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Post by elliotberton on Nov 26, 2022 0:29:46 GMT -5
Interesting. I just looked up last years conference record. Guess what it was? 13-7 just like this year. Except that last year we beat OSU once, 3-0; beat MINN 3-0; lost to ILL 1-3; lost to PUR 2-3. The rest of the losses were to NEB (2), WISC (1), MINN (1), and OSU (1). One big advantage that this years team has is that they beat Stanford and Oregon in the pre-season, which last years team didn't do. Not sure what last years team rpi was, but I'm pretty sure that this years teams rpi is better than last year. It's sorta interesting comparing the two teams. Hord was probably a better overall player than anyone that is on this years team when you factor in both her defense and offense. Tho, she had matches where she was under .100. Jonni was the only consistent OH on last years team. One was never sure what the others would do; more than likely, not good. Erika Pritchard was playing pretty good up until she was injured. It seemed to me that she never really got back to that level after her injury. Rollins was up and down, hitting .220 for the season and with 2.45 kills a set. (She's hitting .262 at KY for the season with 3.65 kills a set). I would guess that she's doing better at KY because they have a better balanced team than PSU had last year. I think that this year's team is probably just about equal in middles, as it seldom has happened that both of this years middles have been shut down in the same match. I think that the combo of Allie and Katie are about equal to Kaitlyna and Allie last year. Obviously, I think that Allie has improved a fair bit this year. Allie wasn't as good offensively last year and was shut down by some teams. Katie has really come thru this year offensively (and is pretty good defensively). It's been fun to see Katie come to the fore when necessary and really play pretty good. (Or is it well?) I think that last year's back court defense was better with Jenna as libero and Maddy coming in as the first sub. Maddy is a decent libero but has had occasional problems in receiving server that I don't remember Jenna having. This year Kash has upon occasion been able to carry the team. Whereas last year, Jonni generally wasn't a powerful enough hitter to carry a team. Plus, she desperately needed help last year and seldom got it. My take on the two teams is that they were pretty equal overall. BUT, I would give the nod to this years team in the tournament, because there are more players that can contribute than there were last year. So it's seems to me that for that reason, this years team is harder to shut down. We'll see how things go; both in the NCAA seeding and in the NCAA play. I agree with almost all of your observations. I think this year's setter compares favorably to (now) San Diego's excellent setter. Not sure why Blossom was not as impactful in her seasons here, but she has elevated San Diego in ways she never did at PSU. Meanwhile, Elisaia seems to be a better blocker, and accumulates digs in bunches, while leading a constantly evolving offense. Still, I anticipate a round of 16 exit. Which would be a fine result for a completely rebuilt team. |
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 0:52:36 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 1:05:17 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 1:14:22 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 2:10:26 GMT -5
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Post by traveler on Nov 26, 2022 4:00:47 GMT -5
Interesting. I just looked up last years conference record. Guess what it was? 13-7 just like this year. Except that last year we beat OSU once, 3-0; beat MINN 3-0; lost to ILL 1-3; lost to PUR 2-3. The rest of the losses were to NEB (2), WISC (1), MINN (1), and OSU (1). One big advantage that this years team has is that they beat Stanford and Oregon in the pre-season, which last years team didn't do. Not sure what last years team rpi was, but I'm pretty sure that this years teams rpi is better than last year. It's sorta interesting comparing the two teams. Hord was probably a better overall player than anyone that is on this years team when you factor in both her defense and offense. Tho, she had matches where she was under .100. Jonni was the only consistent OH on last years team. One was never sure what the others would do; more than likely, not good. Erika Pritchard was playing pretty good up until she was injured. It seemed to me that she never really got back to that level after her injury. Rollins was up and down, hitting .220 for the season and with 2.45 kills a set. (She's hitting .262 at KY for the season with 3.65 kills a set). I would guess that she's doing better at KY because they have a better balanced team than PSU had last year. I think that this year's team is probably just about equal in middles, as it seldom has happened that both of this years middles have been shut down in the same match. I think that the combo of Allie and Katie are about equal to Kaitlyna and Allie last year. Obviously, I think that Allie has improved a fair bit this year. Allie wasn't as good offensively last year and was shut down by some teams. Katie has really come thru this year offensively (and is pretty good defensively). It's been fun to see Katie come to the fore when necessary and really play pretty good. (Or is it well?) I think that last year's back court defense was better with Jenna as libero and Maddy coming in as the first sub. Maddy is a decent libero but has had occasional problems in receiving server that I don't remember Jenna having. This year Kash has upon occasion been able to carry the team. Whereas last year, Jonni generally wasn't a powerful enough hitter to carry a team. Plus, she desperately needed help last year and seldom got it. My take on the two teams is that they were pretty equal overall. BUT, I would give the nod to this years team in the tournament, because there are more players that can contribute than there were last year. So it's seems to me that for that reason, this years team is harder to shut down. We'll see how things go; both in the NCAA seeding and in the NCAA play. I agree with almost all of your observations. I think this year's setter compares favorably to (now) San Diego's excellent setter. Not sure why Blossom was not as impactful in her seasons here, but she has elevated San Diego in ways she never did at PSU. Meanwhile, Elisaia seems to be a better blocker, and accumulates digs in bunches, while leading a constantly evolving offense. Still, I anticipate a round of 16 exit. Which would be a fine result for a completely rebuilt team. Not completely sure I can put my finger on it but there's something about this year's team. The love they all express for all of each other; the expression of it on the court with all having everyone's back; how little the problem turns out to be when even 2 or 3 have an off night because the others will without complaint and with much joy pick up the slack. The seeming bounty of weapons. And win or lose, there's a feel to it from this fan that I may be disappointed in an outcome, but never in the team. |
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Post by traveler on Nov 26, 2022 4:02:15 GMT -5
We've got one of those matrices we can construct with which team shows up: good or bad. Can our good beat their good? Can our bad beat their bad? I give us the edge in both. If they have an off night, that'll be helpful. If they're on and we have an off night... no. Let's not even think that. Lol. I guess we needed a matrix of matrices, one for each set! |
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Post by EnglishPennStateFan on Nov 26, 2022 5:52:49 GMT -5
No full replay available here so I've just read jojonito's summaries whilst not knowing the final outcome. It certainly was the usual PSU roller coaster of good runs and bad runs, but it's great that we were able to grind out the win.
We just need the good runs to be longer and the bad runs shorter. Very exciting tournament ahead!
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Post by nyline on Nov 26, 2022 6:43:24 GMT -5
No full replay available here so I've just read jojonito's summaries whilst not knowing the final outcome. It certainly was the usual PSU roller coaster of good runs and bad runs, but it's great that we were able to grind out the win. We just need the good runs to be longer and the bad runs shorter. Very exciting tournament ahead! JoJo captured it all very well, I thought. So, you got an excellent run-down of 2021 vs. 2022. traveler wrote: I think that single thing is Katie Schumacher-Cawley. All the "new Penn Staters" came here because of her. She set the tone of "All 17" -- it's given lip-service by all coaches, but she found ways to make it real. The video from Nasta Kudryashova's mom was the perfect example -- everyone matters on this team. That's down to Coach Katie, imho. |
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Post by treblejig on Nov 26, 2022 6:57:35 GMT -5
I was thinking something similar when I was looking at the photo above with the new recruits.  |
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 10:40:02 GMT -5
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 11:43:24 GMT -5
Kash Williams also had a big surprise for senior night, as she reunited with her sister, who she hadn’t seen since she was 11.
Edit: I realized it wasn’t actually Williams’ birthday. The video she posted of the balloons on her locker were just for senior night, as the other seniors had their lockers decorated by the team, too. My apologies for the mistake in an earlier version of this post.
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 16:43:12 GMT -5
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Post by jojonito on Nov 26, 2022 18:19:11 GMT -5
I agree with almost all of your observations. I think this year's setter compares favorably to (now) San Diego's excellent setter. Not sure why Blossom was not as impactful in her seasons here, but she has elevated San Diego in ways she never did at PSU. Meanwhile, Elisaia seems to be a better blocker, and accumulates digs in bunches, while leading a constantly evolving offense. Still, I anticipate a round of 16 exit. Which would be a fine result for a completely rebuilt team. I hope you're wrong about the round of 16 exit. But, as many people have said, it's not the seed that a team gets, it's where the selection committee puts them that matters. I know there are occasions where a team would much prefer a 6th seed as opposed to the 4th or 5th seed because it pushes back playing the #1 seed a bit. Last years bracket showed this when NEB and TX ended up in the same regional. I remember back in the 2013 tourney, PSU played Stanford in the regional final, which was a travesty. Karch was announcing the match and said that this should have been a semi or finals match. |
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Post by ethankasales on Nov 26, 2022 21:43:18 GMT -5
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