Post mortem and 2016

I am a big PSU volleyball fan, but have never played or coached. Just watching from the outside, I want to say that our girls are human, and they are not going to be perfect "all the time". I suspect Frantti played with some injury against Hawii, because she is not an athlete to hit less than 10%. I remember Coach Rose said before, a kid can only hit the hard wood so many times before they get banged up. Remember Hancock said Frantti's nickname was "crazy" last year? I do not see the fire in her this year nearly as much, so I am pretty sure she is not 100%. I suspect Frantti will emerge as a dominant player next year, a Kelsey Robinson (6'2") type of player, who is on the national team now. When it comes to setting, BW was not the setter of the year for sure, but Hancock did not do very well in her first year as a setter either. BW deserves more time to be judged what she is made of. Not having many taller players (6'3" or taller), they have to run a much faster and dynamic offense next year. Defense was a big problem for 2015. Aside from not having Dom and Lacy level of performance from current roster, the frequent change in line up made it harder for players to gel. Next year we will see what Reed and Novakovic can do. I believe Lee will get much better and consistent next year as well. Santana from Minnesota was a mediocre player for a couple of years, and this year she is playing like a machine. Considering Minnesota did not make the postseason last year, but this year they have a chance to go all the way, PSU has reason to be optimistic as well.

All good points but I ask you to please allow the defense the same courtesy you give to BW. Remember, they are all virtually first year players on the court too as Dom and Lacey really never came out of a game for the past two years.

Santana was also helped by a very good supporting cast, that included the Tapp sisters and Seliger-Swenson, the setter.

Yes, good for those who stay despite lack of playing time, but it is only fair to point out that undoubtedly some of them stay because they have nowhere else to go. The unknowable I am most curious about is how the season might have ended had the coaches stayed with the team that began the season, with Pierce and Thelan starting. Because after all the tinkering throughout the middle 30-or-so games, that's what we had at the end. Maybe Pierce, like Holcomb, would have been worn out; but maybe her serve-receive would have improved. And perhaps Thelan would have developed a more consistent offense to go with her blocking; but maybe not. It could be PSU just did not have the players this year, but it could also have be that the PSU players were not deployed in the most effective way. I know that is a heretical statement for this site, so spare me the rhetorical questions of whether or not I think I know the players or the game of volleyball better than Rose. I don't.

Hopefully. 

Perhaps this is a bit off this topic, but someone earlier mentioned that Russ Rose said that he failed to recognize the impact on recruiting of the change to rally scoring. I have read that elsewhere but I don't understand it.

How did the change impact recruiting?

Krause also started at the beginning of the year. Everybody seems to forget that. When the change went to Rivera, they didn't win a meaningful match after that. You can argue all you want about ability, but volleyball is a lot about chemistry, and that was missing IMO after the switch to Whitney in the middle and Rivera in the one position.