OT: D1

[Fightingscot82]

Not for nothing, but I see to recall that he announced in November that he joined the Pro-Star Sports Agency. Not to stir up any $hit, but if a PSAC coach were content with staying in that position until retirement, why would one contract with an agency to represent them?

I think any window for Lutz to make a big move was several years ago. He has a son on the team. Not saying he's a lifer or that he has some deep down emotional connection to SRU but the rumors exist for a reason that he's either pursued or listened to opportunities. I'm just not sure what openings are available for him right now that doesn't take him from his kids. I don't see him taking a G5 assistant role.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I think any window for Lutz to make a big move was several years ago. He has a son on the team. Not saying he's a lifer or that he has some deep down emotional connection to SRU but the rumors exist for a reason that he's either pursued or listened to opportunities. I'm just not sure what openings are available for him right now that doesn't take him from his kids. I don't see him taking a G5 assistant role.

After the job he did against Ferris, if I was a D1 program I’d be interested. He found some things against them to exploit that nobody else apparently could, and did it on a big stage. If not for a couple bad pics in the second half he would have been coaching again on Saturday. The resume is strong and he has to be looking at what Cignetti pulled off and be thinking, “Why not me?”

Coaching jobs are tough on families for sure, but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith if an opportunity presents itself. He has a good job where he is but I think there’s more out there for him should he choose to explore.

[IUPNation]

The Centre County Community College advances to the Volleyball finals. They took down Nebraskastan.

The Oakland Remedial Academy For The Coloring Book Arts lost to Louie-ville.

[Chuck Norris]

Unfortunately my fears for Pitt volleyball playing Louisville a third time were realized and another great season ends in the national semifinals. It stinks that the Final Four just happened to be in Louisville this year. It reminds me of 1993 when IUP’s best chance at a national title coincided with North Alabama also making the championship game that was played on their home field.

But regardless of the venue, Louisville was fantastic. They didn’t blink when the 2nd and 3rd sets were up for grabs and had Pitt totally demoralized in the 4th set.

And Penn State makes an incredible rally from 2 sets down to topple Nebraska. Should be a great final that I’ll probably be in no mood to watch.

[IUP24]

Unfortunately my fears for Pitt volleyball playing Louisville a third time were realized and another great season ends in the national semifinals. It stinks that the Final Four just happened to be in Louisville this year. It reminds me of 1993 when IUP’s best chance at a national title coincided with North Alabama also making the championship game that was played on their home field.

But regardless of the venue, Louisville was fantastic. They didn’t blink when the 2nd and 3rd sets were up for grabs and had Pitt totally demoralized in the 4th set.

And Penn State makes an incredible rally from 2 sets down to topple Nebraska. Should be a great final that I’ll probably be in no mood to watch.

They ran out of gas. You can honestly argue they should have lost to Oregon in the sweet 16. It’s unfortunate. They were clearly the best team in the country all season, having swept nearly everybody in pretty dominant fashion. But in tournament settings like that, the best team rarely ever wins the last game

The harsh reality is that, although Louisville is really, really good, they choked that game away.

Up 8-2 in set 2. All you need to do is bleed the set out at that point. Prevent long runs from your opponent. They failed to deliver the kill there.

Up 23-19 in set 3 and had 4 set points. They couldn’t finish the job.

I‘m honestly not sure they’ll ever have a better opportunity to win the national championship than they did right there. They had a game against a team they had finally gotten over beating, and were in control of that game. They then would have been going up against a team they blew the doors off of earlier in the year (and have beaten 4 or 5 straight times). They had the best player in the country in Olivia Babcock. The planets aligned for them and they fumbled it away.

The most incorrect and overused phrase in sports is “they’ll be back.” Zero guarantees of that. With the rumors about Dan Fischer supposedly being the top candidate for the USA Volleyball job, it’s hard to predict where they go from here.

[Chuck Norris]

They ran out of gas. You can honestly argue they should have lost to Oregon in the sweet 16. It’s unfortunate. They were clearly the best team in the country all season, having swept nearly everybody in pretty dominant fashion. But in tournament settings like that, the best team rarely ever wins the last game

The harsh reality is that, although Louisville is really, really good, they choked that game away.

Up 8-2 in set 2. All you need to do is bleed the set out at that point. Prevent long runs from your opponent. They failed to deliver the kill there.

Up 23-19 in set 3 and had 4 set points. They couldn’t finish the job.

I‘m honestly not sure they’ll ever have a better opportunity to win the national championship than they did right there. They had a game against a team they had finally gotten over beating, and were in control of that game. They then would have been going up against a team they blew the doors off of earlier in the year (and have beaten 4 or 5 straight times). They had the best player in the country in Olivia Babcock. The planets aligned for them and they fumbled it away.

The most incorrect and overused phrase in sports is “they’ll be back.” Zero guarantees of that. With the rumors about Dan Fischer supposedly being the top candidate for the USA Volleyball job, it’s hard to predict where they go from here.

Pitt gave them some help, no doubt about it. Even in the first set it took them four set points to close it out. The weight of expectations got to them when things got tight. I had a bad feeling when Louisville took set two. After set three I knew it was over. When Anna Debeer got hurt it almost felt like it wouldn’t be right for Pitt to come back and win in those circumstances. But at that point Pitt was so mentally broken, Louisville probably could’ve lost 3 or 4 more players and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Despite Babcock and Stafford only being sophomores, I would agree this feels like a chance they may not get again. Hopefully that’s not the case. We’ll see.

[IUP24]

Pitt gave them some help, no doubt about it. Even in the first set it took them four set points to close it out. The weight of expectations got to them when things got tight. I had a bad feeling when Louisville took set two. After set three I knew it was over. When Anna Debeer got hurt it almost felt like it wouldn’t be right for Pitt to come back and win in those circumstances. But at that point Pitt was so mentally broken, Louisville probably could’ve lost 3 or 4 more players and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Despite Babcock and Stafford only being sophomores, I would agree this feels like a chance they may not get again. Hopefully that’s not the case. We’ll see.

I always say that you need to win when you're there. Any sport. Any level. High school, college, or pros.

You don't want to lose sight of the journey and what it takes just to get there, but when you get there, you have to win it. Because there's no guarantee you get back. Reality is most teams don't make it back. Nobody wins forever.

I'll be honest, a good comparison for that 4-year run that they just went on is IUP basketball and how it all kind of culminated in that loss to West Liberty in the Regional Final when they walked into the KCAC and blew the doors off IUP in the 2nd half. IUP had guys who had been there forever. They reached incredible heights. They won just about everything you could win other than the last game. You felt the team just wearing down and running out of gas down the stretch, and they ran into a group playing their best at the right time of year. But you went to sleep that night assuming they would be back. Because why wouldn't they? Truth be told, I'm not sure they'll ever get that close again. The program has fallen off a cliff since.

And while I don't believe Pitt volleyball will take a nosedive, it's hard to see the planets aligning for them again like that. I'm not sure they'll ever get a better shot. This was their year and they didn't finish it.

[IUPNation]

So far the Nits defense has bailed them out and really bailed out James Tenandtwo when he went for it deep in his own side of the field.

[Chuck Norris]

Alabama should’ve made the playoff, lol.

[IUP24]

Alabama should’ve made the playoff, lol.

Over half of the games played in the 4 team playoff were decided by 2 or more possessions. Most of those games weren’t close either.

[IUPNation]

The best part of these playoffs is that schools from the Confederacy were forced to play up
North. They had unfair home field advantages for years .

[IUPNation]

Nits advance.

[Fightingscot82]

Alabama should’ve made the playoff, lol.

I disagree. Alabama has 3 losses and one of their wins was vs an FCS school, so they're really just 8-3. I'll take 11-1 in any conference over 8-3 in the SEC every day. No other level of football allows those teams to go to the postseason over teams with higher records. If Indiana played them tight, nobody talks about their schedule.

[Chuck Norris]

I disagree. Alabama has 3 losses and one of their wins was vs an FCS school, so they're really just 8-3. I'll take 11-1 in any conference over 8-3 in the SEC every day. No other level of football allows those teams to go to the postseason over teams with higher records. If Indiana played them tight, nobody talks about their schedule.

I was being facetious, as I had beat the drum for SMU to make it as soon as their loss to Clemson was final. Though I will have to wonder what impact SMU’s poor performance today will have on future committee decisions when there’s a situation similar to Alabama/SMU.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I was being facetious, as I had beat the drum for SMU to make it as soon as their loss to Clemson was final. Though I will have to wonder what impact SMU’s poor performance today will have on future committee decisions when there’s a situation similar to Alabama/SMU.

I think SMU got about the worst draw they could have, too. They’re better than they looked today, although it was pretty obvious they haven’t seen a team with the defensive speed Penn State has. On top of that, they not only got cold temperatures, the wind was whipping all afternoon meaning if you got behind you were in big trouble. Alabama wasn’t going to win up there today either. Penn State has its flaws but they are a very good team with a few guys on the field today that will be first round draft picks when they come out.