TCU Falls to #6 Texas, But the Horned Frogs Have a Promising Future
Last night playing in Fort Worth, Texas, the TCU Horned Frogs were mere points away from upending #6 Texas. In fact, they led 12-10 in the fifth, but surrendered the final five points of the match to fall to the Longhorns. Still though, TCU has plenty of positives to take away from the match.
The leader in that regard would be what was shown by freshman outside hitter elan McCall, who continues to be a revelation after coming in as the 76th ranked player by PrepVolleyball and has notched double-digit kills in every match so far. That was on full display against the Longhorns, as she totaled 24 kills on a .246 mark and 17 digs in a near comeback from down 0-2 in sets. In total for the season, she’s averaging 5.04 kills per set on a .256 clip.
It’s not just McCall though who has is performing at high-level at a young classification for TCU (10-5, 2-2 Big 12). Of their eight players to have started a match, six are underclassmen. Of the 90 individual starts given out, 53 are for sophomores and 15 for McCall as a freshman.
That group of sophomores includes setter Tori Dilfer (11.82 assists per set), middle blocker Sarah Swanson (1.04 blocks per set), defensive specialist Dani Dennison (2.53 digs per set) and defensive specialist Berklie Baker (2.75 digs per set).
Not to mention that their top two players in matches played in who haven’t started, middle blocker Katie Clark (2.19 points per set) and setter Ashley Kozer, are a freshman and sophomore respectively.
Besides McCall, Dilfer (52 assists, 8 digs), Baker (18 digs), Dennison (16 digs, 2 aces) and Clark (17 kills, .424) all stepped up as youngsters in the near upset of Texas.
Most of all the takeaways is that this TCU team is filled with young potential. The talent will continue to make them competitive in the Big 12, while how soon it all comes to fruition over the course of the season will determine if this team can make the NCAA Tournament. At the very least though, the future years look extremely bright for the Horned Frogs.
For the second straight match last night, junior libero M.E. Dodge started out in the libero role for #5 Wisconsin. However, it wouldn’t last for the whole match, as Tiffany Clark would win back the spot – at least for the time being – in the final sets of the Badgers’ four set victory over #7 Illinois.
Dodge was the libero to open up the match, but struggled in the first set which led to Clark regaining the different colored jersey for sets two through four. With Clark as the libero, Wisconsin won the final three sets.
Both appeared throughout as either a defensive specialist or the libero. Clark notched 16 digs, 1 assist, 0 aces/0 serve errors and a .938 reception percentage (1 error on 16 attempts). Dodge logged 12 digs, 1 assist, 0 aces/3 serve errors and an .871 reception percentage (4 errors on 31 attempts).
In the team’s previous match, a sweep at Purdue, Dodge was the libero while Clark came off the bench as the first defensive specialist. Dodge wound up with 9 digs, 1 ace to 1 serve error and a .857 reception percentage on 14 tries while Clark had 8 digs, 1 ace to 0 serve errors and a 1.000 reception mark on 10 tries.
In total for the season, both have appeared in 41 sets. To this point, Clark has recorded 169 digs (4.12 per set) and 0.22 reception errors per set (2nd on the team). Dodge – in the same amount of sets but less opportunities as a defensive specialist mostly off the bench as opposed to the libero – has logged 65 digs (1.59 per set) and 0.33 reception errors per set (1st on the team).
#5 Wisconsin is off to an 11-2 start and a 4-1 mark in Big Ten play following their win over #7 Illinois. They’ll continue their season this Saturday at #25 Iowa.
The Golden Eagles continue to keep pace at the top of the Big East standings despite the early loss to Creighton, this time sweeping Xavier to earn a three-match winning streak.
Marquette’s offense was unstoppable in the match, logging a .441 hitting percentage led by a trio of double-digit scorers in Allie Barber (14 kills, .591), Jenna Rosenthal (12 kills, .706) and Anna Haak (10 kills, .381, 6 digs). Facilitating things were Lauren Speckman (25 assists) and Sarah Rose (18 assists), while Martha Konovodoff (13 digs) led the defense.
Xavier was solid on offense too, hitting .232. However, the struggles on defense and an advantage in aces (5-1) and digs (31-29) for Marquette tilted things the Golden Eagles’ way.
Amazingly too, not a single player for Xavier had double-digit kills or digs. Leading the way were Laura Grossman (9 kills, .148, 6 digs) and Morgan Finn (8 kills, .385).
Marquette now remains top two in the league as the only one-loss team and behind unbeaten Creighton. Xavier falls to 2-3 and seventh in the Big East.
Next up: The Golden Eagles now head to the road to take on DePaul in Chicago while Xavier goes back home for two straight starting with Villanova on Friday night.
After falling behind 2-1 in sets, DePaul was able to turn things around and claim the final two games for a five-set victory. The match pushes the pair of teams into a tie with each other into the middle/lower-half of the Big East table.
Both teams found offensive success in the match, with Butler actually out-hitting DePaul .272 to .266. The Bulldogs also had more blocks (10-5), but DePaul logged more kills (68-67), assists (68-59) and digs (74-61) with the same amount of aces (3-3) on four less serve errors.
Individually, Emma Price (17 kills, .297), Claire Anderson (15 kills, .263, 12 digs), Avarie Evans-Allen (12 kills, .393) and Isabell De La Rosa (12 kills, .229) gave DePaul balance as double-digit scorers. Additionally, DePaul saw MacKenzie Savage (25 digs) lead the match in digs and Katie Dolan (24 assists, 12 digs) join Anderson with a double-double.
In the losing effort for the Bulldogs, Brooke Gregory (15 kills, .353, 3 blocks), Shanice Horn (13 kills, .360) and Bri Lilly (12 kills, .267, 3 blocks) all had double-digit kills. Megan Ramseyer (48 assists, 7 digs, 6 kills) and Elizabeth Labue (19 digs) also had strong efforts.
Next up: Butler heads back home to face Georgetown on Friday night and then Villanova on Saturday. DePaul, on the other hand, hosts their fourth straight (with a fifth to come) Big East match against #15 Marquette on Saturday.
Having to overcome a road environment, a 2-1 set deficit, a 5-2 point deficit in the fifth and a match point, (RV) Georgia was able to survive Auburn to garner a winning record in SEC play.
The team hitting percentages were representative of the how close the match was, with Georgia (.219) out-hitting Auburn (.214). The Bulldogs also had more aces (7-6) and digs (84-71) too while the Tigers notched more blocks (12-7).
What took Georgia over the edge was the explosion from Rachel Ritchie (25 kills, .179, 6 digs) and T’ara Ceasar (23 kills, .188, 14 digs), who had 131 of the team’s 187 attempts and 48 of their 73 kills. Meghan Donovan (62 assists, 19 digs) was also strong at the setter spot despite some inconsistent passing, while Mallory Hernandez (10 kills, .529) and Kendall Glover (19 digs, 7 assists) put up strong totals as well.
Almost taking Auburn to victory in the match and helping to push things to extra points was Brenna McIlroy (19 kills, .187, 8 digs, 3 aces). Auburn had a quartet of others between 8 and 9 kills, but failed to have another with a huge performance to match the duo from Georgia. Other notable performances came from Mica Allison (46 assists, 13 digs, 6 blocks), Bella Rosenthal (18 digs, 4 assists) and Anna Stevenson (9 kills, .250, 6 blocks).
The end result is a win for Georgia, which is all that matters, especially in league on the road. It’s a tough loss for Auburn, who has been better than their record but will now look to climb out of a slow 1-4 SEC start.
Next up: Georgia stays on the road to take on #10 Florida on Sunday as their second of three straight matches away from home. Auburn meanwhile hosts Alabama on Sunday before they take on a three-match road stand.
In a meeting of teams on the cusp in the VolleyMob Top 25 Power Rankings, Tennessee got by Alabama in a five-set match.
It was all about the Lady Volunteers’ defense in the match, as they held Alabama to a .105 mark behind winning the digs (83-73) and blocks (12-8) categories. They also hit .224 with more kills (63-44) and assists (59-41) to ice things away.
The home side’s effort was led by a trio of high-level scorers in Erica Treiber (16 kills, .350, 6 blocks, 5 digs), Raquel Perinar (14 kills, .111, 5 digs, 5 blocks) and Lily Felts (16 kills, .205, 12 digs). It wasn’t just a three woman show though, as Tennessee also saw large contributions from Alyssa Andreno (9 kills, .368, 4 blocks), Sedona Hansen (41 assists, 9 digs) and Madison Coulter (24 digs), who led a strong floor defense that had three in double-digits for digs.
The sister of Raquel was actually Alabama’s best attacker in this league match that also dueled a pair of sisters. Ginger Perinar (16 kills, .164) led the way in kills while Doris Carter (11 kills, .132, 11 digs) and Hayley McSparin (10 kills, .318, 3 blocks) also had double-digit points. Kaylee Thomas (21 digs) had a solid day in back-row defense.
With a multitude of teams on the cusp of being ranked, these are the types of matches that are huge for the SEC teams that want to make the NCAA Tournament. It also keeps Tennessee near the top of the league table while Alabama has now lost five of their last six after a 12-0 start.
Next up: Tennessee sticks around Knoxville to face Mississippi State on Sunday before a big three match road stretch that starts out with #16 Kentucky. Alabama gets their rival next with a road tilt at Auburn on Sunday.
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Class of 2020 outside hitter and defensive specialist/libero Evelyn Diederich has verbally committed to the University of South Dakota women’s volleyball program.
Diederich is a junior at Blue Valley High School in Stilwell, Kansas. Last season as a sophomore in her second year of varsity play, she recorded 209 kills (3.0 per set) on a .229 hitting percentage, 127 digs (1.8 per set), 45 aces (0.7 per set) and 17 blocks (0.2 per set) according to her MaxPreps profile.
On the club side of things, the 5’8″ Diederich plays with Kansas City Power Volleyball and the 17-1 team. Her club profile can be seen here. Video of her play with the 16s team at the 2018 St. Louis Presidents Day Classic 16 Open can be seen below via YouTube:
South Dakota is off to a 10-6 start to the 2018 season and is 4-0 as a member of the Summit League. Last season the team went 17-11 overall and 10-4 in conference play before falling in the league tournament’s semifinals.
So excited to announce that I have verbally committed to play Division 1 volleyball at the University of South Dakota! Thank you to my KC Power coaches, my teammates, and my family for helping me through this process. Go Coyotes!!!!❤️🐾 pic.twitter.com/HKywhrw6I3
The BYU men’s volleyball team had to make a couple of changes to its coaching staff this offseason after losing a pair of assistants to other jobs. After making one move back in late June, the Cougars have nailed down their second new assistant to round out the staff in former BYU men’s player Devin Young.
Young was a middle blocker for the Cougars in 2008 and 2011-2014. In 2013 and 2014, he helped the team win the MPSF regular season and tournament championships. They also made the NCAA Tournament in each of those seasons and appeared in the National Championship match in 2013.
Individually, Young was All-MPSF Second-Team as a senior and averaged 1.38 kills per set along with 1.09 blocks per set for his career.
“As a staff and as a program we are excited about the addition of Devin,” Olmstead added in the release. “As a student-athlete at BYU, Devin was fortunate to be surrounded and mentored by great coaches and teammates. He was a part of some very successful teams here at BYU and learned the value of hard work and competition. It’s always nice to have former Cougars on board to mentor our players that are striving to keep the tradition of excellence that is BYU volleyball.”
Following his graduation from the school, Young coached high school and club volleyball in Wisconsin. He moved back to Utah in 2017 though to work with VolleyMetrics.
“I’m grateful for this amazing opportunity,” Young said in the release. “Thank you to Shawn Olmstead, Brian Santiago, Tom Holmoe and Vice President Matt Richardson for giving me the chance to be back at BYU. Some of my greatest memories are from playing in the Smith Fieldhouse in front of our amazing fans. I’m excited to be back in the gym and will work hard to maintain the high standard of excellence that everyone before me has built.”
BYU finished the 2018 season at 22-7 and 10-2 in the MPSF en route to regular and postseason titles. They also made the Volley Four and finished the season ranked third in the VolleyMob Top 20 Power Rankings, where they are also slotted at fifth in the Way-Too-Early edition for 2019.
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Class of 2020 middle blocker Megan Mersman has committed to the Lipscomb University women’s volleyball program.
Mersman is a junior at Maryville High School in Tennessee, where she is in her second varsity season according to her MaxPreps profile. Combined between her sophomore campaign and this season so far, she has notched 489 kills (4.2 per set) on a .416 hitting percentage, 202 blocks (1.7 per set), 148 digs (1.3 per set) and 67 aces (0.6 per set) in her career.
On the club circuit, Mersman plays with K2 Volleyball Club and K2 18 Adidas JOTA. She was previously committed to Tennessee, but now is switching over to the school in Nashville as opposed to Knoxville.
Lipscomb is off to a 7-9 start to the 2018 season with a 4-0 mark thus far in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Last season they went 16-13 (8-6 A-Sun) en route to a conference tournament semifinal appearance.
very blessed to say that i have committed to play d1 volleyball at lipscomb university and will be calling nashville home again! thank you to my family, coaches, and friends who have gotten me this far and continue to push me everyday. GO BISONS 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/wQPMvUK85Y
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Class of 2021 recruit Hailey Hamlett has verbally committed to the TCU Beach Volleyball program. That means that Hamlett would be in store for her freshman season come the spring of 2022.
Hamlett plays in the sand for 210 Beach Volleyball in Texas. Back in March, she finished in first place at the Texas Volleyball Tour’s Junior Beach Series #3 for Girls 15U with partner Kenzie Thomas. She also earned a runner-up finish with Elin Kaiser at the Junior Beach Series #5: Dallas AVPFirst Points Qualifier along with a couple of other third-place finishes on the year.
Her results in the sand can be seen via her beach profile here, while video of the 5’9″ lefty can be seen below via YouTube:
Indoors, Hamlett plays for New Braunfels Christian Academy in Texas where she is in her sophomore year. The team is off to a 25-5 start to the 2018 season.
TCU Beach finished the 2018 season at 10-22 overall in their fourth year as a program.
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Class of 2020 outside hitter and defensive specialist Staley Humphries has verbally committed to the East Tennessee State University women’s volleyball program.
Humphries is a junior at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee where she plays outside hitter and defensive specialist. The school is off to a 29-3 start to 2018 and went 10-0 in the Big 6 Conference after going 24-5 in 2017.
Standing at 5’8″, Humphries plays both left and right side for Kingsport Volleyball Club and the KVC 16-1 Carl team most recently. She owns a 7’2″ standing reach, an 8’8″ approach jump and an 8’10” block touch.
East Tennessee State is off to a 13-4 start to the 2018 season and 2-1 as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Last season they went 19-12 and 12-4 in the league before winning the conference tournament and appearing in the NCAA Tournament.
Additionally, the Buccaneers two defensive specialist/liberos on their 2018 roster to go with five athletes who can fill the left side. Of that group, two are seniors and one is a junior. That means they’d all be set to depart the program prior to Humphries arrival when she looks to contend for early playing time in the fall of 2020.
Excited to announce that I have verbally committed to play volleyball at ETSU! Go Bucs!💙💛 pic.twitter.com/wYv65obtYw
We’ve got some exciting news at VolleyMob, as we will be releasing a new weekly podcast that you can expect to be released every Tuesday.
Our latest podcast, #12 overall, catches up with Ed Strong of @NCAAVBscores and more to talk Pac-12 and a bit more. Also recapping what happened this past weekend and a quick look-ahead to week seven.
