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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Dec 6, 2014 2:52:25 GMT -5
Big West doesn't lose a set in the 1st round. Now for the Pac-12 challenge for Long Beach & Hawaii. looks like Hawaii's been sand-bagging all year yes yes, it was the plan all along, so that hawaii would get sent to washington for a subregional yet again!
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Post by ACE on Dec 7, 2014 0:42:31 GMT -5
Well, both Long Beach and Hawaii goes down to the PAC. Hawaii did a much better job against a much tougher team. Don't know what happened to Long Beach in sets 2 and 3.
All in all, two teams in the round of 32 is not bad, although it's the same as last year. Hopefully next year the Big West will be stronger and field more teams and go deeper in the tournament.
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Post by bigdfromla on Dec 7, 2014 3:51:59 GMT -5
Long Beach had no answer for Karsta Lowe, who is the best player in the nation this year. It also must be nice to have a 6'6" Claire Felix to block everything. She gave Long Beach fits.
Long Beach battled UCLA really well in the first set, despite Lowe having 9 kills in set one. They battled back to tie the game at 20, then again at 22 before losing 27-25. Then in set 2, they really had a bad stretch early in the game. I was sitting near the LB bench for game 2 and during a time out down 7-11, the players looked very frustrated and defeated. They really didn't do much the rest of the night after that. It is really a shame because they are a much better team than they showed in games 2 and 3.
Nobody really shined or stood out today and a few of the players really struggled. Jackson may have been the only one who was really on her game tonight.
UCLA had a huge advantage playing in the Pac-12. They get to play good competition game after game, which prepares them well for the post season. Long Beach (and Hawaii) get about five competitive games in conference, playing stiffs the rest of the time, while UCLA gets tested 18-20 times in conference. This is a big issue, but there is absolutely nothing that can be done about it. Teams like Fullerton, Riverside, Cal Poly, and even Irvine and Santa Barbara should try harder to rise out of their mediocrity.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Dec 7, 2014 4:15:33 GMT -5
facing Lowe had to be demoralizing after about a dozen or so of those rockets were sent down - frankly LB other than Hudson & Okpala seemed to get tight - maybe trying to be too perfect to match UCLA's attack. so long as LB put pressure on UCLA, they were in it 1st set, but UCLA handled LB's serve very well.
the shocking thing was how poorly LB was returning serve, the overpass to end set one was the nail in the coffin and set off really poor passing the rest of the match. LB didn't give Hudson much help, LB was mostly pushing the ball over constantly after the first set which gave Consani and Lowe an eternity to set her up and LB didn't have a block that she couldn't hit over
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Post by beachgrad on Dec 7, 2014 11:21:31 GMT -5
LBSU servers put very little pressure on UCLA so it was easy for UCLA to run their offense and when you have a big gun like Lowe it is lights out. I was disappointed in the lack of fight from the LBSU side of the net. When UCLA got on a good roll in the second set their body language was horrible. From then on they looked and acted like there was nothing they could do. If LBSU could have gotten UCLA out of system more often it might have been a match.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Dec 7, 2014 14:49:50 GMT -5
Big West 2015:
2014 saw a lot of young/new setters in the Big West. For 2015 every team returns their setter. However, the league loses some key hitters/MBs. Hinger, okpala, Mackie, Adolpho, Lee at the top of the list.
it's hard to see Hawaii not being better, so probably the front-runner. Northridge returns a lot, although Hinger was such a huge player. Long Beach obviously has a lot of question marks with 4 starters to replace. Davis made progress, but the last 3 games begs the question on what the ceiling will be for them with that core. SB, Irvine, & Poly all had a young core of players - so the middle of the conference would seem to see some marked improvement.
Long Beach & Northridge are the two teams that appear to have the biggest replacement issues, so I'd expect overall the Big West to be improved. As usual though, it comes down to non-conference performance to elevate the conference - and Northridge was the only team of note that had an impact in non-conference this year.
now on to Sand Volleyball - Hawaii, Long Beach, Poly, SB, and NOrthridge all have Sand teams, so will be interesting to see when if the conference can pick up one more team to sponsor Sand and have a league champion
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Dec 7, 2014 15:01:50 GMT -5
Big West 2015: 2014 saw a lot of young/new setters in the Big West. For 2015 every team returns their setter. However, the league loses some key hitters/MBs. Hinger, okpala, Mackie, Adolpho, Lee at the top of the list. it's hard to see Hawaii not being better, so probably the front-runner. Northridge returns a lot, although Hinger was such a huge player. Long Beach obviously has a lot of question marks with 4 starters to replace. Davis made progress, but the last 3 games begs the question on what the ceiling will be for them with that core. SB, Irvine, & Poly all had a young core of players - so the middle of the conference would seem to see some marked improvement. Long Beach & Northridge are the two teams that appear to have the biggest replacement issues, so I'd expect overall the Big West to be improved. As usual though, it comes down to non-conference performance to elevate the conference - and Northridge was the only team of note that had an impact in non-conference this year. now on to Sand Volleyball - Hawaii, Long Beach, Poly, SB, and NOrthridge all have Sand teams, so will be interesting to see when if the conference can pick up one more team to sponsor Sand and have a league champion Unless something has changed in the very recent past, UCSB doesn't have a sand program.
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Post by BeachbytheBay on Dec 7, 2014 15:09:11 GMT -5
Big West 2015: 2014 saw a lot of young/new setters in the Big West. For 2015 every team returns their setter. However, the league loses some key hitters/MBs. Hinger, okpala, Mackie, Adolpho, Lee at the top of the list. it's hard to see Hawaii not being better, so probably the front-runner. Northridge returns a lot, although Hinger was such a huge player. Long Beach obviously has a lot of question marks with 4 starters to replace. Davis made progress, but the last 3 games begs the question on what the ceiling will be for them with that core. SB, Irvine, & Poly all had a young core of players - so the middle of the conference would seem to see some marked improvement. Long Beach & Northridge are the two teams that appear to have the biggest replacement issues, so I'd expect overall the Big West to be improved. As usual though, it comes down to non-conference performance to elevate the conference - and Northridge was the only team of note that had an impact in non-conference this year. now on to Sand Volleyball - Hawaii, Long Beach, Poly, SB, and NOrthridge all have Sand teams, so will be interesting to see when if the conference can pick up one more team to sponsor Sand and have a league champion Unless something has changed in the very recent past, UCSB doesn't have a sand program. that's correct, I had thought they were adding it how in hades can UCSB not have Beach Volleyball?
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Dec 7, 2014 15:09:56 GMT -5
Unless something has changed in the very recent past, UCSB doesn't have a sand program. that's correct, I had thought they were adding it how in hades can UCSB not have Beach Volleyball? Oh, now there's a story...
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Post by WahineFan44 on Dec 7, 2014 15:11:05 GMT -5
Big west 2015.
Hawaii will have the by far the best MB duo in the conference with Magill and Mitchem. Mitchem, if lives up to her hype, will be a force for the wahine. MAGILL will be an AA. Castillo and granato will also compete for playing time
I'm excited for the wahine come next year.
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Post by thebeach1 on Dec 7, 2014 22:28:41 GMT -5
Hawaii will have a solid duo in the middle with Magill and Mitchem. However, Long Beach St. will be a force in the middle in the BW as well. The Beach will return Big West Freshmen Player of the Year MB Ashley Murray. Murray ranked in the top 5 nationally of all freshman middle blockers--blocks per set-- and was in the top 10 in hitting percentage in the Big West. Gimmillaro also will have the services of 2014 Senior Ace Sherridan Atkinson. Atkinson is 6'5 and is an imposing presence at the net. The Beach may also utilize incoming freshman and top 100 recruit Peyton Grahovac. Grahovac is 6'4 and was a top 50 MB recruit in 2015. Finally, Gimmillaro may use 6'4 senior Tiara Wallace. She has played sparingly in her 3 years at the Beach and may be ready for a starting role in 2015. LBSU and Hawaii will one again be the top 2 teams in the Big West in 2015.
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Post by ACE on Dec 7, 2014 22:36:01 GMT -5
Big West 2015: 2014 saw a lot of young/new setters in the Big West. For 2015 every team returns their setter. However, the league loses some key hitters/MBs. Hinger, okpala, Mackie, Adolpho, Lee at the top of the list. it's hard to see Hawaii not being better, so probably the front-runner. Northridge returns a lot, although Hinger was such a huge player. Long Beach obviously has a lot of question marks with 4 starters to replace. Davis made progress, but the last 3 games begs the question on what the ceiling will be for them with that core. SB, Irvine, & Poly all had a young core of players - so the middle of the conference would seem to see some marked improvement. Long Beach & Northridge are the two teams that appear to have the biggest replacement issues, so I'd expect overall the Big West to be improved. As usual though, it comes down to non-conference performance to elevate the conference - and Northridge was the only team of note that had an impact in non-conference this year.now on to Sand Volleyball - Hawaii, Long Beach, Poly, SB, and NOrthridge all have Sand teams, so will be interesting to see when if the conference can pick up one more team to sponsor Sand and have a league champion But, this kind of proves the contrary. North did have a good showing in OOC, but didn't even make the tournament. OOC play is one thing to boost RPI, getting wins is important, but also how you end the season. At least Hawaii and Long Beach made it to the tournament and advanced to the second round. While doing so, Hawaii got it's first win over a top 25 opponent and the Big West flexed it's muscle (sort of) to the mid-major conferences of volleyball, that the Big West might be better than they think. Now, I'm not here stating that they will 5 teams ranked in the top 10 or anything, but both teams lost to power conference opponents.
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Post by network155 on Dec 7, 2014 23:34:56 GMT -5
Very proud of Hawaii and Long Beach State this year. I think both programs will built on from this year. Hawaii incoming recruiting class will the one to watch. Long Beach State's Ashley Murray, will have a fantastic career at Long Beach State for sure. Both programs represented this Big West well in the tournament!
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Post by bigdfromla on Dec 9, 2014 2:09:54 GMT -5
Long Beach seems well set at Setter, Middle Blocker and Outside Hitter positions. I am concerned about DS/Libero. Who will replace Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac? Sarah Watanabe never played this year, but she may be a good player. I just don't know. That could be a trouble spot for Long Beach.
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Post by thebeach1 on Dec 11, 2014 22:42:16 GMT -5
Long Beach seems well set at Setter, Middle Blocker and Outside Hitter positions. I am concerned about DS/Libero. Who will replace Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac? Sarah Watanabe never played this year, but she may be a good player. I just don't know. That could be a trouble spot for Long Beach. The Beach back row will obviously not be as stellar next season with the loss of BWC first team libero Tyler Jackson and 4 year starting DS Chelsea Cabrajac. However, we do bring back a highly regarded DS in Sara Watanabe and former Minnesota libero Lindsey Lawmaster--who saw a lot of minutes in the back row in 2014. Additionally, the Beach will bring in next season All CIF, and top 100 Senior Ace, Sarah Miller from nearby Lakewood HS. Another potential outstanding libero recruit for 2015 will be 5'11, highly recruited, libero from Dallas, TX--Mykah Wilson.
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