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Posted
11 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Crazy that Faucette has three kids. 

 

What is HEB Center typically used for, just anything smaller than Moody? 

Texas Stars and Austin Spurs. And LOVB

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Posted
6 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

They had indoor AVP beach there a few months ago, cameramen had to be very careful to only shoot the few hundred diehards that made an appearance. 

Yeah I'm guessing there are second thoughts being had over that format decision. At least there should be.

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Posted
On 1/15/2025 at 10:31 PM, Js1 said:

My God I loved that team so much 

 

I don't think people realize how loaded that team was. 

28-1 and only went to 5 sets in 2 matches all year. One being a loss to ISU on the road. If I remember correctly, our only loss was a match where we had several players sick too. 

 

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, Js1 said:

Oh shit. Matt Ulmer Oregon to Kansas. This late in the cycle too. Ouch 

Ouch, Oregon star player Colyer immediately portals to Wisconsin. Same day

Edited by Js1
Posted
On 1/17/2025 at 1:03 PM, Js1 said:

Oh shit. Matt Ulmer Oregon to Kansas. This late in the cycle too. Ouch 

I don't understand that move even a little bit. I can make some guesses, but Kansas seems like a step down in many ways. 

I will say having to share the volleyball court/arena with so many other sports is a real bummer. The travel is a nightmare, and because of the half revenue portion Oregon is getting, there's a lot of commercial flights for sports not football or men's basketball, and Eugene isn't exactly the friendliest airport to fly in and out of in terms of flight selection. Portland is better, but it's a 2 hour drive, and still not exactly ideal. And then the Big 10 is obviously a gauntlet compared to the Big 12. But volleyball is one of those sports where that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I wonder if he has promises regarding NIL at Kansas while Oregon is focused on NIL for football? I don't actually know the answer. I went up there for the Nebraska match when they set an attendance record (primarily because of all the Nebraska fans that traveled there).

I'm stunned by this, really. 

Posted (edited)

I assume it was NIL, travel and there’s no dominant team in the Big 12. Easier path to the postseason with KU than having to play Wisconsin, PSU, Nebraska, USC, UCLA

But let’s not forget Oregon let Mike White go as well and they haven’t replicated his success. Feels like it’s football, T&F and then everyone else gets crumbs 

Edited by Js1
Posted
7 hours ago, Js1 said:

I assume it was NIL, travel and there’s no dominant team in the Big 12. Easier path to the postseason with KU than having to play Wisconsin, PSU, Nebraska, USC, UCLA

But let’s not forget Oregon let Mike White go as well and they haven’t replicated his success. Feels like it’s football, T&F and then everyone else gets crumbs 

They've spent money on men's basketball, and this past year they made a couple of big splashes in the portal in women's basketball.

Apparently it was all about NIL. I guess volleyball drew the short straw. 

When you say they let Mike White go, I feel like it's akin to saying North Carolina let Mack Brown go back in the 90s. They weren't willing to match UT's offer, but it's not like they wanted him to leave. Oregon simply doesn't have the resources that big football schools have, and they never will. Smaller enrollment, smaller alumni base, smaller regional population. The football stadium only seats like 54,000. A lack of luxury suites. No luxury suites in their multipurpose arena that hosts basketball/volleyball. They're on half shares of the Big 10 TV contract until the next one is negotiated. If it weren't for Phil Knight evening the playing field they'd have no chance to compete. 

Posted (edited)

Since the first major round of realignment (2010), a west coast school has only won the title 4 times (2011 UCLA, 2016, 2018, 2019 Stanford).  The 2010s saw 60% of the titles go to non-west coast schools (PSU x3, Nebraska x2, Texas) and so far in the 2020s, 2x Texas, Kentucky, PSU, Wisconsin.   Only 3 west coast Final Four appearance since 2019 (Stanford 2019, Washington 2020, San Diego 2021). 

For softball, Mike did a good thing to get out when he did, because the Pac 12 was at least the 2nd best conference for softball for a long time (Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Arizona, Utah), but the B1G is pretty terrible + a horrendous travel schedule.  At least for softball, you're just doing weekend road trips for 3 games series; volleyball has midweek travel for conference games. 

If Kansas' devoted significant NIL resources to volleyball (and why not, outside of MBB, they don't have much going on) + a conference without a dominant program (or 2 or 3), Ulmer made a good decision I think.  Plus your Big 12 volleyball travel schedule is +1/-1 in terms of time zones.  Versus going from Pacific time to matches against Penn State, Rutgers, etc. 

I think I'd rather take my chances at KU than fight for NIL scraps at Oregon + shitty travel + having to face Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State every year just in conference. 

Edited by Js1
Posted
11 hours ago, Js1 said:

Since the first major round of realignment (2010), a west coast school has only won the title 4 times (2011 UCLA, 2016, 2018, 2019 Stanford).  The 2010s saw 60% of the titles go to non-west coast schools (PSU x3, Nebraska x2, Texas) and so far in the 2020s, 2x Texas, Kentucky, PSU, Wisconsin.   Only 3 west coast Final Four appearance since 2019 (Stanford 2019, Washington 2020, San Diego 2021). 

For softball, Mike did a good thing to get out when he did, because the Pac 12 was at least the 2nd best conference for softball for a long time (Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Arizona, Utah), but the B1G is pretty terrible + a horrendous travel schedule.  At least for softball, you're just doing weekend road trips for 3 games series; volleyball has midweek travel for conference games. 

If Kansas' devoted significant NIL resources to volleyball (and why not, outside of MBB, they don't have much going on) + a conference without a dominant program (or 2 or 3), Ulmer made a good decision I think.  Plus your Big 12 volleyball travel schedule is +1/-1 in terms of time zones.  Versus going from Pacific time to matches against Penn State, Rutgers, etc. 

I think I'd rather take my chances at KU than fight for NIL scraps at Oregon + shitty travel + having to face Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State every year just in conference. 

I think I'd be keeping an eye open for other opportunities. Use KU as a stepping stone for a better gig. He's still pretty young. But if Oregon isn't going to do what is required to compete at the highest level - and they've made that plain - no reason to stick around. You simply can't win at the highest levels in volleyball without some NIL and portal contributions. That has become obvious. And not just the NIL. You need to be able to provide chartered flights out of Eugene to compete in the Big 10, and Oregon has decided they can't afford that across the board under the terms of their Big 10 admittance. Commercial flights just completely suck out of the Eugene airport, especially to some of the locations in the Big 10 like Happy Valley. 

Posted
On 1/20/2025 at 8:22 PM, SL Xpress said:

I think I'd be keeping an eye open for other opportunities. Use KU as a stepping stone for a better gig. He's still pretty young. But if Oregon isn't going to do what is required to compete at the highest level - and they've made that plain - no reason to stick around. You simply can't win at the highest levels in volleyball without some NIL and portal contributions. That has become obvious. And not just the NIL. You need to be able to provide chartered flights out of Eugene to compete in the Big 10, and Oregon has decided they can't afford that across the board under the terms of their Big 10 admittance. Commercial flights just completely suck out of the Eugene airport, especially to some of the locations in the Big 10 like Happy Valley. 

They miss you on VolleyTalk, btw.

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Posted (edited)

Holy shit

John Cook is retiring. 

Busboom Kelly to Nebraska, Meske promoted to HC at Louisville??

Edited by Js1
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Posted
11 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Holy shit

Everyone, including me, thought he would at least give Harper Murray all 4 years. Guess not 

And Busboom Kelly already named HC. That was the only job her contract let her leave for without penalty 

Posted
20 minutes ago, Js1 said:

busboom Kelly to Nebraska, Meske promoted to HC at Louisville??

Lol all of that happened within like 10 min 

So Meske won’t be our new assistant, I’m guessing he may have said yes but then this ended up in the works 

Posted
On 1/29/2025 at 6:09 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

Maybe she’s that toxic a person 

We all just want Harper Murray to be happy

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Posted

At the LovB match now. Great volleyball, but attendance is kinda light. Whoever designed this place must be the same asshole that designed Jerry World - you can’t walk around the concourse on one end, so if you come in that way but your seat is directly across, you have to walk the entire way around instead of the short side.

Madi looking great, playing mostly right side so far. Chiaka and Zoe playing well also.  The power some of these girls have on their serve is unreal! 

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Posted

To follow up on the match:  Houston is just flat out better than Austin.  3-1 W for Houston.  Their team is mostly Euros, plus Jordan Thompson from Cinci - she led the match w/ 23K.  She's 6'4" and their side was noticeably taller than Austin.  Seems like Austin played a lot of players while Houston kept their rotation much tighter.  Happy to look at the stats this morning and see my thoughts during the match confirmed - Logan Eggleston was easily the most efficient player on Austin and didn't even play much the 1st 2 sets for some reason.  Zoe was an animal on the back row - the Houston side was demonstrably more powerful at the net and she was digging some powerful swings.  Name change, btw - marriage? Good to see Juliann still playing - she looks great, btw.  Chiaka got way too much PT for how she was playing.  She was great on O in the 1st half of the 1st set, but after that, more misses than hits and couldn't block to save her life.

image.thumb.png.c634675e46b080fb41d3e6dda0609231.png

Posted

Yes, Fleck is married to British actor Robbie Jarvis. Not the longest IMDB but has a Harry Potter movie in his credentials lol 

Posted
1 hour ago, Mittens said:

To follow up on the match:  Houston is just flat out better than Austin.  3-1 W for Houston.  Their team is mostly Euros, plus Jordan Thompson from Cinci - she led the match w/ 23K.  She's 6'4" and their side was noticeably taller than Austin.  Seems like Austin played a lot of players while Houston kept their rotation much tighter.  Happy to look at the stats this morning and see my thoughts during the match confirmed - Logan Eggleston was easily the most efficient player on Austin and didn't even play much the 1st 2 sets for some reason.  Zoe was an animal on the back row - the Houston side was demonstrably more powerful at the net and she was digging some powerful swings.  Name change, btw - marriage? Good to see Juliann still playing - she looks great, btw.  Chiaka got way too much PT for how she was playing.  She was great on O in the 1st half of the 1st set, but after that, more misses than hits and couldn't block to save her life.

image.thumb.png.c634675e46b080fb41d3e6dda0609231.png

How much did you pay for tix? I wanted to go for the home opener but cheapest was $30 and there were loads of empty seats. Figured prices would drop so never bought tix but right before game time I didn't see a secondary market and they were still $30 on the website.

Posted
25 minutes ago, gsoda3 said:

How much did you pay for tix? I wanted to go for the home opener but cheapest was $30 and there were loads of empty seats. Figured prices would drop so never bought tix but right before game time I didn't see a secondary market and they were still $30 on the website.

 

On 1/15/2025 at 9:30 PM, Mittens said:

NVM - once you click to buy, they're all $25.  whew!  

 

image.png.00ed897645827e86e52c2c6de4a2e692.png

 

Posted

Another opening. 

Quote

Florida women's volleyball coach Mary Wise, who has the fourth-most wins in NCAA Division I history, announced her retirement Thursday.

Wise, 65, formally stepped down after a team meeting and ended a 34-year tenure in Gainesville during which she led the Gators to the NCAA tournament every season.

Florida made the Final Four eight times under Wise, including two runner-up finishes and won a league-leading 25 Southeastern Conference championships.

"This is such a special place, and there was never going to be an easy time to walk away," Wise said in a statement. "But after 43 years in the arena, the time to step away is now. ... I cannot wait to see what's next for the sport at a view from my new seat." 

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/43724729/volleyball-coach-mary-wise-retires-34-years-florida

Posted
2 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

If FL setter Alexis Stucky hits the portal, I hope Texas goes after her. She would excel with the ball control and passing we now have.

Also Kennedy Martin. A true 6’6 OPP

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Mittens said:

image.png.3ed4d7d0a3aff75837fd071163981ee8.png

Champion player (1999), champion coach (2024) and now a champion at life (2025) 

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Posted

Josephson joins Kentucky after a 16-year stint as the head coach of the Trinity Western men’s volleyball team just outside of Vancouver, Canada. Josephson, who hails from Strathmore, Alberta, Canada has helped develop the TWU Spartans men’s volleyball team into one of the most dominant men’s volleyball programs in North America.

“I’m humbled and honored to have the chance to work with the University of Kentucky and the Wildcats Volleyball program.” Josephson said. “After meeting Coach Skinner and the staff, it is no surprise why Kentucky Volleyball has won six-straight SEC Titles. The success is a clear reflection of the family-feel team culture and the professionalism of the complete athlete development philosophy. However, the thing that stands out the most, and what makes me most excited to get to Lexington, is the high level of character top to bottom in this program. Thank you to Craig and the administration for allowing me to join this team and I can’t wait to get to campus and get started. Go Cats!”

During his time as Trinity Western’s head coach, the Spartans won the national championship five times including 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019. He also helped guide TWU to five Canada West championships with those titles taking place in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. His teams have a current run of nine-straight appearances in the conference final.

To go alongside Josephson’s coaching at the collegiate level with Trinity Western, he has terrific international volleyball coaching experience as he served as the head coach for the Canadian Men’s National Team from 2021-2022, helping Canada to qualify for the 2022 Volleyball Nations League. He was also an assistant with the Canadian Women’s team from 2019-2020. His previous national team appointments included coaching as a guest assistant with Canada’s senior men’s team in 2009 and as an assistant with Canada’s World University Games men’s teams in 2005 and 2011. Josephson was the head coach of Canada’s Youth National team in 2015 and 2016. He was also the head coach for B.C.’s U21 side that finished third at the 2013 Canada Summer Games.

“We are thrilled to add a coach like Ben to our staff,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said. “He has one the best coaching minds in North America and his success as a coach speaks for itself with the results. It’s who he is as a person that we are most excited about adding to Kentucky volleyball. Ben has a great passion for people and helping them get to where they want to go both on and off the court. We are lucky to have him aboard and can’t wait to get him immersed in the program.”

His playing resume includes being named Trinity Western’s first-ever All-Canadian honor in 2003, while also being named a Canada West First-Team All Star.

He has a Bachelor of Human Kinetics Degree from Trinity Western and also earned a Certificate in Biblical Studies from Covenant Bible College in Strathmore. He and his wife, Jen, have three children, Cooper, Zeke and Gracie.

Posted (edited)
29 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

Texas hired its new Associate Head Coach, Ben Josephson.

He's the former AC from Kentucky and a former setter, so hopefully, we'll see improvements from Swindle.

So the question becomes - staff responsibility shuffling?

Does Josephson take over the setters and Hunt moves to blocking?  I feel like we are really going to miss Erik's blocking techniques and assignments. 

Edited by Js1

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