US NCAA Women's VB

Heads-up to any Penn State fans out there: preview is on Sunday.

PENN. ST. LIONS

A strange situation in State College: they are short in pin hitters: and yet, they lost one of the top incoming Freshmen in OPP Iman Ndiaye...who decommitted.

Losing Tori Gorrell, Keeton Holcomb and (especially) Kendall White will definitely affect this squad. One of the biggest questions: where to place Jonni Parker?

They also have had 3 2019 players transfer out: Amanda Phegley, Brooklynn Hill, plus Sydney Ferguson. Is this the start of "the blush of the Rose" fading away?

RETURNING STARTERS

Jonni Parker, Right Side, Junior: HM All American

Kaitlyn Hord, Middle Blocker, Junior: 1st Team AA

Jenna Hampton, Junior, DS/L

Serena Gray, MB, Junior: HM AA

Allyson Cathey, Junior, OH

Gabby Blossom, Junior, Setter: Third Team AA

KEY DEPARTURES (* INDICATES STARTERS)

*Kendall White, Libero; Second Team AA

Emily Sciorra, DS/L

Amanda Phegley, OH; transfer to UNC

Kristin Krause, DS/L

*Keeton Holcomb, DS/L

Brooklynn Hill, DS/L

*Tori Gorrell, OH

Sydney Ferguson, OH; transfer to NC State

KEY ADDITIONS

Maddy Bilinovic, Freshman, L

Keatan Broughton, Junior, DS/L (transfer from W Va)

Macy van den Elzen, FR, OH

Annie Cate Fitzpatrick, FR, OH

Anastasiya Kudryashova, JR, OH (transfer from Rutgers)

A QUICK NOTE Neither of these transfers is very highly rated in previous seasons; nor are the incoming Frosh Outside Hitters. A poor recruiting class.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

WOW....Losing eight players, three OHS, a Second-team All American Libero (and undisputed on-court leader) Kendall White to graduation...and with their top-prize recruit decommitting; what can the Nittany-faithful In Happy Valley PA look forward to? A fifth-place finish in the Big Ten, I predict. So, just look at the projected lineup (compiled from more than one source): NO second Outside hitter. This will be a mix-and-match season. Russ retiring?

TOMORROW: (my sneaker-sleeper Fourth-place team)..MICHIGAN

Quote from Let's go orange

Most important to Penn State is to deliver a decent serve reception! And with White gone, this will be really difficult.

They have 2 really great and physical strong middle blockers in Hord and Gray, so Blossom should try to use them as much as possible. When reception isn't great they will have a great opposite in Parker to kill the of system balls. Hope there will be a outside hitter who can take over the spot that Gorrell left. Cathey is just not good enough...

Yeah, I was going to mention their strongest suit, their Middles, but got sidetracked and omitted that. There is some discussion about trying to convert Parker into a 6-ro Outside Hitter...but her passing skills just are not at a level to justify it. To most effectively use MBs you need good passing: which isn't guaranteed!

Thanks for pointing out that strongest component: the Middle Blockers for PSU. To have them successfully and effectively utilized will be Coach Rose's #1 job.

QUICK NOTE BEFORE DOING THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINE PREVIEW: The Big Ten has been, plus still is, a league made up of tiers. The top tier, historically, has consisted of the strongest teams currently: Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin. The second tier has usually consisted of Michigan and Illinois (although they have slipped down).. The other programs have never done much: both in the B1G conference races and NCAAs. Ohio State: 2 FF/ Semis; Mich. St. 1 FF/ Semi. Michigan's rise is more recent than MI State's, plus they have been more competitive in recent years. Will they break through?

MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

This is a team whose future will be based upon a semi-solid returning core and the inclusion of two of the best incoming Freshman recruits: Jess Mruzik (OH) and Scottee Johnson (a 6'0" Setter). That may be quite a bit to hope for but there are enough quality starters/incoming transfers to make the Top 4.

RETURNING STARTERS

Paige Jones, Junior, Outside Hitter; Third Team All-American

May Pertofsky, Sophomore, MB/OH

Jess Robinson, Soph, MB

Natalie Smith, Senior, L

KEY DEPARTURES (* INDICATES STARTER)

*Cori Crocker, MB

Katarina Glavinic, OPP

Kyleigh Hamacher, L/DS

*Mackenzi Welsh, Setter; HM AA

+Sydney Wetterstrom, RS/OH

KEY ADDITIONS

Kendall Murray, FR, OH

Jess Mruzik, FR, OH

Jenni Liu, Soph., S (transfer)

Scottee Johnson, FR, S

Hannah Grant, R-FR, DS/L (transfer)

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

This was a middle-of-the-road squad in 2019 (21-11; 13-7 in the B1G: 6th place). They were the second-ranked team in that Lexington Sub-Regional but were swept by Kentucky in the 2nd round. They ran a quasi-version of a three Middle offense a year ago; with Crocker graduated, and enough pin firepower coming in, maybe they will ditch that for a more conventional lineup. Paige Jones will be HUGE as will be the two Frosh. Think they will rise!

Quote from QueenPiccininiLover

It sounds weird, since Minnesota and Wisconsin never won a NCAA title. On the other hand, Nebraska was part of the Big 12 while winning its first 3 (out of 5) titles. Yeah, they played more F4s than the other programs, but that's all. We can say Penn State made a name for the conference IMHO.

I would like you to write about Pac-12. That's my favourite conference. Since I can't/don't follow high school volleyball, it may introduce me the best rookies of the next season. I'm curious about my beloved Stanford, loosing the core of the team.

Actually the original Big Ten (10 schools) has never won an NCAA. As you correctly stated, Nebraska came from the Big-12 with a few titles; Penn State was in the Atlantic10, Big East or something, before joining the B1G. Want to ask others, "any other Big Ten schools you want previews?" Purdue/Illinois is about it!

As far as my home conference, the Pac12: ironically, I was going to ask soon if there was interest. Stanford, Utah and Washington are the top three. I will do it

We have time; give me a week, and I'll crank a few previews out.

Quote from Let's go orange

I would like a preview of Illinois

Also interested in the top teams of the PAC12!

I asked; you requested; your wish is my command: Illinois sometime today Hawaii time. My being a Stanford grad-alum, plus promising QueenPiccininiLover, I will do ~the Top-5 Pac-12 teams sometime this weekend. Cheers!

ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI

This team loses a ton of high-end talent from 2019: OHs Jacqueline Quade + Beth Prince; MB Ashlyn Fleming; DS Caroline Welsh; AND, perhaps as highly important, L Morgan O'Brien. All but Prince were starters, and anyone following Illini VB the past few years knows how important Beth was. None of the remaining starters are AVCA award-winners (Quade was HM All American her Senior campaign) and the incoming Frosh recruits are not highly regarded

RETURNING STARTERS

Taylor Kuper, Junior, L/DS

Megan Cooney, Senior, OH/OPP

Kennedy Collins, Sophomore, MB

Diana Brown, Redshirt Soph, Setter

Mica Allison, Junior, S/OPP

KEY DEPARTURES

The aforementioned DS Welsh, OH Quade (graduate transfer), OH Prince, Libero O'Brien and MB Fleming (this was a rather stellar class for four years)

KEY ADDITIONS

Sophie Gregus, Freshman, RS/OH

Raina Terry, FR, Outside Hitter

Maddie Whittington, FR, MB/OPP

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

Head coach Chris Tamas will have to show his mettle with this squad: the first season wherein mostly his recruits will be the starters. 2019 was a very predictable "fall from grace" after the previous year's Final Four: plus the graduations of Ali Bastianelli and Jordyn Poulter. They barely squeaked into the NCAA tourney (California should've gone instead) after a 16-14/ 11-9 B1G year (7th place). OHs, serve-receive, & backcourt defense will be suspect.

HERE COMES YOUR 2020 PAC-12 PREVIEWS:

STANFORD CARDINAL

After graduating one of the most successful classes in NCAA history...3 National Championships in 4 years; Final Four/5-set semifinal loss the other year...what can the Cardinal do for an encore: with 5 of those departed roster members being multiple All-Americans? Well, the 2019 recruiting class was the #1 that season: by far. Only OHs Kendall Kipp (#2/3 ranked) and Natalie Berty (#5 rated) saw any significant court time (due to injuries) in the '19 season. The other #2/3 top OH, Caitie Baird, was redshirted. There are pieces remaining from the 2017-8 recruiting classes: OH Meghan McClure (a three-year starter), DS Kate Formico (3-year starter). MB Holly Campbell (a 2-year starter) and OPP/S Mackenzie Fidelak. Some others from that #1 2019 class include MB McKenna Vicini and the presumptive starting Setter Selina Xu. The incoming (#3-ranked?) recruiting class includes: S Malia Tufuga; MB Leilah Smith; MB Annabelle Smith; L/OH Elena Oglivie; plus DS/L Alex Lougeay. It Is Hard to win a title; what can we expect after back-to-back; 3/4 years?

A deep run through the 2020 NCAAs (if it occurs). Here is why:

RETURNING STARTERS

Meghan McClure, OH, Senior; 2018 Honorable Mention AA

Kate Formico, DS, Senior

Holly Campbell, MB, Junior

EMERGENCY/PART TIME STARTERS IN 2019

Natalie Berty, OH, Sophomore

Kendall Kipp, OH, Soph.

KEY DEPARTURES

Audriana Fitzmorris, MB/RS: Three-time All American (2x Second Team, 3rd-Team)

Madeleine Gates, MB: Two-time AA (2nd-Team 2017; Third Team 2019)

Jenna Gray S: 3 Time First Team AA

Morgan Hentz, L: Three-time 1st-Team AA; Co-Most Outstanding Player of 2018 NCAA Championships

Kathryn Plummer, OH, AVCA FOY in 2016; 2x National Player of the Year, Three time AA, 2x NCAA MOP

Sydney Wilson, DS: Server-extraordinaire

KEY ADDITIONS

The rest of the 2019 recruit class, save for Kipp and Berty

Alex Lougeay, L/DS

Elena Oglivie, OH/L

Annabelle Smith, MB

Leilah Smith, MB

Malia Tufuga, S

(Very) BRIEF SYNOPSIS

What can be said in the aftermath of one of the Top two 4-year teams of All Time? SU reloads, not rebuilds. A ton of talent returns. Biggest questions:

Who begins at Setter?: Xu (highly rated)

Who is the Libero?: Oglivie (a stud player from Hawai'i (where I am))

Who is OH1 (McClure's a lock for OH2)?: I would guess Baird; predict Berty to fill-in

Who is the RS/OPP?: Kipp (due to passing deficiencies)

Who is MB2 (Campbell locked at MB1)?: L. Smith; the highest-ranked incoming Frosh

Who are the Defensive Specialists?: Formico and Lougeay

There are A Lot of pieces that can be moved interchangeably; a Ton Of versatility available when a substitution is needed and/or an injury warrants it.

Predict they will end up in the top-3 of the Pac-12 and will be seeded (#1-16). Will they host a regional? Who knows? Make a 5th-straight FF? The same.

Utah next (Saturday night my time; Sunday morn in Europe); then Washington (Sunday morning Hawaii; Sunday eve on the Continent. Takes time to research.

UTAH UTES

This is an interesting team; the one team which nearly derailed Stanford's back-to-back title run in 2019: losing in the Regional Semi in five sets (15-11 in the 5th). I followed the end of the match after going to bed thinking SU had it made, after lopsided wins in sets 2 and 3. Utah smoked them in set four; I rejoined following the match at about 10-10 in the 5th: thinking I'd be reading a summary of a 4-set SU win. It was an ulcer-city rest of the match for me.

ANYWAY: if MB Berkeley Oblad were still on this squad, I would rate them far above the rest of the PAC. First Team AA Dani Drews, 2nd Team AA Kenzie Koerber and HM AA Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres return to a team which, like Wisconsin, is poised for a Senior-laden, one-off run at an NCAA Championship.

RETURNING STARTERS

Megan Yett, OH, Junior

Zoe Weatherington, OH, Sophomore

Kenzie Koerber, OPP, Senior; 2nd Team All-American 2019

Sage Ka'aha'aina, Setter, Junior; 2019 HM AA

Phoebe Grace, MB, Redshirt-Jr.

Dani Drews, OH, Senior; 1st Team AA 2019; Second-Team 2018

KEY DEPARTURES

Brianna Doehrmann, Libero

Berkeley Oblad, MB: 2019 Second Team AA

KEY ADDITIONS

Sommer Daniel, S/OH, Freshman

Allie Olsen, MB, Fr.

Vanessa Ramirez, DS/L, Fr.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

This was a streaky, hot-and-cold team one year ago. Almost Jekyll and Hyde-like. They were SO hot against Stanford; they took the Card to five sets in two of the three matches last year. Biggest Qs: who takes over for Doehrmann as Libero; who slots in for Oblad at MB; who are the DS'es? Since there has been so little turnover on their roster, Coach Beth Launiere will have to go to some 2019 reserves and Redshirts for that. This is their ONE chance for: 1) a Pac12 Championship; 2) hosting a Regional; 3) making the Final Four; 4) maybe winning the title. Launiere will need them to stay hot, though!

UDub (University of Washington) tomorrow. Any requests beyond the Top-3 (and the only three contenders IMO) that I previewed here? Just give me a shout!

Utah preview ended up at the bottom of previous page, ICYMI.