Week Seventeen, Final Four Match Highlights:
What a weekend was had by all in San Antonio. Even with much of the Alamodome cordoned off, the Final Four of Women's Volleyball drew five-figure crowds and a national audience on ESPN2. What were they subjected to? One epic match, one near-great match, and only one blowout.
In the first semifinal, Florida State appeared jittery against UCLA, who appeared confident after knocking off both Penn State and Texas the previous weekend. The Seminoles were only competitive in the third and final set, but by then it was too late. UCLA won the match, 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-21). The Bruins outhit (.328 to .173), out-assisted (52 to 33), out-aced (5 to 2), and out-dug (54 to 44) the Seminoles. They took care of business.
The second semifinal was the epic match of the weekend, as Illinois persevered against USC, 3-2 (25-27, 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 15-10). The Trojans appeared to have the edge until the Fighting Illini ran off 8 straight points to come from behind and close out the second set. After that, confidence surged, even with the fourth set hiccup, where USC's Alex Jupiter had a great game. She and other Trojans were neutralized by the powerful Illini block and attack in the fifth set.
Obviously, statistics were close, but the Trojans grew frustrated with the Illini's ability to get to almost all spikes at the net, slowing them down if not completely blocking them. Illinois outhit (.279 to .233), out-assisted (75 to 70), out-dug (95 to 87), and outblocked (12 to 9) the Trojans in a match that lasted over two hours.
The final was epic as well until UCLA broke Illinois' spirit with a come-from-behind 4-point run to take the third set, 26-24. The fourth set saw the Fighting Illini in disarray, almost as if they had been listening to the overhyped ESPN Big Ten bias storyline ("This will be their first volleyball championship and their first women's championship of any kind"), and the pressure got to them.
The Bruins beat Illinois, 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-16) because they matched up size-wise and gritty-defense-wise. They also played cooler under the pressure. Tellingly, UCLA outblocked (15 to 11.5) and out-dug (87 to 76) the Fighting Illini. Illinois had more service aces, but also more service errors. Nerves.
Week Seventeen, Final Four Individual Highlights:
UCLA won the national championship for the first time in 20 years because they would not quit and they had the deeper bench. Rachael Kidder (41 kills, 1 ace, 20 digs, 4 blocks), Tabi Love (26 kills, 2 digs, 4 blocks), Kelly Reeves (14 kills, 4 aces, 5 assists, 26 digs, 5 blocks), Lauren Van Orden (8 kills, 96 assists, 25 digs, 8 blocks, 1 ace), and Lainey Gera (9 assists, 36 digs) played great as expected. Who expected Zoe Nightingale to have 14 blocks, 11 of those in the title match, as well as 11 kills? Who expected Sara Sage to hit .857 in compiling 6 kills in the title match? Who expected Bojana Todorovic to have 24 digs for the weekend, 18 of those in the title match? Mariana Aquino (10 kills, 5 digs, 8 blocks) was also vital to the victories.
Illinois had a successful, if not triumphant, weekend thanks to the two-pronged massive attack of Colleen Ward (44 kills, 6 assists, 35 digs, 3 blocks, 1 ace) and Michelle Bartsch (44 kills, 36 digs, 7 blocks, 3 assists). While Erin Johnson (17 kills, 8 blocks, 2 digs) and Liz McMahon (17 kills, 10 blocks, 2 digs) were also vital players at the net, they only hit .050 and .034, respectively, in the title match against UCLA. Anna Dorn was a blocking machine (13 for the weekend), but she only hit about .063. Other major contributors for the Fighting Illini were Anne Luhrsen (113 assists, 25 digs, 9 kills, 4 blocks) and Jennifer Beltran (58 digs, 8 assists, 1 ace).
ESPN2 Coverage of the Final Four:
The broadcasters. Karch Kiraly, the man and the legend, knows more about the sport and is probably the greatest player of all time. Obviously, he is a qualified and talented analyst, providing a laidback SoCal lexicon, dialect, and delivery--appropriate for a sport that blossomed on the beaches of the Pacific. His deliberate pace strewn with insightful commentary kept the match interesting for non-devotees watching. Even though Karch is a UCLA man, he kept his own partisan feelings in check. It was the professional thing to do, but it allowed the other commentator, Beth Mowins, to control the matches' sentiment, which fell entirely to Illinois in their battles against USC and UCLA.
Was it Beth Mowins' fault that her play-by-play came off workmanlike, professional, and decidedly pro-Big Ten, pro-NCAA (after all, the NCAA selection committee had shown complete anti-West biases in their rankings and seedings for the tournament)? Not entirely. She did good work for the Midwest and East Coast viewership (which makes sense for the Lafayette and Syracuse grad Mowins). What was missing was a dynamic personality and glib volleyball play-by-play announcer like Chris Marlowe or Paul Sunderland. Couldn't ESPN afford them? Couldn't NBC and Fox release them temporarily for the special event?
The production. Do we really need to see players from all four teams fondling the national championship trophy before game time? Whose idea was that? Otherwise, the production was fine, even with abbreviated post-match discussions before sending the broadcasts over to ESPN3. The camerawork didn't miss much, but closer shots of disputed judgment touch calls at the net and calls at the lines would have enhanced the coverage.
The perspective. It seemed like Illinois had the sentiment and majority of storylines in the title match against UCLA. Yes, there was some focus on second-year Bruin coach Michael Sealy. I didn't hear any mention of the rebuilding job he did after UCLA lost a great setter and hitter to transferring. However, Tabi Love's transfer into the Bruin program was discussed, as if they were only the poachers and not the victims of poaching.
Additionally, ESPN stuck to the NCAA rankings and seedings, giving the AVCA poll rankings short shrift. The controversy of the selection committee's conduct was never an issue. Why? ESPN has lucrative deals with the NCAA in many sports, and it isn't about to step on any toes. Think I'm imagining this? Try and
find an ESPN football analyst who strongly favors a full playoff system in the top tier of teams.
Naturally, the AVCA poll gives western schools more respect, as it is compiled by the voting of experts in the volleyball field--the coaches. Incredibly enough, in the last NCAA women's volleyball rankings, posted December 19th, two days after the title match, Illinois is still at number one. Sad, really.
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