with MSU’s hitters. Someone besides Norris needs to step up and show that they’re not content with hopping on and off the bench. Here’s hoping that some more consistent setting will put these pins in a better spot. But, if it’s the true freshman setting, that’s a lot to ask of a young player.
My parting remark here is that Jayme Cox will be entering her fourth year as a starter for Michigan State. If there is anyone one the roster that can anchor and lead this team, it is she.
Further Reading:
Michigan State 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Northwestern Wildcats
2019 Overall Record: 14-18
Conference Record: 5-15 (T-10th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2010 -- Second Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Shane Davis (5th season at Northwestern)
Record at Northwestern: 54-74
Returning Starters:
Michelle Lee, JR, 5'7" DS/L
Lexi Pitsas, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Temi Thomas-Ailara, SO, 6'2" OH
Charlotte Cronister, SO, 5'7" DS/L
Nia Robinson, SR, 6'2" OH
Alana Walker, SR, 6'3" MB
Desiree Becker, SO, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
Allie Lindroth, 6'2" OH
Emily Ehman, 5'8" DS/L
Sarah Johnson, 5'7" DS/L
Olivia Viscuso, 6'0" MB
*Payton Chang, 5'10" S
Incoming Players:
Natalie Chizzo, FR, 6'3" OH
Alexa Rousseau, FR, 6'3" S
Megan Miller, JR, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer from Nebraska)
2019 Summary:
Temi Time!
Darn, my supervisor is chiming in again. Gotta write more stuff.
It’s hard to phrase this in a way that doesn’t sound totally goofy, but Northwestern showed at times last season that have somewhat of a pulse. And, if anything, true freshman outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara was the defibrillator. That’s the kind of player around which you build a struggling program. Upon arriving at Northwestern, Temi became the best player in the gym. Northwestern got some steady production from Alana Walker, Nia Robinson, Payton Chang, and others, but Temi was the star of the show. The overall record wasn’t great, but the level of play from the Wildcats saw some tangible improvement.
Northwestern’s non-conference schedule is highlighted by decent wins over Duke and American. The Wildcats, however, started Big Ten play by losing every match in the first half of conference play. This ten-match losing streak was capped off by a stunning loss at Rutgers, handing the Scarlet Knights their first conference victory in four years. To add injury to insult, Temi was hurt in that Rutgers match. But, because we live in Bizarro World, Northwestern followed up that embarrassing performance with a sweep of Michigan State. The Wildcats eventually avenged their Rutgers loss and defeated Ohio State and Maryland on the road. The season was capped off with a home victory over Illinois, a team on the tournament bubble.
2020 Preview:
True Freshman Setter: Part III? I reckon so.
Alexa Rousseau comes to Northwestern as Payton Chang completes her one year of eligibility with the program. Rousseau is already familiar with many of the players on the roster and should get first crack at taking over the offense. If it helps a young setter’s confidence, she gets to set Temi Thomas-Ailara. That’s helpful.
Overall, there’s a ton of returning production for the Wildcats. Alana Walker and Desiree Becker will hold things down in the middle. Charlotte Cronister, Lexi Pitsas, and Michelle Lee all return to anchor the backcourt. In time, I think Rousseau will prove to be an upgrade over anything Northwestern’s had at the setting position in quite a while.
Again, what can you say about the Wildcats? The gang’s all here! With this experienced group coming back, things are pointing in the right direction. I expect Northwestern to make some good strides in 2020, and perhaps finish with a winning record.
Further Reading:
Northwestern 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Maryland Terrapins
2019 Overall Record: 13-19
Conference Record: 5-15 (T-10th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2005 -- Second Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Adam Hughes (3rd season at Maryland)
Record at Maryland: 31-33
Returning Starters:
Nicole Alford, SR, 6'1" S
Rainelle Jones, JR, 6'3" MB
Jada Gardner, R-JR, 6'1" MB/RS
Erika Pritchard, SR, 6'3" OH
Rebekah Rath, SO, 6'0" OH
Allegra Rivas, JR, 5'10" L
Departures (* denotes starter):
Nell Drummey, 5'4" DS/L
Taylor Smith, 6'0" S
Samantha Snyder, 5'9" S
Katie Myers, R-JR, 6'2" MB (Transfer to Minnesota)
Incoming Players:
Sam Csire, FR, 6'0" OH
Sydney Dowler, FR, 5'11" S
Laila Ricks, FR, 6'0"
2019 Summary:
I think a lot of us get the feeling that things could have (or should have) gone better for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2019. They had Erika Pritchard, Allegra Rivas, and Katie Myers had a wonderful presence on the floor. What went wrong?
Let’s look at how things went. Maryland got into several dogfights in their relatively weak non-conference schedule. They had five-set victories over Kansas State, Howard, and Princeton, and five-set losses to UT-Rio Grande Valley, Houston, George Mason, and South Carolina. The Terps were really busy. You’d like to think that a super talented pin hitter like Erika Pritchard could just solo blast these teams, but that was not the case. The setter that Maryland clearly wanted to use last year, Nicole Alford, was injured for about the first half of the season. Maryland was fidgeting with other lineup combinations in the middle and on the right. There was also a true freshman outside hitter across from Pritchard. Erika’s great, but the circumstances surrounding her weren’t the best.
Anyways, Maryland went into conference play and picked up their victories against the cellar dwellers of the Big Ten. The highlight of their year was perhaps taking Penn State to five sets in Rec Hall. In fact, that match was the only time all year that Maryland took a set off anyone that finished in the top half of the conference!
2020 Preview:
I really don’t see Maryland getting worse in 2020, because they already underachieved in 2019. Besides, I once again get to say that the gang’s all here! All major contributors return for the Terps. There’s that youth trend in the teams in the bottom half of the conference. Maryland’s got a solid freshman class coming in, but they might not need them yet.
With a little consistency in place now, does Pritchard heat up? She had an off year, but, as I’ve said, there were some extenuating circumstances. If they can get Pritchard back to playing to her potential, Maryland can return to the upset-minded fiends that they were before. The talent is there in a lot of spots. Allegra Rivas is a proven defender and passer. Katie Myers had a standout year and has a wicked serve. Nicole Alford looked good when she was finally able to crack the lineup. Jury’s out on how much improvement there will be with this familiar lineup, but there seems to be nowhere to go but up.
Further Reading:
Maryland 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Iowa Hawkeyes
2019 Overall Record: 10-21
Conference Record: 4-16 (12th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 1994 -- First Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Vicki Brown (2nd season at Iowa)
Record at Iowa: 10-21
Returning Starters:
Joslyn Boyer, SO, 5'6" DS/L
Courtney Buzzerio, JR, 6'5" S/RS
Halle Johnston, SR, 5'10" L
Emma Lowes, SO, 5'7" S/DS
Brie Orr, SR, 5'10" S
Kyndra Hansen, SO, 6'2" OH
Amiya Jones, JR, 6'2" MB
Griere Hughes, SR, 5'11" OH
Maddie Slagle, JR, 5'9" DS/L
Hannah Clayton, JR, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
Meghan Buzzerio, 6'2" OH
Emily Bushman, 5'8" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Audrey Black, FR, 6'3" OH/RS
Leanne Lowry, FR, 5'11" DS/L
Bailey Ortega, FR, 5'9" S
2019 Summary:
Oh, Iowa. It was a weird one. It was an unlucky one. Let’s discuss your misfortunes, and hopefully lift you up at the end.
In the middle of non-conference play, redshirt senior and major contributor Meghan Buzzerio went down with a season-ending injury. M. Buzzerio had five matches with double-digit kills and two matches with over 20 kills in her short 2019 campaign. Before this derailing injury, Iowa managed to pick up a 3-0 sweep over Washington State on opening weekend. Things got tougher in non-conference, though, as Colorado and Washington both defeated the Hawkeyes to atone for their fallen Pac-12 comrade. Iowa then added non-conference losses to South Dakota (and lost M. Buzzerio for the season in this match), Coastal Carolina, and Iowa State.
Near the beginning of conference play, Iowa lost their setter and lifeblood, Brie Orr, to a concussion. Courtney Buzzerio, normally the team’s starting opposite, was forced into setting a 5-1 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa picked up a win in their conference opener against Northwestern before falling into a series of slumps that were interrupted by a couple of wins over Indiana. The tumult that this lineup caused was very evident, as the Hawkeyes were swept off their own floor by Rutgers. Brie Orr made a brief appearance in Iowa’s match at Michigan, in which the Hawkeyes ran a Buzzerio-Orr 6-2 and allowed Buzz to hit across the front row. Orr, however, did not make the trip to Nebraska the following Saturday. With Buzzerio and Emma Lowes running a 6-2, the Hawkeyes nearly shocked the Cornhuskers, and Buzzerio dropped a triple-double in a five-set losing effort. The Hawkeyes were able to finish their season with a victory over Maryland to end with four conference wins.
2020 Preview:
You didn’t think the youth trend was leaving, did you? Look, everyone’s back! If these Iowa players want a chance at a redemption season after what happened to them last year, this is the time to do it. Brie Orr will retake control of her team, and Buzzerio will be back on the right where she belongs. Kyndra Hansen and Griere Hughes return on the left. Can they start to make some noise with a more stable setting situation? Can Audrey Black make a case for starting as a true freshman? It remains to be seen how much Coach Brown will look to manipulate her lineup with practically everyone returning.
Here’s the bottom line: with a more consistent and injury-free lineup, Iowa has the potential to be the most improved team in the conference next year. I mean it. There’s an experienced setter, experienced libero, and their pins have all been acclimated to collegiate volleyball. I’d like to take a stab at which top team Iowa will upset next year and say that I “CALLED IT”, but I’m not gonna go there. Yet.
Further Reading:
Iowa 2020 by Hawk Attack
Iowa 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Indiana Hoosiers
2019 Overall Record: 14-19
Conference Record: 3-17 (13th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2010 -- Regional Semifinals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Steve Aird (3rd season at Indiana)
Record at Indiana: 30-34
Returning Starters:
Bayli Lebo, SR, 5'7" DS/L
Breana Edwards, JR, 6'2" OH
Emily Fitzner, SO, 6'0" S
Kamryn Malloy, SR, 6'0" OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Victoria Brisack, 6'0" S
*Hayden Huybers, 6'1" MB
Meaghan Koors, 5'8" DS/L
*Jacqui Armer, 6'3" MB
*Megan Sloan, 6'1" OH/RS
*Deyshia Lofton, 6'2" MB
Kendall Beerman, 6'2" OH
Incoming Players:
Leyla Blackwell, FR, 6'4" MB
Savannah Kjolhede, FR, 6'3" MB/RS
Tommi Stockham, FR, 6'2" OH
Elle Hillers, FR, 6'3" MB
Morgan Geddes, FR, 6'2" OH
Grae Gosnell, FR, 5'11" OH
Britt Soudan, FR, 5'7" DS/L
Olivia Panepinto, FR, 5'9" S
Brooke Westbeld, SR, 6'2" S (Transfer from Dayton)
2019 Summary:
I’ve used “disappointment” and other similar words to describe some teams in this thread, but Indiana may be a leading candidate for Disappointment of the Year. The 2019 Hoosiers featured a large senior class of players who got significant playing time over their careers. The team moved in to a new arena. Steve Aird was entering his second year at Indiana. And things just didn’t go right.
Indiana started the year 3-0 before being swept by a remarkably physical Santa Clara team. Besides dropping a tough match to Oklahoma, the Hoosiers made it through the rest of their non-conference slate unscathed, including a shocking 3-2 win at Kentucky.
Indiana’s results in conference play show what could have been and how close they were to actually reaching their potential. They fought hard at Wisconsin. They lost a five-set heartbreaker to Purdue at home. They got reverse swept by Maryland twice. In the latter Maryland match, sophomore Breana Edwards dropped 39 kills in a losing effort and then did not play another set all year. In a field of seniors, it was actually Edwards who took the big swings for the Hoosiers last year. Indiana needs to hope for more of the same in the years to come.
2020 Preview:
The giant senior class is gone, and a giant freshman class emerges. Who among you is ready for the big-time volleyball?
Seriously, though, this is going to be a very young and inexperienced Indiana squad next year. If Steve Aird spent his first two years at Indiana just waiting until he had the chance to flip the roster and bring in his own players, then his moment has arrived. Nevertheless, this major upheaval will likely lead to some growing pains for the young Hoosier squad. Indiana is losing three middle blockers with significant playing experience, meaning any one of the incoming freshman middle blockers could see the court in 2020. Indiana will need a couple of pin hitters, too, and the late Signing Day addition of Tommi Stockham helps a lot. She’ll have a chance to play right away. Indiana also has right-side hitter Kari Zumach, who transferred from Creighton last year, waiting in the wings. She should get her opportunity soon enough.
The IU press release for the 2020 signing class calls the incoming freshman “elite”. They may need to be elite this season, or else the Hoosiers could find themselves limping along with their unfamiliar roster.
Further Reading:
Indiana 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
2019 Overall Record: 8-23
Conference Record: 2-18 (14th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 1982 -- First Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Caitlin Schweihofer (1st season at Rutgers)
Record at Rutgers: 0-0
Returning Starters:
Beka Kojadinovic, SR, 6'1" RS
Anastasiia Maksimova, JR, 6'1" OH
Inna Balyko, JR, 6'0" S
Departures (* denotes starter):
Stasa Miljevic, 6'2" MB
*Karysa Swackenberg, 5'8" L
*Jasmine Stackhouse, 6'3" MB
*Merle Weidt, JR, 6'1" MB (Transfer to Arizona)
Yana Kamshilina, SR, 6'1" OH (No Longer on Roster)
Anastasiya Kudryashova, JR, 6'4" OH (Transfer to Penn State)
Caitlin Kikta, R-FR, 5'8" S (Transfer to UC Irvine)
Tali Marmen, JR, 6'2" OH (Transfer to UCF)
Incoming Players:
Madyson Chitty, FR, 5'5" DS/L
Lauren DeLo, R-FR, 6'2" S (Transfer from Ole Miss)
Kristina Grkovic, FR, 6'2" MB
Shealyn McNamara, SR, 6'2" MB (Transfer from Auburn)
Mary Kate Painter, SR, 5'4" DS/L (Transfer from UCF)
Antypa Stella, FR, 5'11" OH
2019 Summary:
Rutgers won a conference match for the first time in four years. Close the thread.
Ah, okay, let’s talk about ‘em. You know I got mad love for Rutgers. It’s no coincidence that Rutgers and Russia start with the same two letters. Rutgers had a quartet of Russians. Eight out of the thirteen players on their 2019 roster are international players. Their setter, Inna Balyko, is the best of them all. She might be the best player Rutgers has had this century. Or ever. The former Russian Youth National teamer has great hands and a wonderfully deceptive setter dump. Balyko got improved production from her pins, particularly Tali Marmen and Anastasiia Maksimova. The middle blocker position was a bit of a musical chairs rendition once Stackhouse went down with an injury in the middle of conference play. So, Stackhouse, Stasa Miljevic, and Merle Weidt all got significant playing time. Karysa Swackenberg held the libero spot for the entire year, as she was the only defensive specialist on the 2019 roster. Seriously. As you can imagine, the left side hitters were expected to pass a lot of balls.
Rutgers got their six non-conference wins in consecutive matches; three at home, and three at Colgate. In the tenth match of conference play, Rutgers pulled off a miraculous 3-2 win against Northwestern at home to win their first conference match in four years! The Scarlet Knights the rode this wave of momentum to a 3-0 sweep at Iowa! I don’t really need to tell you about any of the other conference matches. But the Rutgers athletic department was so thrilled by this breakthrough in conference play that they fired their head coach, CJ Werneke.
2020 Preview:
I don’t know. Listen, not only is CJ Werneke gone, but Anna Khrystenko is not listed on the website either. She’s the Ukrainian National Team coach who helped bring all these international players to Rutgers in the first place. I don’t know who’s staying. It’s a shame, because they have a great group of players they could bring back. Balyko has yet another year to work with the same set of pin hitters. You’d figure that the true freshman DS that’s coming in has a good chance of starting, unless a transfer is brought in. Other than that, the roster is pretty well set barring a possible exodus.
The offseason will change a lot of things within this program. We’ll know more soon.
Further Reading:
Rutgers 2020 by rainbowbadger
CJ Werneke Deserves a Medal by silversurfer
Rutgers Names Caitlin Schweihofer Head Women's Volleyball Coach
Volleyball Announces Incoming 2020 Recruiting Class
--------------------------
And that’s it. I was going to include a TLDR, but I’m too lazy. Enjoy this post if you dare.
In all seriousness, I look forward to the many great discussion to come with some of the great people here. Exciting times (and a lot of updates!) to come.
2020 starts now.
That means it's time to do what we do best: prognosticate.
To help springboard some
The most important thing to note from the outset is that this is a flexible document. Edits are coming. The portal season is nigh. I'll provide some pertinent links at the bottom of this post that help inform some of the changes made to my ever-changing creation.
So, here it is. This is more than you wanted to know about the Big Ten:
2020 Season Preview
By Kingsley
Wisconsin Badgers2019 Overall Record: 27-7
Conference Record: 18-2 (1st)
NCAA Tournament Placement: National Finals (L, 0-3 vs Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 2
Head Coach: Kelly Sheffield (8th season at Wisconsin)
Record at Wisconsin: 187-48
Returning Starters:
Lauren Barnes, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Sydney Hilley, SR, 6'0" S (First-Team All-American)
Izzy Ashburn, SO, 5'11" S/DS
Dana Rettke, SR, 6'8" MB (First-Team All-American)
Danielle Hart, R-JR, 6'4" MB
Grace Loberg, SR, 6'3" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Molly Haggerty, R-SR, 6'1" OH (Second-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Mallory Dixon, 5'9" S (Grad transfer to South Carolina)
Sarah Dodd, 5'4" DS/L
*Madison Duello, 6'3" RS
*Tiffany Clark, 5'11" L
*M.E. Dodge, 5'10" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Jade Demps, FR, 6'2" OH/RS
MJ Hammill, FR, 6'0" S
Devyn Robinson, FR, 6'2" MB
Deahna Kraft, GRAD, 6'0" OH/DS (Transfer from Pepperdine beach)
2019 Summary:
Wisconsin was the coaches' preseason pick to win the conference. Initially, though, it looked like the Badgers were going to struggle to live up to this expectation. The marvelous Wisky faithful on this board will have no problem admitting that they hopped on the ol' struggle bus in pre-conference. Home losses to Marquette, Baylor, and Washington were capped off with a road loss to U-Dub in which the Badgers frankly got embarrassed. It took a while for the light to turn on for Wisconsin's re-tooled backcourt. Many people will tell you that the moment of illumination for this metaphorical light bulb occurred sometime during the Penn State match early in conference play. The Badgers dropped the first set and had a significant deficit in the second, only to come back and stomp the Nittany Lions the rest of the way. Bucky quickly followed this up with emphatic victories over Nebraska and Minnesota. Things continued to go smoothly until Wisconsin decided to take a day off against Ohio State. Despite this, the Badgers continued to show they were the class of the conference as they completed season sweeps over the Huskers and Golden Gophers. There was a tough loss in reverse sweep-fashion at Penn State on the last weekend of the regular season, but it had little impact on final seeding for Wisconsin. With the UW Fieldhouse looking on, Wisconsin swept every match through regionals, including a third sweep over Nebraska. They avenged their loss to Baylor in Pittsburgh, sending the Badgers to their third national championship appearance in program history. In the title clash against the mighty Stanford juggernaut, Wisconsin fell in straight sets to finish as the national runner-up.
2020 Preview:
After a very successful 2019 campaign, Badger fans can reasonably expect comparable success in 2020. Mind you, there are some important pieces to replace. Allow me to articulate some key points for Wisconsin with a series of interrogatives:
Who plays on the right side? Is Courtney Gorum ready for big-time volleyball? Where’s Julia Wohlert? Will Sheffield explore any lineup permutations that put Devyn Robinson on the floor? How about Jade Demps, another highly-touted true freshman?
And then there’s the backcourt. What’s the plan here? Wisconsin, under normal circumstances (let’s ignore the marathon deuce sets for a moment), DS’ed both their left sides and their right side in 2019. I think it’s safe to assume that whoever plays on the right pin in 2020 will need a DS. M.E. Dodge graduates, as does the extraordinary libero, Tiffany Clark. Here, I think, is the biggest question of all regarding Wisconsin’s backcourt: Does Molly Haggerty play six rotations? That’s the biggie. Tiffany Clark will inevitably be difficult to replace. I want to know who’s playing middle back.
Despite this, I’m still going to give a glowing review of the Badgers. Rettke should be a four-time first-team all-American. Sydney Hilley is the best setter in the conference by a country mile. The left sides are back. Molly Haggerty is her freshman self. These facts alone will help supersede some of my question marks. Expect a top three finish in the conference for Wisconsin.
Further Reading:
Wisconsin 2020 by rainbowbadger
Wisconsin 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
National Championship Thread by ilikecorn
Minnesota Golden Gophers2019 Overall Record: 27-6
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: National Semifinals (L, 0-3 vs Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 4
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (9th season at Minnesota)
Record at Minnesota: 216-53
Returning Starters:
Rachel Kilkelly, SO, 5'9" DS/L
CC McGraw, JR, 5'9" L (Honorable Mention All-American)
Airi Miyabe, SR, 6’0” OH/RS
Stephanie Samedy, SR, 6'2" RS (Second-Team All-American)
Adanna Rollins, JR, 6'0" OH
Regan Pittman, R-SR, 6'5" MB (First-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Taylor Morgan, 6'0" MB
*Kylie Miller, 5'11" S
Lauren Litzau, 5'8" DS/L
*Alexis Hart, 6'0" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Incoming Players:
Cami Appiani, FR, 5'8" DS/L
Taylor Landfair, FR, 6'4" OH
Melani Shaffmaster, FR, 6'3" S
Jenna Wenaas, FR, 6'1" OH
Katie Myers, R-JR, 6'2" MB (Transfer from Maryland)
Hunter Atherton, SR, 5’10” S (Grad Transfer from North Carolina)
2019 Summary:
I’m trying to come up with a name for my new mixtape about the 2019 season for Minnesota. I’ve narrowed it down to either Multi-Minnesota or A Tale of Twin Cities.
Seriously, what a wacko season for Goldy. But, don’t get me wrong. It was a wacko season with a lot of wins. Let’s talk about that.
Of course, Minnesota’s 2019 season was ushered in with a 3-0 loss from Bizarro World to Florida State. That was followed up with a sweep loss at Texas in which the Gophers squandered fourteen set points. After this rough start, Minnesota decided to crush Florida and beat Stanford, because why not? Things got even more freaky, though, when starting setter Kylie Miller went down with an injury. Bayley McMenimen was inserted into the lineup, and the Golden Gophers generally kept winning besides being easily handled by Wisconsin. There was a litany of close calls: scraping past Iowa on the road, pulling off a reverse sweep at Michigan, and winning a deuce fifth set at home against Ohio State, to name a few. But they all count as wins. Somewhere in the middle of conference play, Minnesota switched to a 6-2 with McMenimen and Tamara Dolonga running the offense. Airi Miyabe was inserted on the right side. Stephanie Samedy was also relegated to only playing across the front row, which hurt some people’s feelings. Regardless, Minnesota won the conference matches that they were supposed to, dropped a wild match to Nebraska, and got an emphatic victory at Penn State to close out the regular season.
Minnesota’s tournament run was not lacking drama. The Gophers came back from down two match points to Creighton in the fourth set to force five and ultimately winning the match. After coming out victorious in another five-set slugfest against Florida in the regional semifinals, Minnesota jumped Cinderella and stole her slippers to advance to the Final Four. While Minny was largely overmatched in their 3-0 loss to Stanford to end the season, it is truly a marvel that Minnesota got as far as they did. It is a season to be proud of.
2020 Preview:
There are a few significant pieces that Minnesota will have to replace. First, Kylie Miller graduates after completing her one-off stint as the starting setter for the Golden Gophers. Unless Minnesota wants to replicate the McMenimen-Dolonga 6-2 thing that they had to do last season, the Gophers might end up looking to true freshman Melani Shaffmaster to run the show right away. Shaffmaster is tall, physical, and a good attacker. The question is whether she is far enough in her development to set for an elite program this early in her career. We’ll see if she gets that chance.
Alexis Hart and Taylor Morgan depart after making a big impact on the program. Enter Taylor Landfair, the top dog in the 2020 recruiting cycle. Landfair will get first crack at filling the vacant spot on the left pin. While Landfair has a ton of six-rotation experience with SPVB, she’s replacing a pin hitter who never had to play in the backcourt. We’ll see. On the other pin, there are questions about whether Jenna Wenaas will have what it takes to displace Rollins in the starting lineup. In any case, at least one of Minnesota’s left sides should be asked to play all the way around. The open middle spot, meanwhile, is Rubright’s to lose.
Pittman and Samedy will still be there to anchor this team, so it looks like another good Minnesota team is in the works for 2020.
Further Reading:
Minnesota 2020 by B1Gminnesotafan
Minnesota 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Nebraska Cornhuskers2019 Overall Record: 28-5
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Finals (L, 0-3 at Wisconsin)
Final AVCA Ranking: 5
Head Coach: John Cook (21st season at Nebraska)
Record at Nebraska: 588-80
Returning Starters:
Nicklin Hames, JR, 5'10" S (Honorable Mention All-American)
Kenzie Knuckles, SO, 5'8" L
Madi Kubik, SO, 6'3" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Lexi Sun, SR, 6'2" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Jazz Sweet, SR, 6'3" RS
Callie Schwarzenbach, JR, 6'5" MB
Lauren Stivrins, R-SR, 6'4" MB (Second-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Capri Davis, 6'1" OH (Transfer to Texas)
Anezka Szabo, 6'3" RS (Transfer to Kansas)
Chen Abramovich, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer to Cal Poly)
*Megan Miller, JR, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer to Northwestern)
Incoming Players:
Kalynn Meyer, FR, 6'3" MB
Annika Evans, FR, 5'9" S
Abby Johnson, FR, 6'4" MB/RS
Keonilei Akana, FR, 5'9" DS/L
Kayla Caffey, R-JR, 6'0" MB (Transfer from Missouri)
2019 Summary:
Here comes Cornboy to talk about his team.
What can I say? It has been well-documented that the Huskers played a true freshman six-rotation outside hitter and a true freshman libero. The growing pains that Nebraska experienced from this kind of lineup are not particularly groundbreaking. 2019 was not going to be Nebraska’s year, but let’s talk about the year they had anyway.
Nebraska started the year with a good win over Creighton. They then proceeded to lay the smackdown on UCLA during a time when Mike Sealy was still trying to decide whether the season had started. The Huskers won their next five non-conference matches before being completely outclassed by Stanford in Lincoln.
Nebraska found themselves in a lot of competitive matches in conference play, with five conference matches going five sets. They generally found ways to win those close matches, with the exception of an ugly loss to the Boilermakers in West Lafayette. Purdue, in fact, was the only team in 2019 to beat Nebraska that did not play for a national title in Pittsburgh.
The Huskers clearly honed in on consistent improvement from their new and inexperienced lineup as the year went along. There were glimpses of this, including Madi Kubik’s spectacular performance in the fifth set to down Minnesota on the road. Nevertheless, Nebraska could never figure out how to break the Badgers, and the Huskers were slated into the Madison regional for the NCAA tournament.
Nebraska traveled to the UW Fieldhouse after a nail-biting four-set victory over Missouri in the second round. After dispatching the Rainbow Wahine, Nebraska fell to Wisconsin in straight sets for the third time in 2019 to end the season in the regional finals.
2020 Preview:
If the Letter of Volleytalk Grievances has not yet reached your mailbox, then let me be the first to inform you that the Final Four will be in Omaha in 2020. Whether that’s added motivation or pressure remains to be seen. We know how it has worked out in past years, but this is a new decade.
The other obvious thing to note for Nebraska is that the gang’s all here. All the starters return. There’s not a lot to talk about here, as there are few question marks. The only uncertainty is this: can the Huskers, with the same lineup, improve on the areas that held them back in 2019? Find better passing. Find more consistent setting. These things are clear to everyone around the program. The departure of Capri Davis means that there is a scholarship opening that will be filled one way or another. Sophie Fischer? Transfer DS? Transfer middle? We’ll see.
The bottom line is this: whether or not Big Red can actually make the improvements described above will ultimately decide if Destination Omaha 2020 is fulfilled.
Further Reading:
Nebraska 2020 by vup
Nebraska 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Banwarth Named Head Coach at Ole Miss
Tyler Hildebrand Named Associate Head Coach
Penn State Nittany Lions2019 Overall Record: 27-6
Conference Record: 17-3 (T-2nd)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Finals (L, 0-3 at Stanford)
Final AVCA Ranking: 7
Head Coach: Russ Rose (42nd season at Penn State)
Record at Penn State: 1299-212
Returning Starters:
Jonni Parker, JR, 6'0" RS (Honorable Mention All-American)
Gabby Blossom, JR, 5'9" S (Third-Team All-American)
Jenna Hampton, JR, 5'7" DS/L
Serena Gray, JR, 6'2" MB (Honorable Mention All-American)
Allyson Cathey, JR, 6'1" OH
Kaitlyn Hord, JR, 6'4" MB (First-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
Emily Sciorra, 5'4" DS/L
*Kendall White, 5'5" L (Second-Team All-American)
Sydney Ferguson, 6'3" OH (Transfer to NC State)
Amanda Phegley, 6'4" OH (Transfer to North Carolina)
Brooklynn Hill, 5’5” DS/L (Transfer to ?)
*Tori Gorrell, 6'2" OH
*Keeton Holcomb, 5'7" DS/L
Kristin Krause, 5'7" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Maddy Bilinovic, FR, 5'7" L
Macy van den Elzen, FR, 6'4" OH
Annie Cate Fitzpatrick, FR, 6'0" OH
Anastasiya Kudryashova, JR, 6'4" OH (Transfer from Rutgers)
Keatan Broughton, JR, 5'5" DS/L (Transfer from West Virginia)
2019 Summary:
It’s not terribly controversial to say that Penn State had some personnel issues in 2019. The root of this problem was on the left pin, where the Nittany Lions had to go with middle-turned-outside Tori Gorrell and Allyson Cathey. Both of these players experienced some rough patches throughout the year that sometimes led to some very uncharacteristic Penn State collapses. More on that later.
Penn State started the year with some relatively weak competition before dropping a hard-fought match to Stanford at home. A week later, PSU got clubbed in Rec Hall by Pitt, only to turn around and beat Pitt on their home floor two days later. This was the Panthers’ only loss of the regular season.
The Nittany Lions went into November with only one conference loss. It was a wild ride to get there, though. PSU blew some significant leads at Wisconsin to let that match slip away. They had to reverse sweep Illinois at home and took five sets to beat Maryland. After falling in a five-set thriller at Nebraska, Penn State got on another hot streak that was capped off with a reverse sweep over the conference champion, Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions dropped the season finale to Minnesota and finished in a tie for second in the conference. They accomplished this despite the aforementioned struggles of their left side hitters that often resulted in benchings and the insertion of true freshman Lauren Clark.
Penn State entered the NCAA tournament as the eleven seed and won a couple of barnburners against Princeton and Towson to open play. The barn was then scorched to the ground as they picked up a five-set victory in the regional semifinals against a professional volleyball player. Alas, the 2019 season came to an end like the 2018 season with a regional final loss to Stanford in Maples.
2020 Preview:
So, I’m going to pick up some of the points made in the 2019 preview and use them to start off the 2020 preview.
What does PSU do at the outside hitter spot? The answer, in my eyes, is simple yet unsatisfying: wait and see. Here’s the deal. Russ Rose is about to go shopping. The “incoming players” section for Penn State that you see in December will not be the same come August. It’s too obvious. Penn State needs impact players to transfer into their program for next year. I believe it’ll happen, too.
As of the original posting of this preview, I’m not really in a position to wave my hands over the crystal ball and tell you with good confidence what Penn State is going to accomplish next year. If there is one team in the Big Ten that you could point to and say that they need a big offseason, it’s PSU. Their first priority is to get an outside hitter that can play six rotations. In 2019, Penn State had no pins that could pass. They ran a two-passer formation in every rotation with Kendall White covering about 2/3 of the backcourt and a DS covering the other 1/3. Kendall White is gone now. I don’t think there’s another DS on the roster that can shoulder the responsibilities that Kendall had. The Nittany Lions need another passer.
If Penn State can land a dynamite player (or two) for the left pin, they’re in excellent shape. Hord and Gray speak for themselves. Gabby Blossom’s ability to force the middles worked wonders last year for a team that was often inept on the left.
Keep an eye on this one.
Further Reading:
Penn State -- 2020 by NittanyLions
DigNittany
Purdue Boilermakers2019 Overall Record: 24-8
Conference Record: 14-6 (5th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Regional Semifinals (L, 1-3 at Baylor)
Final AVCA Ranking: 13
Head Coach: Dave Shondell (18th season at Purdue)
Record at Purdue: 372-192 (.660)
Returning Starters:
Hayley Bush, R-JR, 5'10" S
Caitlyn Newton, SR, 6'1" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Marissa Hornung, JR, 5'7" L
Emma Ellis, SO, 6'2" OH
Jael Johnson, JR, 6'2" MB
Jena Otec, SR, 5'10" DS/L
Grace Cleveland, JR, 6'3" RS (Third-Team All-American)
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Shavona Cuttino, 6'2" MB
*Blake Mohler, 6'2" MB (Honorable Mention All-American)
Incoming Players:
Molly Brown, FR, 6'2" MB/RS
Savana Chacon, FR, 5'8" DS/L
Lourdes Myers, FR, 6'2" MB/RS
Taylor Trammell, FR, 6'2" MB
2019 Summary:
Purdue has become a perennially solid team under Dave Shondell. Lately, they’ve had ample talent on their roster to become a perfect spoiler(maker). After four straight seasons that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Boilers were looking for something more in 2019.
Purdue’s non-conference campaign was successful, aside from a five-set loss at Notre Dame. Particularly impressive was their trip to the Bluegrass State, where they picked up wins against Louisville and Kentucky. The Boilermakers stumbled out of the gates in conference play, getting swept on back-to-back nights on the notorious Wisconsin-Minnesota road trip. Their four-set loss to Illinois a week later was their only conference loss to a team that did not finish in the top four in the conference. Purdue’s only win against the Big Four, however, was a five-set triumph over Nebraska. Nevertheless, the Boilermakers finished their conference slate with a couple of bruising victories over the Michigan schools and set their sights on the NCAA tournament.
In a surprising twist, Purdue snagged the 16th and final seed on Selection Sunday. The Boiler Block was assembled on short notice to bring the hype for a couple more matches. Purdue defeated Wright State in the first round and finally got the monkey off their back with a 3-1 victory over Marquette to advance past the second round. Unfortunately, after an uninspiring performance from the Purdue backcourt, the Boilermakers had their season end in Waco to top-seeded Baylor.
2020 Preview:
Purdue will be a force in 2020. Like Nebraska, there’s not a ton to say here, because almost everyone is back. Granted, replacing Blake Mohler is not easy. Jael Johnson and Shavona Cuttino essentially shared one of the middle spots last year, so Johnson should be set to take on a bigger role. The other middle spot will go to one of the true freshman signed to the 2020 class, barring a transfer coming in. Caitlyn Newton had some problems staying healthy last year, but having her at 100% will bode well for the diversity of Purdue’s offense. Newton will be a six-rotation player once again. I’ll be interested to see, too, if they further develop Grace Cleveland into a back row attacking threat out of zone one. They gave her a good amount of looks at that last year. Look for it to continue. Purdue was a pretty good digging team and a pretty shaky passing team last year. The libero spot finally settled on Hornung in 2019. This continuity should lead to better success next year.
It’s time for Purdue to challenge the Big Ten’s elite teams.
Further Reading:
Purdue 2020 by exit237a
Purdue 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Michigan Wolverines2019 Overall Record: 21-11
Conference Record: 13-7 (6th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Second Round (L, 0-3 at Kentucky)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Mark Rosen (22nd season at Michigan)
Record at Michigan: 429-265 (.618)
Returning Starters:
Paige Jones, JR, 6'1" OH (Third-Team All-American)
Natalie Smith, SR, 5'7" L
Jess Robinson, SO, 6'2" MB
May Pertofsky, SO, 6'1" MB/OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Kyleigh Hamacher, 5'4" DS/L
Katerina Rocafort, 5'8" S/DS
Ellie Brooks, 5'11" OH/RS
*Mackenzi Welsh, 6'1" S (Honorable Mention All-American)
Katarina Glavinic, 6'3" RS
*Sydney Wetterstrom, 6'1" OH/RS
*Cori Crocker, 6'3" MB
Incoming Players:
Scottee Johnson, FR, 6'0" S
Jenni Liu, SO, 6'0" S (Transfer from Blinn College)
Jess Mruzik, FR, 6'1" OH
Kendall Murray, FR, 6'2" OH
Hannah Grant, R-FR, 5'8" DS/L (Transfer from Michigan State)
2019 Summary:
You like middle blockers? Michigan used three of ‘em. Indeed, leave it to a prestigious academic institution like Michigan to hurt my brain with all this complicated junk. Way to meddle with my scouting report, Mark. Cori Crocker and Jess Robinson filled more of the traditional middle roles, whereas true freshman May Pertofsky really hit on any pin besides a pushpin. The focal point of the team, though, was not the middles. It was Paige Jones. If, at any point, you thought in past years that Michigan’s imbalanced distribution to Carly Skjodt was ridiculous, Michigan decided to out-do themselves with Paige Jones in 2019. But, really, who can blame them? She’s great.
Enough drivel about personnel. What did they actually do? The first matches of the season quickly revealed what would be the main problem for Michigan in 2019: passing and backcourt defense. Michigan got aced ten times and allowed a .507 team hitting percentage in their blowout loss to Missouri. They later dropped road conference matches to Dayton and Notre Dame, both in five sets.
The Wolverines opened up conference play 5-0, with all those matches coming against teams in the lower half of the conference. Their passing issues showed up again in the loss to Nebraska, as a few balls were shanked in Kingsley’s direction. Unlike previous years, Michigan went through their conference slate without picking up a win against one of the Big Ten’s marquee teams. They squandered their golden opportunity to do this with a five-set home loss to Minnesota after leading 2-0.
Michigan entered the NCAA tournament as the two seed in the Kentucky subregional. They defeated Northern Kentucky in the first round before falling to the SEC champs the following night.
2020 Preview:
Michigan may have a true freshman setter on deck. With the departure of Mackenzi Welsh, Michigan may turn to Scottee Johnson to take the reins in her first year with the Wolverines. In all fairness, this may not be the only Michigan school to break in a true freshman setter in 2020. Spoiler alert.
Cori Crocker is graduating, so the easiest fix for that dilemma may be to just get out of the goofy three-middle system that they ran last year. I could see them staying with that system if they feel comfortable with inserting Kiara Shannon back into the starting lineup after a one-year hiatus. I’ll let Mark work out the middle blocker spot and deal with my anxiety later.
Lest I forget to mention that Michigan finally gets Jess Mruzik on campus this year. She’ll start right away. I can see her playing six rotations, too. Paige Jones, of course, is back. Michigan’s success will be dependent on how quickly the true freshman duo develops. Time will tell.
Further Reading:
Michigan 2020 by bprtbone
Michigan 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Illinois Fighting Illini2019 Overall Record: 16-14
Conference Record: 11-9 (7th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: First Round (L, 2-3 vs Utah)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Chris Tamas (4th season at Illinois)
Record at Illinois: 71-29
Returning Starters:
Kennedy Collins, SO, 6'3" MB
Taylor Kuper, JR, 5'8" DS/L
Diana Brown, R-SO, 6'0" S
Mica Allison, JR, 6'0" S/RS
Megan Cooney, SR, 6'4" OH/RS
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Jacqueline Quade, 6'2" OH (Honorable Mention All-American)
Beth Prince, 6'3" OH
*Ashlyn Fleming, 6'4" MB
*Caroline Welsh, 5'8" DS
*Morgan O'Brien, SR, 5'8" L (No Longer on Roster)
Incoming Players:
Raina Terry, FR, 6'1" OH
Maddie Whittington, FR, 6'4" MB/RS
Sophie Gregus, FR, 6'1" OH/RS
2019 Summary:
Jordyn Poulter and Ali Bastianelli are hard to replace. 2019 was going to be our way of finding out just how hard it is.
Illinois started off with a pair of wacky five-set victories over Tennessee. The struggle bus got rolling with four consecutive losses to Washington, Colorado, Illinois State, and UCF. Illinois was caught facing these solid programs with a redshirt freshman setter, a true freshman middle blocker, and a multitude of injuries across the roster. The Illini picked up a good win over Marquette, however, and had a good performance in the conference opener against Nebraska before eventually falling in five sets. Despite their overall record in conference play, Illinois was particularly competitive in their matches against the top teams in the Big Ten. They let a 2-1 lead at Wisconsin slip away and fell to Penn State after leading 2-0.
Jacqueline Quade, a 2018 first-team all-American, had some ups and downs in her senior campaign. To be fair, the pins around her were never fully healthy. Beth Prince seldom played. Mica Allison, normally a setter, was summoned to play opposite. This makeshift lineup had Illinois teetering all year long, and they really tipped over in their loss to Northwestern in the season finale.
Despite this, Illinois made it into the NCAA tournament as one of the last four teams in. In all-too-familiar fashion, Illinois lost in the first round to Utah after leading the match two sets to one.
2020 Preview:
Illinois is now presented with two more players that are very difficult to replace in Jacqueline Quade and Ashlyn Fleming. Fleming’s spot will be filled by either Rylee Hinton or Kyla Swanson. Hinton was an early enrollee for 2019, so she may have the edge.
Figuring out the open OH spot is a tougher one for me. First, I have to wonder if Bruna Vrankovic is going to develop into the kind of offensive threat that the Illini expect her to be. If it’s not her in 2020, who else can the Illini go with? I can certainly envision Chris Tamas exploring the transfer market for an outside hitter unless there’s a spark from Vrankovic, Ellie Holzman, or even the true freshman, Raina Terry. This is the biggest question mark for me regarding Illinois.
The other element to this is that both Quade and departing defensive specialist Caroline Welsh were two of Illinois’ primary fixtures in serve receive and backcourt defense. Illinois will have to break in a young DS and find a new source of backcourt offense and passing from an outside hitter. Again, Illinois should explore the option of adding a new piece to their roster in the offseason. As of now, this looks like a bit of a transition year.
Further Reading:
Illinois 2020 by Pasquale
Illinois 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Ohio State Buckeyes2019 Overall Record: 15-17
Conference Record: 8-12 (8th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2016 -- Regional Semifinals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Jen Flynn Oldenburg (1st season at Ohio State)
Record at Ohio State: 0-0
Returning Starters:
Becca Mauer, SR, 5'9" S
Kylie Murr, SO, 5'6" L
Hannah Gruensfelder, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Gabby Gonzales, SO, 6'3" OH
Mac Podraza, SO, 6'2" S/RS
Lauren Witte, SR, 6'4" MB
Jenaisya Moore, SO, 6'0" OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Madison Smeathers, 6'3" MB (Graduate transfer to LBSU for beach)
Camry Halm, 5'2" DS/L
Abby Julian, 5'7" DS/L
*Bia Franklin, 5'11" DS/OH
*Elle Sandbothe, 6'0" MB
Incoming Players:
Emily Londot, FR, 6'4" RS
Sarah Morbitzer, FR, 5'5" DS/L
Rylee Rader, FR, 6'1" MB
Josie Vondran, JR, 6'0" S (Transfer from Dayton)
2019 Summary:
Allow me to impart a little factoid upon you fine folks: the only Buckeye to appear in every set OSU played this season was true freshman libero, Kylie Murr. I could realistically end the 2019 recap of Ohio State's season with this sentence and let that fact speak for itself, but my supervisor has informed me that I need to adhere to a certain word count. So, I'm going to keep talking.
Because Kylie Murr was the only constant for Ohio State this season, I had to be pretty judicious about who to consider a "starter" for the purposes of this composition. I tried to go to the Buckeye head coach to get his thoughts, but the receptionist told me he wasn't in the office today.
Bah. Enough. What I'm trying to communicate here is that an abundance of youth and a lack of lineup continuity ultimately led to an up-and-down season that, as a whole, was very substandard for The Ohio State University. OSU got pushed around by a few good teams from lower conferences like UW-Green Bay, Tulane, and Western Kentucky. Regarding conference play, Ohio State peaked from October 30th to November 8th. During this period, they lost a five-set heartbreaker at Minnesota and defeated conference champion Wisconsin. Things didn’t go well during any other time in the conference season, as they generally beat up on lower teams and got beat up by better teams. The home loss to Northwestern in straight sets late in the season, though, was a colossal disappointment that buried any outside chance of the Buckeyes making the postseason. Head coach Geoff Carlston was fired shortly after the conclusion of the season.
2020 Preview:
The first priority for Ohio State is to get a head coach. Wonderful analysis, I know. You’re welcome.
The second priority is for this unnamed coach person to hold on to the players on the roster as well as the players that are coming in. It’s certainly something to follow this offseason, and I’ll be sure to drop any updates on this thread.
If we can assume, as of the publication of this preview, that Ohio State holds on to everyone, then the Buckeyes have a nice corps of young talent for 2020. There were four freshman that received significant playing time for Ohio State last year (Murr, Gonzalez, Podraza, Moore). Murr will anchor the libero spot for the rest of her career. Gonzalez found her groove in a few matches late in the year. Moore got reps in the back row. I mean, this group could really put something together down the line.
I think the next head coach will find a way to put Londot and Rader on the floor. They’re both the kind of talented players that will jump out to a coach who is getting their first exposure to the Ohio State program and its players. Elle Sandbothe has finished her one year with the Buckeyes, meaning the chance is there for Rader. Londot, too, might be the best option on the right side once she steps on campus. In any case, I think it’s entirely possible that this young team, with a new head coach, might actually get a step better in 2020.
Further Reading:
Ohio State 2020 by volleynerdmw
Ohio State 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Carlston Out At Ohio State by andrewwmic
Jen Flynn Oldenburg Named Ohio State Women's Volleyball Head Coach
Michigan State Spartans2019 Overall Record: 15-15
Conference Record: 6-14 (9th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2017 -- Regional Finals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Cathy George (16th season at Michigan State)
Record at Michigan State: 287-203
Returning Starters:
Meredith Norris, SR, 6'3" OH
Jayme Cox, SR, 5'6" L
Biamba Kabengele, SO, 6'0" OH
Alyssa Chronowski, SR, 6'2" OH
Elena Shklyar, JR, 6'1" S
Lauren Swartz, R-SR, 6'5" RS
Naya Gros, JR, 6'3" MB
Molly Johnson, JR, 6'4" RS
Rebecka Poljan, JR, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
*Audrey Alford, 5'9" S
Maggie Midgette, 5'10" S
*Samantha McLean, 5'8" DS/L
Hannah Grant, 5'8" DS/L (Transfer to Michigan)
Incoming Players:
Celia Cullen, FR, 6'1" S
Sarah Franklin, FR, 6'4" OH
Lia Moore, FR, 6'0" OH
Cecilee Max-Brown, SO, 6'0" OH (Transfer from Oregon State)
2019 Summary:
Once again we find another team that played a metric ton of players in 2019. MSU's lineup carousel can be attributed to injuries, inconsistent individual performance, and running a 6-2. Graduate transfer setter Audrey Alford came in to set the offense with sophomore Elena Shklyar. Michigan State ran their pins “by committee” for much of the year, with six-rotation outside hitter Meredith Norris as one of the few constants in the lineup. Like Ohio State’s Kylie Murr, Naya Gros was the only player to appear in every set for Michigan State.
So, with a patchwork lineup, the Spartans naturally ran into some problems in 2019. These problems didn’t really start in non-conference, however, as Michigan State filled their schedule with a sweet batch of cupcakes. Indeed, the Spartans entered Big Ten play with just one loss. In conference play, however, MSU failed to pick up a win against a team in the top half of the Big Ten. They came close in the last weekend of the year with a five-set home loss to the Boilermakers, but just could never get it done. The Spartans also had their share of bad conference losses, including getting swept by Northwestern and Indiana.
It has been an uninspiring couple of years for the Michigan State volleyball program after the Super Squad reached the regional finals in 2017.
2020 Preview:
Did I mention that there was another Michigan team preparing to start a true freshman at setter? Here we are!
It feels like Michigan State just sleepwalked for the past two years in a non-viable 6-2 while waiting for Celia Cullen to arrive. Well, she’s here, and she better be ready. A local product and Legacy kid, Cullen will have to play across the net from her buddy Jess Mruzik for the next four years. That’s swell. Personally, I just want to see MSU go back to a 5-1.
Cullen aside, it’s easy to see that MSU has a lot of returning pin hitters with playing experience. Norris, as mentioned, has a lot of backcourt reps under her belt. There just needs to be some semblance of continuity with MSU’s hitters. Someone besides Norris needs to step up and show that they’re not content with hopping on and off the bench. Here’s hoping that some more consistent setting will put these pins in a better spot. But, if it’s the true freshman setting, that’s a lot to ask of a young player.
My parting remark here is that Jayme Cox will be entering her fourth year as a starter for Michigan State. If there is anyone one the roster that can anchor and lead this team, it is she.
Further Reading:
Michigan State 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Northwestern Wildcats2019 Overall Record: 14-18
Conference Record: 5-15 (T-10th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2010 -- Second Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Shane Davis (5th season at Northwestern)
Record at Northwestern: 54-74
Returning Starters:
Michelle Lee, JR, 5'7" DS/L
Lexi Pitsas, SR, 5'6" DS/L
Temi Thomas-Ailara, SO, 6'2" OH
Charlotte Cronister, SO, 5'7" DS/L
Nia Robinson, SR, 6'2" OH
Alana Walker, SR, 6'3" MB
Desiree Becker, SO, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
Allie Lindroth, 6'2" OH
Emily Ehman, 5'8" DS/L
Sarah Johnson, 5'7" DS/L
Olivia Viscuso, 6'0" MB
*Payton Chang, 5'10" S
Incoming Players:
Natalie Chizzo, FR, 6'3" OH
Alexa Rousseau, FR, 6'3" S
Megan Miller, JR, 5'6" DS/L (Transfer from Nebraska)
2019 Summary:
Temi Time!
Darn, my supervisor is chiming in again. Gotta write more stuff.
It’s hard to phrase this in a way that doesn’t sound totally goofy, but Northwestern showed at times last season that have somewhat of a pulse. And, if anything, true freshman outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara was the defibrillator. That’s the kind of player around which you build a struggling program. Upon arriving at Northwestern, Temi became the best player in the gym. Northwestern got some steady production from Alana Walker, Nia Robinson, Payton Chang, and others, but Temi was the star of the show. The overall record wasn’t great, but the level of play from the Wildcats saw some tangible improvement.
Northwestern’s non-conference schedule is highlighted by decent wins over Duke and American. The Wildcats, however, started Big Ten play by losing every match in the first half of conference play. This ten-match losing streak was capped off by a stunning loss at Rutgers, handing the Scarlet Knights their first conference victory in four years. To add injury to insult, Temi was hurt in that Rutgers match. But, because we live in Bizarro World, Northwestern followed up that embarrassing performance with a sweep of Michigan State. The Wildcats eventually avenged their Rutgers loss and defeated Ohio State and Maryland on the road. The season was capped off with a home victory over Illinois, a team on the tournament bubble.
2020 Preview:
True Freshman Setter: Part III? I reckon so.
Alexa Rousseau comes to Northwestern as Payton Chang completes her one year of eligibility with the program. Rousseau is already familiar with many of the players on the roster and should get first crack at taking over the offense. If it helps a young setter’s confidence, she gets to set Temi Thomas-Ailara. That’s helpful.
Overall, there’s a ton of returning production for the Wildcats. Alana Walker and Desiree Becker will hold things down in the middle. Charlotte Cronister, Lexi Pitsas, and Michelle Lee all return to anchor the backcourt. In time, I think Rousseau will prove to be an upgrade over anything Northwestern’s had at the setting position in quite a while.
Again, what can you say about the Wildcats? The gang’s all here! With this experienced group coming back, things are pointing in the right direction. I expect Northwestern to make some good strides in 2020, and perhaps finish with a winning record.
Further Reading:
Northwestern 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Maryland Terrapins2019 Overall Record: 13-19
Conference Record: 5-15 (T-10th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2005 -- Second Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Adam Hughes (3rd season at Maryland)
Record at Maryland: 31-33
Returning Starters:
Nicole Alford, SR, 6'1" S
Rainelle Jones, JR, 6'3" MB
Jada Gardner, R-JR, 6'1" MB/RS
Erika Pritchard, SR, 6'3" OH
Rebekah Rath, SO, 6'0" OH
Allegra Rivas, JR, 5'10" L
Departures (* denotes starter):
Nell Drummey, 5'4" DS/L
Taylor Smith, 6'0" S
Samantha Snyder, 5'9" S
Katie Myers, R-JR, 6'2" MB (Transfer to Minnesota)
Incoming Players:
Sam Csire, FR, 6'0" OH
Sydney Dowler, FR, 5'11" S
Laila Ricks, FR, 6'0"
2019 Summary:
I think a lot of us get the feeling that things could have (or should have) gone better for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2019. They had Erika Pritchard, Allegra Rivas, and Katie Myers had a wonderful presence on the floor. What went wrong?
Let’s look at how things went. Maryland got into several dogfights in their relatively weak non-conference schedule. They had five-set victories over Kansas State, Howard, and Princeton, and five-set losses to UT-Rio Grande Valley, Houston, George Mason, and South Carolina. The Terps were really busy. You’d like to think that a super talented pin hitter like Erika Pritchard could just solo blast these teams, but that was not the case. The setter that Maryland clearly wanted to use last year, Nicole Alford, was injured for about the first half of the season. Maryland was fidgeting with other lineup combinations in the middle and on the right. There was also a true freshman outside hitter across from Pritchard. Erika’s great, but the circumstances surrounding her weren’t the best.
Anyways, Maryland went into conference play and picked up their victories against the cellar dwellers of the Big Ten. The highlight of their year was perhaps taking Penn State to five sets in Rec Hall. In fact, that match was the only time all year that Maryland took a set off anyone that finished in the top half of the conference!
2020 Preview:
I really don’t see Maryland getting worse in 2020, because they already underachieved in 2019. Besides, I once again get to say that the gang’s all here! All major contributors return for the Terps. There’s that youth trend in the teams in the bottom half of the conference. Maryland’s got a solid freshman class coming in, but they might not need them yet.
With a little consistency in place now, does Pritchard heat up? She had an off year, but, as I’ve said, there were some extenuating circumstances. If they can get Pritchard back to playing to her potential, Maryland can return to the upset-minded fiends that they were before. The talent is there in a lot of spots. Allegra Rivas is a proven defender and passer. Katie Myers had a standout year and has a wicked serve. Nicole Alford looked good when she was finally able to crack the lineup. Jury’s out on how much improvement there will be with this familiar lineup, but there seems to be nowhere to go but up.
Further Reading:
Maryland 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Iowa Hawkeyes2019 Overall Record: 10-21
Conference Record: 4-16 (12th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 1994 -- First Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Vicki Brown (2nd season at Iowa)
Record at Iowa: 10-21
Returning Starters:
Joslyn Boyer, SO, 5'6" DS/L
Courtney Buzzerio, JR, 6'5" S/RS
Halle Johnston, SR, 5'10" L
Emma Lowes, SO, 5'7" S/DS
Brie Orr, SR, 5'10" S
Kyndra Hansen, SO, 6'2" OH
Amiya Jones, JR, 6'2" MB
Griere Hughes, SR, 5'11" OH
Maddie Slagle, JR, 5'9" DS/L
Hannah Clayton, JR, 6'2" MB
Departures (* denotes starter):
Meghan Buzzerio, 6'2" OH
Emily Bushman, 5'8" DS/L
Incoming Players:
Audrey Black, FR, 6'3" OH/RS
Leanne Lowry, FR, 5'11" DS/L
Bailey Ortega, FR, 5'9" S
2019 Summary:
Oh, Iowa. It was a weird one. It was an unlucky one. Let’s discuss your misfortunes, and hopefully lift you up at the end.
In the middle of non-conference play, redshirt senior and major contributor Meghan Buzzerio went down with a season-ending injury. M. Buzzerio had five matches with double-digit kills and two matches with over 20 kills in her short 2019 campaign. Before this derailing injury, Iowa managed to pick up a 3-0 sweep over Washington State on opening weekend. Things got tougher in non-conference, though, as Colorado and Washington both defeated the Hawkeyes to atone for their fallen Pac-12 comrade. Iowa then added non-conference losses to South Dakota (and lost M. Buzzerio for the season in this match), Coastal Carolina, and Iowa State.
Near the beginning of conference play, Iowa lost their setter and lifeblood, Brie Orr, to a concussion. Courtney Buzzerio, normally the team’s starting opposite, was forced into setting a 5-1 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa picked up a win in their conference opener against Northwestern before falling into a series of slumps that were interrupted by a couple of wins over Indiana. The tumult that this lineup caused was very evident, as the Hawkeyes were swept off their own floor by Rutgers. Brie Orr made a brief appearance in Iowa’s match at Michigan, in which the Hawkeyes ran a Buzzerio-Orr 6-2 and allowed Buzz to hit across the front row. Orr, however, did not make the trip to Nebraska the following Saturday. With Buzzerio and Emma Lowes running a 6-2, the Hawkeyes nearly shocked the Cornhuskers, and Buzzerio dropped a triple-double in a five-set losing effort. The Hawkeyes were able to finish their season with a victory over Maryland to end with four conference wins.
2020 Preview:
You didn’t think the youth trend was leaving, did you? Look, everyone’s back! If these Iowa players want a chance at a redemption season after what happened to them last year, this is the time to do it. Brie Orr will retake control of her team, and Buzzerio will be back on the right where she belongs. Kyndra Hansen and Griere Hughes return on the left. Can they start to make some noise with a more stable setting situation? Can Audrey Black make a case for starting as a true freshman? It remains to be seen how much Coach Brown will look to manipulate her lineup with practically everyone returning.
Here’s the bottom line: with a more consistent and injury-free lineup, Iowa has the potential to be the most improved team in the conference next year. I mean it. There’s an experienced setter, experienced libero, and their pins have all been acclimated to collegiate volleyball. I’d like to take a stab at which top team Iowa will upset next year and say that I “CALLED IT”, but I’m not gonna go there. Yet.
Further Reading:
Iowa 2020 by Hawk Attack
Iowa 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Indiana Hoosiers2019 Overall Record: 14-19
Conference Record: 3-17 (13th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 2010 -- Regional Semifinals)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Steve Aird (3rd season at Indiana)
Record at Indiana: 30-34
Returning Starters:
Bayli Lebo, SR, 5'7" DS/L
Breana Edwards, JR, 6'2" OH
Emily Fitzner, SO, 6'0" S
Kamryn Malloy, SR, 6'0" OH
Departures (* denotes starter):
Victoria Brisack, 6'0" S
*Hayden Huybers, 6'1" MB
Meaghan Koors, 5'8" DS/L
*Jacqui Armer, 6'3" MB
*Megan Sloan, 6'1" OH/RS
*Deyshia Lofton, 6'2" MB
Kendall Beerman, 6'2" OH
Incoming Players:
Leyla Blackwell, FR, 6'4" MB
Savannah Kjolhede, FR, 6'3" MB/RS
Tommi Stockham, FR, 6'2" OH
Elle Hillers, FR, 6'3" MB
Morgan Geddes, FR, 6'2" OH
Grae Gosnell, FR, 5'11" OH
Britt Soudan, FR, 5'7" DS/L
Olivia Panepinto, FR, 5'9" S
Brooke Westbeld, SR, 6'2" S (Transfer from Dayton)
2019 Summary:
I’ve used “disappointment” and other similar words to describe some teams in this thread, but Indiana may be a leading candidate for Disappointment of the Year. The 2019 Hoosiers featured a large senior class of players who got significant playing time over their careers. The team moved in to a new arena. Steve Aird was entering his second year at Indiana. And things just didn’t go right.
Indiana started the year 3-0 before being swept by a remarkably physical Santa Clara team. Besides dropping a tough match to Oklahoma, the Hoosiers made it through the rest of their non-conference slate unscathed, including a shocking 3-2 win at Kentucky.
Indiana’s results in conference play show what could have been and how close they were to actually reaching their potential. They fought hard at Wisconsin. They lost a five-set heartbreaker to Purdue at home. They got reverse swept by Maryland twice. In the latter Maryland match, sophomore Breana Edwards dropped 39 kills in a losing effort and then did not play another set all year. In a field of seniors, it was actually Edwards who took the big swings for the Hoosiers last year. Indiana needs to hope for more of the same in the years to come.
2020 Preview:
The giant senior class is gone, and a giant freshman class emerges. Who among you is ready for the big-time volleyball?
Seriously, though, this is going to be a very young and inexperienced Indiana squad next year. If Steve Aird spent his first two years at Indiana just waiting until he had the chance to flip the roster and bring in his own players, then his moment has arrived. Nevertheless, this major upheaval will likely lead to some growing pains for the young Hoosier squad. Indiana is losing three middle blockers with significant playing experience, meaning any one of the incoming freshman middle blockers could see the court in 2020. Indiana will need a couple of pin hitters, too, and the late Signing Day addition of Tommi Stockham helps a lot. She’ll have a chance to play right away. Indiana also has right-side hitter Kari Zumach, who transferred from Creighton last year, waiting in the wings. She should get her opportunity soon enough.
The IU press release for the 2020 signing class calls the incoming freshman “elite”. They may need to be elite this season, or else the Hoosiers could find themselves limping along with their unfamiliar roster.
Further Reading:
Indiana 2020 Recruiting Class Press Release
Rutgers Scarlet Knights2019 Overall Record: 8-23
Conference Record: 2-18 (14th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A (Last tournament appearance: 1982 -- First Round)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Caitlin Schweihofer (1st season at Rutgers)
Record at Rutgers: 0-0
Returning Starters:
Beka Kojadinovic, SR, 6'1" RS
Anastasiia Maksimova, JR, 6'1" OH
Inna Balyko, JR, 6'0" S
Departures (* denotes starter):
Stasa Miljevic, 6'2" MB
*Karysa Swackenberg, 5'8" L
*Jasmine Stackhouse, 6'3" MB
*Merle Weidt, JR, 6'1" MB (Transfer to Arizona)
Yana Kamshilina, SR, 6'1" OH (No Longer on Roster)
Anastasiya Kudryashova, JR, 6'4" OH (Transfer to Penn State)
Caitlin Kikta, R-FR, 5'8" S (Transfer to UC Irvine)
Tali Marmen, JR, 6'2" OH (Transfer to UCF)
Incoming Players:
Madyson Chitty, FR, 5'5" DS/L
Lauren DeLo, R-FR, 6'2" S (Transfer from Ole Miss)
Kristina Grkovic, FR, 6'2" MB
Shealyn McNamara, SR, 6'2" MB (Transfer from Auburn)
Mary Kate Painter, SR, 5'4" DS/L (Transfer from UCF)
Antypa Stella, FR, 5'11" OH
2019 Summary:
Rutgers won a conference match for the first time in four years. Close the thread.
Ah, okay, let’s talk about ‘em. You know I got mad love for Rutgers. It’s no coincidence that Rutgers and Russia start with the same two letters. Rutgers had a quartet of Russians. Eight out of the thirteen players on their 2019 roster are international players. Their setter, Inna Balyko, is the best of them all. She might be the best player Rutgers has had this century. Or ever. The former Russian Youth National teamer has great hands and a wonderfully deceptive setter dump. Balyko got improved production from her pins, particularly Tali Marmen and Anastasiia Maksimova. The middle blocker position was a bit of a musical chairs rendition once Stackhouse went down with an injury in the middle of conference play. So, Stackhouse, Stasa Miljevic, and Merle Weidt all got significant playing time. Karysa Swackenberg held the libero spot for the entire year, as she was the only defensive specialist on the 2019 roster. Seriously. As you can imagine, the left side hitters were expected to pass a lot of balls.
Rutgers got their six non-conference wins in consecutive matches; three at home, and three at Colgate. In the tenth match of conference play, Rutgers pulled off a miraculous 3-2 win against Northwestern at home to win their first conference match in four years! The Scarlet Knights the rode this wave of momentum to a 3-0 sweep at Iowa! I don’t really need to tell you about any of the other conference matches. But the Rutgers athletic department was so thrilled by this breakthrough in conference play that they fired their head coach, CJ Werneke.
2020 Preview:
I don’t know. Listen, not only is CJ Werneke gone, but Anna Khrystenko is not listed on the website either. She’s the Ukrainian National Team coach who helped bring all these international players to Rutgers in the first place. I don’t know who’s staying. It’s a shame, because they have a great group of players they could bring back. Balyko has yet another year to work with the same set of pin hitters. You’d figure that the true freshman DS that’s coming in has a good chance of starting, unless a transfer is brought in. Other than that, the roster is pretty well set barring a possible exodus.
The offseason will change a lot of things within this program. We’ll know more soon.
Further Reading:
Rutgers 2020 by rainbowbadger
CJ Werneke Deserves a Medal by silversurfer
Rutgers Names Caitlin Schweihofer Head Women's Volleyball Coach
Volleyball Announces Incoming 2020 Recruiting Class
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And that’s it. I was going to include a TLDR, but I’m too lazy. Enjoy this post if you dare.
In all seriousness, I look forward to the many great discussion to come with some of the great people here. Exciting times (and a lot of updates!) to come.
2020 starts now.
