2012 Week 12 Preview: Women's Volleyball

Hawaii's clinched the Big West title, but these placement fights are to gain leverage in the Commissioner's Cup.  The even bigger story (possibly) is UCI's Kristin Winkler, who've we kept on record tracker, needs 79 more digs for the Big West record, with six more games left to do it.  Also, UCSB's Taylor Formico is on pace to finish the season, second in conference history for a single-season dig record.  With that being said, lets get to the games:

Tonight, Fullerton takes on the 49ers while UCR looks for their first conference win versus UCI and Hawaii hosts a non-conference game against BYU-Hawaii.  Tomorrow, the games continue as Pacific travels to UCSB and UC Davis plays Cal Poly.  Finally, on Saturday, a full slate of conference games line up, as Fullerton plays UCI, Northridge plays LMU in non-conference, Pacific takes on Cal Poly, UC Davis travels to UCSB and UCR goes to LBSU.

Below is where you can follow the games LIVE:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8 2012
Long Beach State	Cal State Fullerton	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			GameTracker
			Radio - CSF
			Radio - LBSU
UC Irvine	UC Riverside	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
#7 Hawai'i	BYU-Hawai'i		Oceanic Sports
		9:00 PM	Live Stats
			Radio - UH
			Video (FREE)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9 2012
UC Santa Barbara	Pacific	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
			Audio - PAC
Cal Poly	UC Davis	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 2012
UC Irvine	Cal State Fullerton	5:00 PM	BigWest.TV
Senior Night			Live Stats
			Audio - CSF
Cal Poly	Pacific	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
Cal State Northridge	Loyola Marymount	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
			Audio - CSUN
Long Beach State	UC Riverside	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			GameTracker
			Audio - LBSU
UC Santa Barbara	UC Davis	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats

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2012 Big West Men's Soccer Tournament

The seeds have been set and the Big West Tournament begins today.  Representing the North Division is UC Davis and Cal Poly and representing the South Division is Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton. The matchups are as follows:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 2:00 PM
S2. Fullerton vs N1. UC Davis

This matchup that happened one month ago ended in a 2-1 win for UC Davis.  However, Fullerton's Ian Ramos will be the key in this matchup.  The freshman phenom has been outstanding this season, collecting 5 points and 3 assists, averaging 2.3 shots/game.  The Aggies however, have been a much more well rounded team, depending on the conference's top defense and outstanding goalkeeping by Omar Zeenni (who averages under a goal/game).  I'm going to give advantage to the defense here:

My Prediction: Aggies win 1-0

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 7:00 PM
N2. Cal Poly vs S1. Northridge

These two teams are very evenly matched by looking at the in-conference statistics and it shows by their lone matchup this year (a 1-0 victory for the Matadors).  Northridge's Segi Lev-Ari and Mackenzie Pridam have been goal machines, collecting 12 and 11 goals each respectively.  The goalkeepers (all three of them) have been also instrumental for how well the teans have done.  While Northridge won the earlier match, Cal Poly has more momentum going right now, beating UCSB twice in front of large crowds, thus sealing their playoffs.

My Prediction: Cal Poly 2, Northridge 1 (OT)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2012 1:00 PM
*Cal Poly vs *UC Davis
Considering that two of Davis' three losses came to the Mustangs, I don't see that trend changing...

My Prediction: Cal Poly wins 1-0


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UCI Basketball Preview

Here is the video preview for the 2012-13 Anteaters Men's team.  A quick note...I didn't mention it in the video but Michael Wilder should be voted for best hair in the conference.




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Cal State Fullerton Basketball Preview

Continuing with the video previews, up next is the Titans preview.  If you haven't predicted right now, my speaking formula is: Rank in BWC Media Preseason Poll, Impact Player, Probable Starters and Non-Conference Schedule with a prediction at the end.  Enjoy and leave your comments below.



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Long Beach State Basketball Preview

I am doing a video preview for all the schools, rather than writing them out.  This is because it takes a lot of time to write each preview and games start this weekend.  That being said, shown below is the preview:

(warning: the preview was done Halloween night, hence the reason for the mustache and Hawaiian shirt)

If you don't feel like watching 14 minutes of me blabbing, you can go to Mid-Major Madness, where I wrote an abbreviated preview.  Feel free to leave your comments below as I've disabled comments in the video.


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Week 11 Preview: Women's Volleyball

With Week 10 in the books and the final month of competition approaching for volleyball, the Big West title looks all but wrapped up for Hawaii.  The Wahine could in theory clinch the title at the end of this weekend if the chips fall right and they win both of their matches this weekend.  That being said, let's get to the games:

On Thursday, Northridge gets a home match against Cal Poly, while UCSB travels to the Islands to play Hawaii.  The Gaucho-Wahine game is important because a win for Hawaii puts the magic number to one for clinching the title.  On Friday, LBSU takes on Pacific, UCR gets a non-conference series in Bakersfield and UCI plays UC Davis.  Kristin Winkler has the counter set to 132 remaining before she gets the Big West digs record.   Finally, on Saturday, Cal Poly travels to Hawaii, where a Wahine win combined with a Gaucho loss, would give them the title.  Also on Saturday, LBSU plays UC Davis, UCI travels to Pacific, UCR goes to Fullerton and UCSB takes on Northridge.

Below is where you can follow the games LIVE:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2012
Cal State Northridge	Cal Poly	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
Youth Night [@]			Live Stats
			Radio - CSUN
#9 Hawai'i	UC Santa Barbara		Oceanic Sports
		10:00 PM	Live Stats
			Radio - UH
			Video (FREE)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2012
UC Davis	UC Irvine	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			GameTracker
Pacific	Long Beach State	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
			Radio - LBSU
			Radio - PAC
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2012
Cal State Fullerton	UC Riverside	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
			Radio - CSF
Cal State Northridge	UC Santa Barbara	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
High School Night [$]			Live Stats
UC Davis	Long Beach State	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			GameTracker
			Audio - LBSU
Pacific	UC Irvine	7:00 PM	BigWest.TV
			Live Stats
			Radio - PAC
#9 Hawai'i	Cal Poly	7:00 PM	Oceanic Sports
			Live Stats
			Radio - UH
			Video (FREE)

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Big West Tournament Preview: Women's Soccer

The seeds are set and playoffs begin tonight for the Big West crown.  Tonight's semifinals take place at Anteater Stadium at UCI beginning at 5:00 PM.

Semifinal No. 1: No. 2 Cal State Northridge vs No. 3 Cal Poly, 5:00 PM
This matchup is an intriguing one: Northridge held their playoff position by knocking out the defending BWC champs LBSU in double overtime, while Cal Poly was conference leader until the final weekend.  History is on the Mustangs side as Cal Poly is 7-0-1 in semifinals all-time while Northridge has never won a semifinals match.  However, Northridge is riding all the momentum off that LBSU win.  Head-to-head this season, the Matadors and the Mustangs drew 2-2, and we can expect more of the same for tonight's matchup.  However, I expect Goalkeeper of the Year, Cynthia Jacobo, in her senior year to lead the Matadors to their first Big West postseason victory.

My Prediction: Northridge 2, Cal Poly 0

Semifinal No. 2: No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 4 UCI, 7:30 PM
Who's ready for an upset?  UCI comes in riding a 0-1-3 "safe" record to keep their last seed.  Home-field advantage is a powerful thing though, especially in soccer.   UCI also won the only matchup between these two this season, 3-1 at Fullerton.  Fullerton's Stacey Fox has been averaging 1.00 PPG, however, if she can be shut down like UCI did earlier, the Titans will have big problems beating what seems to be a desperate team that needs just a spark of life.

My Prediction: UCI 1, Fullerton 0

Final: No. 2 Northridge vs No. 4 UCI
My Prediction: Northridge 1, UCI 1 (Northridge wins 4-3 on Penalties)

Below is where you can follow the matches LIVE:

Semifinals • November 1	Time	Story	Media
No. 2 Cal State Northridge vs. No. 3 Cal Poly	5:00 pm	Recap	Live Stats  Radio - CSUN
No. 1 Cal State Fullerton vs. No. 4 UC Irvine	7:30 pm	Recap	Live Stats  Radio - CSF
Finals • November 4	Time
Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2	1:00 pm	Recap	FOX Prime Ticket  Live Stats

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