NCAA Volleyball Tournament - ISU is still hosting a regional

[Buster28]

Even though volleyball season is over for Iowa State, there are still 16 teams playing, including four of them playing right here in Ames this Friday and Saturday.

Hilton Coliseum will host the Stanford-Oregon State match at 5 on Friday, with the Illinois-Florida match scheduled at 7. The winners will play Saturday at 8 for a trip to the Final Four. We decided to buy tickets regardless of who was playing because, A) we wanted to see some good volleyball, and B) we wanted to show support for Iowa State hosting a volleyball regional. General admission all-session tickets were only $15 at the ticket office.

Of the final 16 teams, 5 come from the Pac 12 (Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, Washington, Oregon), 5 from the Big 10 (Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Nebraska), 2 from the ACC (Florida State, North Carolina), and one each from the SEC (Florida), Big 12 (Texas), Mountain West (Colorado State), and WCC (BYU).

I think the tournament might be Stanford's to lose at this point. I'm kinda glad we get to see them play here again since they're the #1 overall seed, as much as they're probably not thrilled with returning to Ames since their season started here. Just looking forward to seeing some good matches and maybe a big upset along the way.

 

[cowgirl836]

If I were closer, I'd love to go watch that Stanford game. Inky will be on the Olympic team someday.

 

[Tornado man]

Will be attending! Three great teams in Stanford, Florida, and Illinois.
A Stanford-Illinois regional final would be something: Illinois lost to them in five sets (15-12) at Stanford earlier this year.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Can you confirm the times? I have them as 6pm and 8pm....

 

[theshadow]

Can you confirm the times? I have them as 6pm and 8pm....

Friday: 6pm/8pm ET (5pm/7pm CT)
Saturday: 9pm ET (8pm CT)

 

[cykadelic2]

Friday: 6pm/8pm ET (5pm/7pm CT)
Saturday: 9pm ET (8pm CT)

CJL needs to get a ISU custom designed SportCourt for Hilton VB games instead of marking up the BB court. The NCAA tourney games are being played on a SportCourt overlay.:

https://twitter.com/BobbyLaGesse/status/543110848416604160

 

[StClone]

CJL needs to get a ISU custom designed SportCourt for Hilton VB games instead of marking up the BB court. The NCAA tourney games are being played on a SportCourt overlay.:

https://twitter.com/BobbyLaGesse/status/543110848416604160

Sigh. Looks like a great facility. Someday we will have our team play there.

 

[StClone]

Illini (9) lost in close set 5 to number 5 Gators. So we have Stanford vs Gators on today (12/13) http://www.ncaa.com/game/volleyball-women/d1/2014/12/13/florida-stanford ESPNU 8:00 PM CT.

Wisconsin vs Penn State is on now 3:00 PM ESPNU.

 

[Buster28]

I have to say that Stanford was definitely the best team of the four who came to Hilton. They swept both matches and advanced to the Final Four. The Illinois-Florida match was quite entertaining on Friday night. Five sets, back and forth. I was a little surprised at just how many service errors Florida had, both in the net and long. They still managed to beat the Illini and had their chances on Saturday night. Stanford was just the better team. Are they the best? Hard to say. I wouldn't say they particularly dominated either team they faced, but they were clearly better.

I was quite happy with the crowds both nights, with Friday's seeming to be a little bigger. The lower seating was pretty full, considering no one named "Iowa State" was on the court. Attendance was listed at just over 2800 for both nights. Imagine the number of people who would have gone if ISU made it that far. Maybe next time...

 

[StClone]

Wisconsin looked good but just could not beat PSU. Neb went down and to me that is not a surprise.

 

[gizzsdad]

Wisconsin looked good but just could not beat PSU. Neb went down and to me that is not a surprise.

In the "what if" department - Wisconsin did very well considering Carlini was playing on one leg. She was extremely limited - tight passes, overpasses, defensively, blocking, etc.

 

[cowgirl836]

In the "what if" department - Wisconsin did very well considering Carlini was playing on one leg. She was extremely limited - tight passes, overpasses, defensively, blocking, etc.

just a terribly unfortunate situation for WI. PSU is familiar with it though - soph year Hancock did something to one of her ankles in a semi-final game against Oregon - I remember her trying to do that insane serve of hers and land on one leg. Then trying to set primarily using one leg.