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Points/Set Standings (9/30/21)
I almost forgot about this article so, in fairness, you can forget to read it if you want.
We just have the Region X Points/Set leaders through this past weekend. I’ve already given you the Top 11 Hitting Percentage leaders nationally in my National Review article.
(This part will be repeated for each article.) Points/Set is a measure of the ability of teams to create their own scoring. This is done through kills, service aces and blocks (team blocks). This along with hitting percentage are two of the most important indicators of a successful team and a team that has a chance at the national championship, in my opinion. Please note that my number will differ slightly than each team’s statistical page because triple blocks, in my calculations, only count as a single team block or one point. They count 1.5 points elsewhere. My numbers are also collected manually so I admit I can mess up at times. I am also at the mercy of published box scores but will try to pull in late box scores whenever they appear. As a general rule of thumb, reaching a Points/Set number of 18+ means you are an elite team. Only a few programs each year do this for a season. 17+ means that you are an outstanding team and likely to make the NCAA Tournament unless you are MIT for some reason. If you want any chance at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid then you must be above 16 Points/Set. This is a mark of a good team. Points/Set is impacted by the level of your opponent. It’s harder to generate your own points against good teams. You would think playing really bad teams would also hamper a team’s number due to unforced errors but I really don’t see this in my research as service aces are the great equalizers in these contests. The other negative drag on this statistic is playing in 5-set matches as the fifth set only goes to 15.
Here is the Region X Points/Set Standings as of 9/27/21:
Top 5 is the same with Colorado College dropping 2 places and Trinity and UCSC moving into a tie for 2nd. CMS remains the only team at “elite” status. UTD, despite their struggles, sits at 6 right ahead of Mary Hardin-Baylor, which shows no statistic is perfect. HSU had a couple of nice performances this past week and they jump into the Top 10 replacing TLU who dropped to 13th.
We now have 9 teams sitting at 16 P/S or higher with 5 sitting 17 P/S or higher. The conference break down is ASC (2), C2C (1), NWC (1), SCAC (4) and SCIAC (1). This is the first time we’ve had all of our conferences represented.
The Top 5 teams have combined to lose only 5 matches all season with 4 of those losses coming to another Top 5 team.
Some interesting items as we go down the standings:
UTD, sitting at 6th, has to be surprising given their record. They did play a number of tough teams early in the season.
UMHB continues to climb.
Pomona-Pitzer continues to be the second “best” in the SCIAC.
Big jump by PLU this week, which is reflective in the recent play.
McMurry moved up 2 spots by not playing. If they continue to “not play”, they could end up being national champions!
Big jump by Lewis & Clark this week (+1 P/S).
A number of teams in the bottom half improved. Redlands may have the biggest positive delta.
This past week we saw the following teams hit the 20 Points/Set:
Mary Hardin-Baylor (21) against Concordia
Southwestern (21) against St Thomas
Chapman (20.67) against La Verne
CMS (21.3) against Cal Lutheran
UC Santa Cruz (20.67) against a non-DIII team
I hate noting this but Mill College had one of the lowest numbers I’ve ever seen in their match against UCSC. They had 2.33 P/S.
We also saw the following matches have the “loser” in the Points/Set statistic win the match:
Occidental (11.8) beat La Verne (14.2) in 5-sets
Cal Lu (16.3) beat Redlands (18.3) in 3-sets*
Sul Ross State (13.75) beat LeTourneau (15.75) in 4-sets
Whitman (14) beat Linfield (15) in 4-sets
Whitman (14) beat Willamette (14.8) in 5-sets**
* This was just a strange match to watch. ** Whitman always seems to do more with less.
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