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Post by gulo2 on Apr 22, 2014 20:39:52 GMT -5
Is there any indication that Welsh is amazing? Who else offered her? Does a L/DS recruit need an offer from multiple top tier DI programs to be an amazing talent? It is apparent that many DI recruiting coaches wouldn't know a top shelf L recruit if it fell in his/her lap, or don't care enough to seek one out. Good for Illinois and congrats to Welsh.
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Post by Wiswell on Apr 23, 2014 8:05:51 GMT -5
Thread drift alert...who will be at the Illinois marathon races this weekend? But, to stay on point, do the members of the various athletic teams volunteer/do community service relating to this event?
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Apr 24, 2014 5:38:35 GMT -5
More on recent 2016 verbal Caroline Welsh:
Volleyball receives another commit by Jeff Huth Champaign News-Gazette
Caroline Welsh, a two-time all-state libero from Marietta, Ga., has orally committed to the University of Illinois volleyball program. The 5-foot-8 sophomore made her decision early this week after visiting the UI campus for a second time. “They have a great balance on the academic side and the volleyball side,” Welsh said Wednesday night. “I felt very comfortable with the coaches. I felt like (I was) at home eight hours away from Atlanta. “The fan support they get — and they have a great kinesiology program, which I’m thinking about — overall it just felt right.” A varsity starter since early in her freshman season, Welsh helped Atlanta Westminster place second in the Class AA state tournament each of the last two years. After averaging 3.54 digs per set as a freshman, she raised that to 4.62 last year while limiting her serve-receive errors to 21 for the season. Last month, PrepVolleyball.com named Welsh a highest honorable-mention member on its 2013 Soph 79 list. In 2012, she became the first freshman to be selected to a Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association all-state team as a Class AA choice. “She’s passionate about the game; she lives it, breathes it,” said Westminster coach Jona Braden, who formerly served as a collegiate head coach at Kentucky and Butler. “She’s that silent kind of spark plug that brings everything together.” Welsh already ranks third in school history in career digs and has set records for total digs and digs per set in a season. “She does it — I hate to use the word ‘effortlessly’ because that’s kind of a cliche — but she has the physicality to do it with grace,” Braden said. Welsh said most recruiting interest in her came from SEC and ACC schools, but she was immediately open to Big Ten schools as well, Besides Illinois, Welsh took campus visits to Indiana and Purdue. Her brother, Chandler, is a junior at Purdue, so a Welsh family that has lived in Florida and Georgia is familiar with the Midwest and its very different winters compared with the Southeast. “He adjusted to the weather completely fine,” Welsh said of Chandler, “because I think that was one of our big concerns — how I was going to handle the weather. For my first visit (to the UI), it actually was snowing and I was having so much fun I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem at all.” Welsh indicated her choice ultimately came down to Illinois and Virginia. “I knew that I (had) found the two best schools I could possibly find academically and volleyballwise,” she said. The second trip to Champaign-Urbana this week helped her make up her mind and decide not to delay making a commitment any longer. “This past Monday, everything fell into place, and I knew that’s where I wanted to spend my college days and years,” Welsh said. “And it was just like, why wait? Because that’s the one I want to go to.” Welsh currently is involved in her club volleyball season as a member of the Roswell, Ga.-based A5 Volleyball Club, She also is on USA Volleyball’s radar, being selected each of the last two years for the Girls’ Select A1 National Training Team Program. Welsh is one of six high school players currently orally committed to the Illini, including the third in the Class of 2016.
On the way A list of Illinois volleyball recruits who have orally committed:
Class of 2015 Alison Bastianelli — Marysville, Mich., middle blocker Jordyn Poulter — Centennial (Colo.) Eaglecrest, setter Beth Prince — Avon (Ind.), outside hitter
Class of 2016 Kaylin Korte — Morris, outside hitter Jackie Quade — Fort Wayne (Ind.) Carroll, outside hitter Caroline Welsh — Atlanta Westminster, libero
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Post by dorothymantooth on Apr 24, 2014 7:38:26 GMT -5
"orally committed" sure sounds weird.
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Post by david on Apr 24, 2014 10:05:47 GMT -5
Is there any indication that Welsh is amazing? Who else offered her? How many Liberos are selected to the US National Team Training Program at that level or above? Or make Highest Honorable Mention on Soph 79 lists? Is it safe to say she's one of the top 10 Liberos in her class based on these criteria? As for "amazing"... just ask her parents or Illini fans for proof positive on that.
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Post by c4ndlelight on Apr 24, 2014 10:14:42 GMT -5
Is there any indication that Welsh is amazing? Who else offered her? Top Big Ten program offered her as a sophomore libero from halfway across the country; plays for a top club that wins a bunch; Soph 79 HM as a libero. I've never seen her play, but all signs indicate she's better than good.
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Post by rocwest on Apr 25, 2014 13:43:26 GMT -5
Is there any indication that Welsh is amazing? Who else offered her? There's a lengthy writeup on her in PrepVolleyball. She certainly sounds like a top-tier prospect based on that. I counted 5 L's in the top 79 so theoretically she makes the list of the top 10-15 L"s. If I read the writeup for each they all kind of sound the same...damn good VB players all of them.
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Post by Pasquale on Apr 26, 2014 16:02:19 GMT -5
Attended today's tournament at Saint Louis University - the tournament featured two Illinois teams (Orange and White), SLU and Iowa. I was very impressed by Illinois - both teams were executing at a high level and playing with a lot of confidence. The two things that stood out most were the balanced offense and excellent defense on both teams. Based on today's play, Mayers and Stark are the most improved players. Should be a fun season.
White
Birks Criswell McMahon Stadick Polkoff Kelsay Palmer Donnelly
Orange
Strizak Roustio Dorn Mayers Stark Viliunas Davis Conard
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Post by orangeandblue on Apr 26, 2014 16:58:30 GMT -5
What were the results against iowa and slu
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Post by Pasquale on Apr 26, 2014 17:20:06 GMT -5
They had both Illinois teams playing at the same time, so it was difficult to keep track of the scores for both teams. The Orange team easily beat SLU, but I think the White team split against Iowa. The Orange and White then played against each other and they split the first two sets - both close, competitive sets. The White team was scheduled to play SLU and the Orange team was scheduled to play Iowa after lunch, but I couldn't stay for these matches.
FYI, Conard and Donnelly played libero for their respective teams. Conard, Donnelly and Davis were all impressive in the back row. Palmer and Kelsay switched between setting and playing DS.
Stark's arm swing is considerably faster and her shot selection is much better. Mayers, who is typically better hitting behind the setter, was hitting equally well on the two. Birks and McMahon were taking some big swings.
It's only spring, of course, but they were fun to watch. Based on what I saw, they will be a Top 10 team.
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Post by david on May 3, 2014 17:56:04 GMT -5
New floor:
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Post by jma22 on May 19, 2014 14:55:19 GMT -5
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Post by luvtherush on May 19, 2014 15:16:48 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jul 23, 2014 5:27:36 GMT -5
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Post by rocwest on Jul 24, 2014 0:55:18 GMT -5
Congrats to 2015 MB Ali Bastianelli who made First Team AA 17s for the 2014 Club Volleyball All-Americans. Seven players on the first team...well done!
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