The 2022 DI Women’s Volleyball Tournament is here and the games start on Thursday, December 1st. There is a lot to look forward to and a fairly short wait before the action begins. But until then, here are the top seven stories ready to see play out in the postseason.
Is this the year of Logan Eggleston and the Texas Longhorns?
The biggest of all was Logan Eggleston’s year? Throughout the season, everyone said the Player of the Year award was something she would lose. But that’s not all she’s missing…she’s back in Texas in pursuit of her national title. So it’s the title they’ve been looking for the last three seasons, and they’ve fallen short in all three. If you’ve read my articles or watched my videos talking about volleyball this season, you may have heard me say this. is reminiscent of last year’s Wisconsin team. The Badgers, too, had been knocking on the door for national titles for years, but came up short each time. Star Dana Retke and her crew are back for her fifth and final season. Looking for that AVCA NPOY award and, of course, finally looking for a trophy and a fairy tale ending. In the 2021 preseason article on her storyline, I remember writing the exact words, “Will this be Dana’s Rettke year?” In my postseason wrap-up, I wrote: “Dana Retke’s prophecy has come true.”
If you don’t see similarities in the stories of these two teams, you may need to dig a little deeper. The Longhorns brought back all of last season’s production and added more. Eggleston, Molly Phillips and Asia O’Neill returned to add a huge outside with Maddy Skinner and Zoe Fleck to strengthen the defense. They literally have all the ingredients to win a national title and I feel like this is the year to do it. The Longhorns have a tough quadrant of the bracket – a little tougher than you might expect. Let’s see if this year is their year.
Who is headed for the inevitable escape!?
Upheaval is bound to happen. After all, it’s a sport. No matter how good a team is, they can always lose on any given night for a variety of reasons. In single elimination, choke brackets are incredibly unlikely. Last season, Kansas had a run led by Caroline Crawford, the star of the Wisconsin roster. The Jayhawks upset Oregon in the first round before taking down Clayton. Illinois also played a big upset against No. 7 Kentucky. Who will make a fuss this season!?
what about san diego
Another big and exciting question mark this season: What will San Diego do in the tournament? They rocketed into the top 10 and then stayed there as the team battled through a grueling conference schedule. They did the best they could with what they had, but in the end it wasn’t good enough for the top four overall seed. Stanford nodded instead. The biggest reason was that San Diego lacked strength in their schedule.
But the stars are so perfectly aligned that Torreros have a chance to face Stanford in the regional finals if they both advance. They will get a chance to prove the committee wrong on the spot. I haven’t played a top 10 opponent in months, so some might think I’m falling short. Some think they are real. Only tournaments will tell us that — we can’t wait to see it play out.
Is Stanford back?
The Cardinal is one of the NCAA’s most prolific volleyball programs. If you want to claim it, claim it to all of their domestic titles, they streak in his 2018-19 and disappeared completely in 2020. It looked like it was coming in 2021, but this year was different. The Cardinals surge into the top 10 and once again look like a team with national championship potential. They earned the top 4 seed overall and may have the best road to Omaha out of all quadrants in the bracket. Excited to see if this year is the year they return to the national semi-finals and if this level of success stays here.
Can Louisville win its first domestic title?
Louisville has been a force to be reckoned with over the last few years. It all started when Dani Basboom Kelly rocked the sidelines in a sparkly red blazer and shocked the world with their upset over Texas. , now such a victory is not at all a shock. The Cardinals have established that level of excellence not only within the ACC but nationally, and Busboom-Kelly awaits her first national title as head coach. They made it to the national semifinals last season and were just one step away from making it to the national championship game, but Wisconsin narrowly won in just five innings and eventually won it all. They’ve lost a few key pieces this season, but haven’t missed a beat. Anna Devere has missed most of the season due to injury, but has been back in the lineup since a few weeks ago.
So the big question is if they can win the first title. The trophy will make history — no woman has ever won as a division I women’s volleyball head coach. ever. To make it even crazier, they might have to go through Nebraska in the regional finals, then Busboom-Kelly’s alma mater, then Wisconsin again in the national semifinals. How wonderful it is to witness history!
Could the Wisconsin two-peat be with an almost completely different line-up?
History has seen many volleyball teams repeat national titles. But how often do you see it after they lose their core?Dana Rettke, Sydney Hilley and Lauren Barnes anchored that his Badger team last season. This year’s new-look team has accomplished an equally impressive feat. Not only are there many new faces, but it’s a completely new attack system. The Badgers have gone from being one of the best setters in the country to his 18th straight win in the Big Ten in a 6-2 system. If Badger can pull it off in back-to-back seasons, this would certainly be a great story.
Can Ohio State finally make it out of the Top 16?
Ohio State is another team that has made a name for themselves in recent years. However, for the past two years in a row, their tournament run has been cut short in the final 16. I spoke with Mac Podraza at Big Ten Media Days before the season. She said this team is sick of it. They know they can do better and they want a national title and that has been their goal all season. I would have been confident that I would be able to get a top 4 seed in . If so, they would clearly be in the top eight teams in the nation and have a much better chance of breaking the curse. It looked like the Shipcalibur team. Two of those losses were totally unexpected for Maryland and Indiana. As such, after four losses, this team has reached the Texas quadrant from being in contention for the Big Ten title and top four seeds in the tournament. This means that this team would (probably) need to get through Minnesota to get out of the third round, and Texas to reach the national semifinals. As such… their season-long goals just got harder. Let’s see if they can get over the rut and pull off something miraculous.
