Season 12 is nearly over, and the BUM Report has been geared up and ready for an upset-laden final two sessions!  We're thrilled that Olmec saw fit to gift us with a full set of tasty treats for your BUM-reading pleasure this past session.  We'll get to those shortly.  First though, we do have to acknowledge credit where it's due and offer congrats to the participants in the Season 12 Salad Bowl Championship!  We're especially tickled that all-everything Pekin was actually the UnderVeggie to the upstart Red Pandas in the semifinal match, as Nashville went out this past weekend and reset the top lineup strength charts for the season. Top home lineup? Was 96. Now it's 97 (match 39, vs Starkville). Top neutral court lineup? Was 93. Now it's 94 thanks to this semis match. Roger played a 93 himself, yet was nearly outdone.  The combined 187 ratings points was easily our highest of the season to date!  As far as the match played out, the Legume Legion had to rally back from losing sets 1 and 3, and nearly blew it after leading 24-22 in set 4.  They let the Firefoxes back into the match at 24-24, and it took a Music City service error to kill the groove and let Pekin escape at 26-24 for the set. In set 5, it was tight the whole way, literally trading points and then re-tying the score from 1-1 up through 9-9. Pekin got two-in-a-row and then Nashville responded, tying again at 11-11.  It was there that the Pod People pulled away to 11-13, and then traded points to their advantage, leading 12-14. The Firefoxes survived the first match point, yet couldn't overcome the second as Kaminski hammered home the winner to take set 5 13-15. This match also featured our only 'negative win' of the session, where the losing team outscored the winning team on total points (+1 for Roy). Despite that, Pekin pulled the -1 Upset in the semis to advance to face their familiar foe Columbia! These two have met up three times already this season, twice in conference play and once in the Big 8 Tourney Final. Pekin won there 3-1, yet that was on home court. This one's on neutral turf and both teams will be going all-out. Could be anyone's final, so pass the ranch dressing (or perhaps a raspberry vinagerette) and croutons around, there's enough veggies on the table for everyone to get their fill!

Having already teased your palates with the -1 Upset in the Natty Semis, we'll go ahead and run out a few more minor upsets of pleasurable bouquet, starting with another semifinal matchup in the Cup (match 40).  In the first Cup semi, Pekin were strong favorites over the Fighting Fungi.  Pierre gave 'em all the Portobello Pugilists had to proffer, pushing Roger's Pod People to 27-25 in set 1 and staving off a sweep with a 25-23 set 3 victory, before falling in the fourth set.  That's better than most of us could have done!  In the second semi, we saw a tighter matchup with favored Porkopolis facing the Livid Lupines of Lower Alaska, though Cinci was only +1 on average rating, 90-89.  Opening set went all to the Hogs, snorting and rooting their way to a 17-25 trampling.  Set 2 started just as bad for Denali, as they fell behind 7-1, and were down 11-2 and 12-3.  Halfway home in set 2 and JT's Hoggers were up 9!  And then... (some of our favorite BUM Report words, ever) came the comeback!  A pair of 3-pt runs cut it to 9-14. After Cinci got one back, the Lupines pulled a 5-pt run and narrowed the lead to 14-15. Wolves definitely know how to stalk and tire their prey, and perhaps the earlier deficit was just a clever ploy to tire out the serving and spiking arms of their opposition.  Points were traded for a few service rotations, and then Denali tied it up at 18-18. Not faltering, the Hogs kept up their receiving, and pulled it to 19-20 before Denali pulled another pair of 3-pt runs around a Cinci point, capping set two with an ace and a block to win 25-21! It set 3, Denali then did one better (or two, actually), winning set three 25-19!  Porkopolis led for all of one serve (at 1-0 Cinci) and ended dropping the last four points including an ace, hitting error, and a block. Now with their Razorbacks against the wall, Cinci needed a strong start, and stumbled out of the pen.  Denali led 2-0 and then kept up the furious pressure, pushing out to five-point leads at 9-4 and a six-point lead as early as 14-8. The Hogs didn't go down easy, pounding their way back with four at 21-17 and 23-19.  And then the Hogs showed what they were capable of, facing the first match point at 24-19.  Solid pass set up a clever setter dump, and Cinci had it back at 24-20. Match point #2: Bridger nailed the block, 24-21. Match point #3: Cordero ace, 24-22.  Match point #4: another Bridger block! Now 24-23, match point #5 and a chance to tie it up! Cordero did his part within another good serve, only this time Denali's MB Cortez got just enough of an edge on Cinci's blockers to get a tool kill off the block and out, and Denali escapes the furious 5-pt rally to win 25-23 and the -1 Cup Semis Upset!  Thrilling set finish, and congrats to Andy for this session, though even more theatrics will be needed if the Livid Lupines are going to overcome the Legume Legion in the finale!

Oh, and in other -1 Upset news, which really isn't much news, Quincy (84) couldn't quite rally back from 0-1 and 1-2 set disadvantages at home versus the visiting Lumberjacks (83) in conference play, match 39, featuring Fathers of Really Good Volleyball Players. The Flanneled Fellsmen let the Rabbids back into this one, with no one getting a good lead up through 8-8.  Quincy led 10-8 and 12-10, yet Portland landed aces at key points to rally back and tie it, and it was squared up at 13-13.  The 'Jacks nailed another ace, leading 14-13 for match point!  A Quincy textbook pass/set/kill kept it alive, only for Portland to respond in kind, and serving at 15-14 for match point #2.  This time, Quincy's Kang tried to catch the 'Jacks napping with a setter dump, only to find that the Flannels across the net were not PJ's. Dig/set/Whisman kill for match point and Portland pulls the -1 upset. Congrats to Jim!

Okay, now with the small fish out of the way in those mostly meaningless matches that none of the rest of us wanted to be playing in anyway, we can move on to main course and more filling upsets.  T-Town and the Dust Devils blew the Kittens off course in conference play with a -3 road upset, and that didn't even crack our top three for the weekend!  So we're starting with TMVL Shield play, match 41, in the semifinals.  The defending champs, Starkville (85), were actual underdogs on neutral court against one of our National Tourney finalists, facing Columbia's top line (91).  The first set started slow for both teams. Though Starkville led the entire way from 3-2 on, Steve's vine-ripened Insane Round Posse twice had a chance to capitalize on the 'Hounds' service errors only to immediately serve one out themselves and hand the ball back. It's like they were playing fetch or something! Despite all that, it took until 20-18 Starkville before Columbia managed better than a 2-pt streak, and Steve's crew pulled back into a tie at 20-20.  Of course, it didn't hold long, and after 21-21, Columbia fell to a kill, a massive rally featuring 3 digs, an ace, and yet another dig by Starkville to close on a 4-pt run and end it 25-21. Set 1 to the Dogs!  Set 2 saw Columbia slowly pull away into the teens, leading 19-16, when Starkville lost all discipline, as if the Columbia pep band switched out the penny whistle for a dog whistle. Starkville had a dog in the net, then a block, then a dig/kill against, then another spike attempt dug and spiked back, then suffered an ace, and suddenly it was 24-16 and set point! The Tomatoes' McCracken dug another spike to set up the eventual Brehme kill (3 of the last 4 points were Brehme kills) and Columbia made the doggies roll over and play dead with a 6-pt run to end set 2!  Set 3 again saw Columbia domination, going from a 5-5 tie to 10-5 Columbia, and then building leads as large as 8, which was the final margin, at 17-25.  Set 4 and the Bloodhounds went back to hunting mode, tired of the Tomatoes' taunts.  A series of small runs saw a lead build from 2-0 to 4-1 to 8-2 and then surge to 13-4.  Flynn served a pair of aces around another point and Starkville led 22-10 and 24-13 before finally closing it out 25-15. Ouch. Not so much Crazy, and more Befuddled Beefsteaks. Yet we'd still have a set 5, and Columbia would come out clamoring for revenge and started it out... dropping the first four points.  And yet they'd rally, bringing it back to 5-5, then 6-6, then 7-7! And again Starkville dug and spiked out to a lead only to see Columbia creeper vine back in it, tying at 9-9! Alas, that was the last Columbia could do against the defending Shield champs, never leading in the 5th set, and dropping a pair of runs late to fall behind 12-9 and 13-10, fending off just one match point and falling 15-11. For the match, Columbia outhit Starkville .490 to .467, with fewer hitting errors and far more blocks. Starkville countered with slightly better receiving and a slim edge on digs.  In a match that went out to five sets between these juggernauts, that slight edge was the difference as Eduard and Starkville pull out our #3 Upset (in the Shield Semis, no less) at -6!  Congrats, Eduard!

We'll stay in the Shield for our #2 Upset, this time featuring last season's National Champ as Portland matched up against Manitowoc in the consolation matches.  Both teams appeared to be getting some XP in, with the Walltoppers (63) seemingly overmatched by the Axemen (70).  Set 1 played out that way, as Portland danced like it was a log-rolling contest, winning 21-25.  Set 2 and the Fans of Flannel were harder pressed, needing extra points to take set 2, at 26-28.  At this point, it appears this match finally made it past dusk when the Gargoyles come alive! Set 3 was mostly highlights for Derek's Darkflyers, 25-19.  And set 4 saw the Gargoyles win a close battle at 25-23 before taking over set 5 late and running out to a 15-11 final and our -7 #2 Upset of the Week!  Congrats, Derek!

Not to be outdone, our BUM-supporting friends in the Pac 8 took last week's admonitions to heart.  Match 39, conference play, with Mat-Su (86) traveling to San Deigo (78).  The Mighty Meese were the clear favorites, and had a chance to take sole possession of first place in the conference with one match to play.  The Swordfish have pulled multiple upsets this season, and win by them could propel the BladeBeaks to a first-place tie.  Early on, Mat-Su had only a slight edge, taking the first set in extra points at 28-26.  San Diego then won a narrow set 2 at 23-25.  Set 3 and again we had extra points!  This time 26-24 for Bryce's Bearded Bucks.  And then the Meese couldn't keep up, fatigued by playing in the sand pit at San Diego.  They faltered early and the 'Fish won set 4 20-25 and swam away with set 5 before the Meese could rally, 12-15, to cap off a 5-set Upset of the Week at -8!  Thanks to two sets going to extra points, this match also featured our highest point total of the weekend, at a combined 224 points.  Congrats to Matt for yet another Upset of the Week for San Diego!

Also, we must note that thanks to this -8 Upset, and a -1 Upset by Carlbad over Tucson, and a San Jose win, we now have a 4-way tie for first place in the Pac 8 with one game to go!  With the other conference races already over, the Pac 8 has to hog the spotlight for the final conference matches, with a scheduling coincidence that none of the four teams play each other!  Who gets to play spoiler and upset a title hopeful next weekend?  We're looking forward to answering that question next week!

With so much Upset attention this week, we'll coast through our blowouts with a little less verbage (that means "words," not a mashup of "vegetable garbage," for those Pekin & Columbia haters out there).  Match 39, conference play, and we'll stay in the Pac 8.  San Jose (91) traveled to Albuquerque, where Kelsey had the Kits out for some exercise and experience (rated 75).  The Shrimp have no mercy.  This one was fast and consistent, with Vick's Crusty Crew downing the Trash Pandas 25-17, 25-16, and 25-17.  The dominant road win pulled San Jose back into the title hunt, along with earning Vick the #3 Blowout of the Week at a combined 25 point victory!

Staying in conference play, we'll move east to the Big 8.  Once again, Steve had two big matches to play (National semi, Shield semi) and nobody left for the conference match.  The Cherry Tomatoes (63) took the court at Ames (76), and the Edible Thistles were not impressed.  They let Columbia hang around in set 1 at 21-25 before nearly doubling up Steve's Psycho Squad, with matching 13-25 sets 2 and 3.  The combined 28-pt win was good for our #2 Blowout of the Week, so congrats to Colin! Our combined 139-ratings points for the match were the lowest of the conference matches this session, and even lower than all but one neutral court match, so we also have an opposite of congratulations for The Opposite of Trying match of the week! Non-congrats to Colin, and we're seriously thinking of renaming this award as much as Steve has monopolized it this season. Maybe we can get Al to let us mark one match in the score pages each session with an icon of a can of tomato juice?

In any case, we have one more blowout to highlight, and we'll head to match 40, TMVL Cup 4th round, in the consolation matches. Along the way, we'll peek in Arlington and Sheboygan having a dandy of a clash, evenly rated at 79's, that went out to five sets before finally settling at 16-18 in set 5, our highest points for set 5 this session and very fitting for an evenly-rated match!  The Bats managed to escape the clutches of the Vermilingua this time, yet no doubt would have fallen if they'd been favored, because Olmec likes John and wants John to think about Olmec all the time, keeping him up at night pondering how Olmec is going to mess with his team this week. I think session 11 was just a setup for a final Bat loop-de-loop in session 12, yet we're romantic optimists here at the BUM Report.

In other Cup action, Alton and Tucson were matched up.  The Eaglets were playing for James, a mere 69-rated squad as the top line was in the National Semis.  Spiketown was ready for the lesser Altonoids to come to play, and Amy had them dominant in the opening sets, 12-25 and 13-25.  Not sure what happened in set 3 to let up, as Alton managed to get to 19 points before the Cacti ended their misery with a combined 31-pt blowout, and earned Amy the Blowout of the Week!  Congrats!

That runs things out for us, with a final note and nod to Baton Rouge and Antioch giving us our highest-scoring set of the week at 32-24, as Rob and Mike continued the long-standing SEC rivalry.  Nashville put everyone on notice for next season with a 97-rated team at home and a 94-rated team on neutral court!  Can anyone in the SEC even challenge Roy next season?

Best of fortunes for all those playing in Finals this weekend (Natty: Pekin v Columbia; Cup: Pekin v Denali; Shield: Starkville v Burlington; Holyoke: Dallas v Upset fodder).  Also best of luck to all the Pac 8 contenders!  Could we see our first ever four-way conference tie?  If anyone can do it, it's the Pac 8 this season!  We believe!