10/31: UMAC final set

Use the Links to all Conference Tourneys page tonight and all this week. I will be tracking Pool A teams from around the country on that page.

UMAC tournament semis
• Northwestern 3, Minnesota Morris 1 NWC’s Lizzy Potratz had 16 kills, 19 digs.
• St. Scholastica 3, Martin Luther 2 Set 5 ended 15-9; CSS’s Anna Zyvoloski had 30 kills, 11 digs.

Nonconference regular season
• St. Louis Pharmacy 3, MacMurray 2 Set 5 ended 15-10; STLCOP (12-15) is NAIA.
• Eureka, Robert Morris-Peoria [result not online at 4:30 a.m. Thursday]

Top 25 upset watch
#10 Mount Union 3, Muskingum 0
#12 Otterbein 3, Capital 0
#13 Puget Sound 3, #14 Pacific Lutheran 0

-Ricky Nelson

10/30: Greenville secures No. 1 SLIAC seed; Thunder, Norse, Knights, Oshkosh score tourney road wins

And away we go.

Use the Links to all Conference Tourneys page tonight and all this week. I will be tracking Pool A teams from around the country on that page.

I am trying to update the page with postponements that the storm has caused but I may have missed some. Some campus gymnasiums, like those in the CUNYAC, are being used as shelters. The CUNYAC tourney is understandably postponed indefinitely. However, a CUNYAC release seemed optimistic about completing the tournament in some fashion by Sunday’s deadline.

The postponements have reached Ohio, where the OAC tourney quarterfinals were pushed back one day to Oct. 31. OAC members Mount Union and Otterbein were the only top 25 teams besides Elmhurst that were originally scheduled to play tonight.

WIAC championships
• UW Oshkosh 3, UW-River Falls 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; UWO’s Larissa Krumplitsch had 15 kills.
• UW-Eau Claire 3, UW-Stout 1 UWEC’s Lauren Sutherland had 30 digs.

MIAC playoffs
• Concordia-Moorhead 3, Bethel 0 CCM’s Kynndyl Ross went 13-0-23.
• Carleton 3, St. Olaf 2 Set 5 ended 18-16; CC’s Sarah Nielsen had 21 kills.

CCIW tournament play-ins
• #9 Elmhurst 3, North Park 0 EC’s Megan Reynolds went 10-1-17.
• Carthage 3, Augustana 2 Set 5 ended 15-13; CC’s Emily Heuermann had 15 kills.
• Wheaton 3, North Central (Ill.) 1 WC’s Emily Buyse had 9 kills, 8 blocks.
• Millikin 3, Illinois Wesleyan 0 MU’s Jade Becker went 18-2-29.

IIAC tournament
• Loras 3, Central 1 LC’s Cassie Crabill went 12-0-26.
• Luther 3, Dubuque 2 Set 5 ended 15-7; LC’s Sophia Brown had 17 kills.

NAC tournament
• Edgewood 3, Concordia Wisconsin 0 EC’s Mallory Palmer had 13 kills.
• Benedictine 3, Wisconsin Lutheran 0 BU’s Nicole Adams had 10 kills, 4 blocks.
• Dominican 3, Marian 0 DU’s Jacy Lawrence went 11-0-24.
• Maranatha 3, Lakeland 1 MBBC’s Torey DeLozier had 18 kills, 13 digs, 9 blocks, 5 aces.

SLIAC regular season finales
• Greenville 3, Blackburn 0 GC’s Tricia Gall went 7-1-13.
• Webster 3, Principia 0
• Westminster 3, Fontbonne 0 WC’s Andrea Kiser had 11 kills.
• Eureka 3, MacMurray 1 EC’s Kelli Dunne had 20 kills, 25 digs, 11 aces.

GPAC regular season
• Doane 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 0 DC (24-8) is #19 in NAIA.

-Ricky Nelson

AVCA 2012 Week 9 poll: Not much movement

The Week 9 AVCA poll looks a lot like the Week 8 poll, as expected. The top 11 teams remained the same, but No. 4 Hope and No. 5 Christopher Newport swapped positions this week.

No. 1 Washington-St. Louis, No. 2 Calvin and Wittenberg remained the top three. WUSTL received 20 of 24 first-place votes. Wittenberg got the remaining four top votes.

My top 10 and the AVCA’s is getting closer to total agreement. I have the same teams, but I have CNU two spots lower.

Big movers: No. 16 Chicago dropped four spots after a 3-1 week. No. 15 Salisbury and No. 23 Saint Benedict both moved up two places. Bowdoin exited the top 25 after a 2-1 week. Taking the Polar Bears’ place is No. 25 La Verne, which reenters the top 25 for the first time since the final 2009 poll.

Other Central and Midwest region teams in the Week 9 poll: No. 7 St. Thomas; No. 9 Elmhurst; No. 11 Wartburg; No. 18 UW-Whitewater; N0. 20 UW-Stevens Point.
Receiving votes: Carthage.

No Dominican. No Northwestern. No UW-Eau Claire. No Johns Hopkins. No like.

-Ricky Nelson

NCAA stats: 6 national leaders from Central/Midwest

The following are Central and Midwest players and teams in the top 10 nationally, according to the latest NCAA stats report. Stats are through Oct. 28.

Aces/Set
5. Emily Leazer, Augustana 0.95

Assists/Set
2. Krista Stoltz, Northwestern 11.41
4. Taya Kockelman, Saint Benedict 11.27
7. Kim Frei, UW-Whitewater 10.85
10. Lindsey Swansby, Edgewood 10.69
2. Saint Benedict 12.75
6. St. Thomas 12.55
7. Northwestern 12.54
10. Washington-St. Louis 12.35

Blocks/Set
1. Rachel Hein, Martin Luther 1.44
5. Taylor Dicus, Cornell 1.33
6. Danielle Remy, St. Norbert 1.32
7. Allison Davis, UW-Stevens Point 1.31
8. Sam Kersting, Webster 1.29
10. Sarah Olesen, Aurora 1.24
1. UW-Stevens Point 2.81
5. Finlandia 2.57
6. St. Norbert 2.56
7. Webster 2.50
8. Martin Luther 2.44
9. Elmhurst 2.39
10. Augsburg 2.38

Digs/Set
2. Mackenzie Hite, Nebraska Wesleyan 6.41
7. Victoria Nass, Saint Benedict 6.13
2. Saint Benedict 21.70

Hitting Percentage
1. Audrey Krajec, Millikin .447
9. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha .391
10. Nicole Adams, Benedictine 3.89
1. Maranatha .289
4. St. Thomas .281
9. Millikin .267

Kills/Set
1. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha 6.04
7. Elisa Burkman, Spalding 4.34
9. Anna Zyvoloski, St. Scholastica 4.26
10. Mallory Palmer, Edgewood 4.23
2. Saint Benedict 13.81
5. Washington-St. Louis 13.66
8. St. Thomas 13.62
10. Northwestern 13.50

Points/Set
1. Torey DeLozier, Maranatha 7.17
6. Anna Zyvoloski, St. Scholastica 5.09
7. Elisa Burkman, Spalding 5.06
8. Audrey Krajec, Millikin 4.98

Winning Percentage
2. St. Thomas .939 (percentage still not correct; should be No. 1)
4. Washington-St. Louis .931

-Ricky Nelson

Maranatha won NCCAA regional on Saturday

Not the freshest news, but Maranatha defeated Lincoln Christian in five sets on Saturday to win the NCCAA D-II Midwest Regional and secure a return trip to the NCCAA national tournament to be held Nov. 8-10 in Kissimmee, Fla.

Maranatha, 2012’s Last Team Standing in NCAA D-III, went into the seven-team regional as the No. 1 seed. The Crusaders are seeded second at the 10-team NCCAA national tournament.

-Ricky Nelson

The 2012 Pre-championship Manual exists

The 2012 Pre-championship Manual is no longer a myth. I’ve seen it! It’s dense and glorious. It’s also password protected to – well, I don’t know why. Nobody does. If they do know why, they’re not saying. But it is only accessible via NCAA credentials (username and password). If you can even find it that is. I was informed today that the Manual has been online at NCAA.org since September. I’d emailed several people for access since September. Today I went to NCAA.org and searched for the 2012 Manual, like I have for more than a month. I used many iterations of terms, but the searches still come up empty. The Fall 2012 Manuals may come up once you’re inside the site with NCAA credentials, but I can’t find them without credentials.

In any event, thank you to the NCAA representative and to the Midwest Region coach who both sent me a copy today. Sorry for the snark about the Manual, but it’s hard for me to imagine that I’m not correct about why it should be made available to anyone who wants to read it. Not only available but readily available.

I propose to the powers that be: if there are sensitive details in the Manual, either redact them or publish a leaner version for the public. Yes, Joe Fan deserves to know how teams are selected, who sits on the committees, how many Pool A/B/C bids there are in a given year, what conferences get a Pool A bid, how regional hosts are determined, etc. In other words, the vast majority of the Manual needs to be available to all, not just those who have an NCAA password. Transparency is a good thing.

The Manual isn’t an exclusive nightclub; it is a resource that allows grandparents, parents, student-athletes and fans inside the process. The regional rankings are great resources and indicators, but there’s a step missing in that staircase. Why do the regional rankings look the way they do? Wait, can the national committee change the regional rankings on selection day or something because my team was ranked above that team all season and they got in and we didn’t. Why did the online NCAA selection show say a Great Lakes Region team is playing in a regional in the Midwest Region? Is it fair that 12 teams from one region are playing in the NCAA tournament while another only got seven? The questions – vital questions – are endless. And the answers – besides why did Bubble Team A ultimately make it over Bubble Team B – are almost always found in one document, the Pre-championship Manual.

To put a finer point on it, there’s a major disconnect when a student-athlete asks how often regional rankings come out. Whose fault is that? It should be rhetorical, but it’s certainly not the fault of the proactive student-athlete, who merely wants to know where her team stands. Is the student-athlete asking for classified information? No, but the information is classified. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have clearance to see the who’s, where’s, when’s, why’s and how’s of the sport to which she dedicates a decent percentage of her time.

You get my point. I could hammer from more angles, but it’s easy to point out the obvious. I’m sure you have your own examples or analogies that shine a sun-like light on the vagaries of the protected Manual. I hope it’s a one-time thing that the Manual isn’t public because I read the 2011 version just fine. Better yet, I’d like to give the benefit of the doubt and think that Larry in IT at the NCAA forgot to tick a box or something and the Manual was put into the protected portion of the NCAA site by happenstance. Then someone would say, “Oh, Larry …” and Larry would give a shrug and face his palms to the ceiling because, c’mon, that’s just so Larry to do something like that. Cue laugh track. Cue credits. Sitcom ep is over. Because it really is like a lame sitcom blackout joke that the Manual isn’t available.

You made it this far? Awesome. High-5, or medium-5 if you prefer. Here are some details from the 2012 NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Pre-championship Manual.
• 42 Pool A bids, two Pool B bids, 20 Pool C bids (same as 2011)
• Selections and regional hosts decided on Nov. 4
• Online selection show at 11 a.m. eastern on Nov. 5
• Regionals at eight sites Nov. 9-11 (Friday through Sunday)
• Finals at Hope College Nov. 15-17 (Thursday through Saturday)
• National selection committee reps are from: Fontbonne, Kalamazoo, UW-Stout, Susquehanna, Williams, Vassar, Maryville, Redlands

• Primary selection criteria (same as previous years):
The primary criteria emphasize regional competition (all contests leading up to NCAA championships); all criteria listed will be evaluated (not listed in priority order).
• Win-loss percentage against regional opponents.
• Strength of schedule (only contests versus regional competition).
– Opponents’ Average Winning Percentage (OWP).
– Opponents’ Opponents’ Average Winning Percentage (OOWP).
Strength of schedule will be weighted 2/3 OWP and 1/3 OOWP.
• In-region head-to-head competition.
• In-region results versus common regional opponents.
• In-region results versus regionally ranked teams.
– Ranked opponents are considered ranked once they appear one time in the sport’s official rankings.
– Conference postseason contests are included.
– Contests versus provisional and reclassifying members in their third and fourth years shall count in the primary criteria. Provisional and reclassifying members shall remain ineligible for rankings and selections.

• Secondary criteria (same as previous years):
If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision, the secondary criteria will be reviewed. All the criteria listed will be evaluated (not listed in priority order). The secondary criteria introduces results against out-of-region Division III opponents and all other opponents including those contests versus opponents from other classifications (i.e., provisionals, NAIA, NCAA Divisions I and II).
• Out-of-region head-to-head competition.
• Overall Division III win-loss percentage.
• Results versus common non Division III opponents.
• Results versus all Division III ranked teams.
• Overall win-loss percentage.
• Results versus all common opponents.
• Overall Division III strength of schedule.
• Win-loss percentage during the last 25 percent of the season.
Additionally, input is provided by regional advisory committees for consideration by the Division III Women’s Volleyball Committee. Coaches’ polls and/or any other outside polls or rankings are not used as a selection criterion by the women’s volleyball committee for selection purposes.

Feel free to ask any questions. The FAQ page has been updated with information culled from the 2012 Manual.

OK, now my attention returns to the courts.

-Ricky Nelson

10/29: Another day without matches

No Central, Midwest or top 25 team plays today.

The Commonwealth Conference play-in match originally scheduled for tonight was postponed due to Hurricane Sandy. That Widener/Lycoming match was the only conference tournament action on tonight’s docket. We get started for real tomorrow.

UPDATE: Besides the Widener/Lycoming match mentioned above, here are the tournaments affected by Hurricane Sandy, followed by the new dates. Be safe and well up there, north-easterners. These changes have been entered on the Links to all Conference Tourneys page:
• AMCC – 10/31, 11/1, 11/3-4
• CAC – 11/1-2, 11/4
• Centennial – 11/1, 11/3-4
• CUNYAC – TBA, 11/2
• CSAC – 10/31, 11/1, 11/3
• CCC – 10/31, 11/1, 11/3
• Commonwealth – 10/31, 11/2, 11/4
• E8 – 11/3-4
• Freedom – 11/1, 11/3
• GNAC – 10/31, 11/1, 11/3
• Landmark – 11/1, 11/3
• LEC – 10/31, 11/3-4
• MASCAC – 11/1, 11/3
• NECC – 10/31, 11/2-3
• NEWMAC – 10/31, 11/3-4
• NJAC – 11/1, 11/3
• Skyline – 11/2, 11/4

Use the Links to all Conference Tourney page all this week. I will be tracking Pool A teams from around the country on that page. What’s a Pool A team? Check out the FAQ for a primer or refresher on some of the ins and outs of the postseason process.

We’re one week away from the online selection show, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. eastern on Nov. 5. More on that as the day approaches.

Because no one can or will answer the question of where or when I can view the 2012 Pre-championship Manual, does any one know the bid breakdowns this season? The NCAA must be closed because I’m sure the association would be courteous enough to respond to inquiries.

-Ricky Nelson

Ricky Nelson’s 2012 Week 9 top 10

With a slightly different order, AVCA voters and I agreed on the top 10 teams last week. Of our top 10 teams, only Emory lost (in four to Wittenberg) last week, so it would be a surprise if things changed much near the top of the AVCA Week 9 poll. I didn’t feel the need to change anything.

The AVCA Week 9 poll comes out Tuesday.

My rank, (my Week 8 rank, AVCA Week 8 rank), noteworthy results this week
1 (1, 1). Washington-St. Louis 27-2 W: Juniata.
2 (2, 2). Calvin 26-2 W: Trine.
3 (3, 3). Wittenberg 22-4 W: Emory, UMass Boston, Washington & Lee.
4 (4, 5). Hope 27-3 W: Trine.
5 (5, 6). Emory 29-5 W: UMass Boston, Washington & Lee. L: Wittenberg.
6 (6, 7). St. Thomas 32-1 W: Bethel.
7 (7, 4). Christopher Newport 33-2 W: Cortland, Salisbury, Moravian.
8 (8, 8). Cal Lutheran 25-4 W: Chapman.
9 (9, 9). Elmhurst 26-7 W: North Central (Ill.).
10 (10, 10). Mount Union 24-5 W: Heidelberg, DePauw.

The Standout Stats and Standings/Big Matchups pages are updated.

My top five matches of the week:
If a team plays this week, it’s a top match.

-Ricky Nelson

10/28: Catch-up day

A day of rest as most conferences wrapped their regular seasons yesterday. No Central Region, Midwest Region or Top 25 team plays today.

Speaking of conference tourneys, the North Atlantic Conference got things started yesterday. With an idle day around the area, get caught up on what’s happening around the country. The Links to all Conference Tourneys page has the namesake links, No. 1 seeds and dates for all NCAA Division III Pool A conferences.

The Pre-championship Manual would be a great resource that could confirm Pool A conferences, bid breakdowns and other vital information that the public should have every expectation to view. Have I mentioned that I’d like to have access to the 2012 Manual? I would, please.

I’ll be adding links to tournaments when I find pages that are more than PDF’s. Most conferences and/or host schools will have dedicated pages for their respective postseason tourneys.

My weekly top 10 post and Standings/Big Matchups page updates will come sometime on Sunday. The Standout Stats page has plenty of holes from the weekend, but it’s updated like it usually is.

-Ricky Nelson

10/27: Cornell earns top seed in return to MWC

The MWC title and numerous conference seedings are on the line today. Speaking of the latter, I will be at the UW-River Falls/UW Oshkosh match that begins at noon, so I’ll get a late start on this post.

Cornell won the MWC with an undefeated season. It’s the Rams’ third MWC title and first since 1988. Cornell had been a member of the IIAC from 1997-2011.

It’s 2012 and we still can’t get scores online seven to 12 hours after first serve? Thank you to the vast majority of SID’s and coaches in the Central and Midwest who care. I’ve been holding off on a comment all season. It’s ironic, or maybe coincidental, that I’ve had SID interviews at a few of the habitually tardy schools. I would like to be an SID if you have a position available. Rant over.

Washington-St. Louis invite
#1 Washington-St. Louis, #24 Juniata, Alverno, St. Ambrose
#24 Juniata def. Alverno 3-0; #24 Juniata def. St. Ambrose 3-1; #1 Washington-St. Louis def. St. Ambrose 3-1.

Augustana tourney
#11 Wartburg, Augustana, Simpson, Concordia Wisconsin, Principia, Buena Vista, William Penn, Iowa Wesleyan
Simpson def. Concordia Wisconsin 3-0; Augustana def. Iowa Wesleyan 3-0; Buena Vista def. Concordia Wisconsin 3-2; #11 Wartburg def. Principia 3-0; William Penn def. Simpson 3-2; Augustana def. Principia 3-0; #11 Wartburg def. Buena Vista 3-0.

Benedictine tournament
#12 Chicago, #20 UW-Stevens Point, North Central (Ill.), Benedictine, North Park, Concordia Chicago
Benedictine def. North Central (Ill.) 3-1; #20 UW-Stevens Point def. Benedictine 3-0; #12 Chicago def. North Park 3-0; #20 UW-Stevens Point def. North Park 3-0; North Central (Ill.) def. Concordia Chicago 3-1; #12 Chicago def. Concordia Chicago 3-0.

Illinois Wesleyan Classic
Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan, Webster, Central, Eureka, Dallas, Anderson
Webster def. Illinois Wesleyan 3-2; Webster def. Dallas 3-1; Carthage def. Eureka 3-0; Anderson def. Eureka 3-0; Carthage def. Central 3-0; Illinois Wesleyan def. Central 3-0.

Millikin tri
Millikin, Greenville, Franklin
Millikin def. Greenville 3-1; Millikin def. Franklin 3-1; Greenville def. Franklin 3-1.

Northwestern tri
Northwestern, St. Catherine, Crown
St. Catherine def. Crown 3-0; Northwestern def. St. Catherine 3-1.

St. Mary’s (Ind.) tri
#5 Hope, Wheaton, St. Mary’s (Ind.)
#5 Hope def. St. Mary’s (Ind.) 3-1; Saint Mary’s (Ind.) def. Wheaton 3-0; #5 Hope def. Wheaton 3-0.

Rose-Hulman tri
Aurora, Rose-Hulman, Indiana-Kokomo
Indiana-Kokomo def. Aurora 3-2; Rose-Hulman def. Aurora 3-0.

William Woods tri
Fontbonne, William Woods, Missouri Valley
William Woods def. Fontbonne 3-0; Missouri Valley def. Fontbonne 3-0.

Harris-Stowe tri
Blackburn, Harris-Stowe, Avila
Harris-Stowe def. Blackburn 3-0; [Blackburn/Avila result not online at 11:15 p.m. Saturday].

WIAC
• #18 UW-Whitewater 3, UW-Stout 0 UWW had 50 kills.
• UW-Superior 3, UW-La Crosse 1 UWS’s Nikki Gosson had 13 kills.
• UW-River Falls 3, UW Oshkosh 1 UWRF’s Courtney Preiner had 30 digs.
• UW-Eau Claire 3, UW-Platteville 2 Set 5 ended 15-12; UWEC’s Emily Neave had 59 assists, 10 digs.

MIAC
• #7 St. Thomas 3, Bethel 1 UST’s Paige Brimeyer had 14 kills.
• #25 Saint Benedict 3, Concordia-Moorhead 1 CSB’s Taya Kockelman had 50 assists, 15 digs, 10 kills.
• St. Olaf 3, Carleton 0 SOC’s Melissa Burch had 11 kills.
• Saint Mary’s 3, Gustavus 0 SMU’s Mary Nordick had 11 kills.

UMAC
• Northwestern 3, Crown 0 NWC’s Kendra Korporal went 12-0-27 with 10 digs.
• St. Scholastica 3, Bethany Lutheran 0 CSS’s Kortney Morrin had 10 kills.
• Martin Luther 3, Northland 0 MLC’s Miranda Maasz had 42 assists, 15 digs.
• Minnesota Morris 3, North Central (Minn.) 0 UMM had 48 kills.

MWC
• Cornell 3, St. Norbert 0 CC’s Taylor Dicus went 11-3-19.
• Carroll 3, Illinois College 1 CU’s Ashley Radtke had 10 kills, 6 blocks.
• Lake Forest 3, Knox 0 LFC’s Megan Trubich went 11-1-16.
• Grinnell 3, Lawrence 1 GC’s Michelle Briggs had 11 kills.
• Monmouth 3, Beloit 0 MC’s Chelsey Widdop had 11 kills, 10 digs.

GPAC
• Briar Cliff 3, Nebraska Wesleyan 2 Set 5 ended 15-11; BCU (17-14) is NAIA.

Nonconference
• Augsburg 3, Minnesota Morris 0 AC hit .366.
• Westminster 3, Stephens 1 WC’s Lexi Collier went 14-2-26.
• Mount Mary 3, Indiana Northwest 0
• Presentation, Dakota Wesleyan [result not online at 11:15 p.m. Saturday]

Top 25 upset watch
#2 Calvin 3, Albion 0
#3 Wittenberg 3, UMass Boston 1
#4 Christopher Newport 3, Lynchburg 0
#4 Christopher Newport 3, #16 Cortland 2
#6 Emory 3, UMass Boston 0
#6 Emory 3, Washington & Lee 1
#8 Cal Lutheran 3, UC Santa Cruz 1
#8 Cal Lutheran 3, Caltech 0
#10 Mount Union 3, Carnegie Mellon 0
#10 Mount Union 3, DePauw 0
#13 Otterbein 3, Capital 0
#14 Puget Sound 3, Linfield 1
#15 Pacific Lutheran 3, Willamette 2
#16 Cortland 3, Virginia Wesleyan 0
#17 Salisbury 3, Averett 0
#17 Salisbury 3, Virginia Wesleyan 1
#21 Eastern 3, FDU-Florham 0
#21 Eastern 3, Elizabethtown 0
#22 Bowdoin 3, Williams 0
#23 Chapman 3, Pomona-Pitzer 0

-Ricky Nelson