***Official NCAA tournament thread***

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Originally Posted by cowgirl836

I hope that Stanford gets knocked off by whoever they play next, Michigan? Their fans are arrogant *****

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When I was young, my dad said to never be on the side of west coast, Texas teams, Notre Dame, or the Yankees. So like a normal kid, I got to be LA Rams fans and Houston Astros fans. Since then I have seen his point. However, fans don't reflect on players and that team was good. It took lots of work to get that good. It is my policy to root for the team that beats my team, and that reflects better on your team. That unfortunately gets me to be on the side of some odd teams like Kentucky last year in basketball. I hope Stanford beats Penn State. I would be surprised if they get beat by anyone else.

The seniors who closed out their career's last night can be proud of how they helped grow this program. Even with this year's highly touted freshmen, Landwehr and Staube are still the highest rated recruits to play VB at ISU. They did not disappoint, as both have been AA. Hockaday did not come in as highly rated, but she might have left as one of the most decorated if not for that knee injury. The only year this class did not make the Sweet Sixteen, was the year she got hurt in the first match. While her replacement ultimately became an AA, I don't think the final result that year (first round loss) was a coincidence. Still Hock fought back and helped this team get back to the regionals two more times. Someone can double-check, but I think she is the only Cyclone to play in four Regionals. As a fifth-year senior, her original class is the only one to make the regional final twice.

Here was this years starting 7:

MB - Jamie Straube, Tenisha Matlock
OH - Victoria Hurtt, Rachel Hockaday (albeit Andie Malloy spelled Rachel on the front row during the season)
RS - Mackenzie Bigbee
S - Alison Landwehr
L - Kristen Hahn

My projected 7 next year still looks pretty good:

MB - Matlock, Tory Knuth
OH - Hurtt, Malloy
RS - Bigbee
S - Jenelle Hudson
L - Hahn

Caitlin Nolan also returns as the defensive specialist. Next year's frosh won't come in as highly touted as this years, but they will not have to step right in. Still, the three will add height and big-time hops which we need to develop more of to better compete with elite teams.

The biggest hole to fill is setter. Can Hudson fill Ali's shoes?. Will we need to use a form of the 6-2 system to keep a strong frontline? The setter is CJL's specialty, so it might mean the pre-season is a bit rough, but I think they will get along just fine.

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Originally Posted by twistedredbird

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What impressed me about Stanford was not only their middles, but it was their precision passing and defense. There were a lot of balls I though were down and they pancaked them up or wierd digs, and somehow managed to get a good set off of for a good spike.

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This was the key to the match, IMO. This is an ISU strength, and they ended up playing even better than ISU in this aspect of the game. Combine that with all their other strengths, and it was just too much for ISU to overcome. It was frustrating as a fan to watch Stanford pick up almost everything in reach, can you imagine the toll it takes on our players? I think that's why we ended each game so flat. We rallied to keep up, and Stanford just didn't break. They are just a terrific team. ISU played very respectable, and the scores don't really show the challenge we gave them at times. But Stanford needed to make some mistakes and we needed to play almost mistake-free -- neither happened.

Thanks for a great season ladies!! And thanks to the seniors for your passion for the program!

Somehow I had it in my head Hahn was a senior. Wow, that makes a difference. I am glad people got that depressing thought out of my head.

With a 6-2, will that let us have 2 OH, 2 MH, and 2 RH? We could bigbee and malloy at rightside and have kuhrt be an OH. Her aproach and hitting look pretty good when she warms up, and CJL said in a call in show that somedays kuhrt is the best player on the floor.

did kuhrt redshirt this year? did anybody? I think Tory will be fine defensively as she puts up a huge block, but offensively she should improve a ton over the next few years.

I never heard nor saw Kuhrt play all year. Good to know we have some more talent waiting on the wings.

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Originally Posted by CY9008

did kuhrt redshirt this year? did anybody? I think Tory will be fine defensively as she puts up a huge block, but offensively she should improve a ton over the next few years.

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Kurht did redshirt this year. Kind o forgot about her. If we are in a 6-2, then Malloy could be a right-side when in the front row. That would open up an OH for Kuhrt. Regardless it seems a third OH can get court time over a long season. Another option, should it be needed in some circumstances, Hurtt was a MB for four state championships in high school.

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Originally Posted by sandiego

Volleytalk is full of blowhards and prima donnas. I mean, c'mon, we all know it's impossible for volleyball to exist outside of the Pac12 and Hawaii.

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Well, don't look now, but Oregon just spanked Neb in front of thousands of screaming Big Red fans in Omaha, and with a Stanford win tonight, at least half of the Final Four will be made up of Pac 12 teams. If USC beats Texas, it will be 3 of 4.
Yeah, that Pac 12 is sooooooo overrated...

Texas is ahead of USC 2-0. That actually is comforting although I am not exactly crazy about Texas winning anything. It looks like they are going to win that match. They are ahead slightly in the third set. Stanford doesn't start until late, don't think I can stay up for that.

Texas wins fairly easily over USC. I don't know why they put Stanford and Michigan so late at night. It doesn't even start until 10:30.

I change my mind, I think Texas is the best team and we almost beat them twice! I still think Stanford is really good, but now i'm thinking that we just didn't play good.

I think Stanford is better than Texas. Stanford has been building, with lots of freshman on the team this year. It was surprising how easy Texas dispatched USC. They almost had an easier time with them than Stanford had with us. You can't judge teams until they go head to head. Stanford if they win will play Oregon. Penn State will play Texas. I think it will be Stanford and Penn State in the final. I think Texas has a chance though.

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Originally Posted by mitten1975

I think Stanford is better than Texas. Stanford has been building, with lots of freshman on the team this year. It was surprising how easy Texas dispatched USC. They almost had an easier time with them than Stanford had with us. You can't judge teams until they go head to head. Stanford if they win will play Oregon. Penn State will play Texas. I think it will be Stanford and Penn State in the final. I think Texas has a chance though.

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Actually, Stanford would play Texas and Penn State will play Oregon. I think Texas could beat Stanford if they play like tonight. I think it will be Texas vs. Penn state in the final. (and I don't think Stanford was on another level than us)

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Originally Posted by Tornado man

Well, don't look now, but Oregon just spanked Neb in front of thousands of screaming Big Red fans in Omaha, and with a Stanford win tonight, at least half of the Final Four will be made up of Pac 12 teams. If USC beats Texas, it will be 3 of 4.
Yeah, that Pac 12 is sooooooo overrated...

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I didn't say they are overrated. I was just making the point that the people on volleytalk have a very difficult time acknowledging volleyball outside of the west coast.