ASC Mid-Conference Review

Here is the ASC Mid-Conference Review. As a reminder, the conference is split into two divisions and they do hold a tournament at the end of the year. The top 3 teams in each division qualify for the ASC Tournament and this year’s tournament is hosted by the West Division champion (most likely UMHB).

ASC East Division Standings (Conference Record, Coaches Preseason Prediction, D3VbWest Prediction):

1. UT-Dallas (7-1, 1, 1)

2. ETBU (5-5, 2, 2)

3. LeTourneau (4-5, 3, 4)

4. Belhaven (2-7, 4, 3)

5. Louisiana College (2-7, 5, 5)

UT-Tyler is 15-1 on the season. They are ineligible for DIII tournaments as they reclassify in anticipation of their move to DII next year.

I want to start with UT-Tyler. Their matches don’t count in the ASC standings but as fate would have it, UT-Tyler is going to leave DIII with their best season of volleyball in their history. They currently have one loss and that is to the defending national champions in 5-sets. They also have a huge national win as they took down Illinois Wesleyan University in 4-sets to start the year. If they were NCAA eligible, they would be one of the few teams from the west that would be a lock for the tournament. They have three matches on the schedule that look to be a problem – home versus UMHB, at UT-Dallas and at Hendrix. I think one of the ASC teams will trip up the Patriots…maybe both…but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this team finished the year with one loss.

As far as the eligible’s, UT-Dallas really has the East Division locked up at this point. They are a class above the rest of the teams in the ASC (excluding UTT and UMHB) and will actually host the crossover next week (big advantage there). I don’t see them dropping another ASC match and really their goal should be getting ready for the Washington University Tournament at the end of the year followed by the ASC Tournament. I know I sound like a broken record but UT-Dallas can still be better than they are. The LeTourneau / ETBU battle for second is a little tighter than either the conference coaches or I saw happening to being the year. ETBU has already played UT-Dallas twice so it probably means second place will come down to the final ASC match between these two teams hosted by ETBU. LeTourneau just can’t seem to find any consistency and that is to be expected with a young team. They’ve proven they can beat ETBU but their loss to Belhaven this weekend at home had to be discouraging. Belhaven’s season has been disappointing but this weekend they forced ETBU to play 5-sets and swept LeTourneau so maybe they’ve stumbled on to something. Let’s hope so because the LeTourneau win was only their second non-DIII win of the season and they have one of the toughest schedules to finish the year as anybody. Belhaven still has McMurry, UT-Tyler, UT-Dallas and then go to the Washington University Tournament and play top teams from the Midwest. Yikes! It’s easy to discount Louisiana College as both the conference coaches and I picked them to be last in this division. To take that further, we both would have probably picked them last in the ASC. The Wildcats, on the other hand, had different plans for this year. The Wildcats are in their second year of existences and have already doubled their win total from last year and already have 2 ASC wins. They were in the running for a top 3 spot prior to this weekend and that’s still a great achievement to be in the race at this date for this team given their expectations.

ASC West Division Standings (Conference Record, Coaches Preseason Prediction, D3VbWest Prediction):

1. UMHB (10-0, 1, 1)

2. McMurry (7-2, 3, 2)

3. Concordia (6-3, 2, 3)

4. Hardin-Simmons (5-5, 4, 4)

5. Sul Ross State (3-7, 6, 6)

6. Howard Payne (1-10, 5, 5)

Like UT-Dallas, UMHB has their division in control at the (over) half-way point going undefeated and having already beaten UT-Dallas. Looking forward, they have McMurry at home as the only challenging match left in the ASC. Outside of conference, they have an away match with UT-Tyler and away with Trinity left on the schedule. Both are winnable but both could also be losses. In the end, they will win their division and ensure the ASC Tournament will be played on their home court. Only UT-Dallas will stand in their way during the tournament and if that happens, an at-large bid is in their future. McMurry and Concordia are really fighting for seeding at this point with Concordia having the schedule advantage. McMurry still has to play UT-Dallas and UMHB while Concordia has those matches behind them. Still, this ordering may come down to their last ASC match when they play each other…at Concordia. I nice weekend by Hardin-Simmons pushed them up to the 4^th spot. They still have an outside shot at qualifying for the ASC Tournament but they need to win out and, unfortunately for them, they play both McMurry and Concordia away. Sul Ross State may be the biggest surprise in the ASC this year as both the coaches and myself picked them last in this division. They have already exceeded their win totals from last season and 5 wins in conference is not out of the question. Howard Payne has now lost 12 straight and this season has not gone as they had hoped back in August. The goal at this point is just to get better and see if they can trip up someone along the way.

Updated predictions – UT-Dallas and UMHB both win their division. UTD, ETBU, LeTourneau, UMHB, Concordia and McMurry qualify for the ASC Tournament. UMHB uses home court to win the tournament. UT-Dallas sweats out selection day but comes away with an at-large bid.