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Post by OverAndUnder on Apr 17, 2007 10:58:41 GMT -5
I agree that PSU and Wisconsin should be the top Big 10 contenders. MN and OSU are going to be vulnerable in 2007. Purdue may be the biggest surprise this upcoming season if they discover consistency and the big girls don't run out of steam. I agree that MN will be vulnerable. That's why as soon as I found myself physically typing in the word "Minnesota" I realized I had passed the point at which it matters at all. So I stopped.
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Post by utevbfan17 on Apr 17, 2007 12:12:42 GMT -5
Jenna Hagglund is already on campus and practicing with the team, so I think there will be some good chemistry by the time the season starts. Last time UW had a setter change it wasn't bad, CT as a frosh took em to the elite 8 with less talent around her than Hagglund will have. Is Tamari Miyashiro practicing at setter at all this spring? As much as we'd miss her at libero, that is what she was recruited for. Washington may have a question mark at the setter position. Count me as one of those who thinks you can't just replace Courtney Thompson. But I agree; the rest of the positions are solid. There were three top-50 recruits red-shirting their freshman season last year -- two OHs and one MB -- and unless Tama becomes the setter the libero position should be solid as well. Surely a change of setters must be easier to go through when there's a lot of other talent on the court to work with, right? that's exactly why i was asking the question. CT was an amazing setter and i loved to watch her. and no matter how good the setter coming in is, middles always struggle with the transition
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Post by abcd098 on Apr 17, 2007 12:28:56 GMT -5
Call me crazy but I think that Penn State is going to go all the way next season. They have too much talent and I don't think statistically they can under perform for another consecutive year.
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Post by pedro el leon on Apr 17, 2007 12:29:40 GMT -5
Very few freshman setters can keep their team in the match and will their team to win. Except, of course, in two of the last three years where freshmen setters did exactly that. That was exactly my point. Holloway had Pavan, Larson, and Stalls; Kehoe had Ogonna(and that was easily enough: high on the outside when she's in the fr, and high and down the pipe when she's in the br). A talented frosh setter can do her thing if she has experienced and even more talented hitters and passers around her...
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Post by ladeda on Apr 17, 2007 12:42:36 GMT -5
I vaguely remember Dave making a recent comment about this years poll,he thinks the voters will drop Hawai'i a little from their #9 place finish in the Final poll of 06 but he is a glass half empty kinda guy by his own admission.
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Post by roy on Apr 17, 2007 14:51:29 GMT -5
That was exactly my point. Holloway had Pavan, Larson, and Stalls; Kehoe had Ogonna(and that was easily enough: high on the outside when she's in the fr, and high and down the pipe when she's in the br). A talented frosh setter can do her thing if she has experienced and even more talented hitters and passers around her... I believe that the stars really need to align correctly to see a freshman setter take her team to a national championship. In ways, this has digressed from the original thread as I don’t see any Washington fans really pushing that the Huskies will win a national title this year. But for Stanford in 2004 and Nebraska in 2006, everything needed to align correctly for them to win the national title. Stanford was a bit lucky that Nebraska, Penn State, and Hawaii were knocked out early (though I still believe that Stanford would have beat Hawaii had they advanced past Wisconsin). But Ogonna avoided Penn State in the national semi-finals and the Huskers in the finals (in terms of seeding). And while you don’t want to take anything away from Stanford as they had to play in the second round at Florida and still had to pass Washington and a very talented Minnesota team to win the title, a big blocking team like Nebraska would have forced Kehoe to set a much different offense. Nebraska in 2006 had Holloway who was a redshirt freshman. She already had a year to train with her team, so the experience in running the offense with the team was there. The only thing she lacked was the playing time. You have to give her a lot of credit for being able to handle the pressure without the experience. However, I have to consider how close many of those games in the Final Four were. Without that redshirt year, the outcome could have been very different. A couple of misplaced sets and Nebraska could have been in trouble. But as said before, a freshman setter has the ability to take her team far in the NCAA tournament with good hitters and especially good passers around her. But I would venture to guess that in those tight matches, freshman setters make those minor mistakes more than an experienced setter (as you would expect) and a top hitter can’t do much to stop that. Carico of USC last year had a couple of rouge sets against Hawaii in the regional semi-finals which shifted the momentum to Hawaii. Kamanao made a couple of bad setting decisions against Florida in the national semi-final. These were close matches, but the inexperience showed near the end.
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Post by vbobsessed on Apr 17, 2007 15:30:13 GMT -5
Who needs all those crazy mumbo-jumbo formulas to pick their top 30? I go with my gut! This is also why I never get picked during jury selection. Who did I leave off? (no one, lol). Who is too high? (Wolfgang) Who is too low? (OverAndUnder) <2 of my favorite posters, seriously> 1. Nebraska 2. Stanford 3. Penn St. 4. Texas 5. USC 6. Florida 7. UCLA 8. Wisconsin 9. Washington 10. Hawai'i 11. Purdue 12. California 13. Minnesota 14. Cal Poly 15. San Diego 16. BYU 17. Ohio State 18. Santa Clara 19. Iowa State 20. Louisville 21. Pepperdine 22. Northern Iowa 23. Notre Dame 24. Arizona State 25. Long Beach 26. Kentucky 27. Colorado State 28. Utah 29. St John's 30. Missouri
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2007 15:39:06 GMT -5
Of course Minnesota is vulnerable. We are also humble and personable. Kinda cute. Just the kinda state you want to bring home to mother.
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Post by Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU on Apr 17, 2007 15:45:26 GMT -5
Top 12:
1. Nebraska 2. Stanford 3. Penn St. 4. Texas 5. Florida 6. Washington 7. USC 8. Wisconsin 9. UCLA 10. Hawai'i 11. Minnesota 12. Cal
* Pepperdine will be the surprise this year I say......
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Post by D. B. Cooper on Apr 17, 2007 15:57:03 GMT -5
Is that a Good or Bad surprise?
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Post by Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU on Apr 17, 2007 16:42:22 GMT -5
Is that a Good or Bad surprise? It'll be a good surprise....
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Post by Reach on Apr 17, 2007 17:48:53 GMT -5
Nebraska only get better this year than last year. Only weakness might be how they handle a possible 6-2 vs the lack of libero. Will just have to wait and see on that.
Stanford picks up Klineman who everyone is super pumped about and says she is the 2nd coming to the volleyball world, everyone is pumped, accept me. Care. Kristen Richards passing and defense will be missed so much. Cynthia Barboza needs to pick up her game, I think she's been told shes good one too many times. I've been more impressed with the no 2 recruit Larson. Also, Dunning needs to find a spot on the bench for last years libero. Stanford had the chance to take Nebraska down last year, but Fishy kept them back with too-many-too-count shanks. Good luck Farm... ps just give the ball to Foluke.
Texas/PSU will be good, but I fear that they both will continue to suffer from having too much talent and the coaching staff not being able to use the talent to the best of their abilities... will see.
Florida will be a top 4 team this year. Mcginnis, the best setter in the college game, will shine in her senior year... imo of course. Hampton was "the most impressive" at the nation team tryout this year. McCray, Killingsworth, and that libero that I can't think of her name right now ohh my.
UCLA will struggle to find an answer to the lack of Merriweather. (sp). But..... with the addition of Holloway UCLA will be strong.
U$C will probably be the best and somehow get Gamova and Sokalova to come play for them. I'm sure Mick is trying to get Feng Kun to come play too.
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Post by brybry2 on Apr 17, 2007 18:33:26 GMT -5
It will be interesting to see how Stanford performs this season. Klineman's passing game does not seem to be up there with Richard's. Therefore, for the Cardinal would really need Gaby Ailes to be solid at libero. Last season, Barboza and Richards took about 80% of the territory on serve receive to cover up Fishburn. This season, Ailes and Barboza will probably have to take the bulk load to keep opposing teams from easily targeting Klineman. I'm not saying Klineman is as bad as Fishburn but she doesn't strike me as the type of OH that likes to pass everyball then hit every ball (like a Logan Tom or a Stacy Gordan).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2007 18:37:22 GMT -5
All I want is for Stanford to fall out of the Top 25.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
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Post by StanfordFan on Apr 17, 2007 19:05:00 GMT -5
I guess then they'd be there with MN, eh? All I want is for Stanford to fall out of the Top 25. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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