Comments on: Taylor 2nd team All-American, Maglio HM

By: Cindy Luis

Cindy Luis — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:24:15 +0000

http://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=40679
new thread up

71. glad it finally made it up.
as for predictions, much depends on how good the incoming freshmen are and if they decide to move Maglio to Opp.

68. an NIT for women’s volleyball would not be a good idea for the sport. IMHO. just another excuse for the NCAA to make the ‘minor’ conferences one-bid leagues.
they tried an NIVT in the 90s. when UH didn’t make it to the NCAA in 92, Wahine were invited. NCAA field only 32 through 92. Shoji turned that invitational bid down.

By: greenthumb

greenthumb — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 01:09:51 +0000

Thanks, Cindy, for taking and posting the video of Nikki Taylor. She is well-spoken and has been a good representative for the program and the school. It will be interesting who steps up from among the players to fill that role in the future. Don’t want to put you on the spot, but do you have any predictions?

By: Maverick

Maverick — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 00:00:52 +0000

68,69. The new tourney appears to reflect the growth and popularity of women’s volleyball, as a third-party thinks it can make money on the second 64 teams in the post-season. Don’t think quality of play will be particularly good, and UH should do whatever it can to avoid this tourney (i.e, win Big West, have 2-bid Big West). IMO, being a participant would not be an honor for UH’s program, but an indication of how far it has fallen. The only benefit I can see, other than more exposure for average teams and for the sport, is the possibility of non-Power teams beating the middling teams of the Power conferences (even winning the tournament), and possibly convincing the NCAA selection committee that its bias toward the Power conferences should be tempered. Unlikely, but you can always hope.

By: hollycow

hollycow — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 22:53:10 +0000

68. saw that on VT. I guess you could call it the DII championships for mid-major universities. At least schools like the Beach, Cal Poly and Pepperdine can look forward to participating in some sort of season ending championship tournament play.

By: mauna

mauna — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 22:45:08 +0000

The trend of college sports toward power conferences in all sports is slowly trending up as we see now in D1 women’s volleyball. One player of a mid-major school in the 14 selected players on the 1st team. Nikki arguably the top player on a mid-major team, a second team selection again. It’s not trending for mid-major teams like UH to get a break from the selection committees for AA selections, seeds and placement for tournaments. And now the forming for 2017 of a basketball NIT like tournament, the National Invitation Volleyball Championships for women’s volleyball. The trend continues……………..

By: Ron

Ron — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 06:55:54 +0000

Gee Wiz #56, thanks, I didn’t think of that.

By: noblesol

noblesol — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 06:05:47 +0000

Minnesota had the worst road record (.667) of the final four. Against Stanford’s block, they needed to stay in-system to split the block. Stanford was the more comfortable looking team most of the night. Their serve-receive and passing was everything they wanted, while Minnesota looked like they missed not being home.

For Texas, it was a grudge match. Once they had Nebraska down, they were not going to let them back up. Nebraska looked a bit wore out and worried after the first set. Texas is good, but I think Stanford could be a difficult match-up for them.

By: Bleachercoach

Bleachercoach — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 05:37:11 +0000

My selection of Minnesota and Nebraska winning didn’t happen…I actually do want a West Coast team to win (Stanford) and I respect that program of Coach Dunning. They are really discipline and humble players.
I think Nikki ‘s future in the Pro League with depend on her injuries. The last couple of years Nikki has been injury prones. I agree with Maverick on his assessment about accomplishing big feats in a weaker conference. Just look at 8th place USC from the Pac12….Nikki would be really good if she played in the Pac 12 or Big 10 but every team in that conference has a Nikki -type player. I know Emily Hartong made 1st Team All American 1 or 2 years in a row in a weak conference. I think she was recognized because she played great every match and was never injured. Again, Hawaii needs to win the National Championship to ever get the respect we want. Again we are THOUSANDS of miles from the rest of the USA (as they would say) WE are respected as a great volleyball program but still need to PROVE that we are a POWER PROGRAM as good as the Pac 12 , Big 10, etc…Individual Accolades from the Islands will factor in when we make the committee and foreigners of the USA know that the 808 State belongs and has arrived again after almost 30 years.

By: tongo

tongo — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 05:23:43 +0000

I was pulling for Minn. as they have a homegrown team with 10 players from the state. Gophers have never won the championships. This year’s team was laden with 9 seniors of which three are starters – Wilhite and the Tapp twins. All three senior starters are from Minn. It may be a while before they challenge again. Time for Coach McCutcheon to do some ice fishing in one of the 10,000+ lakes and ponder what could have been.

By: jmy

jmy — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 05:18:03 +0000

Not so surprised that the Huskers lost, but I was shocked that Minnesota was so flat tonight…Up until tonight the Gophers looked like a well-oiled machine…