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Post by redincolorado on Apr 14, 2007 23:33:07 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2007 8:28:35 GMT -5
Finally got to see the Big Red. Houghtelling did not play as she jammed her elbow in practice on Wednesday, Cook said holding her out was a precaution.
So the 6-2 really is their only option given the lack of outside hitters. The setters came in for the middles, Holloway for Gates and Cooper for Griffin.
Before I comment I should say CSU was undersized and undermanned. Some fans said their best player was in the hospital with some freaky virus and that they had an injury as well. Everyone is curious about Licht. She's going to be really really good. She's a much better blocker than Pavan was as a freshman. She's going to make mistakes that most 6'5 freshman would make but Pavan just never did. Husker strength coach Laura has some work to do with her physique as well. She does not contact the ball very high at this point so larger outside hitters will slow her down until the coaching staff fixes that. Pavan was Pavan. She passes all 6 rotations in this lineup and did ok. She actually looked better playing middle back defense than she has on the right. They didn't set her very often in the back row but didn't need to. Larson passed well, served exceptionally well, defended well but offensively got off to a slow start. Game three she really hit on all cylinders. I know Cook has praised Cooper's improvement this spring, just didn't see it Saturday although she did have a thunderous hit during warmups that tatooed the student manager in the head as he wasn't paying attention. Gates just can't close the block and wasn't very effective. Stalls played outside and actually did ok. She obviously doesn't have a lot of shots but doesn't have any problem powering the ball. She looked to be in perhaps the best physical shape I've seen her in.
Setting was interesting in two ways. One was in coaching. New setting Coach Lizzie Stemke was quite animated with both setters and did what was in my opinion more interacting with the girls in one match than Charlene did in a season, probably different coaching styles. Quite impressive! Griffin still struggled setting, she underset the outsides, set tight and trapped the middles. Stemke and Cook were both a little irritated with her especially in game three. Stemke seemed to be irritated with Holloway's choices at times. Both setters seemed very very receptive to Lizzie's suggestion! Welcome to Huskerland Lizzie!!!
Schwartz did a nice job at libero, she is ripped buff! She'll be fine.
With the group of freshman coming in it should be quite a battle for playing time, if Houghtelling is at full speed I see the 5-1 with a situational 6-2, if Houghtelling is not, then it's all up for grabs.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Apr 16, 2007 8:26:28 GMT -5
With the group of freshman coming in it should be quite a battle for playing time, if Houghtelling is at full speed I see the 5-1 with a situational 6-2, if Houghtelling is not, then it's all up for grabs. Huh? I would think the opposite would be true. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2007 8:50:40 GMT -5
I know, that sounded dumb. The incoming freshman, especially Licht will challenge for court/starting time. If Houghtelling is not full speed then it will depend on IF one of the freshman is ready to play in the O2 spot and get kill production or if they need the 6-2 to have Licht on the floor. After watching Saturday I again wonder how you can take an all american setter and reduce her to half time on the court unless they just need that additional offensive balance from the right if they can't get it from the left. I know what I mean but I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining myself. :-(
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