Green Bay Invite | Sept 14-16 | Green Bay, Illinois St, CMU

[kiyoat]

Last non-con Tournament!  Seems like the girls are starting to find their footing, and this tournament should help them gain some confidence and work out the last of the personnel and rotation questions before a big first weekend visiting Omaha.

day	time	Opponent*	TV?	prediction**
Thurs Sep 14	7:00 PM	#301/227 Green Bay	ESPN+	W 3-1
Friday Sep 15	3:00 PM	#319/266 Illinois State		W 3-0
Saturday Sep 16	12:00 PM	#94/162 Central Michigan		W 3-1

* = FigStats RPI
** = MasseyRatings prediction

So clearly the RPI does not match the Massey Ranking for these teams, so let's take a closer look

#301/227 Green Bay (#2 Horizon PS) (2-7)
L 0-3 @ #78/53 Wyoming
W 3-0 vs #321/250 SDSU
W 3-0 vs #279/287 Winthrop
L 1-3 vs #44/81 South Alabama
L 2-3 vs #253/204 Western Carolina
L 0-3 @ #53/104 Clemson
L 1-3 vs #153/197 Montana
L 0-3 vs #234/248 UND
L 0-3 vs #161/133 New Mexico

I like our chances to sweep that match

LIVE STATS LINK
for the whole tournament

[kiyoat]

Here's the weekly VB show (this one features a Mattie Johnson interview, too)




On Kylen Sealock's performance last week:
"Thursday night and Friday night were big matches for her.  I think she struggled a little bit on Friday morning.... Some of the best players that have come through here have had matches that are off... She was able to attack that second match on Friday... honestly a 180 in some ways... I think that's a good sign of what she's gonna be able to accomplish this season"

On Mattie Johnson:
"We've had a lot of depth at that (Right-back) position... Mattie played really well during the week of practice, so it was a no-brainer to start her.  She did a good job in the first two matches, doing what she was supposed to do, but against South Florida...18 digs was huge for us... that was a big part of what we needed to have success... and she passed the ball pretty well overall..."

On the 6 consecutive points to win against USF:
"It started with Alaina's ace.  It made them do something different on the serve-receive end.  I remember thinking "If we can get to 12, we will be good"...defensively we were flying all over the court, offensively we were taking big swings... that was a full team effort.... and there was the bench, and how much energy they provided, and the student section, and our fans... it was incredible.  I remember thinking it was one of the loudest I've ever heard this place.  That's a tough environment to play in... once it was tied 14-14 I knew the match was over."

On the current line-up:
"We feel like we have a lot of depth and options we can utilize.  People who can have success against different teams - there are maybe some different match-ups that we can take advantage of... we continue to want to put the best people on the floor.  If that's eight people, then we go with them.  But if we need to utilize our depth to give us the best chance of success... we have multiple players that can step in and do some good things...."

[kiyoat]

Here's a look at Central Michigan's schedule:

#101/225 Central Michigan (preseason #3 West MAC) (5-4)

L 1-3 @ #176 SEMO
L 1-3 vs #201 SIU
L 1-3 vs #170 Evansville
W 3-0 vs #261 SUNY-Alb
W 3-2 vs #155 St Louis
W 3-2 vs #164 Bradley
L 1-3 @ #123 Iowa
W 3-2 vs #102 GCU
W 3-2 vs #213 Missouri St

Looks like they had a rough start, but are playing better recently.  Not a terrible SOS.  They will be a challenge, I think.  I'll take the Yotes in 5 sets.

Illinois State is terrible.  0-9.  Although they have had a tough schedule, they are still losing to the bad teams, too.

So here's my prediction:
Yotes beat Green Bay 3-0
Yotes beat Illinois St 3-0
Yotes beat Central Mich 3-2

[kiyoat]

Tonight's opponent, Green Bay, has a hitting% of 0.148 on the season. That's ranked #289 in NCAA D-1. Pretty bad. They have a good Setter in #14 Calli Gentry, but they have had to play three of their last four matches without a Setter at all. Not sure if it is injury or illness, but whether she plays tonight or not might have a big impact.

[kiyoat]

Gameday tweet: (Twitter is not embedding today....)

x.com/SDCoyotesVB/status/1702332169929248897?s=20

[MD]

It's maddening to me that in the year 2023 we can't get a stream of all these matches. I know USD streamed every one when we hosted.

[kiyoat]

Sept 14, 2023 10:29:12 GMT -6 MD said:

It's maddening to me that in the year 2023 we can't get a stream of all these matches. I know USD streamed every one when we hosted.

I agree, but you have to remember that we are pretty spoiled here with the athletic department and Midco providing great coverage of our teams.  Some schools just don't put any kind of importance on a sport like volleyball, too.  They see it as just one of the many non-revenue sports.

2022 average Women's VB home attendance: (link)
439 Green Bay -------#143(#2 Horizon)
468 Central Michigan #132 (#6 MAC)
1001 Illinois State ----#59 (#2 MVC)
1319 South Dakota ---#43 (#1 Summit)

Not that I agree with that. VB is a sleeping giant in terms of a spectator sport IMO.  Really entertaining, about the same time commitment as basketball, sometimes less, sometimes more.  It's the fastest-growing sport at the youth level, so things are gradually getting better with coverage.

[kiyoat]

Yotes take first 25-15!

[kiyoat]

Yotes up 15-12 at media time out

[kiyoat]

Yotes take the second set 25-22!

Harms is destroying! They literally have no answer for her when she is in the game. Nowhere to hide.

Yotes struggling at times with digging and passing, getting out of system. Green Bay is playing smart and clean, but there is a disadvantage at the net, and they still have no setter

[kiyoat]

Green Bay wins the third 25-21.

Yotes need to get it together

[kiyoat]

Shit. It’s going to five……

[kiyoat]

OMFG

Can this team stop giving me heart palpitations?

Yotes win in extra points 19-17

[kiyoat]

Next up, Illinois State!  Game at 3:00 PM CT

No streaming, but here's the stats link:

LIVE STATS



Bonus: ISUr is playing St Thomas right now... will be tired out for our match.

Here's the USD write-up on the Redbirds:

The Redbirds

Illinois State (0-9) is looking for its first win of the season at the Capital Credit Union Classic. Head coach Allie Matters is entering her second year at the helm for the Redbirds after four seasons at Wright State. The Redbird roster brings in 10 new faces including four freshman and six transfers.



Sophomores Aida Shadewald and Regan Haith return for the Redbirds after earning All-MVC Freshman Team honors in 2022. Outside hitter Shadewald leads the Redbirds with 87 kills on the season (2.72 kills/set). In the Redbirds' first five-set match of the season last week, Shadewald tallied a career-high 21 kills on a .370 hitting clip.


#7 Soph OH Aida Shadewald 6'-1"

[kiyoat]

Illinois state just swept the Tommies... who just swept Central Michigan yesterday.  I think the Redbirds are a little better than their record would indicate..... Great.