Volleyball 2022

[TigerNation 49]

39 minutes ago, TigersTigers said:

Well, shows what I know. I thought this weekend was going to be one of the most difficult of the whole season. I certainly did not expect two stone-cold ass-kickings.

Day 1 was a somewhat sloppy and defensive affair. Several of Towson's players did not have good offensive performances, but it didn't particularly matter since Delaware couldn't score on them to save their lives. What really tipped the scales in Towson's favor was their ability to not just contain Lani Mason, but to completely shut her down. She did lead her team with 10 kills, but it took her 12 errors to do it. In fact, Delaware's entire team hit a combined -.019. It is a very rare occurrence for a team (let alone a Top 100 team) to hit negative in a match. That just illustrates how thoroughly Delaware's offense was outclassed by Towson's defense on Saturday.

Day 2 was tactically not at all the same as Day 1, but the result was the same: a 3-0 slaughter. Instead of stifling the Blue Hens, Towson blew right by them with a monstrous attacking performance. The Tigers hit .400 as a team, with every single offensive player in the lineup having a good game. Very quickly, this match turned into a straight-up highlight reel, with every player taking huge swings, almost as if they were in a competition to see who could hit the ball the hardest. It still is true that Delaware is good enough to catch Towson out and beat them on a bad day. But Sunday's match was proof that when Towson is playing well, nobody in this conference can touch them. 

One final note on Nina Cajic: She raised her hitting percentage again, to finish the weekend at .445. This should move her up to 2nd in the nation, only behind a middle. As previously stated, middles should always have higher percentages than pin hitters, as they attack the ball less often and in more advantageous circumstances. Basically, Michigan's Jess Robinson is leading the nation with a percentage of .483, but due to their positions, Cajic's .445 is actually more impressive.

Do you think we finally crack top 25 this week?

[TigersTigers 69]

42 minutes ago, TigerNation said:

Do you think we finally crack top 25 this week?

I don't think so, but we will probably gain a few votes. We got 36 votes last week, and #25 WKU had 120. I don't see us picking up 80-90 votes from this week alone.

[Tiger93 299]

UCF also lost to Houston this weekend leaving Towson and No. 1 Texas as the only undefeated teams left in Division I. 

[TuTigers2012 1,060]

40 minutes ago, Tiger93 said:

UCF also lost to Houston this weekend leaving Towson and No. 1 Texas as the only undefeated teams left in Division I. 

Rank us you cowards!!

[TuTigers2012 1,060]

Still “27th” but picked up 16 points to 52

[TigersTigers 69]

Yep. Not only that, but we also closed the gap between us and #25. Michigan and UCF both had bad weeks, so they are now tied at #24 with 79 points. We were 84 votes off of 25th last week, now we're just 27 votes away. It now feels like we're just one bad week by a couple competitors away from getting that coveted meaningless number next to our name.

Edit: Also worth mentioning that we shot up 10 spots in the RPI to #33.

Edited October 10, 2022 by TigersTigers

[tu_fan 110]

UMBC's coach, who votes, has us at 16.......We cracked a few new ballots this week - I think we break through next week!  

[TigersTigers 69]

Well, that's that. No undefeated season, no ranking, and probably not even an at-large bid should they not win the conference. Oh well. Pressure's off now. Heads down, sleeves rolled up, and just play our best for the rest of the season, like we always thought we would have to do. Get 'em tomorrow. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by TigersTigers

[TuTigers2012 1,060]

Wasn’t expecting a loss to 6-10 elon. Oh well, it was a great start and hopefully they can get back to their winning ways and finish first 

[TigerNation 49]

The girls won again today. They are now 20-1, let’s keep supporting them!!!