Saturday, Oct 29 Match Day!

Updates: A lot of last regular season matches getting played today. Teams that don’t make their conference tournament will be done today and that means a number of seniors will be ending their college careers. (Unless they want to transfer to Trinity for their 5th year.) A big congratulations to these players. Thank you for all that you did to further the sport!

I didn’t have Scranton getting an at-large bid in my Mock Selection but they were close. A win today over Juniata is probably the tipping point that gets them in, if they need it.

Highlighted a couple of matches below in the Top 25. I think Transy beats WashU today on a neutral court. Transy is statistically better offensively and has been playing really great of late.

Emory is at home and has Berry first while they are on the second match of a back-to-back. Still, give me Berry in this one. Won’t be considered an upset but given the circumstances, I think it probably is.

I had Millikin getting in but not IWU. Remember we don’t know the Region VIII order after Chicago. Both play Wittenberg and both should be treated like tickets to the NCAA Tournament.

When I was doing my mock selection, I originally didn’t have Cornell winning their conference (oversight based on the rules I established). I had them getting an at-large and then realized that they shouldn’t be playing in my scenario. They get Whitewater today in what should be a good one.

Mount Union was one of my last selections for an at-large and they were iffy. They host Otterbein today in a chance to elevate their standing.

AAAHHHHH! How did I not list the ASC matches today? I am seriously losing it as we get to the end here. Thank you to a loyal reader and friend who pointed out my mistake.

Looking at the ASC matches, the big ones are ETBU/HSU and LETU/Sul Ross State. If ETBU and SRS win then it would put four teams at 8-8 in conference and only 3 spots available. I believe regardless of how many teams are tied, Concordia will be the team on the outside. Their wins over ETBU, UMHB and UTD don’t help them here as the first tiebreaker is against the other teams tied. BUT!!!!! If I read the tiebreaker rules correctly, the conference will keep taking one team to the tournament and then reapplying the rules against the teams remaining. What Concordia wants is to be tied at the end with HSU. I think that is the only team they can beat in a tiebreaker one-on-one.

Berry goes down 2-0 to W&L but have forced a 5th set. Looking ahead? I may need to take back my Berry prediction against Emory after a 5-set match.

Let me look at the ASC a little closer. We can have up to four teams tied for 4th. HSU, McMurry, Concordia at LeTourneau. We could also just have McMurry and Concordia or some combination with either HSU or LETU. Here is how I see the tiebreakers working out:

McMurry and Concordia Tied: McMurry goes forward as they are 2-0 against Concordia.

McMurry, HSU and Concordia Tied: HSU goes forward first on overall record between the tied teams. McMurry then gets the final spot.

McMurry, LETU and Concordia Tied: I DON’T KNOW! McMurry and LETU are both 3-1 against the other two teams and Concordia is 0-4. But, the rules don’t specifically say that Concordia would be eliminated before going to the next tiebreaker. Would they only take McMurry and LETU? I think so. If they say the first tiebreaker is still tied and take all three teams then the second tiebreaker is best record against UTD. Concordia and McMurry both won a match. Then it goes to best record against UMHB and only Concordia has a win. So, if it goes like I think, McMurry and LETU would only go to the second tiebreaker and that would mean McMurry. LETU beat Concordia twice so they would then get the final spot. If it goes like I don’t think it would go, Concordia gets the first spot and McMurry gets the second spot (tied LETU but have a win against UTD).

McMurry, LETU, HSU and Concordia Tied: LETU gets the first spot on best overall record against the tied teams (5-1). We then go back to the McMurry, HSU and Concordia scenario so it’s HSU and McMurry.

So, bottom line, I don’t see Concordia making it unless HSU wins and LETU losses and the tiebreaker doesn’t work like I think it would.

UPDATE!!! Got word from the ASC that if multiple teams are tied after the first tiebreaker but another is not. That team or all teams not tied are eliminated from further consideration that round. That means, I see no path forward for Concordia to make the ASC Tournament regardless of how the matches play out. (Caveat – I’m wrong a lot…have to wait on the ASC to tell us.)

Moravian scored a total of 14 points in their match against Juniata. In case you are bad with math, they lost.

Berry with the reverse sweep.

I love granddaughter Emma White but she’s a human rain delay when she hits the floor.

St Thomas takes set two against Trinity. Tied 1-1.

Some of the service errors by Colorado College are not even close. Just weird. Coming down to a lower altitude should help that, not hurt it.

Millikin up 2-0 on Wittenberg but down in the third. They are close to firming up an at-large bid.

Southwestern’s DS Abi Benavides with the second ball bump dink to finish off the sweep of CC. Christina Kuras with 11 kills on 18 attacks and no errors. That puts Southwestern 2 matches up on CC. It probably means that SU has secured a 2nd or 3rd spot.

Mount Union takes the first set over Otterbein. Big match for Mount Union.

Mount Union player showing why we put pads around the net poles. Ouch.

Did Berry even get to rest between matches? They win the first set against Emory 26-24.

Trinity wins 3-1 over St Thomas. First loss for St Thomas in some time. ETBU up 2-1 on HSU.

I’m rowing Berry. Emory up 14-12 in the second set. Skipping through a bunch of matches right now.

So annoying to stream a match and have a score banner up and it reads 0-0 for the entire match. Transy/WashU match has that going on but it’s DePauw’s fault.

WashU looking good. I may have to walk back my Transy pick although it’s still close in the first set. Love the Berry fans at Emory. Pom-poms and those cheerleader yelling cones. Huge net call at 20-19 goes against Emory.

You know I really didn’t mention it at the top, but this is huge for Emory. Their regional ranking doesn’t ensure they get an at-large bid unless their RAC grows some brain cells. A win here probably solves all their problems.

Emory up 24-23 on Berry as is WashU over Transy. Both leaders have called a timeout. Some good matches out there. Emory gets the second set win but Transy ties it. Of course, it’s been tied 0-0 the entire set.

Transy takes set one and I’m not walking back anything! Seriously…two really good teams here.

HSU looking for the reverse sweep as they are trying to force a fifth set. 22-18 lead in the fourth set.

Millikin takes down Wittenberg. Does that get them regionally ranked? Has to put them in the tournament.

Johns Hopkins with a 5-set win over NYU. They are going to be overlooked in the tournament but injuries really hurt their play early on.

Emory up 2-1. I think the ETBU match is over but no clue who won. Can’t get the video up and the Live Stats is frozen at 8-7. Well, maybe not. I’m seeing the NCAA updating information on that match. This was a long one.

Thank goodness for Twitter. ETBU wins 16-14 in the fifth set.

Emory wins in 4-sets, just like I predicted! Needed win for Emory which is crazy to say on the last weekend of the season. Transy sweeps WashU, just like I predicted!

Big comeback for Otterbein as they get the reverse sweep over Mount Union.

I match I didn’t mention at the top was Eau Claire/Concordia (WI). Concordia is really outside the large group of teams that are regionally ranked and then unranked. But, they just swept Eau Claire so what will that do to things?

Breaking…Trinity is good. Up 2-0 on Southwestern.

After it was all said and done, we do have that 4-way 8-8 tie in the ASC. I believe we’ll have UTD, UMHB, ETBU and then LETU followed by HSU and McMurry.

Ugh. Southwestern came back to win the next two sets. Got behind in the fifth only to come back and tie it at 12-12. Great defensive effort by Emma White on one play but it wasn’t enough. Trinity 3-2. Good to see Jess Kuras playing again.

Cornell takes down Whitewater. Big win.

CMS is just too good. Sweep La Verne. We have a Brenna Bell sighting! Good to see her playing again, too.

Colorado College up 2-1 on TLU. If CC wins, I’ll need to figure out the SCAC seeding. Well, that was easier than I thought. If CC wins and then beat Schreiner and St Thomas and assuming TLU loses to Trinity then they will tie for 3rd. This assume Southwestern beats Schreiner and finishes 2nd. In this scenario, CC would win the tiebreaker as they split their matches but CC take a match against the next highest team (Southwestern) and TLU didn’t.

Schreiner with a nice 5-set win over St Thomas.

I didn’t realize the UCSC match didn’t count in the standings. I don’t normally list those matches.

Both Whitworth and Puget Sound won and are still tied for first. If they finish tied then Puget Sound gets the AQ into the tournament as they beat Whitworth in 3 sets while Whitworth won in 5. PLU and Willamette are still playing and the winner will be a match back.

Whitworth’s last two matches are away to Linfield and Pacific. Puget Sound is away to PLU and Lewis & Clark.

Willamette forces a fifth set because, you know, it’s late and they don’t want me to go to sleep. Seriously, big match for both teams. Only the winner still has a chance at the NCAA Tournaments.

PLU up 11-8 after Halle Hetzler saves a ball from a steep angle and it lands for the kill after riding the net for awhile.

PLU thinks they win but a touch is called. Now 14-12 and a timeout is needed.

And now they win again. PLU wins 3-2.

Top 25 Results

#2 Juniata 3 Moravian 0#2 Juniata 3 Scranton 1#3 Calvin 3 Kalamazoo 0Martin Luther 0 #5 Northwestern 3#6 NYU 2 Johns Hopkins 3#6 NYU 3 Virginia Wesleyan 0#7 WashU 0 #23 Transylvania 3#7 WashU 3 DePauw 0#8 Berry 3 Washington & Lee 2#8 Berry 1 #11 Emory 3#9 Wittenberg 1 Millikin 3#9 Wittenberg 3 IWU 1Cornell 3 #10 UW-Whitewater 2Oglethorpe 0 #11 Emory 3#12 UW-Oshkosh 3 Carroll 0#12 UW-Oshkosh 3 Wisconsin Lutheran 0Hamilton 0 #13 Wesleyan 3#14 UW-Eau Claire 0 Concordia (WI) 3Saint Mary’s 0 #15 Gustavus Adolphus 3#16 Hope 3 Adrian 0#17 UW-Stevens Point 3 Wartburg 1#18 Otterbein 3 Mount Union 2Coast Guard 0 #19 MIT 3#20 Coe 3 Wisconsin Lutheran 0#20 Coe 3 Elmhurst 0#22 Albion 3 Saint Mary’s (IN) 0#23 Transylvania 3 at DePauw 0#24 Tufts 3 Bowdoin 0St. Scholastica 0 #25 Augsburg 3

Random Thoughts: Watched a couple of senior nights yesterday. Can we allow the other team to sit down or warm up during the ceremony? I don’t like it when they have the other team stand on the opposite sideline while 7 seniors get introduced. Maybe that’s just me.

TLU and Dallas are hosting pods today. Most of the SCAC schools are at TLU including the conference leaders.

Southwestern/Colorado College play early and that will go a long way to determine who will fall to the 4th seed.

Austin College has the “easier” teams this week so they really need to just take care of business. Having said that, both Dallas and Centenary have been playing better as the season goes on.

I would love if the Trinity/Southwestern match would be a good one. Hoping for the best here.

Colorado College/TLU is another match that will determine that 4th seed and who gets 2nd and 3rd.

La Verne/CMS is a great opportunity for La Verne to get a great ranked win.

The NWC still has a week to go after this so teams still need to just win. George Fox/Whitworth could eliminate someone. Same for Willamette/PLU.