NAIA 2024

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Grand View with the sweep. 25-22, 25-23, 25-17. Ayala from Lourdes played really well. They use him and Opp-Badarne most of the time. Grand View had Galili playing OH which put him in the passing rotation. That is where I would serve every ball, but he did hit very well from the left, which was a bit of a surprise.

Next up is William Penn vs OUAZ. I have OUAZ winning 3-1.

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OUAZ beats William Penn 3-1. 25-27, 25-19, 25-20, 31-29.

Of the 6 teams that I have been able to watch so far, here is how I would rank them. Looking forward to watching Indian Tech vs Georgetown (edited to add thoughts after first two set of IT vs Georgetown before switching over to Masters vs St X)  but mainly The Master’s vs Saint Xavier later tonight. I look forward to watching all weekend.

OUAZ- OH1- Outin is a beast and complimented very well with OH2-Nestah and Freshman Opp- Smith. Grand View transfer setter- Meyer has a great serve and a left handed threat at the net.

William Penn- Opp-Krause is able to dominate and they have a good OH1 in Papes. Figy is very solid middle. This three headed dragon gives them plenty of hitting options. Helmick is a good setter but is hurt by his height and WP is forced to do a double sub (also taking Krause out in back row which hurts) when he is front row late in a tight game. Also Krause passes when he can as the try to hide Papes.

Grand View- Might have the best middle in the nation with Danny Wong. Solid OH in Valdez and Galili. Left handed Galili is moving from opp and I wonder how well he will be able to pass all year (not great today) and hit from the left side (did great today). Still wonder if an outside is hurt right now and Galili will be going back to opp once they are back. Grand View might be better than William Penn and OUAZ but their competition wasn't as strong so hard to tell. Tomorrow will tell us more.

Park- Joao Friedrich is one of the NAIA’s best OH and can dominate a match (2022 Nationals vs OUAZ comes to mind with 30 kills on 57 swings). They didn’t seem to have a lot of hitting options outside of Friedrich but it was just a “scrimmage”. They will miss Esselfie who transferred to Mo Valley.

Georgetown returns all their starters from last year except for Opp-Liam Morrisey. To fill that gap, Kowalski moved to Opp and a new OH2 comes in. If they can keep both Gunn and Kowalski happy with their volume, they can will be right there at the end. They are still very solid if they can keep their emotions in check. They were much more physical than Indiana Tech but make too many unforced errors. (Only watched the first two sets)



Indiana Tech also returns also everybody. Daynte Stewart is a high flier but struggled against Georgetown. Siragusa was the better outside tonight. I do think they are better than Lourdes and should win the WHAC but it will come down to those two teams. (Only watched the first two sets)


Lourdes- Very one dimensional. OH-Ayala is their go to and if he has an off night they will be in trouble.

Missouri Valley- Got two transfers from Park in Opp- Esselfie and MH- Isernhagen (makes me wonder if Isernhagen was kicked off of park after his antics against BenU at Nationals last year). Esselfie has a monster night against Quincy and they didn’t seem to have many other options and got stuck in a lot of rotations. Also just a “scrimmage” so I would like to see them against NAIA competition in a match that matters. This was a team I thought had a chance to win the Heart, but don’t think so anymore (I know, I know, they haven’t even played a match that counts yet).

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Indiana Tech beats Georgetown in 5.

The Maters beats Saint Xavier in 4 (35-33 in fourth). Saint X playing without Oskar Krzyzak. Shane Ooms was phenomenal.

I expect both of these teams to be right near the top all year long.

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The Master's has a very balanced attack and I think they are actually better than last year's team. Hard to replace Flexon, but having very good hitters at all 5 positions is going to keep opposing teams off balance and make the team better. New additions of S-Paragas, OH1-Oliver and MH1-Mullins plus Opp-Seltzer is better than last year makes this a very formidable team. Match against Grand View today will be fun to watch.

Saint Xavier had great hitting from their Pins. Ooms had 20 kills and hit .792% from the opp position. Pennala had 18 kills but 8 errors. Overall, the Pins looked unstoppable at times. The Saint Xavier vs OUAZ match should be a battle tonight.

[Fight On!]

Morningside d. Missouri S & T: 3-2

[whacvolleyball]

Jamestown 3-0 over Lourdes.

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Masters and Grand View going 5. The difference in this match has been the serving. Masters with 6 aces and 24 misses. Grand View with 7 and 13.

Galili back to Opp and Annichini playing OH. Grand View looks like a way different (better) team compared to yesterday.

[photogirl]

The Master's with a hard fought 5 set win. 25-22, 14-25, 22-25, 26-19, 15-13. From what I have seen, these look like the best two teams. Of course, that is without seeing #1 Vanguard and #2 BenU Mesa hit the courts yet.

[naiamvbfan]

Thoughts so far:
1. Vanguard (haven’t seen)
2. Benu (I’d expect this to be the top team but haven’t seen them)
3. Masters (very balanced)
4. Grand View (very balanced)
5. OUAZ
6. Park
7. Saint Xavier (need to get win to prove it but they have potential)

GSAC will be battle again between top 3. Leaning towards Grand View as the team to beat in HOA but I haven’t seen Missouri Baptist or Mount Mercy yet. Missouri Valley was alittle disappointing in scrimmage vs Quincy. Park will be top 3 in HOA. I haven’t seen any change to William Penn from past to make me think they can be the top team.

[photogirl]

Jan 26, 2024 22:01:31 GMT -5 naiamvbfan said:

Thoughts so far:
1. Vanguard (haven’t seen)
2. Benu (I’d expect this to be the top team but haven’t seen them)
3. Masters (very balanced)
4. Grand View (very balanced)
5. OUAZ
6. Park
7. Saint Xavier (need to get win to prove it but they have potential)

GSAC will be battle again between top 3. Leaning towards Grand View as the team to beat in HOA but I haven’t seen Missouri Baptist or Mount Mercy yet. Missouri Valley was alittle disappointing in scrimmage vs Quincy. Park will be top 3 in HOA. I haven’t seen any change to William Penn from past to make me think they can be the top team.

Good rundown. I do think that Grand View and Saint Xavier are the top two teams east of the Rockies. Followed by Park and William Penn. the power is still out west with Vanguard and BenU still being “slightly” unknown but big victories by the preseason 3rd and 4th “best” teams from out west.

[naiamvbfan]

Jamestown with the big upset over OUAZ. Didn’t get to watch it but OUAZ with 40 hitting errors.

[franknvb]

Jan 27, 2024 16:07:56 GMT -5 naiamvbfan said:

Jamestown with the big upset over OUAZ. Didn’t get to watch it but OUAZ with 40 hitting errors.

Outin and Nesta combined hit about .015

[photogirl]

Jan 27, 2024 16:15:14 GMT -5 franknvb said:

Jan 27, 2024 16:07:56 GMT -5 naiamvbfan said:

Jamestown with the big upset over OUAZ. Didn’t get to watch it but OUAZ with 40 hitting errors.

Outin and Nesta combined hit about .015

OUAZ didn’t look like the same team we saw the last few days. Lots of trap sets and both OH got pulled in fourth set.

Jamestown with lots of blocks and great defense.

I was also surprised by the William Penn victory over Saint Xavier. St X was playing without Ooms (looked like he was in an arm cast after the match). Just went back and watch the play I think he got hurt on last night. Was a joust early in second set against Nesta.

[naiamvbfan]

Jan 27, 2024 16:21:41 GMT -5 photogirl said:

Jan 27, 2024 16:15:14 GMT -5 franknvb said:

Outin and Nesta combined hit about .015

OUAZ didn’t look like the same team we saw the last few days. Lots of trap sets and both OH got pulled in fourth set.

Jamestown with lots of blocks and great defense.

I was also surprised by the William Penn victory over Saint Xavier. St X was playing without Ooms (looked like he was in an arm cast after the match). Just went back and watch the play I think he got hurt on last night. Was a joust early in second set against Nesta.

Tough opening tournament for Saint Xavier going 0-3 and losing Ooms and Krzyzak. It will be interesting once/if those two come back into the lineup. Big win for William Penn to be able to have a good non conference win now. OUAZ seems like they could be all over this year. When they are on they will be very good. Nestah and Smith production will determine it to help Outin.

[photogirl]

Biggest winners and disappointing results of the weekend

Winners of the weekend
The Master’s: 3-0 with wins over Saint Xavier, Grand View and Lourdes

Jamestown: 3-0 with wins over Judson, Lourdes and OUAZ

Grand View: 2-1. Lost to Masters in 5 and beat Lourdes and Judson

Indiana Tech: 3-0 with wins over Georgetown and Olivet Naz

Disappointing results

Saint Xavier: 0-3 with loses to Masters, OUAZ and William Penn. also looks like Ooms got hurt and Krzyzak did not play

Georgetown: 2-1 with loss to Indiana Tech and win against Olivet Naz

A little bit of both:
William Penn: 2-1. Lost to OUAZ but beat Judson and Saint Xavier

OUAZ: 2-1 beat William Penn and Saint Xavier before losing to Jamestown