What a different NCAA volleyball season this will be

On Friday, 250 days after Dana Rettke ripped a ball to the floor and Wisconsin won the national championship, there will be NCAA volleyball.

And what a different NCAA volleyball season this promises to be.

It can be summed up simply by saying that it’s all about who left and who transferred (a list of Power 5 transfers follows).

Take Wisconsin, for example.

The Badgers lost Rettke, as good of a middle who has ever played the college game. It also lost setting great Sydney Hilley, like Rettke a VolleybalMag.com first-team All-American. But don’t cry for the Badgers. They were ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten coaches’ preseason poll and No. 3 in the AVCA coaches national preseason poll, and there’s a good chance their top offensive player could be a transfer. Sarah Franklin, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter who was third in the Big Ten last year in kills, transferred in from Michigan State.

There are a few other programs that will have a say in things — think Texas, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Washington and Stanford — but all conversations start with the Big Ten, where Nebraska, Minnesota and Ohio State will join Wisconsin as contenders for the NCAA title.

Nebraska, which lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA title tilt, lost both middles, moved its All-American setter to defensive specialist, and yet the Huskers are No. 1 in the AVCA poll. Gone are All-Americans Lauren Stivrins and Kayla Caffey, but in their place is Kaitlyn Hord, an All-American middle who transferred from Penn State.

Minnesota (No. 3 in the B1G poll and No. 5 in the AVCA) graduated its best player in Stephanie Samedy but took in four transfers, including Michigan State middle Naya Gross, who led the Spartans in blocks and was fourth in kills.

Ohio State is the Big Ten outlier, No. 4 in the league poll and No. 7 in the AVCA. 

Talent-laden and experienced Ohio State, however, holds one of the early-season keys to NCAA Tournament seeding. That’s because the Buckeyes play host to Big 12 powerhouse and AVCA No. 2 Texas. Though they shouldn’t, first-week matches between teams like this ultimately have a big impact on seeding. And this is as good as it gets anywhere Friday.

So, speaking of Texas, which we featured earlier this month, don’t get caught in the revolving door. Texas lost a fabulous pin hitter in Skylar Fields, now a senior at USC, but don’t cry…