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Bears took down UNI tonight, only the 2nd loss against a Valley team in the past 3+ years for UNI (Jays defeated UNI in Omaho earlier this season). Makes you wonder how UNI managed to sweep WSU and Bears so many times the past few years. Oh, yeah............ Bre Payton. Jays now have the lead in the Valley, a one game edge over UNI.

BTW, I'd be shrocked if WSU fans didn't attribute the UNI loss to the fact that UNI had to play the Shocks on Friday, but wait.....didn't UNI pretty much dismantle the Shocks? 3 sets? Bears had to play four to beat Bradley.

It now appears that the 6 teams that will play in the Valley Tournament are:

Jays, Panthers, Shocks, Dawgs, Redbirds and Bears. Jays appear to be the cream of the crop.

the conference tourney teams have been pretty much "set" for a week or two. Especially since the bottom of that group (MSU) is guaranteed a spot due to hosting the tourney (although that clause has been dropped, effective next season).

UNI focused most of their prep last week on the WSU match.
I'm guessing MSU focused most of their prep on the UNI match (considering how they struggled in the first two sets against Bradley).
And UNI admittedly had an off night in Springfield, making uncharacteristic mistakes. Of course, they may have struggled to get fired up for a match in front of less than 500 when they're used to playing in front of thousands. (not really a justifiable excuse, but like I said, it was an off night).

I won't concede "cream of the crop" to Creighton until they're able to beat UNI in Cedar Falls. If they do that, I'll acknowledge them as the superior team this season. I still consider both UNI and CU to be creamy. (UNI's loss at MSU is akin to CU's loss at SIU). And WSU isn't too far behind.

This Panther's team just struggles to put in a full match of solid, intense UNI volleyball. They normally struggle in either the 1st or 2nd set and it leaves the door wide open for an opponent to climb into the game. Honestly the loss of Bre Payton hasn't been as noticeable as I expected, Molly Turk has done a great job filling in that role . The defense and killer mentality just hasn't been the same this season. Service defense has been one of the biggest culprits.

Well...Jays take down UNI at UNI tonight in five, and I guess they may have first place locked up with that win, but they still have to take the WSU/MSU road swing. ISU Red over Shocks in 4. SIU over Aces in 4. Bears over Sycs in 3.

Good to see some new first place blood come front and center in the Valley, which has been dominated for eons by UNI, followed by MSU and WSU. SIU and ISU Red are right there in the wings, waiting to join the frontrunners and will be very dangerous come tournament time.