Clean Sweep into the Semis
The winnowing has begun
We got to see some good volleyball yesterday as the NCAA tournament officially kicked off. It looks like we will have to wait a little longer to see if we get an upset, however. All four matches were won by the higher seed in a sweep. Sure, that sounds boring from a high level, but we got to witness some of the best players in the country going toe-to-toe. And it was thoroughly entertaining.
Interestingly, all of the matches were won by the team with the most digs. I don’t have an analysis of how often that happens, but I wouldn’t think it is that uncommon. I was a little surprised that aces and blocks were not as clean cut, in terms of who won and lost. It’s a small sample size, so I’m not reading too much into it.
Here were the stat leaders of the quarterfinals.
Kills: 15 - Hilir Henno (UCI)
Aces: 2 - Jose Gallardo (FVSU), Isaiah Fedd (FVSU), Ido David (UCLA), Jacob Pasteur (OSU), Skyler Varga (LBSU)
Blocks: 5 - Toby Ezeonu (PSU), Hilir Henno (UCI), Cameron Thorne (GCU)
Assists: 37 - Michael Wright (OSU), Aidan Knipe (LBSU)
Digs: 9 - Mason Briggs (LBSU), Nicholas Slight (GCU), Thomas Poole (OSU)
Updated Tournament Projections
At the top, Long Beach and UCLA are practically unchanged in their odds. This is because the vast majority of the tournament simulations resulted in them reaching this round. Interestingly, UCLA has better odds of reaching the finals, but Long Beach has a better chance of winning the whole thing. Two words: Home Court.
Grand Canyon saw their stock rise the most, almost doubling from 9% to 17%. Both underdogs for the semifinals look to have about a 1-in-3 chance of making it to the finals. There is a very realistic chance that any team could make it to the finals at this point. The West Coast conferences are showing that they earned their at-large bids to the tournament.
NCAA Tournament
Quarterfinals
UCLA (99%) def. Fort Valley State (1%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-15)
UC Irvine (39%) def. Penn State (61%)
3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-19)
Grand Canyon (63%) def. Ohio State (37%)
3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21)
Long Beach (92%) def. Belmont Abbey (8%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-11)
Match Projections
No matches today. The semifinals are on Thursday.
Something can be said about having great depth. But you can have all that depth but you can only play 6 at a time.
GCU & UCI have players who can become nuclear and carry a team to the title game. That will bring a sense of excitement to both semifinals.
Note: UCI had a good group of fans arrive from Orange County. Should be electric in the Pyramid Thursday evening