September 26th, 2010: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova

What: Women's Volleyball vs. Villanova (Gampel Pavillion)
When: September 26th, 2010 2:00 PM
What I saw: Most of second set and all of third
Result: Villanova 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-21) Report


Summary: I arrived at Gampel a little ways into the second set, UConn down one set. There were some students there, but the crowd appeared to move in and out throughout the course of the match. The Huskies played somewhat well, keeping the second and third sets close, but lost. It was a somewhat interesting match.

Ratings:
Atmosphere:

Fan Friendliness: Fans kept it clean but really didn't have that same chemistry feel you get in the crowd at a lot of other events. During the third set, there were a few students sitting right behind the 'Nova side of the court screaming "AAAAAAAHHHH" every time they served. That got a bit annoying. Rating: 8/10

Fan Enthusiasm: Fans seemed somewhat into it, but not much. A few younger kids with their parents got a bit excited, as did the annoying students from behind the Villanova courtside. But overall, not a very raucous crowd. Rating: 7/15

Event Atmosphere: It was in Gampel, which helped, and there was music during timeouts and between sets. There were also signs telling me to join the "Block Party" which I believe is the fan group for volleyball, but I found no place where I could do so. It's clear they're trying, but not very well. Rating: 6/15

Atmosphere total: 21/40

On-the-field:

Quality of play: We played well (sort of) and Nova played well. There were some good, long rallies. A lot of hits sometimes. Some of these points, it's too bad someone had to lose it. Rating: 14/20


Excitement: Second set was somewhat exciting, but once we went down 2-0 everyone knew it was over. We weren't going to win 3 straight sets. Still, it deserves some credit. Rating: 5/10

Quality of UConn play: The first set (which I did not see) we apparently struggled. The second and third we kept it close, leading for a while in the second, but we lost in straight sets anyway. Overall, a good job, and far better than the scoreline looks. Rating: 6/10

Result: We lost. Rating 0/10

Overall on-field: 25/50

Other:

Clarity of Fan Communication: Awesome PA announcer "pooooooooint UConn!". Announced the names of the players who won the point. Don't know his name, but that's usually the case with PA guys. I'm just spoiled since I'm a Yankees fan and had the legendary Bob Sheppard PA the games for over 50 years. And before you ask, nobody, at UConn or otherwise, is as good a PA announcer as he was. But I digress. Rating: 5/5

Magnitude of Event: The first Big East game of the season. Not that bad. But it didn't appear to mean much. Rating: 9/15

Size of Crowd: Like I said, since this is in Gampel, which is designed for basketball crowds, volleyball won't be penalized for only filling 10% of the seats. That being said, we didn't. That may be due to homecoming events happening at the same time. It was still a decent crowd though. Rating: 6/15

Overall other: 20/35

Total score: 66/125