Weekend Highlights in D-I, D-II, and D-III

by Jonathan Ketterer

Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend is finally here, and what better way to celebrate than with some quality entertainment in nearly all divisions of collegiate volleyball. Today we will get to see the Division III Elite Eight matchups, some second round action for the Division II Tournament, and as for Division I, we will be seeing the beginning of some conference tournaments as well as a big Pac-12 matchup between Stanford and Oregon tonight in Palo Alto.

Eastern's five seniors (left to right): Horning, Poole,
Schlager, Reinhold, Kummerer

First let me say that this whole season, I have been spending my Mondays working with Division III results and doing some occasional work with archived records and awards. With that said, I have had a rather emotional attachment to the Division III game, and naturally with the tournament, I have been a little more attentive than normal. Two teams that I have been watching win all season, SUNY Cortland and Eastern University, have managed to make it to the Elite Eight. Sadly, I am writing this blog as the Red Dragons of SUNY Cortland are playing against the Christopher Newport Captains, and I have no way of watching it (Editors note: CNU went on to defeat SUNY Cortland, 3-1.  Yes, matches can be viewed live online, but his computer is a little slow to stream live matches - sorry Jonathan!) . Behind Region Coach of the Year Pam Hoerup, the Red Dragons have posted a Division III-best 42-1 record going into today's quarterfinal matchup, which is the first in school history for Cortland. Another great matchup today will be when St. Thomas (Minn.) takes on Eastern tonight at 6:30 EST. As I said, Eastern has been an interesting team to follow, especially considering that they have what some may consider two of the best players in Division III in Courtney Reinhold and Maria Horning. The two seniors both grabbed D-III All-American honors for the fourth time in their four years of competition, making them the first duo to ever do so. It also doesn't hurt that coach Mark Birtwistle won the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for a second straight year after the team claimed their fourth straight Freedom Conference Title.

In the Division II game, we have second round action involving some big matchups, one in particular that catches my eye is the match between four-time defending champion #3 Concordia-St. Paul and #7 University of Minnesota Duluth. Coach Brady Starkey has been a beast at the helm for the Golden Bears, and if you're wanting to hear something you don't already know, it might be that he just eclipsed the 300-win mark...in only his ninth season. Minnesota Duluth however looks to make things competitive after a decisive sweep of #10 Wayne State in the opening round yesterday.

In Division I news, the Sun Belt Tournament is underway as one of my favorite teams in the game and the #1 seed in the SBC tourney, Western Kentucky, looks to finish the season strong. The Atlantic-10 tournament is also getting underway, and the #1 seed Dayton Flyers are looking to defend their claim as two-time defending A-10 tourney champions, but look for #2 seed Xavier to play hard in what I might say is one of the most underrated rivalries in sports.The Pac-12 is hot right now with 4 of the top 5 teams in USC, UCLA, California, and Stanford, and if you're looking for a top-15 match this weekend, I'd like to think that Oregon at Stanford will be a great one. Oregon also plays at Cal on Saturday, and as a Ducks fan myself, I am rooting for them to repeat what they did last month when they beat both Cal and Stanford at home. Additionally the Ducks beat then-No.1 UCLA last Friday in an awesome comeback win in Eugene, before losing in a well-played effort against USC on Saturday.

In closing, I'd like to give a big shoutout to 2nd Team All-SBC and Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Ashley Potts and her teammate 1st Team All-SBC setter Melanie Stutsman. Congrats ladies! And don't forget, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns, e-mail me at jonathan.ketterer@avca.org. Thanks for reading!