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Post by goodtobeagator on Aug 28, 2012 12:13:05 GMT -5
My prediction: this thread will be 12 pages before the first point is played
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Post by southie on Aug 28, 2012 12:14:35 GMT -5
I think Penn State sweeps Stanford at home. That's a lot of travelling for the Cardinal players, and I think it will take its toll; plus, coming off the loss at Hawaii, not sure the young players are mentally tough enough yet to put it behind them and bounce back so quickly against a quality team on the road.
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Post by dorothymantooth on Aug 28, 2012 12:33:31 GMT -5
I think Penn State sweeps Stanford at home. That's a lot of travelling for the Cardinal players, and I think it will take its toll; plus, coming off the loss at Hawaii, not sure the young players are mentally tough enough yet to put it behind them and bounce back so quickly against a quality team on the road. Not sure about the mental toughness part, but I just think that PSU is as good as Hawaii is, and they are playing at home. |
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Post by LanaiBoy on Aug 28, 2012 12:46:51 GMT -5
Karissa Cook was criticized heavily on VT after the Hawaii match, mostly for the poor connections between her and the middles and Rachel Williams after the first game. What is strange is that Cook made the All-Tournament team! What is seldom mentioned is the anomaly of having the libero (1) and one of the defensive specialists (3) having only four digs among them. Something was amiss. I believe that the big improvement needed by Stanford against Penn State is floor defense and passing, not primarily an improvement in setting though that would help. Cook may not be a great setter but she is very good when receiving good passes. Stanford may have all the talent in the world in terms of outside hitters and middles but will not succeed against good teams if almost all the sets are out-of-system or predictable and allows camping out on the hitters.
Re: Hayley Spelman. Spelman is most successful when the ball is set high and she can hit over a block to empty spaces. She has improved immeasurable from last season in hitting the ball with pace and where "they ain't" as seen in the matches against Albany and Saint Mary's. In the Hawaii match, after the first game, Spelman seldom had sets in her "sweet spot." Therefore Hawaii blocked and soft blocked all her shots. It must have been frustrating for Spelman to have to hit from low, right, left—everywhere except from the top of her considerable reach made possible by her 6'6" height.
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Post by indoorvball on Aug 28, 2012 13:02:02 GMT -5
Karissa Cook was criticized heavily on VT after the Hawaii match, mostly for the poor connections between her and the middles and Rachel Williams after the first game. What is strange is that Cook made the All-Tournament team! What is seldom mentioned is the anomaly of having the libero (1) and one of the defensive specialists (3) having only four digs among them. Something was amiss. I believe that the big improvement needed by Stanford against Penn State is floor defense and passing, not primarily an improvement in setting though that would help. Cook may not be a great setter but she is very good when receiving good passes. Stanford may have all the talent in the world in terms of outside hitters and middles but will not succeed against good teams if almost all the sets are out-of-system or predictable and allows camping out on the hitters. Re: Hayley Spelman. Spelman is most successful when the ball is set high and she can hit over a block to empty spaces. She has improved immeasurable from last season in hitting the ball with pace and where "they ain't" as seen in the matches against Albany and Saint Mary's. In the Hawaii match, after the first game, Spelman seldom had sets in her "sweet spot." Therefore Hawaii blocked and soft blocked all her shots. It must have been frustrating for Spelman to have to hit from everywhere—low, right, left—everywhere except from the top of her considerable reach made possible by her 6'6" height. i agree a lot with this post. stanford runs a super fast offense and if the pass is not there their offense becomes predictable. if you notice on a free ball they pass the ball to the setter short and quick (its not high balls to the setter) and then they RUN IT, i mean it's three of them barraging the net at once. their serve RECEPTION game was off. hawaii started serving them tough and they couldnt run their offense. one thing that impressed me is that this stanford team stays on their feet really well. stanford has to PASS and pass well because their offense is terminal. inky especially. i think howard is a stud very impressive freshman. if they can get their passing defense together then this team will be a force. |
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Post by SakiBomb25 on Aug 28, 2012 13:04:38 GMT -5
Will Penn State be streaming the tournament, or will we have to watch the game via GameTracker?
I am interested to see whether Madi Bugg makes more of an appearance this week, if Cook is unable to connect well with her hitters.
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Post by southie on Aug 28, 2012 13:16:31 GMT -5
Will Penn State be streaming the tournament, or will we have to watch the game via GameTracker? I am interested to see whether Madi Bugg makes more of an appearance this week, if Cook is unable to connect well with her hitters. Only the Stanford/PSU match is on BTN. Florida web radio has the Texas/Florida match on Friday afternoon. |
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Post by ShaneM2005 on Aug 28, 2012 13:17:32 GMT -5
Will Penn State be streaming the tournament, or will we have to watch the game via GameTracker? I am interested to see whether Madi Bugg makes more of an appearance this week, if Cook is unable to connect well with her hitters. Doubt that they're streaming it since it's on BTN, but probably GameTracker. |
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Aug 28, 2012 14:36:11 GMT -5
Stanford has never lost a Big Four match, and I don't see them losing to either Penn State or Florida. Stanford's freshman will impress this weekend. I dont see how never having lost a match will impact this year. It is also important to note that 2 of the four matches they won were at Stanford. Certainly they will beat Florida, they are probably better at every position. What is it about Stanford that makes you feel they will play better than last weekend? Do you not think PSU and Stanford are pretty equal, and that PSU playing at home isnt an advantage? What impact do you think flying to Hawaii, and then Flying to St College will have? There are challenges that Stanford will have to overcome. Obviously, travel may be a factor. Dunning will also have to figure out a lineup that will give the Cardinal its best chance for success. Does he start the rotation that blitzed Hawai'i in game 1 (Spelman, Ajanaku, Howard, Williams, Wopat, Cook, Gilbert?) or does he put a lineup on the floor that allows Stanford to utilize its best talent (Williams, Ajanaku, Howard, Burgess, Wopat, Cook, Gilbert/Benjamin?) I believe Stanford has more talent than PSU (but that was also the case against Hawai'i) and Penn State playing at home should be an advantage for the Nittany Lions but it is an advantage because they are playing at home and will be the better rested team. Stanford just played at the SSC in front of 6,000 plus fans. I really don't see the intimidation factor of Rec Hall after this, and I don't believe there will be one as far as the Cardinal are concerned. Despite its youth I believe Stanford will be more prepared to play Penn State than Penn State will be to play Stanford. While Penn State was beating up on Morehead State, Western Kentucky, and Louisville, Stanford was battling Saint Mary's and Hawai'i, much tougher competition. Plus Kevin Wong and the Hawai'i Coaching Staff were able to scout Stanford for 2 nights to come up with a gameplan to defeat the Cardinal, Penn State's coaching staff will not have that luxury. Hawai'i was also able to frustrate Stanford with its floor defense and transition game, I just don't see Penn State being able to replicate that. I think Hancock will be able to score some points off of her serve but not enough to make a difference in the match (Stanford has to be better at receiving serve as they struggled against Hawai'i) Stanford has to be be smarting over their loss to Hawai'i in a match that many Stanford fans (on VT) have stated was one of Karrisa Cook's worst setting matches ever. I don't know if I believe that (although I don't think she was great against Hawai'i) but you have to think that she will be better, probably much better. I do believe Stanford's freshman will shine, they are a talented bunch. |
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Aug 28, 2012 14:46:38 GMT -5
I hope Williams gets it together. they just have to decide where to put her, and let her get comfortable (which it's looking like it might be on the right). on sunday night, she was subbed in and out, and moved around so much that she couldn't get into any kind of rhythm. |
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Post by jgrout on Aug 28, 2012 15:08:45 GMT -5
I think Penn State sweeps Stanford at home. That's a lot of travelling for the Cardinal players, and I think it will take its toll; plus, coming off the loss at Hawaii, not sure the young players are mentally tough enough yet to put it behind them and bounce back so quickly against a quality team on the road. Considering that two of the three seniors who played... Cook and Benjamin... were awful and none of the freshmen who played were, this comment seems completely out of left field. If anyone needs to bounce back, it is those two plus Gilbert (a sophomore) plus Spelman (if she plays). Williams hitting negative was a function of her coming in stone cold on the right side in game 4. I'm not sure she even took reps in practice running through all Stanford's plays on the right, let alone ever played it (they have a specialized formation where she stays on the right side on serve receive in rotation 6... that goes back to CB... but I don't think they run their whole offense through that formation). |
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 28, 2012 15:24:50 GMT -5
Stanford has never lost a Big Four match, and I don't see them losing to either Penn State or Florida. Stanford's freshman will impress this weekend. I dont see how never having lost a match will impact this year. It is also important to note that 2 of the four matches they won were at Stanford. Certainly they will beat Florida, they are probably better at every position. What is it about Stanford that makes you feel they will play better than last weekend? Do you not think PSU and Stanford are pretty equal, and that PSU playing at home isnt an advantage? What impact do you think flying to Hawaii, and then Flying to St College will have? you also must factor in the 'since my team beat you I need you to beat everyone else so my win looks even more impressive' factor when trying to understand why it is certain posters are so confident. |
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Post by chisovnik on Aug 28, 2012 15:26:06 GMT -5
I thought Cook was very good against Hawaii. Wopat seemed a little too picky with the sets she got. There were more than a few that she tipped that she could have taken a swing at.
Spelman is good in-system. A little one-dimensional if you ask me. She looked a lot more confident out there though. I wish she was a better blocker too.
Williams just had an off night. I'd like to see her on the right more. She looks much more comfortable hitting from there.
I have to admit, I was wrong about Howard. I thought it would take her a while to fix her technical issues but I definitely underestimated her ability to make those changes. Very impressive in both the front and back row. Inky has also progressed much faster than I thought she would.
Passing was pretty good but defense was not. Benjamin and Gilbert are not staying low enough on defense. I think the libero position should go to Benjamin. She looked a lot more comfortable out there than the others.
Burgess was impressive. It's funny how a ton of people on this board thought she'd have problems against the college block. I didn't see any.
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Post by southie on Aug 28, 2012 15:28:00 GMT -5
I think Penn State sweeps Stanford at home. That's a lot of travelling for the Cardinal players, and I think it will take its toll; plus, coming off the loss at Hawaii, not sure the young players are mentally tough enough yet to put it behind them and bounce back so quickly against a quality team on the road. Considering that two of the three seniors who played... Cook and Benjamin... were awful and none of the freshmen who played were, this comment seems completely out of left field. If anyone needs to bounce back, it is those two plus Gilbert (a sophomore) plus Spelman (if she plays). Williams hitting negative was a function of her coming in stone cold on the right side in game 4. I'm not sure she even took reps in practice running through all Stanford's plays on the right, let alone ever played it (they have a specialized formation where she stays on the right side on serve receive in rotation 6... that goes back to CB... but I don't think they run their whole offense through that formation). Last time I checked, you win as a team, and you lose as a team. I said nothing about how individual players performed. My point was that the freshman will be trying to bounce back from their first collegiate loss; most probably ended their high school careers winning their last match (state championship). Plus, the upperclassmen have dealt with losses in college, and probably know how to regroup and concentrate on the upcoming match. |
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Aug 28, 2012 15:34:36 GMT -5
I dont see how never having lost a match will impact this year. It is also important to note that 2 of the four matches they won were at Stanford. Certainly they will beat Florida, they are probably better at every position. What is it about Stanford that makes you feel they will play better than last weekend? Do you not think PSU and Stanford are pretty equal, and that PSU playing at home isnt an advantage? What impact do you think flying to Hawaii, and then Flying to St College will have? you also must factor in the 'since my team beat you I need you to beat everyone else so my win looks even more impressive' factor when trying to understand why it is certain posters are so confident. Stanford will be significantly better by season's end (as will Hawai'i.) The Wahine victory over Stanford is great but I don't think it will be as significant down the road. While what you say may be true sometimes, It's not the motivating factor here. I was able to see this Stanford team play 3 nights in a row, I know what they are capable of. |
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