Friday, August 30 Match Day

Updates: I’ll update with comments through the day. Remember the tournament post might have links to the different tournaments. My initial thoughts about today’s matches are at the bottom of this post.

Feel free to communicate final results through the comments. Just interested in the sets won.

Carthage sweeps Whitworth as I was driving down. Linfield gets the first West Region win of the season. Someone tell Southwestern to stall. Wife got hungry.

Got to see Southwestern sweep HSU. Both teams had their moments. Liked HSU defense. The freshmen for SU were really good.

St. Thomas ( TX) took the first set but fell to Nebraska Wesleyan 3-1.

Good to see Mills College taking a set in their loss to Bard. Lots of turnover there so something to build on.

UMHB escapes Minnesota Morris 3-1. Games closer than I thought. It will be interesting to follow Morris the rest of the way.

Ouch. Redlands drop a close one against Platteville 3-2.

Good to see the sweep from Cal Lu over Augsburg. That’s a good team that will be regionally ranked.

Schreiner gives McMurry a test before losing 3-1.

Whitworth/Whittier heading to a 5th set. Whitworth switched to a 5-1 from 5-2 and it’s working. Whitworth with the win.

Dos Salsas time. If you make it to Georgetown this is the place for Tex Mex.

Carthage is really good. AVCA needs to rank them quickly.

Carthage with the sweep. Thinking they won’t drop a set this weekend.

ETBU beats Austin College 3-2.

Haley Horner was a freshman studette on Wittenberg’s run to the championship before losing to CMS. She now plays for Carthage. I had no clue until just a few minutes ago. Carthage has a chance at the championship. They are that good.

Speaking of #6 Wittenberg, they lost to Transylvania in 4 sets today.

Chapman gets swept by St. Olaf. Good team but Chapman needed that for their resume.

Redlands lose to Benedictine. Tough day for the Bulldogs.

Nice win for UTD. Concordia Wisconsin is a tough team. Good day for Cal Lu with their second sweep.

UMHB/Trinity in a HUGE West Region matchup. First set 25-14 UMHB. Trinity returns the insult. Tied 1-1.

Nice win by Le Tourneau. Taking down Nebraska Wesleyan in 4-sets.

Just had my second dinner (and drink). Now back at the hotel so I’ll get the scores and links done. Thanks for sticking with me. It’s hard to do the updates at a gym.

Pacific with a tough loss to St. Thomas. Both teams hit under 0.100.

PLU with two wins tonight. Danielle Skibiel with 18 kills and 5 blocks over the two matches.

The first set of the Southwestern / Whittier match was a good one. The Pirates then rolled easily through the next two. Southwestern hit 0.353 for the match with 12 kills coming from Riley Brantly. A bigger test coming tomorrow against Carthage.

I’ll need to watch the Chapman matches but it looks like there was an issue with setting. Setter/Right Side Sophie Srivastava was the leader in assists both matches but the more she does that the less she’s hitting.

Nice night for Sul Ross State winning two matches with one being out-of-region.

Whitworth’s outside hitter Emiko Kahler is just fun to watch. A left-hander playing on the left who loves to hit line. You just don’t see that very often.

Whomever is doing Trinity’s box scores doesn’t know volleyball. The win in 3-sets but the final score is 75-51. They are adding up the total scores of the three sets. *eye roll*

Tough night for La Verne. Two losses. Against two good teams but lots of turnover with a tough opening day didn’t mix well.

Looks like freshman Izzy Sakoda is starting for CMS. Hit 0.462 and had 12 digs. Oh, and Phoebe Madsen had a triple-double but whatever. In their second match, Madsen missed out on the triple-double by 3 kills. Coach may want to think about sitting her down with that kind of effort. (It’s a joke!!!)

Just saw that Colorado College lost to Clarkson! At home! Yikes. Looks like Margo Spaethling was hurt and didn’t play. HUGE loss to the team. Recap said both of the Tigers outside hitters also went out hurt.

Puget Sound with two wins. My FOY pick Cara Bolte had 7 kills in each match. I’ll take that. Just glad she’s starting…you never know. 🙂

UT-Dallas goes 1-1 in Chicago dropping in 3-sets to DePauw (a Top 25 team for me).

Nice win for Belhaven in 5-sets over Emory & Henry. Hoping Coach Dee survived the scare. He gets a little excited, don’t you know.

At 11:11 pm I think I’m up-to-date with a few schools not reporting results. Pacific is still playing. And, it’s done. Pacific with the win.

Around the nation – Emory beat JWU (RI) in 4-sets. Ohio Northern takes down IWU. Chris Newport takes down Juniata. Stevens Point sweeps Chicago. Heidelberg upsets Aurora and then Elmhurst beats them in 4-sets. Berry beat Ithaca in 5-sets. Hendrix beats WUSTL in 5-sets. Good day for the South Region!

There is a lot to get my mind around and that probably won’t happen until my wrap-up on Sunday. My national podcast wrap-up (coming probably Monday) is already interesting. Talk at you in the morning!

10:30 a.m. (All times central)
Whitworth vs Carthage	Video	Stats	Carthage 3 Whitworth 0
11:00 a.m.
Methodist vs Linfield	Video	Stats	Linfield 3 Methodist 0
11:30 a.m.
St. Thomas (MN) vs Lewis & Clark	Video	Stats	St. Thomas 3 L&C 0
Life Pacific at Caltech	Video	Stats	LP 3 Caltech 2
Mills College vs Bard	Video	Stats	Bard 3 Mills 1
Noon
Howard Payne at TLU	Video	Stats	TLU 3 HPU 0
Louisiana College vs Jarvis Christian	Video	Stats	LC 3 JC 0
Widener vs Pacific Lutheran	Video	Stats	PLU 3 Widener 0
St Thomas (TX) vs Neb. Wesleyan	Video	Stats	Neb Wesleyan 3 St. Thomas 1
12:45 p.m.
HSU at Southwestern	Video	Stats	SU 3 HSU 0
1:00 p.m.
Belhaven vs Piedmont	Video	Stats	Piedmont 3 Belhaven 1
Saint Benedict vs Neumann	Video	Stats	Whoops. Not a West match.
Redlands vs UW-Platteville	Video	Stats	Platteville 3 Redlands 2
Augsburg vs Cal Lutheran	Video	Stats	Cal Lu 3 Augsburg 0
Carroll  vs Chapman	Video	Stats	Chapman 3 Carroll 1
#15 UMHB vs Minnesota-Morris	Video	Stats	UMHB 3 Morris 1
1:20 p.m.
John Carroll vs Linfield	Video	Stats	JC 3 Linfield 0
2:00 p.m.
LeTourneau vs Paul Quinn	Video	Stats	LETU 3 PQ 0
Concordia vs Centenary	Video	Stats	CTX 3 Centenary 0
Central vs Willamette	Video	Stats	Willamette 3 Central 0
Hamline vs Lewis & Clark	Video	Stats	L&C 3 Hamline 0
Franklin at Santa Cruz	Video	Stats	UCSC 3 Franklin 0
2:15 p.m.
McMurry vs Schreiner	Video	Stats	McMurry 3 Schreiner 1
Sul Ross vs St. Joseph’s (LI)	Video	Stats	Sul Ross 3 St. Joseph 1
3:00 p.m.
Whitworth vs Whittier	Video	Stats	Whitworth 3 Whittier 2
Neumann at #17 Trinity	Video	Stats	Trinity 3 Neumann 0
Augsburg at La Verne	Video	Stats	Augsburg 3 ULV 0
Dallas at Pomona-Pitzer	Video	Stats	P-P 3 Dallas 0
Carroll at #5 CMS	Video	Stats	CMS 3 Carroll 0
Millsaps at #7 Colorado College	Video	Stats	CC 3 Millsaps 0
Presentation at JWU	Video	Stats	Presentation 3 JWU 0
Methodist at George Fox	Video	Stats	GFU 3 Methodist 0
3:30 p.m.
Providence Christian at Caltech	Video	Stats	PC 3 Caltech 2
4:00 p.m.
ETBU at Austin College	Video	Stats	ETBU 3 Austin 2
Widener at Puget Sound	Video	Stats	PS 3 Widener 1
4:30 p.m.
Howard Payne vs Jarvis Christian	Video	Stats	JC 3 HPU 2
Louisiana College at TLU	Video	Stats	TLU 3 LC 0
St. Thomas (MN) at Pacific	Video	Stats	St. Thomas 3 Pacific 1
5:15 p.m.
Hardin-Simmons vs Carthage	Video	Stats	Carthage 3 HSU 0
Kean vs Occidental	Video	Stats	Kean 3 Oxy 0
St. Olaf vs Chapman	Video	Stats	St Olaf 3 Chapman 0
Wentworth vs Cal Lutheran	Video	Stats	Cal Lu 3 Wentworth 0
Benedictine vs Redlands	Video	Stats	Benedictine 3 Redlands 1
5:30 p.m.
UT-Dallas vs Concordia (WI)	Video	Stats	UTD 3 Concordia 0
6:00 p.m.
ETBU vs St. Thomas (TX)	Video	Stats	ETBU 3 St. Thomas 2
LeTourneau vs Nebraska Wesleyan	Video	Stats	LETU 3 Neb Wesleyan 1
Belhaven vs Emory & Henry	Video	Stats	Belhaven 3 E&H 2
John Carroll at George Fox	Video	Stats	GFU 3 JC 1
Wheaton (IL) vs Pacific Lutheran	Video	Stats	PLU 3 Wheaton 0
Centenary vs Paul Quinn	Video	Stats
6:45 p.m.
McMurry vs St. Joseph’s (LI)	Video	Stats	McMurry 3 St. Josephs 0
Sul Ross vs Schreiner	Video	Stats	Sul Ross 3 Schreiner 1
Mills College vs Franklin	Video	Stats	Franklin 3 Mills 0
7:00 p.m.
#15 UMHB at #17 Trinity	Video	Stats	Trinity 3 UMHB 1
Hamline vs Willamette	Video	Stats	Hamline 3 Willamette 2
Clarkson at #7 Colorado College	Video	Stats	Clarkson 3 CC 2
Dickinson St. at JWU	Video	Stats	Dickinson 3 JWU 1
7:15 p.m.
Dallas at #5 CMS	Video	Stats	CMS 3 Dallas 0
Wentworth vs Occidental	Video	Stats	Wentworth 3 Oxy 1
St. Olaf at La Verne	Video	Stats	St. Olaf 3 La Verne 1
Benedictine vs Pomona-Pitzer	Video	Stats	P-P 3 Benedictine 0
7:30 p.m.
Whittier at Southwestern	Video	Stats	SU 3 Whittier 0
8:00 p.m.
UT-Dallas vs DePauw	Video	Stats	DePauw 3 UTD 0
Concordia at Austin College	Video	Stats	Concordia 3 AC 1
Rose-Hulman at Puget Sound	Video	Stats	PS 3 Rose 0
9:00 p.m.
Husson at Santa Cruz	Video	Stats	UCSC 3 Husson 0
9:30 p.m.
Central at Pacific	Video	Stats	Pacific 3 Central 1

Random Thoughts: 2019 Match Day 1!!!!!! First off let me apologize early for any mistakes in the schedule or incorrect links. The first weekend is hard for the SIDs to get everything on their websites and hard on me as I have to recheck everything and then I could get things wrong. The Whitman late change to pull out of the Trinity Tournament also meant I had multiple game times for matches in that tournament.

The West Region will serve-off at 10:30 Central time with Whitworth taking on Carthage. Whitworth had a lot of turnover and they are going against a team I have in my Top 25. We’ll need everyone in the West Region sending positive thoughts towards the Pirates this morning!

St. Thomas (Tx) will start their DIII schedule at noon today against Nebraska-Wesleyan. Best of luck to the Celts!

My Pirates (Southwestern) will play Hardin-Simmons at 12:45 and I should be there to see it. I plan on attending as many matches as I can down at Southwestern today and tomorrow so come say hello. I’m tall, goofy looking and wearing a yellow hat. Think Curious George without the monkey. My wife will be with me so bonus points (always) for anyone who turns to her and tells her how lucky she must be to be married to me.

I think the Cal Lutheran/Augsburg match should be a good one. Augsburg has a really good chance at being regionally ranked and Cal Lutheran really can’t afford to drop this one. No pressure on match 1, right? As we always say, you can’t win an at-large bid on the first day but you can lose one.

UMHB should beat Minnesota-Morris but this is a really good test for the new coaching staff and the team right out of the gate.

Whitworth/Whittier will be interesting to see where teams sit in these two conferences. Remember with common opponent it’s important for teams in your conference to win when playing outside of conference. Same goes for Dallas/Pomona-Pitzer. (Just picking on these two as there are a lot of West Region conferences facing off today.)

Pacific/St. Thomas (MN) is really important to the Boxers. This may be their toughest out-of-conference opponent and this will give them some national love if they can get the win. The Tommies shouldn’t be as good as last year but you never know. It’s a good program. The St. Olaf/Chapman match falls in the same category although I think St. Olaf will be as good if not better than last year.

Interested in the Redlands matches today. I liked them this year and they need to just go beat these teams today.

Two tough matches for UT-Dallas today. Both should be regionally ranked and the Comets need to hit the ground running. A wise man recently said you can’t win an at-large bid on the first day…never mind.

MATCH OF THE DAY is probably UMHB at Trinity. Two ranked teams that will battle in the West Region rankings. Normally Trinity would win this match-up but UMHB should be better than the Tigers this year. Unless you are a member of the NCAA Selection Committee this head-to-head will be really important. (You see that’s funny because the NCAA Selection Committee seems to ignore head-to-head results a lot.)

Whittier/Southwestern is a rematch of the NCAA Tournament first round match from 2017. If any Poets’ parents are reading this, remember I picked you guys to win the SCIAC so be nice to me today. (Editor’s note – Remember to delete the SCIAC Prediction post prior to releasing this post.)

Have fun today everyone! Remember to stay positive and always root for the West Region teams against out-of-region opponents!