Early Season Go-To Hitters
Early Season Go-To Hitters
As teams begin to solidify rotations, key players are standing out. But who is taking the most attacks?
The big matchup today is taking place in Ohio. The newly #1 Buckeyes will look to defend that ranking from a Penn State squad looking for redemption after Texas. VBelo has the home team with the advantage, but I wouldn't be shocked if it is still undervaluing the strength of this Ohio State team. Beating UCLA once is an impressive accomplishment, but the model wants to see trends. Beating Penn State twice this week would definitely help with that trend.
Whose shoulders need the ice?
We are beginning to leave the "early" season time frame. Many teams have several matches under their belts, and their rotations are coming together. For some teams, it has become clear who their go-to hitter is. So, let's look at the top 50!
Let's start with someone not on the list: Nate Meyer (Missouri S&T). He currently leads all players with 11.67 attacks per set. For this list, I used players with at least nine sets, and Nate has only played three sets. This isn't his fault. His team has only played one match this season. I'm sure Meyer will be on this list in no time.
Geste Bianchi (UCSB) is the go-to guy right now. Not only is he averaging over 10 attacks per set, but he leads the country in total attacks, and it's not that close. Bianchi has 277, while second place (Alessandro Negri, NJIT) has 216. There are only four players with over 200 attacks so far this season. My shoulder hurts just thinking about it.
It's noteworthy that experience seems to play a factor in this list. Of the top 10, nine are Upperclassmen. The lone Freshman, Gabriel Vieira from St. Thomas Aquinas, deserves a shout-out. Although it is a brand new program, Vieira has quickly found his role.
Unsurprisingly, most teams only have one player on this list. Of the 37 programs that have a player in the top fifty, 25 of them (68%) have just one player listed. Only one team has three players! Tusculum is the winner for most players in the attacks-per-set list. Their players come in at #26, #29, and #32. An impressive display of consistent attacking from their pin hitters.
Feel free to search around the table, sort it, and find interesting players. This is an impressive list of pin hitters, but sadly middles are nowhere to be found. They simply don't get the volume of attacks. Can you imagine how dominant (and good at passing) a team would be to have a middle in this list? I would love to see that!
Match Recaps
Non-conference
CSU Northridge (21%) def. Southern California (79%)
3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 17-25, 15-10)
Queens (53%) def. Belmont Abbey (47%)
3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-18)
Erskine (75%) def. Tusculum (25%)
3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22)
D'Youville (76%) def. Roberts Wesleyan (24%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20)
Concordia (80%) def. Central State (20%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-13)
Match Projections
Non-conference
Hawai'i (83%) vs Purdue Fort Wayne (17%)
UC Santa Barbara (3%) vs UCLA (97%)
Penn State (40%) vs Ohio State (60%)
Lindenwood (79%) vs Maryville (21%)
Central State (9%) vs Southern California (91%)
Warner (4%) vs Daemen (96%)