cindy
Sophomore
Posts: 89
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Post by cindy on Sept 30, 2024 17:08:19 GMT -5
I think Pitt’s speed gave us trouble, so will be interesting to see how we handle Oregon.
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Post by jojonito on Sept 30, 2024 18:18:46 GMT -5
I think Pitt’s speed gave us trouble, so will be interesting to see how we handle Oregon. I agree completely. PSU blockers will need to have watched a lot of film on OR. Something I don't think I mentioned was the the OR setter, (against ILL), was 5 for 7 in dumps with no errors. Pretty impressive.
On the other hand, I think all things PITT gave us trouble.  And part of the reason they were so quick was that the PSU serve was not good. We didn't play any phase of the game well. PSU was out aced, out blocked, out dug and out killed.
The thing about the PITT match that really was impressive to me about PITT was how their pins were putting the ball down on oos balls. I would see an oos ball and think, okay, we got a chance. Then the PITT pin would just hammer the ball for a pt. I'm not good enough to tell whether Stafford and Babcock are just that good of hitters, or where the PSU block needs a lot of work (or had a bad night); or as is usually the case, a little of both.
Or maybe, as Hugh McCutcheon would say, "Sometimes you just have to give credit to your opponent and go on."
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 2, 2024 13:47:50 GMT -5
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Post by jojonito on Oct 3, 2024 19:25:00 GMT -5
So far OH is giving all they can handle. 17-17 in the 1st.
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Post by jojonito on Oct 3, 2024 19:26:36 GMT -5
I didn't even think of this, but OR probably is having same problem looking ahead to the PSU match that PSU did regarding the MU match.
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 6, 2024 18:37:19 GMT -5
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Post by jojonito on Oct 7, 2024 3:10:44 GMT -5
Some ramblings about some games I've watched, and about various teams. 
I just finished watching the Sat nite Minn vs USC match. Both teams had 5 set matches the night before. Not sure why they scheduled them on consecutive night as when PSU is out there, their matches are Thurs and Sat. MB because of a football game. I also watched a fair bit of the USC vs MICH match the night before. USC got a reverse sweep even tho they were down 11-5 in the 5th. They then went on a 6-0 run to tie the set and then out scored MI 4-2 to win the 5th and take the match. MI is 13-2, but they have played a lot of weak sisters in the pre-conf. MINN played some top teams in their first 4 matches but then played 6 weak sisters to finish off the pre-conf schedule. USC is a very good blocking team, but I wasn't impressed with their setting or team defense. I saw a number of situation where a USC hitter was blocked and the ball wasn't covered. Plus oos balls seemed to not be set in places where the hitters could get a decent swing on them. I know that you can't do that on all oos balls, but you should be able to do that on a fair number of them. That's one of my criteria in judging a team is how well they handle oos balls/transition balls and whether their hitters can get a good swing on them. But they sure have a lot of fight in them. Ally Batenhorst has been a huge addition to their team. She's their #1 player right now. Minn confuses me. Sometimes they play pretty good, but other times not so much. They beat TX in 5, lost to Stanford, Baylor and TCU in 5, beat WISC in 5, lost to PUR in 5, beat UCLA in 5. They were aced 11 times in the Wisc match and 17 (!!!!), SEVENTEEN times against PUR. That's hard to do, especially for a team in the upper 3rd of the B1G. They were aced 8 times by both UCLA and USC over the weekend. One could safely say that they have a problem with serve receive. I've heard rave reviews about the MINN libero, Zeynep Palabiyik. Say that name 5 times in a row!! She had 24 digs against WISC. Emily Ehman said that she would be her pick as libero of the B1G so gar. I'm still not sure whether TX is just decent this year or whether they will end up to be final four material at the end of the year. WISC I'm pretty sure is overrated. I don't see why they are ranked as high as they are. Oh well. But, they do have a freshman setter and she is sure to get better by the end of the season. In matches that I have watched, Once you get past Sarah Franklin and Anna Smrek, there isn't much as far as hitters go. And in the matches I've watched, their middles are underutilized. MB because their passing aitn't so great. Orzol isn't a hitter that can be depended on every match. Washington was undefeated coming into WISC this weekend and was soundly trounced -8, -14, -21.
As always, just my opinions.
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Post by jojonito on Oct 11, 2024 19:21:42 GMT -5
Just watching the ILL vs MI match at MI. ILL took the 1st set 25-19, was down in the 2nd set 13-19. ILL came back and tied the match at 21, then won the set 25-22. Okay, so that happens. BUT, MI was up in the 5th against USC, 11-5 just last week. USC went on a 6-0 run to tie the set at 11's, and then won the set 15-13 to win the match. Gotta be in their heads at this point in time.
Edit: Or not. MI down 11-5 in the 3rd; they come back with a 6-0 run, during with they had 3, count them, 3 aces in a row. So maybe not. But then ILL goes on a 4-0 run. This is a match of runs.
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 11, 2024 22:41:07 GMT -5
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Post by jojonito on Oct 13, 2024 3:05:05 GMT -5
Just watched the replay of PUR vs NEB at NEB. Interesting match. NEB with their 331 sell-out. NEB won in 5, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 25-22, 17-15. Sorry nyline that I couldn't report better news. A lot of long rallys. PUR playing very well (except for Raven Colvin .000 (5-5-20), she did have 9 blocks). Amazing the PUR could hang with NEB on the strength of their two OHs (Chicoine & Hudson).This was not the same PUR team the PSU played. Their defense was excellent and for the most part, their serve receive was pretty good. The 3rd set was a turning point in the match. If NEB had won it, would have been a much shorter match. NEB up 22-20. Looking like everything under control. Then Andi Jackson, Ms Automatic, has her first two hitting errors in a row (she was hitting .929 up to that pt), Krause has a hitting error and PUR takes the set 25-23 on a 5-1 finishing run. Go figure. PUR ran out of gas in the 4th, i.e. MB NEB adjusted some what as NEB won pretty easily. PUR hit .147 and NEB hit .114 in the 4th. The 5th set was a barn burner. PUR hit .481 and NEB .458. What??? It was close all the way in spite of PUR under the handicap of NEB KNOWING where the set was going; the OHs. Tie at 13. NEB gets match pt 14-13. PUR gets match pt 15-14. Then NEB scores the last 3 pts of the match to win 17-15. Great game. Chicoin hit .321 (22-4-53) Hudson hit .348 (26-4-63) PUR hit .331 for the match and NEB hit .242 (Go figure) PUR out blocked NEB 15 to 5PUR had 1 ace and NEB 3 PUR had 19(!) service errs and NEB 7. Tips/roll shots by PUR giving NEB some problems. NEB had at least 4 "campfires", where they watched the ball drop in the middle of their court without anyone even moving toward it. Any time that NEB has had an opportunity to put the ball over on two, PUR was there to block it, ususally for a PUR pt. Amazing overall defense by PUR. And it wasn't just the middles doing this. It was a team thing. So, two things confuse me (I know, I'm easily confused ). One, with all of NEB's height, two middles 6'4" & 6'3", OHs 2 - 6'4", 1 - 6'5" (Landfair-not starting), 1 6'2", why aren't they better blocking? They're ranked about 7-8 in the B1G, not to say they're bad, but with that height, I would think they'd be great. Maybe tonight was a bad nite for them (5 total blocks) as Hudson and Chicoine (all 5'91/2" of her) were on fire. Secondly, with Beason and Murray who can flat out murder the ball, why don't they hit for better average and hit more balls that can't be returned. There were some attacks by Beason in this game that were unreturnable. She looks like she can just go over blocks. Why doesn't she do that more often? Murray is hitting .239 and Beason is hitting .234. And Reilly is the best setter since sliced bread!! So is she not setting them where they need, or is she not being deceptive enough to get them more 1 on 1 attacks, or what? And this is with the best serve receive team in the conference.
Very fun match to watch, in spite of the fact that I had no dog in the fight. (Unlike nyline, whose 2nd favorite team is whoever is playing Nebraska ). Tho I must say, I'm pretty close to nyline in that respect. |
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 14, 2024 0:59:52 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 14, 2024 1:00:16 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 19, 2024 23:21:33 GMT -5
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Post by traveler on Oct 22, 2024 10:59:55 GMT -5
PU put up a super video on twitter that I can’t grab from here. Broke all time attendance record for a BI6 conference match.
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Post by ethankasales on Oct 22, 2024 17:54:05 GMT -5
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And part of the reason they were so quick was that the PSU serve was not good. We didn't play any phase of the game well. PSU was out aced, out blocked, out dug and out killed. 
