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Post by bucky415 on Oct 28, 2006 21:19:10 GMT -5
I think this shows that you really have to take Penn State's middles out of the offense by serving tough. The Gophers held Hodge and Fawcett in the .200s, although Hodge had two kills to end it, but Walbridge and Harmotto were very effective. Also, PSU set Salyer some, so they had at least some threat of right side offense, which they lacked last night. I think it is appropriate that a battle for the conference lead came down to a 15-13 game five, but it looks like PSU is in good shape to win it again now, given that they don't have any top teams left to play on the road, while Minnesota still has to go to Purdue and Wisconsin. Both teams have to go to Michigan, so that is a wash.
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Post by minnvol on Oct 28, 2006 21:37:34 GMT -5
Terrible up ref. Must have been her first match of the year!
Yesterday she missed a sub and out of rotation on Ohio State. Tonight, she didn't call lifts.
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Post by wiscvball on Oct 28, 2006 21:49:53 GMT -5
This was a really weird match to watch... in G1 PSU couldn't do anything right. In game two, Minnesota didn't even leave the pre-game huddle. G3 was back and forth a bit, but it wasn't until game four where I felt the teams started to actually play well and get into a rhythm. Hodge was RATTLED by the atmosphere... she was shanking passes, missing easy kills and just looked flustered for much of the match. Fawcett doesn't seem as explosive as I remember her, but it could be the setting.
Speaking of, Glass had a pretty poor weekend. She played badly against UW, and didn't fare much better tonight. She always looks like she takes two steps in the wrong direction before actually moving towards the ball to set it. I've never seen someone fall to the floor more in order to make the set overhand. It's almost overly dramatic.
PSU's middles again had a great match, they are tough to stop when the set is there.
It was sad that Minnesota lost, especially on some questionable non-calls late in the 5th game, but overall i felt like the refs called it loose, but called it loose both ways. PSU just got away with more questionable contacts than Minnesota made.
Minnesota did try some interesting things to slow down PSU, they had Hartmann play left front so Roerhig could hit on the right side and Bowman set. They also subbed in Katie V for Cumpston for blocking and Hagerty for Bowman to block as well.
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Post by BigTen4 on Oct 28, 2006 21:53:14 GMT -5
Terrible up ref. Must have been her first match of the year! Yesterday she missed a sub and out of rotation on Ohio State. Tonight, she didn't call lifts. Was it Joan Powell?
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Post by snickers on Oct 28, 2006 22:00:18 GMT -5
It was a good match between two very good teams. Too bad we couldn't pull it out, but it was a BLAST watching Penn State get so rattled and the coach was PISSED when their passing kept breaking down. At 13-13 in game 5, it looked as if we had an ace serve, but somehow they got the ball out to Hodge, who ripped one on the 10 ft line. We were so close. A great match and a great atmosphere. The crowd was superb. Nice to see we can draw 4,000+ when the hockey arena is full next door too.
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Post by rudepa on Oct 28, 2006 22:13:15 GMT -5
Minnesota showed this weekend that they really deserve to be up there in the rankings. PSU showed some real weaknesses. This was a close match and a heart breaker for MN, but it should give them even more confidence in the remaining Big Ten schedule. If only they hadnt let up in game 4.......
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Post by spikerthemovie on Oct 28, 2006 22:52:15 GMT -5
Yeah, that game four was a bummer (and all too reminiscent of Tennessee last year, unfortunately). MN should have won that game. Oh well. It was really fun to be there and the posters are right -- it was incredibly loud and spirited in the Pavilion.
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Post by Gorf on Oct 28, 2006 22:59:19 GMT -5
this was a match where the Gophers didn't play anywhere close to their potential and still managed to take it to 5 games against the Lions. Not a moral victory but something that shows they don't always be playing their best to win matches.
Up 21-16 in game 4 the Gophers let the Lions back into the game both score wise and emotionally by making multiple unforced errors. Through the rest of that game the Lions were pretty much on fire and the Gophers couldn't collect themselves to get back into any type of rhythm again.
Game 5 was back and forth and very exciting.
The referee was erratic at best but as mentioned by someone else earlier she didn't seem to be favoring either team with her calls. She was simply inconsistent. She made lift calls at times on plays that were nearly instantaneous and let egregious lifts go uncalled. The only thing that really hurt was the timing of a few of the non-calls late in game 5 that went in favor of the Lions.
That said the Gophers own mistakes impacted the games more than any of the referee's calls or non-calls.
It was a good sign to me that the Gophers came back and played well in game 3 after losing game 2 so badly and again didn't just roll over to the Lions in game 5 after allowing the Lions to go on a 14-3 run to close out game 4.
Harmotto's 2 aces and 3 service errors on the box score doesn't do justice to how much she gave the Gophers fits with her serving tonight pretty much all night. The Gophers were far more often out of system on her serves than in system.
Penn State's defense played better tonight than I've probably seen them play since their back-to-back-back final four seasons in the late 90's. They weren't letting much of anything easy hit the floor tonight, especially in the final 3 games of the match.
Hopefully the Gophers don't let this loss get them down for more than a couple of days and get back to their winning ways with next weekend's matches and through the rest of the season.
I was proud of how hard they played all night despite not being at their best.
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Post by wiscvball on Oct 28, 2006 23:06:44 GMT -5
this was a match where the Gophers didn't play anywhere close to their potential and still managed to take it to 5 games against the Lions. Not a moral victory but something that shows they don't always be playing their best to win matches. Up 21-16 in game 4 the Gophers let the Lions back into the game both score wise and emotionally by making multiple unforced errors. Through the rest of that game the Lions were pretty much on fire and the Gophers couldn't collect themselves to get back into any type of rhythm again. Game 5 was back and forth and very exciting. The referee was erratic at best but as mentioned by someone else earlier she didn't seem to be favoring either team with her calls. She was simply inconsistent. She made lift calls at times on plays that were nearly instantaneous and let egregious lifts go uncalled. The only thing that really hurt was the timing of a few of the non-calls late in game 5 that went in favor of the Lions. That said the Gophers own mistakes impacted the games more than any of the referee's calls or non-calls. It was a good sign to me that the Gophers came back and played well in game 3 after losing game 2 so badly and again didn't just roll over to the Lions in game 5 after allowing the Lions to go on a 14-3 run to close out game 4. Harmotto's 2 aces and 3 service errors on the box score doesn't do justice to how much she gave the Gophers fits with her serving tonight pretty much all night. The Gophers were far more often out of system on her serves than in system. Penn State's defense played better tonight than I've probably seen them play since their back-to-back-back final four seasons in the late 90's. They weren't letting much of anything easy hit the floor tonight, especially in the final 3 games of the match. Hopefully the Gophers don't let this loss get them down for more than a couple of days and get back to their winning ways with next weekend's matches and through the rest of the season. I was proud of how hard they played all night despite not being at their best. Good comments... I agree that Harmotto gave Minnesota fits all night. She played a great match all around - blocking, hitting, and getting her team fired up as well as serving as a support person for Hodge. I noticed several times that she would pull Hodge aside and talk to her. It's not surprising then that she's a sophomore captain on the team. I do disagree a bit about the Lions playing great defense. I thought that up until game four, PSU let a lot of balls drop that normally shouldn't. They also had a slew of communication errors and breakdowns on D. When Minnesota was up 20-15, the PSU team that came out of the timeout was a different team. They started popping up everything and the outsides became more of the dominant forces you would expect. It was nice to see the Gophers take it to 5 while not playing their best, but I also have a suspicion that PSU could probably have played much better than they did tonight as well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2006 23:16:48 GMT -5
Gophers were out to shut down Hodge and Fawcett -- and then see if the other PSU players could beat them. They did a good job on the OHs, but the other players did end up beating them.
Harmotto scored a ton of points on her serve. I was told she hadn't even been serving until lately.
I don't know why Russ was so cranky tonight. Maybe it was his team, but he sure did act as if all the calls were going against PSU. That was not even close to the case.
I thought a BIG factor in this loss was that Cumpston ran out of gas. It wasn't just that she only had one weird backrow kill from early in game 4. It was that she missed both her jump serves in game 5. This was huge because the Gophers had been scoring so many points on her serve. I'm not criticizing her either. It's no wonder she was tired. It just was a vital part of the Gophers point-scoring that was not available in the 5th.
I was proud of the way they bounced back from the game 2 thrashing (which was due to PSU serving lights out). They had this match. They really did.
But that's why PSU keeps winning Big10 titles. They find a way to win.
Bummer. Bummer. Bummer!
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Post by airinga on Oct 28, 2006 23:19:40 GMT -5
you are so right spikerthemovie..."and all too reminiscent of Tennessee last year, unfortunately".....
I thought the exact same thing. We were what five points away from closing out the match last year to Tennessee? Mental toughness. I really questioned that tonight.
I was really looking forward to this weekend of Volleyball. I really should be somewhere else this weekend, work wise, but HAD to see this weekends games. Last nights game was not that exciting, against Ohio State. What was most exciting was when they announced Penn State losing to the Badgers....
So tonights game....arghhhhh After seeing Penn State last year, and then seeing their new additions this year, well, I didnt think we would hang with them this season. My feelings changed as this season progressed and we started coming together and playing good volleyball. Only recently did I think we could possibly beat them. So I am proud of taking them to five games. Man that first game, being up what 8-1? Wow. The Pavillion was rocking, the team was pumped, it was awesome. Penn State was still mentally in the Badger locker room or something. I knew that would be short lived. What I didn't expect was us to come out and stink up the joint SO BADLY in the second game. That was so incredibly ugly. Who was that team. Really. Then in game four. What happened. ? I dint think we had the mental toughness tonight. How can you play so well in game one, and then turn around and look like that. ?
We have some players on the team who are so mentally together, rock solid. Marci and Kelly. They are fun to watch, in so many ways. They have nerves of steel. Nothing seems to rattle them. Very calm, collected, and WANT the ball in tough situations. They are pressure players. You want them to have the ball. But the person who needs to have the confidence, one of the most important players to a team, the setter, frankly didn't bring it tonight. She seemed out of sorts, rattled, lost, and scared. She made quite a few plays that were very uncharacteristic tonight. KBow and Marci and Meredith have been in tight games, important games (regionals, final fours). I just didn't see much confidence tonight in our setter. Game 2, there were errors made by everyone. Nets calls, dropped balls, bad passing, bad setting, no hitting because of the bad passing and setting. So she is not to blame for Game 2, but I thought she had issues tonight.
Jessy Jones, man I love her. She is a very emotional player. Rachel seems to balance that out. She doesn't seem to have much emotion, and thats fine. But you need mental confidence.
The line judge helped us tremendously in game 2 against OSU on Friday night. Well tonight the table was turned, and those sloppy sets, the double contact should have been called and wasn't.
I should be happy that we went five games, yeah I know, but when you play so well, and then have such a mental letdown like that, well its very frustrating.
Anyone want to comment on Jessy getting the yellow card? I thought the ball was completely under the net when she punched it. The coaching staff for Penn State seemed to think otherwise...
Oh well.... life will go on... so much for taking over the Big Ten tonight.
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Post by Gorf on Oct 28, 2006 23:20:25 GMT -5
The first two games weren't stellar defense for either team with one team or the other player rather flat and other relatively quickly. I thought even in game three the Lions were all over the court keeping balls in play and pretty much throughout the fourth and fifth games as well. Tips and lobs are going to drop at times against pretty much any team, however, I don't recall many falling on Penn State's side of the net in the latter three game and especially not from the point you mention through the end of the match. From reading the reports here regarding Friday's match against the Badgers it sounded like they were allowing many more of those to drop than they did against the Gophers. All in all though, it was a good win for the Lions on the road and a tough loss for the Gophers but hopefully one they'll be able to learn from. I'm looking forward to seeing the Gophers play against the Badgers in the Fieldhouse fairly soon. Unfortunately the Gophers will have to deal with the curse of having (R)uffda! and I watching them play in the Fieldhouse.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2006 23:28:21 GMT -5
I thought Hartmann played well.
I also thought Glass had a nice match. She got the ball to her middles and Salyer -- which it doesn't appear was the case against Wisconsin.
Both teams struggled with passing. There was some good serving going on, so that probably explains that.
Harmotto's going to blow an an artery with her celebrating. Man. Talk about emotion.
I will be very interested to see where Minnesota goes from here. Will they seize second? It starts with the Michigan trip. They have to get through that before worrying about Purdue and Wisconsin.
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Post by airinga on Oct 28, 2006 23:42:22 GMT -5
...."Harmotto's going to blow an an artery with her celebrating. Man. Talk about emotion. "
I LIKE her. She is awesome. That was a real bummer that she was hurt last season. They would have played Nebraska in the championship game.
Her and Jessy Jones are somewhat similar and exciting to watch. Jessy gets real excited and I like that....but she can also get down, real down, real quick, and thats not good. I dont want her to lose her excitement, but I think she needs to find a medium range, she needs to find a balance. She is too important for this team to have lapses like that.
I dont think her and Rachel connected well tonight. The quicks in the middle, didn't seem to be there tonight.
That Harmatto she was real impressive. Love her.
I actually like this Penn State team, they are very talented, have a pretty neat coach, (although he did seem rather hot tonight at times) and I will be cheering for them this year, I think they will go far if everyone stays healthy. Spoke with Fawcett and Russ after the game, and told them this as well.
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Post by foreignball on Oct 29, 2006 2:03:52 GMT -5
She was simply inconsistent. She made lift calls at times on plays that were nearly instantaneous and let egregious lifts go uncalled. The only thing that really hurt was the timing of a few of the non-calls late in game 5 that went in favor of the Lions. I haven't yet seen any comment regarding that matter even though I'm sure many people know how it works - when a smart ref decides to 'push' certain team the scenario is: everything has to look normal. Calls/non-calls go both ways so people get to believe it is just inconsistency, or human error, or whatever...except for a couple that come/don't come in favor of this certain team when it really matters. It takes exactly that much. I'm talking in genaral and my post should not be raleted to Minn-PSU game (I haven't seen it ).
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