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Post by huskerfan on Sept 9, 2007 22:52:19 GMT -5
I finally got to attend the Nebraska games in person this weekend, instead of watching them online. I sat right behind the players on Saturday. Both days, Kayla Banworth seemed great warming up. I get the impression she could be a fabulous libero. However, she almost never smiled and stood there with her arms folded throughout the match. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself at all. Is she just a nervous freshman, unhappy about not playing, just super-serious, or something else? Does anyone know why Mueller got the start at libero last match over her? Is Mueller more experienced overall? I know Mueller has been training on the outside, not at libero, whereas Banworth has been training at libero. Anyone know?
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Post by Wolfgang on Sept 9, 2007 22:54:45 GMT -5
Does Banworth have the same demeanor as Amanda Simmons of Hawaii?
(only those following the "Hawaii Leftside2" thread will understand...)
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Post by holidayhusker on Sept 9, 2007 23:02:27 GMT -5
I think Cook was unhappy with Schwartz's output and was shaking things up a bit. I think Banwarth is the plan for the Huskers future Libero and Mueller will be used much like Larson. Great defense and offense.
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Post by plm on Sept 10, 2007 0:02:55 GMT -5
I finally got to attend the Nebraska games in person this weekend, instead of watching them online. I sat right behind the players on Saturday. Both days, Kayla Banworth seemed great warming up. I get the impression she could be a fabulous libero. However, she almost never smiled and stood there with her arms folded throughout the match. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself at all. Is she just a nervous freshman, unhappy about not playing, just super-serious, or something else? Does anyone know why Mueller got the start at libero last match over her? Is Mueller more experienced overall? I know Mueller has been training on the outside, not at libero, whereas Banworth has been training at libero. Anyone know? I don't know but I do know while in high school I'm pretty sure Kayla played OH all away around & even though she has been training as a libero Mueller is the more experienced at the position having been the starting libero for the Jr National team this summer. I don't know why she stands on the sideline like she does unless she is just so used to playing all the time that she doesn't really don't know how to act or what to do while on the sideline.
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Post by John Tawa-VolleyballMag.com on Sept 10, 2007 0:38:01 GMT -5
Let me weigh in on Kayla because I know her very well.
This is a student of the game, someone who's very intense. You tell me she's standing on the sidelines, grim-faced with her arms folded. I'm not at all surprised.
She drinks in the game. Two years ago at JOs, all her teammates had gone back to the hotel or dinner and she was still in Atlanta watching the best players.
Many kids say vball is their passion yet won't spend any time with the game when they are not playing. Not Kayla, who wants as much input as possible.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 10, 2007 0:51:54 GMT -5
Before anyone makes a joke about this, I don't think John is referring to alcohol.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Sept 10, 2007 7:56:27 GMT -5
Before anyone makes a joke about this, I don't think John is referring to alcohol. Too late. I already made a joke about it before your reply, I just didn't post my joke to VolleyTalk. Saving my best material for off-VT use is one of the many benefits of sharing a cubicle wall with Gorf.
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Post by BigTenVball on Sept 10, 2007 8:13:07 GMT -5
Kayla is intensity personified. Not sure about sitting on the bench, but as far as it goes, her expression rarely changes, and ever more rarely gets happy/excited. She is like John said, intense about the game. She played OH in HS, played OH and SETTER in Club for a while, and is now at Neb as libero. She is a GREAT example of an ATHLETE who can play any position, because of desire and intensity. Only thing that could have made her better would be if she was wearing a Hawkeye uniform.
Fun thing about her, is ask Lee Maes how many speeding tickets he got while recruiting her!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2007 8:17:45 GMT -5
I noticed the same body language from both Kayla and Schwartz on Saturday. Schwartz wouldn't even take both of her hands out of her pocket to high five Mueller when she came out.
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Post by huskervbfan on Sept 10, 2007 8:40:36 GMT -5
I noticed the same body language from both Kayla and Schwartz on Saturday. Schwartz wouldn't even take both of her hands out of her pocket to high five Mueller when she came out. I didn't have my eyes glued on her the whole time but that is certainly NOT TRUE in all the situations I was watching. At one time I saw Schwartz talking to Tara and it looked like she was giving her guidance, they were laughing together and Schwartz looked like she was giving Tara encouragement. I'm sure it was a disappointment to not be starting and just find out about it a few hours before the match but Schwartz is a team player and will do what it takes to make the team better.
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Post by ersatzhusker on Sept 10, 2007 8:48:20 GMT -5
Since Libero is the only starting position up for grabs in NU's starting lineup, we'll know how this shakes out on Wed, 12 Sep when Texas comes to Lincoln. I expect to see Schwarz back in that slot.
Banwarth's PT will come soon enough and no doubt she knows that. It would have been informative to us rabid fans to see her in one of the Game 3 blow-outs though (more than the one serve she muffed at the AVCA Tourney).
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Post by vbdigger on Sept 10, 2007 8:53:36 GMT -5
Personally I would not be suprised to see Mueller at Libero a few more times this year just to get her experience of being on the floor going into next season. Banwarth will more than likely pay her dues this season by standing on the side line and getting more reps in practice. Will be a battle between her and Schwartz next season for the L position unless she decides to take her game somwhere else. I'm guessing that Cook is looking to redshirt the Delano gal as we have not seen her make an appearance yet.
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Post by OverAndUnder on Sept 10, 2007 8:58:52 GMT -5
Blowing out all the highly publicized preseason opponents and building chemistry for that important match against Texas on wednesday is too important to Cook for him to bring in the second string. After that match, he will give the bench more of a workout during the Big12 season.
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Post by ersatzhusker on Sept 10, 2007 9:10:18 GMT -5
(snip) I'm guessing that Cook is looking to redshirt the Delano gal as we have not seen her make an appearance yet. Except for Amanda Gates' performance in the 3rd game against NMSU where she had 1 error on 4 attacks, hitting -0.250. Granted that NMSU has good middles, but Stalls did great and Cooper had 5 kills on 0.444 hitting in two games. NU needs a reliable backup to Stalls & Cooper in case of whatever. Given this most recent situation, I think it's understandable that Cook would hold off any redshirt decision on Delano.
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Post by huskerfan on Sept 10, 2007 9:29:04 GMT -5
Thanks for the information on Kayla and her intense personality. I'll certainly give her the benefit of the doubt since she certainly appeared mentally involved in the game the entire time. The fans around me thought she just has a horrible attitude, though. I wish she could somehow show them otherwise. She was a lot of fun to watch warm-up.
I want to second that Schwartz put on her smile and encouraged her teammates throughout the match. Several times she yelled encouragement directly to Mueller, and I saw her give Mueller high-fives when Mueller came out. From what I saw, she acted with a tremendous amount of class during what was likely the most difficult match of her career for her.
About Gates - she is usually quite reliable, just not as strong as Cooper at this point. Unless her errors continue, I intend to write them off as having a rough night. Even subs should be entitled to that occasionally.
So what's the deal with the people on this website. I'm just a die-hard Husker fan (although I'm starting to pay more attention to the game in general). A lot of you seem to actually know who each other are. If some of this is acceptable public knowledge, can someone share?
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