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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 22, 2014 17:34:21 GMT -5
The Beach will be loaded next season at MB: 6'2 Alex Murray, 6'5 Sherridan Atkinson, 6'4 Tiara Wallace and incoming frosh 6'4 Peyton Grahovac are all possibilities at middle blocker. Wallace is a good MB; however, I wonder if she sees the writing on the wall in terms of her role on next year's squad. Moving Murray to OPP would provide Wallace an possible opportunity in the middle. As for Bukovec, I hope BG finds a place for her on the court. She is a good, clutch player and she was an integral part of the team's success after Miley went out with an injury. What are the Beach's options at DS, and in the back row, next year with the departures of Cabrajac and libero Tyler Jackson? Watanabe is a DS, but haven't seen her play. LB brings in Sarah Miller as a frosh, who is likely to play DS/L - I suspect LB is hoping she can step in as an athletic back-row player. Lawmaster will be back, but don't see her as a full-time libero - she'll bring experience, good serving but not backrow play at the level of Cabrajac or Jackson. that's why I'm wondering how Bukovec would perform as a DS, although she never rotated much to the back-row this year. Bukovec can play LS, RS, or DS I think but don't know that she is the best fit for any one of the three positions, she's a good blocker and I expected her to be good for the back-row given her sand background. Bukovec just wouldn't be as dominant as Mackie at the opp, and why I'm wondering if Murray could take that spot, but that would depend on the MBs we haven't seen yet. - good to have lots of competition for the front-row players graduating. Sure hope Wallace sticks with it next year - she showed some promise filling the gap at times the prior two years.
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Post by hwnstunner on Nov 22, 2014 18:36:18 GMT -5
Question, Cabrajac has been a serving specialist for quite some time. Huge rip on serve. I know she's played front row here and there, but is she really not good enough to break the lineup? Not that the hitters this year need to be replaced, but I'd assume she'd be in the mix?
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 22, 2014 18:41:40 GMT -5
Question, Cabrajac has been a serving specialist for quite some time. Huge rip on serve. I know she's played front row here and there, but is she really not good enough to break the lineup? Not that the hitters this year need to be replaced, but I'd assume she'd be in the mix? she's in the regular rotation as the main DS/serving specialist - so she plays a lot. really doesn't have the height to play front-row/opp. last year she pitched in as the opp for a couple matches when Mackie got injured, actually played well, and being lefty helps, but just not enough height to block well enough or hit over blocks to break the line-up
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Post by thebeach1 on Nov 22, 2014 19:15:29 GMT -5
The Beach will be loaded next season at MB: 6'2 Alex Murray, 6'5 Sherridan Atkinson, 6'4 Tiara Wallace and incoming frosh 6'4 Peyton Grahovac are all possibilities at middle blocker. Wallace is a good MB; however, I wonder if she sees the writing on the wall in terms of her role on next year's squad. Moving Murray to OPP would provide Wallace an possible opportunity in the middle. As for Bukovec, I hope BG finds a place for her on the court. She is a good, clutch player and she was an integral part of the team's success after Miley went out with an injury. What are the Beach's options at DS, and in the back row, next year with the departures of Cabrajac and libero Tyler Jackson? Watanabe is a DS, but haven't seen her play. LB brings in Sarah Miller as a frosh, who is likely to play DS/L - I suspect LB is hoping she can step in as an athletic back-row player. Lawmaster will be back, but don't see her as a full-time libero - she'll bring experience, good serving but not backrow play at the level of Cabrajac or Jackson. that's why I'm wondering how Bukovec would perform as a DS, although she never rotated much to the back-row this year. Bukovec can play LS, RS, or DS I think but don't know that she is the best fit for any one of the three positions, she's a good blocker and I expected her to be good for the back-row given her sand background. Bukovec just wouldn't be as dominant as Mackie at the opp, and why I'm wondering if Murray could take that spot, but that would depend on the MBs we haven't seen yet. - good to have lots of competition for the front-row players graduating. Sure hope Wallace sticks with it next year - she showed some promise filling the gap at times the prior two years.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 22, 2014 21:56:12 GMT -5
North sweeps Davis - a big win as they can't give the NCAA any reason to not select them. Davis has lost their mojo and their libero, and Squyres was shut down all week by stronger LB & North front-lines.
Northridge in good shape so long as they can beat Fullerton and Irvine at home although Irvine can be a tough out. the slump is over, and they have Miller back setting and also going with Haake over Allen the last few games.
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Post by Vball818 on Nov 22, 2014 22:11:40 GMT -5
North sweeps Davis - a big win as they can't give the NCAA any reason to not select them. Davis has lost their mojo and their libero, and Squyres was shut down all week by stronger LB & North front-lines. Northridge in good shape so long as they can beat Fullerton and Irvine at home although Irvine can be a tough out. the slump is over, and they have Miller back setting and also going with Haake over Allen the last few games. CSUN is on a late major roll, now is not the time for them to not let up and I hope to see #9 Natalie Allen back in the line-up on Wednesday and next week Saturday, Allen has been a force for CSUN, but this year...well, she contributed to CSUN's victory(and defeats) but something just isn't there, nevertheless I look forward to seeing her since sche contributed quite a lot to make CSUN a winning team the past four years good job CSUN uci - they'll give csun trouble, they just don't like us and I'm sure their motivation against is how they were told how they were humiliated waaaay back in '10 at csun and lost in five sets to a very mediocre csun team, a match they never shoulda have lost
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Post by volleyjeep on Nov 22, 2014 22:34:25 GMT -5
Cal Poly takes game 1 from Hawaii 25-21. Best game I've seen Cal Poly play all season.
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Post by DaDawgFather on Nov 22, 2014 23:01:44 GMT -5
When it rains it pours I guess. UCR loses 2nd game giving away game point on an illegal substitution.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 22, 2014 23:35:07 GMT -5
Long Beach wins it outright, sweeping Riverside.
good to see Chelsea Cabrajac have a dominating match on serve - five aces, and seemed like she served the entire match, and closed the match with like 5-6 serves. not as high profile as the other 3 seniors, she and Jackson are a great backrow.
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Post by bigdfromla on Nov 23, 2014 3:25:43 GMT -5
U.C. Riverside is a mess. Why didn't Ashley Cox play? She is by far UCR's best player.
Brian never plays his bench...even in the exhibition against the Chinese team (a game that didn't even count). There are about 3-4 girls who NEVER get in the game. Emptying the bench against Riverside wouldn't have hurt anything.
I really really hope that Long Beach State will somehow host the first round of the NCAA's at the Pyramid, with USC part of the group. It would be quite entertaining to see Brian coaching against Mr. Magoo. I don't think that Long Beach and USC have played each other in many years.
Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac will be extremely hard to replace next year!!
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 23, 2014 10:14:13 GMT -5
U.C. Riverside is a mess. Why didn't Ashley Cox play? She is by far UCR's best player. Brian never plays his bench...even in the exhibition against the Chinese team (a game that didn't even count). There are about 3-4 girls who NEVER get in the game. Emptying the bench against Riverside wouldn't have hurt anything. I really really hope that Long Beach State will somehow host the first round of the NCAA's at the Pyramid, with USC part of the group. It would be quite entertaining to see Brian coaching against Mr. Magoo. I don't think that Long Beach and USC have played each other in many years. Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac will be extremely hard to replace next year!! actually Miley got in & Brinke played vs. the Chinese team - propelled Brinke into the starting rotation. Miley got in vs. UCR, but still not ready. agree though BG isn't one to play his bench for the sake of playing them, even in blowouts
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 23, 2014 11:30:59 GMT -5
Big West Rankings going into the final week.
#1) LB. only two questions left, can they go undefeated and where do they get sent. Irvine is the first hurdle. their placement would seem to depend on if UCLA gets a seed, and if UCLA does, it's hard to see them anywhere but at Pauley Pavilion
#2) Hawaii. while RPI helps their 'raw' ranking, it exposes the quality of their wins. just need a win vs. Davis, and then Hawaii's reward? a trip to Palo Alto or Seattle with nothing to lose!. for all the difficulties Hawaii's had, the team has a couple of weeks to shore things up and a golden opportunity to give Shoji a 40th anniversary present. Their block makes a lot of things possible......now everything else on the other hand...
#3) Northridge. Seems to have righted the ship and just in time. Need to win two more and hope a strong non-conference road resume holds up. Win two and they might be headed for a possible re-match in Tucson.
#4a) Irvine. A couple final chances to get a solid win (or two). can also spoil LB's undefeated party or Northridge's post-season plans.
#4b) Davis. Two home sweeps were a little sobering after a nice run thru conference. losing their libero may have taken the wind out of the sails. Squyres is a workhorse. One last chance to make a statement at Hawaii.
#6) Santa Barbara. Didn't expect to seem them here. gave Hawaii a scare - now get to finish with a match-up of two young teams with Poly
#7) Cal Poly. A heralded incoming class has shown some flash, but only for sets here and there. The program really needs a win over SB
#8) Full. thought they might be more competitive in conference, need help for Withers.
#9) Riverside. The program needs an extreme make-over. The Big West is very competitive, so losing is nothing to frown upon. But the non-conference performance - no SoCal university should ever do this poorly.
COY duhh
FOY Murray, LB
POY: this is interesting, it's unusual to not only not have a clear choice but also have 6-7 candidates that you can't easily differentiate well to single one out, and especially true for the top team LB.
LB/Northridge pretty much squashed any chance for Davis' Squyres. Hawaii's Magill still a worthy candidate. If Northridge can close out with a NCAA bid, Hinger has a good case as the face of this era for Northridge, and she's had an outstanding overall game/resume to back it up. LB still has four 'co-MVPs' in Okpala, Hudson, MacKie, & Jackson - they'd never give it to a libero would they? Jackson anchors a well-oiled LB defense. Hudson runs the machine, and has been a solid server/attacker/defensively. Mackie held things together early on, is versatile, and stood out in some key conf matches. Okpala has progressively gotten more dominant as the season wore on to where she now leads the conference in conf hitting %, and it's telling that LB got on track as Okpala got healthy, Okpala has been an outstanding consistant terminator 3 years running and while doing it with 3 different setters (Roenecke/Juley/Hudson).
if I had to pick one, I'd go with ......
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 24, 2014 14:12:44 GMT -5
looking at this, Northridge & Hawaii I would surmise must win their last two matches and I'd bet they both get in then. Hawaii gets a RPI hit with Riverside. for Hawaii, especially look at the home-away modified RPI - Northridge played ALL non-conf away from home, Hawaii played ALL non-conf at home. ncaastats.figstats.net/volleyball-rpi.cgi
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Nov 24, 2014 14:21:00 GMT -5
Don't know why you keep harping on this. Unless you haven't been paying attention, Hawai'i has played their non conference matches at home prior to the conference season for over 20 years now. Not surprising considering the closest D-1 opponent (conference or non conference) is at least 2,400 miles away. The Wahine already travel a considerable distance during conference and have to play back-to-back nights against Big West opponents. You must have failed geography and economics if you believe Hawai'i should play more non conference matches away.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Nov 24, 2014 14:35:45 GMT -5
Don't know why you keep harping on this. Unless you haven't been paying attention, Hawai'i has played their non conference matches at home prior to the conference season for over 20 years now. Not surprising considering the closest opponent (conference or non conference) is at least 2,400 miles away. The Wahine already travel a considerable distance during conference and have to play back-to-back nights against Big West opponents. You must have failed geography and economics. lol - I'm not harping on why Hawaii plays non-conference at home. I'm simply pointing out it's not going to help them in their at-large chances. To think otherwise is denying reality. and I think I can find Hawaii on a map. Plus I know what a supply/demand curve looks like
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