Blowouts, Upsets & More!  Season 11, weekend 3.  Conference clashes and WGM tourney pecking orders to be decided as once again we had a slew of matches where one team was clearly trying harder than the other.

For the Blowout of the Week, we mused last week that after the Pandas have twice topped +40 pts we could soon see our first ever win by 50 or more.  We have inched closer!  While Antioch's +37 pt beatdown of the Bats (WGM group 3rd match) and the Meese's +42 pt trampling of the Chameleons (conference, match 7, Mat-Su at home) were notable for how quickly, efficiently, and repeatedy the winning teams won their matches (none ending closer than 10 pts in any set), the Blowout of the Week was found in Portland.  The 'Jacks were geared up for a top-level competition.  The home-boosted 93 avg rating is the highest we've seen so far this season, as one of the best T7's flexed their might.  The Mules decided to send their strength elsewhere.  See above image, believed to be taken during the Quincy pre-match warmups.  Yes, they're not even on a volleyball court, which could explain how the match went as much as their choice in uniforms.  Portland won the first set easily, 25-12.  Then they ramped it up, several notches.  They showed a higher gear than most of us can dream of having this season, and dropped the most brutal set we've seen since starting this column!  In set 2, the 'Jacks allowed just 5 pts to the Mules.  FIVE.  In a set that seemed very personal in Paul's destruction of the Mules' bench players, leading 13-1 at one point, Quincy got points by a tool kill off a block (1), service errors (3), and an attacking error by Portland (1).  To be clear, then, 4 of the 5 points came on Portland errors, with Al's squad actually earning only 1 pt in the whole set.  I will leave it at that.  Congrats to Paul for the Blowout of the Week at a combined +49 pts and for setting the mark to beat for Blowout of the Season!  Roy is on notice that +50 is now the goal, which Rob P & Antioch will be in fear of all week as Rob 'earned' a match with the Pandas by his blowout of John's team in the 3rd WGM match.

For the Upset of the Week, no one managed to top the -9 mark currently held by three teams, or manage an upset sweep, yet there was still action to be had in bidding on the under-whatevers this past weekend.  Oddly missing was an appearance by Craig, as Dallas won the match they tried to win, lost the one they didn't, and at least won a set at -12 rating in the 'middle effort' set at Columbia.  Instead, our Upsets this weekend came from other frequent fliers in this column!  Coming in at fourth for the weekend, it's column fave and the manager whose lineup strengths really don't matter as much as the rest of us!  Just when John Holden thought he was due for a quiet weekend, as surely the odds were in his favor to just have matches go as rated at some point this season, the Bats had to breathe a sigh of relief when they ended up on the plus-side in their conference trip to Burlington.  The BullyFrogs put out an impressive 85-rated team at home (top 10 for the season so far).  John sent a road team with some bite of their own as his 82-rated team took the first two sets.  After Aires and Company battled back in set 3 to win by 7, they couldn't finish things in the 4th set and John won in extra points 28-26, to finish the 4-set upset.

For the 3rd place Upset of the Week, the rest of Al Sellers' team that didn't go to Portland stayed home to prepare for Roger and the Legume Legion.  And it was a good thing they did.  Roger set the mark in match 7 for Strongest Away Team lineup (88 rating), 4 better than the Mules.  As Pekin won set 1, an 0-fer session seemed to be looming for Quincy.  Instead, the Mules rallied to take sets 2 and 3, and after a narrow set 4 loss managed to find a way to run off 4 straight points in set 5 following a 9-9 tie.  Al gets a top 3 upset for the 2nd weekend in a row.

For the 2nd place Upset, Olmec perhaps got confused about which James needed the help.  Clearly to the rest of us, Cincinnati and last year's team-to-beat does not need favo(u)rs to help with league-wide domination.  Olmec had other ideas.  Conference match 8, Cinci at Alton, with the Screaming Eagles and Dr. White rolling out the welcome mat to the tune of an 89-rated home team.  For those wondering, only Portland (see blowout above) and Columbia have put out better so far this season.  The Porcine Party at least came with a respectable 84-rated team, perhaps hoping to catch the Eagles napping.  They found them live and Screaming though, as Alton dominated the first two sets, 16-26 and 19-25.  If this were a football match (either American or everyone else's variety, pick your poison), it would have been a tale of two halves.  Somewhere, somehow, the Hogs flipped a switch or remembered that they can fly too and took off to face the Eagles above the net.  After a hard-fought set 3 win, Cinci took over, nearly doubling Alton in set 4 (25-13) and then outright doubling them (and then one!) in set 5 (7-15).  Alton had to feel robbed after almost being able to smell the bacon sizzling as set 2 ended.  Instead, the Hogs rooted out a truffle of a victory that the rest of the league has to feel a bit worried about.  If 89 at home can't beat these guys, what's going to happen on neutral court in the tourneys?

And for the top mark, match 9 (WGM group match 3) saw both Santa Clara and Columbia send out mid-ranged lineups on the neutral court.  The Cup-Sized Canines were clearly the more competitive company, with Columbia -6 rated (66 to 72).  The overall stats favo(u)red Martyn's dogpack, as they won set 1 by 10 pts and set 3 by 9.  The Fruit-but-not-the-type-you-use-in-a-fruit-salad only managed 2 pt wins in set 2 and set 4, needing to win 26-24 to survive the latter.  Based on the stats and match results, you'd expect set 5 to go back against Steve, yet because it's in this column, you know it didn't.  Instead, Olmec saw fit to gift Steve set 5 readily, winning 15-10 and taking the W despite being outscored by 10 total points for the match.  Congrats to Steve for the Upset of the Week and tying the current season mark for winning a match desipte being outscored (Martyn & The Yippers also at -10 total pts with a 5-set win).

In other news of who to fear, or who is being set up for a massive Upset Special in the coming sessions, Spokane (85) and San Jose (86) are setting the pace for best neutral court lines, while Portland (89) and Pekin (88) have sent road teams better than most of us can muster at home.  Cinci is on a 4-game win streak while Portland's 4-game streak ended in match 9 when they mailed in a lineup vs. Denali.  Frankly, the fact that Portland can even find 7 players low enough to rate 54 on average (2nd lowest lineup of the session) was rather impressive in its own right.

3 sessions down.  9 to go.  What will Olmec do to or for us next weekend?!