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Friday, October 26 Match Day
Update:
Belhaven hangs tough but drops the first set to one of the better teams in the nation 25-20.
Aurora takes the second set 25-17. Belhaven struggles in the third set and Aurora sweeps.
UTD handles Millikin pretty easily and gets the sweep.
Birmingham-Southern (South Region) upset #5 Thomas More tonight. BSU made my mock NCAA Selection exercise and this will just increase their chances.
Dallas sweeps JWU (CO), which gives them 7 conference wins on the assumption they lose to Colorado College tomorrow. There are three teams behind them all with 5 wins with 3 or 4 matches left. If you assume they all lose to Southwestern and Trinity then the most any of them can get is 7 wins after they play each other. So, basically…it sure seems like Dallas will qualify for the SCAC Tournament.
First set winners are Whitworth, GFU, Pacific, PLU, La Verne (26-24), CMS and Cal Lu.
Through two sets – GFU 2-0, Whitworth 2-0, Pacific 2-0, La Verne/Chapman 1-1, CMS 2-0 and Cal Lu 2-0. UCSC just swept their match.
George Fox with the sweep.
PLU with the sweep.
Pacific with the sweep.
La Verne takes the third set and is up on Chapman 2-1. Whittier wins set three to save their season…for now…still trail CMS 2-1.
Whitworth with the sweep and that sets up their match-up with PLU tomorrow. Whitworth with a chance to win the NWC title and claim the first Pool A bid in the nation with a win.
Cal Lu with the sweep and they reach 11 conference wins in the SCIAC. That will be enough to get them into the SCIAC Tournament and they now wait to see how everyone else does and how the tiebreakers fall.
The more I look at the possible results in the SCIAC and the tiebreakers the more I think this loss by Pomona will eliminate them from the SCIAC tournament. Regardless of the Chapman / La Verne match (ongoing), Pomona will need to sweep La Verne because they lose the tiebreaker to Chapman. Actually, Pomona needs Chapman to win this match the more I look at it. Otherwise they are out unless Chapman can beat CMS tomorrow (unlikely). In summary, the most likely outcome if La Verne wins tonight and Pomona wins tomorrow is that there is a three-way tie that falls in favor of La Verne. Then Chapman and Pomona go through the tiebreaker and Chapman wins that. All unofficial, but if you are a Sagehen you want Chapman to win tonight so it’s winner take all tomorrow. If La Verne wins they you need Chapman to win tomorrow and for you to sweep La Verne (and hold them to less points than when they swept you). Whew…all unofficial.
And, just as I finish that…La Verne beats Chapman 3-1. So, if you ignored that big paragraph above this, just look at the bold portion.
CMS beats Whittier 3-1. Whittier is eliminated from a spot in the SCIAC Tournament.
That’s it for me…except for…GO DODGERS!
3:00 p.m. (All times central) | |||
Aurora vs Belhaven | |||
5:00 p.m. | |||
Millikin vs UT-Dallas | Video | ||
MUW at #4 Colorado College | |||
Occidental at Redlands | |||
6:00 p.m. | |||
Hardin-Simmons at Concordia | |||
7:00 p.m. | |||
Dallas at JWU (CO) | |||
9:00 p.m. | |||
George Fox at Linfield | |||
Whitworth at Puget Sound | |||
Willamette at Pacific | |||
Whitman at #17 Pacific Lutheran | |||
Chapman at La Verne | |||
Whittier at #6 CMS | |||
Pomona-Pitzer at Cal Lutheran | Video | ||
Brooklyn at UC Santa Cruz | Video | UCSC 3 Brooklyn 0 |
Random Thoughts:
Belhaven and UT-Dallas are in WUSTL for a big end-of-the-year Tournament. Send positive West Region thoughts there way!!!!
UT-Dallas needs to be careful with Millikin. They have had a down year but they will surprise you if you give them a chance.
Whitworth has to get by Puget Sound tonight. The Loggers have given the Pirates their only loss in conference play this year.
PLU, likewise, needs to get by Whitman. Sets up the big Whitworth / PLU match for tomorrow.
HUGE matches in the SCIAC tonight.
Chapman wants that 11th win in conference but a La Verne win ties them at 10 wins and splits the head-to-head.
Whittier has to beat CMS tonight or they are eliminated. I don’t see any Poet magic getting them into the NCAA Tournament if they miss out on the SCIAC Tournament like last year.
Last regular season match for Cal Lutheran and their last shot to get to 11 wins. It would also probably avoid a first round match with CMS. Pomona-Pitzer is fighting it out with La Verne for that last spot but a win here puts them in the running for a second seed.
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