Is it time to start talking about a HC change?

[Tornado man]

None of those venues are in the Upper MW and with the exception of Oregon, none are as cavernous as Hilton which requires a curtain to be dropped to improve the atmosphere.

It has become a recruiting obstacle when competing vs other Upper MW programs for top talent.

I must have missed it: what recruit(s) have we lost to another school because we play at Hilton?

 

[ISUTex]

I think we can all agree that we're thankful for CJL's time in Ames. She has made Iowa State into a consistent top 25 program (although this year might be her worst season at Iowa State).

However, I feel like she's lost her luster a little bit. The late 2000s and early to mid 2010s were when Iowa State volleyball was at its best. Iowa State hasn't made a Sweet 16 since 2012. I think she's hit her ceiling and with volleyball being an increasingly popular sport, I think we can have a really good program with perhaps a change in leadership.

Thoughts?

Are we bad in volleyball?

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

Are we bad in volleyball?

This year is probably a little unfair to judge too harshly because we have been hit by the injury bug but we just don't seem to recruit at the levels we used to.....not saying we should be expecting Nebraska level players by any means but it seems the quality of athletes we have has dropped off a bit

 

[cykadelic2]

I must have missed it: what recruit(s) have we lost to another school because we play at Hilton?

As noted in this post, the bolded in-state recruits are all going to other programs (including four to other Upper MW programs) that play in smaller VB only venues including Creighton, KSU and KU who are all in a better spot as a program than ISU currently is. ISU does have a couple of in-state committed recruits on this list. One is a 5-9 OH and the other is a legacy.

And watching games at these smaller VB only venues is a better experience than watching games at Hilton. Heck, I recall CJL admitting the advantage they had playing at Ames HS for a season when Hilton was unavailable.

 

[Tornado man]

As noted in this post, the bolded in-state recruits are all going to other programs (including four to other Upper MW programs) that play in smaller VB only venues including Creighton, KSU and KU who are all in a better spot as a program than ISU currently is. ISU does have a couple of in-state committed recruits on this list. One is a 5-9 OH and the other is a legacy.

And watching games at these smaller VB only venues is a better experience than watching games at Hilton. Heck, I recall CJL admitting the advantage they had playing at Ames HS for a season when Hilton was unavailable.

As I’ve posted before, I would enthusiastically support a smaller venue for volleyball - I watch the matches at Texas, Wisconsin, Minn, etc. and see the home court advantage. BYU also has a great facility, where the fans are basically hanging over the court.
But CJL once built a national level program while playing at Hilton, and most of her recruiting rivals were still playing at these “smaller” venues. Just don’t see it as a factor at all.
I believe if we lose recruits to schools like Creighton, KU and others it’s because of other factors (like coaching staffs?) not the arena.

 

[cykadelic2]

As I’ve posted before, I would enthusiastically support a smaller venue for volleyball - I watch the matches at Texas, Wisconsin, Minn, etc. and see the home court advantage. BYU also has a great facility, where the fans are basically hanging over the court.
But CJL once built a national level program while playing at Hilton, and most of her recruiting rivals were still playing at these “smaller” venues. Just don’t see it as a factor at all.
I believe if we lose recruits to schools like Creighton, KU and others it’s because of other factors (like coaching staffs?) not the arena.

Creighton, KU and KSU all have new or renovated VB venues since the height of CJL's success at ISU and those are the 3 programs that are now getting top in-state prospects as pointed out in my post with the listed in-state recruits. All 3 of those programs are currently trending upward (despite KSU's bad start this season) and ISU is not.

And the recruiting issues aren't just limited to in-state prospects but other Upper MW prospects as well which were the foundation of CJL's best teams. The team's current best front row players are from TX and MD.

 

[cykadelic2]

Are we bad in volleyball?

No, we are not bad. This season has obviously been impacted by injuries and illness to the top 3 front row players (Duckworth, Gonzalez, McCune) which prevented this team from being conference title and NCAA tourney contenders.

But as pointed out in the OP, the program hasn't reached a Sweet 16 since 2012 and CJL has yet to win a conference title which now has a more attainable path with the departure of Texas. The slippage in talent/recruiting has been noticeable. Now if Duckworth and Gonzalez return next season at 100% and production from the #3 OH slot improves via in-house improvement or the portal, the team should be good next season as Stonestreet is the lone loss due to eligibility and she should be replaced by VanGorp who could be a libero upgrade.

 

[Royalclone]

CJL is the reason there is a volleyball forum on CF. Until she showed up on the scene and produced results, no one cared enough to even discuss it.

 

[mwwbbfan]

As I’ve posted before, I would enthusiastically support a smaller venue for volleyball - I watch the matches at Texas, Wisconsin, Minn, etc. and see the home court advantage. BYU also has a great facility, where the fans are basically hanging over the court.
But CJL once built a national level program while playing at Hilton, and most of her recruiting rivals were still playing at these “smaller” venues. Just don’t see it as a factor at all.
I believe if we lose recruits to schools like Creighton, KU and others it’s because of other factors (like coaching staffs?) not the arena.

One thing that may help is that they are converting the old tennis facility to volleyball so they will have their own stand alone dedicated practice facility. I think for a lot of recruits that will be more influential than the venue they play in. They spend exponentially more time in a practice facility than a game venue.

 

[Cyfan1965]

Having gone through this with my daughters VB team. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BAD IT CAN GET! CJL deserves to go out on her own terms, IMO because we were nothing before she got here.

 

[Tornado man]

It’s mind boggling that that the Cyclone Radio Network still doesn’t cover volleyball matches - even after 20 years of CJL, and especially with our fan support.
Even UNI and Creighton have play by play broadcasting teams - home and away.

 

[NWICY]

For what it's worth good interview with CJL on the coaches corner show with JW and Noah(?). Live now.

 

[hiltonisheaven]

For what it's worth good interview with CJL on the coaches corner show with JW and Noah(?). Live now.

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn’t able to listen but I’ll try to catch it in the Varsity app later this week.

 

[Cyfan1965]

Karl Schloerke used to announce cyclone vb. I know that because he was a friend of my brothers in high school. Must have watched it on cyclone tv.

 

[cykadelic2]

It’s mind boggling that that the Cyclone Radio Network still doesn’t cover volleyball matches - even after 20 years of CJL, and especially with our fan support.
Even UNI and Creighton have play by play broadcasting teams - home and away.

Unless you're operating a motorized vehicle, is radio coverage really required in addition to what ESPN+ or other livestreams currently provide?

 

[SHisubvu]

Unless you're operating a motorized vehicle, is radio coverage really required in addition to what ESPN+ or other livestreams currently provide?

This is what I was thinking too. I am guessing they cut it based on number of listeners. The ESPN+ coverage for volleyball is pretty well done IMO.

 

[BigJCy]

 

[NWICY]

It was actually pretty darn entertaining. But you knew which ever team got down by 4 or so was going to lose. I took advantage of the early black Friday sale to grab tkts for a buck.
It was darn good entertainment for a buck.

 

[Sigmapolis]

I was in the volleyball pep band the year the team played at Ames High when Hilton flooded. I thought the energy and intimacy of such an arena really made that season a fun one. I know moving into a high school gym would be a "bad look" as the kids say, but it really did work well for VB.

I kind of wonder if you could convert the Armory back into a volleyball- or wrestling-sized arena. You'd have to find office space for its current denizens elsewhere, but it's a big campus.

There's plenty of parking in the NW quadrant of campus (especially between Pammel Drive and north to the railroad tracks) open in the evening or on weekends for that size of an event.