Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2015 8:31:02 GMT -5
Time to bury the MN loss and move on. Gotta have a short memory per Club Coach.
Next on the schedule is Michigan at Rec Hall on Wednesday Nov. 18, 2015 at 7:00 pm E.T. on BTN+.
Gotta feel for MI, they play 11 away games in the Big10 this season vs 9 home games.
MI has split their home matches (4W and 4L) thus far and, more importantly, has only 3W vs 5L in their away matches (good news for PSU fans).
As of late, MI has lost 4 of their last 5 matches (4 were away games) and, if you go back further, they've lost 6 of their last 8 (4 home, 4 away).
Not a good sign for MI fans. They simply are not playing well on the road, as of late.
However, they do have one thing going for them, it seems they play better as a match drags on.
Michigan's conference play record in 3-set matches is 3-5, in 4-set matches is 2-3, and in 5-set matches is 2-1 (that one 5-set loss was vs PSU).
I have compiled a Comparison of Stats chart for both teams, first by conference play (per Cross5 and Nyline), then showing full season match stats.
(Note, I've added the kills/set differential as a relevant stat, which is similar to aces/set in that both are offensive stats but don't include errors.)
I was able to discern some very revealing information from this table. Michigan has a negative differential in almost every relevant statistical category in conference play except the digs/set differential. Ouch! That mean MI is getting beat in almost every aspect of the game, with the exception of keeping rallies going longer.
Click on the thumbnail icon below to open a larger graphic.
In their previous matchup (PSU vs MN) at Cliff Keen Arena on 10/21/15, Penn State won 3 sets to 2.
On that night, Michigan's was hitting at a .235 clip in the match, while Penn State was at .268 hitting percentage.
Both teams recorded 63 kills in the outing, though PSU out-blocked MI 17-7.
For MI, Claire Kieffer-Wright (14 kills, .370) and Krystalyn Goode (7 kills, .357) really lit it up and kept MI in the match.
Michigan's star MB, Abby Cole, had 14 kills but only hit .114%.
More importantly, though, PSU won the sideout battle. PSU was siding out at 63.2% vs 57.1% for MI.
The key differences to look out for in Wednesday's match vs the first meeting are:
1) MI has a different libero this go around. Lindsey Lerg was MI's libero in the first matchup; however, MI has now inserted Tiffany Morales in the position.
2) Megan Courtney did not play in the first match, and her replacements did not contribute much:
Nia Reed had 0 kills on 4 swings with 2 errors (-.500) and Heidi Thelen had 3 kills on 7 swings with 1 error (.286).
3) Caroline Knop had just returned from injury in the first match and did not contribute much. I expect her to be at full strength tomorrow night.
How do these two teams compare vs Minnesota?
Michigan played Minnesota 10 days ago in MN and lost 3 sets to 1 (25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 25-22). MI took set 2 and came close to winning set 3 (they were tied 24 all), which they lost on an overturned call. So, that's a scary proposition for PSU who just got swept by MN. Also, OH Caroline Knop and MB Claire Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with 15 kills apiece. Knop also had 12 digs. MI libero, Tiffany Morales, led all players with 21 digs vs MN.
The Nittany Lions, who played MN on Saturday, had 3 players with at least 10 kills for the sixth time this season. Courtney had 14 kills and 5 digs, Frantti had 11 kills and 3 digs, while S. Lee had 10 kills and 4 blocks. Whitney added 8 kills with 4 blocks. So, a pretty solid and balanced performance offensively. Coach Rose's simplistic analysis of the MN loss was this, “I thought Minnesota played really well and they had a great crowd, I think they were better prepared. From our side, I thought we got some pretty good efforts."Coach Rose went on to specifically note the play of Lee and Courtney, then continued, "We were not very good at the serve and pass game and that really was the difference in the match. The last time we played Minnesota I thought we won the serve-pass game, but then tonight we didn’t. That was probably the difference.” (Quotes from article on
Other interesting takeaways from Penn State’s loss to the Gophers:
1) The loss came on PSU's 4th consecutive road match (7 of their last 8 matches have been on the road).
2) PSU setters, Weiskircher and Rivera, led the team with 8 digs each. Lee had 7 digs and Holcomb 6 (need more out of our libero).
Next on the schedule is Michigan at Rec Hall on Wednesday Nov. 18, 2015 at 7:00 pm E.T. on BTN+.
Gotta feel for MI, they play 11 away games in the Big10 this season vs 9 home games.
MI has split their home matches (4W and 4L) thus far and, more importantly, has only 3W vs 5L in their away matches (good news for PSU fans).
As of late, MI has lost 4 of their last 5 matches (4 were away games) and, if you go back further, they've lost 6 of their last 8 (4 home, 4 away).
Not a good sign for MI fans. They simply are not playing well on the road, as of late.
However, they do have one thing going for them, it seems they play better as a match drags on.
Michigan's conference play record in 3-set matches is 3-5, in 4-set matches is 2-3, and in 5-set matches is 2-1 (that one 5-set loss was vs PSU).
I have compiled a Comparison of Stats chart for both teams, first by conference play (per Cross5 and Nyline), then showing full season match stats.
(Note, I've added the kills/set differential as a relevant stat, which is similar to aces/set in that both are offensive stats but don't include errors.)
I was able to discern some very revealing information from this table. Michigan has a negative differential in almost every relevant statistical category in conference play except the digs/set differential. Ouch! That mean MI is getting beat in almost every aspect of the game, with the exception of keeping rallies going longer.
Click on the thumbnail icon below to open a larger graphic.
In their previous matchup (PSU vs MN) at Cliff Keen Arena on 10/21/15, Penn State won 3 sets to 2.
On that night, Michigan's was hitting at a .235 clip in the match, while Penn State was at .268 hitting percentage.
Both teams recorded 63 kills in the outing, though PSU out-blocked MI 17-7.
For MI, Claire Kieffer-Wright (14 kills, .370) and Krystalyn Goode (7 kills, .357) really lit it up and kept MI in the match.
Michigan's star MB, Abby Cole, had 14 kills but only hit .114%.
More importantly, though, PSU won the sideout battle. PSU was siding out at 63.2% vs 57.1% for MI.
The key differences to look out for in Wednesday's match vs the first meeting are:
1) MI has a different libero this go around. Lindsey Lerg was MI's libero in the first matchup; however, MI has now inserted Tiffany Morales in the position.
2) Megan Courtney did not play in the first match, and her replacements did not contribute much:
Nia Reed had 0 kills on 4 swings with 2 errors (-.500) and Heidi Thelen had 3 kills on 7 swings with 1 error (.286).
3) Caroline Knop had just returned from injury in the first match and did not contribute much. I expect her to be at full strength tomorrow night.
How do these two teams compare vs Minnesota?
Michigan played Minnesota 10 days ago in MN and lost 3 sets to 1 (25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 25-22). MI took set 2 and came close to winning set 3 (they were tied 24 all), which they lost on an overturned call. So, that's a scary proposition for PSU who just got swept by MN. Also, OH Caroline Knop and MB Claire Kieffer-Wright led Michigan with 15 kills apiece. Knop also had 12 digs. MI libero, Tiffany Morales, led all players with 21 digs vs MN.
The Nittany Lions, who played MN on Saturday, had 3 players with at least 10 kills for the sixth time this season. Courtney had 14 kills and 5 digs, Frantti had 11 kills and 3 digs, while S. Lee had 10 kills and 4 blocks. Whitney added 8 kills with 4 blocks. So, a pretty solid and balanced performance offensively. Coach Rose's simplistic analysis of the MN loss was this, “I thought Minnesota played really well and they had a great crowd, I think they were better prepared. From our side, I thought we got some pretty good efforts."Coach Rose went on to specifically note the play of Lee and Courtney, then continued, "We were not very good at the serve and pass game and that really was the difference in the match. The last time we played Minnesota I thought we won the serve-pass game, but then tonight we didn’t. That was probably the difference.” (Quotes from article on
Other interesting takeaways from Penn State’s loss to the Gophers:
1) The loss came on PSU's 4th consecutive road match (7 of their last 8 matches have been on the road).
2) PSU setters, Weiskircher and Rivera, led the team with 8 digs each. Lee had 7 digs and Holcomb 6 (need more out of our libero).
