That’s right, there is only one match left in the regular season. Regardless of the outcomes of today’s match, we already know the seedings for all of the conferences, including the SIAC. Tomorrow I will put out a giant data dump to show where we are at the end of the regular season. Buckle up because it’s tournament time!
Congratulations to Lincoln Memorial for claiming their sixth straight IVA Tournament Championship. I would love to live in a world where the IVA had a realistic chance of getting a spot in the national tournament. We don’t currently live in that world, but maybe one day. Lincoln Memorial is a fantastic program that excels year after year. It’s only a matter of time before the NCAA will be unable to justify leaving them (or other IVA teams) out.
Match Recaps
IVA
Third Place Match
#4 Tusculum (29%) def. #2 Maryville (71%)
3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-22, 30-28)
Championship
#1 Lincoln Memorial (84%) def. #3 Thomas More (16%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-19)
MIVA
Quarterfinals
#1 Ball State (93%) def. #8 Queens (7%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18)
#2 Loyola Chicago (80%) def. #7 McKendree (20%)
3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16)
#3 Ohio State (76%) def. #6Lewis (24%)
3-1 (26-24, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20)
#4 Lindenwood (65%) def. #5 Purdue Fort Wayne (35%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-17)
Big West
UC San Diego (13%) def. Hawai'i (87%)
3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-20)
CSU Northridge (48%) def. UC Santa Barbara (52%)
3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22)
Long Beach (76%) def. UC Irvine (24%)
3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-17)
ECC
St. Thomas Aquinas (89%) def. American International (11%)
3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-13)
Roberts Wesleyan (31%) def. Dominican (69%)
3-2 (26-28, 27-25, 23-25, 25-10, 15-12)
EIVA
Princeton (71%) def. Charleston (29%)
3-2 (16-25, 25-17, 26-24, 21-25, 17-15)
Penn State (83%) def. George Mason (17%)
3-1 (25-16, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15)
NJIT (39%) def. Harvard (61%)
3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-20)
MPSF
UCLA (99%) def. Concordia (1%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-20)
Stanford (72%) def. Southern California (28%)
3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 21-25, 28-26)
NEC
Daemen (87%) def. Sacred Heart (13%)
3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 25-18)
Merrimack (50%) def. D'Youville (50%)
3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18)
Saint Francis (89%) def. Fairleigh Dickinson (11%)
3-0 (25-23, 28-26, 25-22)
Match Projections
SIAC
Fort Valley State (82%) vs Benedict (18%)
I agree with you somewhat about independent programs. The mechanism is not favorable toward those programs so an independent must get creative with the schedule. Learn to play the KPI and RPI game and get in the conversation for the limited at large berths