Volleyball

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Penn State Wins Back to Back National Championships

2014 National Championship…. Fifth ranked Penn State Nittany Lions against the unranked Brigham Young Cougars. This is a match that no one saw coming. I filled out a bracket before the tournament started and I had picked Penn State to win it all, mostly because I have been obsessed with Micha Hancock for almost three years now but also because after watching them win it all last year I knew they could do it again. Now BYU on the other hand is a different story. I had BYU losing in the second round to Arizona. Who knew that they would make it this far?

Saturday, December 20^th was the big day for both teams. Playing for a National Championship, something that BYU probably never thought they would experience and something that Penn State knew they could do but were going to have to upset Wisconsin and Stanford first. Both teams, not expected to make it that far were now playing for the ultimate title, something that all volleyball players dream of experiencing. Or at least I do lol. In order for Penn State to win they were going to need to stop 6’7 Jennifer Hamson from terminating every ball she got and also make sure they weren’t hitting into her hands. Penn State did a really good job of hitting high over Hamson’s block, allowing her to only have 2 blocks. They were also going to have to shut down Alexa Gray by setting up a solid block and having defenders ready to dig her multiple shots. PSU did a great job of digging Gray, allowing her only 9 kills which is low for her.

In order for BYU to defeat the defending National Champs they had a lot of things to watch out for. Micha Hancock’s deadly left handed top spin jump serve definitely was one of them. Also Micha’s left handed setter attack which is very efficient and really cool to watch. Adding to the list, freshman Ali Frantti and sophomore Megan Courtney who are both amazing outside hitters. Courtney had 11 kills and 14 digs for her second consecutive double-double performance landing her a spot on the All-Tournament team. She was also named Most Outstanding Player. Penn State also has 2 very effective middles, Nia Grant and Aiyana Whitney. Whitney contributed 11 kills while Grant had 9. PSU has an awesome back row too, libero Dominique Gonzalez had a match high 16 digs.

6:30 ET was game time, and it was time for someone to be named National Champs. Would it be the underdogs, BYU? Or the defending National Champs PSU? From the beginning to the end Penn State was in control. Winning the first set 25-21, the second set 26-24 and the third set 25-14. Not very often does a team win a Championship in straight sets but Penn State took care of business. Seeing the aftermath of the game, the hats, tshirts, confetti, tears, hugs, and celebration made me realize just how bad I want that to be me someday. I want to say congrats to both teams for great seasons and a huge S/O to my biggest idol Micha Hancock J

If you want to read more in depth about the game to can follow these links.

BYU Falls to Penn State

Penn State Defeats BYU in 3

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NCAAVB Semi-Finals Cont.

On the other side of the bracket in the semis, #2 ranked Texas was faced with unranked BYU. On their road to the semis BYU upset #11 Arizona, #6 Florida State, and #14 Nebraska. Obviously they proved to everyone that they should have been ranked. They were way overlooked. Honestly I thought Texas would win this game in straight sets but it almost went the complete opposite of that.

BYU has 6’7 Senior Jennifer Hamson who averages 3.83 kills per set and has a .315 kill efficiency. They also have Alexa Gray, junior outside who averages 3.66 kills per set and has a .291 kill efficiency. To see their whole teams’ stats you can follow this link.

Texas has Iowa native 6-3 senior, Haley Eckerman who averages 3.24 kills per set and has a .258 kill efficiency. They also have a sophomore transfer, Paulina Prieto Cerame who transferred from Penn State. Here are Texas’ stats for this year. Texas Stats

On paper Texas should have beat BYU but that didn’t happen. BYU took the first set 25-23, second set was 25-16, third they lost 17-25 and the fourth set was back and forth until the very end when BYU came out on top with the score being 26-24. This was a huge upset and now BYU had earned a spot in the National Championship, being the first unranked team to EVER make that happen. I can’t imagine the emotion they were having after beating Texas.

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NCAAVB Semi-Finals

I am a huge Penn State fan so when they upset #4 ranked Wisconsin in the Elite 8 I was really excited. In the Final Four they faced #1 ranked Stanford. In my opinion Stanford vs. Penn State should have been the championship match, but they were on the same side of the bracket. I have seen both teams play multiple times and each team has different attributes which makes this semifinal match an interesting one.

Stanford has an outstanding middle, Inky Ajanaku who has 3.5 kills per set and a .428 hitting efficiency. They also have an incredible outside, Jordan Burgess who has 3.1 kills per set. They also have an awesome setter, Madi Bugg who averages 12.01 assists per set. All of the players on Stanford are studs and I give them props for getting to the semi-finals of the NCAA Tournament, because that is a dream for so many players. Stanford Stats

Penn State. 2013 National Champs. Graduated 6 seniors last year. Now holds the record (7) for the most National Championships won by any team. Penn State is stacked with talent. Micha Hancock, 5-11 senior setter and my idol. She averages 11.6 assists per set, 1.16 kills per set with a .401 hitting efficiency. She also hold the record for most aces in a season ever with 125 aces, 1.01 per set. She was named the 2014 AVCA D1 Player of the Year. You can see all of her awards and accolades at this link, there are way too many to type out lol. Besides Micha Penn State has a ton of other outstanding players including some freshman. Ali Frantti, freshman outside averages 3.24 kills per set. Megan Courtney, Junior outside averages 2.41 kills per set and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAAVB All-Tournament Team. I’m probably boring you with all of these stats but they are amazing. If you want to look at the rest of Penn States stats and player profiles follow these links.

In the regular season Stanford beat Penn State in 5 sets, so Penn State was really looking for a rematch I’m guessing. On the other hand Stanford was probably excited when they found out they would play Penn State in the semis because they knew they had already beat them once this year. Penn State won the first set easily, 25-16 but Stanford came back and won the second 25-23. Penn State won the last 2 sets, and now had a shot at winning a National Championship for the second year in a row.

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Sunday, December 14, 2014

CIA 17Black

2015 Schedule

January 10^th and 11^th	M1 Elite Scrimmage	Rochester, MN
January 17^th and 18^th	Winter Classic	Milwaukee, WI
January 30^th-Feb 1^st	January Thaw	Minneapolis, MN
February 8^th	All Iowa Attack Qualifying	Ames, IA
February 14^th-16^th	NE Elite President’s Day	Omaha, NE
February 27^th-March 1st	Colorado Crossroads Qualifier	Denver, CO
March 20^th-22^nd	Mid-East Qualifier	Indianapolis, IN
March 28^th and 29^th	Iowa Regionals	Cedar Falls, IA
April 3^rd-5^th	ShowMe Qualifier	Kansas City, MO
*June 24^th-27^th	USAV Junior National Volleyball Championships	New Orleans, LA
*June 16^th-19^th	AAU Junior National Championships	Orlando, FL
*will attend one of the two Championships

This is my club teams schedule for this season. As you can see we travel a lot and only have 2 tournaments in Iowa. We travel a lot in order to play different competition, to get us ready for nationals and to be seen by college coaches. If you play a bunch a tournaments in your state you will not be looked at as often. College coaches from outside of Iowa are not going to come just to watch a few Iowa teams play each other.

I am really excited to play in Colorado Crossroads because I have never been to that tournament. Overall I am pumped for this season and I can’t wait for our first tournament. My biggest goal this season is to win a qualifier and get a bid to nationals.

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2014 NCAA Volleyball Tournament

This is definitely my favorite time of the year. It’s almost Christmas break, club just started and it’s time for the NCAA Final Four! This year Penn State, Stanford, Texas and BYU will battle for the championship title. Stanford is ranked 1^st, Texas is ranked 2^nd, Penn State is ranked 5^th, and BYU was not ranked in the tournament. So the final four this year was surprising to a lot of people. Stanford is predicted to win but I don’t agree.

On Thursday Stanford will face Penn State and Texas will face BYU. I think it will end up being Penn State and Texas in the championship game. I watched Stanford play Oregon State Friday night at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. Stanford won in 4 sets and it was an incredible game to watch. I also watched Penn State play earlier this season at the University of Iowa. I think these teams are pretty evenly matched but I think Penn State has the advantage. First of all Micha Hancock (senior setter for Penn State) is getting the opportunity to play in her home town, Oklahoma City, for the last time she gets to wear a PSU jersey. I don’t know about you but that would make me want to win more than I ever had before. Penn State also won the National Championship last year, so winning 2 in a row would be pretty sweet. Lastly Penn State is the underdog here so they want to prove themselves and win another National Title.

The Texas vs. BYU match will be interesting I think. BYU has beat 3 ranked teams already in this tournament. They defeated Arizona (#11), Florida State (#6) and Nebraska (#14). They have definitely proved themselves and what they capable of. I’m assuming Texas did not think they were going to play BYU, so they are probably happy and a little nervous about it. I mean playing an unranked team in the Final Four? That is very unlikely.

Overall I think Penn State is going to take the title home. Yes, I am obsessed with Micha Hancock and the whole Penn State team but I honestly think that they can do this. I know they can.

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15 Things a Volleyball Player Should Know

Always play your hardest, you never know who is watching.

You are going to lose 5^th sets and it sucks. Learn from it, remember what it feels like and move on.

Be thankful for your parents who pay for everything, are supportive and drive you all over the country so you can play.

NEVER give up.

Always thank your coaches, without them you wouldn’t be the player or person you are today.

If you want to play in college start the recruiting process early. Email and call coaches at schools you are interested in and fill out recruiting questionnaires.

Pressing the call button will be the hardest thing to do when you call a college coach but trust me it is not bad at all once you start talking to them.

Follow your dreams, no matter how big they are. If you work hard and have the confidence in yourself you can do it.

Enjoy the moment you are in right now. You can’t play volleyball forever so don’t the opportunity to play for granted.

If you make it to state or nationals be proud. So many girls dream of getting a qualifying banner or a bid.

If you get to watch your idol play (mine is Micha Hancock) ask for a pic with them… you will regret it if you don’t.

You WILL have days where you feel like giving up or where nothing is going right. It WILL get better I promise.

Your teammates will pretty much become your fam and it is awesome.

Find a friend group that is supportive of you. You will be gone a lot for tournaments and finding people that care how your team is doing and come to your games is awesome.

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