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Post by skrapheap on Oct 9, 2019 14:45:30 GMT -6
One of the consequences of having nine teams playing volleyball in the HL is scheduling challenges. You can't just schedule Friday night and Saturday afternoon matches throughout the league season. (The addition of Purdue Fort Wayne next year will add a tenth team in volleyball, so scheduling will be easier.) The Panthers had a Friday-Sunday road match combo on the schedule to open league play. This weekend, they have a split Friday-Sunday combo: at home versus Northern Kentucky on Friday night, and on the road versus Oakland on Sunday.
But before all that happens, there will be three league matches tonight: Oakland at Northern Kentucky, Cleveland State at Wright State, and Youngstown State at IUPUI. I will be following all three matches, but I think I will watch the Cleveland State-Wright State match live. CSU is 1-3, but they've been battling hard in their league matches. They haven't yet been swept in league play. Last time out, Wright State gave up the first two sets to NKU before winning three in a row to take the match. i can't decide whether i would prefer the Panthers to face Wright State in two weekends in a battle of undefeated teams, or to already be up one or more matches in the standings.
Both Panther matches this weekend should be competitive, but i like the Panthers playing at home against NKU (the Panthers have not lost a match at home thus far this season). If Oakland could win tonight, NKU would enter the match with the Panthers at 3-2. Otherwise they will be at 4-1.
Oakland is 1-3, but as mkepanthers.com points out, two of those losses are to Green Bay and Wright State. Green Bay (currently 2-2) is the defending champion. Wright State currently holds the longest winning streak in NCAA D1 women's volleyball at 15 matches, the last four wins being league wins. The other Oakland loss was to IUPUI in Indianapolis. IUPUI has beaten Cleveland State and Oakland at home, and lost to Wright State and Northern Kentucky on the road.
Update:
Wright State beat Cleveland State in four sets. The first set was a 25-12 Raider victory; the remaining sets were much closer. The Raiders held on for a 28-26 victory in set two, as the Vikings fought off numerous set points. The Vikings broke through in set three, but did not not have the wherewithal to take the fourth set to tie the match.
Youngstown State is winless no more. IUPUI won the first two sets, the second by a 28-26 score. From there, the Penguins caught fire and won the next three sets. The deciding set was very close, 15-13 for YSU.
The Oakland-NKU match also went to five sets. NKU won the first set, but Oakland bounced back to win set two 28-26, then jumped out to an early lead in set three which they maintained to the end, to go up two sets to one. NKU controlled the fourth set to force the tiebreaker. The fifth set featured back and forth play, as Oakland got out to an early lead, but NKU fought their way back to a tie at 7-all. A very close play was reviewed, and the call overturned to give Oakland an 8-7 lead at the change of sides. NKU tied the score, and Oakland scored two straight points to take an 10-8 lead and force an NKU time-out. After the break, Oakland scored two more points before giving up the serve on a hitting error. Another Oakland error cut the lead to two and forced a Golden Grizzlie time-out. The Norse then scored two more points to tie the score and prompt the second Oakland time-out. A long rally ended in another review, and Oakland won the point. Another kill gave Oakland two match points, and the Norse called their second time-out. The Norse fought off one match point, but Oakland got the final point to win the match.
All in all, an entertaining night of volleyball.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 11, 2019 19:21:17 GMT -6
For the first time in several matches, the Panthers did not get off to the fast start which Coach Johnson prizes, but they were able to stay close to Northern Kentucky. The Panthers did put together a late run, scoring seven of the final nine points to win set one. The Panthers hit .029 fir the set. Two of those final points were service aces.
The Norse bounced back to take a 5-1 lead in set two. The Panthers recovered to score nine of eleven points to take a 10-8 lead. They maintained the lead to 13-11 when the Norse scored four consecutive points to the media time out and took a 15-13 lead. Out of the break NKU pushed the lead to three at 18-15 and the Panthers took a time-out. A Carmen Heilemann kill and an ace by Jenna Miller cut the lead to 19-18, prompting an NKU time-out. The break stopped the Panther momentum, as the Norse scored two points and Coach Johnson took the second time-out. The Norse lead grew to 23-18, before two Milwaukee points made it 23-20, and the Norse took their second time-out. The Norse had four set points at 24-20, and the Panthers managed to score two more points, giving the Norse set two 25-22. The Panthers hit .200 in the set, to raise their percentage to .114 for the match. The Norse hit above .300 for the set to raise their overall percentage to .227. It broke a string of 12 consecutive sets won at home.
Set three began as the first two sets did, with neither team able to build much of a lead, until the Panthers went on a run, taking a 15-10 lead from a 10-all tie, sandwiched around an NKU time-out. Two Panther hitting errors cut the lead to 16-14 and Milwaukee took a time-out of their own. Another error cut the Panther lead to one, before the Panthers broke the string and then pushed the lead back to 18-15 off a long volley. The teams traded the next few points on some more longish volleys. The Panthers briefly led by four on two occasions, but two Milwaukee errors cut the lead to 23-21 and the Panthers took a second time-out. Out if the break, the Panthers finished the set on a Norse error and a kill from Carmen Heilemann to go up two sets to one.
Milwaukee took an early lead in set four, which prompted an NKU time-out when consecutive points pushed the lead to 10-7. The Panthers were able to create some distance, pushing the lead to six on several occasions. Two consecutive NKU points prompted a Milwaukee time-out with the lead 20-16. Back and forth play followed and the Panthers took a second time-out leading 22-18. The Panthers had six match points and promptly gave up one on a service error. Carmen Heilemann finished matters with a kill.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 11, 2019 20:53:37 GMT -6
There were two other league matches tonight.
Green Bay traveled to Youngstown to play YSU and swept the Penguins.
The other matched league-leading Wright State against UIC in Chicago. The Flames swept a close-fought three-set match, 25-23, 25-23, and 25-23, to end the Raiders 16 match win streak which led all D1 teams this season.
In both of the first two sets, UIC had to overcome early WSU leads to pull out the victory. In set one, it was a very late run, as the Flames overcame a 21-16 deficit to win. The Flames eventually tied the score at 22, and then scored three of the next four points to take the set.
In set two, the Raiders had an early 8-3 lead, which the Flames reduced to an 11-all tie. UIC's momentum carried them to a three-point lead on a few occasions, but the Raiders stayed close and re-tied the score at 21-all, 22-all, and 23-all before a Raider error and a Flames kill finished the set.
The Raiders had come back from two-set deficits in their streak, so they weren't going to concede the match. Set three went back and forth early, as the two previous sets had. Again, the Raiders surged, building the lead to three at 7-4 and a Flames time-out, and then to five points at 10-5. The Flames were able to cut into the lead but did not get it below two, A three-point run pushed the Raider lead to five at 16-11 and then to six at 18-12 and then 19-13. The Flames outscored the Raiders 12-4 the rest of the way, starting with four straight points to cut the lead to 19-17 and force a Raider time-out, and then one more point after the break. UIC tied the score at 21-all on a Raider error and retook the lead with a block. The Raiders tied the score at 22-all and again at 23-all. The Flames got to match point with a kill, and the Raiders took their second time-out. The Flames got a kill to finish the match.
There are three matches scheduled for Sunday: UIC (now 2-3) travels to Cleveland to play Cleveland State (currently 1-4), IUPUI (2-3) travels to Green Bay to play the Phoenix (3-2), and Milwaukee (5-0, in sole possession of first place) travels to Auburn Hills, Michigan to play Oakland (2-3). Wright State (5-1, in second place), NKU (3-2, tied with Green Bay), and Youngstown State (1-5) are idle.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 13, 2019 18:02:41 GMT -6
Sunday's match with Oakland was a back and forth affair, and it took five sets to decide. The winning streaks are over, at 15 matches overall and five matchers in the league.
The Panthers won the first (25-23) and fourth (25-20) sets. They had a chance to to finish the match in four sets, but Oakland overcame a late Milwaukee lead in set three and won 26-24, after winning set two 25-18. The Panthers took a late lead in set five, but could not withstand another run by the Golden Grizzlies, and lost the set 15-13.
Statistically, the Panthers were outplayed in most categories. Milwaukee did out-block Oakland, and had seven more digs, but it was not enough to overcome the Golden Grizzlies. Carmen Heilemann (20 kills), Kleja Cerniauskaite and Louise Kiekhofer (12 kills aplece) led the Panther attack. Ari Miller had an uncharacteristic day, as she hit -.250, with only two kills and eight errors on 24 total attacks. As she regularly leads the Panther offense, I assume Oakland did its best to defend against her.
Milwaukee and Wright State are tied for first place with 5-1 records at the end of the weekend. Green Bay, who beat IUPUI this afternoon at home, is now alone in third place at 4-2. UIC, Oakland, and Northern Kentucky are now tied for fourth at 3-3, followed by IUPUI at 2-4, and Cleveland State and Youngstown State at 1-5.
Next up, the Panthers begin a four match home stand, as IUPUI (Friday night) and Wright State (Saturday afternoon) come to the Klotsche Center next weekend. Wright State plays Green Bay on Friday and Milwaukee on Saturday, so the road trip will probably be the toughest challenge the Raiders will face in league play. The Raiders are a young squad, which makes what they have achieved so far a great surprise for the Horizon League, probably more of a surprise than even the Panthers are, since the Panthers are a much more experienced team. The Raiders were ranked sixth in the preseason poll; the Panthers were ranked seventh. The top six teams make the league tournament.
I am sure Coach Johnson will not let the Panthers look past Friday night's match with IUPUI. It will be important to win on Friday whether or not the Phoenix can beat the Raiders, but a Green Bay win on Friday night would help the Panthers out a great deal going into Saturday's match. The combination of two Panther wins and two Raider losses would put the Panthers well up on the Raiders and give them an advantage in the head-to-head play tiebreaker should that be needed.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 17, 2019 10:34:47 GMT -6
It's been awhile since i looked at RPI for D1 Women's Volleyball for Horizon League teams. RPI | School | Standing | League Record | Overall | 53 | Wright State | T-1 | 5-1 | 16-2 | 55 | N Kentucky | T-4 | 3-3 | 10-8 | 59 | Milwaukee | T-1 | 5-1 | 18-2 | 66 | Green Bay | 3 | 4-2 | 12-6 | 81 | UIC | T-4 | 3-3 | 14-6 | 98 | Oakland | T-4 | 3-3 | 10-8 | 130 | Cleveland State | T-8 | 1-5 | 5-12 | 165 | Youngstown State | T-8 | 1-5 | 7-12 | 223 | IUPUI | 7 | 2-4 | 6-13 |
There are 335 D1 schools listed on the RPI rankings for women's volleyball. The Horizon League is much stronger this year than it has been for many years. Purdue Fort Wayne currently has an RPI ranking of 201, which places them fifth among the nine teams in the Summit League. The Summit League currently has one team ranked in the top 100 (South Dakota) in comparison with six HL teams in the top 100 in RPI.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 18, 2019 19:42:52 GMT -6
The Panthers bounced back from their road loss to Oakland with a sweep of IUPUI tonight, 25-14, 25-11. and 25-17. The first two sets were completely dominated by Milwaukee, as they repeatedly went on long scoring runs, and hit at an extremely high rate: .400 in set one and .440 in set two. The Panthers hit .125 in set three to finish at .310 for the match.
Set three was a much closer affair initially. IUPUI scored the first four points of the set, prompting a Milwaukee time-out. The Panthers then went on to score nine of the next ten points to take a 9-5 lead. The Jaguars played the Panthers tough, cutting into the lead using a block that was not anywhere near as effective in the first two sets, getting within one point of the Panthers at 15-14 and again at 18-17. That 17th point was their last of the match, as the Panthers scored the next seven points to take the set and sweep the match. The Jaguars finished the match hitting .000, as they had 18 hitting errors to offset their 18 kills.
Blocking was one of the few statistical categories where the Jaguars were superior: eight total blocks to only three for the the Panthers. The Panthers had 40 total kills to only 18 for the Jaguars, 37 assists to 18 for IUPUI, eight service aces to only three for the Jaguars, and 46 digs to 30 for the visitors. The Panthers are now 6-1 in league play, alone in first place. Ari Miller rebounded from her performance against Oakland with 11 kills on a .421 hitting percentage. Carmen Heilemann had the same totals. Kylie Wilks had seven kills (on a .500 hitting percentage) and five digs. Rylie Vaughn had 15 assists for the Panthers, and Jenn Dore had 14.
Elsewhere in the league, Youngstown State traveled to Cleveland to play the Vikings, and won in four sets. The win improved their record to 2-5, tying them with IUPUI. Cleveland State is now 1-6, alone in last place. NKU, who had lost their previous two league matches, faced UIC, who had won their last two, in Chicago. NKU won the first set, and UIC the next two. NKU fought off four match points and got to set point at 26-25, at 27-26 and at 28-27, but the Flames successfully fought off the point each time. A Flames error gave the Norse another set point and another error evened the match at two sets-all. UIC took control of set five, and won, 15-9, to extend their win streak to three matches.
The spotlight was on the match in Green Bay, as the Phoenix hosted Wright State. The Raiders started hot, winning set one 25-18, but it did not take the Phoenix long to get back into the match. The Phoenix won set two, 25-16, and then won set three 25-20. Green Bay blew open set four with an 11 point scoring run, boosting a 9-8 lead to 20-8, and then coasted to a 3-1 match win, 18-25. 25-16, 25-20, and 25-14. The victory pulls Green Bay into a second place tie with Wright State at 5-2. It was the first time the Raiders have lost consecutive matches all season.
The Raiders now travel to Milwaukee for an important Saturday afternoon match.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 19, 2019 18:39:29 GMT -6
The Panthers are now halfway through league play, and are alone in first place at 7-1, having defeated Wright State in four sets this afternoon, 25-16, 25-19, 24-26, and 25-18. Green Bay is in second place at 6-2. Wright State, who has now lost three consecutive matches, is tied for third at 5-3 with UUC, who has now won four matches in a row.
Oakland is in fifth place at 4-3, with the possibility of tying Wright State and UIC with a win over Youngstown State tomorrow. Northern Kentucky is 3-5, in sixth place. Youngstown State is 2-5; a win tomorrow would tie them with NKU, a loss would tie them with IUPUI. Cleveland State is now 1-7, in last place.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 19, 2019 18:52:39 GMT -6
The Panthers could have beaten Wright State this afternoon in three sets, but the Raiders fought off a match point, then took the final two points in set three to pull out a 26-24 win. The Panthers took control of set four to win the match.
The Panthers got their usual balanced scoring. Carmen Heilemann led the way with 12 kills. Kylie Wilks had 11 kills to go with 13 digs. Jenna Miller and Ari Miller added nine kills each, and Louise Kiekhofer had eight. Milwaukee hit .200 for the match, while Wright State hit .103. The Panther block game was effective, with eight total blocks to five for the Raiders. Milwaukee’s service game also contributed to the win, with six aces to four for Wright State.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 21, 2019 17:28:02 GMT -6
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 22, 2019 8:59:37 GMT -6
Random thoughts at the mid-point of the league season. - The Panthers are alone in first place in the league, which hasn't happened in a long while.
- The Panthers exceeded their win total for last year during the non-league portion of the schedule.
- A 20 win season is considered to be a very successful season. The Panthers are at 20 wins for the season at this point, with eight regular-season league matches remaining, plus at least one league tournament match. This team could make a run at the program record of wins in a season.
- The last time the Panthers won 20 matches in a season was 2011.
- The Panther's only loss in league play was to Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies are currently the hottest team in the league, measured by their five match win-streak.
- The Panthers have picked up some recognition for their play this season. They are now the second-ranked league team (to Green Bay) in RPI, and last week they got a few votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll.
- Ari Miller has won two offensive POTW awards in the league. That's an achievement given that the Panthers are so balanced offensively. Currently, there are three Panthers in the top ten in hitting percentage; Ari Miller is leading the league. Carmen Heilemanna and Jenna Miller are also in the top ten. Heilemann and Ari Miller are in the top 10 in total kills.
- The Panthers are leading the league in hitting (.250 above the second place team) and are third in the league in opponent's hitting percentage (behind Wright State and Green Bay).
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 22, 2019 9:21:05 GMT -6
League RPI updated as of 10/20/19: Current RPI | Previous RPI | School | League Record | Overall | Standing | 46 | 66 | Green Bay | 6-2 | 14-6 | 2 | 54 | 59 | Milwaukee | 7-1 | 20-2 | 1 | 59 | 53 | Wright State | 5-3 | 16-4 | T-3 | 72 | 55 | N Kentucky | 3-5 | 10-10 | 6
| 77 | 81 | UIC | 5-3 | 16-6 | T-3 | 104 | 98 | Oakland | 5-3 | 12-8 | T-3 | 163 | 130 | Cleveland St | 1-7 | 5-14 | 9 | 166 | 165 | Ytown St | 2-6 | 8-13 | T-7 | 215 | 223 | IUPUI | 2-6 | 6-15 | T-7 |
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 25, 2019 18:53:57 GMT -6
Friday night the Panthers hosted Youngstown State, who came into the night tied for seventh with IUPUI at 2-6.
The Panthers got the sweep, to move to 8-1 in league play, but not without a challenge. After winning the first two sets comfortably, 25-16 and 25-12, with late runs, the Panthers had to rally in set three.
Youngstown State led in the early and middle parts of the set. The Penguins scored three consecutive points to open a 10-7 lead, prompting the first Panther time-out. The Penguin lead reached four at 11-7, and again at 15-11, and reached a high point of five points at 18-13, when the Panthers started their run. The Panthers scored seven of the next eight points to take a 21-19 lead. When YSU scored three of the next four points to tie the score at 22-all, the Panthers closed out the set with three points to finish the sweep. The Penguins hit .256 in the third set, but only .052 for the match. The Panthers hit .286 for the match, .343 in the final set.
As it has been pretty much all season, the Panthers got balanced scoring. Shari Volpis led the Panthers with 13 kills on a .357 hitting percentage. Carmen Heilemann and Ari Miller had 10 kills apiece; Miller hit .400 for the match. Kylie Wilks had nine kills on a team-high .409 hitting percentage. Jenn Dore finished with a double-double of 22 assists and 11 digs. Jess Grabowski led the Panthers with 15 digs, which put her over the 1000 mark for her career.
The Panthers remain alone in first place.
Elsewhere in the league, Wright State snapped their three game losing streak with a four set win over Northern Kentucky. Green Bay held off a determined Cleveland State team; the Phoenix needed extra points to finish the sweep, winning 25-21, 25-19, and 27-25. UIC fended off a determined Oakland team, winning 25-22, 26-24, and 25-23, to snap the Golden Grizzlies's five match win streak. UIC has now won five straight.
After the Panthers, Green Bay is second at 7-2, with Wright State and UIC tied for third at 6-3. Oakland is in fifth at 5-4, followed by Northern Kentucky at 3-6, IUPUI (idle tonight) at 2-6, YSU at 2-7, and Cleveland State at 1-8.
Next up for the Panthers is a Saturday afternoon match with Cleveland State.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 26, 2019 17:18:09 GMT -6
Coach Johnson said, going into the weekend, that she expected the second trip though the Horizon League to be more competitive, because the Panthers, who were picked to finish seventh, were in first place and were now the team to beat. As a result, she predicted that every team would play harder against the Panthers.
That was seen somewhat in Friday night's sweep of Youngstown State, as the Panthers had to work hard in the third set to secure the sweep. It was more apparent against Cleveland State this afternoon. There were stretches where the Vikings were playing like a 21-2 team instead of a 5-15 team, and the Panthers had to work hard for their points. In the end, the Panthers won in four sets, 22-25, 25-14, 25-23, and 25-22.
Set three was where the Panthers really showed their experience and their mettle. After struggling in set one, and cruising in set two, the Panthers trailed the Vikings for much of set three. When Cleveland looked like they would win, up 23-19, the Panthers reeled off six consecutive points to take the set. The run started with three consecutive blocks, by Carmen Heilemann and Ari Miller, followed by two blocks from Louise Kiekhofer and Miller. Kills by Miller and Kleja Cerniauskaite and a Viking hitting error closed the set.
Five Panthers scored double-figures in kills: Cerniauskaite had 13, Heilemann 12, Makenzie Mroczenski and Shari Volpis had 11 each, and Miller had 10. Rylie Vaughn had 30 assists and five digs, and Jenn Dore had another double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs. Milwaukee got off to a slow start offensively, hitting just .105 in the first set. Cleveland State had three blocks to help slow the Panther attack, and the Panthers had eight other hitting errors in the set. The Panthers played much better after that, having only 11 more hitting errors in the next three sets. They hit .432 in the second set, which they dominated, and above their season average (.258) in the third and fourth sets to finish at .280. Cleveland State his a respectable .203 for the match.
The Panthers are now 9-1 in league play, still ahead of Green Bay (8-2), who swept Oakland this afternoon. and UIC and Wrght State at 7-3. UIC swept Youngstown State at home, and Wright State beat IUPUI in four sets in Indianapolis. The weekend concludes with 2-7 IUPUI hosting 3-6 Northern Kentucky tomorrow afternoon.
Next weekend, the Panthers travel to Wright State and IUPUI.
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Post by skrapheap on Oct 28, 2019 10:31:49 GMT -6
Horizon League Volleyball RPI as of 10/27/2019: Current RPI | Previous RPI | School | League | Overall | Standing | 48 | 46 | Green Bay | 8-2 | 16-6 | 2 | 51 | 54 | Milwaukee | 9-1 | 22-2 | 1 | 56 | 56 | Wright St | 7-3 | 18-4 | T-3 | 75 | 77 | UIC | 7-3 | 11-11 | T-3 | 81 | 72 | N Kentucky | 4-6 | 11-11 | 6 | 114 | 104 | Oakland | 5-5 | 12-10 | 5 | 145 | 163 | Cleveland St | 1-9 | 5-16 | 9 | 167 | 166 | Ytown St | 2-8 | 8-15 | T-7 | 215 | 215 | IUPUI | 2-8 | 6-17 | T-7 |
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Post by skrapheap on Nov 2, 2019 13:56:31 GMT -6
The road can be a tough place to play in Horizon League Volleyball.
The Panthers found out how tough last night, as they were swept-for the first time all season (25 matches in)-by Wright State. Sandwiched between close losses in the first and third sets was a 25-10 spanking in set two. Wright State his .435 for the match, to .170 for the Panthers. A major factor in the lower-than-average hitting percentage for Milwaukee was a 12-3 difference (in favor of Wright State) in blocks; that accounts, if i understand how hitting percentage is calculated, for 12 of the 17 hitting errors the Panthers had. Wright State had only seven hitting errors for the entire match.
Carmen Heilemann was the only Panther with double-digit kills. Ari Miller had seven kills but hit only .105. That appears to be a common factor in the two league losses: when Ari Miller struggles the Panthers have a rough night.
Green Bay won last night, so they and Milwaukee are tied for first place at 9-2. Wright State and UIC are tied for third, just one match back at 8-3. The Panthers beat UIC and Green Bay to begin the league season, and the final weekend of regular season play, featuring home matches with UIC in November 15th and Green Bay on November 16th, now looms large.
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