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Post by skrapheap on Nov 9, 2013 21:49:13 GMT -6
Last weekend, after Valpo came to Milwaukee and thumped the Panthers, to pull within one-half game of first place, Valpo went to Green Bay, where the Phoenix did the Panthers a great service by beating Valpo in five sets. Tonight, the Panthers thanked the Phoenix by beating them in four sets in Green Bay.
Earlier today, Youngstown State did the Panthers another great service by going into Valparaiso and beating the Crusaders in four sets. The Panthers will again have the opportunity to play a team that just beat Valpo next weekend, as they travel to Youngstown (Friday) and Cleveland (Saturday) on the final weekend of the regular season. If the Panthers win one of the two matches, they will clinch the number one seed for the tournament, which includes hosting the semifinals and finals. Valpo could still pull into a tie, but it would require them to win both matches next weekend and the Panthers lose both matches. For seeding purposes, ties are broken first by head-to-head competition (Milwaukee and Valpo split their matches), then by record against common opponents, and ultimately to sets won and lost in league play. Milwaukee holds the edge in most (if not all) of those tiebreakers, so the Panthers remain in the driver's seat.
The Youngstown State match is one I expect to be a close one. The Panthers swept Youngstown State at home, but the Penguins have played the league tough and are poised to finish in the top half of a league in which they were predicted to finish seventh. They are a strong blocking team, and that helps a lot. Cleveland has a very young squad, and most of their most experienced players have lost multiple matches due to injury. Of the two matches, i feel more confident about the Panthers winning in Cleveland, but the Vikings have a history of strong play, and it will be their last home match. It may be their last match of the season, as they lead UIC for the last spot in the tournament by only one match. The Panthers will get Cleveland's best shot, certainly.
Tonight the Panthers were lead by Julie Kolinske's 17 kills. Rachel Neuberger had 12 kills, Maggie Dunbar had 11, and Myanna Ruiz and Kaisa Mattson (a freshman, getting her first playing time i believe since before the beginning of the league season) contributed eight kills apiece. The Panthers' depth remains a huge advantage. Kayla Price has a great variety of options to set to. The Panthers have been able to overcome the few injuries they have had this year; if a player goes out, the player who replaces her is also very good.
The Panthers hit .243 for the match; the Phoenix hit just .174.
Milwaukee is now 11-1 on the league season, in first place. Valpo is in second at 9-3. Green Bay, Youngstown State and Oakland are in a three-way tie for third place at 7-5. Cleveland State is in sixth place with a 4-8 record, with UIC in seventh at 3-9. Wright State is in last place, winless in league play.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 11, 2013 22:50:08 GMT -6
www.horizonleague.org/blog/oaklands-dood-milwaukees-golabowski-win-volleyball-weekly-honorsTaylor Golabowski picks up her second defensive player of the week honor in 2013. She is the first Horizon League volleyball player to repeat as a POTW. This the fifth time a Panther has been a league POTW this season. The last two regular season matches are this weekend: at Youngstown State (tied for third) on Friday and Cleveland State (currently sixth) on Saturday. One win clinches the title outright, and clinches hosting rights for the league tournament semi-finals and finals.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 15, 2013 20:58:51 GMT -6
It was quite a night in the Horizon League tonight. Three of four matches went to five sets, the remaining one to four sets.
Valpo needed four sets to beat Wright State in Dayton.
Three teams started the evening tied for third. Green Bay went into Cleveland and alternated wins with the Vikings. The sets were fairly close, but Green Bay took control in the fifth set and won 15-10, to lift their record to 8-5 in the league.
UIC went to Oakland and gave the Grizzlies all they could handle. Oakland had one convincing victory in a set, in the fourth set (25-14) to force the fifth set. The fifth set was close again. UIC fought off several match points, but Oakland finally held on for the win, 19-17. Oakland goes to 8-5 in the league.
The final match was Milwaukee at Youngstown State, and it was as tough a match as i expected. YSU had more to gain than the Panthers did, and it showed in their play. The Panthers won the first two sets easily, and had a solid lead in third set when the Penguins swung the momentum their way. They overtook the Panthers in the third set and won 25-22. The fourth set was back and forth again, with the Panthers unable to finish the match; the Penguins fought off match point seven times, and outlasted the Panthers to win 31-29, and force the fifth set.
The Panthers have had trouble in the fifth set all year (0-3 until today), but they managed to get out to a lead this time, and to maintain that lead all the way to the end, winning the fifth set 15-8 to win the match. Julie Kolinske led the Panthers with 18 kills, followed by Rachel Neuberger and Maggie Dunbar with 17 kills apiece; Kaisa Mattson continued her strong play with 12 kills. The Panthers hit .283 as a team, and held YSU to .189. The Penguins out-blocked the Panthers 11-9, but the Panthers led in most other statistical categories.
At the end of the evening, the Panthers are in first place at 12-1, and have clinched the regular season title outright. They had already clinched hosting rights for the league tournament, as they held all the possible tie-breakers over Valparaiso. Valpo has locked up the second seed at 10-3. Green Bay and Oakland are tied for third at 8-5. Youngstown State is fifth at 7-6. Cleveland State is hanging on to sixth at 4-9, just ahead of UIC at 3-10. Wright State remains winless.
Green Bay visits Youngstown tomorrow, and Oakland hosts Valparaiso. It's possible for Green Bay, Oakland and Youngstown State to finish in a three-way tie for third. UIC travels to Wright State, and Cleveland hosts Milwaukee, so UIC and Cleveland State could finish tied at 4-10. I have no idea how the tie breakers would work for a Green Bay-Oakland-Youngstown State OR a UIC-Cleveland State tie. The top two seeds for the tournament are set, but five other teams are still competing for seeds three through six, so tomorrows matches should be competitive.
i am sure Coach Johnson was not happy with the Panthers play in sets three and four tonight, especially with all the missed chances at closing out the match. She has to be happy with the way the Panthers reacted to adversity and won the deciding set convincingly. Cleveland State can lock up the sixth seed with a victory over the Panthers, so i am sure they will play the Panthers tough.
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Lutzow10
Freshman
MILWAUKEE PROUD - PANTHER STRONG
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Post by Lutzow10 on Nov 16, 2013 0:43:53 GMT -6
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate these posts even tho I never comment on them. I think a lot of people do. Volleyball really isn't my forte, so I don't actively follow it on my own, but I like being kept updated on all Panther sports and you do a great job not only of keeping us informed about how we are doing, but painting a picture of matches that average panther fans can easily follow. Keep it up.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 16, 2013 19:28:27 GMT -6
The final day of regular season volleyball was highly competitive. The top two seeds had already been clinched, and there was no way that Wright State could finish in the top six, but seeds three through six were at stake.
Second place Valparaiso traveled to Oakland. The Grizzlies won a hard-fought match in five sets. Each team won a set by a score of 25-20. Two other sets went to extra play: Valpo won set two 26-24, and Oakland won set three 28-26. The fifth set was close; Oakland's best lead was four points, and the Crusaders fought back each time to narrow the lead. A late Oakland surge won the set and the match. Valpo finishes in second place at 10-4. Oakland finishes tied for third at 9-5.
Green Bay travelled to Youngstown, and succeeded in pulling off the only sweep of the day. After winning the first set 28-26, the Phoenix were in control in sets two and three, winning 25-17 and 25-21. The win ties the Phoenix with Oakland for third place at 9-5. Youngstown fell to 7-7, which puts them in fifth place.
UIC travelled to Wright State needing a win and a Cleveland State loss to pull into a tie with the Vikings. The Flames took care of their end, winning sets two, three and four to finish at 4-10 on the season. Wright State finishes 0-14.
In Cleveland, a Cleveland State team needing a win to hang on to sixth place and the last seed in the league tournament beat Milwaukee, who had clinched the regular season title and hosting rights for the semi-final matches and the final match for the league tournament, in five sets. The Vikings won the first two sets, 25-23 and 27-25. The Panthers won sets three and four, and played the Vikings close for the first half of set five. The Vikings pulled away and won the set 15-9 to take the match. The win wraps up the sixth seed for Cleveland State and drops UIC to seventh place, out of the tournament.
The league tournament shapes up like this: First seed: Milwaukee. Second seed: Valparaiso. The top two seeds have a first round bye. Third seed: Oakland. Fourth seed: Green Bay. Fifth seed: Youngstown State. Sixth seed: Cleveland State.
In the first round on Friday at the Klotsche Center, Green Bay will play Youngstown State in the early match, and Oakland will plad Cleveland State in the late match.
In the semi-final round, the lower seed to advance will face Milwaukee in the early match on Saturday, and the higher seed to advance will face Valparaiso in the later match.
The semi-final winners will meet in the final on Sunday.
I wasn't able to watch the match with Cleveland State today. It will be interesting to hear Coach Johnson's take on it. The stats seem to indicate that Cleveland outplayed the Panthers fairly convincingly. It wasn't so much that the Panthers played poorly, as they did in the loss to Valpo; the Panthers numbers were respectable. Cleveland State just played better, and yet the Panthers managed to win two sets, and lost two others by the minimum margin. At any rate, the Panthers have a full week to practice as they wait to find out who their semi-final opponent will be.
The Horizon League continues to get more and more competitive in Volleyball. If there ever was a time when the Panthers felt like all they had to do is show up to win, those days are gone. Both of the Panthers' regular season losses are to teams who made the tournament. All four of Valparaiso's losses are to teams who made the tournament. All six teams are capable of strong play. The Panthers will have the home-court advantage, but they will need to play their best volleyball to win the tournament.
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Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Nov 18, 2013 9:16:57 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 18, 2013 12:13:56 GMT -6
Some info on the tournament matchups:
Green Bay and Youngstown State split their regular season matches. Each team got a road win; YSU won 3-1, and Green Bay swept YSU to clinch the fourth seed. YSU made some noise early on in the league season, starting strong after being picked to finish seventh before the season began, and faded a bit on the last weekend. Milwaukee swept both teams; Valpo split their matches with both teams.
Oakland and Cleveland State also exchanged road wins: CSU won a five-setter in Oakland; Oakland swept CSU in Cleveland. Oakland appears to have taken a bit of time to accustom themselves to Horizon League play: they went 2-5 on their first pass through the league. They came on strong in the second half of the season, going 6-1 on their second pass to earn the third seed. Oakland lost both matches to Milwaukee; they split with Valpo. Oakland's victory over Valparaiso in the last match of the season clinched a tie with Green Bay, and the tie breaker favored Oakland. Valparaiso swept CSU in their regular season matches; CSU split with Milwaukee; CSU's win on Saturday clinched the sixth seed for the tournament.
The Panthers won a majority of their league matches by sweeping the opposition, but the competition was much tougher in the second half of the regular season. I expect the tournament competition to be even tougher, because it's win or go home. I hope the Panthers can come out strong on Saturday.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 18, 2013 21:02:44 GMT -6
Season Honors (http://www.horizonleague.org/blog/2013-volleyball-awards-announced):
Rachel Neuberger follows up on her selection as pre-season Player of the Year by winning the post-season POTW award.
Julie Kolinske and Kayla Price join Neuberger on the all-league team.
Myanna Ruiz is on the all-newcomer team.
Susie Johnson is Coach of the Year for the fifth time in her seven years as coach of the Panthers.
On to the tournament...
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 22, 2013 7:47:16 GMT -6
The reloading continues: www.uwmpanthers.com/s/28390/61?itemPos=2&fullArticles=trueThe Panthers have one senior, Rachel Neuberger. That means that this team has a lot of talent coming back, and these two players sound like they will fit in. It tells you something about the tradition that quality players are willing to walk on here.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 22, 2013 21:07:29 GMT -6
The quarterfinal matches have been very entertaining. My only complaint was that the audio was badly out of sync with the video.
#4 Green Bay and #5 Youngstown State went to five sets, with Youngstown State advancing. After Youngstown took the first set, Green Bay took the next two sets. The fourth set went back and forth until it was tied at 10. YSU then took charge of the set, scoring 15 points to seven for the Phoenix. The Penguins led throughout the fifth set, but were not able to pull away until the lster stages of the set.
Cleveland State won the first set of the match, and Oakland took the second set. Cleveland then fought off four set points to tie the set and an additional two to keep the match even, before finishing out the third set. Oakland got out to a lead at the beginning of the fourth set, and then the momentum swung toward the Vikings, who pushed their lead to 11-7, then 16-11 and then 19-12 and 21-14. The Grizzlies then went on a run of their own to close to 23-19, prompting a Viking timeout. Cleveland State then got to match point and finished the set and the match for the Vikings.
Milwaukee will face Cleveland State tomorrow in the first semi-final at 4:30 p.m. Youngstown State will face Valparaiso in the second semi-final.
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Post by PantherU on Nov 22, 2013 22:24:31 GMT -6
Saw the CSU team at Grand Avenue today on my lunch break. They were astounded some random guy In a suit knew about the tournament.
I echo Lutzow - I also rarely comment but definitely appreciate the write-ups.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 23, 2013 18:36:17 GMT -6
The first semi-final match started out fairly evenly, with the two teams trading points until a Panther run pushed the score to 15-12 Panthers, prompting a Viking timeout. The Panthers extended the lead to 18-14, but two straight points by the Vikings led to a Panther timeout. The teams then continued to trade points to a 24-23 Panther lead. After a delay by the officials, a rally ended up with a kill by Maggie Dunbar to win the set. Both teams hit very well in the set: Cleveland State hit .462 and the Panthers .514.
Set two picked up where set one ended. After a 4-4 tie, Cleveland State took a 6-4 lead on back-to-back blocks, prompting a Panther time-out. The Panthers tied the set on a block of their own. The Vikings turned up the defense, blocking much for effectively, pushing the lead to 12-9, prompting the second Panther timeout. The Panthers pulled into a 15-15 tie, prompting Cleveland State to call a timeout. The back-and-forth play continued, until Cleveland State took a timeout after two Viking errors gave the Panthers a 20-18 lead. After the timeout, the Panther lead grew to 23-18 and then 24-19. The Panthers won the set on a Viking hitting error to win 25-21 and take a 2-0 set lead into the break. Both teams played much better defense in set two; the Panthers hit .043, the Vikings -.049.
Cleveland State took a 4-1 lead to begin set three, benefitting from three Panther errors, leading to a Panther timeout. The lead grew to 6-1 on an ace and then to 8-2 prompting the second Panther timeout. The Panthers continued to play poorly before a Julie Kolinske kill made the score 10-3. The lead grew to 12-4, and the Panthers narrowed the lead to 12-6. They were not able to get any closer than six points until a Viking error reduced the lead to 20-15, when Cleveland State took a timeout. Out of the timeout, a Panther run closed to 21-19, prompting the second Viking timeout, then to 21-20, and 22-21. The Vikings then pushed the lead to 24-22. The Panthers fought off two set points, but a Panther hitting error won the set for Cleveland State, 25-23. The Vikings outhit the Panthers in the fourth set .293 to .209.
An improved Panther block helped get them an early 4-2 lead in set four, leading to a Viking timeout. The lead grew to 7-2 out of the break, so the Vikings took their second timeout. The Panthers pushed their lead to 12-4. The Vikings scored two straight points to narrow the lead to six, so the Panthers called a timeout. The Panthers extended the lead back to eight at 16-8, and then to 20-10, helped by Viking hitting errors and some timely blocking. The lead grew to 23-10 before the Vikings broke the string, reeling off four straight points before a second Panthers timeout. The Vikings got one more kill and then an error gave the Panthers match point at 24-15, which they capitalized on with a Kayla Price ace to take the match. The Panthers outhit the Vikings in the set .243 to .059, and in the match .237 to .192.
The match was pretty much as i expected. The deciding factor was the Panthers' ability to take control at the end of the sets they won. Had they not allowed the third set to get so far out of hand, they might have swept the Vikings. Cleveland State was as tough an opponent as i expected them to be, but in the end did not have enough to win the match. Both teams will be a force to reckon with next year, as both have a lot of good young players returning.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 23, 2013 20:18:38 GMT -6
Valparaiso got out to a 6-2 lead in set one of the second semifinal match. The lead grew to 15-9 as Valpo played their game: digging or blocking nearly every ball, then to 22-14. The Penguins then scored four points to prompt a Crusader timeout. Two Crusader points gave them set point, and they finished 25-19.
The second set was much the same as the first, although the Penguins managed to close the lead to 13-10 and force a Valpo timeout, and then Penguins pulled into a 14-14 tie. The Crusaders responded with three straight points to force a Penguin timeout. The Penguins were unable to take control of the set, and Valparaiso won 25-20 to go up two sets.
Valparaiso dominated the third set, getting out to a 21-10 lead. Youngstown began a rally and closed to 23-16, but a Valpo set up eight match points. They needed one, sweeping the match with a 25-16.
So both of the Panthers tournament matches will be against teams whom they lost to in the regular season--their only losses in league play. The Panthers beat Cleveland State 3-1, and will face Valparaiso for the tournament title and the league's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 24, 2013 12:39:58 GMT -6
Some pre-match observations for the HL Championship. Per the latest NCAA RPI Rankings, the Panthers have the toughest RPI in the league, ranked at 87th. Valparaiso's RPI, which had been stronger than Milwaukee's for most of the year, is now at 100th. Green Bay was third in the league at 137th, followed by Oakland (167th), Cleveland State (180th), and Youngstown State (195th). Non-tournament teams UIC and Wright State had RPIs over 200. This explains why it is so rare that the Horizon League gets more than one NCAA tournament bid. I had hoped that Valparaiso's record would earn them a shot at a tournament bid if the Panthers win today, but it doesn't look likely.
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 24, 2013 15:32:02 GMT -6
The Championship match for the tournament was all I expected.
Set one saw the Panthers take charge early, carrying a four point lead through most of the set. Valpo repeatedly narrowed the lead to two points, but the each time the Panthers pushed the lead back to four. The Pathers finished the set 25-20.
Set two was a mirror image of set one. Valparaiso established a lead of four points for most the set, pushing the lead back to four on a couple of occasions. The Panthers did narrow the lead to two points late, repeatedly getting to within one point, but never overtaking the Crusaders, who won the set 25-23.
Set three was very much like set one. The Panthers established an early lead and maintained it. Valpo would narrow the lead, but never tied the score or took a lead.
Set four saw Valpo get out to a 3-1 lead before the Panthers got going. After the Panthers tied the set at 3, Valpo took a short-lived lead at 4-3. The Panthers went on another run. Valpo took a timeout with the Panthers leading 9-5. Play went back and for until the score was 12-8, when the Panthers scored two straight points. The back and forth play continued with the Panthers maintaining a five-six point lead. The Crusaders took their second timeout with the Panthers leading 15-9. The Crusaders began a rally which narrowed the lead to 17-13, prompting a Panther timeout. Valpo got another point, and Panthers responded to push the lead back to six. Another Valpo run got the Crusaders within three, but the Panthers scored four straight points to win 25-18 to take the championship again.
The Panthers had four hitters with double-figure kills, led by Maggie Dunbar and Julie Kolinske with 14; Myanna Ruiz added 12 kills to go with 14 digs. Nicole Latzig, whose place in the starting lineup had been taken by freshman Kaisa Mattson in the latter part of the regular season, chipped in 11 kills. Rachel Neuberger was next with 8 kills.
The Panthers hit .241 for the match, and held the Crusaders to a .131 percentage. The Crusaders never hit better than .185 in the match. The block was huge for the Panthers, especially in the later stages of the match. The Panthers finished with 16 team blocks. They outdug the Crusaders 76-62. The Panthers had five players reach double figures in digs, led by Taylor Golabowski (22); Myanna Ruiz had 14, Kayla Price and Maisey Mulvey had 11 each, and Maddie Schmitz added 10.
Julie Kolinske, Taylor Golabowski and Maggie Dunbar made the all-tournament team; Dunbar was tournament MVP.
The Panthers will learn who they will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament in about a week.
Congratulations to the Panthers on being the first team in league history to go from a seventh place finish in one season to first place and tournmament champions. Congratulations to Valparaiso on a strong season. As I noted last night. both teams will continue to be Horizon League volleyball powers, as both squads have many good young players returning in 2014. I expect that Cleveland State will be back in the hunt next year as well, as they also have many good young players. Oakland proved themselves worthy of the league, rebounding from a 2-5 start to finish 8-6, in third place; they also have a solid nucleus of young players. Green Bay continues to improve as well. Youngstown State is losing many key players to graduation; if they have recruited well, they can continue to be in the mix.
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