USA NCAA 2016 Women's Volleyball

  • Johnson and Bedhart-Ghani are so far from that level, especially in terms of blocking an int'l caliber offense... I can't take you seriously

  • Creighton beat Kansas 3-2, but this cant even be considered a upset to be honest, this is my first time watching these 2 play this season, and neither teams play at a high level, or at least they did not play today. Kansas setter is really bad, she makes so many ugly mistakes, and the libero is bad also, she cant pass at all. Only interesting player I saw was Kansas MB Payge.

  • Normally the Conference are ranked as followed by Strength.


    1. Big Ten
    2. Pac-12 (very close)
    3. Big 12 (Texas and Kansas at the top)
    4. ACC (North Carolina, Florida State at the top)
    5. SEC (Florida, Kentucky and Mizzou)
    6. West Coast Conference (BYU and San Diego)
    7. Big West (Hawaii and Long Beach State)


    Also, the way the NCAA does the seeding is a little different from the men's basketball tournament. There are only 16 seeded teams. Kansas was 5th of those 16. The expectation is that all 16 will get to the Third Round, because they all host matches in the first two rounds.


    For Creighton to get past Kansas is an upset, maybe not the biggest upset ever, for Kansas, to not make the second round as the Big 12 Champ is a shock. Two straight years in the Sweet 16 for them taking down the bigger schools, last year North Carolina, this year Kansas. Michigan will be just as tough as Kansas for them.

  • Interesting Second Round matchups on December 3
    Penn State vs. Pittsburgh, both from Pennsylvania and rivals that don't play against each other much due to different conferences
    Michigan State vs. Arizona State, Big Ten vs. Pac-12
    Texas vs. SMU, battle of two Texas teams (actually all 4 teams in the sub-regional were from Texas) to advance
    BYU vs. UNLV, former conference opponents in the Mountain West
    Kansas State vs. Ohio State, Big 12 vs. Big Ten
    Florida vs. Florida State, big rivals in state and not just in American football either
    Minnesota vs. Hawai'i, Hawai'i did not receive much respect this year in the polls, would love to upset one of the leading title contenders after a really long trip
    North Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina, don't face each other often, but can the smaller school knock off the big name?

  • Johnson and Bedhart-Ghani are so far from that level, especially in terms of blocking an int'l caliber offense... I can't take you seriously

    imo the whole idea of an "int'l caliber offense," as you say, is moot. Just 'cause someone is on a national team - on the "int'l level" - doesn't guarantee they're any good. International teams, no less the players, span spectra of skill.



    I think you mean that Johnson and B-G can't compete with, 'high level players at the national team level' -- and that's totally fine! No need to be dismissively rude.


    I was simply showing enthusiasm for these two players. Neither were incredible last year, but they're improving a lot with every game this year. I have no idea if they could or will compete for starting positions on the US national team-- I was just sharing my opinion. But hey, the USNT gave Rachael Adams a starting position in some tournaments before she even knew how to run the slide. Kiraly sometimes gave Dietzen a starting position even after her radically reduced vertical leap. Akinradewo is a mainstay even though she overruns 90% of her blocks. Sue me, but I think Bedart Ghani (who scored on 13/14 spikes today, btw) and Morgan Johnson would be just fine. (And, it's obvious you haven't been watching them play this season, but commentators - including Kiraly, Sunderland, and Fortner - don't disagree with my impression.)

  • I only watched the 3rd set and 5 set. And they lost because of the setter and libero. The setter made a couple of really bad sets, totally off, and the libero a lot of over pass.

  • REGIONAL 4
    Second Round
    Minneapolis Sub-Regional at Minnesota, December 3, 2016
    (2) Minnesota Golden Gophers (27-4) 3-0 Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (23-6) (25-17, 25-17, 25-19)
    Chapel Hill Sub-Regional at North Carolina, December 3, 2016
    (7) North Carolina Tar Heels (29-3) 3-1 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (28-5) (23-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-16)
    Los Angeles Sub-Regional at UCLA, December 3, 2016
    (10) UCLA Bruins (25-6) 3-0 Baylor Bears (22-12) (25-21, 25-20, 25-20)


    Third Round, December 9, 2016, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by Minnesota
    (2) Minnesota Golden Gophers (27-4) vs. (15) Missouri Tigers (27-5)
    (7) North Carolina Tar Heels (29-3) vs. (10) UCLA Bruins (25-6)

  • REGIONAL 1
    Second Round
    Lincoln Sub-Regional at Nebraska, December 3, 2016
    (1) Nebraska Cornhuskers (29-2) 3-0 Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs (15-13) (25-22, 25-12, 25-16)
    State College Sub-Regional at Penn State, December 3, 2016
    (16) Penn State Nittany Lions (24-9) 3-1 Pittsburgh Panthers (25-9) (20-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-18)
    Seattle Sub-Regional at Washington, December 3, 2016
    (8) Washington Huskies (28-4) 3-0 Kentucky Wildcats (23-8) (25-21, 25-11, 25-20)
    Lansing Sub-Regional at Michigan State, December 3, 2016
    (9) Michigan State Spartans (25-9) 2-3 Arizona Wildcats (20-14) (25-17, 16-25, 19-25, 26-24, 10-15)


    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Lincoln, Nebraska, hosted by Nebraska
    (1) Nebraska Cornhuskers (29-2) vs. (16) Penn State Nittany Lions (24-9)
    (8) Washington Huskies (28-4) vs. Arizona Wildcats (20-14)

  • REGIONAL 2
    Second Round
    Austin Sub-Regional at Texas, December 3, 2016
    (4) Texas Longhorns (24-4) 3-0 Southern Methodist (SMU) Mustangs (26-8) (25-15, 25-18, 25-12)
    Provo Sub-Regional at Brigham Young, December 3, 2016
    (13) Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars (29-3) 3-0 Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) (24-8) (25-23, 25-21, 25-12)


    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Austin, Texas, hosted by Texas
    Creighton Blue Jays (28-6) vs. (12) Michigan Wolverines (24-10)
    (4) Texas Longhorns (24-4) vs. (13) Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars (29-3)

  • REGIONAL 3
    Second Round
    Manhattan Sub-Regional at Kansas State, December 3, 2016
    (14) Kansas State Wildcats (21-10) 2-3 Ohio State Buckeyes (22-12) (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-17)
    Palo Alto Sub-Regional at Stanford, December 3, 2016
    (6) Stanford Cardinal (23-7) 3-0 Boise State Broncos (26-7) (25-11, 25-22, 25-18)
    Gainesville Sub-Regional at Florida, December 3, 2016
    (11) Florida Gators (27-4) 2-3 Florida State Seminoles (25-4) (25-13, 25-16, 23-25, 19-25, 12-15)


    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by Wisconsin
    (3) Wisconsin Badgers (27-4) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (22-12)
    (6) Stanford Cardinal (23-7) vs. Florida State Seminoles (25-4)

  • We are now at the Regional Semifinals (Round of 16)


    REGIONAL 1
    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Lincoln, Nebraska, hosted by Nebraska
    (1) Nebraska Cornhuskers (29-2) vs. (16) Penn State Nittany Lions (24-9)
    (8) Washington Huskies (28-4) vs. Arizona Wildcats (20-14)


    REGIONAL 2
    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Austin, Texas, hosted by Texas
    Creighton Blue Jays (28-6) vs. (12) Michigan Wolverines (24-10)
    (4) Texas Longhorns (24-4) vs. (13) Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars (29-3)


    REGIONAL 3
    Third Round at University, December 9, 2016 at Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by Wisconsin
    (3) Wisconsin Badgers (27-4) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (22-12)
    (6) Stanford Cardinal (23-7) vs. Florida State Seminoles (25-4)


    REGIONAL 4
    Third Round, December 9, 2016, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by Minnesota
    (2) Minnesota Golden Gophers (27-4) vs. (15) Missouri Tigers (27-5)
    (7) North Carolina Tar Heels (29-3) vs. (10) UCLA Bruins (25-6)

  • Penn State almost upset Nebraska, I don`t like Penn State, but I love rooting against them, and the tournament without them is "boring". Now I hope Florida State can upset Stanford.

  • Round of 16


    REGIONAL 1
    Third Round, December 9, 2016 at Lincoln, Nebraska, hosted by Nebraska
    (1) Nebraska Cornhuskers (30-2) 3-2 (16) Penn State Nittany Lions (24-10) (23-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19, 15-6)
    (8) Washington Huskies (29-4) 3-0 Arizona Wildcats (20-15) (25-15, 25-22, 25-18)


    Fourth Round, December 10, 2016 at Lincoln, Nebraska, hosted by Nebraska 4 PM EST (9 PM UTC)
    (1) Nebraska Cornhuskers (30-2) vs. (8) Washington Huskies (29-4)


    REGIONAL 2
    Third Round, December 9, 2016 at Austin, Texas, hosted by Texas
    Creighton Blue Jays (29-6) 3-2 (12) Michigan Wolverines (24-11) (24-26, 25-21, 17-25, 25-20, 15-7)
    (4) Texas Longhorns (25-4) 3-2 (13) Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars (29-4) (25-23, 25-14, 24-26, 22-25, 16-14)


    Fourth Round, December 10, 2016 at Austin, Texas, hosted by Texas 8 PM (1 AM UTC)
    (4) Texas Longhorns (25-4) vs. Creighton Blue Jays (29-6)


    REGIONAL 3
    Third Round, December 9, 2016 at Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by Wisconsin
    (3) Wisconsin Badgers (28-4) 3-2 Ohio State Buckeyes (22-13) (25-15, 22-25, 29-31, 25-22, 15-13)
    (6) Stanford Cardinal (24-7) 3-1 Florida State Seminoles (25-5) (25-27, 25-20, 25-9, 25-23)


    Fourth Round, December 10, 2016 at Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by Wisconsin 6 PM EST (11 PM UTC)
    (3) Wisconsin Badgers (28-4) vs. (6) Stanford Cardinal (24-7)


    REGIONAL 4
    Third Round, December 9, 2016, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by Minnesota
    (2) Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-4) 3-1 (15) Missouri Tigers (27-6) (25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-14)
    (7) North Carolina Tar Heels (29-4) 1-3 (10) UCLA Bruins (26-6) (25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 28-26)


    Fourth Round, December 10, 2016 at Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by Minnesota 10 PM EST (3 AM UTC)
    (2) Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-4) VS. (10) UCLA Bruins (26-6)

  • Brahmin, what do you think about the final tournament?


    I see Nebraska clearly favourite. Cornhuskers will be at least in final. Minnesota and Texas will make it to F4. Wisconsin and Stanford looks open match to me.


    I like all these programs. I would be nice to see a new champion like Minnesota or Wisconsin.

  • Had Penn State and Brigham match points?


    Penn State had match points in the 3rd set, 24-22 and Nebraska got 4 points in a row. BYU had a big early lead in the 5th at 5-0, 8-4 at the side change and were still up 5 at 12-7. A 5-0 run from Texas and they are tied at 12-12, BYU then scores 2 in a row to get to 14-12 and 2 match points. Texas scored the next 4 to win 16-14.


    The first round went pretty much as expected in my mind. The second round had Florida State, Ohio State and Creighton advance as non-seeded teams. Not a shock as much with Ohio State (Big Ten school, who underperformed in conference). Florida State is a really good team, so Florida kind of got screwed in the bracket, but they could have beat them.


    I didn't get to watch the early matches on Friday, the NCAA changed the tournament for the third round with the timing of matches to actually put 4 of the 8 matches on television ESPNU (others were streamed on ESPN's website). In the past, the matches would be in the evening with a 5 pm start and then the 2nd match at 7 pm (or 30 min after the first match). Nebraska fans were not happy that they were the first match on Friday.


    But with Nebraska-Penn State going 5, was a great start to the day (couldn't watch due to work), then followed up by Ohio State-Wisconsin going 5, BYU-Texas and Creighton also going 5. Only the Arizona-Washington match was a sweep.


    Creighton for me have showed that they belong here. I watched them in person in 2014, and they were just below Kentucky and Southern California. The played them again for the 3rd year in row in the pre-conference tournament schedule and lost both times to Kentucky and Southern California, but they have improved as the season went along. Plus they have played Kansas and Nebraska in the pre-conference schedule and could have beat Kansas in 5 before the tournament. 5 players from the state of Nebraska, which is where Creighton is located are on the roster, so they have taken the girls who weren't good enough to play for the Cornhuskers and turn them into to Blue Jays. I just looked at the team news release and only one senior next year is starting. I'd put them high on my list for next year's round of 16.


    That shows how competitive the top teams are with the number of matches going 5 at with 13 seeded teams.


    Nebraska in my mind is still the team to take it. Minnesota would be the finalist with them. Wisconsin will probably take Stanford, who are just a little down on previous years. I would really like to see Creighton beat Texas tonight, but I have a feeling the Longhorns will come out quick after being pushed last night


    The Nebraska-Washington match should be good. Minnesota will take UCLA in 4. Wisconsin probably in 4 over Stanford. Texas in 4 too.

  • I wont even watch Nebraska vs Washington, I started to watch NCAA in 2008, and since then basically every single year those 2 plays vs each other, It become just boring.


    Nebraska did not play well at all, that`s why they went to 5set. Especially their setter, and by the way, I have not seen a decent setter so far in any team, even Carlini did not play well yesterday.


    I don`t like how some teams take their OP out when they go in the back row and bring "another libero" in. With Florida State for example, Kubrura is their best hitter by far, and yesterday she was the leading score, but when she leaves the court even with a good pass there`s nobody to kill the ball, and what sense does that makes? none...


    I think Stanford could beat Wisconsin, Stanford is really tall and they have the only player I find interesting that Ive seen so far, the blond 6'6 ( forgot her name).