(11-19-2021 04:13 PM)dragon2owl Wrote: MTSU sweeps North Texas, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22. RPI-wise, we probably would have preferred North Texas.
RPI is irrelevant at this point. We beat MTSU and advance to the championship game, and we're a lock for the tournament win or lose against WKU.
We had one gawd awful set today (the second set) when we inexplicably decided not to play defense....at all. Charlotte played a strong first two sets, especially on defense, but we finally made some adjustments and finished very strong in the fourth set.
It's tough to win when your middle blockers are playing poorly and are virtually invisible the first 3 sets, but thankfully, both Ellie and Sahara had strong matches to compliment Nicole on the offensive end. It was great to see Anota come out of hibernation the final set, but if we're going to be competitive against WKU and Lauren Matthews (their POY Middle Blocker)-- and be a force in the NCAAs-- Anota simply has to regain her confidence and her aggressiveness from the get-go. IMO, she made first team all-conference this year based on history & reputation rather than this year's performance, which has been inconsistent at best.
MTSU is not very good. They are now 9-10 (7-6 CUSA) on the year, with their best wins being twice at home against Charlotte (3-1, 3-2). They came into the tournament having lost 5 of their last 6 matches, with their lone win a 3-2 victory over a truly awful FAU squad (who beat them 3-1 the previous night). However, as we showed in today's second set, we can ill-afford to sleep walk against anybody.
Let's build off the strong final set today, come out on all cylinders tomorrow morning, and take care of business.