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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2006 0:41:44 GMT -5
And if they do (USC beats UCLA), the Bruins end up 4th in the Pac10. Now who was right?
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Post by IdahoBoy on Nov 12, 2006 0:45:16 GMT -5
How many times has the Pac-10 champ won the title? 2nd place team? 3rd place team? 4th? I know its happened.
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Post by saywho on Nov 12, 2006 1:04:05 GMT -5
Just got in from the game. Stanford sucked the first game and Nana was a blocking machine. Cynthia was horrible all match. Waller was a beast! I mean A BEAST! I had never seen her pack heat before. She did. And some solos at crucial points. Suiter played surprisingly well. But the trophy in my opinion goes to Stanfords defense. Fishburn receives props from me for the first time ever tonight! Jordan Smith played amazing defense as well. I think tonight was a great match for Stanford for a few key reasons. Brynn was forced to spread the offense around with no Foluke (or Barboza)m and she did it well. The defense showed its potential. And Waller hopefully takes something from this match and brings another offensive threat to the team. If she plays well from here on out, and Barboza gets her groove back on, then Stanford is gonna be hard to beat. Oh, Foluke supposedly hurt her shoulder. Didn't seem hurt though. I think that Dunning kept her out to force the rest of the team to step up. Just my thought though ... he did that back in the day with Ogonna once too.
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Post by rayb_14 on Nov 12, 2006 1:15:55 GMT -5
Just got in from the game. Stanford sucked the first game and Nana was a blocking machine. Cynthia was horrible all match. Waller was a beast! I mean A BEAST! I had never seen her pack heat before. She did. And some solos at crucial points. Suiter played surprisingly well. But the trophy in my opinion goes to Stanfords defense. Fishburn receives props from me for the first time ever tonight! Jordan Smith played amazing defense as well. I think tonight was a great match for Stanford for a few key reasons. Brynn was forced to spread the offense around with no Foluke (or Barboza)m and she did it well. The defense showed its potential. And Waller hopefully takes something from this match and brings another offensive threat to the team. If she plays well from here on out, and Barboza gets her groove back on, then Stanford is gonna be hard to beat. Oh, Foluke supposedly hurt her shoulder. Didn't seem hurt though. I think that Dunning kept her out to force the rest of the team to step up. Just my thought though ... he did that back in the day with Ogonna once too. i sure am glad we didn't wear our blue shirts!
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Post by plm on Nov 12, 2006 1:35:32 GMT -5
Washington will be #1. USC will not be #2. I'd bet on Nebraska. Stanford #3, Penn State #4, USC #5, UCLA #6. Three losses is too many to be ranked #1 yet.
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Post by cdizzle on Nov 12, 2006 1:43:24 GMT -5
How many losses did Stanford have in 2004? 7? Even if we're not ranked #1 right now, we're going to be just fine come postseason.
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Nov 12, 2006 1:55:18 GMT -5
Player of the Game? Gotta go with Erin Waller, followed closely by Lizzie Suiter. With the news of Foluke Adinradewo not suiting up, coupled with last night's lackluster performance, it seemed certain that Stanford would fall at the hands of UCLA. Of course, people like Erin Waller and Lizzie Suiter had other ideas.
With the Bruins defending Cynthia Barboza with every attack and Kristin Richards having difficulty putting ball away early on, the home team got trounced in the first game. Communication errors were abound, as many balls were dropped while everyone on the team just watched everyone else. Not to mention, Nana Meriwether was having her way with the Cardinal defense.
The second game did not start off much better, with Stanford falling behind early. However, the team came together and buckled up to take the second game. Erin Waller really picked up her game and came up with key kills and blocks that really energized the team. Barboza provided offense, but was still making errors, but Waller just got it done when it was needed. She was bombing from the left, from the right and making stuff plays that allowed Stanford to stay in the game.
In the last two games, the key was stopping Meriwether out of the middle and Suiter had a lot to do with it. We may have lost a lot of offense with Akinradewo out, but Suiter definitely made up for it with her defense, getting key blocks, including a solo stuff on Meriwether that just ignited the Stanford bench. Though her offense was rusty, Kehoe kept on going to her ocassionaly to keep the defense honest. She also got some timely kills. Richards also got her game going in the third and fourth game and came through, pounding the ball off the block for kills.
Overall, it was definitely a team win and a much neede confidence booster after last night's loss. To win against a team like UCLA without one of the top middle blockers in the country is a huge feat and definitely speaks volumes of the team and the coaching staff. Hats off to everyone and hopefully it will carry over to the Washington match and into December.
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Post by eiv805 on Nov 12, 2006 2:06:50 GMT -5
Waller flat out deserves the game ball tonight. Without her play, Stanford would've lost. She was on fire tonight offensively and made some critical solo blocks that kept the stanford momentum and energy going in games 3 and 4. Suiter made some key plays both offensively and blocking. Franci was very consistent tonight. As for the outside hitters, they struggled again tonight.
I'll have to give Dunning some credit also. He made some key adjustments after game one. He changed the blocking scheme a little and left Kristin on the right side blocking. During transition they were able to set the hot hand (waller) and she delivered.
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Post by StanfordFan on Nov 12, 2006 2:10:25 GMT -5
What's going on with Barboza and Richards? One off night can be attributed to an off night. Two in a row, and I start getting a little concerned. I know midterms and all, but didn't someone mention it was last week that they only had one practice?
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Post by Chris123 on Nov 12, 2006 2:22:58 GMT -5
As everyone else mentioned thus far, Waller and Suiter had great games, it was great to see Suiter get to start and contribute big. It has to be that much harder to come off the bench, start and do that well. Fishburn did well too though and seems to be improving as the season progresses. I think she did way better than the UCLA libero.
Spicer is great, perhaps the best setter in the conference? She had some beautiful sets with Meriwether that seemed timed to the nano-second. People around me were saying "did you see that?" with some of her sets. Her hands are so quick and smooth. And she's only a sophomore! She also seemed to be able to set from anywhere on the court. She reminded me of Debbie Green and Liane Sato.
I just hope Foluke is not seriously injured. She did seem to be wearing a big ice pack on her right shoulder. Shoulder injuries can be a problem.
Overall, if I were to compare the two teams this weekend, that is, UCLA and USC, USC is playing much better right now.
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Post by beachman on Nov 12, 2006 2:25:38 GMT -5
What's going on with Barboza and Richards? One off night can be attributed to an off night. Two in a row, and I start getting a little concerned. I know midterms and all, but didn't someone mention it was last week that they only had one practice? Perhaps CB's knee is bothering her?
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Nov 12, 2006 2:33:38 GMT -5
One other thing - Stanford's defense has been really good, but our transition offense hasn't been so hot. Time and time again, we got some great digs, but we haven't been able to put the ball away. That's a problem. Hopefully that will be rectified in the coming weeks.
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Post by jgrout on Nov 12, 2006 2:42:29 GMT -5
I was at the match...
UCLA committed very hard to Barboza until the rest of the team began to open things up and they stopped triple blocking her... even then, she didn't get a huge number of balls down, but her hitting came back up above zero. Waller was awesome... for sure, her best match at Maples and probably her best for Stanford. Suiter (who played M1) more than carried her weight blocking, didn't hurt herself with a lot of hitting errors and, as the match wore on, began to get more balls down. Kehoe had 6 kills and led the team most of the way in digs, finishing with 19 to Barboza's 20.
In the first and much of the second game, Stanford wasn't laying a glove on Meriwether's balls... they couldn't block her or dig her... and their on-court communication was dreadful. Things were worst of all when Rachell Johnson was on serve (that gave Stanford matchup troubles the whole match but they handled it better later on). During one of Stanford's helter-skelter sequences, Fishburn, their libero, set overhand in front of the three meter line... I'd heard a lot of inaccurate chatter about this in TV broadcasts (and will find out what Holly McPeak had to say about it) but the up official blew his whistle at the right time... not after the set (which is not a violation) but after the subsequent attack-hit (which is a violation).
Somehow, someway, the Cardinal, facing the same doom as last night... a bad first-game loss and down five or so points partway through game 2... found their way. As Suiter said after the match, it was a team effort. When the serving and passing improved, the results improved. After intermission, the Cardinal adjusted their blocking assignments and Meriwether didn't go on any more long tears.
I would say the main difference between the USC and UCLA matches was serving and passing. Stanford served passively against USC, getting no aces, and USC passed great... Carico barely had to move and USC's first-attack hitting percentage on serve receive was off the charts. Outside those situations, Stanford's defense held its own (e.g., the match dig totals only gave USC a two-dig advantage). Against UCLA, Stanford got one ace in the first game but began to get more and more comfortable on serve, and UCLA began to hurt themselves more and more frequently. At one point in Game 3 (UCLA's worst), Stanford had 23 points with only 6 kills!
P.S. Foluke didn't warm up. She didn't move her right arm at all, even to bounce balls coming toward her during warmups... she handled them lefty or used her right foot (soccer style). She had a big icepack on after the match.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2006 2:44:11 GMT -5
Player of the Game? Gotta go with Erin Waller, followed closely by Lizzie Suiter. With the news of Foluke Adinradewo not suiting up, coupled with last night's lackluster performance, it seemed certain that Stanford would fall at the hands of UCLA. Of course, people like Erin Waller and Lizzie Suiter had other ideas. With the Bruins defending Cynthia Barboza with every attack and Kristin Richards having difficulty putting ball away early on, the home team got trounced in the first game. Communication errors were abound, as many balls were dropped while everyone on the team just watched everyone else. Not to mention, Nana Meriwether was having her way with the Cardinal defense. The second game did not start off much better, with Stanford falling behind early. However, the team came together and buckled up to take the second game. Erin Waller really picked up her game and came up with key kills and blocks that really energized the team. Barboza provided offense, but was still making errors, but Waller just got it done when it was needed. She was bombing from the left, from the right and making stuff plays that allowed Stanford to stay in the game. In the last two games, the key was stopping Meriwether out of the middle and Suiter had a lot to do with it. We may have lost a lot of offense with Akinradewo out, but Suiter definitely made up for it with her defense, getting key blocks, including a solo stuff on Meriwether that just ignited the Stanford bench. Though her offense was rusty, Kehoe kept on going to her ocassionaly to keep the defense honest. She also got some timely kills. Richards also got her game going in the third and fourth game and came through, pounding the ball off the block for kills. Overall, it was definitely a team win and a much neede confidence booster after last night's loss. To win against a team like UCLA without one of the top middle blockers in the country is a huge feat and definitely speaks volumes of the team and the coaching staff. Hats off to everyone and hopefully it will carry over to the Washington match and into December. I would say that Kehoe was the player of the match if one had to be chosen. Waller was a close second, and at critical times was undeniably the spark producing combustion. Kehoe, however, was non-stop and consistently so. She slammed the ball down on an overpass or two, solo blocked, service aced and ran all over the court chasing down errant passes, fluffing them up for the hitters, clearly better than Nellie. I think most importantly, Brn helped turn the tide when she let loose with her emotions when one of those "you-get-it-no-you-get-it" drops occurred and visibly and animatedly let it be known that such play simply would not be tolerated. From several rows up, the flush in her face was striking. It was a refreshing, or perhaps slap-in-the-face, wake-up call that the Cardinal took to heart. Being a Cardinal fan, I am surprised at the turnaround in their play from the night before. The outside connection is still not complete, but I see no impediment to its restoration. Nana is a great player. Next line. I wish she were not such a show-boater; she wasn't in her sophomore and junior years, when UCLA started off so hot, so maybe her enthusiasm is intended to be contagious. Foluke did not play against her because of injury and so did not have the opportunity to replicate the dominance over Nana she demonstrated in the LA match-up, so Nana's outstanding performance may have been discounted by some tonight. But it should not be: Meriwether is a fantastic athletic VB player. Fortunately, the Cardinal coaching staff was able to adjust sufficiently to help the Cardinal. I have to admit, I do not understand why Banachowski did not go to her more in the last two games, largely relegating her to the decoy role. With Foluke out, it seemed like old times when Liz Suiter took over. After a minute or two of clearing the cobwebbs, she and Bryn had the chemistry of Siamese twins. SakiBomb had it right in saying it was a team effort portending a bright future for the Cardinal. When one or two goes down, another one or two or more surface. It is the old "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". Others have posted the remaining Pac 10 schedule. Pretty closely bunched up at numbers 1-4. My figurative money stays with Stanford. Great come-back, Cardinal! One match at a time, starting with the schools from the next state to the north.
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Post by fromohtosf on Nov 12, 2006 4:20:40 GMT -5
The Cardinal have a couple problems that UCLA exposed. I hope they fix them before the tournament.
Barboza can't hit line if you offered her a millionb dollars. There were times where the block gave her 5 feeet of line and she hit right at the block. The sets were there too. The players called the line shot. Kehoe was telling her to hit line. Shoot even fans were screaming it. One good thing is Barboza played much better defense than I have ever seen her play.
I have to agree that Kehoe set a great match today, however she was not better than Spicer. They are about equal.
I do think that Kehoe willed this team to the victory though. The problems in Game one were really bad and she let some people have it deservedly. It was great to watch.
Fishburn's serve receive is horrible. Often, she looked like a dear in headlights on the court. At one point, she ducked from a ball. You don't duck if you are a libero. You are out there for defense. Dig.
Waller was clutch as everyone said. She had the best kill of the night.
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