Elena Delle Donne to play VOLLEYBALL at Delaware

[Dale8R]

Oh, this is so much fun to put this down here! I certainly hope she enjoys every single minute of her college education. I for one will be rooting for her and the Hens.

http://www.courant.com/sports/college/husky/women/hcu-delledonne-0823,0,5277697.story

[LadyBuff]

Have fun, Elena. Basketball pressure is off you, so just have fun!

[LadyBuff]

It says in the paper today that Elena will be a non-scholarship volleyball player at Delaware.

[Dale8R]

http://www.udel.edu/sportsinfo/volleyball/roster08-delledonne.html

EDD's UD Roster page. Delaware representation on the squad doubles! Only other Delaware player on the squad is high school teammate Meghan Bonk.

http://www.udel.edu/sportsinfo/volleyball/vb08-delledonnedebut.html Press conference summary.

“We certainly respect Elena's decision and wish her well here at the University of Delaware,” said Delaware women’s basketball head coach Tina Martin. “The door to our basketball program will always be open to her." Now there's a foregone conclusion!


http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2008/08/27/Sports/Delle.Donne.Did.Right.Thing.By.Leaving-3405779.shtml Here's an article by a student at UConn who has a sensible view of the situation.

[LadyBuff]

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http://media.www.dailycampus.com/media/storage/paper340/news/2008/08/27/Sports/Delle.Donne.Did.Right.Thing.By.Leaving-3405779.shtml Here's an article by a student at UConn who has a sensible view of the situation.

That is the most intelligent article I have seen yet on this situation.

[MsProudSooner]

That is an excellent article. When it's all said and done, follow your heart and you won't go wrong.

[Dale8R]

Delaware lost their opener to Cal State Fullerton in five sets. As I would figure, EDD did not play. No word on how many of the "crowd" of 323 were there to see her.

Note to those who don't follow volleyball all that closely ~ games are now called sets in college ball. As near as I can tell, the change has had little or no effect on how the sets are played. Probably better change that to no effect. :)

They are still called games in high school play.

[Noah121]

Well, there is a big difference: 25 points rather than 30 to win the set. I don't know how much effect that will have (particularly, will it cause more matches to go 4/5 sets?), but it seems like frequently, the team that reached 25 first ended up winning the set anyway (notable exception: 2005 Nebraska @ Texas, set 2, when NU was down 22-27 and won the set 30-27 or 30-28).

At least this seemed to be the case with Nebraska matches, but I don't know about other teams.

[Dale8R]

Oh right, Noah, I was just referring to the name change. I should have mentioned the move from 30 to 25, too, as it is a related change.

[BeBe]

At the volleyball media day, the CU VB coach said he doesn't like the change to 25 instead of 30.
He said they looked back over prior matches and found that it would have made very little change in the outcome of matches (supporting Noah's observation).
But what he said he doesn't like is that it shortchanges the fans...... the fans don't get to see as much volleyball played. Some 3 set matches could end up being done in under an hour.
As a cross-check on his opinion, here's a very small statistical sample of this. CU played 3 3-set matches this weeked. The elapsed times for them: first match: 1 hour 24 min; second match: 58 min; third match in 1 hour 21 min.. So a lopsided match could be done in under an hour. But for most of us, most matches aren't that lopsided.

[Noah121]

That is true... John Cook said something very similar that he was worried there would be less bang for the buck, especially in sweeps that are lopsided. It's a double-edged sword, but I suppose it's trying to adapt to what has been going on internationally for a long time.

Why was it 30 points instead of 25 when the change was made from side-out scoring to rally scoring? I assume that in that time, the international was already playing rally with first-to-25.

[Dale8R]

From the UD website:

Elena DelleDonne, Bonk’s former high school teammate and the 2007-08 National Player of the Year in basketball, made her collegiate debut in the first match. Coming off the bench, she blasted a kill on her first attack attempt. She eventually finished the day with four kills and a block during the team’s two matches.

Delaware finished the tournament 0-3, meaning they are really going to have to go some to equal last season's 31-5.

[Dale8R]

Oklahoma-Nebraska VB is on ESPNU at Noon today.

I really do need to take time to start conversations about the college volleyball scene which is roughly at the midpoint, but I am too busy with volleyball on my own, so it will have to wait a while.

I did run across this article http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081009/SPORTS07/810090383/1002/SPORTS

And here is a nice picture of EDD who has twice won the rookie of the week award in the CAA.

http://cmsimg.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BL&Date=20081009&Category=SPORTS07&ArtNo=810090383&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=550&MaxH=650&title=0

I repeat
Oklahoma-Nebraska VB is on ESPNU at Noon today.

[Driftwood]

The Blue Hens are the Mud Hens in their conference currently sitting mid pack in the CAA. This may be the first time EDD hasn't been on a winner. Last time I looked the team was 9-13.

Can't understand how a BB superstar walks away from UCONN to wallow in the VB mud at Delaware.

[Dale8R]

Here’s an update on the Delaware volleyball season. Actually, there’s a pretty good story there. Last year’s team went 31-5, but they had critical losses and returned only three upper classmen this season. Their only senior, a co-captain and a pre-season all conference outside hitter, lasted not quite one match before going down with an ACL. Their other co-captain, a junior middle hitter, lasted seven matches before being sidelined with a knee injury.

So who was left? Three sophomores and three freshmen made up the starting lineup. Add to that a junior libero and a sophomore defensive specialist, and you’ve got it. They started off in rather rough fashion, losing 10 of their first 13 matches. It was the middle of November before they managed to get even on their win-loss record.

They entered the CAA tournament with the poorest record of the six qualifying teams. In the first round they defeated Towson, a team they had not beaten. Ditto for their second round victory over Virginia Commonwealth. In the championship match they defeated regular season champion Northeastern in five, 25-21, 20-25, 28-30, 25-11, 15-13. This earned them a spot in the NCAA tournament and brought their record to 19-15.

EDD has 230 kills and 115 blocks so far this season. While she did gather a little attention here and there for her other athletic skills, she was just the big girl in the middle for the Hens, and from all reports, quite happy to be there.

[BeBe]

Great story. I wish the Hens good luck in the NCAA tournament. Maybe I'll adopt them as my team since the Buffs clearly won't make the tournament. They haven't won a match since knocking off Nebraska in Boulder almost a month ago. Just can't seem to put another consistent night together.

[LadyBuff]

I hope Elena enjoys her trip to the NCAA tournament with the Hens. She did what is right for her and I would expect that she has no regrets.