3-3 early in 3rd.

9-9 in 3rd. SD playing better defense.

SD 8-9

SD continues to get the much better attack opportunities.

15-13. Tournament timeout.

Not playing at the same level this set. Too many attack errors, and SD serving continues to keep us on our heals offensively. SD getting perfect attack opportunities on almost every set up, but they're playing far too slopping...and, again, our defense is playing one of its best matches of the season.

18-14, 3rd. SD timeout.

18-14 with fantastic balance on offense.

22-17, but SD challenging the call. No touch!

22-19 after a SD ace. Rice timeout.

(12-02-2021 06:35 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  22-19 after a SD ace. Rice timeout.

Man, she is one heck of a server. Let's hope she doesn't go on a run.

(12-02-2021 06:36 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(12-02-2021 06:35 PM)dragon2owl Wrote:  22-19 after a SD ace. Rice timeout.

Man, she is one heck of a server. Let's hope she doesn't go on a run.

Service error!

Yes!

Sweep!!

So impressive! SWEEEEEP!!

ESPN+ color commentator: "A surprisingly convincing win."

WTG, Owls!!

Wow, great effort by the Owls!

Just our second NCAA win ever (in 7 appearances) - the other was also a sweep over Oklahoma. But USD was higher regarded than that Oklahoma team.

Shaylee Shore breaks Anota's team record for hitting percentage in an NCAA match. Bichelmeyer surpassed the old record as well.

Way to Go Owls! #RFND!

25-20 How sweep it is!

Arguably our best all-around matches of the year. San Diego is a quality team and we made them look bad. Good serving, great defense and balance offense is a winning combination.

Nicole: 15 kills, .333, 5 digs, 2 blocks
Bickelmeyer: 8 kills, .500, 2 blocks
Shore: 8 Kills, .538, 2 blocks
Adekunle: 7 kills, .300, 5 blocks
Mariska: 7 kills, .158, 4 digs
Graham: 2 kills, 38 assists, 1 ace, 9 digs, 2 blocks
Grippa: 12 digs

The defense by LoBue, McCardell, Grippa, Lennon and Graham was the best, by far, that we've seen all year. As mentioned, SD kept getting excellent attack opportunities close to the net, but it was our blocking and, especially, our back line defense that saved the day.

If we play like this against UT, they may still win, but we should be competitive....and I have no doubt the team still has a sour taste in its mouth from the beat down they did to us at Tudor earlier this year. They destroyed us in the service game and in their blocking, but if we can defend the serve as we did for the most part today against a very good serving team, we've got a chance.

The ESPN+ announcers, Salima Rockwell (3-time All-American setter at Penn State) and Paul Sunderland raved about Carly Graham the entire match. They had Carly for the post-match interview. Her responses were delightful. A few excerpts:

(Your experience after last year's COVID ejection?)

"We were all super-devastated. ... We really went out here and went after it 'cause we're so grateful to be here."

(How hard did you have to work to get to be so good?)

"It's really easy to work hard when you have incredible people around you. I've been blessed to have amazing coaches and players around me my whole life."

(What's the next 24 hours going to be like for you?)

"We'll scout a little bit after this match, try to recover, get a good night's sleep and be ready to go after it again tomorrow. We're super-excited."

Kansas swept a top 25 Oregon team. That's a big surprise as they were just .500 in the Big 12 (although they had some competitive losses).