Deserving a special award:
Lionsfan exhibiting patience and forbearance despite being tormented by by one of VolleyTalk's budding bete noires. (sorry, couldn't find a circumflex)
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Post by lionsfan on 4 hours ago
Lord. So is everyone “not that good”? Does anyone look like the #1 team recently? Has Stanford ever been at full strength this season? We’re a team full of average blockers?
Trust me...Penn State fans are well aware of many things:
This team isn’t the 2008-2009 team. Nor is it the 2013 team. We hope, maybe, it could be the 2010 team.
We got swept by Nebraska. At home. Nebraska is 20-10 all-time against us, by far the most successful program against the Lions. They have our number.
We lost in the round of 16 the last two years.
We are a veteran team, and younger teams may have “higher ceilings.” We also know that young players may wear down as the season does.
So, right now, we’re 20-1. And while I never like to have them #1 and prefer the team to have less pressure, I can very easily see why we are. I don’t have the homerism or bravado to predict we are the favorites to win the title, but we are certainly in the conversation, and we still should be in the next month. I am fully aware that we could easily lose at Illinois, at Michigan State, at Wisconsin and at Minnesota. I am fully aware we got taken to five at Texas A&M and at Ohio State. Of all the teams in the conversation, we have the most number of potential losses ahead of us.
So, if we’re not #1 right now, who is the obvious choice? Stanford, who lost twice to us? Their best OOC win is 3-0 against Illinois. They got taken to five at Colorado and at home against Washington. So, Plummer was sick and battling a virus when we beat Stanford twice...and she was sick and battling a virus at home against the Washington schools last weekend. She’s been sick and battling a virus for two months. OK, we get it. She had 12 kills and hit .440 against Illinois, 17 kills and hit .519 against Cal, 12 kills and hit .423 against Arizona, 13 kills and hit .545 at Oregon, 21 kills on .289 at UCLA, 10 kills on .261 against Washington State. And yes, Lutz didn’t play the first match against Penn State. But she did in the second, after she had 12 kills hitting .381 against Illinois the night before. How did she feel then? Do you know that every Penn State player has been fully healthy this season?
Should Florida be #1? Maybe. They got beat 3-1 at home. And have two great home wins. And also got taken to 5 on the road to an unranked team.
Texas? Their two best OOC wins (3-1 over Oregon and San Diego) aren’t as impressive as Penn State’s, and they lost at home to Minny. They got taken to 5 at West Virginia, a team Penn State beat 3-0 in Morgantown. They just dropped a set…at 5-17 Oklahoma.
Minnesota? Maybe. Great OOC win at Texas. Also 3-2 at Boise, and swept by Nebraska and Michigan State, just taken to five by Illinois.
Kentucky? Looking at their schedule, they might be the closet. Great win at Florida and at home against Utah, wins against UNI and USC, swept by Creighton and Kansas.
Nebraska? Arguably the best win of any team, 3-0 at Penn State. But they have 4 losses, including one to Northern Iowa held in Omaha, and one a few weeks ago to Wisconsin.
Who else? Michigan State? Wisconsin? BYU? Kansas? Who, recently, does look like the #1 team?
No Penn State fan is thumbing their chest at being ranked #1 right now. No Penn State fan is going to be surprised if they don’t win it all this year, or if Stanford wins it all again. But we have reason to believe we have a better chance than the last two years. Some of the musings in here are just silly.
Last Edit: 4 hours ago by lionsfan
"Just got back. First time in history I didn't have time to finish my large Diet Coke during a Gopher match. Yikes." – spikerthemovie after watching Penn State play at Minnesota (October 11, 2008)
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