Post by volleyheels10 on Jan 14, 2020 13:33:33 GMT -5
The ACC did not show a ton of flash this year in the tournament, but did have some surprises...
Pitt knocked out in the second round at home again, Louisville upsetting #2 Texas on the road, and ND/FSU knocked out first round. Nice to see Ga Tech win the NIVC.
This Years Standings (2019):
1. Pitt: Lose VanBuskirk, Markovic, Williams, Hillegas: Return Lund, NDEE, and should get Levers back. Can they find a libero and make up for lost offense? Focke should help.
2. Georgia Tech: Lose Komby in the middle but return their core. Can they continue trending up or will they have a tougher schedule?
3. Notre Dame: IMO Brings in the best class in the ACC. Will have height and depth and if healthy lots of offense. However, can they cut down on unforced errors?
Louisville: Debeer will really help give offense from pin to pin and with Stevenson, Tillman, and Jones, they have a ton offense. They should be best in the ACC if they can pass more consistently.
North Carolina: Losing Harrison (kill leader) is huge. But, UNC relied on her too often. Can they find ways to make the offense more spread. Ton of offensive weapons that are versatile (Howard, Cox, Peck, Merkler, Phegley), Wurl and Reed will battle for libero, but can they get better setting?
FSU: Caffrey is a lot of production lost. FSU struggled so much in the passing department. Chacon and Nunge I expect to be big this year as will Knuth in her last ride. Can Martin be a bigger force? FSU is going to need to figure out its back row issues.
7. Boston College: BC started strong but let off the gas. Strawberry, McCaa, Amaka Ch. provide good offense. Baum solid libero. But they have some setting to replace and need more offensive distribution.
8. Syracuse: This is a team I am watching in 2020.....they were very young and took down some very good teams. Shemanova will return with versatile Kerakasi setting. Will need to replace their libero, but have a good amount of meshing talent.
9. Miami: This team also was very young but with a tremendous amount of talent. Vach should return and needs to develop some deceptiveness and confidence. With Prince, Kalanivalu, Lukianova, there is a good core to build around.
NC State: A lot of questions surround the program regarding head coach.....NCSU has some big pieces to fill. They lack a solid middle, consistent setting. Good pin pieces in Rowland, Parchment, Evans, and newly transferred in Ferguson. Frazier, if healthy, should anchor them. But losing Terry, Kemp, Irvin are not small losses.
11. Virginia: Smith will have a more experienced group to work with and develop this year. Losing a setter but bringing in some strong recruits.
Duke: Duke had a very off year. Amos is a big loss. I was surprised at the lack of consistency this year. Duke really needs better defensive game. Owokiniran cannot be the only offense. They need more people to be able to put a ball away. Maybe Nazor can be more consistent in a potential 5-1.
Clemson: By far the most underperforming team in the ACC....and may soon be making a big jump to the top half with 4 incoming high school all Americans and the return of Korte, Slavik, Bailey, and Thomas
14. Wake Forest: Rossenfoss and Della are big losses and were the motors of the team...however Smart is a great coach and things started coming together for WF. With Seuss, Kuhn, Smart and returning setting, WF has potential to move up this year
VA Tech: Jackson and Mosley were some bright spots for the Hokies. Powell is oozing with potential. Smith up and down. Wilson has got to get to the fundamentals if she wants this team to improve.
Teams to Watch:
Louisville, GA Tech, Notre Dame
Teams with Biggest Question Marks:
Pitt, UNC, FSU
Biggest Movers Up:
Clemson
NC State
Miami
Of course, bunch of this hinges on the make of the ACC Schedule.