USC intrasquad scrimmage

[volleysean27]

USC had there intrasquad scrimmage yesterday afternoon. It looks like the two frosh are starting in the A team. Johansen and garrett at MB, Coppenhagen and Roleder at OH, Kazcor at OPP and Carico at setter. Hillgren at Lib and Avol at DS. second team was also pretty good with Williams and bishop at mb, Urango and Gysin at Oh, and tenant at opp, miller at settter, avol at lib. It was a really good scrimmage as there were alot of digs and hard hits. Coppenhagen is hitting the ball with more heat and garret is a blocking machine. Carico is really deceiving with that wicked left hand. I can tell you that this team is for real. the passing i saw is phenomenal. a lot of set plays, they even ran a double quick with coppenhagen. I think mick is using coppenhagen at every position. Roleder reminds me of april ross, very crafty and great all around skills, she also has a wicked jump serve, tosses the ball high ala, ROss.. It would have been fun is USC was in the avca showcase instead of Ucla. they could give nebraska fits.

[roofed!]

volleysean27 said:

USC had there intrasquad scrimmage yesterday afternoon. It looks like the two frosh are starting in the A team. Johansen and garrett at MB, Coppenhagen and Roleder at OH, Kazcor at OPP and Carico at setter. Hillgren at Lib and Avol at DS. second team was also pretty good with Williams and bishop at mb, Urango and Gysin at Oh, and tenant at opp, miller at settter, avol at lib. It was a really good scrimmage as there were alot of digs and hard hits. Coppenhagen is hitting the ball with more heat and garret is a blocking machine. Carico is really deceiving with that wicked left hand. I can tell you that this team is for real. the passing i saw is phenomenal. a lot of set plays, they even ran a double quick with coppenhagen. I think mick is using coppenhagen at every position. Roleder reminds me of april ross, very crafty and great all around skills, she also has a wicked jump serve, tosses the ball high ala, ROss.. It would have been fun is USC was in the avca showcase instead of Ucla. they could give nebraska fits.

Thanks, great report and I'm looking forward to watching them this friday.

The starting line-up, with 2 freshmen, doesn't surprise me. The MB2 position has been a toss-up last season between Tennant and Bishop, and neither could kill or block consistently.

Moving Tennant back to Opposite to back up Kaczor makes better sense since there are multiple back-up MBs (Bishop and Williams, not to mention Tennant and the other Polish gal).

[bigfan]

volleysean27 said:

USC had there intrasquad scrimmage yesterday afternoon. It looks like the two frosh are starting in the A team. Johansen and garrett at MB, Coppenhagen and Roleder at OH, Kazcor at OPP and Carico at setter. Hillgren at Lib and Avol at DS. second team was also pretty good with Williams and bishop at mb, Urango and Gysin at Oh, and tenant at opp, miller at settter, avol at lib. It was a really good scrimmage as there were alot of digs and hard hits. Coppenhagen is hitting the ball with more heat and garret is a blocking machine. Carico is really deceiving with that wicked left hand. I can tell you that this team is for real. the passing i saw is phenomenal. a lot of set plays, they even ran a double quick with coppenhagen. I think mick is using coppenhagen at every position. Roleder reminds me of april ross, very crafty and great all around skills, she also has a wicked jump serve, tosses the ball high ala, ROss.. It would have been fun is USC was in the avca showcase instead of Ucla. they could give nebraska fits.

How do you get so lucky to see them practice??I did not know they (the practices) are open to the public.....like the football practices are. If Roleder is as good as advertised in your post and the passing is as good as you state.....Mick is going to be like the Sphinx all the way to the FF.

[StanfordFan]

So did Gysin lose her starting spot?

[brybry]

stanfordfan said:

So did Gysin lose her starting spot?

I wouldn't be surprised if Gysin lost her spot to Roleder. Last season, she had a lot of bad matches. She'll just have to work hard to win it back. Anyhow, I expect the OHs to share a lot of playing time. Last season, it was rare to see Kaczor, Copenhagen, and Gysin all playing well at the same time. Finally, we have some depth.

[roy]

brybry said:

stanfordfan said:

So did Gysin lose her starting spot?

I wouldn't be surprised if Gysin lost her spot to Roleder. Last season, she had a lot of bad matches. She'll just have to work hard to win it back. Anyhow, I expect the OHs to share a lot of playing time. Last season, it was rare to see Kaczor, Copenhagen, and Gysin all playing well at the same time. Finally, we have some depth.

How much of Gysin's trouble came from a lack of playing time? After all, last year was her first year of playing. I believe she was injuried in 2004 and 2005 and played in only one match before season ending injuries took her out of the line up. I would think she had a lot of rust to shake off before she gets up to form.

[BeiBei]

This team is good and they have tremendous depth, both Tennant and Gysin were top 10 recruits and Bishop was ranked 11th in her class, yet they cannot make their way into the starting lineup.

[Deleted]

I think Bishop and Tennat were a bit overated coming out of high school.

[brybry]

ucla said:

This team is good and they have tremendous depth, both Tennant and Gysin were top 10 recruits and Bishop was ranked 11th in her class, yet they cannot make their way into the starting lineup.

Gysin's injuries have really held her back. Everyone who had seen her in HS and at the club level raved about her. I think she can gain back her great form. She just needs more time. The added depth could be good for her. She'll be up against stiff competition.
I'm not sure why Tennant and Bishop have not stepped up their play yet. Even tho they were highly ranked prep players, they have not proved they are at the level of top MBs in the Pac 10.

[bigfan]

brybry said:

ucla said:

I'm not sure why Tennant and Bishop have not stepped up their play yet. Even tho they were highly ranked prep players, they have not proved they are at the level of top MBs in the Pac 10.

Both can be maddeningly in consistent in their play....though Bishop did play quite well at the end of the season.

[bigfan]

roy said:

How much of Gysin's trouble came from a lack of playing time? After all, last year was her first year of playing. I believe she was injuried in 2004 and 2005 and played in only one match before season ending injuries took her out of the line up. I would think she had a lot of rust to shake off before she gets up to form.

When an athlete tears her ACL it can take alot of time to come back.......her athleticism is still marvelous.

[volleysean27]

I was lucky enough to be working out at the galen center, so i took a peak of the practice. As

[volleysean27]

Gysin has improved tremendously from last year, someone told me that she is practicing more aggressively than even, the problem is that Roleder is just much better at this point. It remains to be seen if Gysin steps up her play. the difference between the two is blocking and serving, which Roleder is way ahead. Roleder has a wicked serve.. only time will tell..