It is very disconcerting to try to run a column that includes the Upset of the Week, when you go through 46 of 48 matches and there were no upsets!  Not even an equally-rated match to call a quasi-upset. I had hopes for our reigning 'King of Being Olmec'd', Mr. Holden.  +6 rated at home vs. the Squirrels, and down 2-1 after set 3.  The Bats rallied to take set 4 in extra points, and then somehow held on to win set five 15-13 and escape with the win despite being outscored overall by 6 points (setting the mark for wins while being outscored).  If even John held form in the first session, was there any hope at all of an upset?

And then there was Kelsey, saving the season of Upsets from falling apart before it even started!  Match 3, WGM Group match vs the Manatees.  Mark's squad was rated 9 better across the board, and had the edge in every category, especially Serve where Mark's worst was an 11 and Kelsey had 3 servers at 10 or worse.  Instead, the Trash Pandas filled the court with garbage serves that must have thrown off the Manataees' timing, as Albuquerque served at a .917 clip while Merritt Island had an abysmal 18 errors to a total .793 clip.  Giving away that many points on serve made the 'Tees their own worst enemies, as the Bandit Bunch won in four sets.  Kelsey sets our standard for this season with the one-and-only Upset of the Week at -9.

On the flip side, we had multiple blowouts of 30+ pts total as some teams rested starters and others clearly were throwing out guys from the bottom of the depth chart in either the road conference match or the WGM group first match.  Out of the ridiculous 10 matches that were 3-set sweeps where a team won by 30+ points, we'll just highlight the top 3 to start Season 11 off.  In third place, Beerman's (leaderless?) Squirrels hosted the Gargoyles.  Rated +18 at the outset, they held Manitowoc to 15 or less each set and won handily by 34 combined points in match 2.  For 2nd place this session, the Lumberjacks hosted... seven somethings? out of Pekin in match 1.  I'm not sure any of them were scholarship players, as they played as armless and far more blind than the team mascots.  Portland didn't let up, finishing them off with a mercy killing in set 3 by holding Pekin to just 9 pts, winning by 37 pts combined.  The +39 ratings difference exceeded anything we saw last season, which topped off at +36.

And in Match 2, current team-to-beat Nashville flexed their proverbial might, as the Red Pandas displayed a penchant for feasting on fruit with Baton Rouge coming to town.  Team Fern Fruit failed to find their forceful lineup, dropping a mere 53 rating.  Nashville played a top line, tying the best-rated team mark of the session with an 87-rated lineup.  +34 in talent told the story, as the Pandas utterly routed the 'Peels to the tune of 43 points and holding Baton Rouge to under 10 points TWICE, 9 in set 2 and 6 in set 3.  6 pts allowed ties the best mark of last year (only happened twice), and is the lowest seen since I started tracking individual set scores.  Congrats to Roy for the Blowout of the Week at 43 pts!