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Post by midnightblue on Jan 7, 2020 17:52:44 GMT -5
I am going to approach this with a comment from a wholly different angle. What's occurring at Pitt is nothing short of amazing, NCAA WVB-wise. I'm a grad, and fan, of the top DI WVB program in history. THAT being said, it took about a decade for Don Shaw and Stanford to finally win a NC: after three title match defeats. Shaw was labelled as the coach who "never can win the big one" (he eventually won 4 titles; in the AVCA Hall-Of-Fame; etc.). For Pitt to even be in the conversation, historically speaking, is a fantastic accomplishment! Hang in there, Pitt & Dan. And then once Shaw broke down the door, Russ Rose inherited the 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' title in the late nineties... and well, we know what happened.
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Pitt 2020
Jan 7, 2020 17:58:30 GMT -5
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Post by jasonr on Jan 7, 2020 17:58:30 GMT -5
Pitt, and the other top ACC teams, need the mid-level and cellar dwellers to improve. That will make the biggest impact on their postseason success. Their league isn’t very good at all IMO. They went undefeated really easily after losing starting setter in pre season. 10 weeks is a long time to go unchallenged Louisville and Georgia Tech are on the rise. They need FSU to take another step up and UNC to return to old form (might not happen since Eve left). That would make five good teams. Clemson has talent, but they haven't been able to put it together. It's tough. Might be a few more years to develop the top half of the league.
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Post by friendlybanter on Jan 7, 2020 18:00:43 GMT -5
The good thing for Pitt is that volleyball in the ACC may be on an upswing. Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame all return a lot and all should be good next year. Florida State And North Carolina are always usually decent. If they can keep the Home and Home with Penn State they should be fine.
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Post by jasonr on Jan 7, 2020 18:02:18 GMT -5
I am going to approach this with a comment from a wholly different angle. What's occurring at Pitt is nothing short of amazing, NCAA WVB-wise. I'm a grad, and fan, of the top DI WVB program in history. THAT being said, it took about a decade for Don Shaw and Stanford to finally win a NC: after three title match defeats. Shaw was labelled as the coach who "never can win the big one" (he eventually won 4 titles; in the AVCA Hall-Of-Fame; etc.). For Pitt to even be in the conversation, historically speaking, is a fantastic accomplishment! Hang in there, Pitt & Dan. And then once Shaw broke down the door, Russ Rose inherited the 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' title in the late nineties... and well, we know what happened. It didn't hurt when Salima joined the staff in 2006. Russ is a sharpshooter but Salima procured the ammunition.
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Post by hammer on Jan 7, 2020 19:48:38 GMT -5
The good thing for Pitt is that volleyball in the ACC may be on an upswing. Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame all return a lot and all should be good next year. Florida State And North Carolina are always usually decent. If they can keep the Home and Home with Penn State they should be fine. The ACC was down last year. In fact, it was almost embarrassing. Fortunately, Pitt sort of saved their bacon and I suppose you could argue L'ville chipped in too, but traditional powers like UNC and FSU underperformed. I agree that they (almost) have to be stronger in 2020.
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Post by Wiswell on Jan 7, 2020 21:13:31 GMT -5
The Peterson Events Center is a nice facility, but it hasn't been very kind to the team. They might start by ditching playing critical games there. Fitzgerald is a decent sized facility and actually a sellout there, which would be fewer than the 6,000 they got for the PSU match, would be a much better atmosphere.
I think the fact that Fisher signed a 7 year deal will attract recruits. Recruits would have some level of legitimate concern that a coach of his caliber would bolt to the Big Ten or a Cal school at the earliest convenience. It seems that fear has passed which can only be good for the program.
They also need to continue to have a brutal pre-conference schedule.
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Post by cindra on Jan 7, 2020 21:24:13 GMT -5
The Peterson Events Center is a nice facility, but it hasn't been very kind to the team. They might start by ditching playing critical games there. Fitzgerald is a decent sized facility and actually a sellout there, which would be fewer than the 6,000 they got for the PSU match, would be a much better atmosphere. I've said this before, but playing in the Pete is bad juju. The fitz sits 4100 and has more room for standing room at the ends of the court. Place would be a zoo for a good matchup. It gets really loud even at half capacity like it was for the Oregon match. They are installing AC over the summer so there shouldn't be worries about how hot it was for some OOC games.
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Pitt 2020
Jan 8, 2020 0:28:02 GMT -5
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Post by odinaka on Jan 8, 2020 0:28:02 GMT -5
Not sure how you arrived at the plan this past season being a 6-2 prior to injury Thought fisher said that in some Post Gazette or VB Mag article about akeo. Am I remembering wrong? You’re right. That was the plan.
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Post by aardvark on Jan 8, 2020 7:17:26 GMT -5
The ACC was down last year. In fact, it was almost embarrassing. Fortunately, Pitt sort of saved their bacon and I suppose you could argue L'ville chipped in too, but traditional powers like UNC and FSU underperformed. I agree that they (almost) have to be stronger in 2020. Eh. The ACC was the 5th best conference last year and this year. Your statement about them being down was mostly due to how they performed in the NCAA tourney compared to their seeding. That's putting a lot of responsibility of judgment on a few matches at the end of the year, ignoring what happened before then. This sport is gradually "spreading out" and other conferences like the ACC should continue to slowly rise in relation to the traditional powers. It will just take a long time to happen. Look at the SEC, which is the 4th best conference for a clue as to what the ACC should be like in another 5 years in this sport.
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Post by gibbyb1 on Jan 8, 2020 13:22:14 GMT -5
The ACC was down last year. In fact, it was almost embarrassing. Fortunately, Pitt sort of saved their bacon and I suppose you could argue L'ville chipped in too, but traditional powers like UNC and FSU underperformed. I agree that they (almost) have to be stronger in 2020. Eh. The ACC was the 5th best conference last year and this year. Your statement about them being down was mostly due to how they performed in the NCAA tourney compared to their seeding. That's putting a lot of responsibility of judgment on a few matches at the end of the year, ignoring what happened before then. This sport is gradually "spreading out" and other conferences like the ACC should continue to slowly rise in relation to the traditional powers. It will just take a long time to happen. Look at the SEC, which is the 4th best conference for a clue as to what the ACC should be like in another 5 years in this sport. 5th best means worst as it relates to power 5 conferences, resources, budget.... they had 9 teams fairly well below 100 rpi. The ACC as a league stunk and how they did in NCAA is nothing compared to how they did regular season.
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Pitt 2020
Jan 8, 2020 13:58:44 GMT -5
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Post by staticb on Jan 8, 2020 13:58:44 GMT -5
Talked to a mom of one of the players on the team. Obviously were (and still are) devastated by the loss. Thought this was there year to go further—players have the same “what do we have to do to take the next step mentality?” Team was tight and worried they won’t be as good next season but underclassmen willing to step up. Admits that when Cinci’s fight caught them a little of guard they hadn’t played Thompson since she went to the left side and they seemed like a totally different team after that move.
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Pitt 2020
Jan 9, 2020 9:35:35 GMT -5
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Post by cindra on Jan 9, 2020 9:35:35 GMT -5
Anyone know who incoming freshmen are besides Flood? I only know of her because there was a press release about it.
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Post by aardvark on Jan 9, 2020 13:54:59 GMT -5
5th best means worst as it relates to power 5 conferences, resources, budget.... they had 9 teams fairly well below 100 rpi. The ACC as a league stunk and how they did in NCAA is nothing compared to how they did regular season. Incorrect. Only eight ACC teams fell below the 100 RPI mark: BC (122), Miami (137), Duke (139), Clemson (151), NC State (157), Virginia (169), Wake (195), and VT (216). Seven were above your artificial plateau of "stunkiness".
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Pitt 2020
Jan 9, 2020 14:07:17 GMT -5
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Post by wishinwestcoastvb on Jan 9, 2020 14:07:17 GMT -5
At least the ACC had a team make it to the Elite 8 lol
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Post by raian13 on Jan 9, 2020 16:39:40 GMT -5
At least the ACC had a team make it to the Elite 8 lol And Pitt takes a credit for it?
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