Weekly Wrap-Up (9/4/23)

The first Weekly Wrap-Up of the 2023 season is here and like everything else posted this weekend, it’s late! For those new readers and old readers with memories like mine, here are the weekly staples:

• Sunday gives you the weekly wrap-up

• Monday gives you the D3VbWest Top 25

• Tuesday gives you the AVCA Top 25

• Wednesday gives you the Players of the Week

• Wednesday or Thursday gives you the Region Leaders

• Most days give you a Match Day

Sometimes I mix in a Musing or a random article when I’m really feeling frisky but with my advanced age that happens less and less. Wait. I digressed there. Sorry.

The Weekly-Wrap is a summary of the week’s events mixed in with some Musing style comments mixed in with whatever I can think of on the fly. I will say that this week’s Wrap-Up is going to be extra special because I feel I owe it to the CMS parents that bought me and my entire family lunch when they thought it was only for me and the (hot) wife. After this, we are even. (Side note – See if you can figure out which three parents did this based on this article. Remember, I’m not proud and I’m very easy. Wait. I digressed again. Sorry.) Oh, and I’ve updated the standings/records for all teams in the West on the left side (or pulldown).

As always, I like to look back at the week that was before the weekend that was. Last Sunday, we had a Musing Article which was followed by the SCAC Predictions which was followed by the Retention Article which was followed by the QWI Article which was followed by the SCIAC Predictions. Wow, someone out there owes me another lunch.

Speaking of retention, we did miss a team because they didn’t get their 2023 roster published until very late so let’s briefly go over the University of Dallas. Yes, when you are late for the roster you get put in my Hall of Shame and we still go over your roster. Dallas lost 5 non-seniors from the team last year, which pushed their statistics loss from 5.8% up to 47.6%. They have 7 new players including 3 transfers (or players that didn’t play as a first-year with Dallas in 2022). Their roster sits at 15 players and their retention was 61.5%.

As you probably know, I was at the Pacific Coast Classic (PCC) this weekend and it allows me to connect with coaches and watch some fun volleyball. One coach that I didn’t know personally and haven’t had a lot of communication with is Lewis & Clark Head Coach Erin Labasan. She was nice enough to let me bother her before one of her matches and I enjoyed how she remembered that I gave them grief when she didn’t publicize her first-year players fast enough to my liking. Remember, coaches, you are always free to give me grief. I prefer that to no communication. But, now, whether she likes it or not, Erin is a friend and I did appreciate her introducing herself to my niece who did attend the matches on Saturday.

My segues are spot on this early in the season as I move to my niece (Grace) who, on her birthday, decided to come see her favorite uncle (Her Father, “Not a high bar, Rob.”) and watch some volleyball. She really enjoyed it although I’m sure she grew tired of me chatting in her ear when something interesting happened on the court. I was happy that she got to watch CMS Georgia McGovern run a 5-1 as Grace is a setter, too. So many amazing little things that Georgia does on the court and I sat there and tried to Matrix all of it into Grace’s head.

I also got to meet some of the players I normally only watch on stream. Ricky would be jealous because I got to talk to one of his favorites in CMS Brenna Bell (one of the best opposites in the country). She struggled a bit this weekend but she started explaining that she hadn’t had a lot of work with McGovern in their 5-1 setup, yet. I was like, I don’t care you are awesome as I fanboy over these student-athletes. I didn’t get to meet La Verne’s Mya Ray but talking to their coach (Jeff Hendershot) and assistant (Jack Coberly) was almost as good. Well, not in the case of Jeff but definitely in the case of Jack.

One observation I had as I watched some of the results come in this weekend was uh oh. Now, each team is playing different competition but (for the most part) everyone is playing someone out of conference or out of region. The out of region matches are important because it can tell us how our region is going to stack up. It just didn’t look good as the results came in. Case in point, after the first weekend here are the records for each of our conferences:

• ASC: 12-18

• C2C: 4-0

• NWC: 11-21

• SCAC: 21-11

• SCIAC: 16-11

The ASC, as a whole, really didn’t play the toughest schedule and couldn’t do better despite Howard Payne going 4-0. C2C is really Santa Cruz and they did great. The NWC really struggled outside of Puget Sound and Willamette. The SCAC, despite the record, is a mixed bag because Austin and Dallas didn’t play the toughest schedule and both are 4-0. Take away those 8 wins and the conference sits 12-11. Trinity, Southwestern and Colorado College combined for 5 losses. The SCIAC did fine but there are some red flags with Cal Lutheran going 1-3. There were also some missed opportunities by teams where they may be kicking themselves at the end of the season.

Another nice segue into the matches this weekend so let’s start with the ASC (like we normally do). The toughest schedules played by ASC teams were ETBU, UTD and (probably) LeTourneau. ETBU went to Emory and came back 2-2. I loss to Emory was expected by that Covenant loss will hurt. They were led by their outsides in Avery Reid and Graycee Mosley with Reid being more efficient on the weekend but Mosley getting more swings. The team finished at 15.77 Points/Set, which is alright but needs to get better for a shot at the NCAA Tournament. UT-Dallas played at the Trinity Tournament and went against three good teams and finished 0-3. The 5-set loss to Whitworth is going to sting if the Comets turn it around. They were at 13.18 Points/Set for the weekend, which is not going to get it done. (Remember, I look for a minimum of 16 Points/Set with 17 the goal.) LeTourneau went 0-2 against St Thomas away with both being 4-set affairs. They went for 14.88 Points/Set while St Thomas went for 17.25 so the losses were not flukes. We don’t know how good St Thomas is, yet, but odds are they are not an NCAA Tournament team. As for the rest, and I’m not taking anything away from Howard Payne (GREAT JOB!), but their best win was Rhodes. UMHB’s best win was Concordia-Moorhead. Hardin-Simmons is interesting because they took at least one set in everyone of their four matches including beating UW-Platteville who took down Wartburg and Colorado College. What this tells me is that HSU is going to be competitive when they get to conference play. The downside is that they were at 13.63 Points/Set after the weekend so I’m too excited for them at this point. The Cowgirls were led by Liz Underwood who was their Points leader. Not a lot to talk about other than these teams. Concordia looks to be in trouble this season as does McMurry who’s only win was against Belhaven. With Sul Ross State ineligible for conference tournament consideration, it does look like Howard Payne is a virtual lock to make the Top 6 and qualify so I’m really excited for their team.

Taking a look at the only member of the C2C that we care about in UC Santa Cruz and they took care of business this weekend. They went 5-0 with wins over Cal Lutheran and ranked Gustavus Adolphus. They will probably get AVCA Top 25 consideration this week although they were already in my Top 25 (got to take my wins where I can get them). I was worried a bit on Friday when I saw the 5-set effort against George Fox but the Slugs took care of business the rest of the way. What is really exciting about the weekend is that the Slugs finished with 18.44 Points/Set, which is exceptional. On the downside I don’t see Sydney Ahrendt (who I had as a preseason All-Region member). Word on the street is that it’s a minor injury and will hopefully be back this weekend. Still, it does show the depth of this team. My only warning here is that we don’t know how good Gustavus Adolphus is going to be this year. I didn’t have them on my Top 25 and Cal Lutheran looks to be in trouble so great job but keep pressing. The team was led by first-year outside Kate Lau and setters Sydney May and Alessandra Ponzo.

I am worried about the NWC. They only get two weekends to prove themselves and only Puget Sound did that week one going 4-0 against good opposition. The downside, a 14.05 Points/Set BUT they played three 5-set matches and that artificially brings down that number. They will be at Southwestern next week and their matches against the host and Aurora should be telling. On the defensive side of things, the Loggers were led by Samantha Keightley on the back row and Avery Allemann at the net. Willamette was the only other team with a winning record in conference but their wins were against a struggling Cal Lu team in 5-sets and a bad team in Hamline. They weren’t too competitive against Gust. Adolphus. They finished at 15.1 Points/Set and look out for Olivia Cadien who ended the weekend at 5 Points/Set. Bottom line, they didn’t hurt their chances so that is the positive. Things would have looked different if Geroge Fox could have swung their 5-set loss to UC Santa Cruz in the other direction. Still, statistically, it was a dominate performance by UCSC in that match. Whitworth played four tough matches but losses to TLU and Birmingham-Southern are troubling and they barely took a 5-setter from a winless UT-Dallas team. It’s too early for proclamations but with Pacific Lutheran going 0-4, this conference is Puget Sounds to lose. Pacific, another potential contender, also went 0-4 against out-of-region teams. I know I’m being too negative NWC so let me give some love to Lewis & Clark equaling their 2022 win total going 2-2 at the PCC. Nice five set win over Illinois Tech and a sweep of Alfred. Great weekend for senior Izzy Willis.

To the SCAC and I’ve already talked a bit about St Thomas. They did what they needed to do and we’ll know more this weekend. They were led by Audrey Cataline and granddaughter Laynee Beam making me proud. I’m sure Laynee had some sneaky shots among her 19 kills. We don’t know much about the competition Austin and Dallas played but Austin did finish with an 18.1 Points/Set (led by Selah Coleman) and Dallas finished with 16.4 Points/Set (led by Cassie Dyoub). Both teams, as mentioned above, went 4-0 on the weekend. Trinity and TLU both suffered a loss to a very good UW-Oshkosh team with Trinity picking up an extra win against UTD. Trinity finished at 16.31 Points/Set while TLU finished at 14.4 so it kind of shows you the difference between the teams. TLU’s Faith Coldewey finished with 6.33 Digs/Set on the weekend while Trinity’s Maddie Fate finished with 1.38 Blocks/Set. The Oshkosh loss from Trinity was interesting because it was a sweep at home. Tough to do for a visiting team but the Titan win was no accident. 62 Points to 46 in favor of Oshkosh. Getting 20 Points/Set in a match is incredible and then to do against Trinity means you are serious and could be primed for a title run. Not to turn this into a Midwest Blog and take some of Ricky’s fans but Oshkosh finished the weekend at 18.7 Points/Set. Yikes. Before I get to Southwestern and CC, Centenary went 2-2 on the weekend with a nice win over Millsaps. Schreiner went 1-3 but two of their losses were in 5-sets. Colorado College went 2-2 on the weekend and sported a 16.12 Points/Set. Just a tough first day as they adjusted without Isabella Lipacis (injured). One interesting note is that CC is playing a 6-2 this year with 2022 All-Region Jenny Jenks as the second setter. Carolyn Dormady led the team with 3.72 Points/Set. CC will play three extremely tough matches next week at the East/West Challenge and a 2-1 record will be a must for at-large prospects. Maybe 1-2 gets it done as they have another great tournament to attend in October but they would have to start running the table there and in conference. As for Southwestern, I obviously saw them play all three matches and I can tell you they can perform poorly if they want but they can also match one of the best teams in the nation defensively and in the service receive if they want. The big question for their at-large chances is just how good is La Verne because they struggled against the Leopards. If La Verne is a top 2 or 3 team in the West then no issues but, if not, then Southwestern is in trouble. The Pirates only finished at 13.3 Points/Set but their 16.5 mark against Pomona-Pitzer may be more telling. They did suffer a bad injury to Christina Kuras who was one of their best offensive players going into the year in that Pomona match. The Pirates were led on the weekend by Geneva Nedrow with 5.42 Digs/Set and Andie Valenzuela who had 3.5 Points/Set.

Alright, time for the stars of the weekend and that’s the SCIAC. CMS and La Verne both went 3-0 in the PCC with CMS maybe playing a little tougher schedule. CMS played UW-Eau Claire while La Verne played St Catherine. CMS did drop 3 sets and were forced into a 5-setter by Southwestern. La Verne only dropped one set and swept Southwestern. CMS finished at 17.8 Points/Set while La Verne finished at 16.8 for the weekend. Both good numbers but having watched both play the same team, CMS is just deeper but La Verne is going to be good. Maybe even Top 25 good. Mya Ray led La Verne with 4.15 Points/Set but the team is no longer the Mya show as it was last year. Noelani Soma absolutely destroyed Southwestern in the match I watched and you can tell Lauren Gott is going to have a great career at the school. With CMS it’s the same cast of characters (Dede oh Dede so annoying to play against) although Coach Vlasic utilized his bench to a great extent. Jenna Holmes (4.5 P/S) was Jenna Holmes and just crazy good. Georgia McGovern was outstanding as, I think, I wrote above and I’m comfortable in again writing that these two will vie for All-Region Player of the Year as well as National Player of the Year. The team isn’t perfect as they still need to figure out their second outside and their second middle when it counts. I thought Kelsey Polhemus (middle) did a good job at the net when she was inserted in the 3^rd set and started the rest of the way as CMS stormed back for the win. The third undefeated team in the SCIAC is Redlands who went 1-0 beating Providence Christian. I got to meet new head coach Savannah Cox on Friday so that was a joy to talk to her. Chapman and Occidental both went 2-1 on the weekend but I really didn’t see either play and I missed bothering both coaches. Chapman had a nice win over Neb Wesleyan but lost in 4-sets to Carthage. Oxy lost to Neb Wesleyan but had wins over Lewis & Clark and Alfred. It would appear in the SCIAC pecking order that Chapman is higher than Oxy. Whittier went 1-2 at the PCC beating St John Fisher but losing to Neb Wesleyan and UW-Eau Claire. They had their moments as I watched pieces of two matches and they looked good set one against Eau Claire. Transfer Riley DeGroot is going to be really good for them. Caltech wasn’t in the PCC but 1-2 against non-DIII opponents. That leaves Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Lutheran. CLU struggled with their only win being against Whitman. Sophia Muller didn’t play and she was another All-Region of mine so that obviously hurt. Hopefully, she gets back soon. CLU has the East/West Challenge this week so a turnaround is needed fast. Pomona-Pitzer is undefeated when I don’t watch them. Yes, I am their kryptonite. The Sagehens lost a tough 5-setter to St Catherine that I’m sure they’d like a do-over on. They also dropped a 4-setter to Southwestern. I was all ready to go negative on them and then they finished the tournament with a sweep of ranked UW-Eau Claire. They played a low error match and it paid off with the win and the same was true for their win over St John Fisher. Back to the Southwestern match and statistically the teams were even (both had 66 Points) but the difference was 16 errors for Southwestern to 24 for Pomona-Pitzer. The pieces are there and a top 3 finish looks probable in conference. Can they play low attacking error ball against La Verne and CMS? That will be the question with this team. The Sagehens had 6 players at 2 Points/Set or higher so a crazy balance attacking team.

Whew. That was a lot! It’s early but let’s talk about regional rankings for a second. Not thinking about criteria (just results from this first weekend) but the teams in contention (no particular order) will be Puget Sound, Trinity, UC Santa Cruz, CMS and La Verne. You then have to look at Southwestern, Colorado College and Pomona-Pitzer. I can’t put in UT-Dallas who are always there. Could we see a St Thomas sneak in? Will one of the other NWC teams turn it around? Don’t know but it’s a little concerning that we don’t have double-digit teams vying for a spot. Just like me to end on a negative after a fun week of volleyball.