G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

[ABjo]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

AB's Randy Dobnak signs pro contract with the Twins:

http://gobattlers.com/news/2017/7/27...zabethton.aspx

[BlueBlood]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Congrats to Randy.

BTW - at this rate, bowling may be the G-MAC's next sport. UC, KWC, now Walsh.

[alumnifan]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

KWC hired a really good coach. This was a sport that the previous Director of Athletics wanted to bring in.

[buckeyeblitz]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

BuckeyeBlitz's Annual Volleyball Preview

Hello everyone! I have been extremely busy this summer traveling and officiating club volleyball tournaments. So, the amount of my research is not going to be as in depth as it has been in the past with details about all of the new signees. Just some thoughts about each program and the direction I expect them to go in this the first season of what I am calling the New G-MAC! This is also in large part to a much greater number of teams this year as well! First of all, I would like to start out with the main questions that I will be looking forward to getting answered as the season progresses this year.

1. Will Cedarville be able to maintain their position at the top of the conference in this New G-MAC era?
2. Will Findlay & Hillsdale boot CU out of that top position and take a dominant role at the top of the conference as was expected when the moves to the conference were announced?
3. How will the East/West divisions of the conference impact the schedule and how the conference tournament will shape up as well?
4. Will the G-MAC have more than one bid to the NCAA Tournament this season?
5. Will the Old G-MAC continue to build their programs up in order to compete in the New G-MAC?

I am going to go through this process by ranking the teams in the conference from #1-#13 based on how I think they will perform this year. There is nothing scientific about this other than looking at how they fared last season and looking at what they lost/gained through graduation/recruiting. I will then look at how I believe the conference tournament will shake out based on the divisional alignment.

To start off with the rankings. I believe that there will be three tiers to the conference this year with teams competing hard within these tiers. The top tier will be (Cedarville, Findlay, Hillsdale, & Lake Erie), the middle tier will be (Davis & Elkins, Kentucky Wesleyan, Malone, Ohio Dominican, Trevecca, & Ursuline), and the bottom tier will be (Alderson Broaddus, Ohio Valley, and Walsh). There could very well be a mixing of these groups as the season goes along, and quite frankly I could see any of the three that I have labeled in the bottom tier making a decent run this season and pulling off some key wins. I honestly believe that there will not be a single pushover team in the G-MAC this year as all of the teams have been building towards this new era. I will go through my rankings in reverse order.

#13 Alderson Broaddus
Last year was a bit of a struggle in Coach Stoner's first year with the program. The loss of their starting setter from the previous season was a major blow to the Battlers program, and they never fully recovered. That being said, they do have a lot of good talent returning this year! They also have a really good freshmen setter from Mercy HS and NKJV coming in that should be very good for them. They are now going to be much more adjusted to Coach Stoner's philosophy, and I would not be at all surprised if they are much better than last year! Last year's results though are why I have them at the bottom of the list going into this season.

#12 Ohio Valley
Ohio Valley is going to see many changes this year, and that kind of has things up in the air for the Fighting Scots. First of all, Coach Jacoby retired after decades of leading the program! He will be missed as he was greatly respected by many in the volleyball community. The other big thing is that Alyx Henry graduated. Henry has been one of the stars of the G-MAC the last four years, and was basically the only thing that was keeping them competitive last season. So, will they be able to replace Henry in order to compete? That is the big question, and I just do not know that answer. It is always very hard to get information about OVU's signees. So, I just do not know. On the coaching front, they did very well. Marlon Sano has some great experience in multiple levels including a brief stint as an assistant with the National team. I believe that he will be a refreshing add to this program, and just what it needs going forward to help it be competitive in the New G-MAC!

#11 Walsh
Of all of the volleyball programs in the G-MAC that have made the switch from the NAIA to DII in recent years, Walsh has easily been the one that has struggled the most. In the NAIA days, Walsh was a powerhouse and usually one of the better teams in the nation. Since moving to DII and the GLIAC, they have struggled mightily. Looking at their schedule for this season, they do not even have anything scheduled for opening weekend. I am hoping that is because they just haven't finalized it yet, but that is a little scary. They have their conference schedule and one weekend of non-conference. That is all at the moment. They are returning some pretty good talent, and they have a really nice recruiting class coming in from what I can tell. So, hopefully, this is the year that they will begin to turn this ship back around and get back on the right trajectory!

#10 Kentucky Wesleyan
This middle tier of teams was very, very hard for me. Honestly, I can see them finishing in any order. I believe there will be a battle in this group for the final spots in the conference tournament in November that will be fun to watch. KWC had a pretty good team last year that just underperformed in some matches they should have competed better in. They were a young group though which could account for a big portion of that. I really like Coach Hagan and what he is doing with this program, and I look forward to watching how they compete this season. I would love to see them finish higher than this initial ranking, and I believe that they have that potential. I believe that Coach Hagan recruits well, and has done that once again. The big thing for them is how are they going to compete against the former GLIAC teams this season! Also, with the East/West alignment of the conference, they are right in the middle of the tougher of the two divisions. So, they will be battle tested for sure!

#9 Malone
Malone was the first of the former GLIAC teams to come into the G-MAC last season. They were usually a middle of the road team in the GLIAC, and continued that last year in the G-MAC. They did have a pretty good run at the end of the season, and made a nice push in the conference tournament. Coach Hockman has been at MU for quite some time, and knows how to compete at the highest of levels. She did a great job of addressing their needs in this recruiting class bringing in some really good setting talent! They also have two really nice opening tournaments that they will be playing in with some great competition. This is really going to help them prepare for a tough conference schedule when it gets here! Their position in the East division of the conference is also going to be a big help to them as well. This should be a pretty good season for Malone!

#8 Trevecca#7 Ursuline#6 Davis & Elkins
Wow, what a run for the Senators at the end of last season! They finished the regular season very strong, and took Cedarville to a hard fought 5 sets in the conference championship match! They graduate Saucy, but will be returning Sasha Johnson who I believe was the MVP of the tournament last year! I could not find any information out about their signees for this year, but I know that Coach Heyne has been doing a great job bringing in top level recruits to this program! Every year though, D&E has started the season kind of slow only to pick up momentum heading into the home stretch. If they can get off to a good start this year, I think that will pay off for them in the long run! Also, being in the East division of the conference should be useful to them as well! It will be fun to see how they compete against the former GLIAC teams!

#5 Ohio Dominican
The next tier of teams for me was extremely difficult to try and rank! I believe that the race at the top of the conference this year is going to be extremely exciting to watch with some very big matchups to come during the course of the season! These four teams could easily be ranked in any order and be perfectly justified in that order! This 2017 season is going to be fun to watch!

#4 Findlay
I know what you are thinking. How can you put the team that was the 2^nd best team in the region last year by seed as the #4 team in the G-MAC entering the season? Well, it is not easy. All I can say is Tong and Garverick. The graduation of those two players is a major loss to this team. That being said, Coach Colchagoff never rebuilds, he just reloads. So, I believe that they will be just fine! They also have Olson (National Freshman of the Year two years ago) back at setter along with Hammersmith at the RS. Winner is also capable of some pretty big things at the OH position as well! So, I do not expect Findlay to lose much of a beat! Their recruiting class also looks to be very good, and their opening two weekends look really strong which will prepare them well for the G-MAC season! Coach Colchagoff is also one of the best coaches around as far as I am concerned and will continue to have his team prepared for anything to come their way throughout the season!

#3 Lake Erie#2 Hillsdale
Hillsdale failed to make the NCAA tournament last year after falling off towards the end of the season. I am not certain as to why that happened for them, but I am going to assume that they had some issues that were the main cause of that (injuries perhaps) as they started the season very strong! This team will be one that those of you that are not familiar with are going to want to see. They probably run the fastest offense in the conference, and when they are connecting, are very fun to watch! Coach Gravel is also considered to be one of the best coaches around, and is known for being a meticulous planner, analyzer, and opponent scout! He uses this information well, to prepare his teams for the competition! I think that it is also very important to note that Hillsdale is the only team in the New G-MAC that Cedarville has never defeated! Obviously, every year is different, but that could contribute to a psychological advantage for the Chargers in that matchup as well! Even though, they did not make the NCAA last year, I would not be surprised to see them as the team to beat as we enter 2017!

#1 CedarvilleTournament Predictions
The conference has not updated the operating codes on the website for volleyball yet. So, it is hard to tell how the tournament is being set up. On the championships tab, you can see that 8 teams will be playing and they are seeded 1-8. So, I am not sure how they are figuring this up with the divisional alignment in the conference. I am going to assume that it will be similar to last year where they had a certain number of teams guaranteed from each division plus a couple of wild cards. If that is the case this year, I am going to assume that it will be the top 3 in each division plus two wild cards based on overall winning percentage. I think the West division is the stronger division, and those teams could easily be beating up all over each other. However, I think that you will see Cedarville, Findlay, and Hillsdale come out of the West with Lake Erie, Davis & Elkins, and Ursuline come out of the East. The wild cards would then be Ohio Dominican and Trevecca.

I do believe that with the much stronger volleyball conference in the G-MAC this year that there will definitely be multiple bids from the G-MAC in the NCAA tournament this season! Definitely two bids with the possibility of three. I do not think that there will be any more than that though. All in all, I think that the 2017 volleyball season in the G-MAC is going to be a thrill to watch for many reasons! This is going to be fun! I hope you all enjoyed!

[alumnifan]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

I do appreciate your knowledge of the Conference and the strengths and weaknesses of all the teams. You also did a great job of putting a positive spin on each review.

Some of the athletic departments read these posts regularly. That's one reason I like this Board. So, thank you for a great volleyball review.

However, some of the programs will use this as motivation. If the student athlete can't give all they can to the sport and learn from their mistakes, they shouldn't be playing.

[BlueBlood]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Congrats on the new track KWC. I saw the photos - it looks nice. Should be a game-changer for T&F recruiting.

[alumnifan]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Thanks BlueBlood. There was a large article that KWC produced. Personally, I would have liked to have seen more of the actual Track and Field. However, the people made that possible. It's going to reduce injuries and make for a good recruiting tool. I'm sure the student body will have some access to it. I'm thrilled with what the administration has started doing.

It will be fun to watch the first Collegiate Track and Field Meet in Owensboro. People don't realize how far KWC has come since the SACSCOC warning. We could have been St. Joe. I really am thankful that we are doing well as a College. "There but for the Grace of God go I."

[buckeyeblitz]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Just saw the conference coaches poll for volleyball over the weekend. They listed them by divisions which is cool I believe. Looking at the points though it looks like they were still voted on all together. In that case the coaches put it this way:

1. Findlay 150
2. Cedarville 143
3. Hillsdale 133
4. Lake Erie 125
5. Trevecca 104
6. Ohio Dominican 88
7. Walsh 81
8. Kentucky Wesleyan 75
9. Davis & Elkins 72
10. Ursuline 70
11. Malone 67
12. Alderson Broaddus 45
13. Ohio Valley 30

Pretty different from what I had in mine, but with the same four teams at the top just in different order. I think that shows how it is going to be a much more interesting race this year! Should be a fun year!

[buckeyeblitz]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Must admit that I am disappointed in the conference office! The football preview came out earlier this week and was very well done with great analysis of each team and video interviews as well continuing something the conference started doing last year in all sports.

http://greatmidwestsports.com/news/2...earm-test.aspx

However, the volleyball preview came out today and was quite generic relatively speaking. A couple of sentences on each team (which are well written), but no interviews or anything else to come close to the football article.

http://greatmidwestsports.com/news/2...n-preview.aspx

The G-MAC has always been good at treating all of their sports pretty equally the past several years. However, I guess that was before it became a legit football conference. Now, it is a acting like many other conference offices. I am assuming the other fall sports are going to get the generic treatment as well! Thought the G-MAC would be a little different! Still love the conference, but hoping that is not a sign of things to come! It is not an NCAA DI Football power conference, but a great DII conference to all of its student-athletes that all work just as hard. Just surprised to see that!

[BlueBlood]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Buckeye, I just went back to see what they did last year. They released a very detailed update for each team last year (releasing one per day). They started with the lowest ranked team and made their way to #1.

It will be interesting to see if yesterday's right up (and the rankings piece earlier) is all we get this year.

[buckeyeblitz]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Buckeye, I just went back to see what they did last year. They released a very detailed update for each team last year (releasing one per day). They started with the lowest ranked team and made their way to #1.

It will be interesting to see if yesterday's right up (and the rankings piece earlier) is all we get this year.

I am guessing that it is. Not enough time to release one per day now since the season starts next week for all fall sports.

[alumnifan]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

The new G-MAC Digital Network looks good. All Football, Volleyball, and Men's and Women's Basketball games are mandated to be streamed.

[Looking For 9]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

I wonder if it will cost to watch. Several schools charged last year.

[buckeyeblitz]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Unfortunately, the same lack of effort from the conference office for men's soccer as well!

http://greatmidwestsports.com/news/2...r-preview.aspx

[BlueBlood]

Re: G-MAC All-Sports and Conference Business Thread

Agree with you Buckeye. I always enjoyed the thorough and substantive previews the conference put out. These are substandard - in scope, content, and even writing style. Disappointing.