The Bobcat Nation

I like to look at MSU athletics homepage each Monday AM to see how all the non-revenue teams did over the weekend (CC, Vball, Rodeo, Track, Ski, etc.).

The past few Mondays have shown Volleyball losing 3 games at their respective early season tournaments. Looks like we are 1-7 on the season, with some pretty stiff non-conference opponents.

I haven't followed the team closely...is this a case of difficult scheduling...or a bad start...or injuries?

WolfPtCat wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 7:33 am

I like to look at MSU athletics homepage each Monday AM to see how all the non-revenue teams did over the weekend (CC, Vball, Rodeo, Track, Ski, etc.).

The past few Mondays have shown Volleyball losing 3 games at their respective early season tournaments. Looks like we are 1-7 on the season, with some pretty stiff non-conference opponents.

I haven't followed the team closely...is this a case of difficult scheduling...or a bad start...or injuries?

According to the Massey Ratings, MSU has played the 43rd most difficult schedule so far in Division 1 and is #179 in the overall rating. Their opponents have been:

Washington (L - #12 Massey Rating)
Middle Tennessee (W - #215)
Denver (L - #128)
The Citadel (L - #186)
Nebraska (L - #6)
South Dakota (L - #64)
UTEP (L - #52)
Iowa State (L - #67)

Looks to me like the record reflects a really tough schedule moreso than poor play. Massey is projecting MSU to go 13-6 the rest of the way, which includes another tournament this weekend where they'll play a nationally ranked opponent (#14 Arizona State) on the road. I don't follow closely enough to know if they've had any significant injuries.

MSU01 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 2:36 pm

WolfPtCat wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 16, 2024 7:33 am

I like to look at MSU athletics homepage each Monday AM to see how all the non-revenue teams did over the weekend (CC, Vball, Rodeo, Track, Ski, etc.).

The past few Mondays have shown Volleyball losing 3 games at their respective early season tournaments. Looks like we are 1-7 on the season, with some pretty stiff non-conference opponents.

I haven't followed the team closely...is this a case of difficult scheduling...or a bad start...or injuries?

According to the Massey Ratings, MSU has played the 43rd most difficult schedule so far in Division 1 and is #179 in the overall rating. Their opponents have been:

Washington (L - #12 Massey Rating)
Middle Tennessee (W - #215)
Denver (L - #128)
The Citadel (L - #186)
Nebraska (L - #6)
South Dakota (L - #64)
UTEP (L - #52)
Iowa State (L - #67)

Looks to me like the record reflects a really tough schedule moreso than poor play. Massey is projecting MSU to go 13-6 the rest of the way, which includes another tournament this weekend where they'll play a nationally ranked opponent (#14 Arizona State) on the road. I don't follow closely enough to know if they've had any significant injuries.

Definitely a difficult schedule while also learning to play without their go to player in Kira Thomsen. While volleyball is a team sport and we had lots of people step up last year, she was definitely who was leaned on in a pinch. It is always interesting to see how those voids are filled.

I’ve watched them some on TV and they really look pretty good. As stated, having Kira Thomsen to replace is huge — she was way up there in national hitting stats. There’s a couple of new faces as well. Their level of play and schemes are light-years ahead of the pre-Houk(s) days. I think they’ll be just fine.

Thanks for the info everyone. I figured it was a pretty tough schedule. The Citadel loss is the one that had me wondering....a quasi-military academy that you wouldn't think would be too attractive to top tier volleyball players.

Kira is playing professionally overseas. So yes, her shoes are tough to fill.

I watched the replay of the Cats' first conference win last weekend against NAU. NAU was picked to finish 10th in the conference, so it's hard to glean much from that, but they came in 7-6 and MSU was 2-10. They also didn't have one of their key players in that match. But the Cats were able to do some good things and beat them in 3. Bobcats are very solid defensively--very good blocking team and didn't let much touch the floor. They didn't make many unforced errors and compared to how their stats have looked this season, they had a great game offensively. Hopefully MSU finds a groove and starts winning a bunch of matches after this. A young team turns into a not-so-young team eventually--hopefully soon.

Opening on a conference winning streak sounds good....8-0....to get us into 1st place...and back to .500

WolfPtCat wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 03, 2024 8:53 am

Opening on a conference winning streak sounds good....8-0....to get us into 1st place...and back to .500

That can't happen since the Bobcats lost to Sac State in their conference opener, but I do think they'll end up near the top of the conference standings by the end of the year now that they're out of the brutal non-conference schedule. They had a very nice road win last night against ISU, who had started 2-0 including a road win over UNC which always has a solid team.

It's a weekend sweep for the Bobcats as they beat pre-season championship pick Weber state on the road last night in 5 sets. Now 3-1 and tied for second in the Big Sky as Sac State at 3-0 is the only team that hasn't lost yet. Two home games next weekend against EWU and Idaho should give them a great opportunity for two more wins.

Simply a really bad day in Bozeman for the Vandals. Their VB team looked much like their football team. Great to see the Cats get back in the win column.