NCAA Volleyball Championships

[Oxy]

UW faces off against Texas in the national semi-final right about now.  Good Luck to the ladies.  It's a good watch.

[nate82]

6 minutes ago, Oxy said:

UW faces off against Texas in the national semi-final right about now.  Good Luck to the ladies.  It's a good watch.

Hopefully the after the win goes better than last time.

[yourout]

Texas better at digging so far.

Actually better at pretty much everything.

[Oxy]

Rough start. Texas out-serving us big time in the first half of the set.  UW had to scramble way too much.  Trying to scrap back into it now.

[yourout]

I don't see Bucky winning this.

Texas service and defense is much better.

[Oxy]

Looking better this set.

[yourout]

3 minutes ago, Oxy said:

Looking better this set.

Much...

[yourout]

Service return is killing Bucky in the 3rd.

[yourout]

That has to be their worst set of the year.

Yikes.

[Jimbo]

Just...wow.  Surprised, but then again not surprised.  The two weaknesses the team has had the last two seasons gets exploited again.

DraftKings had the Badger's odds at 70%

 

Just to think, Tennessee had Texas at match point in the "Sweet Sixteen", but couldn't finish.

 

It was Skinner v Franklin for National POY, but that question was answered (I know, voting completed before the match).

 

If you cannot pass the ball to the setter, the size of your front line is irrelevant.  That's why they were short on all facets.

 

Always interesting to  which players "show up" in these moments.

 

Should be interesting to see how Nebraska defends Skinner.  Huskers known as a defensive team.

 

The only silver lining I see is Wisconsin avoids losing the finals to LaRousa's Cardinals, err I mean Nebraska.

 

Finally, talk about an IGT...193 pages!

 

 

[Samurai Bucky]

One word:

OOF

[owbc]

Strongly agree with Jimbo's analysis, but at worst this should have been a close matchup that could have gone either way. Not a blowout. 

Lights were too bright. 

[CheezWizHed]

A disappointing end but still an excellent season.  I didn't get to see the last game, but watched a few through the season (including trouncing MN which is always fun).  

[hawing]

For those of you who don't watch college volleyball regularly, this was truly the only clunker in Wisconsin's 2023 season.  Extremely unfortunate that it came when it did, on a national stage. 

Both Wisconsin setters (Ashburn and Hammill) are done now.  There's a super recruit coming in to set next year, but I don't even know who that person's backup will be.  2024 will be different. 

[yourout]

Texas completely dismantling Nebraska.

 

[Jimbo]

Upon the dismay of the host, I left a Packer Party early to get home to watch the final.  And I wanted to see it from the start.  Texas did to Nebraska exactly what they did to Wisconsin.  So that removed quite a bit of the sting from Thursday.  The Huskers looked worse against Texas than the Badgers did.  Like I said above, Nebraska is a much better defensive team than Wisconsin.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

It should be interesting at the Women's College Volleyball Showcase next year.

https://www.fiservforum.com/events/detail/volleyball

[Jimbo]

So, the tables turn and Wisconsin surprises Texas, on their court.  I believe this will end up on the All-Time Top Ten Wins list.

With Nebraska out (even bigger shocker), this could be anyone's tournament to win.

 

[igor67]

Despite the loss college volleyball is way more watchable these days than football.

[Samurai Bucky]

In game 1, the passes to the setter were spot on.  In game 2, the Badgers started beating themselves with a bunch of service errors.  After that, Kentucky served better / Wisconsin wasn't able to pass as well.  That didn't give the setter many options.  Kentucky set up their block more consistently when Wisconsin wasn't as consistent.

Kelly Sheffield has a very, very good thing going at Wisconsin.  It is certainly fun to watch, although sometimes on TV, they use terms that it took me a while to learn.  Perhaps a drinking game?

"Out of system!"  --- Drink!

"Overpass"  -- Drink!

Sheffield and Mark Johnson (Women's hockey) have built a great legacy for women's sports at Wisconsin.

[hawing]

25 minutes ago, igor67 said:

Despite the loss college volleyball is way more watchable these days than football.

It sure is to me.  2025 may have been Kelly Sheffield's best single-season coaching effort.  The sheer amount of roster turnover had many people across fanbases wondering whether Wisconsin would have a rebuilding year, and instead they reached the final four and did not roll over even in their season ending match.  

[owbc]

Really great match. Could have gone either way. Hudson seemed to come up with a big play for Kentucky whenever they needed it. 

 

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

 Kind of seemed like this one turned in set 4, after the Badgers clawed back to 24-24. They gave it a run in the fifth, but were in desperation mode basically the whole time.

Great tournament for the Badgers. My only disappointment is an all-SEC final, but the Texas A&M-Nebraska match was an ELITE sporting event and the best possible argument for on-campus regional finals. Great atmosphere, incredible match.

If I had a few extra million lying around, I'd be trying to buy a women's pro volleyball team right now. Hard to imagine going broke on this sport's growth curve, and it deserves all the attention. Highly competitive, good atmosphere, incredible athleticism that translates to television. 

[LouisEly]

2 hours ago, igor67 said:

Despite the loss college volleyball is way more watchable these days than football.

As long as you don't look closely.  Hudson was on Purdue last year, as well as Kentucky's 6'7" middle blocker Cook.  Purdue's other top player, Chloe Chicoine, transferred to Louisville.  Where would Purdue have been with those three?

So, it looks like NIL and the transfer portal have infiltrated college volleyball, too..

[igor67]

Absolutely but as long as the money stays unequal it cant get to the football level of crazy.