I am not a VB expert. I leave that to my sister, the world's biggest non-alum, non-parent Penn St. fan.

I am perplexed, though, at we saw this year, how it compares to the past, and what it means going forward.

Was this year a bit of a blip, and we will soon return to the dominant position we claimed going back to the Carlston years? Or are we settling into a new era, where the league is more competitive, with Ohio simply being in the mix more often than not?

Has the caliber of player coming to campus slipped a bit? I remember when Chelsea Bilger and Kelly Lamberti were recruited, looking at their H.S. credentials and being wowed. I was hopeful about our last two top 100 recruits, Jaime and Carley. Jaime has been good, maybe very good, but never dominant. Carley has been here two years and for the most part, been hurt for two years.

Abby graduating obviously hurt--one of the best every to play in the MAC. Karin Bull, too. I think the coaching staff was also perplexed. They seemed to spend the season looking for combinations and players that could consistently deliver. But clearly, there was no one on this year's squad ready to step up into that dominate role.

While the staff has gone to twitter to announce next year's signings, there has been no release that we can go to for details. Only one girl sounds interesting, and that's Dahlias Bouyer. She apparently has moved around a lot and at one point, if the 'Net postings are correct, was committed to Michigan State. How did she land with us?

Contrast this lack of info with that put out by women's hoops. Bob Bolden, who is not one for overstatement, was quoted as saying this is his most talented recruiting class.

Finally, the participation on the part of fans in the volleyball message board is at an all time low. It seems to have been slowly moving that way every since Carlston announced he was heading to that school up north...

A blip year, along with a more competitive conference. No need to panic, believe in what the staff is doing. This team just needed experience, they got it and they'll be better next year. Miami and NIU will be losing key pieces, (NIU: Radtke, Kelly, Horwath, Zielinski, Miami: Hill, Below, Brakauskus). Although BG will be better. Kent State fell off and will lose their setter Kojic and MB Norberg.

The team showed growth, and that's what matters since this year was going to be about that. We knew it from the start. It's a bummer they went out the way they did, but it'll provide the motivation needed to succeed next year. I'm curious as to who will step up as leaders. Next year the titles will be toss ups. NIU/Toledo in the West, BG/Miami/Ohio in the East.

An 11-5 MAC record is better than most people thought. Be optimistic about next year.

There are 12 teams in the MAC and we ended up 3rd, higher than many predicted. It was evident this would be a down year as we lost 3 All-Mac players including the POY. Freshmen need time to develop and gel, and that was shortchanged early due to injuries and illness. A number of players who were playing early in the season ended up sitting most of the year. NIU and Miami had their best teams in a long time and were better than us. NIU won the tourney and Miami, ranked 42nd should make the dance too. As mentioned above, many of the key players on both teams will be gone. We lost Brooke and Mal, arguably our best player, but everyone else is back. With a year under their belt and hopefully their injuries in the past, along with some solid recruits, Ohio will move forward.

Go OHIO

Consider this a post that adds to the total, stub. I'm sure that this team will gel for next year and the serve-receive and setting issues will no longer be a question.

Stub--that's a good one about the volume of activity going up here if I post more.

It's certainly true that Coach Webb is a coach who's shown that he can win a MACC in less than 12 years.

Heres the other thing about this year, how is it Miami gets in as an at-large yet Ohio couldn't get in in 2013 even though they only lost 5 matches?