Huskers starting season with 5-1

[FreeBall]

ersatzhusker said:

The only kind of weird thing that I have described is pulling the Libero for a setter, which by convention leaves the back row more vulnerable in theory, except that the left and right backs are Larson and Pavan.

I guess putting Griffin in for the Libero is what cvbc14 was talking about. However, she would almost have to play right back and this puts Pavan at either middle or left back. Although Pavan is a good defensive player given her height, I don't think having her in either of these back row positions allows for the court coverage you need against the top teams.

[aaronic]

I'm a little worried for Nebraska because their achilles heel will seemingly once again be their BR defense. Schwartz probably won't do as well as Busboom at Libero, and also, maybe Nebraska fans can correct me on this, but she hasn't really proven herself yet of being a quality Libero.

The Pavan, Larson, and Houghtelling tandem are going to demolish most teams in the Top 10. However when it comes down to a school such as Stanford, or even USC- who will match up well with Nebraska, the better Libero could make the difference.

Even though Pavan, Larson, and Houghtelling posess formidable (sp?) BR skills, wouldn't the Libero be considered a primary passer too? I think I may cringe when we see Nebraska playing in the Final Four with Stanford and see Stanford or probably another Pac 10 team just picking apart Schwartz on her serve-receive every single time she's in the BR. It could be another heart-breaking/season-ending loss a la 2005 in San Antonio (?).

[kalena12]

i think cook better just stick with the 5-1. figuring out ways to run a 6-2 with three outside hitters who shouldnt come out will just make a mess of things like in 2005.

however, if the husker were having trouble because of halloway's blocking, they could easily sub in licht for her and have the libero set. let her just run in from the back row and bump set the pins or the pipe.

[huskervbfan]

aaronic said:

I'm a little worried for Nebraska because their achilles heel will seemingly once again be their BR defense. Schwartz probably won't do as well as Busboom at Libero, and also, maybe Nebraska fans can correct me on this, but she hasn't really proven herself yet of being a quality Libero.

The Pavan, Larson, and Houghtelling tandem are going to demolish most teams in the Top 10. However when it comes down to a school such as Stanford, or even USC- who will match up well with Nebraska, the better Libero could make the difference.

Even though Pavan, Larson, and Houghtelling posess formidable (sp?) BR skills, wouldn't the Libero be considered a primary passer too? I think I may cringe when we see Nebraska playing in the Final Four with Stanford and see Stanford or probably another Pac 10 team just picking apart Schwartz on her serve-receive every single time she's in the BR. It could be another heart-breaking/season-ending loss a la 2005 in San Antonio (?).

Naturally Schwartz hasn't proven herself as a Libero yet since she has only done that for three games in a scrimmage. I was pretty impressed by her just getting in on DS situations in the past so I'm sure she will come through. On the other hand, if that doesn't happen, Banwarth had as many digs as a DS in three rotations (four per game for three games) in the scrimmage as Schwartz did in six so it is not like the cupboard is bare.

Plus, if the Husker coaching staff could turn Busboom from a setter into a very good Libero is just nine months, both Schwartz and Banwarth starting in that position as Huskers could also be very well trained when their time to shine comes around. Don't be worried for Nebraska about that.

[huskervbfan]

freeball said:

Although Pavan is a good defensive player given her height, I don't think having her in either of these back row positions allows for the court coverage you need against the top teams.

She was right back last year and played very well against the top teams there with a "short" blocker in front of her. With a taller very good blocker like Licht blocking the OH position and Pavan in the back row, I don't think that would be any big problem at all and especially if that is getting us out of a run from a bad rotation.

Besides if the opposition doesn't know this is coming, they wouldn't be prepared for it, and if they do know it is coming, that is one more thing they have to spread out their time preparing for. I think this is great having the option.

[huskervbfan]

kalena12 said:

however, if the husker were having trouble because of halloway's blocking, they could easily sub in licht for her and have the libero set. let her just run in from the back row and bump set the pins or the pipe.

Why have her bump set from the back row if all you are going to do is going to the pins or pipe. Just pass to back row and let her handset the ball behind the line if you are going with the Libero as the "setter". But I think it makes more sense to bring in a real setter and let her handset from the front row.

No matter how things turn out, this is going to be one very exciting season for lots of teams.

[FreeBall]

huskervbfan said:

freeball said:

Although Pavan is a good defensive player given her height, I don't think having her in either of these back row positions allows for the court coverage you need against the top teams.

She was right back last year and played very well against the top teams there with a "short" blocker in front of her. With a taller very good blocker like Licht blocking the OH position and Pavan in the back row, I don't think that would be any big problem at all and especially if that is getting us out of a run from a bad rotation.

I think you missed my point, as it is not included in the portion of my post quoted above. When Pavan is in the back row I think that she needs to play right back. In my opinion having her in either of the other back row positions weakens the defense considerably.

[OverAndUnder]

I think a 6-2 can make more sense in the men's game where it's all about power and blocking.
But the women's game is about consistency, finesse, and transition - in other words, rhythm. Having a 5-1 sacrifices some power at the net, but, like your constitutional rights in the last couple decades, nobody was really using them anyway. The gain in consistency and rhythm is well worth the trade.

I definitely believe in the 6-2 in specific games or for one-off tournament teams. However, the real reason a 6-2 is a dangerous commitment for any college coach is INJURY. If you commit to a 6-2 and have a player go down with an injury in November, you often can't just go down to the next person on your depth chart, because there may be a dozen matchup details to consider.

Let's say you have your OH1 and MB2 together for most of their front row rotations. If your OH1 then has an injury, you wouldn't want to put in someone who is essentially your OH3 next to your MB2, because you've just made the opposing defense's job really easy, especially if they serve tough and you have to force out of system balls to that already weak OH3. Or from a defensive standpoint, what if your MB2 is a great attacker but a mediocre blocker? Now that she's next to that OH3, you've just opened up that side of the net for the other team to pick at your defense with multi-tempo quicks and slides.

That's just one hypothetical example, but the overall point is that each player has multiple characteristics which have to be balanced against all your other players, even before considering how you invariably have hitter/setter pairs that work well, and others that don't work well at all. So you spend all this time carefully crafting your perfect 6-2, and you get two months of developing attacking rhythm and defensive motion, then suddenly a little before, or during, the postseason you have to re-evaluate and re-shift everyone around, breaking those setter/hitter pairs and changing passing/digging assignments, right when you are entering the high-pressure matches that really matter.....

No thanks.

In a 5-1, you often can just sub in from your depth chart (Mancuso 2006) or, if you do need to change the rotation, it really doesn't matter because you still have the same setter, same libero, same overall rhythm.

And in Nebraska's case, other than Griffin all the seniors are guaranteed to be starters anyway. The second string will get plenty of chances at playing time during the next three years.

[ersatzhusker]

Here's John Cook's latest comment on the 5-1 vs 6-2 situation:

Just like they did in 2006, Cook said the Huskers will run a 5-1 attack with sophomore Rachel Holloway starting at setter. But this year, Cook said he plans on using a super-sub option in which senior setter Maggie Griffin and true freshman Lindsey Licht, a 6-foot-5 right-side hitter, can rotate in together when Cook sees fit to make a change.

"It's like Lindsey and Maggie will be a tag team coming in, so that's what we want to try and explore right now," Cook said. "Today we got a chance to work on it, and it looked pretty good. The beauty of it is that you can do it anytime.

"We can do it for three rotations; we can do it for one rotation. We can do it at the beginning of the game, at the end of the game, if we're behind or if we're ahead. If we need to change the momentum, that's what we'll do. But also if our team's rolling, then we don't mess with it."

I believe this has been published elsewhere, but the above was excerpted from here:

www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=3918&u_sid=10113139

[cvbc14]

I have to give everyone credit. You all know your vb, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some pretty savy coaches contributing to this thread.

I might not have been clear enough on my earlier post. Again, I could only see this happening against a team that has a really big outside hitter that is matched up with Holloway for 1 or 2 rotations.

A team can take a Libero out at any given time, we all know that, so what would happen is that (during a dead ball of course) the middle that is currently not in the game would come to the 10' line along with Griffin. Holloway and Licht would also go there to sub out. It looks really weird with 3 girls running off the bench and 2 coming back to the bench. One of those will be the middle that is 'out' of the game for the libero. In other words, Cooper would run onto the court, and right to the 10' line. She would switch with Griffin, and Cooper would come back to the bench.

That would put Griffin into the game for Cooper and Licht in for Holloway. Instead of letting Hooker, Klineman, Fawcette, or any other huge outside just bang balls over Holloway, a big block is put up for a couple rotations. This does leave Pavan playing middle back, but if the block is closed, that will take away quite a bit of court, making the back row defense much easier.

Not having a libero on the floor won't hurt that much for a couple rotations. Everyone has already written Schwartz off as a lost cause anyway, so the Huskers might as well let the middles play back row (Schwartz will be a solid, not flashy, player this year)

Again, I don't know if this will ever happen, and it would be very situational. If the Huskers were down in games 1-0 and were down in game 2 27-25 and the opponent had an outside hitter that was killing Holloway I could see Licht and Griffin coming in to get a couple stops, get it to 27 all and then play a game to 3.

Just some thoughts.

[ersatzhusker]

cvbc14 said:

(snip) Instead of letting Hooker, Klineman, Fawcette, or any other huge outside just bang balls over Holloway, a big block is put up for a couple rotations.

(snip) Again, I don't know if this will ever happen, and it would be very situational. If the Huskers were down in games 1-0 and were down in game 2 27-25 and the opponent had an outside hitter that was killing Holloway I could see Licht and Griffin coming in to get a couple stops, get it to 27 all and then play a game to 3.

Just some thoughts.

Good thoughts. However, following this logic, I don't think we'll see this situation come up on Friday against Tenn since they probably don't have a pair of OH/OPP/RS that NU's OH/MB couldn't handle. Maybe Saturday against UCLA (if it comes to that).

What I expect to see is fairly free substitutions by Cook along these lines, particularly if the game is well in control.

The NU-vs-PSU match on Sept 2 would probably be the first real test of this scheme and its results would determine how much, if any, it would be used the rest of the season against top-25 teams.

[mhjets]

I am enjoying all of the opinions on this topic but the one thing with the situational 6-2 that hasn't been mentioned yet is a more traditional approach to the subs. Licht for Holloway and Griffin for Pavan. This would allow Licht to block in all 3 rotations if there is a Hooker/Hodge/Faucette OH abusing Holloway. This allows the Libero to stay in all the way around and not compromise the back row defense or offense. I assume that Larson and Houghtelling are playing middle back in D anyway so you won't lose the pipe attack, plus you still have 3 front row hitters. Yes Pavan is on the bench and you don't want to take out the best player in the game but I'd rather have a right handed hitter hitting the pipe over a lefty.

The problem with the previously discussed substitution of Griffin for the M2 will only work for 2 rotations at most (and that is assuming you make the sub when Holloway is in left front. When the M2 position rotates to the front row 2 rotations later you have to sub Griffin back out for the middle. At this point, Licht will be right front and you will have no setter on the floor. Also, where do you put Pavan? Have her play middle back a la 2005 and leave the L1 (I assume that it's Larson for now) in left back? It could work situationally if the big OH is only matched up on Holloway for 1 rotation but I prefer the Griffin for Pavan/Licht for Holloway method better. Gives you more flexibility but as Cook said, it sounds like it depends on how far along Licht comes for them to use this.

Thoughts?

[ersatzhusker]

mhjets said:

(snip) I assume that Larson and Houghtelling are playing middle back in D anyway so you won't lose the pipe attack, plus you still have 3 front row hitters. Yes Pavan is on the bench and you don't want to take out the best player in the game but I'd rather have a right handed hitter hitting the pipe over a lefty. (snip)

If it's like last years alignment, Larson is the OH in the back row when Pavan rotates to right back. Obviously, Larson can hit the pipe or anything else for that matter.

Most on this forum will recall that there's precedent for sitting Pavan when she rotates to RB. Both Schwartz and Griffin sub'd in to serve, either to calm down SP or give RS or MG some experience.

[cvbc14]

ersatzhusker: I completely agree with you. Cook will probably play everything pretty close to the vest this weekend. No sense in throwing some wacky situational subs into the first tournament of the season. It's time to let these ladies go out and play.

mhjets: I thought about that as well, but didn't want to get beat up by the die hard Pavan fans here
Cook could run a traditional 6-2 and have the setters for 3 solid rotations instead of just 2, but I can't imagine him taking Pavan out of a match unless it is senior night, the Huskers have a 2-0 games lead and are up 25 - 15 in game 3.

[cvbc14]

and Pavan couldn't get more than 3 serves over the net in a row.