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Post by coug94 on Jun 20, 2020 4:49:33 GMT -5
Angelos Mandilaris confirmed he’s heading to Ball State from Barton. Will give Lewis trouble no doubt, and lLoyola didn’t look good this season.
the 2nd tier teams will likely have no shot at winning the conference, PFW lost their OH, OSU played bad and new recruits unlikely to elevate them to challenge Lewis and Ball.
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Post by france123 on Jun 20, 2020 5:41:14 GMT -5
Angelos Mandilaris confirmed he’s heading to Ball State from Barton. Will give Lewis trouble no doubt, and lLoyola didn’t look good this season. the 2nd tier teams will likely have no shot at winning the conference, PFW lost their OH, OSU played bad and new recruits unlikely to elevate them to challenge Lewis and Ball. I think PFW will still be 5th behind Loyola next year. My order is now gonna be(if this is all confirmed) Lewis, Ball State, Ohio State, Loyola and PFW.
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Post by midwestvball1 on Jun 20, 2020 9:19:59 GMT -5
So Ball State lost a solid OPP in Szews and picks up another solid OPP in Angelos. This is a wash. It looks like Lewis smoked Barton in the 2020 season and beat Ball State at Ball State. I would throw Ball State at #2 only if they moved Angelos to OH and had Szews at OPP for a Covid-19 extension year. Is Szews coming back or any of the other seniors: Reardon and Romano?
Two things that are interesting:
1. Surprised that Ball State has a significant scholarship $$$ left over to get him even at a grad school rates. They must not be using all their $$$ on current students. Or it could be the isolation in the cornfields. 2. How much non-muscle weight is he going to gain. I mean look at the roster photo. Some Husky boys.
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Post by MVBFAN on Jun 20, 2020 12:43:43 GMT -5
I would also throw McKendree in the mix!
Nicki has done a great job with that program.
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Post by digs4days on Jun 20, 2020 18:28:32 GMT -5
I would also throw McKendree in the mix! Nicki has done a great job with that program. Agreed, heard they picked up a pretty solid 5th year transfer Opp, not sure who though.
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Post by hamberders on Jun 21, 2020 19:13:21 GMT -5
The miva will likely be determined by who comes back for an extra senior year. Szews for Barton is probably a toss up trade but I was still waiting for Szews to get to the next level. Lewis and McKendree would have graduated a lot, but bringing guys back would be huge especially for Lewis. Same with Vargas for IPFW. Ohio state and loyola I’m sure were hoping those teams would drop down a level rather than somehow bringing guys back again and getting better which is a big big deal.
And the joke about ball state and their fitness is great. They clearly enjoy some beers more than their competition
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rstclaire1
Sophomore
VLA commentator/podcast host, Purdue alum, Chicago based
Posts: 227
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Post by rstclaire1 on Jun 22, 2020 18:42:54 GMT -5
I would also throw McKendree in the mix! Nicki has done a great job with that program. Agreed, heard they picked up a pretty solid 5th year transfer Opp, not sure who though. Evan Gebert, from NAIA's Lourdes.
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Post by bruinsgold on Jun 22, 2020 20:36:05 GMT -5
The miva will likely be determined by who comes back for an extra senior year. Szews for Barton is probably a toss up trade but I was still waiting for Szews to get to the next level. Lewis and McKendree would have graduated a lot, but bringing guys back would be huge especially for Lewis. Same with Vargas for IPFW. Ohio state and loyola I’m sure were hoping those teams would drop down a level rather than somehow bringing guys back again and getting better which is a big big deal. And the joke about ball state and their fitness is great. They clearly enjoy some beers more than their competition Lewis is bringing back Coenen and I think that's the only significant senior they were losing in terms of starters. I thought I read that McKendree was returning all their seniors. I don't think Vargas is returning.
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Post by bruinsgold on Jun 22, 2020 20:39:36 GMT -5
I would also throw McKendree in the mix! Nicki has done a great job with that program. I'm shocked they're not being mentioned in the Top 3 in terms of what they have to offer next year. Lewis will still be really good, but the other programs seemed to be trying to find their identity this past year and, most, not very successfully. Loyola will be interesting with the hopeful return of Zolg. I think McKendree will be solid and very competitive.
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Post by midwestvball1 on Jun 22, 2020 22:15:58 GMT -5
Gebert and Zach are both Opposites for McKendree. Who moves to OH? Can they pass?
Coenen and Bugee are both returning for a Covid year for Lewis.
I would think many of the 10 incoming freshmen will play for Loyola since this past year's freshmen class was a dud. That is a big class. I would hate to be in the 2021 class going to Loyola after such a large class.
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Post by robonthemic on Jun 22, 2020 22:42:11 GMT -5
Best team by far IMO will be Lewis with both their OHs Coenen/Bugee and Tyler Mitchem in the MH. Throw in the 6'8" SO Setter (with a half-season under his belt) in Kevin Kauling and Coach Friend has to be a very early season favorite.
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Post by coug94 on Jul 8, 2020 22:05:31 GMT -5
Best team by far IMO will be Lewis with both their OHs Coenen/Bugee and Tyler Mitchem in the MH. Throw in the 6'8" SO Setter (with a half-season under his belt) in Kevin Kauling and Coach Friend has to be a very early season favorite. I agree Lewis is head and shoulders above all others. In my opinion, in the next 2-3 seasons Lindenwood will be at or above McKendree.
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Post by dadovball on Jul 9, 2020 11:55:22 GMT -5
Last year Lewis was cruising to the conference title, the only hope to win the conference tournament for teams like McKendree, Lindenwood, Ball State and maybe IPFW was the hickup against McKendree the first match in conference. The only other set they dropped was at Ball State. Lewis was a dark horse national contender, a few balls bounce differently vs Hawaii and they beat Hawaii on Jan 17. They will be the prohibitive favorite in 2021 for a number of reasons, not a small one is that there are few if any distractions from volleyball on the campus of Lewis. I think PFW and even Quincy and McKendree look like hip and happening places compared to Lewis. And good for Dan for running a pretty tight ship. And it helps to have one 1st team all American, either Coenen (go Wisconsin -I like to follow the Wisconsin kids and the programs they play for) or Mitchem, and a 2nd team AA, either Coenen or Mitchem. Or they might both be first team, I just doubt it since this is not a team from CA. If these boys/men are any kind of students, the academic scholarships available at Lewis are amazing, which has to help in the recruiting process.
Nice pick up from Barton for Ball State, I think both Reardon and the libero LaVanchy are coming back, pretty sure Romano and 99% sure Szews will not be coming back. Ball State will give it a run, but will need to figure out if Reardon is O2 or OPP, same for the Barton transfer. Even with a shortened season, Szews finished like 2nd all time at BSU in kills, points and swings and 1st in aces, but I think they can plug that gap effectively with the current roster. Ball State could end up in second. Regarding Grad Students, I thought that scholarships were 100% dependent on the grad school program, with little to nothing coming out of athletics. What are you all hearing?
Loyola gets Zolg back, and has a deep talent pool to draw from. They are a big question mark because Zolg makes everyone else a better, but different, player, makes team chemistry different and there are one or three freshmen that can have a huge impact, or might not see the court at all. Zolg makes such a difference that it is more difficult to look at 2020 and forecast who will play and how in 2021. It will boil down to if and how new and returning players win the confidence of Hulse. Some very talented players will never see the court and eventually drop from volleyball or transfer from Loyola and be studs wherever they end up. Same will happen at Lewis. That is a nice problem to have, but it is a problem that can affect team chemistry. Assistant coach McCarthy should still be able to scout the Lewis game plan better than anyone else. Loyola could go from not very good in 2020 to second in 2021, with the best chance to knock off Lewis at home.
Ohio State is still rebuilding, with a new and talented coach molding the team, they have some talent, but not enough to challenge Lewis next year.
Lindenwood seems to always over perform, so much so that maybe we need to revise our expectations of Lindenwood. Always tough at Lindenwood, they are starting to get better talent, and if they can get a kid to tour their campus and buy into the program, the school has a ton to offer including the business community that is St Louis. If they work at it, they should start to be able to pull better talent from Illinois and Wisconsin, and even Texas and California given the success of the program and what the school can offer. They could very well end up in second because they seem to set players up for success with decent team chemistry, and you might have 3, 4 or 5 losses and still take second.
McKendree has arguably the best coach in the league, and McKendree is capable of beating anyone any night. They too are getting better and better talent and also could end up taking second.
If Vargas comes back for PFW they will make noise, but I just don't see the consistency that is required to finish second in the league. They can absolutely crush a team one set and look merely average the next. When they play with a ton of energy, they could beat anyone at IPFW, but it seems that if they get down, the energy level drops off a cliff. I don't know who they have coming back so I really can't comment any further.
Congrats to Quincy on getting a conference win last season. If they can build around their lIbero Hannoun they will get another win or three next season.
I just hope there is a season, and that Wisconsin's Landon Krause (Lewis), Parker Van Buren (Loyola), Bryce Beherndt (Ball State), Jack Yentz (Loyola) Brian Voight (Loyola), Mitch Geiger (PFW), Nathan Lawton (Quincy), Jeremy Kirch (Lindenwood), Drake Muhlenbeck (Quincy) and Blake Sprecher if he comes back (Quincy) get to see the court.
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Post by WildwoodVB on Jul 9, 2020 12:25:08 GMT -5
The miva will likely be determined by who comes back for an extra senior year. Szews for Barton is probably a toss up trade but I was still waiting for Szews to get to the next level. Lewis and McKendree would have graduated a lot, but bringing guys back would be huge especially for Lewis. Same with Vargas for IPFW. Ohio state and loyola I’m sure were hoping those teams would drop down a level rather than somehow bringing guys back again and getting better which is a big big deal. And the joke about ball state and their fitness is great. They clearly enjoy some beers more than their competition Lewis is bringing back Coenen and I think that's the only significant senior they were losing in terms of starters. I thought I read that McKendree was returning all their seniors. I don't think Vargas is returning. Vargas IS returning. As well as the other two impactuful seniors from a year ago. PFW will be in the thick of things.
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Post by bruinsgold on Jul 9, 2020 14:55:50 GMT -5
Lewis is bringing back Coenen and I think that's the only significant senior they were losing in terms of starters. I thought I read that McKendree was returning all their seniors. I don't think Vargas is returning. Vargas IS returning. As well as the other two impactuful seniors from a year ago. PFW will be in the thick of things. He saw my post and decided to prove me wrong. It's the only explanation. I will not be accepting any questions or requests to bring back anyone else's favorite MIVA stars at this time.
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