Alright fuckit. Let's talk about this weekend and the NCAA mens volleyball final four tournament that many of you may not have known about. I have a little bias when talking about this--but don't hate me for saying I'm glad Penn State lost. I saw their game vs. CSUN in early April I think(?) and was astounded at how much Northridge outplayed them. They were slow, making too many unforced errors, and couldn't find a way to stop Northridge's offense.
I attributed it to playing away, the effects of traveling, and not having a very strong conference that challenged them during the regular season--unlike CSUN who had to battle to earn their ranking in their conference. However, I knew Stanford had a great team after hearing about their win against USC--their defense, setting, and hitting all was able to trump a great USC team. They were obviously number 1 for a reason.
I'm sorry anyone from Ohio...but I never saw them play.
I only managed to see 2 games during the tournament for various reasons, but I saw CSUN vs Penn State and the final between Stanford and Penn State... let's just say I was disgusted with CSUN's semifinal match. They started out slow, their setter had trouble finding any hitter who could put the ball away--both of his middles (who he had been going to for the entire season in the clutch) were being shut down by Penn State. It was unbelievable how differently Penn State was playing compared to what I had seen--their hitters at the pins were unstoppable, they dug everything, and they were unfazed by CSUN's normally fearless serving. But at the same time, I realized how it must have felt for both of the teams--and this is what made me so frusterated. Penn State has been to the final four semis around 13 times, while this was CSUN's first appearance in around the same amount of times. I was a little surprised that CSUN lost so easily, but it happens with a team not used to playing in that situation.
I didn't see the Ohio State game vs. Stanford later that night >< (sorry)
The same type of unstoppable play that Penn State had two nights before the final, Stanford managed to find. They stopped the powerhouse by beating them in 3 with their apparently unbeatable defense and ridiculous offense. Let's just say I was a lil' bit happy seeing a west coast team dominate like that.
I ran out of things to say--and I tried to keep it general to keep it short.
Yeah that worked.
If you want to know some stats go crazy here.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=5174356
(Have fun--I like random pictures)
