|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 20, 2015 19:18:52 GMT -6
The Panthers hosted Oakland Tuesday night in a rare non-weekend match.
The absence of Kaisa Mattson was explained by the play by play man as the result of an injury. She is a leading contributor, and is missed.
Set one started out fairly even, with the Panthers opening a two point lead on a number of occasions. The Panthers pushed the lead to three at 17-14, and Oakland took their second timeout. Out of the timeout, another point by Milwaukee expanded the lead, and the lead moved back and forth between three and four points. When Oakland cut the lead to two, the Panthers took a timeout, and a second timeout when Oakland again closed to 21-20. Oakland tied the score at 21, and then got to their first set point at 24-22. The Panthers then scored three points to get to set point. Oakland scored then scored three consecutive points to take set one, the winner on a hitting error. Oakland finished the set strong, hitting .308. The Panthers cooled down and finished with .278.
Oakland maintained its momentum in set two, getting out to an early 7-4 lead. The Panthers took a timeout trailing 9-5, and their second timeout trailing 12-5. The lead reached 14-7, and then 18-9 as the Panthers were unable to score consecutive points. The Panthers finally scored consecutive points to cut the lead to 20-11. The Grizzlies finished the set 25-12 to take a two sets to one lead. The Panthers have been unable to play consistently throughout this losing streak. Coach Johnson has said she believes the team is capable, but they haven't demonstrated it on the court since sweeping Northern Kentucky at home.
The Panthers fell behind again in set three, 3-1 and 4-2. The Panthers first timeout came with the Grizzlies up 7-3, and the second with the lead 10-3. Out of the timeout, the lead reached 14-4 and the rout was on. The Panthers were unable to get the ball to the floor in bounds, as the Grizzlies got to balls that were not hit hard, and hard hits by the Panthers landed long or wide. The final score of set three was 25-11.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2015 10:29:32 GMT -6
League RPIs as of October 19th: RPI | Prev RPI | School | Overall | League | 78 | 74 | Cleveland State | 18-4 | 7-1 (1st) | 99 | 113 | Oakland | 12-10 | 7-2 (2nd) | 140 | 142 | Valparaiso | 18-5 | 5-3 (T3rd) | 141 | 134 | Green Bay | 14-7 | 5-3 (T3rd) | 185 | 184 | Milwaukee | 5-16 | 3-6 (6th) | 201 | 213 | UIC | 11-11 | 4-4 (5th) | 223 | 203 | Wright State | 12-11 | 1-7 (9th) | 229 | 240 | Youngstown State | 8-15 | 2-6 (8th) | 233 | 262 | Northern Kentucky | 8-12 | 3-5 (6th) |
Lots of movement: the league now has two teams with an RPI below 100. Valparaiso and Green Bay are 140 and 141, and tied for third in the league standings. UIC, Youngstown State, and Northern Kentucky all made upward jumps, and Wright State dropped 20 spots.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 23, 2015 19:05:45 GMT -6
The first set against Youngstown State tonight looked like many of the sets the Panthers have played during their recent losing streak: playing their opponent fairly evenly, but liable to give up scoring runs while not able to do so themselves. The runs the Panthers gave up were not as extended as in other matches, and the Penguins never got the lead above four points, but their final run finished the set 25-21.
Set two saw the Panthers playing better, taking an 8-4 lead and forcing a Youngstown State timeout. The Penguins regrouped, and momentum swung the other way, with the Panthers taking a timeout trailing 15-11. The lead reached five at 19-14, when the Panthers scored three consecutive points to force another Penguin timeout, cutting the lead to two. Out of the timeout, the Panthers ran off three more points to retake the lead at 20-19. The Penguins then tied the score at 20 and 21, then got to set point at 24-22. The Panthers then scored twice to re-tie the score, but the Penguins scored twice to finish the set 26-24.
The Panthers don't appear to have anyone on the team at present with the confidence to take really aggressive shots. The offense seems to be a step slow, and the opposition is either able to set up a block, or position itself for a return, or they simply allow the Panther hitter to hit the ball hard and watch it sail long or wide.
The Panthers came out of the break playing much better. They got out to a 10-6 lead in set three. Maggie Dunbar and Maddie Williams led the attack, and Kayla Price served two aces in a row.The Penguins fought back to tie the score at 11 and 12 all, and took a two point lead at 17-15. The Panthers then rallied for six points, to retake a four point lead at 21-17, forcing both YSU timeouts along the way. The Panther run included kills by four different players, a block, and a Penguin hiiting error. A three point run by the Penguins forced a Panther timeout, and the Panthers regrouped to finish the set 25-23, preventing a third consecutive sweep, and snapping a streak of seven consecutive sets lost.
Youngstown State led for much of the first half of set four, forcing a Milwaukee timeout leading 9-6. The teams traded points to a 12-9 YSU lead, The Panthers then scored 10 of the next 12 points to vault into a 19-14 lead, again forcing the Penguins to use both of their timeouts. Dunbar lead the way with three kills during this stretch, and Jess Kalous contributed a kill and a solo block. From there, Milwaukee outscored YSU six to three, scoring the last three points of the set on kills from Williams, Celine Jones, and Dunbar to win the set 25-17 and force a set five.
The fifth set went back and forth, with the teams each taking leads off scoring runs. The Panthers took control with a six point run which turned a 9-7 deficit into a 13-9 lead, the last three points coming from blocks. Kalous had two block assists and a solo block in that stretch. Sammi Herron scored Milwaukee's last two points to finish the set 15-11 and take the match 3-2.
Williams funished with a match-high 18 kills, followed by Herron with 14 and Jones with 12. Dunbar also finished with 12 kills, often spearheading key scoring runs. The Panthers hit .412 in the last two sets, and outhit the Penguins .259 to .238 for the match.
Having broken a four match losing streak, the Panthers (4-6) now face league leader Cleveland State (8-1) on Saturday afternoon. YSU fell to 2-7 in league play.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 24, 2015 17:34:41 GMT -6
Set one with Cleveland State saw the Vikings get out to an 8-3 lead when the Panthers took their first timeout. The Panthers narrowed the lead to 9-7 and the Vikings took their first timeout. The Panthers and Vikings traded points until the Panthers moved into a 20-17 lead and Cleveland State took their second timeout. The Panthers took their second timeout when the Vikings narrowed the lead to 21-19. Out of the timeout, the Panthers played steady volleyball, winning the set 25-22. The Panthers hit .267 for the set, to .205 for CSU.
The Panthers started set two well, forcing a Viking timeout leading 6-2. The Vikings rallied, forcing a timeout with and 11-10 lead, and a second Panther timeout with a 16-13 lead. The Panthers t this point weren't able to do better than trade points with the Vikings, and the lead gradually expanded to 23-18. The Panthers scored three straight to cut the lead to 23-21, and the Vikings took their second timeout, after which the Vikings regrouped to win the set, 25-22.
Set three began with even play to a five all tie. The Panthers took a 7-5 lead and back and forth play continued until the Vikings took a 12-10 lead and the Panthers took their first timeout. The Panthers tied the score at 13 all and then 14 all. The Vikings retook a three point lead at 18-15, and the Panthers took their second timeout. Once again, the Vikings gradually built the lead to four points at 21-17. The Panthers scored three of the next four points to narrow the lead to 22-21, and the Vikings took their first timeout. Out of the timeout, the Vikings scored two points to reach set point at 24-21. The Panthers scored two points of their own, and the Vikings took their second timeout. The Vikings finished out the set, 25-23 on a kill, to take a two sets to one lead in the match. The Vikings were hitting .264 through three sets, to .205 for the Panthers. The Panthers were lead by Maggie Dunbar with 17 kills, followed by Jess Kalous with nine. The Vikings had three players in double figures.
Set four saw the Vikings begin scoring with an ace, and score six of the first eight points to force a Panther timeout leading 6-2. Trailing 7-2, the Panthers cut the lead to 9-7, but Cleveland State pushed the lead back to four and the Panthers took timeout number two. Kills by Dunbar narrowed the lead to two, and then two more Dunbar kills tied the score at 13 all, and Cleveland State took their first timeout. Out of the timeout, the Panthers alternated scoring with the Vikings until the Vikings scored three to take a 19-16 lead. Two more points from Milwaukee forced the second timeout from CSU, leading 19-18. Out of the timeout the Panthers retook a one point lead, alternating between a lead and a tie score at 24 all, then facing match point at 25-24 Vikings, and finally scoring three straight points, the last on a block to win set four 27-25. to tie the match at two sets apiece. Dunbar continued her dominant play, reaching 24 kills to lead all scores (hitting .385 through four sets). Maggie Williams came on in set four, reaching 10 kills
The Panthers were not able to do any better than trade points with the Vikings in set five; the Vikings were able to build an 8-6 lead at the switch of sides. The Panthers took their first timeout after a disputed point gave the Vikings an 11-8 lead. The Panthers scored two straight points to cut the lead to one, but Cleveland State countered, and the Panthers took their second timeout down 12-10. From there, there Panthers were unable to get over the hump, and the Vikings took set five 15-12, but not before Dunbar got her 28th kill of the match.
This was a match the Panthers could have won, but the Vikings showed why they are the class of the Horizon League this year, getting the points they needed to win the match and go to 10-1 in league play.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 28, 2015 11:28:58 GMT -6
D1 RPIs as of 10/26/15 for Horizon League Schools: RPI | Prev RPI | School | Overall | League | 69 | 78 | Cleveland State | 20-4 | 9-1 (1st) | 95 | 99 | Oakland | 14-10 | 8-2 (2nd) | 148 | 140 | Valparaiso | 20-6 | 8-4 (3rd) | 162 | 141 | Green Bay | 14-10 | 5-6 (T5th) | 181 | 185 | Milwaukee | 6-18 | 4-7 (7th) | 200 | 201 | UIC | 12-13 | 5-6 (T5th) | 206 | 233 | Northern Kentucky | 11-12 | 6-5 (4th) | 229 | 229 | Youngstown State | 9-16 | 3-7 (8th) | 232 | 223 | Wright State | 12-13 | 1-10 (9th) |
Northern Kentucky was the big mover, moving to seventh in RPI in the league as they moved from sixth to fourth in league standings with three victories last week. Cleveland State's RPI keeps creeping upward.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Oct 28, 2015 18:39:02 GMT -6
Panthers volleyball should never start 5-3, let alone 3-5.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 6, 2015 20:52:04 GMT -6
Panthers volleyball should never start 5-3, let alone 3-5. Clearly, the athletic department should fire all the coaches, release all the scholarship players, and hire Dave Nikolic to coach the team. Or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 6, 2015 21:47:31 GMT -6
After last weekend, in which the Panthers continued their uneven play, winning a five-set match at Northern Kentucky and losing a three set match at Wright State, this weekend is do or die for the Panthers to have a chance at making the league tournament. The Panthers had their work cut out for them, hosting UIC and Valparaiso. Valpo is securely in third place in the league standings, but UIC, Green Bay and Milwaukee are all competing for the lower seeds (the top six teams make the field).
The match tonight was a mirror of the earlier match at UIC. The Panthers came out fast, winning the first two sets, only to see UIC win sets three and four to force a fifth set. The Panthers held on to win set five, to even the season series with the Flames. The Panthers had three hitters in double figures for kill:, Maggie Dunbar (22), Sammi Herron (17), and Maddie Williams (13). The Panthers outhit the Flames .336 to .323. The Panthers also had a 12-6 advantage in blocks, and a slight advantage in digs (60-57), which helped offset an advantage at the service line for UIC (11 aces to 2 for UWM).
Valpo swept Green Bay tonight, which means that the Phoenix and the Panthers are tied at 6-8 with two matches each to play. While the Panthers host the Crusaders tomorrow, UIC will be playing at Green Bay, and with a victory can help the Panthers leading into the season finale next weekend with Milwaukee hosting Green Bay.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 7, 2015 14:23:49 GMT -6
Horizon League RPIs as of 11/2/2015; standings as of 11/6/2015 RPI | Prev RPI | School | Overall | League | 71 | 69 | Cleveland State | 21-4 | 11-1 (1st) | 94 | 95 | Oakland | 16-11 | 10-3 (2nd) | 130 | 148 | Valparaiso | 23-6 | 9-4 (3rd) | 160 | 162 | Green Bay | 15-12 | 6-8 (T5th) | 181 | 181 | Milwaukee | 8-19 | 6-8 (T 5th) | 203 | 200 | UIC | 12-16 | 5-8 (7th) | 204 | 206 | Northern Kentucky | 12-13 | 7-6 (4th) | 220 | 229 | Youngstown State | 9-18 | 3-9 (8th) | 242 | 232 | Wright State | 13-16 | 2-12 (9th) |
Not a lot of movement this week in RPIs, although middle portion of the league standings has gotten shuffled.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 7, 2015 19:03:12 GMT -6
Set one against Valparaiso started with Valpo getting out to a short lead. The Panthers kept the score close, and put on a late surge to take a lead. They gradually extended the lead to set point at 24-18. The Crusaders fought off three set points. but a Jess Kalous kill finished the set, 25-21. It was the first set lost by Valpo in three matches. The Panthers hit .283 for the set; Sammi Herron led the way with five kills, followed by Celine Jones, Kayla Price, Kalous and Maggie Dunbar with three kills each. Valpo hit .216 for the first set.
The Panther momentum continued in set two. They scored three of the first four points of the set. After the Crusaders tied the score at three all, the Panthers extended the lead to 7-3 and forced the first Valpo timeout. Valpo narrowed the lead to 9-7, but the Panthers reopened the lead to 13-8 on a service ace from Kalous, then extended the lead to 18-9 on the service of Dunbar. Valpo scored consecutive points to pull closer at 19-13, and the Panthers took their first timeout. The Panthers reopened a seven point lead at 22-15, when consecutive points by Valpo prompted the second Panther timeout. Out of the timeout, the Panthers reopened a six point lead at set point, and finished the set 25-19 on a Dunbar kill. After two sets, the Panthers were outhitting the Crusaders .250 to .125. Dunbar had seven kills, Herron had six, and Jones and Williams had five. The Panthers had four blocks to three for Valpo.
The Panthers started fast again in set three, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Milwaukee's service game was key, as the Crusaders struggled to pass the ball effectively. The Panthers extended the lead to 10-5 when Valparaiso began to recover, slowly cutting the lead to two at 12-10, prompting a Panther timeout. When play resumed, the Panthers pushed the lead back to 14-11, only to see Valpo pull into a 16-15 lead, prompting the second Panther timeout. At points like this in other matches this season, the Panthers were not able to recover their momentum. The Crusader lead grew to three at 19-16 and 20-17. The Panthers cut the lead to 20-19 on a Dunbar kill and a block by Kalous and Jones, and Valpo took their first timeout. After Valpo scored consecutive points to reopen a three point lead, the Panthers scored three points to get to match point at 24-23, forcing the second Crusader timeout. Out of the timeout, two consecutive points by Valpo gave them set point at 25-24. The Panthers continued to play tough, fighting off five set points before Valpo could finally close out the set, 31-29. Dunbar finished set three with 14 kills, followed by Herron with nine, and Jones and Wiliams with eight each.
Valparaiso took a 6-2 lead in set four and forced the first Panther timeout. The lead reached 9-3, and the Panthers took their second timeout trailing 11-5. Instead of falling into their previous patterns of inconsistency, the Panthers slowly took control. After the lead reached 12-5, the Panthers recovered to score six of the next seven points to cut the lead to two points and force a Crusader timeout. Out of the timeout, the Panthers maintained the momentum, scoring five consecutive points to take a three point lead at 17-14. Four consecutive points by Valpo put them back into the lead, but Milwaukee countered with two points to go back into a one point lead. Back and forth play continued to a tie at 20, when two consecutive points for Milwaukee, including Price's seventh kill, reopened a two point lead and forced the second Crusader timeout. Two more points out of the time out gave the Panthers another match point opportunity. Herron's 14th kill of the match clinched the victory for the Panthers, three sets to one.
Price did a little of everything in the match, leading the Panthers in hitting percentage (.583, with no hitting errors), and contributing 51 assists, 16 digs, and three block assists in her record-setting 125th match appearance. Dunbar led the Panthers with 19 kills (sharing match-high honors with Valpo's Emily Campbell); Dunbar also contributed eight digs and a service ace to the victory. The Panthers hit .217 for the match, and held the Crusaders to a .127 hitting percentage. The Panthers outdug Valpo 81-62 and outblocked them 14-12.
The Panthers improved to 7-8 in league play. This was an important victory, as the Panthers are beginning to show signs of playing up to the level everyone expected. They will finish far below their predicted finish, but may be peaking at the right time of the season.
Elsewhere in the league, Oakland beat Cleveland State in Cleveland, putting the Golden Grizzlies one behind the Vikings in the loss column. Northern Kentucky beat Youngstown State in Youngstown in five sets, and Green Bay swept UIC. The loss greatly reduces UIC's chances of making the tournament; the Flames would have to upset Cleveland State and beat Youngstown State at home next weekend to pull into a tie with the loser of the Milwaukee-Green Bay match, and could still miss out on the tournament based on tiebreakers.
The league standings are still somewhat fluid, and the remaining matches in the next week will be very interesting. Oakland finishes the season at home against Wright State and Northern Kentucky. Cleveland State has three matches remaining: hosting Northern Kentucky (who gave the Vikings their only other league loss to this point) before finishing on the road against UIC and Valparaiso. Valparaiso, now 9-5 after today's loss, finishes the season with home matches with Youngstown State and Cleveland State. Northern Kentucky finishes the season on the road against the league's top two, Cleveland State and Oakland, but the Norse will make the tournament in their first season in the league.
It is very likely that tournament seeding will not be set until after the final matches of the regular season next Saturday. Only Youngstown State and Wright State have been eliminated from the field so far. There is even still a chance the Oakland could pass Cleveland State at the end and host the league tournament for the second consecutive year.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 9, 2015 14:01:24 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 9, 2015 14:47:40 GMT -6
League RPIs updated for the week: RPI | Prev RPI | School | Overall | League | 72 | 71 | Cleveland State | 22-5 | 11-2 (1st) | 86 | 94 | Oakland | 17-11 | 11-3 (2nd) | 134 | 130 | Valparaiso | 23-7 | 9-5 (3rd) | 162 | 160 | Green Bay | 16-12 | 7-8 (T5th) | 164 | 181 | Milwaukee | 9-19 | 7-8 (T 5th) | 200 | 204 | Northern Kentucky | 13-13 | 8-6 (4th) | 218 | 203 | UIC | 12-17 | 5-9 (7th) | 228 | 220 | Youngstown State | 9-19 | 3-10 (8th) | 245 | 242 | Wright State | 13-16 | 2-12 (9th) |
The general upward movement of the League's RPIs continues. For the past several weeks, five teams have hade sub-200 RPIs, two of which have had sub-100 RPIs. Cleveland State, which has led the league in RPI all season, has been holding in the low 70s. Not surprisingly, given the Panthers two victories on Friday and Saturday, Milwaukee moved up the most in RPI.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 12, 2015 11:57:49 GMT -6
Via Twitter, the Panthers announced their first signing for 2016: Kylie Wilks from Union Grove (WI) High School. She's a combo setter and outside hitter, which appears to put her in the Myanna Ruiz mold, which would be just fine.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 13, 2015 11:25:43 GMT -6
According to the Panthers website, a win vs. Green Bay on Saturday would clinch a spot in the tournament field. The Panthers could finish as high as the fourth seed, depending on how the rest of the league matches this weekend play out.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 13, 2015 23:04:38 GMT -6
|
|