(04-14-2021 11:13 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:18 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:15 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:10 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  Maybe nothing happened. It’s highly probable this was a false positive - and was this test the same miserably unreliable one that resulted in a football game cancellation due to false positives on players who had just been tested right before traveling to Houston?

Canceling a game with healthy 18-22 year olds due to contact tracing is dumb enough. If they relied on 1 test tonight to cancel this game they should be sued by our players for ruining their season. Rice would never do it.

Rice would never do what? It was Rice that administered the tests, wasn’t it?

??? No, it was the NCAA that is administering the tests in Omaha; not Rice.

I feel so badly for the team. Such a disappointing ending to another great year. It was actually at a time that I could watch, and I never dreamed this is what I would tune into

Yeah, just awful. Feel extra bad for the one or several students who presumably got the virus, maybe even through no fault of their own, and cost the entire team the chance to play/win. Something they'll feel bad about for the rest of their life

What a sad way to end such a great season. I was really hoping they could catch some breaks and make a deep run in the tournament. This is worse than losing the opener for the team.

(04-14-2021 11:21 PM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 11:13 PM)HawaiiOwl Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:51 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:18 PM)Frizzy Owl Wrote:  

(04-14-2021 10:15 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  Canceling a game with healthy 18-22 year olds due to contact tracing is dumb enough. If they relied on 1 test tonight to cancel this game they should be sued by our players for ruining their season. Rice would never do it.

Rice would never do what? It was Rice that administered the tests, wasn’t it?

??? No, it was the NCAA that is administering the tests in Omaha; not Rice.

I feel so badly for the team. Such a disappointing ending to another great year. It was actually at a time that I could watch, and I never dreamed this is what I would tune into

Yeah, just awful. Feel extra bad for the one or several students who presumably got the virus, maybe even through no fault of their own, and cost the entire team the chance to play/win. Something they'll feel bad about for the rest of their life

It could have been someone on the coaching staff or even the athletic department (e.g., video coordinator) who were in constant contact with the team.

Any update on whether Lennon will be back next year? If she does, I don't think I would want to play Rice next year. They will be on a mission.

The announcers for the conference tournament said the Lennon will be back next year.

(04-15-2021 11:36 AM)temchugh Wrote:  The announcers for the conference tournament said the Lennon will be back next year.

That is a relief. You gotta imagine the team will be motivated and receive some respect from the national polls.

(04-15-2021 11:36 AM)temchugh Wrote:  The announcers for the conference tournament said the Lennon will be back next year.

I had heard rumors a while ago from inside the athletic department that she would be returning. I think that what happened yesterday cements it. With this year's kiddie corp having a year under their belts-- and a couple of our true Freshmen really came on strong toward the end of the season, and with the return of our leadership core of Nicole, Anota and Carly, we should be a Top 15 caliber team next year. I hope we can schedule accordingly, including matches with Stanford when they make their annual early season trip to Texas and the midwest.

WKU "upsets" 15-Washington State!

Yeah you know as well as the rest of us that it wasn't an 'upset'. Western should have been the 15 seed and Washington State the unseeded opponent. Three Pac-12 teams lost yesterday including Utah, the other top 16 team to lose. Now if WKU can beat Kentucky in the next round, then that would be a major upset.

The Big 10 was dominant (including Penn State, which overwhelmed NC A&T but no surprise there). Baylor needed 5 to escape Pepperdine.

(04-16-2021 06:18 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Yeah you know as well as the rest of us that it wasn't an 'upset'. Western should have been the 15 seed and Washington State the unseeded opponent. Three Pac-12 teams lost yesterday including Utah, the other top 16 team to lose. Now if WKU can beat Kentucky in the next round, then that would be a major upset.

The Big 10 was dominant (including Penn State, which overwhelmed NC A&T but no surprise there). Baylor needed 5 to escape Pepperdine.

Agreed. Almost every pundit in their pre-tournament predictions had WKU beating Washington State, and Rice beating Penn State.

BTW, WKU almost choked it. They won the first two sets easily, and had a 4 point lead late in set 3 (looking for the sweep) before WSU stormed back. WSU won the 4th set easily, and the fifth set was tied at 9-9 before WKU closed it out, winning 15-12.

I saw where Western Kentucky is now ranked 11 in the country. To bad Rice was not allowed to play because of some stupid COVID rule.

(04-18-2021 12:16 AM)Texasowl Wrote:  I saw where Western Kentucky is now ranked 11 in the country. To bad Rice was not allowed to play because of some stupid COVID rule.

And our forfeiting that first round match will almost certainly cause us to finish outside the Top 25 in the final polling.

(04-18-2021 07:09 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(04-18-2021 12:16 AM)Texasowl Wrote:  I saw where Western Kentucky is now ranked 11 in the country. To bad Rice was not allowed to play because of some stupid COVID rule.

And our forfeiting that first round match will almost certainly cause us to finish outside the Top 25 in the final polling.

Maybe, but first off, I'm not sure if any team that wasn't in the top 25 to begin with has had an amazing post season run. And secondly, if Texas somehow wins the national title and their only loss on the season was to Rice, then I think we'll still be in the top 25 at the end of the year. Even if they only make it to the Final Four, I think our top 25 ranking is pretty secure.

Right now, I'll predict a Final Four of Wisconsin vs Texas, and Minnesota vs. Kentucky (so the top 4 seeds all advance). Louisville could advance past Minnesota though, and maybe Western Kentucky is a real darkhorse out of Kentucky's region (or perhaps Purdue). Nebraska will be Texas' main threat - I really don't see them having any problems with Penn State later today.

Major upset-- after failing to reach the Sweet 16 the last two years, both as Top 10 seeds, this year Pitt stuns #3 Minnesota in five sets to advance to the Elite 8.

Texas downs Penn State in four sets. They blew the first set, easily won the 2nd and 4th, and outlasted PSU 30-28 in a classic 3rd set in which there were 16 ties and neither team had a lead of more than 2 points throughout.

Washington edged Louisville in 4 so they'll play Pittsburgh for a Final Four berth. Louisville had a huge lead in the 5th game, but squandered away a 6-point lead I believe in that 5th game?

Also, earlier today, Nebraska swept Baylor. Even though Texas beat Baylor three times this year, they never swept the Bears. I'm guessing Nebraska has a chance to beat Texas.

I didn't get my Minnesota prediction right obviously, but Pittsburgh is probably underrated since all four of their losses were in the fall. They're undefeated in the spring.

(04-18-2021 07:47 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Washington edged Louisville in 4 so they'll play Pittsburgh for a Final Four berth. Louisville had a huge lead in the 5th game, but squandered away a 6-point lead I believe in that 5th game?

Also, earlier today, Nebraska swept Baylor. Even though Texas beat Baylor three times this year, they never swept the Bears. I'm guessing Nebraska has a chance to beat Texas.

I didn't get my Minnesota prediction right obviously, but Pittsburgh is probably underrated since all four of their losses were in the fall. They're undefeated in the spring.

And Nebraska swept Baylor playing without their two-time all-american middle blocker (who got injured in their Friday win, and may not be ready to play against Texas tomorrow). Despite their win vs. Penn State, UT didn't impress me. They are extremely vulnerable to the drop shot and, save for Fields, their offensive efficiency left something to be desired.

#7 Purdue looks really strong, or perhaps #10 Oregon was badly overseeded. Florida looked really good, as well, against a very solid Ohio State squad. They do more decoying in the front line than any team I've seen in quite awhile.

Kentucky with a dominating sweep of WKU tonight: 25-20, 25-16, 25-10.

The Hilltoppers were competitive in the first set. But the Wildcats blasted them off the court in the next two. Literally! Setter Nadia Dieudonne took a UK spike to her right eye & cheekbone and saw little action after that. Briggs had an off-night, too (-0.133 hitting percentage). Matthews (0.412) and Jackson (0.400) were more effective, but combined they had fewer kill attempts than Briggs (17+10:30). Davis was also in negative hitter for WKU (-0.071 on 14 attempts).

(04-19-2021 12:09 AM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Kentucky with a dominating sweep of WKU tonight: 25-20, 25-16, 25-10.

The Hilltoppers were competitive in the first set. But the Wildcats blasted them off the court in the next two. Literally! Setter Nadia Dieudonne took a UK spike to her right eye & cheekbone and saw little action after that. Briggs had an off-night, too (-0.133 hitting percentage). Matthews (0.412) and Jackson (0.400) were more effective, but combined they had fewer kill attempts than Briggs (17+10:30). Davis was also in negative hitter for WKU (-0.071 on 14 attempts).

Kentucky's blocking and overall defense was outstanding. Totally negated WKU's strength in their service game. Kentucky was a bit sloppy the first set (hitting .250), but from that point onward they hit over .550. Dieudonne was injured late in the second set (UK was ahead 19-11 at the time), but did return late in the 2nd and played most of the 3rd set. Setting was NOT their problem. Kentucky simply overpowered them. Matthews had a very good first set-- both in attack and in blocking, but was largely invisible the rest of the way. Really tough way to end what was a historic season for WKU.

Kentucky could easily win the NCAA title. They have a big Houston presence on their team too with the Skinner sisters (from Katy). And then even though she didn't play last night, another freshman they have is Reagan Rutherford (from Missouri City). She was a stud hitter/setter for Ridge Point and was a high school teammate of Owl libero Nia McCardell (and also one year behind UT sophomore Skylar Fields). She's also the daughter of ex-Owl football player Derek Rutherford.

If things don't work out for her at Kentucky, Rutherford would be a star at Rice.