VBelo Scouting Report: May 03, 2023
This tournament is living up to (very high) expectations.
The semifinals are set! And it is about the least surprising final four that we could have gotten. UCLA, Hawaiʻi, Penn State and Long Beach. These 4 teams are the top four teams in the AVCA Coaches Poll, the OTB Media Poll, VBelo Rankings, and RPI. They have consistently been the top 4 all season. It is only fitting that they are the last four standing.
Yesterday’s matches were exactly what was expected. Tough matchups with great competition that ultimately went the way of the favorites. The day started with Grand Canyon starting off hot by taking the first set off of Long Beach. LBSU turned up the heat even more and finished the match hitting .339%. Simon Torwie did his best Merrick McHenry impression and finished with 10 kills on 11 errorless swings and 8 blocks. Watching Torwie and McHenry on Thursday is going to be so much fun!
In the Penn State/ Ohio State matchup, the powerful arms of the Nittany Lions ruled the day. Penn State hit .359% to Ohio State’s .256%. If you combine that with their 13 blocks and 10 aces, Penn State looked fierce. The Buckeyes were able to push two of the four sets into overtime, including the one set they won. Ooh yeah, and Penn State did all this with their 1st Team All-American, Toby Ezeonu, only playing in 2 sets.
Now we just wait until Thursday for the matchups fans all over the country have been waiting for.
UCLA & Long Beach
Hawai’i & Penn State
Updated Tournament Projections
We have quite the tournament. Now that some of the less likely times to win have been eliminated, the odds are starting to even out. The separation between the top three teams is pretty slim. While 13% may seem a little low to some for Long Beach, they have to go through UCLA which is no easy task. The remaining 3 matches in the tournament are going to be tightly contested.
All-America Team Selections
I dropped the ball and didn’t talk about the AVCA All-American selections at all yesterday. So, here we go!
The list is highlighted with three teams each having 7 players honored: Long Beach, Penn State, & UCLA. The Bruins had 4 first-team selections, followed by Hawaiʻi with 3. Those teams sure seem really familiar…
Let’s look at some more interesting numbers though.
In total, 19 programs had at least one player on an All-America Team. Every conference, including the IVA, was represented, which is just a beautiful sight to see. Here is the breakdown by position and conference.
The Big West and MPSF had the same number of selections for every position. I’m not sure if this was a purposeful move or not, but it makes for some nice symmetry. Also not sure if the Libero pool is shallow this year or if the voters are just undervaluing defense. If I had to guess, I will lean towards the latter. Liberos are All-Americans too!
Match Recaps
Non-conference
Long Beach (70%) def. Grand Canyon (30%)
3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23)
Penn State (70%) def. Ohio State (30%)
3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-13, 26-24)
Match Projections
No matches today. Next matches: Thursday (5/4)