|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 6, 2013 8:17:04 GMT -6
I wish I had been able to watch yesterday's sweep of Valpo on HLN, for several reasons.
First, the Panthers went into Valparaiso to face the top team in the league, in terms of overall record and the preseason poll. The ARC is a tough place to play.
Second, not only did the Panthers win, they swept the top team. Green Bay took Valpo to five sets the previous night, which may have helped the Panthers. But Milwaukee's history in the league is such that the Panthers get everyone's best shot. The Panthers history with Valpo is one of hard-fought matches ever since Valpo joined the league.
Third, the Panthers continued to display the kind of balanced play, offensively and defensively, that they have displayed all season. HL foes have to know that stopping one player will not be enough to beat Milwaukee. Stop Neuberger and you still have to contend with Ruiz and Kolinske. Then there's the x-factor: Latzig and Blanchard are also capable of taking over a match. If the offense struggles, the defense is capable of scoring and of providing the offense with chances to shake off bad play.
Fourth, the Panthers are now the only undefeated HL team, and I get the sense that their best volleyball is still ahead. They'll need it; they have one more match (at least) with Valpo, and have yet to face Cleveland State, Green Bay and an improved Youngstown State squad. But the Panthers are back, and barring serious injuries will be a force in the HL.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 7, 2013 10:16:21 GMT -6
For the second consecutive week, a Panther is the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week: Taylor Golabowski takes the honor this week for her performances in last week's sweeps of UIC and Valparaiso. For my amusement, i watched the video of the Panther-Crusader match on HLN. i know the announcers are all homers, but these guys were ridiculous. Only rarely was a point to the Panthers attributed to good play by the Panthers; most of the time it was a result of bad play by Valpo. At one point, the play-by-play guy asked is Milwaukee really that good, or is Valpo just playing poorly? The color guy clearly had no sense of league history, because he said, no, Valpo is just playing poorly. No acknowledgement of Milwaukee's long history of dominance of the league. No recognition that last season's seventh place finish was largely due to injuries to key Panther players. He even appeared to believe the hype on the preseason records: since Valpo was a gaudy 11-3, they had to be a much superior team to the Panthers, who finished with a 4-8 record. No recognition that the difference in those records might have had something to do with the quality of the opposition. He did recognize that the Panthers came into the match undefeated, but that's the only acknowledgement he made that the Panthers may actually be a good team; even that was grudging. Well, perhaps the Panthers sweep of the Crusaders changed his mind. Perhaps. It made me thankful for the quality of the Panther's HLN broadcast team.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 12, 2013 7:00:15 GMT -6
Last night's victory over Green Bay wasn't especially pretty, but the Panthers showed the discipline to grind out a win. The Panthers had significant leads toward the end of each set only to GB fight back to make the set close, and in the second set to win 26-24.
The Panthers relied on the balance in offense (Kolinske, Latzig, Ruiz and Neuberger getting to double digits in kills) and defense (a block which was effective in slowing Phoenix attacks when it wasn't scoring point itself, and the usual strong play in the back row).
The Panther don't play today, so they will have a week to prepare for Cleveland State, who took a two set lead against UIC, only to see the Flames win the next three sets and the match. CSU hosts Valpo this afternoon, and with a loss would be below .500 in league play for the first time in a long time.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 14, 2013 8:09:13 GMT -6
Next weekend will be another test for the Panthers.
Perennial league power Cleveland State comes to the Klotsche Center on Friday night with a sub-.500 league winning percentage for the first time in a long time. CSU Coach Voss noted in an interview just before the start of league play that although his team is young (two seniors and two juniors), he was pleased with their growth during non-league play, and rightly so, as they finished 10-5. But the Vikings were swept at Youngstown State, and after two wins, lost back to back 5-set matches at home over the weekend, to UIC on Friday and Valpo on Saturday. The victory was UIC's first league win for the season. Valpo was picked to finish first this year, but they hadn't won in Cleveland in at least two years. Look for the Vikings to challenge the Panthers on Friday night.
Saturday's match brings an improved Youngstown State team to Milwaukee. The Penguins lost their best player to an ACL tear, but the squad has five other seniors (three starting), so they should remain a challenging opponent. They are averaging more than two blocks per set, which will make life harder for the Panther hitters.
The Panthers won on Friday without playing perfect volleyball. They had an opportunity to sweep the Phoenix, but could not close out the second set. They did respond to losing the set by playing well to win the third and fourth sets to take the match.
After Saturday's match, the Panthers will be half-way through their league schedule. They played five of seven matches at home, meaning that the second half of the league season will be played largely on the road. The remaining home matches will be against Valpo on November 1st and UIC on November 2nd.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 18, 2013 23:58:34 GMT -6
The Panthers continued as the only undefeated team in the league, sweeping Cleveland State. The Vikings fought hard, but were unable to win a set from the Panthers. The Vikings team was, per Morgan Potter's commentary, missing two experienced players, which made them less effective against the Panthers.
Rachel Neuberger dominated play tonight, amassing 20 kills in the three sets, and hitting a gaudy .594 for the match, which contributed to the team's impressive .339 hitting percentage for the match. In six league matches played so far, the Panthers have hit at pace of better than .300 in three of them.
The sweep was marred by an injury to freshman Myanna Ruiz, who rolled her ankle while landing after a kill attempt. She finished the match, but clearly was not moving about well. Ruiz has been impressive from the beginning of the season, making the starting rotation immedately.
Saturday's opponent is Youngstown State, who bounced back from a first set loss to Green Bay to in three consecutive sets to win the match on GB's home court. The Penguins are alone in fourth place in the League.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 22, 2013 10:48:45 GMT -6
The Panthers continued their dominance on Saturday. Led by Rachel Neuberger's 15 kills, the Panthers swept Youngstown State. Sammi Herron (who filled in on the front row for the injured Myanna Ruiz) and Julie Kolinske contributed 12 kills each to the onslaught. The Panther's hitting percentage for the match was more than three times YSU's hitting percentage. The Panthers had 51 kills to YSU's 31, and 54 digs to YSU's 34. At the midway point of the league season, the Panthers are undefeated and remain along in first place. Valpo is right behind the Panthers at 6-1. There is then a little dropoff to third, where Youngstown State and Green Bay are tied at 4-3. Fifth place Oakland is one game back at 3-4, followed by UIC and Cleveland State at 2-5, and Wright State at 0-7. Neuberger, who was the pre-season player of the year, picked up the Offensive Player of the Week award, to go along with a Defensive POTW honor earlier this season. www.horizonleague.org/blog/milwaukees-neuberger-valparaisos-vanden-berg-win-volleyball-weekly-honors.html
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 26, 2013 16:07:42 GMT -6
The Panthers had an easy time of it Friday against Wright State in Dayton, sweeping the match. Of their eight league match wins, six have been in three sets. The match saw the return of Myanna Ruiz to the lineup, but she played in the back row only, contributing 10 digs the Panther effort. Taylor Golabowski led the way with 13 digs, with Kayla Price adding 10. The Panthers outdug the Raiders 55-44.
The Panthers continue to win with balance: Nicole Latzig lead the way with 12 kills, with Rachel Neuberger and Sammi Herron adding 10 kills apiece. The Panthers outhit WSU, .301 to .137.
The Panthers' opponent on Saturday was Oakland, who won a set from the Panthers in Milwaukee. This match was more of a battle, but the Panthers were up to the challenge, and then some, sweeping the Grizzlies, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-16. Julie Kolinske led the way with 14 kills; Rachel Neuberger added 11 (hitting a gaudy .846 for the match), followed by Sammi Herron and Nicole Latzig with six kills each. The Panthers outhit Oakland .409 to .190.
The Panthers remain in first place at 9-0. Valparaiso played only on Saturday, sweeping UIC at home, to move to 8-1. Green Bay lost to Oakland in 4 on Friday, and was taken to five sets by Wright State on Saturday. WSU took the first two sets before the Phoenix bounced back to force the fifth set. The Phoenix controlled play in the fifth set, riding a six point run to a 7-1 lead. The Raiders narrowed the lead to 7-3, only to see the Phoenix push the lead to 11-5. The Raiders rebounded with three points to force a Green Bay timeout, and to get the lead down to two. The Phoenix made the necessary plays late to finish out the set and take the match, 15-13, to go to 5-4 for the season.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Oct 26, 2013 16:40:51 GMT -6
Team's doing well. Happy to see it was a short fall.
Sorry, just didn't want skrap talking to himself for the entire season.
|
|
|
Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Oct 28, 2013 13:25:17 GMT -6
It's great to see the vb team turn around there season!
|
|
|
Post by DunneDeal on Oct 29, 2013 5:31:33 GMT -6
This isn't the first time this team does ho-hum in before league play, but they are playing quality teams, which I think it helps them in the long run.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 29, 2013 11:00:45 GMT -6
Team's doing well. Happy to see it was a short fall. Sorry, just didn't want skrap talking to himself for the entire season. I appreciate that.
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Oct 29, 2013 11:25:52 GMT -6
This isn't the first time this team does ho-hum in before league play, but they are playing quality teams, which I think it helps them in the long run. Per the latest RPI rankings on the NCAA statistics wesite (http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1), the Panthers are 88th nationally. It surprised me to discover that Valpo's RPI was higher (76). Considering that Valpo did much better in non-league play than the Panthers did, that makes the Panthers' sweep of Valpo on the road all the more impressive. Friday night the Panthers will host Valpo in a rematch. I hope there will be a good turnout. Valpo VB fans are probably second to Green Bay fans at traveling to Milwaukee to support their team. Valpo's only loss was to Milwaukee, so they have continued to play at a high level in league play. The Panthers are at or near the top of the league statistically in league play (http://m.uwmpanthers.com/s/28390/61?itemPos=3&fullArticles=true), so Friday's match should be a challenge. Saturday's match hosting UIC could be tough too, but I don't think Coach Johnson will let the Panthers take any league team lightly.
|
|
|
Post by PantherU on Oct 29, 2013 22:18:56 GMT -6
If we win on Friday we are in the driver seat for the rest of the season. It would suffice to say that Friday night is the biggest match of the year.
|
|
|
Post by Pounce Needs Pals on Nov 1, 2013 14:15:24 GMT -6
FREE PIZZA and FREE ADMISSION to students who attend the game tonight @ 7pm, while supplies last! Support your... fb.me/16rBMHbtm
|
|
|
Post by skrapheap on Nov 2, 2013 23:52:31 GMT -6
Quite a weekend in HL volleyball.
The Panthers played like the young team they are Friday night against a veteran Valpo team and lost in four sets. Up to Friday, the Panthers had lost two sets in their previous nine league matches this year. They were outplayed in nearly every way possible. Valpo raised their record to 8-1; the Panthers' record went to 9-1, a reminder how hard it is to go unbeaten in the league.
Today, the Panthers bounced back with an easy sweep of UIC. Valpo travelled to Green Bay, where the Phoenix won the match in five games. Oakland beat Youngstown State. Cleveland State beat Wright State.
After today's play, the top five teams in the league are above .500. None of the remaining three will be able to finish above .500, but any of them could still manage to finish sixth and make the league tournament.
The Panthers' only match next weekend is at Green Bay. The Panthers would like to finish 13-1 to insure they will host the tournament, but a victory over the Phoenix would be an important if Valpo finishes in a tie with Milwaukee.
|
|