Weekend Wrap-Up

I really wanted to go back to see the Trinity/Cal Lu match but I guess Trinity doesn’t archive their matches? That’s sweet of them. If I was a parent there I wouldn’t be happy but it’s also possible they have special access…or more likely I’m just clueless on where they post them. Yeah, probably the latter.

UTD has two players that I really enjoy watching – Zeng and Brinkman – and I just didn’t see them on the floor when watching their matches. Turns out they are injured, which is a HUGE blow to UTD. I wish nothing but a speedy recovery for both players.

On to the first weekend and how I will write these posts today and in the future. I always look at NCAA tournament selection because that should be the goal. How did the results of the weekend help or hinder a team in-region and out-of-region is really my focus. With that said, I have a “watch list” of 15 teams right now in the West Region. This number will change as we move along and I can always add or remove teams. Right now those teams are UTD, UTT, UMHB, Hardin-Simmons, Puget Sound, Pac Lutheran, Whitworth, Trinity, Southwestern, Colorado College, CMS, Cal Lutheran, Chapman, La Verne and Whittier (!). McMurray would be on the list but they are ineligible for NCAA tournament play. There are teams in the West Region that came out of the weekend with good records but, frankly, if you didn’t play anyone then I really didn’t think about adding you. Again, this can change. Whittier is the surprise team on the list because of strong results against Berry College and Ithaca.

Starting with the ASC, both UTT and UMHB came out of the weekend with perfect 4-0 records. UTT once again showed their powerful attack but I’m still seeing mistakes that need to be cleaned up. Both UMHB and UTT had wins over 2016 tournament teams Susquehanna and UMass Boston. UTD and Hardin-Simmons went 2-2 and with the injuries mentioned at the top of this post to UTD that is pretty good. Hardin-Simmons dropped a 5-set match to Susquehanna so that was disappointing.

Pacific Lutheran really had a great showing taking matches against St. Thomas, St. Benedict and Clarkson. They have set themselves up really well for NCAA tournament selection. Next weekend they play CMS, Cal Lu, Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer. As long as they don’t lose to Whittier and PP then they are still a strong contender for a Pool C bid. It also shows they are going to be a very strong contender for the Northwest Conference championship (and Pool A bid). Whitworth went 2-2 and I really don’t know where they stand right now. Losing to both Augsburg and Gust. Adolphus really hurt their Pool C chances. They play the same 4 SCIAC teams next weekend as Pac Lu but they probably need to take 3 of the 4 matches. Failing that then after 2 weeks they will only be playing for a Pool A bid since they only play NW Conference matches the rest of the year. Puget Sound (also at 2-2) are in the same boat as Whitworth but they head to Texas next week and have a shot at redemption against Chris Newport and Southwestern. They really need to beat Southwestern to have a chance at a Pool C bid.

Southwestern went 4-0 but you can really only count Elmhurst as a quality opponent. A 5 set victory over Santa Cruz after being down 2-1 in games was almost a disaster for them. Too many attacking errors from this team but if they clean it up they’ll continue to be one of the better teams in the nation. What a tournament at Trinity this weekend with Calvin, Trinity, Cal Lutheran and Oshkosh. Trinity finished 3-1 with their only loss to Calvin and they are setup nicely in the West Region. Colorado College almost dropped a match at home (unheard of) to Augustana but finished the weekend undefeated. Once again, the three-headed monster in the SCAC is back, at least for week 1.

Holy cow La Verne (4-0)! Three 5 set victories against UTD, UWEC and Brockport is a strong start. On the glass half empty side of things, I did see some holes in the team and we’ll have to see how strong those out-of-region teams really are as they play more. Still, you did what you needed to do and all the credit in the world to the Leos. CMS really looked good in the matches I watched but then I didn’t see the loss to Millikin (who swept through the SCIAC). At this point we just all want Millikin to win their conference Pool A bid so they don’t factor too heavily at selection time. Cal Lutheran played really well this weekend dropping matches against Calvin and Trinity. They get a chance at revenge with Trinity this weekend and I think home court will make the difference there. My dark horse team of Chapman went 2-2 with losses to Bethel and Millikin. That Bethel loss could hurt them down the road but we’ll just have to wait and see. Yes, I’m looking at you Whittier with nice wins against Berry and Ithaca. Remember that common opponent is one of the selection criteria used for Pool C bids so anytime a conference team beats an out-of-region team then the entire conference has a chance to share in the spoils.

After one weekend, UTT and UMHB look to be the favorites in the ASC. The UTD losses to La Verne and CMS put the ASC at a disadvantage to the SCIAC for in-region rankings. In the NW it’s all about Pac Lu right now. Both Whitworth and Puget Sound will need at least one upset next weekend to have a chance in-region. The SCAC probably started the best of any of the conferences but the jury is still out on Southwestern and Colorado College (they are good but how good?). For now, however, the SCAC holds an advantage on the SCIAC with victories over Whittier and Cal Lu. Tough set of matches week 1 for the SCIAC but they are in decent shape when looking out-of-region. The CMS loss to Millikin is really my surprise result from the weekend.

I’ll do an update on the West Region rankings later in the week.