Five Things to Watch: Nebraska-Kearney Edition
By John Scognamiglio
This is probably the best matchup of the first round, all apologies to Concordia-St. Paul and Tampa. Without further ado, here are a list of five things to watch for during tonight's match.
1) Homecourt advantage: The Lopers have a 65-game winning streak at home on the line as they welcome the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight. Last year, the 'Dogs dispatched the Lopers on a neutral site, however, this year, the Lopers have the home crowd, and all told, may in fact sell out the site tonight. The key for Truman is to take the crowd out early, either by winning the first set or going on an extended run early. Truman needs to keep battling the elements of home crowd and not worry about trying to duplicate last year's match.
2) Erin Gudmundson: The national player of the year will be playing in her final matches at home starting tonight, and hopefully ending tonight as well. Tonight's match also features two All-Americans for the Bulldogs in Kelsey Wackerman and Sarah Shearman. It's important to limit Gudmundson when she is in play. Yet, she only plays three rotations at a time, so it is also a key for the Bulldogs to go keep pressuring the Lopers when the POY is out.
3) The senior middle hitters: This is the third Elite Eight trip for Micaela Walter, Megan Remley, and Tiffany Graham, and in their previous two trips, they have knocked off the number one seed in the quarterfinals and semifinals. It is important that whoever starts, probably Micaela, has to establish herself as the middle to beat in this game, which will be difficult considering the matchup against Gudmunson. Micaela is one of those players that can put another team on tilt due to her roles as an offensive threat and a great blocker at the net. Tiffany needs to continue her great postseason run from last year. Megan just needs to be Megan and limit her mistakes on the serve.
4) How do the freshman stack up?: Three freshmen have the potential of starting tonight. Whitney Boehler has performed admirably as the team's libero bringing a great defensive mindset to the 'Dogs. Eli Medina has always been a double threat combination so far, with her defense and offense leading the freshmen class. The mystery is Melissa Keck. Having missed most of the season due to shoulder problems, Melissa has come off the bench recently to provide a great spark on offense, earning 12 kills in the South Central Regional Final against Central Missouri. All three of these freshmen have the potential of being a key component to what could be a great stretch run.
5) Staying cool and poised: Truman has been here before, another Elite Eight trip, another number one seed to hopefully knock off. They have a rookie head coach who has the possibility of winning coach of the year in NCAA Division II. However, there is equal pressure between both teams. Kearney has the pressure of being the number one team in the country, as they were last year in the matchup against Truman. They are playing on their homecourt, so the Loper faithful will be out in force. The Bulldogs have been playing at a high level of volleyball following the second loss to North Alabama. They seem to understand that what they need to do to win is to keep pushing and not letting up. There is no doubt that it's going to get rowdy tonight in Kearney, Nebraska, but the Bulldogs have the poise and attitude to rise above the crowd and the history to just play the match. If the Bulldogs can stay cool and focused on the court tonight, there is no doubt that tomorrow night the Bulldogs will be playing in the Final Four.
This is probably the best matchup of the first round, all apologies to Concordia-St. Paul and Tampa. Without further ado, here are a list of five things to watch for during tonight's match.
1) Homecourt advantage: The Lopers have a 65-game winning streak at home on the line as they welcome the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight. Last year, the 'Dogs dispatched the Lopers on a neutral site, however, this year, the Lopers have the home crowd, and all told, may in fact sell out the site tonight. The key for Truman is to take the crowd out early, either by winning the first set or going on an extended run early. Truman needs to keep battling the elements of home crowd and not worry about trying to duplicate last year's match.
2) Erin Gudmundson: The national player of the year will be playing in her final matches at home starting tonight, and hopefully ending tonight as well. Tonight's match also features two All-Americans for the Bulldogs in Kelsey Wackerman and Sarah Shearman. It's important to limit Gudmundson when she is in play. Yet, she only plays three rotations at a time, so it is also a key for the Bulldogs to go keep pressuring the Lopers when the POY is out.
3) The senior middle hitters: This is the third Elite Eight trip for Micaela Walter, Megan Remley, and Tiffany Graham, and in their previous two trips, they have knocked off the number one seed in the quarterfinals and semifinals. It is important that whoever starts, probably Micaela, has to establish herself as the middle to beat in this game, which will be difficult considering the matchup against Gudmunson. Micaela is one of those players that can put another team on tilt due to her roles as an offensive threat and a great blocker at the net. Tiffany needs to continue her great postseason run from last year. Megan just needs to be Megan and limit her mistakes on the serve.
4) How do the freshman stack up?: Three freshmen have the potential of starting tonight. Whitney Boehler has performed admirably as the team's libero bringing a great defensive mindset to the 'Dogs. Eli Medina has always been a double threat combination so far, with her defense and offense leading the freshmen class. The mystery is Melissa Keck. Having missed most of the season due to shoulder problems, Melissa has come off the bench recently to provide a great spark on offense, earning 12 kills in the South Central Regional Final against Central Missouri. All three of these freshmen have the potential of being a key component to what could be a great stretch run.
5) Staying cool and poised: Truman has been here before, another Elite Eight trip, another number one seed to hopefully knock off. They have a rookie head coach who has the possibility of winning coach of the year in NCAA Division II. However, there is equal pressure between both teams. Kearney has the pressure of being the number one team in the country, as they were last year in the matchup against Truman. They are playing on their homecourt, so the Loper faithful will be out in force. The Bulldogs have been playing at a high level of volleyball following the second loss to North Alabama. They seem to understand that what they need to do to win is to keep pushing and not letting up. There is no doubt that it's going to get rowdy tonight in Kearney, Nebraska, but the Bulldogs have the poise and attitude to rise above the crowd and the history to just play the match. If the Bulldogs can stay cool and focused on the court tonight, there is no doubt that tomorrow night the Bulldogs will be playing in the Final Four.
posted by Anonymous at Thursday, December 01, 2005
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