UCLA sweeps Stanford, happy 20th to van Tilburg
Van Tilburg turns 20 today. There might be cake at practice. If not, he said he’ll bring one tomorrow.
UCSB beating Pepperdine 3-2 Wednesday means the Gauchos have the 5th seed and Waves the 6th.
Of interest tonight
Stanford at UCLA
Warriors likely hoping for a win by the Bruins which would go a long way to having the Cardinal finish as the second seed. Think Hawaii would prefer going to Stanford than BYU.
Cal Baptist’s playoff hopes hinge in part on tonight’s CSUN at UCI match. the loser likely out of contention for the eight seed.
These are the scenarios in a nutshell
If you need more on points, set differential, the link is
http://www.mpsports.org/sports/m-volley/spec-rel/040416aaa.html
If Stanford wins twice (at UCLA and at UCSB) doesn’t matter what BYU does. Cardinal earns the top seed, holding the tiebreaker on BYU on head-to-head points, 211-205. .
BYU hosts USC for 2. BYU can be a top seed in a three-way tie with Stanford and UCLA (or 4-way adding LBSU), should each finish with five MPSF losses (BYU 3-1 in matches in the aforementioned three-way and 4-2 in the four-way).
UCLA will be seeded between 2 and 4. UCLA holds the tiebreaker of Long Beach State
Long Beach State has the tiebreaker of Stanford if 49ers are tied with the Cardinal. If there is a three-way tie between the Beach, Stanford and BYU, the 49ers hold the tiebreaker over the Cardinal and Cougars
I’m hoping for BYU, at least the warriors have shown they can compete there with them going 5 sets in the past. Hawaii plays really horrible every time in Palo Alto for some reason.
Looking like Hawaii to Stanford
UCLA sweeps the Cardinal, 27-25, 25-18, 25-22
Although I think the Warriors would go to UCLA if Stanford loses at UCSB Saturday and UCLA beats Pepperdine Saturday.
Looks like Nikki Taylor did not make the last US Team:
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/April/08/US-Collegiate-National-Team-Indy-Named
I don’t know enough about the reasons or the politics involved that kept Nikki from being selected but my read is that she will now be highly motivated to tear the opposition apart next season. Nikki will be the leader of a very talented team and with this “slight” in the back of her mind, she could have a special year.I hope so! Go Bows.
Some of those players that made it over her, are not better than Nikki, not even close, but whatever this is better for her IMO now she can rest up for a few months after the beach season and be well rested for indoor.
3,4,5. Let’s add some background here. First, players are invited to participate in one of the China, Europe or GJNC teams, but the player can decline. So none of us knows whether Nikki received an invite. Second, looking at the rosters, the China roster had the most talented roster by far. So no biggie IMHO that Nikki did not appear in this last list of 36 players. Third, a player that accepts the invite has to pay some of the cost related to participation. So a player may choose not to accept on that basis, in addition to any other reason. I can’t recall if UH covered Nikki’s tryout costs to help her gauge her talent level, or if she had an interest at the time but then changed her mind. But remember, she did come off surgery and perhaps decided playing sand was enough activity this spring. In any case, there is not enough information to conclude that she was slighted or not initially invited.
More info here: http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/usa-teams/indoor-volleyball/women/national-team-tryouts/event-information
#6 Agree with your assessment. They may have offer and Nikki may have declined – or not. Agree with others that I can’t imagine any better OP than Nikki at the trials.
Looking forward to the fall and praying someone steps up big time at OH2.
USAV told me that not all teams had been announced and that it would be in May for those roster
I’ll see Taylor Monday and ask
http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=36791
new thread up for Friday