Regional Wrap-Up

Wanted to do a little wrap-up after the regionals were over this weekend.

Let’s start with the seeding of the 8 teams. It should come out tonight but my best guess is Emory, Calvin, Carthage, Johns Hopkins, Trinity, St. Ben, Clarkson and Bowdoin. Trinity and Johns Hopkins could be switched but I have them playing each other so it really doesn’t matter. The committee could swap Clarkson and Bowdoin but I think my ordering is correct.

Given these match-ups I can see Emory and Calvin cruising through their first match. Carthage/St. Benedict will be a good one as will the Johns Hopkins/Trinity match.

The Chicago Regional lived up to the teams playing in it. The Carthage/CMS match was fantastic as was the Carthage/Chicago match. Both went to 5-sets and both matches needed to be held during championship weekend. The CMS/WUSTL match should have been a Regional Final. I understand the finances and the logistics but if the NCAA made one mistake this year (and I really think they corrected a number of mistakes we’ve seen in the past) then it was not sending CMS to the New York Regional. This regional didn’t have to be at Clarkson if the travel was the issue. I’m hoping this gets fixed moving forward.

I was really impressed with Emory’s play against Colorado College. The Tigers were looking really good but Emory just has another gear and, of course, it doesn’t hurt playing at home.

My hitting percentage theory took a hit on the last day as a couple of the better hitting teams took a loss (JWU and Colorado College). That leaves us with Johns Hopkins (1), Calvin (3), Trinity (8), St. Benedict (9) and Carthage (11). In case you were wondering, the probable top see is 18^th (Emory). Really, only Emory can ruin this run where the national champion has been in the top 11 of hitting percentage for the last 7 years or so. (Maybe longer as I couldn’t find the statistics to do the research.)

The Marymount loss to Trinity has to hurt as it just wasn’t close but it turns out their setter hurt herself after the CNU win. It seems she broke her ankle in celebration after the win. Regardless, the Saints had a great run. Stevens also had a great run. I can sit and complain about this team and that one but at the end of the day they have to play and sometimes you never know what you are going to get.

I was worried about Johns Hopkins going into this tournament but they were never challenged and never dropped a set. We’ve never had a champion sweep every match along the way. The Blue Jays are the only team that still has that chance.

I’ll post when the seeding gets announced…unless I’m asleep. I’ve got a couple of article ideas for next week prior to the matches on Thursday. I will say if your team is in the Elite 8 then go. Don’t let anything stop you from attending. Congratulations to all of the teams in the tournament this year and especially those going to the championship!