|
|
Post by elliotberton on Sept 27, 2017 15:42:04 GMT -5
Passing is and always will be the most significant facet of the game. If you can't pass, you can't side out consistently. If you can't side out consistently,....
I don't recall Lacey receiving serve. Our best passer in recent times was Megan Courtney, so in those years they picked on Frantti. Now that Frantti is doing better in that role, they are picking on Simone Lee. Not only is Simone our weakest receiver, but the idea is to try and keep her out of the offense.
I have seen us employ a two receiver strategy on some occasions (White and Frantti this year). If we do that, then they have to cover a lot of ground.
The other factor in the NE match, as aptly observed by others, we had very little success on our own serve. Coming into this match, I thought we were serving pretty tough. But NE made it look easy. On Saturday, we resumed getting aces and over passes etc. So I attribute our "poor" serving on Friday to NE being especially good.
|
|
|
|
Post by treblejig on Sept 27, 2017 16:14:45 GMT -5
The match reminded me of the 2013 Michigan State match where we just couldn't put anything together. Although we did win two sets, right? (I could check but I'm lazy at the moment) But let's go with your parallel and hope that we follow the 2013 team's path for the remainder of the season. The match I am remembering, we lost. Maybe it was a different year. |
|
|
|
Post by elliotberton on Sept 27, 2017 17:27:05 GMT -5
So I am watching the video of the Iowa match (thanks so much PSUMaui), and observe that Washington is playing RS in Set 2, with Thelen or Gorrell as Middle. Haleigh did not hit well out of that slot, but the block was more effective. By my count, that makes 5 different RS hitters this year (Reed, Detering, Gorrell, Thelen, Washington). Clearly, this is a problem, since the RS is the clean up hitter in transition about half of the time.
|
|
|
|
Post by toomuchvb on Sept 27, 2017 17:36:58 GMT -5
Seems like PSU had a four-year run in which they challenged their opponents by serving aggressively. Did the rest of the B1G notice something? Northwestern surely did. Watching their match against Purdue, saw lots of aggressive, if not risky, serving. But that could also be what a former men's coach does when moving to coaching the women's game. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2017 17:48:21 GMT -5
Although we did win two sets, right? (I could check but I'm lazy at the moment) But let's go with your parallel and hope that we follow the 2013 team's path for the remainder of the season. The match I am remembering, we lost. Maybe it was a different year. PSU did lose, 3-2. Didn't lose again until 2014. |
|
|
|
Post by treblejig on Sept 27, 2017 18:09:37 GMT -5
The match I am remembering, we lost. Maybe it was a different year. PSU did lose, 3-2. Didn't lose again until 2014. I see. Thanks for the clarification. It was a total bummer at the time. |
|
|
|
Post by rainpoolps on Sept 27, 2017 20:30:07 GMT -5
So I am watching the video of the Iowa match (thanks so much PSUMaui), and observe that Washington is playing RS in Set 2, with Thelen or Gorrell as Middle. Haleigh did not hit well out of that slot, but the block was more effective. By my count, that makes 5 different RS hitters this year (Reed, Detering, Gorrell, Thelen, Washington). Clearly, this is a problem, since the RS is the clean up hitter in transition about half of the time. I noticed that too, but I think that only happens because when we try to side out Washington usually goes for the slide and the other middle stays for the quick hit, and if we don't have a kill they just stay where they are. I do see that it causes the setter to only set the OH during transition, but blocking is generally OK no matter where Washington ends up. |
|
|
|
Post by bob2061 on Sept 28, 2017 4:18:26 GMT -5
Passing is and always will be the most significant facet of the game. If you can't pass, you can't side out consistently. If you can't side out consistently,.... I don't recall Lacey receiving serve. Our best passer in recent times was Megan Courtney, so in those years they picked on Frantti. Now that Frantti is doing better in that role, they are picking on Simone Lee. Not only is Simone our weakest receiver, but the idea is to try and keep her out of the offense. I have seen us employ a two receiver strategy on some occasions (White and Frantti this year). If we do that, then they have to cover a lot of ground. The other factor in the NE match, as aptly observed by others, we had very little success on our own serve. Coming into this match, I thought we were serving pretty tough. But NE made it look easy. On Saturday, we resumed getting aces and over passes etc. So I attribute our "poor" serving on Friday to NE being especially good. I don't know why we don't reserve one scholarship for a player with an especially effective serve. One thing we learned from Micha is that having a dominant serve can be the "game" changer. |
|
|
|
Post by nyline on Sept 28, 2017 13:10:13 GMT -5
Passing is and always will be the most significant facet of the game. If you can't pass, you can't side out consistently. If you can't side out consistently,.... I don't recall Lacey receiving serve. Our best passer in recent times was Megan Courtney, so in those years they picked on Frantti. Now that Frantti is doing better in that role, they are picking on Simone Lee. Not only is Simone our weakest receiver, but the idea is to try and keep her out of the offense. I have seen us employ a two receiver strategy on some occasions (White and Frantti this year). If we do that, then they have to cover a lot of ground. The other factor in the NE match, as aptly observed by others, we had very little success on our own serve. Coming into this match, I thought we were serving pretty tough. But NE made it look easy. On Saturday, we resumed getting aces and over passes etc. So I attribute our "poor" serving on Friday to NE being especially good. I don't know why we don't reserve one scholarship for a player with an especially effective serve. One thing we learned from Micha is that having a dominant serve can be the "game" changer. Maybe because a server like Micha is a generational talent at server, and that player has to be able to do more than just serve? |
|
|
|
Post by elliotberton on Sept 28, 2017 17:45:04 GMT -5
I note with surprise that, according to the always accurate Dignittany site, Iowa has 102 victories. That is an impressive figure especially in September. Perhaps our victory over Iowa was more significant than I thought.
As to serving, we have good servers. In most matches, White goes on long runs (possibly due to the personnel in that rotation). Detering has clusters of aces, and Weiskircher has been pretty effective (and in one big match this year, match changing). Given our serving success against other teams, we have to take our hats off to Neb. They received incredibly well. In my view, the disparity between the teams' "excellent" serve reception (a stat kept at the International level) was the main reason we got clobbered on Friday.
That said, Russ' focus on seniors messing up at a critical juncture at the end of Set 1 is an interesting point. Momentum does make a difference at all levels.
|
|
|
|
Post by nyline on Sept 28, 2017 20:05:49 GMT -5
I note with surprise that, according to the always accurate Dignittany site, Iowa has 102 victories. That is an impressive figure especially in September. Perhaps our victory over Iowa was more significant than I thought. As to serving, we have good servers. In most matches, White goes on long runs (possibly due to the personnel in that rotation). Detering has clusters of aces, and Weiskircher has been pretty effective (and in one big match this year, match changing). Given our serving success against other teams, we have to take our hats off to Neb. They received incredibly well. In my view, the disparity between the teams' "excellent" serve reception (a stat kept at the International level) was the main reason we got clobbered on Friday. That said, Russ' focus on seniors messing up at a critical juncture at the end of Set 1 is an interesting point. Momentum does make a difference at all levels. Oh my. Well, they do have a rising young coach. |
|
|
|
Post by elliotberton on Sept 28, 2017 22:31:23 GMT -5
So I am watching the video of the Iowa match (thanks so much PSUMaui), and observe that Washington is playing RS in Set 2, with Thelen or Gorrell as Middle. Haleigh did not hit well out of that slot, but the block was more effective. By my count, that makes 5 different RS hitters this year (Reed, Detering, Gorrell, Thelen, Washington). Clearly, this is a problem, since the RS is the clean up hitter in transition about half of the time. I noticed that too, but I think that only happens because when we try to side out Washington usually goes for the slide and the other middle stays for the quick hit, and if we don't have a kill they just stay where they are. I do see that it causes the setter to only set the OH during transition, but blocking is generally OK no matter where Washington ends up. No-Washington and Thelen both played RS in sets 2-4. Washington was middle for two rotations then rotated to RS when Thelen came in. Thelen was middle for the block to the left of Washington. Thelen played RS too when Washington served or rotated out, at which time Gorrell was middle. When Thelen was RS she hit like she was doing a slide (rather than a forward attack). Of the three (Washington, Thelen and Gorrell) Thelen has shown the best swing from a straight RS attack, though she does not hit very hard. Detering as a lefty is an entirely different problem for opponents. None of them have shown to be a satisfactory solution. |
|
