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Post by ay2013 on Aug 24, 2007 20:52:05 GMT -5
Ok so after watching two highly ranked teams go at it I decided to give some brief critiques.
Texas shouldn't run a 6-2.... I just don't think is optimizes their hitting potential. Engle should be hitting the ball, not setting it.... there needs to be one primary setter, Moriarty and a decent libero, then just let the big guns blast away.
That is what Penn State has..and it's far more effective when you have a very talented setter and multiple very talented hitters. Penn State is set to put the season in to cruise control with ONLY Glass putting the ball up, and Hodge, Fawcette, and Harmotto blasting away.
All the good teams have one setter. Nebraska (unless they too are running a 6-2 this year), Penn State, Stanford, Washington, UCLA, USC..etc what is Texas' problem?
Texas has a lot of stuff to work on...they don't look like a final four team to me.
BOTH teams defense weren't that great.....Washington and UCLA would be digging up so many more balls....
Good Match
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Post by cmmhc4 on Aug 24, 2007 21:07:50 GMT -5
I imagine Texas will try out the 5-1 tomorrow night. The game tomorrow night should be much more competitive.
The defense wasn't all that bad for the first game. Those girls were hitting bombs.
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 24, 2007 21:25:53 GMT -5
I imagine Texas will try out the 5-1 tomorrow night. The game tomorrow night should be much more competitive. The defense wasn't all that bad for the first game. Those girls were hitting bombs. you're right the defense wasn't horrible, but certainly not what you would expect from the number #3/#4 ranked teams in the country....when the regional finals come around and they face some Pac-10 teams, they will need to keep balls in play because Pac-10 schools have just as good of hitters as Penn State and Texas but even better diggers and passers and getting into transition...and that's the difference |
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Post by Keystonekid on Aug 24, 2007 23:31:24 GMT -5
Overall a pretty ugly match, even for early season volleyball. Texas did not handle the ball well at all and PSU was slightly better. I think Texas may be great, but they have a bunch of challenges. Faucette showed signs of brilliance and also looked like a freshman. Harmotto was the best player on the floor by a long shot. I will be very suprised if PSU doesn't win in 3 or 4 Saturday. It looked like the challenges Texas has won't be resolved in 24hrs. Still, they have enough talent to make a run this season.
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Post by seeyouinsmf on Aug 24, 2007 23:55:32 GMT -5
Overall a pretty ugly match, even for early season volleyball. Texas did not handle the ball well at all and PSU was slightly better. I think Texas may be great, but they have a bunch of challenges. Faucette showed signs of brilliance and also looked like a freshman. Harmotto was the best player on the floor by a long shot. I will be very suprised if PSU doesn't win in 3 or 4 Saturday. It looked like the challenges Texas has won't be resolved in 24hrs. Still, they have enough talent to make a run this season. You're right that Faucette showed signs of brilliance...but looked like a freshman...if he really wants a championship this year, then he'll use what worked last year, and keep experience on the court. Seems to me he's more worried about the future than the current year at hand. Christian should definitely be playing more, she has the experience, especially in big games, as she showed last year against Stanford. Brandy shows she's been off the court for a year, but still, needs to be there. Ashley, setting she can do, but NOT NOW! Good grief, we were missing her kills left and right! Wow...sure hope things change tomorrow nite. |
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Post by bucky415 on Aug 25, 2007 0:14:04 GMT -5
From the set distribution, it doesn't look like the ball control was very good on either side. I hope that PSU just keeps setting Hodge and Fawcett all the time so defenses can key on them. From their standpoint, though, they really need to get Harmotto the ball more, as her percentage tonight showed. I still think she could be Big Ten POY if she gets the sets, since she is such a strong hitter and blocker. Also, the Lions could really use a right side attack. The lack of one hurt last year. I think Price can be solid offensively; they just need to get her the ball. Also, I would try to get Walbridge a few more sets. I think she can put the ball away if given the opportunity. That would get Hodge and Fawcett better situations in which to hit, so their kill numbers might not even drop much.
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Post by Gelatinous Mass on Aug 25, 2007 0:48:06 GMT -5
It will be interesting to see what Texas does tomorrow. They are in a really new system and once again, are blending in freshman at key positions, just like last year. MaGee has a little rust on her and Engle is still nicked up from Thailand and hasn't been jumping much at all so far this year. The key question is; do the Horns gain more by replacing Michelle in the front row with Paolini, or do they lose more by not having Engle pass and hit from the back row? Faucette and Hooker need to be subbed out in the back row, take Engle out of the passing rotation and Jennings has to cover a lot of ground. Engle got maybe 30% of her kills from the back row last year, who will hit from there this year? Texas has to be careful not to get really predictable with Hooker and Faucette. The middles have to produce to balance the offense.
Overall it was a sloppy match, PSU hit in the 200's and Texas was worse...7 service errors in the first game, confusion in the back row. I guess that is why these aren't big-12 games. I would expect to see the 6-2 system again tomorrow unless Engle can't go.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 25, 2007 1:04:44 GMT -5
Elliott needs to let Faucette play all around. The potential is there. Her back row play is far ahead of Destinee, and they need to develop someone all around who can help Engle lead the team the next four years.
It would be easy to be cynical about this match, but some of these same things we criticized the Longhorns for last year during the regular season, and they really turned on the hose full blast in the postseason. Only Foluke kept them from making the Final Four. Once Faucette gets up to speed and they settle into a system, I think they will have re-earned their top 5 rank by November.
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Post by texas22 on Aug 25, 2007 1:14:39 GMT -5
I think the 6-2 produced very well for their first match. PSU is using their same lineup from last season, and UT is still adjusting and making changes.
If you can out block PSU, which UT did, I think that says a lot about what the 6-2 offers. PSU would have made UT look silly with Michelle blocking. You would give someone a block to tool and holes on the floor for a back row attacker? I wouldn't. If you want back row attackers, you can use Hooker and Faucette.
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Post by Tex_VB_Fan on Aug 25, 2007 8:58:04 GMT -5
Overall a pretty ugly match, even for early season volleyball. Texas did not handle the ball well at all and PSU was slightly better. I think Texas may be great, but they have a bunch of challenges. Faucette showed signs of brilliance and also looked like a freshman. Harmotto was the best player on the floor by a long shot. I will be very suprised if PSU doesn't win in 3 or 4 Saturday. It looked like the challenges Texas has won't be resolved in 24hrs. Still, they have enough talent to make a run this season. You're right that Faucette showed signs of brilliance...but looked like a freshman...if he really wants a championship this year, then he'll use what worked last year, and keep experience on the court. Seems to me he's more worried about the future than the current year at hand. Christian should definitely be playing more, she has the experience, especially in big games, as she showed last year against Stanford. Brandy shows she's been off the court for a year, but still, needs to be there. Ashley, setting she can do, but NOT NOW! Good grief, we were missing her kills left and right! Wow...sure hope things change tomorrow nite. seeyouinsmf, completely agree with you. The 6-2 offense this early on in a big match on the road and working in 2-3 new freshmen did not give Texas their best shot at winning. Ashley did a pretty damn good job with setting especially when you consider how poor the passing was. The strengths in this team at this point in time involves a 5-1 offense. Ashley's passing, defense and backrow hitting (IMO) make this a better team. Jerritt really went away from the stregths of the team and individual players. I can see how perhaps in the long run the 6-2 may work but the execution and coaching were just not there last night. Let's hope for a better match tonight. |
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 25, 2007 17:13:35 GMT -5
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
#4 Texas vs #3 Penn State (Aug 24, 2007 at University Park, Pa.)
Texas | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Faucette, Juliann... 4| 10 3 25 .280| 0| 0 1| 1| 10| 1 1 1| 0
4 Moriarty, Michelle.. 4| 1 1 2 .000| 25| 2 0| 0| 8| 0 0 2| 0
8 Doris, Jennifer..... 4| 2 1 10 .100| 0| 0 0| 1| 0| 0 3 0| 1
10 Engle, Ashley....... 4| 7 4 22 .136| 18| 0 0| 1| 5| 1 3 0| 2
21 Hooker, Destinee.... 4| 15 6 44 .205| 1| 1 4| 0| 9| 0 3 0| 0
44 Magee, Brandy....... 4| 5 2 13 .231| 0| 3 6| 0| 1| 1 5 0| 0
3 Paolini, Lauren..... 4| 11 8 32 .094| 0| 0 0| 1| 0| 1 2 0| 0
9 Klein, Chelsey...... 2| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 2| 0| 0 0 0| 0
11 Hall, Kiley......... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
13 Christian, Jen...... 2| 0 0 4 .000| 0| 0 1| 1| 2| 0 0 0| 0
16 Jennings, Alyson.... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 1| 0 0| 1| 8| 0 0 0| 1
19 Kisner, Heather..... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 1| 7| 0 0 0| 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 4| 51 25 152 .171| 46| 6 12| 9| 50| 4 17 3| 4
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 12.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 9 6 31 .097 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM RECORDS
2 19 8 47 .234 Texas............... (1) 23 34 22 24 0-1
3 11 7 36 .111 Penn State.......... (3) 30 32 30 30 1-0
4 12 4 38 .211
Penn State | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Fawcett, Nicole..... 4| 21 11 45 .222| 0| 1 1| 0| 10| 0 1 1| 0
2 Walbridge, Melissa.. 4| 5 2 12 .250| 0| 1 2| 0| 3| 1 2 0| 0
3 Harmotto, Christa... 4| 15 3 22 .545| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 3 3 0| 0
6 Glass, Alisha....... 4| 3 0 7 .429| 57| 3 1| 0| 3| 1 0 0| 3
11 Hodge, Megan........ 4| 22 9 55 .236| 1| 0 1| 1| 11| 1 3 0| 1
16 Price, Kate......... 4| 5 3 14 .143| 5| 1 4| 3| 13| 0 1 1| 1
4 Holehouse, Roberta.. 4| 0 0 1 .000| 2| 2 2| 2| 22| 0 0 0| 0
5 D'Errico, Alyssa.... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 3| 0 0 0| 0
8 Ream, Kelsey........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
9 Brown, Blair........ 1| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
12 Yanz, Jessica....... 1| 0 0 0 .000| 3| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0
17 Naylor, Ann......... 4| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 1 0| 0| 1| 0 0 0| 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 4| 71 28 156 .276| 68| 9 11| 6| 66| 6 10 2| 5
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 11.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 16 4 36 .333 Site: University Park, Pa. (Recreation Building)
2 17 12 47 .106 Date: Aug 24, 2007 Attend: 3013 Time: 2:38
3 16 6 31 .323 Referees: Marty Prochko, Joan Powell
4 22 6 42 .381
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Post by OverAndUnder on Aug 25, 2007 17:15:55 GMT -5
After having a chance to look at the stats, the one bright spot I see for Texas is that they outblocked Penn State. It's only a slight margin, but given that they often got dominantly outblocked by top teams last year, that's got to make them feel a little better. And the difference in blocking appears to come from Magee and Faucette.
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