Post by Badger Alum on Oct 14, 2006 0:06:46 GMT -5
The Badgers looked great tonight. It was really surprising how easily they beat Purdue. There were in control of the entire match. I am trying to figure out if the Badgers just played that well or if Purdue is vastly overrated. Probably a bit of both is true. Purdue didn't look like a top 25 team tonight.
What's even more impressive than the dominating victory by the Badgers, was that they did it with one of their best players out with an injury (Maria Carlini). They served wonderfully and really blocked well. Their blocking statistics are somewhat deceiving in that they don't show how good the block was. They forced Purdue to completely abandon any aggressive attack. They tipped and cut shots all night as opposed to really attacking them. Danita Merlau really looked bad tonight. She was blocked a lot early on and then she started to tip a lot. She looked better last year than she did this year. I think she suffered from some really bad Purdue setting. That's the good news for the Badgers. But even through they dominated the Boilermakers, the setting to the middle was off tonight, they missed a lot of dig opportunities, their passing in serve receive was only average, and they ran a conservative offense to keep the pressure off Dupont. The Badgers have room for improvement.
As for Purdue, I don't know what to say. Their passing was absolutely horrible. It didn't matter who got the chance, they shanked passes all over the field house. Their setting wasn't much better. If this was a closer match, there would be a lot of complaints from Badger fans about the refereeing. The ref was horrible. He didn't call a thing until the end of the third game despite numerous (more than 10) obvious double hit sets. No wonder they struggled hitting the ball.
This is a good sign for the Badgers. They dominated Purdue when they only played average. They are a young team that is getting better each week. I think last week was an aberration. Losing Carlini in the third game at Ohio State really hurt them. They should have beaten Ohio State. Losing at Penn State is nothing to be ashamed of - I think all of the Big 10 teams will do that. Dolgner is really impressive. She's outstanding. Dupont looked strong. She's aggressive.
Each game could be summarized as below:
Game 1 was a joke. At one point I think the score was 21-6. It's hard to hold any team, none the less a top 10 team to 12 points in a game. Purdue could not figure out the Badger block and looked bewildered.
Game 2 wasn't much different from Game 1. It was all Badgers. Purdue couldn't pass, hit, or block. It was embarrassing. You really had to wonder how Purdue won so many games up until this point?
Game 3 was more interesting. Purdue came out strong and had a 5-2 lead early. They were in the locker room for a really long time - you could tell they were doing some soul searching. Their coach barely made it out of the locker room for the start of the third game. They came out fired up and the Badgers were suffering from a let down. It was close most of the game until 27-27. Then the referee really got the Badgers upset. He didn't make a single call all night. Purdue’s setters really struggled with their ball handling all night. If the Badgers weren't routing them, Waite and Wilde would have been more vocal in their concern. The ref didn't call anything on either team all night despite the poor quality sets that came from Purdue's side. The Badgers had a couple of questionable sets too, but Purdue had many, many more. Then, on 27-27, Jackie set one poorly but no worst than more than a dozen bad sets that were ignored by Purdue. The ref decided to blow his whistle for a double hit. That was the best thing that could have happened to the Badgers. The entire bench jumped up and out toward the court in protest. I've been going to Badger games for 16 years and I never heard the crowd boo such a poor call before. That got the Badgers riled up and they took it to Purdue. it's almost as through Purdue was embarrassed that the ref awarded them the point.
What's even more impressive than the dominating victory by the Badgers, was that they did it with one of their best players out with an injury (Maria Carlini). They served wonderfully and really blocked well. Their blocking statistics are somewhat deceiving in that they don't show how good the block was. They forced Purdue to completely abandon any aggressive attack. They tipped and cut shots all night as opposed to really attacking them. Danita Merlau really looked bad tonight. She was blocked a lot early on and then she started to tip a lot. She looked better last year than she did this year. I think she suffered from some really bad Purdue setting. That's the good news for the Badgers. But even through they dominated the Boilermakers, the setting to the middle was off tonight, they missed a lot of dig opportunities, their passing in serve receive was only average, and they ran a conservative offense to keep the pressure off Dupont. The Badgers have room for improvement.
As for Purdue, I don't know what to say. Their passing was absolutely horrible. It didn't matter who got the chance, they shanked passes all over the field house. Their setting wasn't much better. If this was a closer match, there would be a lot of complaints from Badger fans about the refereeing. The ref was horrible. He didn't call a thing until the end of the third game despite numerous (more than 10) obvious double hit sets. No wonder they struggled hitting the ball.
This is a good sign for the Badgers. They dominated Purdue when they only played average. They are a young team that is getting better each week. I think last week was an aberration. Losing Carlini in the third game at Ohio State really hurt them. They should have beaten Ohio State. Losing at Penn State is nothing to be ashamed of - I think all of the Big 10 teams will do that. Dolgner is really impressive. She's outstanding. Dupont looked strong. She's aggressive.
Each game could be summarized as below:
Game 1 was a joke. At one point I think the score was 21-6. It's hard to hold any team, none the less a top 10 team to 12 points in a game. Purdue could not figure out the Badger block and looked bewildered.
Game 2 wasn't much different from Game 1. It was all Badgers. Purdue couldn't pass, hit, or block. It was embarrassing. You really had to wonder how Purdue won so many games up until this point?
Game 3 was more interesting. Purdue came out strong and had a 5-2 lead early. They were in the locker room for a really long time - you could tell they were doing some soul searching. Their coach barely made it out of the locker room for the start of the third game. They came out fired up and the Badgers were suffering from a let down. It was close most of the game until 27-27. Then the referee really got the Badgers upset. He didn't make a single call all night. Purdue’s setters really struggled with their ball handling all night. If the Badgers weren't routing them, Waite and Wilde would have been more vocal in their concern. The ref didn't call anything on either team all night despite the poor quality sets that came from Purdue's side. The Badgers had a couple of questionable sets too, but Purdue had many, many more. Then, on 27-27, Jackie set one poorly but no worst than more than a dozen bad sets that were ignored by Purdue. The ref decided to blow his whistle for a double hit. That was the best thing that could have happened to the Badgers. The entire bench jumped up and out toward the court in protest. I've been going to Badger games for 16 years and I never heard the crowd boo such a poor call before. That got the Badgers riled up and they took it to Purdue. it's almost as through Purdue was embarrassed that the ref awarded them the point.