Top-Rated Bullies and Defending Champs Beware!  Olmec Justice is out to Defend the Little Guys!

Think your highly-rated top 7 at home is good enough for victory?  Think again!  No lead too safe, no lineup too powerful, no win streak too long for Team Olmec to overcome and wrong the rights of odds and stats while laughing in the face of probabilities!  Welcome to the BUM Report, where the utterly improbable Under-Whatever is our kind of hero!

And special thanks for this session, as session 2 always brings us our widest variety of "try" and "try nots" in the league.  Some teams are pushing for early wins.  Others are pushing for Fit and starters are still resting.  A small handful of squads are doing things according to some shadowy and probably nefarious plans that defy seeming logic or common game wisdom, leaving the rest of us to guess as to motive and be surprised by the opposing lineups.  Whoever you are, we appreciate you all because it gives the BUM Report ample opportunity for column material!  The end of WGM group play usually saddens us because we know it's a few dark sessions until the non-conference slate kicks in and massive ratings difference start flowing across the TMVL ticker again.  So for all of you who T7'd a B7 team this week, we applaud you and your opponent!

Moving into our Blowouts of the Week! We'll start in conference play, match 4 in the Big 8.  Ames and the Tasty Thistles waltzed into Quincy with the backups.  The Mad Mules of Gem City greeted them in standard equine fashion, promptly biting whatever appendages came too close to the center line during the pre-game warmups.  We're fairly certain that Al gives out "bounty bonuses" for the player that can leave the nastiest looking bite mark on an opponent.  By first serve, Ames was already on edge and distracted.  It only got worse as the match progressed.  Quincy jumped out 3-0 in the first set and Ames never got it back closer than 2 points, finishing 17-25.  For set 2, Ames flipped the script and got the first point, then gave up a 3-pt run to also start 1-3 in the hole.  They rallied early, and were leading 6-5 with the serve when the proverbial wheels fell off.  The Rabbids went on an eight-point run to lead 13-6, and the Artichokes never got closer than 5 the rest of the set, ending 15-25.  Set 3 mirrored set 2, 1-3 to start, and then Quincy whittled away with 3- and 4-pt runs to Ames' 1 or 2 points.  The Mules didn't let up, and went on to hit .684 for the third set (19 attempts, 15 kills, 2 errors) while Colin's lads just wanted to get on the bus and head home, hitting sub .050 for the second-straight set and finishing the day with 20 hitting errors to 30 kills (.137 final attack rating).  Quincy gets their first win of the season and the #3 Blowout of the Week at +30 points!

At #2 we travel to an unnamed neutral site for the second round of WGM group play, match 6, Spokane and Carlsbad.  We imagine this one being played at the Groom Lake remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base, known more affectionately as Area 51, as a morale raiser for the troops and 'non-citizens' who reside there, until we hear otherwise.  If Al needs a list of "neutral site" match locations for a future game enhancement, we're happy to provide a starter list and we're certain our faithful BUM Report readers will contribute as well!  Back to the match at overly large and hairy hand, or zygodactyl feet, as applies to our respective competitors.  Phil's Lazy-Eyed Lizards sent out the hatchlings from the latest clutch of Carlsbadians, with five freshman or sophomores and just one senior (L Talamantes) trying to herd the youth into their proper positions.  It went about as well as you'd expect, when facing a 'Squatch lineup featuring 6 juniors and seniors and a lone sophomore.  The match started fast for the camera-shy forest dwellers, as Jason's crew jumped out to a 4-0 start and never let the Chameleons tie it back up.  Set 1 ended 25-15.  Set 2 saw the Chameleons with an early lead at 3-2, only to give up a 5-point run and the Desert Denizens never recovered, falling 25-16.  Set 3 looked to be going better for Phil's team, keeping it close at 5-4 and having a chance to rally at 8-12 with the serve.  And that's when the 'Squatch started squishing things.  A few blocks, an ace, some hitting errors, and dig/return kills sprinkled in, and Spokane had an eight-point run to lead 20-8 before Silva got bored of serving and hit one into the next area code just to prove he could. It's a 'Squatch dominance thing, so we're told. There was one more service error by Spokane to give the Chameleons a final double-digit tally, as the ending set wrapped up 25-10 and gave us a combined 34-pt win, our #2 Blowout of the Week. Congrats, Jason!

And our top mark also features the Long-tongued Lizards of New Mexico, this time as the predator, not the prey.  Match 5, conference play in the Pac 8, where blowouts are as common as sunny days and earthquakes!  Carlsbad was at home for this one, welcoming the Livid Lupines of Denali.  Andy sent the pups, rated 63 on average.  Phil played everyone who didn't play in match 6, which meant most of his T7 were geared up (81 average rating) for a home court smackdown.  The Chameleons had two separate six-point runs in the opening set, while holding the Wolves to a -.200 hitting rate (6 kills, 11 errors).  Set 1 ended 11-25.  Then the Pups threw a minor temper tantrum (we're not sure it really counted as "angry," per se) and tried their best to keep it close. Just when they were within a point two separate times they instead served it out and killed their own rallies. The 15-25 closing mark wasn't really that close. Set 3 must have been close to nap time for the Pups as their little legs kept short-hitting the ball between service errors and attacking errors. Denali finished set 3 with just 5 kills, and 13 attack errors, more than twice Team Hypercolor's match total of 6 errors!  The combined 36-pt mauling is good for the #1 Blowout of the Week and the #2 mark for the season-to-date!  Congrats to Phil and the Funky-Toed Fly-Eaters!

We will take a moment to congratulate another member of the Pac 8 for setting a new standard in the Anti-Blowout category, where a team wins despite being outscored overall for the match.  Back in season 11, Bryce's Meese lost a match despite outscoring their opponent by 11 total points.  That mark has been the highest in recent league history for our anti-blowout record.  Perhaps wanting to get on the other side of the record book, now the Antlered Army has set a new mark!  Match 6, WGM group play, at a neutral site.  We envision this one on a temporary court built atop Devil's Tower, Wyoming, where all participants and spectators (and a whole lot of extra volleyballs to replace ones hit over the edge) have been delivered courtside by a fleet of new Amazon delivery drones with a 1 ton lifting capacity (because large male meese can weigh up to ~1,500 lbs/~680 kg). Because that would be really cool, right? The Meese would need lifted.  Their opponents can just fly themselves to the match, as the Winged Hogs are not constricted by such trivialities as gravity or expected match odds.  When Porkopolis is involved, they are never the underhog.  In this one?  It was all tied up on the rankings at 81-81, our second-highest combined neutral court ranking of the season!  Set 1 went all Cinci's way, as James' Tuskers beat Bryce's Beard-Bearers 25-11.  The 11 points by Mat-Su was the lowest set total of the session for a neutral court match.  That's -14 for the Meese point differential.  Set 2?  A Bull Moose party rally, as they won 22-25!  Now only -11 for point differential, and 1-1 in sets.  Set three again saw Porkopolis push around their opponents with porcine power, coasting to a 7-pt win, 25-18, and raising the differential to -18 for Mat-Su.  Set 4 saw the Meese refuse to bow out, as they mirrored the set 2 win with another 22-25 victory, now -15 on differential and setting up a stellar set 5!  After a tight back-and-forth up to 9-9, Mat-Su gained an edge and was leading 11-14 for match point #1.  Cinci didn't go down easy, and warded off two match points to get to 13-14 with the serve.  Perfect passing and setting led to a final Wollenberg kill and the 13-15 Mat-Su win, which ended with a -13 point differential in the victory!  That's a new league record for winning with the worst point differential, our new Anti-Blowout of the Week/Season/League History (as recorded by the BUM Report since season 9)!  Congrats to Bryce, and now we have to wonder how long James T will allow his team to be on the wrong side of a record before upping the mark.  Perhaps the next Manitowoc clash?  Those are always and predictably unpredictable!

As a "More" aside, having mentioned Manitowoc, the Igneous Walltoppers were part of a season record this week too, in match 6 and facing off against the Spiky Spikers of Tucson.  While the match ended in a non-upset and very small (-1) anti-blowout with the victory by Amy's team, it was set 5 that got our attention.  Picking up late in the match, with Manitowoc serving at 14-10 for Match Point #1, Tucson spiked home five straight points to go from down four to up one and serving for their own match point at 14-15! The ensuing rally featured 4 digs before the Gargoyles got a kill to even it up. The Fightin' Flora quickly got ahead again, only to watch the Walltoppers hammer another tying kill to get to 16-16.  This time a dig/kill had Derek's Decorative Demons in the lead at 17-16, and they continued to trade points to 18-18, when a Manitowoc service error led to Match Point #9.  Mediocre passing (2) and setting (2) led to a group of blockers rising to the challenge, with OH Cisneros getting a strong arm on the ball and completing the block for match point!  The final 18-20 set 5 score is our highest-yet of the season, so congrats to Derek and Amy for setting the early and highly-entertaining standard, edging out the 19-17 Pekin @ Arlington set 5 score from match 4!

For Upsets this session, we had a repeat from last week and a new season-high (or low, rather?)!  Starting in our #4 position, we're back in the Pac 8 with two previously-featured teams, match 4, Carlsbad at Tucson.  The Godfather vs. The Mother of our primary TMVL programmer, Mad Max, these two managers are long-time friends off the court, and the bitterest of competitors on it.  Phil brought a road-tested lineup of players, coming in as very slight favo(u)rites (+1 rated over Amy's side) despite the hostile greenhouse conditions of The Spike Dome.  Set 1 was close for most of the match. Though the Spiky Spikers had a good lead at 10-15, they let Los Lagartos de Lengua Larga back into it, with Carlsbad even leading at 17-16 and 18-17 and being tied up at 23-23.  A Tucson kill later, it was Amy's set point #1, which they failed to convert into the win. They swapped points to 25-26 Tuscon, serving, and got the dig/kill to finish off set 1 at 25-27!  Set two was still close late, at 17-18, before the Saguaros pulled away to a 20-25 finish.  They echoed that score in set 3 as well, not pulling away until they broke a 19-19 tie and won six of the final seven points.  The end result was just a -1 minor upset, yet it was our first Upset Sweep of the Season!  Congrats to Amy and the Spikin' Saguaro for the first blood in that category for season 13!

In our #3 (tied) upset of the week, we feature a team who got themselves a -4 Upset last week as well, with the Porkopolis Porcines hosting Olmec's favorite boy toy, John H and the Sheboygan Bloodsuckers (match 4, conference).  The Bats came prepared for this one, bringing an 82-rated team on the road. While not the highest of the round, it was the best road rating for the session in the Big East.  James doesn't care.  If it's within a 10-rating, they've always got a chance, it seems.  The 78-home rating was comfortable enough for the Hogs to wallow in The Pig Sty with relaxed ease, even after dropping the first set.  They came back to win set 2 24-26, and then upped the pressure with a set 3 win at 21-25.  Though the Bloodsuckers made it close, winning set 4 and pushing to double-digits in set 5, this one seemed fated for Cinci to take another upset conference win and the final 10-15 set 5 mark sees Sheboygan yet again fail to out-duel the Winged Hogs for Big East aerial supremacy, now dropping 15 of the last 17 versus the Truffle Trotters. We'd point out how many of those John had a slight ratings edge in, yet that seems cruel at this point. No doubt the session 5 rematch is already marked for a T7 home stand.  In the mean time, congrats to James for another -4 upset, #3 of the session.

Tying that -4 mark is another team that seems to own their frequent opponent.  Match 4, conference, now turning to the SEC where N'Orleans came into the Bluegrass State to face the Kittens with a 77-rated team, +4 on the home team at the Litter Box arena, sponsored by Fresh Step brand cat litter.  Matthew and the Purple Panthers enjoy playing with the Rats whenever possible, and at least this time spared them from the hope of a 5-set win by finishing them off in four sets.  Sets 1-3 were close, with Kentucky winning set 1 23-25 and set 3 22-25, sandwiched around a massive set 2 that finished with a Swamp Rat victory at 37-35, TMVL's highest-scoring set so far this season!  That was the only highlight for the low-crawling Voodoo Vermin, as set 4 was a debacle of poor play, and the Panthers stalked and slashed their way to a dominant 12-25 set 4 win and nailed the -4 upset, #3 on the week.  Begrudging congrats to Matt and the Kittens for yet another Swamp Rat upset victory!  We will solve the puzzle that is Kentucky at some point, we hope!

The #2 Upset was another familiar foe to the column.  Matt and the Swordfish routinely stab others in the back when they least expect it.  This time it was Alton and James' high-flying team, on neutral turf for the WGM group match 6.  Alton was +5 at 67-62 ratings.  Neutral court between The Aerie and the Pacific probably came out close to Salt Lake, Utah, where the salt flats would be an awesome court to play on, akin to the red clay at Roland Garros in tennis. Unfortunately for the Eagles, it would also mean a close body of salty water to refresh Team Xiphos.  Set 1 and 20-25 was the early upset result.  The Ravin' Raptors pulled an extra-point 26-24 set 2 to tie it back up, only to lose footing or flight feathers and floundered their way to a 16-25 set 3 loss.  Set four had the Eagles up 12-8 before their odds of winning flew south.  Two attack errors sandwiched by two blocks saw the lead disappear. San Diego was down at 13-12 and then hit high gear and never looked back, pulling a 6-pt run before Lukens stopped the bleeding to pull one back at 14-18.  That was the closest they got, with the Blade-Beaks winning six of the final seven points with a pair of aces and three Alton errors contributing to the final 15-25 set 4 finish and capping off yet another San Diego upset, this time at -5 and our #2 of the week and #3 on the season-to-date!  Congrats, Matt!

For our #1 Upset this session, we stay in SEC conference play, match 4, with the Red Stick Fern Fruits (80 rating) traveling to Music City to take on the Firefoxes (89 home rating, tied for highest of the session and season-to-date!) in a clash of early-season conference favorites.  Since the start of season 10, these teams have alternated wins with the home teams always winning, and swapping neutral court wins to keep the every-other match pattern going.  Season 13 saw those patterns clash.  It was Nashville at home, where they haven't lost since season 6.  It was the Punchin' Peels turn by the alternating pattern.  Turns out, Olmec likes patterns.  Set 1 was tight with Nashville leading most of the way. At 22-23 Music City, the Firefoxes served and Red Stick responded with the pass-set-kill to even it up.  The next point hinged on a lousy set by Nashville's Davola, one of only a few mis-sets on the day.  This one led to a block that set up set point #1, and the Bananas split the defense perfectly with a cherry-on-top ace to win set 1 25-23!  Set 2 saw the Red Pandas seeing red and playing like it.  They jumped out to a 2-0 they never gave up, winning comfortably at 18-25.  Set 3 saw the reverse, with Baton Rouge never trailing, and spending most of the match 2-4 points ahead and putting OH Garrity on the spot with repeated hard serves.  Garrity's receive rate of .733 and average-rated return of 1.6 were easily match-worst, and put S Davola into bad positions. Though the teams were tied on digs (20 each) and Nashville out-blocked Baton Rouge (23, no errors, to 12 with 2 errors), the Fightin' Fern Fruit ended up with 65 kills to the Firefoxes' 54.  Garrity earned the 'least valuable player' award with his abysmal 2.83 match rating (next lowest from either team was 4.95).  Set 4 seemed to be a Nashville rally up through 13-18, until Senator Mike's boys kept chipping away and pulled an 8-3 run to tie it at 21-21!  Points were traded through 24-23, and the Bananas served match point #1 only to hit it out!  Now 24-24, the Bananas' setter O'Brien made an opportunistic quick-kill on the second hit, and then finished it off by serving an ace, his only one of the day, to finish off the match in four sets and land the #1 Upset of the Week and biggest Upset of the Season-so-far at -9!  Congrats to Mike and the Bananas!  We can only hope the hangovers are still in effect when you come to N'Orleans for your next match.

On the More side of things, as do every season as players develop and Fit points rise, we continue to see our top-rated teams improve.  Current headliners are for Away matches: Columbia (85), Teutopolis (86) and Pekin (88).  Home: Nashville (89, 87), Mat-Su (89) and Columbia (88).  Neutral: Nashville (87, 84), Teutopolis (82), and Mendon (82).  Our highest-rated home/away clash in Baton Rouge @ Nashville (our #1 Upset above!) at 169 combined ratings, and our neutral court clash is now Nashville v Quincy at 167. More on that one shortly for a fun, new oddity.  Our lowest-cominbed ratings this week was in the WGM group, match 6, and 'featured' the bottom of the Dallas and New Orleans rosters.  112 combined points, 3rd lowest of the season, and our The Opposite of Trying match of the week!  The Opposite of Congrats to Craig and myself for this one, as neither team could muster much of an offensive showing until set 5 when the Pound Puppies ran away with it to a final 5-15 set and avoiding the -8 upset along the way.  Craig was probably just toying with us all along to get the extra two sets of XP for his younger players.  He's crafty that way.

That leaves just one match to mention.  WGM group play, match 6.  Nashville and Quincy.  This match saw Al in the usual underMule role, facing unfairly off against the highest-so-far neutral court team in Roy's 87-rated Firefox foes.  Quincy's 80 wasn't shabby, and they played well against the obviously superior team in this one.  What makes it unique is the final scores:  26-24.  26-24.  28-26.  Three sets, all in extra points!  Four times in the past four seasons we've seen a match with four sets going to extra points.  Once we even had four sets go to extra points, season 9, coincidentally also match 6, Schenectady and Denali playing their WGM group match!  The difference in this one is that this marks the first BUM-recorded 3-set sweep in all extra points!  Congrats to Roy for the victory in this new and currently unique record place, and for Al and the Mules for their hard efforts and participation in not giving up until the final whistle!  May the rest of us play just as inspired ball in our own losses to the new league bully, Roy, joining Roger and Steve as the new Terrible Trio that no one wants to play!  Best of luck in avoiding the BUM Report next week!  Just know that Olmec already has slated you for an appearance, you just don't know when it's coming!  Like vigilante heros stalking evil in the night, you never know when or where Olmec Justice will strike next!  Tune in next week for our newest exciting installment of TMVL's favorite (i.e. only) running periodical the BUM Report!  Nah-nah-nah-nah-NAH!  Pow!