***Official NCAA VB Sweet 16/who's going to Berkeley thread***

[Buster28]

I got all my arrangements made last night to fly to San Francisco for the regional in Berkeley this coming weekend. I'm VERY happy to be going! It wasn't too hard to make arrangements (but I'd been doing a TON of research ahead of time - just in case) and got flights, hotel, and car rental set up at $470 for each of the two of us traveling.

As of now, the weather looks to be great and I can't wait to see how we do against (presumably) Stanford. UCLA and Michigan State will play tonight to see who advances to face Michigan in the other regional semi-final. Michigan knocked off the 10 seed, Louisville, in the 2nd round at UL. Stanford plays Western Kentucky and their sparkling 33-3 record. I don't think WKU will cause them a lot of problems, but as they say, that's why they play the games.

Is anyone else going to make the trip out to Berkeley to watch the team play Friday night?

[CycloneRulzzz]

I got all my arrangements made last night to fly to San Francisco for the regional in Berkeley this coming weekend. I'm VERY happy to be going! It wasn't too hard to make arrangements (but I'd been doing a TON of research ahead of time - just in case) and got flights, hotel, and car rental set up at $470 for each of the two of us traveling.

As of now, the weather looks to be great and I can't wait to see how we do against (presumably) Stanford. UCLA and Michigan State will play tonight to see who advances to face Michigan in the other regional semi-final. Michigan knocked off the 10 seed, Louisville, in the 2nd round at UL. Stanford plays Western Kentucky and their sparkling 33-3 record. I don't think WKU will cause them a lot of problems, but as they say, that's why they play the games.

Is anyone else going to make the trip out to Berkeley to watch the team play Friday night?

Have a good time and cheer loud and proud!

[Wesley]

You can also fly into San Jose. May be a non stop from Omaha on Frontier.

[Buster28]

You can also fly into San Jose. May be a non stop from Omaha on Frontier.

Frontier doesn't fly into San Jose and you'd have to stop in Denver if it did. There are no direct flights to the Bay Area from Des Moines or Omaha. The airports that are best to use would be SFO and OAK, then San Jose, which is pretty far south, then Sacramento (which is about 90 minutes northeast from Berkeley). SFO generally will have the best prices. When I flew there in 2009 for the NCAA women's basketball Berkeley region games that ISU played in, the better prices were into Oakland on Southwest. That situation seems to be rare, however.

Frontier does fly from Des Moines to SFO. Southwest will also go from DSM (connecting at Midway) to either SFO or OAK, though those prices had jumped considerably over the last couple of days. American, United, Delta, and US Airways will also get you to SFO from DSM.

We are flying Southwest out there, then Frontier back home. It just worked out to be less expensive that way.

[Cybirdy]

My husband's brother and wife live in Berkely (both ISU grads) and they hope to go. They have been able to catch the men's bball and women's bball teams when they've played there as well. Sounds like a fun trip, enjoy!

[Buster28]

My husband's brother and wife live in Berkely (both ISU grads) and they hope to go. They have been able to catch the men's bball and women's bball teams when they've played there as well. Sounds like a fun trip, enjoy!

Hope they make it also. I don't want it to be ALL Stanford fans and then a dozen or so ISU people! WBB had a very good turnout for the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games in '09 but there were far more Cardinal fans, which is to be expected.

So in our region, it's Iowa State, Stanford, Michigan, and Michigan State. Interesting, to say the least. I haven't looked at Volley Talk's forums lately, but I would imagine that the UCLA "fans" have been quiet since their 2nd round loss after assuming they would play Stanford in the regional final. Win or lose, I'm happy with ISU making it back to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in six years. Can't complain too much about that!

[Buster28]

Side note for people that may go or are heading out west: the weather for this weekend in the Bay Area is supposed to be beautiful. It is forecast to be mostly sunny with highs in the low 60s from Thursday through Monday. The torrential rains they've been having for the last few days (flood warnings for the Napa and Russian Rivers in Napa and Sonoma Countries due to over 12" of rain since Wednesday in some locations) will be over for the near future. Always nice to head someplace that will be having better weather than where you're coming from. =)

[cowgirl836]

Hope they make it also. I don't want it to be ALL Stanford fans and then a dozen or so ISU people! WBB had a very good turnout for the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games in '09 but there were far more Cardinal fans, which is to be expected.

So in our region, it's Iowa State, Stanford, Michigan, and Michigan State. Interesting, to say the least. I haven't looked at Volley Talk's forums lately, but I would imagine that the UCLA "fans" have been quiet since their 2nd round loss after assuming they would play Stanford in the regional final. Win or lose, I'm happy with ISU making it back to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in six years. Can't complain too much about that!

I think they are rather surprised, though it sounds like they have been somewhat like us through the season - inconsistent. One thing they were sure of is that their libero was eons better than ours. A couple of them got rather snooty when a Minny fan (who had watched both play) said they thought Hahn was the best. So I'm glad to see our libero going at least one round further :)

[cy4prez7]

I'll be there with the band!! Can't wait!

[cydney]

...
So in our region, it's Iowa State, Stanford, Michigan, and Michigan State. Interesting, to say the least. I haven't looked at Volley Talk's forums lately, but I would imagine that the UCLA "fans" have been quiet since their 2nd round loss after assuming they would play Stanford in the regional final. Win or lose, I'm happy with ISU making it back to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in six years. Can't complain too much about that!

Looks like UCLA needs to work on its fan support, period. Take a look at the first photo in the gallery from the start of the game:
Photo Gallery
Note that it's their home court. Maybe when the going got tough against MSU, fan support would have helped UCLA.

[beatiowa]

I'll be there! The possibility of our ladies playing in Berkeley has been circled on my calendar for months, so I'm pretty stoked it's actually happening. I know a handful of other ISU alumni in the area who are hoping to go as well—just kind of depends whether the Friday game is late enough to not interfere with work schedules and whatnot.

Does anybody know when the time of the game will be announced?

[cowgirl836]

I believe the game will be at 7:30? The Michigan's play first.

[cyclonpediaJoe]

Have to beat the best to be the best. Hoping this is on cyclonetv.com.

[cowgirl836]

just checked and yes, 5pm Michigans, 7pm us. Those are PST. So 9pm start for us watching in the Midwest.

[theshadow]

Brackets on NCAA.com have UM/MSU at 7pm CT, with ISU/STAN at 9 pm CT.

Regional semifinals are on ESPN3.