VB this weekend

[pawball]

Couple of things stand out, but thot it'd be good to restate where Valley teams stand in the good old
RPI before going forward:

Jays = #7
WSU = #25
UNI = #40
SIU = #81
MSU = #120
Ill St = #124

Jays defended homecourt in style, taking Bears in 5 and Shocks in 4. Bears and Shocks swept Drake @ Drake. UNI took Bradley @ BU, but in other matches UNI lost to Arkansas St and beat Long Beach St. SIU swept both Indiana St and Illinois St, in Carbondale. Ill St swept Evansville, on the road, before being swept by SIU.

At this point there's not denying that the Jays are the front runners, having defeated two of the top 5 teams, albeit at home. A lot of times you hear people throw out the idea that a conference race is "wide open", but this year I think it's as true as it can be for volleyball in The Valley.

UNI's dominance, I believe is ending, what with the graduation of Payton. Likewise, Shocks lost a superior setter in Hooper, and even tho those programs have stellar players at other positions, replacing all-conference type setters usually means a loss in overall quality. And that is the main reason why this year The Valley is a wide open range.