Week: Match Results 10-15-14 through 10-18-14

We’re almost at the half-way point for the B1G season (the unbalanced schedule has left us, well, a little unbalanced, so we had to check), and this past week featured a number of matches between top teams, some near-upsets, and one B1G upset.  In contests featuring conference leaders, Wisconsin won the Border War — sweeping Minnesota in Minneapolis and then in Madison, Penn State squeaked past Purdue in West Lafayette, and Illinois downed Nebraska in Lincoln.  Iowa came close against Illinois in Iowa City, losing in five, but broke through against Northwestern with a five-set victory — it’s first B1G win of the season.

Below is a listing of all the scores for all the matches this past week:

• Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 0 (Oct 15, 2014 at Minneapolis, MN) 25-16,25-19,30-28
• Illinois 3, Iowa 2 (Oct 15, 2014 at Iowa City, Iowa) 27-29,25-12,25-23,19-25,15-11
• Penn State 3, Purdue 2 (Oct 17, 2014 at West Lafayette, Ind.) 26-24,23-25,22-25,25-23,15-9
• Ohio State 3, Indiana 0 (Oct 17, 2014 at Bloomington, Ind.) 27-25,25-17,25-20
• Nebraska 3, Northwestern 0 (Oct 15, 2014 at Lincoln, Nebraska) 25-12,25-22,25-13
• Michigan State 3, Maryland 0 (Oct 17, 2014 at College Park, Md.) 25-23,25-14,25-21
• Michigan 3, Rutgers 0 (Oct 17, 2014 at New Brunswick, N.J.) 25-20,25-19,25-21
• Wisconsin 3, Minnesota 0 (Oct 18, 2014 at Madison, Wis.) 25-19,25-15,24-18
• Purdue 3, Ohio State 2 (Oct 18, 2014 at West Lafayette, Ind.) 25-19,25-17,23-25,17-25,15-9
• Penn State 3, Indiana 0 (Oct 18, 2014 at Bloomington, Ind.) 25-11,25-19,25-15
• Illinois 3, Nebraska 1 (Oct 18, 2014 at Lincoln, Nebraska) 25-23,21-25,27-25,25-21
• Michigan State 3, Rutgers 0 (Oct 18, 2014 at New Brunswick, N.J.) 25-16,25-21,25-21
• Michigan 3, Maryland 0 (Oct 18, 2014 at College Park, Md.) 25-11,25-14,25-20
• Iowa 3, Northwestern 2 (Oct 18, 2014 at Iowa City, Iowa) 20-25,25-23,25-20,23-25,15-12

 B1G Stats (Conference Only): Wisconsin, Purdue, Penn State, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, and Michigan (10-18-14)

 B1G Team Stats

We put together a Stat Joust, comparing the B1G‘s team and individual leaders in several statistical categories in conference matches only — focusing on the four teams with the best conference records — Wisconsin (7-1), Purdue (7-1), Penn State (6-2) and Illinois (6-2), as well as Penn State’s three upcoming opponents — Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State.  None of this is earth-shattering, stop-the-presses news, but we think it’s interesting (and it gives our slacker staff something to do other than play Angry Birds, which actually appears to make them more surly than normal).

Based on the admittedly small sample size (and not apples-to-apples) one good predictor of success is team hitting percentage — with the top four teams all ranking in the top-five.  Opponent’s hitting percentage also shows a correlation, as Wisconsin, Purdue and Penn State are all ranked in the top four, but Illinois is an outlier here, ranking #7.  Net hitting percentage — (team hitting % minus opponent’s hitting %) shows a close correlation, with Wisconsin at .125, Purdue at .101, Penn State at .100 and Illinois at .042.  Ohio State comes in at .011.

Illinois, Wisconsin, and Purdue rank among the top five in team blocking, with Penn State at #7 (an improvement from its early-season performance, when it was nowhere to be found in the team blocking stats).

 B1G Individual Stats

Of interest to Penn State fans, Haleigh Washington and Nia Grant rank #2 and #3, respectively, in individual hitting percentage.  Not surprisingly, Micha Hancock sits on top of the service aces/set category at 0.93 service aces/set (more than twice the average for #2 – Lauren Carlini, at 0.44 service aces/set).  6-1 Fr. OH Ali Frantti checks in at #14, with 0.24 service aces/set (tied with Purdue’s Val Nichol, who has played more sets and has one more ace).  Haleigh Washington ranks #9 in blocks/set, and Dom Gonzalez ranks #5 in digs/set.  Nia Grant is the only Penn Stater to rank among the individual leaders in points/set — at #15 (probably reflective of Penn State’s balanced offense).

Penn State Stats (B1G Only)

Here are updated tables showing Penn State’s team leaders in various statistical categories, through October 18, 2014:

Attack Leaders (B1G Matches: 10-18-14)

Setting Leaders (B1G Matches: 10-18-14)

Serving Leaders (B1G Matches: 10-18-14)

Rcpt/Dig Leaders (B1G Matches: 10-18-14)

Blocking/Points Leaders (B1G Matches: 10-18-14)