2016 Volleyball

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:Would it be wrong to start hoping for that first tournament berth next year or the following year? Most recent RPI of this years team is 88.

No, I don't think so. The WCC is a strong volleyball conference, and if we can continue to pull some upsets of the ranked teams, and avoid some losses to lower-ranked teams (particularly out of conference), then I would expect the Pilots to be in the hunt for a berth soon based on the program's trajectory under Coach Crouch. If you go back and change a couple of the losses to wins (Seattle U, PSU, GU), I wonder where the RPI would have ended up this year? I can't believe I just said that, after where this program was mired for so long!

Let's hope we can keep Crouch on the Bluff for a while--as the wins increase, so will the suitors knocking on the door.

Portland will have a bit of a challenge establishing itself as a power volleyball program due to the historic name recognition of the California schools in the WCC... a NCAA berth would go a long way towards changing that. There is no reason this program, in this league, in this city cannot become a power...

The match against GU was indeed a thriller, but the Pilots struggled with passing all night, which limited the offense and made it predictable.

The volleyball program is on the same NLI signing schedule for prospective student athletes as basketball. The signing period, 11/9-11/16, has come and gone.

http://www.nationalletter.org/signingDates/

With the success enjoyed for the last two years, I hope there is a similar uptick in recruiting. I understand that we have benefited greatly from transfers already, but hope there are recruits in the pipeline perhaps waiting to be announced.

I have been out of town but noticed that the Pilots indeed have recruited for next year. The article:

http://www.portlandpilots.com/news/2016/12/15/volleyball-adds-decorated-recruiting-class-to-the-program.aspx

Let’s hope these winning ways continue.