WBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association

[Dark Knight]

Now, this board may return to its regularly scheduled volleyball programing. 

Massey came out with computer rankings for women's volleyball. Here are the top 20:

  1     Juniata                  32   1   1.168    3.03 (  1)   0.52 (  1) Mid Atl
  2     Washington MO            28   1   1.083    2.65 (  2)   0.48 (  3) UAA
  3     Calvin                   29   1   1.007    2.59 (  3)   0.13 ( 24) MIAA
  4 + 1 La Verne                 27   1   0.887    2.12 (  4)  -0.26 ( 55) SCIAC
  5 - 1 Concordia Mhd            22   1   0.864    2.03 (  5)   0.24 ( 13) MIAC
  6 + 1 WI Eau Claire            26   2   0.768    1.90 (  6)  -0.03 ( 35) WIAC
  7 + 1 WI Oshkosh               32   4   0.765    1.82 (  7)   0.24 ( 14) WIAC
  8 + 4 Wittenberg               30   6   0.703    1.82 ( 8 )   0.39 (  6) NCAC
  9     Hiram                    30   3   0.701    1.67 ( 12)  -0.15 ( 47) NCAC
10 - 4 Carthage                 26   4   0.693    1.78 (  9)   0.14 ( 22) CCIW
11     Baldwin-Wallace          26   6   0.643    1.70 ( 11)   0.38 (  7) OAC
12 + 1 WI Whitewater            29   6   0.617    1.64 ( 13)   0.18 ( 18) WIAC
13 - 3 Trinity TX               27   6   0.612    1.78 ( 10)   0.18 ( 19) SCAC
14     Ohio Northern            27   8   0.606    1.62 ( 14)   0.43 (  4) OAC
15 + 1 Linfield                 18   2   0.546    1.29 ( 17)  -0.29 ( 58) NWC
16 + 1 Emory                    23   9   0.518    1.43 ( 16)   0.48 (  2) UAA
17 - 2 Capital                  24   8   0.511    1.47 ( 15)   0.23 ( 15) OAC
18     Central IA               23   8   0.481    1.26 ( 18)   0.29 ( 10) IIAC
19 + 2 Hope                     22   8   0.473    1.17 ( 20)   0.24 ( 12) MIAA
20 - 1 SW Univ TX               26   6   0.456    1.14 ( 21)  -0.22 ( 51) SCAC


Note that Calvin is #3, which seems to me much more appropriate based on their record than the AVCA's #12. Hope comes in at #19. St. Thomas (MN) is overrated, according to Masey. Otherwise, this computer ranking matches the AVCA poll surprisingly well.

Presumably Calvin has a lower ranking than other one-loss teams because of a schedule that is perceived as weak, but note that their schedule is really very solid, at 24th toughest in the nation. Juniata and Washington's schedules are 1 and 3 respectively, and Concordia is 13th. La Verne's is quite a bit easier than Calvin's, at 55th.

[Bushop]

Results

MIAA Volleyball Tournament

Friday -- Semifinals at Calvin College
Hope d. Adrian 26-30, 30-20, 23-30, 30-28, 15-12
Calvin d. Saint Mary's 30-26, 30-27, 30-22

Upcoming Game

Saturday -- Championship at Calvin College
Calvin (31-1) versus Hope (24-8), 4 p.m.

- looks like St Marys gave Calvin a good challenge, three tight games.

[Bushop]

Results

MIAA Volleyball Tournament

Saturday -- Championship at Calvin College
Calvin d. Hope 30-25, 30-27, 27-30, 25-30, 15-10

HOLY DUTCH.....either Calvin is a little down this weekend (see St Marys) or Hope has really stepped-up their game.

[Dark Knight]

Saturday -- Championship at Calvin College
Calvin d. Hope 30-25, 30-27, 27-30, 25-30, 15-10[/font][/size]

HOLY DUTCH.....either Calvin is alittle down this weekend (see St Marys) or Hope has really stepped-up their game.

I don't think this is a "down" result. Even if Calvin were the best team in the nation I'd expect a tight match from Massey #19 and arch-rival Hope, in the MIAA tournament final, competing for the NCAA auto bid.

[Dark Knight]

The NCAA volleyball tournament bracket is out. The tournament is done over two weekends, three games this weekend at regionals (Calvin for the Great Lakes), and 3 games next weekend in Salem.

4 of the 8 teams in the Great Lakes regional are ranked in the top 25 by the AVCA. To get a trip to Salem, the highest-ranked team #12 Calvin or Hope might have to face is #11 Wittenberg, whom Calvin defeated 3-1 earlier in the season. To get to the final four, they might have to defeat #7 Trinity (TX).

The Midwest regional is the toughest, with #4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10. #1 Juniata is the only ranked team in the Mid-Atlantic, and there are none in the New England regionals.

Interestingly, for most ranked teams, the AVCA poll position matches the Massey computer ranking pretty closely -- within one position in 8 of 10 cases for West/Midwest teams. Every single ranked team in the South region is overrated, according to Massey, and every single ranked team in the Great Lakes regional is underrated, according to Massey. (Sounds like basketball polls!)

South: #13 Emory should be #16, according to Massey. #17 Austin should be #28. #16 Southwestern (TX) should be #20. #7 Trinity should be #13.

Great Lakes: #11 Wittenberg should be #8. #15 Hiram should be #9. #20 Ohio Northern should be #14. Unranked Hope should be #19. #12 Calvin should be #3.

[Bushop]

2006 Volleyball All-MIAA Honors

Most Valuable Player: Kristen Kalb, Calvin
(senior from Stow, Ohio/Stow Munroe Falls HS)

Freshman of The Year: Lorna Slupczynski, Saint Mary's
(freshman from St. John, Ind./Andrean HS)

Defensive Player of the Year: Anne Cusack, Saint Mary's
(senior from Napervile, Ill./Naperville North HS)

Coach of the Year: Amber Warners, Calvin

ALL-MIAA FIRST TEAM
Molly Krikke, Calvin* (junior from Greenwich, Ohio/South Central HS)
Kristen Kalb, Calvin* (senior from Stow, Ohio/Stow Munroe Falls HS)
Katie Zondervan, Calvin*** (junior from Lakewood, Calif./Valley Christian HS)
Abby Sikora, Adrian* (senior from Ceresco/Harper Creek HS)
Deena Van Assen, Hope* (senior from Jenison/Jenison HS)
Lindsey Eshelman, Adrian** (junior from Adrian/Adrian HS)
Anne Cusack, Saint Mary's* (senior from Napervile, Ill./Naperville North HS)
Amber Hoezee, Hope** (senior from Jenison/Jenison HS)
Kelsee Krull, Alma* (senior from Midland/Dow HS)
* denotes number of years All-MIAA first team

ALL-MIAA SECOND TEAM
Nora Slenk, Hope (sophomore from Holland/Holland Christian HS)
Lauren DeGroot, Calvin (sophomore from Tulare, Calif./Central Valley Christian)
Kristen Playko, Saint Mary's (senior from Norwalk, Ohio/Saint Paulís HS)
Lorilyn Vogel, Calvin (senior from Orange City, Iowa/Unity Christian HS)
Kim Gillhespy, Alma (sophomore from Cedar Springs/Cedar Springs HS)
Sarah Slamer, Albion (senior from Battle Creek/BC Central HS)
Sara Morningstar, Adrian (junior from Addison/Addison HS)
Kaylee Sova, Alma (senior from Freeland/Freeland HS)

[sac]

Lisa Winkle and Jordyn Boles made the pre-season AA team.....4th and HM resectively.

http://d3hoops.com/tow/wompreallam07.htm

[WLCALUM83]

NCAA Div III Volleyball Tournament update:

Hope defeated Ohio Northern, 3 games to 1. 

BTW, Wittenberg and Hiram won 3-1, and 3-0 respectively in the other bracket.

NEWS FLASH:  Calvin swept Nazareth, 3-0. Calvin vs. Hope tomorrow.

[Bushop]

Friday Semi-Final Matches
Wittenberg vs. Hiram, 4:30 p.m.
Hope vs. Calvin, 7 p.m.

4th time's a charm, Hope wins.

[WLCALUM83]

Which NCAC team would you rather the Calvin/Hope winner get in the regional final?

[Dark Knight]

Which NCAC team would you rather the Calvin/Hope winner get in the regional final?

Calvin beat Witt 3-1 early in the season, the last two games with the score of 30-13. (When the knights are on a roll, they can be scary.) As far as Massey is concerned Witt and Hiram are two peas in a pod. However, recent results could suggest that Hiram has been improving over the season, like Hope.

Interestingly, this will also be a fourth meeting for Witt and Hiram, with Witt taking the two conference matches and Hiram winning a tight 5-game match in the conference tournament.

However, I think Calvin will take the region in two tight matches, breeze past the south region champ, and be competitive in the final four. (Biased? me?)

[SKOT]

The Hope/Calvin VB match tonight will be broadcast live.  I wonder how exciting volleyball is on the radio (especially for a rather novice volleyball fan like myself)....

http://www.calvin.edu/sports/ram/calvinsports.ram

[WLCALUM83]

Wittenberg over Hiram in a 5-gamer.

[WLCALUM83]

Calvin over Hope, 3 games to 1.

To quote Yogi Berra:  "Deja vu all over again."
(another Wittenberg/Calvin regional final).

[Dark Knight]

Yesterday's match between Calvin and Hope had an attendance of 1123. Avca.org has the largest attendance for a DIII volleyball match up through Nov. 8 as 1068 (Wisconsin-Platteville vs. Loras) so last night's match could have had the largest attendance of any match this year.