Senior Day for VB

[psycHOGlogist]

We end the (regular?) season with a very nice 3-0 win over a good Auburn team on Senior Day at Barnhill. The team honored Pilar Victoria, Kori Ortiz, and Krista Kolbinskie before the match, and clearly we used the emotion and crowd support to carry us to victory.

The team ends the (regular) season with a 19-11 record and an even 9-9 SEC record. We have a shot at the tourney, but I think it's a long one. We lack any truly quality wins, though we have some very "good losses" to point to. The bubble is actually pretty weak this year, so it's hard to figure out how we will end up. Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, and probably LSU (who beat us twice) are definitely ahead of us in the conference pecking order. Although UGA finished better than we did in conference, their out-of-conference schedule was garbage, and that will likely keep them out. Our RPI is right around 50 ... firm bubble territory.

The selection show is tomorrow (Sunday), so we won't have long to wait. I really hope we can sneak in so that Pilar can make a tournament during her time here.

Even if we don't, this season was VERY encouraging, as we have some very promising freshman who made a positive impact this year (Hailey Dirrigl and Elizabeth Pamphile started all year, and Logan Brown started the last several matches of the year), and we have a pretty solid recruiting class coming in.

Coach Watson flipped the record from 9-21 to 19-11 this year, and he did it with one (admittedly outstanding) significant senior contributor (at least who was not a defensive specialist — Ortiz and Kolbinskie did a nice job consistently in those roles). It will be interesting to see how next year's team adjusts to losing Pilar's offense, and how quickly the younger DS's improve, but the signs are very positive about this program, regardless of what happens on the Selection Show. WPS!

[psycHOGlogist]

So, as I expected, we were not invited to the NCAAT. The Hogs were invited to participate in the "NIT" of women's volleyball, but they declined the invite (as did Auburn and TAMU). UGA and Ole Miss accepted.

This brings Pilar's career at the U of A to a close. She leaves with several records that will likely last for a while — kills per set in a season, and kills per set for a career. And she did this during the rally scoring (point-per-serve) era of volleyball, in which games go more quickly. Truly remarkable. She is one of the best players that has ever, and perhaps will ever, come through the program. Sad that we couldn't get to a tournament with her, but she's still left quite a mark on the program.

It will be hard to replace her production next year, but I think the program has been recruiting well, and I believe we are in good hands for the future.

We finished 19-11 overall this year, a 10 game improvement over last year's 9-21 mark. Our conference record improved by two games, from 7-11 to 9-9. Along with UGA and LSU, we are one of a small group of teams who really improved over last year. Not sure how that will carry over next season after losing Pilar. We will have a lot of youth next year. If all goes as expected (no transfers in or out), we will have 4 freshmen and 9 sophomores (1 or 2 of whom might be RS-Fr) along with 2 juniors, one maybe RS-Jr, and 2 seniors on the roster.

Looking forward to it!