Women's Volleyball - Come This Weekend

[Willy '06]

Don't miss out on one of the most exciting sports weekends you'll see at Cornell.

The Women's Volleyball Team is playing first place Yale on Friday at 7 PM and Brown on Saturday at 4 PM. Our team is currently in 2nd place, and two wins this weekend would put them in a tie for first place with Yale.

Some history... Cornell tied with 4 teams to win the Ivy League Championship two years ago, and they won it outright last year. So they are defending champs. Last year's game at Yale was the most exciting sporting event I have ever been to (and yes I had season's tickets at Lynah for my 4 years of undergrad). Yale and Cornell were the clear favorites, and whoever won was the likely Ivy Champ. Cornell lost the first 2 games of the 5 game match, and were down 23-28 in the 3rd game. Women's College Volleyball is best of 5 games, first 4 to 30 points, 5th game to 15 points. The Big Red came back from multiple Yale match points to win the 3rd, 4th, and 5th games in likely the best comeback victory in Cornell Athletics history.

So this is a huge weekend! This year at Yale the team lost, and beat Brown in 5 games, so this truly is a make or break series. If you have never been to a Cornell volleyball game before, make this weekend your first and second. You will not be disappointed in the level of play, and volleyball really is a very exciting game to watch. I'm making the trip up from Connecticut for the games (ok my girlfriend is on the team, that's why), but it really is a treat to watch some of Cornell's best athletes at work.

So come to the games at Newman Arena. You won't regret it. Be loud and show Yale and Brown what a real crowd looks like.

And last but not least, they were spandex... can it get any better?

[Beeeej]

[quote Willy '06]Last year's game at Yale was the most exciting sporting event I have ever been to (and yes I had season's tickets at Lynah for my 4 years of undergrad). Yale and Cornell were the clear favorites[/quote]

...?!

[ugarte]

[quote Beeeej][quote Willy '06]Last year's game at Yale was the most exciting sporting event I have ever been to (and yes I had season's tickets at Lynah for my 4 years of undergrad). Yale and Cornell were the clear favorites[/quote]

...?![/quote]Nitpicking, Beeeej. He clearly meant that they were the favorites to win the Ivy League.

[Beeeej]

[quote ugarte][quote Beeeej][quote Willy '06]Last year's game at Yale was the most exciting sporting event I have ever been to (and yes I had season's tickets at Lynah for my 4 years of undergrad). Yale and Cornell were the clear favorites[/quote]

...?![/quote]Nitpicking, Beeeej. He clearly meant that they were the favorites to win the Ivy League.[/quote]

Oh, looking at the rest of that sentence, I guess you're probably right - for some reason the first time I read it I thought this match was late in the season, when now it sounds like it must have been early.

I wasn't nitpicking, I just honestly couldn't figure out who the underdog was if both schools in a two-team match were the favorites.  :-)

[Willy '06]

Sorry for the confusion. It was actually about midway through the season. The only loss between the two teams at that point in the season was Yale's loss to Cornell in Ithaca. It seemed pretty clear at the time that this game would determine who won the Ivy League championship. It did, but the end of the season held a few surprises. Cornell ended up losing it's last two games at Penn and Princeton to end up tied with Yale for 1st place. Yale had one game left against Brown and lost, sending Cornell to the first round of the NCAA tournament at Penn State.

Anyways, come to the game!

[RichH]

[quote Willy '06]The Big Red came back from multiple Yale match points to win the 3rd, 4th, and 5th games in likely the best comeback victory in Cornell Athletics history.[/quote]

Wow, that's a pretty bold claim.  I'm sure there are some attendees of a certain hockey game vs. Providence who might argue that point.

And last but not least, they were spandex... can it get any better?[/quote]

Given my imagination, yes...yes it can.

Go Big Red Volleyball!!!

[Beeeej]

[quote RichH][quote Willy '06]And last but not least, they were spandex... can it get any better?[/quote]

Given my imagination, yes...yes it can.[/quote]

Dammit - why weren't they wearing spandex back when I was assigned to wear the bear costume to their games?!

[CKinsland]

All this aside, I'll second the "come to the game" plea.  It's a different atmosphere than hockey (you can, for example, breath once seated, and walk around, and turn, etc....the games aren't...um...packed, to say the least).  However, the game is fast paced and exciting.  There have been a ton of rule changes since I played in the mid-90's, some of which really make the game more entertaining.  

We had a great time last weekend.  I really like the "go to volleyball at 4:00, grab a bite to eat, go to hockey" routine.  Makes a pretty nice half-day.  Of course, if the volleyball game runs to 5 games, it's more like "go to volleyball, go to hockey, eat hot-dogs at intermission for dinner".  Still a good half day.

Consider it warm-up for the hockey game.  

CK

[Beeeej]

What are some of the rule changes?

[CKinsland]

So, it seems most of the changes were adopted back in 2000-2002 or so, but I haven't really been paying attention.  They've gone to all rally scoring (which used to be used in tournaments sometimes, but wasn't generally the rule).  There seem to be some changes related to crossing the plane of the net to play a ball, there seem to be some changes related to back row hitters (at least it looks different, but I haven't looked up the rules), serves can touch the net and there is a whole new position (libero) whose rules I totally don't understand. There seems to be some rule changes related to play at the net, but I'm not sure.  You can now break a serve with two open hands above your head (which was allowed in sand rules when I was playing, but not hard court...it used to be an automatic lift/double hit call on hard court).  

The rally scoring (which I hated as a player, but have decided I like as a spectator) really speeds up the game.  The net-touching serve thing is kind of freaky if you are used to the old rules, but doesn't come up often.

The libero position is a defense only position (the person must wear a different uniform than the rest of the team).  The libero doesn't serve and can not attack the ball above the height of the net.  I've decided I really like the libero thing.  Teams with a good libero really have an advantage, teams with a bad one really struggle (they act sort of like a goalie...their job is to get almost all the digs that the blockers miss).  

I'm sure there have been rule adjustments to substitutions and such, but they don't affect the way the game looks.  

CK

[CKinsland]

Women's VB beat the Cuse (3-0 by scores of 30-14, 30-17, 30-26)...first time they've beaten them since 1987.

Cornell's Elizabeth Bishop isn't really big, but man can she pound the ball.  Excellent court sense.

CK

[Beeeej]

Sounds kind of like the libero is supposed to ensure fewer team members get injured by enduring all the injuries herself.

[CKinsland]

Sounds kind of like the libero is supposed to ensure fewer team members get injured by enduring all the injuries herself.

Naah.  In my experience, the person flailing around on the floor, diving, rolling, etc. very rarely gets hurt (though that is how I dislocated my shoulder...how many times in my life had I made exactly the same diving roll with no problem?).  Volleyball's frequent injury (caused by a single play, not repetitive stress) is the sprained/broken lower leg (think ankle) from coming down on somebody else's foot at the net.  Then, the jammed/broken finger from a poor block (or being really late to block or bad luck).  The libero is far from that action. At low levels (elementary school, say), there is the bloody nose from not moving your head out of the way fast enough.  One expects that a college libero is not going to get faced by the ball.

Speaking of frequent injuries (and coming back, slightly to hockey).  I'm stunned that there aren't more shoulder issues in hockey.  Seems like people always have an arm out when they get checked into the boards...I've seen a couple where I couldn't understand how the shoulder stayed in.

Wow, I'm getting really excited now...hockey tomorrow, volleyball Friday, volleyball AND hockey on Saturday.  It's going to be a great 3 days. ::popcorn::

CK

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote RichH][quote Willy '06]The Big Red came back from multiple Yale match points to win the 3rd, 4th, and 5th games in likely the best comeback victory in Cornell Athletics history.[/quote]

Wow, that's a pretty bold claim.  I'm sure there are some attendees of a certain hockey game vs. Providence who might argue that point.

[/quote]

Yes I would.  ::whistle::

[French Rage]

[quote CKinsland]So, it seems most of the changes were adopted back in 2000-2002 or so, but I haven't really been paying attention.  They've gone to all rally scoring (which used to be used in tournaments sometimes, but wasn't generally the rule).  There seem to be some changes related to crossing the plane of the net to play a ball, there seem to be some changes related to back row hitters (at least it looks different, but I haven't looked up the rules), serves can touch the net and there is a whole new position (libero) whose rules I totally don't understand. There seems to be some rule changes related to play at the net, but I'm not sure.  You can now break a serve with two open hands above your head (which was allowed in sand rules when I was playing, but not hard court...it used to be an automatic lift/double hit call on hard court).  

The rally scoring (which I hated as a player, but have decided I like as a spectator) really speeds up the game.  The net-touching serve thing is kind of freaky if you are used to the old rules, but doesn't come up often.

The libero position is a defense only position (the person must wear a different uniform than the rest of the team).  The libero doesn't serve and can not attack the ball above the height of the net.  I've decided I really like the libero thing.  Teams with a good libero really have an advantage, teams with a bad one really struggle (they act sort of like a goalie...their job is to get almost all the digs that the blockers miss).  

I'm sure there have been rule adjustments to substitutions and such, but they don't affect the way the game looks.  

CK[/quote]

Ah, having seen a bunch of Stanford games I wondered what the deal with that was.  I just figured it was a team captain or something.