Warning, another long-winded comment...

Ohio State met my expectations this year... and then some. When last year ended, I was looking forward to a Loyola vs. Ohio State Final in Columbus. We came a match short. Injuries and inexperience did in Loyola. OSU almost lost to Lewis in the Final. I was able to see the National Semifinals and Final in person at Penn State. I actually missed the match at Loyola earlier in the season so it was my first time really watching them play. They were aggressive on the serve and consistent enough without too many errors (in my subjective opinion). They passed well. They won the National Championship. It's not too different a formula that was very successful for Loyola the two previous seasons and Lewis last year.

Ohio State loses one Outside Hitter who was more of a server/defensive presence. I'm not sure about their RS Junior middle but at worse they lose 1-2 players. Their two big stars are back in Miles Johnson and National Player of the Year Nicholas Szerszen (this may be the first time I've correctly spelled his name). Their setter, Christy Blough, is back. Their freshman Middle, Blake Leeson (who is our version of Jeff Jendryk the way he played in the Final), is back. They apparently have a big recruit coming in to play Outside according to Head Coach Pete Hanson. While I thought Ohio State was a clear favorite to win a weaker MIVA in 2016, I think they are the strong favorite to win in 2017.

What's scary is that Szerszen is a sophomore and has publically declared to stay all 4 years at OSU. A French native of Polish decent, he came to OSU to play volleyball and get an education. Such a system apparently does not exist in France. It's either play pro ball or go to school without sports. His sister sought the same opportunity a decade ago and is a volleyball alumnus of OSU. I blame Loyola women's volleyball for not getting her 10 years ago. JK.

Loyola enters more of a rebuilding year, in my opinion, now that Hutz, Olson, Novotny, and McAndrews are gone. Lewis will be better. Ball State will be defensive minded as always. IPFW looks to rebound from a terrible year. Quincy will play 100 matches (exaggerating) and have a few wins in the MIVA. Lindenwood will be somewhere around the middle to bottom. Grand Canyon may still be in that second tier. McKendree might be a sleeper next year. And kudos to McKendree on reaching the MIVA Semifinals for the first time under one of the two female head coaches in the men's D1/D2 game, Nickie Sanlin. Their 3rd year program does not have seniors so everyone is back. They won several sets off Ohio State, Lewis, and Loyola this year.

Some unofficial potential news on Grand Canyon. The MPSF is apparently set to split following next season in men's volleyball. The Big West Conference is apparently going to sponsor men's volleyball. Grand Canyon may join the west coast when this happens. There is apparently also a big push at Grand Canyon to be big in Athletics. All of this is courtesy of the The Net Live podcast. The split is important since it will mean one more automatic bid and the potential for the Super 6 to become an 8 team NCAA tournament.

Vuster,

Thanks for the excellent report! I think the team will face some significant challenges next year with such a loss of both talent and leadership. I have also read on Volley Talk that both Ohio State and Lewis have highly regarded recruiting classes coming. Have not seen anything about the quality of Loyola's incoming class. Have you heard anything?

The Big West development is great... I hadn't heard that before, just fears and worry about the men's side losing out. I assume the MPSF will still be the vehicle for Stanford, UCLA, USC, BYU, etc. It would be nice if some schools like Berkeley, Oklahoma, Colorado, etc. could play men's volleyball. In the Midwest, Milwaukee, Notre Dame, Marquette, Purdue, and Missouri have popular and established club teams that could serve as the basis to start men's play.

Just want to reiterate that this is all still unofficial and unannounced. Jay Hosack, head coach at George Mason, seemed pretty adamant that this will happen when he was on The Net Live last Monday.

JCT, I'm sure I've heard the same fears and worries too. This possible expansion of conferences is one of the few positive things going for them. Just this past weekend while the Men's National Semis and Final were going on, the first ever NCAA Beach (Women's) Championship was taking place simultaneously down in Gulf Shores, Alabama. They had live coverage on TBS. LIVE COVERAGE ON TBS! I can't remember whether it was the AVCA facebook page or the NCAAVolleyball facebook page but The Net Live mentioned that something like 32 of 33 posts were about the Beach Championship and 1 of the Men's Indoor Championship. Beach schools already get 6 scholarships.. NCAA Men's get 4.5. Unreal.

Galena, I have not heard too much about Loyola's recruiting class other than reading a release on the Sports site announcing the class back in early December. This could be important as this was before Shane Davis was even approached by NU before he left.