Creighton VB ranked for first time in program history

[LMS]

The 22-3 Jays enter this week's rankings at #25.

On the heels of a record 10-match win streak, the Creighton volleyball team moved into the AVCA Top 25 for the first time in program history.

The Bluejays, who were 27th a week ago with 31 points, moved into the No. 25 spot with 80 points in the voting.

Creighton heads into its final home weekend with a 22-3 record, the best start in program history.

The Bluejays are 13-1 in the Missouri Valley, owning a 1½-game lead over three-time defending champion Northern Iowa. CU completed its first season-sweep of the Panthers last Saturday, using a five-set win to snap the Panthers 34-match home win streak in Valley play.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20121105/B ... -time-ever

[pawball]

Congrats to the Jays (but they haven't won the conference yet....they still have to go through Wichita and Springfield!

Not much to consider at this point in the Valley race. CU and UNI will almost for sure be 1-2. After that, it's a total crapshoot. Wichita will most likely finish 3rd, but the following three positioins for SIU, MSU and Ill St are up.

I think there are some interesting things to consider for the upcoming MVC Tourney.

1) Missouri State has home court advantage
2) Illinois St has been playing ball beyond it's current RPI number (104)
3) UNI has been proven to be beatable
4) Creighton, unless it falters on this southern swing, has proven to be the best in The Valley this year.

[JayJ79]

If Creighton can win one of it's final 3 matches, they'll clinch the #1 seed.
If UNI can win one of it's final 2 matches (or if WSU loses), they'll clinch #2.
If WSU can win one of it's final 2 matches (or ILS loses), they'll clinch #3.

Now if somehow Creighton lost all 3 matches and UNI won both theirs, then UNI would get the #1.
If both CU and UNI lost all their remaining matches and WSU won both theirs, then CU and WSU would be conference co-champs. But I think CU would hold the edge in the third tiebreaker (power rating), though I'm not entirely sure on that.
If CU lost all 3 matches, WSU won both theirs, and UNI split, that would mean a 3-way tie for first. But CU would hold the edge in the "mini-roundrobin" tiebreak, going 3-1 in head-to-head against the other two, with UNI sitting at 2-2 and WSU at 3-1.
If WSU lost both it's matches, and Illinois State won all three of their matches, then WSU and ILS would have the same conference record (and they split in head-to-head), and I think Illinois State would hold the tiebreak, but again I'm not entirely certain.

In any case, I would say that the most likely scenario is that it ends up being #1 CU, #2 UNI, and #3 WSU.