Friday, Sept 26 Match Day!

Updates: Struggling with the Transy/Otter match. FloSports says it’s done. It is not.

It’s currently 10-10 in the first set of this completed match. Sigh.

Otterbein looks like they will get a sweep of Transy and then the match will really be completed. I never could figure out how to watch it.

Otter gets the sweep.

At friend’s house so use the links. (Yes, I have friends!)

I did see ETBU and TLU got sweeps. Hope won in four.

When you get a text about a result then you know something wild happened. Congratulations Howard Payne. First time in 30 matches?

Back at the house…let’s see what I missed tonight.

Hope beat Marietta in four sets. Hope has it figured out right now. Johns Hopkins wins in four sets. Check the comments for some interesting news about the match. St Ben wins the first set against GAC but Gustavus Adolphus takes the match 3-1.

Other interesting results…Kean goes to 12-1 with a win over New Paltz. St John Fisher moves to 13-1. Tufts goes to 10-1. Lynchburg goes to 14-1. Ithaca got a sweep tonight. William Smith moves to 11-1. Lot of one-loss teams doing well tonight. Otterbein goes to 14-1 as they also beat Mt St Joseph tonight. Colby takes down Bowdoin but it takes 5-sets. They go to 11-1 but that was way too tight. Oshkosh takes down Stevens Point in a sweep.

Updating the West results…TLU gets the sweep over McMurry. That has to feel good for TLU as they have needed a win. ETBU also gets a sweep at HSU as they take control of the ASC.

The big result of the night is Howard Payne beating UMHB in 5-sets. That was the first time in 20 years for HPU. Carli Briese had 16 kills in this one while Tara Bennett had 11.

Salisbury really struggled to get by Dickinson but they did get the win in 5-sets.

Chris Newport got the sweep over a tough Haverford team. Schreiner gets a good win over Concordia at home.

On the best coast, we still have four matches going on. The nice teams were Puget Sound, Pacific and Pomona-Pitzer who all won in a sweep.

The big news is that Whittier is giving La Verne a tough match and that Cal Lu and CMS are going to a fifth set. Fascinating.

I’ve got CMS/CLU on the stream. I will switch over to Whittier/ULV when done.

Wow, Linfield just took set four and have forced a fifth set against Whitworth. They need that reverse sweep.

Ari Clarkson (CMS), I think, is using more energy in her celebrations than her actual play. She’s is trying to lift her teammates. CMS did get the turn at 8-5. CLU playing well. Great defense.

CLU closes to 10-9 but no timeout for CMS…because…well…Kurt Vlasich doesn’t use them much. CMS then scores the next two forcing a CLU timeout at 12-9.

15-9 CMS. The end game came down to the block of CMS. CLU just couldn’t get the ball past them. Phoebe Shorney with 11 kills and only one block assist. What doesn’t show up in the box is how many balls she touched or put back without getting it down. Keegan Corley (CLU) had 9 assists, 3 aces and 29 digs.

Whittier has forced a fifth set. Heading there. It looks like Whitworth will hold off Linfield but great effort by them. Could they get that fourth spot in the NWC?

Cameraman at Whittier is making me sick. They are running around with the camera. Stop. And now there is no signal.

15-12 Whitworth. Saw the last point. Looks like Whittier found the plug.

Chapman forced a fifth set against Redlands. Geez.

5-2 La Verne forces a timeout. I’ve mentioned the Leopards (or is it Panthers?) playing with their food and it’s going to bite them at some point. Could still happen tonight.

8-7 turn for La Verne. Whittier bombing and both teams playing defense. La Verne needs to pass a little better to get their offense going more.

10-7 as the other Ray (Mariah) gets a big kill. Timeout.

Mya Ray with the ace to take set five 15-11. Chapman comes back and wins their match against Redlands in five, too. Crazy night.

National Games to Watch:

NCAA Scoreboard

3:30 pmTransylvania vs Otterbein – Transy playing better. They are up to 56.81 NPI. Another chance to get a boost for them.

6 pmMarietta at Hope – Hope can use some big wins to raise their NPI. They had a good weekend and will see if they can continue it.

Johns Hopkins at Wesleyan (CT) – JHU continues their difficult schedule. Wesleyan getting a true test here although they are undefeated. Top 5 for Wesleyan with a win?

7 pmSaint Benedict at Gustavus Adolphus – QWB match. St Ben needs this more than GAC. Can GAC continue their roll?

West Schedule:

5 pmTLU 3 McMurry 0

6 pmETBU 3 Hardin-Simmons 0Mary Hardin-Baylor 2 Howard Payne 3Salisbury 3 Dickinson 2Haverford 0 Chris Newport 3Concordia 0 Schreiner 3

9 pmLewis & Clark 0 Pacific 3Puget Sound 3 Willamette 0Whitworth 3 Linfield 2La Verne 3 Whittier 2Redlands 2 Chapman 3Caltech 0 Pomona-Pitzer 3Cal Lutheran 2 CMS 3

Random Thoughts:

Some good matches nationally but I think I’ve got the four best listed above. Hope and ONU are putting on tournaments.

In the West, the ASC plays their next set of matches. ETBU/HSU will be a good one but probably a Tiger sweep. If ETBU does get the win, then they will have beaten their two biggest competitors away.

C2C has a couple of matches and both should be pretty good. Salisbury gets 9-4 Dickinson while 9-2 Haverford plays at CNU.

NWC continues their conference season. Puget Sound/Willamette the best of the three matches.

The SAA is off as they go pod duty again Saturday and Sunday.

SCAC has TLU and McMurry. It will be interesting to see where TLU lands this season in conference. I normally would say they win this match. Schreiner draws Concordia in what should be a close contest.

The SCIAC plays four matches. La Verne at Whittier could be interesting. Whittier has surprised before. Chapman/Redlands will be close. CMS hosting Cal Lu use to be the match in conference. Cal Lu has a good NPI but hasn’t played tough opponents. This will be a great test for them.