Whitewater Invite: Day 1

The UW-Whitewater Invite key results:

UW-Oshkosh 3, Carthage 0
Carthage 3, UW-Whitewater 1
UW-Whitewater 3, Concordia Wisconsin 1
UW-Oshkosh 3, Lakeland 0 (box score)

Tomorrow’s key matches:
Whitewater vs. Elmhurst @ 11 a.m.
Whitewater vs. Lakeland @ 3 p.m.
Oshkosh vs. Elmhurst @ 3 p.m.

-Ricky Nelson

Treats: We have regional hosts, bid breakdowns

Tricks: Only two days late, and an NCAA assistant director of championships gave me shaky intel.

But the NCAA Division-III volleyball regional hosts were announced today. The NCAA also announced there will be 38 Pool A bids, four Pool B bids and 19 Pool C bids (an explanation of what that means can be found in the FAQ).

I’ll provide possible regional teams, with mileages, and predictions and what-have-you in the days ahead. Now it’s on to the conference tournaments, which I’ll also track via the sweet links I provided. Also check this space for Oshkosh Regional and St. Thomas Regional team capsules among other cool stuff.

What a great time of year … get out to see some postseason NCAA D-III volleyball if you have the chance. Hope to see you out there.

Without further ado and self-promotion, here are the regional hosts:
Juniata College – Huntingdon, Penn.
University of La Verne – La Verne, Calif.
New York University – New York, NY
University of St. Thomas – St. Paul, Minn.
Trinity University – San Antonio, Texas
Tufts University – Medford, Mass.
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh – Oshkosh, Wis.
Wittenberg University – Springfield, Ohio

I was 6-for-8 on my predictions. The fact that I was wrong about Wash U means good things for Midwest/Central teams, which see an increase in bids when isolated St. Louis is not among host cities. Many Minnesota schools are outside the 500-mile bus travel threshold to St. Louis, making necessary flights and the costly NCAA airfare reimbursements that go with them.

-Ricky Nelson

Predicted NCAA D-III regional hosts

While we’re waiting for the NCAA to announce the hosts, here are the eight schools I think will be selected, assuming all placed bids to host:

VIRTUAL LOCKS (IN MY OPINION)
No. 1 Juniata (No. 1 Mid-Atlantic Region)
No. 3 La Verne (No. 1 West Region)
No. 4 Washington (No. 1 Central Region)
No. 5 Wittenberg (No. 1 Great Lakes Region)
No. 7 UW-Oshkosh (No. 1 Midwest Region)
EDUCATED GUESSES
No. 13 Trinity (Texas) (No. 2 South Region)
No. 25 Stevens (No. 1 New York Region)
NR Tufts (No. 1 New England Region)

Keep in mind that the NCAA is not required to select a host school from each region. But I think it will work out that way for geographic (and not necessarily talent-based) reasons. South Region No. 3 Southwestern (Texas) could host instead of Trinity.

-Ricky Nelson

Confirmed: NCAA regional hosts to be announced today

The Division-III volleyball regional hosts will be announced sometime today. Jan Gentry, NCAA Assistant Director of Championships, confirmed it in an e-mail this morning.

At least two, and as many as three, of the following are expected to be among area schools in the running for hosting rights: UW-Oshkosh (Midwest Region’s No. 1 team), Washington University (Central No. 1), the University of St. Thomas (Central No. 2) and UW-Whitewater (Midwest No. 3). As I posted earlier, Carthage College (Midwest No. 2) may be unable to host due to resurfacing its home floor.

-Ricky Nelson

Hosts not announced, attention moves to invite

The NCAA D-III Handbook says the regional host schools were supposed to be announced on Wednesday. Well, it’s now after 2 a.m. on Thursday, and the NCAA is mum on the issue.

Oh well. I now turn my attention to tomorrow and Saturday’s UW-Whitewater Invitational, featuring No. 7 UW-Oshkosh, No. 10 Carthage College and No. 11 Whitewater. Also at the Invite are Concordia, Elmhurst, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, Lakeland, St. Ambrose and Trinity International.

Oshkosh is ranked first in the Midwest Region rankings, followed by No. 2 Carthage and No. 3 Whitewater. Elmhurst is ranked seventh in the Midwest. Lakeland, the favorite to make the NCAA Tournament as the Northern Athletics Conference automatic qualifier, has a 20-8 overall record.

Key Whitewater Invite Matches:
10/31 Whitewater vs. Concordia @ 1 p.m.
10/31 Oshkosh vs. Carthage @ 5 p.m.
10/31 Whitewater vs. Carthage @ 7 p.m.
10/31 Oshkosh vs. Lakeland @ 7 p.m.
11/1 Whitewater vs. Elmhurst @ 11 a.m.
11/1 Whitewater vs. Lakeland @ 3 p.m.
11/1 Oshkosh vs. Elmhurst @ 3 p.m.

-Ricky Nelson

Oshkosh heads four regionally ranked WIAC teams

UW-Oshkosh holds the top spot in the latest NCAA Division-III Midwest Region rankings, the second of three such rankings that help determine NCAA bids. Oshkosh is followed by last week’s No. 1 team, Carthage College. Oshkosh defeated Carthage last weekend. The top two Midwest teams will again play each other on Oct. 31.

UW-Whitewater remains in third position, followed by No. 4 Millikin, No. 5 UW-La Crosse, No. 6 UW-Eau Claire, No. 7 Elmhurst and No. 8 North Central.

The big prizes, regional host schools, are expected to be announced later today.

THIS WEEK’S RANKINGS
MIDWEST REGION Overall Record Regional Record
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 30-2 28-2
2. Carthage 23-3 21-2
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater 25-6 19-5
4. Millikin 21-11 13-5
5. Wisconsin-La Crosse 22-10 20-10
6. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 19-10 17-9
7. Elmhurst 20-10 15-8
8. North Central (Illinois) 20-11 14-7

LAST WEEK’S RANKINGS
1. Carthage 20-1 18-0
2. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 25-2 23-2
3. Wisconsin-Whitewater 21-6 15-5
4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 21-7 19-7
5. Millikin 17-10 9-4
6. North Central (Illinois) 17-9 11-6
7. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 14-10 13-9
8. Elmhurst 16-9 12-7

The top-ranked teams in other regions:
Central: Washington (Mo.)
Great Lakes: Wittenberg (Ohio)
Mid-Atlantic: Juniata (Pa.)
New England: Tufts (Mass.)
New York: Stevens
South: Emory (Ga.)
West: La Verne (Calif.)

-Ricky Nelson

NCAA to announce Regional host sites tomorrow

Tom Petty had it right: The waiting is the hardest part. But there’s just one more day until the NCAA announces the Division-III Regional host sites, according the the Volleyball Handbook.

Also due out tomorrow are the second of three NCAA regional rankings that are a key criterion in the selection of Pool B and C teams for the NCAA tournament.

My predicted area regional hosts: Washington University and UW-Oshkosh. The Wash U part of things doesn’t bode well for Midwest and Central teams on the bubble come selection night, as I’ve lamented before … at great length. Just not enough schools within driving distance (500+ miles and the NCAA must fly teams) of St. Louis to make Wash U a bubble-friendly host. But the Bears definitely deserve it, so it’s an immutable scenario for the NCAA. And for the bubble teams, unfortunately. If you didn’t know, the NCAA doesn’t like to spend money on flights.

Wash U (Central) and UWO (Midwest) should also be No. 1 in tomorrow’s regional rankings.

-Ricky Nelson

UWO’s Schaefer in elite company

UW-Oshkosh coach Brian Schaefer is on pace to enter the NCAA Division-III record book after this season with the third-best winning percentage among active coaches. As of today, Schaefer’s winning percentage would also rank sixth across all NCAA divisions.

Coaching his fifth season, Schaefer has led the Titans to a 140-25 (.849) record, which currently places him, among D-III coaches, behind only Wittenberg’s Paco Labrador’s 197-26 (.883) and legendary Juniata head coach Larry Bock’s 1174-180 (.867).

Coaches must have coached five seasons before being added to the NCAA active winning percentage list. UW-Whitewater’s Stacy Boudreau, who is coaching her fourth season, currently has a 136-22 (.861) record.

-Ricky Nelson

Platteville’s Schulman notches 500th win

Congrats to UW-Platteville’s Deb Schulman on becoming just the 23rd coach in NCAA D-III history to reach the 500-win plateau. To do it in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference? It goes without saying that she’s one of the best.

Schulman joins former WIAC coaches Kris Russell (812 wins, UW-Whitewater), Lisa Herb (790 wins, UW-Eau Claire/Dubuque) and Marty Petersen (630 wins, UW-Oshkosh) in the 500-win club.

-Ricky Nelson

Oshkosh’s 30-2 record ranks 3rd in NCAA D-III

With today’s two wins, the UW-Oshkosh women’s volleyball team now has the third-best record in NCAA D-III.

Oshkosh (30-2) trails Salisbury (32-1) and Eastern (26-1).

No. 22 Salisbury (Md.) has won 32 straight after a season-opening loss to No. 1 Juniata College. The Sea Gulls defeated just one current Top 25 team: at No. 23 Christopher Newport in five sets.

No. 24 Eastern’s (Pa.) sole loss was a sweep at the hands on Augustana College on Oct. 3. Eastern has not defeated (or played) a current Top 25 team. In fact, the Eagles will not play a current Top 25 team unless they make the NCAA Tournament.

No. 10 Oshkosh has lost to Augustana (in four sets) and UW-Eau Claire (three sets), neither of which are current Top 25 teams. The Titans differ from the teams with better records in that they’ve defeated current Top 25 teams: No. 13 UW-Whitewater in five on Sept. 24; No. 7 Carthage College in four on Oct. 24; and No. 8 Cal State, East Bay in five on Oct. 25.

-Ricky Nelson