2018 Summit Volleyball

[kiyoat]

I thought I'd create a separate thread for Summit volleyball scores, standings, RPI, stats, etc.  The Coyote VB thread will get too long otherwise.  Really there isn't much to report yet.  The season is 6-to-7 games in, but Summit Standings are not posted, the RPI isn't calculated, etc.  NCAA stats are updated, but won't tell us much yet.  Here are the non-con records so far:

5-1 Denver
5-1 USD
4-3 UND
4-3 PFW
3-3 Omaha
2-4 ORU
2-5 NDSU
1-5 WIU
0-6 SDSU

[kiyoat]

Current Records:

8-1 Denver
7-3 PFW
6-3 USD
5-5 UND
4-5 UNO
3-6 ORU
2-8 NDSU
2-8 SDSU
1-8 WIU

My pre-season prediction for non-con w/l:
13-2 UND
10-2 Denver
8-4 UNO
8-4 USD
8-5 PFW
7-5 ORU
7-6 WIU
7-6 SDSU
5-7 NDSU

Fort Wayne is over-performing, Denver and USD are about right, and the rest are under-performing (my expectations).  UND and UNO are young like USD.  We may see them mature as the season goes along.

[kiyoat]

Massey Ratings:

42 Denver

120 USD
144 UND
179 PFW
178 UNO
203 ORU
233 NDSU
279 SDSU
309 WIU

[kiyoat]

Two team stats stand out for USD so far:

Team Digs per set:
#22 USD (17.73)
#41 UND (16.78)
#47 PFW (16.64)
#69 WIU (16.25)

Team Opponent Hitting Percentage:
#29 USD (.143) best in conference

I think those are related.  Annie leads the conference in digs per set, too, but there are a lot of other contributors as well, notably Dotseth.  I tend to favor team stats over individual ones, because they give a better idea of overall team strengths and weaknesses.  I think most players  would rather be on a winning team than pad their individual stats anyway.

[kiyoat]

Now that the non-conference season is over (except for one Ft Wayne match), here are the records and Massey Rankings:

11-1 Denver
9-4 PFW
8-7 UND
6-6 USD
5-7 Omaha
3-9 ORU
3-10 SDSU
2-9 NDSU
1-12 WIU

#39 Denver

#152 UND
#161 PFW
#167 USD
#205 Omaha
#235 NDSU
#239 ORU
#266 SDSU
#309 WIU

So it's looking like Denver is in a class by itself.  Weak non-con, but still they have over-performed.

UND, Fort Wayne and USD are in the "above average" category in the conference.  Omaha, Oral Roberts and NDSU would be "average" and the Jacks and Leathernecks are still predictably in the basement.

Fort Wayne was a surprise, and Omaha could still pull out a great season, so things are far from settled.  Should be an interesting season.

[kiyoat]

First league games yesterday were competitive. No upsets, but no sweeps, either. WIU and NDSU forced 5 sets in their losses, and ORU stole a set from mighty Denver.

[kiyoat]

Fort Wayne swept UND at home yesterday! I was wondering if PFW was for real, considering they played one of the weakest non-conference schedules. Apparently they are pretty darn good, and UND isn't quite ready for prime time. We play Fort Wayne on Friday in the SCSC as the conference home opener. Critical match for the conference race.

NDSU and ORU are much better than their records, and will cause some problems in the conference, I think.

Right now I'd put it this way:

Frontrunner:
Denver
Contenders:
Fort Wayne
USD
Omaha
Middle:
North Dakota
Oral Roberts
NDSU
Bottom:
SDSU
Western Ill

[kiyoat]

Top Summit teams in major statistical categories:

Offense
kills/set
1 PFW
2 Denver
3 Omaha
4 USD
Hitting %
1 Denver
2 PFW
3 Omaha
4 USD
Assists/Set
1 PFW
2 Denver
3 Omaha
4 USD
Aces/Set
1 Denver
2 USD
3 SDSU
4 Omaha
points/set
1 Denver
2 PFW
3 Omaha
4 USD

Defense
Digs/set
1 USD
2 ORU
3 UND
4 PFW
Opponent hitting %
1 Denver
2 USD
3 PFW
4 Omaha
Blocks/Set
1 Denver
2 Omaha
3 UND
4 PFW

[kiyoat]

In rally scoring, defense is critical, as you can score with defense. I think it is interesting that the 4 best defenses in terms of Opponent Hitting are doing it in different ways:

Denver and Omaha are superior blocking teams, while USD is last in that category.
USD is a superior digging team, while Denver and Omaha trail in that category.
Fort Wayne has a balanced defense, #4 in both categories.

I think that one of the most important stats for USD is blocking. Annie and the "meatballs" will be there playing consistently well in the back-court, but we need better blocking to win the tougher matches, like we did in Tulsa. JMO

We have only lost one match in which we out-blocked the opponent: the Big Ten's Northwestern.
We have only won one match in which we were out-blocked: North Dakota State. (went to 5 sets)

[kiyoat]

Current Standings heading into 2nd weekend of conference play: (with Massey Ranking)

2-0 (13-1) Denver #34

2-0 (11-5) PFW #154
2-0 (8-6) USD #134
2-0 (7-7) Omaha #184
2-1 (10-8) UND #161

0-2 (3-11) ORU #249
0-2 (3-12) SDSU #276
0-2 (1-14) WIU #309
0-3 (2-12) NDSU #262

[kiyoat]

The Summit matches all went chalk, but Omaha slipped by Fort Wayne in 5 sets! Omaha is proving they belong as a "contender" along with the Yotes and Fort Wayne. The Yotes get their first crack at frontrunner Denver this next Friday! Conference standings:

4-0 (10-8) USD
4-0 (9-7) Omaha
3-0 (14-1) Denver
4-1 (12-8) UND
2-2 (11-7) PFW

1-4 (3-13) NDSU
0-3 (3-12) ORU
0-4 (3-14) SDSU
0-4 (1-16) WIU

Here's my "Power rankings"

Frontrunner:
Denver

Contenders:
USD
Omaha
Fort Wayne

Middle:
North Dakota
Oral Roberts
NDSU

Bottom:
SDSU
Western Ill

[kiyoat]

Sept 10, 2018 14:03:23 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Massey Ratings:

42 Denver--33

120 USD--129
144 UND---157
179 PFW---162
178 UNO---174

203 ORU---251
233 NDSU-256
279 SDSU-283
309 WIU---310

Updated Massey Rankings from Sept10 to Oct 1

The order hasn't changed much.

[yoteforever]

That means if there were no conferences Denver would be a 7-8 seed in the NCAA tournament. That makes Friday nights match big. Plan to attend

[kiyoat]

Here is how our non-conference opponents are ranked right now in Massey:

#82 Northwestern (L 1-3)
#96 UC SantaBarbara (L 0-3)
#97 Cal (W 3-1)
#98 CU Bakersfield (L 0-3)

#130 Central Arkansas (L 0-3)
#138 Northern Colorado (W 3-1)
#146 Akansas Little Rock (L 1-3)
#165 Northeastern (W 3-0)
#176 Montana (L 2-3)

#227 New Hampshire (W 3-1)
#286 UW-Milwaukee (W 3-0)
#331 Arkansas Pine Bluff (W 3-0)

So, our three biggest wins (4 with PFW) have come in the SCSC.  Our worst loss on the season was against #176 Montana, who is 3-1 in the Big Sky right now.  I think we would beat them and Little Rock if we played them right now.  Possibly Central Arkansas.  The team has improved substantially in that time, and are playing at a high level right now.

[kiyoat]

Volleyball RPI was released for the first time this week.  Not surprisingly, the RPI favors large conferences and any team that schedules tough, regardless of their performance against said schedule.  Same as in Basketball.  I prefer Massey ratings, but it's fun to compare them.  The Summit isn't a threat to get an at-large team in, so really the RPI will only affect seeding.

RPI  Team     Massey Rating.

70 Denver----34

168 UND-----156
169 USD-----128
172 PFW-----162
194 Omaha--173

255 NDSU---257
266 SDSU---283
282 ORU----250
298 WIU----311