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Post by craftylefty on Aug 15, 2014 13:24:51 GMT -5
For the love of God, don't take a chance with launching a rocket to the moon - dial it back a bit and play it safe. Hopefully she has a more mild serve somewhere in her arsenal. She has a more mild serve when she doesn't jump; however, it would have been a coaching decision to continue having her jump serve on set/match points. The fact that she didn't change her serving style for those points isn't something to be frustrated with her about. The coaches felt that they had a better chance of scoring with that serve than if they had her send over an easy serve that would surely result in a kill for the opponent. (Also, there's always the chance that her more mild serve would still go in the net or out of bounds, which would make that change even more pointless.) I guess I am more frustrated with the coaches in this instance. When I look at the overall serving record of Daly, particularly in terms of errors, it is just a risk that I would not personally take in a tight situation.
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Post by alpacaone on Aug 15, 2014 13:36:13 GMT -5
I was thinking earlier today about asking where Hugh needs to improve this year. One was at PSU when Bohl opened serve in the 5th, Micha served first for PSU, and with her two serve rotations PSU made easy work of it. Then, I thought in a tight closing point Daly might be the one we wouldn't want serving. Perhaps that was part of his decision as well? She has given up points on serve at the end of a few sets that might have made for big wins. It did look at the end of season when her hitting improved that she was discovering her thunderous swing isn't always needed either.
To me Hugh looked panicky with subs in matches that were looking bad. Compare to Cook who simply took all his starters out. Neb as an example almost resulted in a loss at Iowa IMO.
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Post by spikerthemovie on Aug 15, 2014 13:36:11 GMT -5
She has a more mild serve when she doesn't jump; however, it would have been a coaching decision to continue having her jump serve on set/match points. The fact that she didn't change her serving style for those points isn't something to be frustrated with her about. The coaches felt that they had a better chance of scoring with that serve than if they had her send over an easy serve that would surely result in a kill for the opponent. (Also, there's always the chance that her more mild serve would still go in the net or out of bounds, which would make that change even more pointless.) I guess I am more frustrated with the coaches in this instance. When I look at the overall serving record of Daly, particularly in terms of errors, it is just a risk that I would not personally take in a tight situation. She has finished in the top twenty in the nation in aces-per-set both years she has played and she reduced her errors last season while hitting roughly the same number of aces as her freshman year. I say swing away, Ms. Santana.
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Post by mnsports255 on Aug 15, 2014 14:05:55 GMT -5
Couple Gopher notes I have right now.
I hear Minnesota is sitting really well with 2017 Northern Lights All-American 6'0 OH Claire Sheehan. With continued pursuit, I would expect her to end up a Gopher along with Bri Orr.
Hannah Tapp's serve has gotten quite a bit better in the offseason, and she should add another weapon against opponents besides Daly at the service line this season.
*And a request: Whoever's going to the scrimmage next Saturday, would you be willing to post some thoughts and observations for those of us who can't make it? Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2014 14:35:57 GMT -5
Two cents:
1) Again, it's not all about hitting. It's also not all about hitting and serving with Daly. My point was that she passes and defends AND is a hitter. That's why she's such a valuable player. Depending on how they use Goehner and Wilhite, she may be our ONLY all-around player.
2) As for serving, I'm not a huge fan of "dialing it back." Teams are too good to serve easily. Daly is probably our top point scorer as a server (another part of her value). I want her hitting that jump serve AND I want her serving when the game or match is on the line.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2014 14:37:59 GMT -5
There's also a practice open to booster members today (330pm). It'd be good to hear from anyone who goes.
I'm sure you can go AND join if that's something you'd like to see.
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Post by zero-rotation outside hitter on Aug 15, 2014 20:47:53 GMT -5
Is anyone else completely underwhelmed by Wilhite's offense? I agree that she didn't fit super well on the right side last year, but even in their spring tournament this a few months ago...she barely jumps, has a weak arm and isn't particularly aggressive. She has decent shot selection and is tall, but otherwise I'm at a loss for how she gets kills. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Goehner starts ahead of her on the left.
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Post by rainbowbadger on Aug 15, 2014 20:55:11 GMT -5
Is anyone else completely underwhelmed by Wilhite's offense? I agree that she didn't fit super well on the right side last year, but even in their spring tournament this a few months ago...she barely jumps, has a weak arm and isn't particularly aggressive. She has decent shot selection and is tall, but otherwise I'm at a loss for how she gets kills. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Goehner starts ahead of her on the left. I believe she was injured during the spring. She was in warm-ups for the Wisconsin match. She might have just been ill. Regardless, I don't recall being blown away by her when I watched her last fall.
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Post by mnsports255 on Aug 15, 2014 21:49:59 GMT -5
Is anyone else completely underwhelmed by Wilhite's offense? I agree that she didn't fit super well on the right side last year, but even in their spring tournament this a few months ago...she barely jumps, has a weak arm and isn't particularly aggressive. She has decent shot selection and is tall, but otherwise I'm at a loss for how she gets kills. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Goehner starts ahead of her on the left. This is exactly why I think Goehner should be the OH2. Wilhite doesn't jump well, and while I've seen her hit real heavy at times In high school, her swing seems limited and the pace she puts on her attacks makes it ineffective at the B1G level. On the contrary, she does however play smart, pass well, serve tough, and put up a solid block. I think Goehner's athleticism, both jumping, and lateral/linear movement along with how aggressive she can be when hitting, and the fact that she's like a 2nd libero for 3 rotations should give her the nod.
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Post by craftylefty on Aug 15, 2014 23:03:25 GMT -5
Thank you! Did you attend? Any things stick out in particular?
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Post by craftylefty on Aug 16, 2014 7:46:39 GMT -5
Is anyone else completely underwhelmed by Wilhite's offense? I agree that she didn't fit super well on the right side last year, but even in their spring tournament this a few months ago...she barely jumps, has a weak arm and isn't particularly aggressive. She has decent shot selection and is tall, but otherwise I'm at a loss for how she gets kills. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Goehner starts ahead of her on the left. This is exactly why I think Goehner should be the OH2. Wilhite doesn't jump well, and while I've seen her hit real heavy at times In high school, her swing seems limited and the pace she puts on her attacks makes it ineffective at the B1G level. On the contrary, she does however play smart, pass well, serve tough, and put up a solid block. I think Goehner's athleticism, both jumping, and lateral/linear movement along with how aggressive she can be when hitting, and the fact that she's like a 2nd libero for 3 rotations should give her the nod.[/quotcases ] This does concern me a bit. I wonder if her issue is more of a mental thing (feeling overwhelmed, underperforming under pressure, etc.) or just a case of needing to work on getting stronger and developing a faster swing. I wouldn't say that Sarah has a super heavy arm, but it's certainly more than adequate in most cases from what I recall. From what I can tell from the (albeit short) Instagram videos from yesterday, she got some nice whacks at the ball. (Fun to see Rosado's serve, too!) Either way, she should find her way onto the court this season.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2014 9:08:45 GMT -5
With The title of this thread, "future of Minnesota" - dare I ask, what direction is Minnesota going. Are the Gophers the big league version of Northern Lights? Can Hugh compete in the B1G with what grows within driving distance of the Pav?
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Post by alpacaone on Aug 16, 2014 10:35:02 GMT -5
With The title of this thread, "future of Minnesota" - dare I ask, what direction is Minnesota going. Are the Gophers the big league version of Northern Lights? Can Hugh compete in the B1G with what grows within driving distance of the Pav? Minnesota Northern Lights Gophers....
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Post by alpacaone on Aug 16, 2014 10:53:05 GMT -5
They do have to recruit from within the state to be competitive, and they do have strong ties to Lights. It's hard for Mn to attract outstate players. First, it's not at all a known athletic school. Next, the weather is somewhat frightening. Third, the program is very much a second choice school for the top recruits because, not only is it somewhat on a travel island, it's not one of the elite programs. In the end, playing close to family is perhaps the programs biggest draw for the states more competetive athletes (which Lights does a good job at getting).Club sports are expensive, and isn't Lights also located better to serve these clients as well?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2014 11:23:21 GMT -5
It's not an elite program? I guess it all depends on how you are defining elite, but there's only 5 or 6 programs that are clearly superior, imo:
Texas Stanford Penn State Nebraska USC Washington
and I hesitate to include USC and UW. An argument could be made that they are with the next tier that includes UH, Minnesota, Florida, etc. *or* belong in a tier by themselves with Nebraska, below the top 3 (and Stanford needs to start doing more with their elite athletes).
I'll grant you the trend is a little iffy right now. We shall see.
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