Titan Tussle: Day 1 observations

Had a chance to see some great volleyball today at the Titan Tussle in Oshkosh, Wis. Here are my opinions. Because of the setup of the tourney – two courts upstairs, one downstairs – I didn’t have the panorama view of all matches, so I didn’t see much of Illinois Welseyan or, regrettably, St. Thomas. Today, that is … the big one awaits tomorrow: No. 1 UW Oshkosh vs. No. 9 St. Thomas. • There were five matches that I’m assuming were worth the price of admission – the four 5-setters and, despite the sweep, the Bethel vs. Luther match was very entertaining and hotly contested. However, I only got to see good chunks of three of the five. • No. 24 Eastern is very, very good, in all facets of the game. EU gave UW Oshkosh all it could handle before falling in five. EU’s defense – net and back row – and diverse offense is what stuck out the most, but what a team. Awesome setter, swingers coming from everywhere and a D that just didn’t quit. I find it hard to believe, even factoring for a bump in performance against the No. 1 team, that there are 23 teams in the country better than EU. Not too many teams are going to manhandle Oshkosh like Eastern did in two sets today. The Oshkosh hitting in those sets didn’t help, but EU’s defense had a lot to do with that as well. • Oshkosh setter Katelyn Vara may have made the all-tournament team in Set 5 against Eastern. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen seen Vara play better. Blocking, digging and setting … she was the complete package against EU. • Oshkosh libero Christina Cahoon is good. Have I ever mentioned that before? • Carthage leading hitter Michelle Madeja did not play in any of the sets I watched, although I could be blind. • I saw about 15 points of No. 6 Carthage vs. No. 9 St. Thomas before I headed down to watch Oshkosh vs. Eastern. I was surprised to see St. Thomas won. The Tommies must have woken up because they looked awfully sluggish in Set 1. • It was my first time seeing Carthage setter Drewann Pancratz this year, but it didn’t take me long to see that she still goes on two more than any D-III setter I’ve seen. And to nice effect, too. • St. Catherine vs. Eastern was an instant classic. I only got a chance to see the last two sets, but that was a barnburner. Included in the action was an approximately 35-contact point in the last third of Set 5. And it wasn’t a tip drill, either. It was smash, dig, smash, dig. • Bethel and Luther have nice, quick offenses. Didn’t see too many 2-balls in that one. The difference was Bethel’s net play. Of all the players I had never seen before, Bethel freshman middle Amy Werner stuck out the most. She was everywhere. • Bethel had the best fans of the day. Fun group.

See the link above for tomorrow’s schedule. I already mentioned Oshkosh vs. St. Thomas, but there are plenty of other potentially great matchups, including No. 6 Carthage vs. No. 24 Eastern. Play resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Anyone else care to share their thoughts from today?

-Ricky Nelson