Well, clearly I didn't see that coming. In fact, I'll be really honest, my pick of Texas State sweeping Lamar was the one I felt most confident about. I haven't been impressed with anything Lamar has on the outside all year long. Bazile and the other middles, sure. But, their hitters - strong and weak side - never really did anything for me. I'm quite surprised they beat Texas State. The Bobcats looked poised at the end of the conference slate to storm through the tournament and make trouble for Central Arkansas in the final. Nope. Bye Bye Bobcats.
Texas State just lost a lot: Watlington, Middleton, Cave and Irvin - all done. I thought they were the deepest bench in the conference, so it will be interesting to see what parts play big roles for them in 2011. McCorquodale (S), Calhoun (MB), and Deardorff (OH) look pretty set for playing time. Hilbun played well for them at times, as did Alexander early in the year. Niece and Sanchou should garner back row time. Maybe Schumacher steps in to some meaningful role. They have plenty of decent pieces - plus whomever they bring in new. I doubt they drop off much, if at all. But they definitely lost some serious pieces to their recent success.
Lamar. Wow. Really? Why didn't Hobbs play more against us? She got 27 swings today and hit .407. She only hit seven balls against us. Seems like she's the "X"-factor. I guess I should give McStravick some props - nine blocks. That's about one-sixth of what she had ALL YEAR coming into the match. Where did that come from?
The overall stats in that match were pretty even. I watched most of it on SLC NOW on my work comput....uh never mind where I watched it.... anyway.... it looked pretty even in terms of quality of play too. Lamar just got it done in the end.
UTSA has been fading a bit. I pegged their match with McNeese by predicting a 3-2 narrow win for the "Runners. I don't know what to think about tomorrow. Right this minute I see UTSA and Lamar as a toss up.
I know this.. UCA has to love seeing Texas State go home.
I was surprised Sam Houston didn't play better on their home court. I thought they had a chance to be a surprise team in this tournament. I wasn't alone in that thought. Several people I talked to this week thought they might make noise. But, once again, I don't give enough respect to UTA and it burns me. I thought UTA beat SHSU rather easily. I watched the entire match on my HOME computer tonight and I really never thought the Bearkats really flexed any muscle. UTA might get a set against Central Arkansas, but I have a hard time thinking they will win. If they do, I may have to write some formal apology to Maverick fans for my continual infidelity.
I'll stop short of making formal picks other than to say the the Sugar Bears chance of an NCAA birth are higher tonight than they were this morning - and they were already decent to begin with.
