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Post by alwayslearning on Sept 21, 2014 12:05:29 GMT -5
Strickland is a lightning rod for criticism because team defense is a relative weakness on a Husky team that looks pretty good in other areas. I don't mind Ay's criticism too much; it's the sort of thing you expect to see on a forum with passionate fans, and I certainly don't question Ay's passion. And he sticks to his guns. That said, I'm in the camp that sees Cassie making progress. I agree with Ay that Cassie looks frozen on the court sometimes when the ball is coming over the net. It seems to me that this is something that JMac and his staff could really work on with her -- the positional play and anticipating where a ball is going based on reading the hitter. I think with better positioning her touches will become higher quality. I thought Morey's positioning for the Badgers was just outstanding -- she seemed to know when the shot was coming hard cross court as well as when to expect the dink or roll. If Cassie can improve her positioning, she's got the skills to get quality touches. It's the sort of thing that takes time, though.
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Post by ay2013 on Sept 21, 2014 12:16:34 GMT -5
Just so we are clear, I never said I didn't think Strickland wasn't improving, and I think she is improving....but improving is different than pointing out poor play. If I go from a D+ to a C, sure it's improvement, but it's still not very good! That's where I would rate Strickland right now...she started the season at a D+ for the role, and after this weekend I'd rate her somewhere between C- and C....Washington's libero needs to be in the B+, A range to go far this season, and Cassie needs to improve to there. I see no reason to coddle her until that happens. I'm sure she has high expectations for herself as well, and she would probably agree that she's nowhere near where the team needs her to be. Can she get there? perhaps....but that's where the faith in the coaching and system comes in. I'm not saying Strickland shouldn't play (which would be having no faith in her ability to grow), I'm just saying that she's not playing well enough right now.
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Post by baywatcher on Sept 21, 2014 12:34:12 GMT -5
Playing libero in a 6-2 has to be somewhat stressful; setters can and do play good defense, but on the other hand a setter is constantly cheating toward the front row to get to the pass, and a setter is always in, and a libero has to be conscious of covering extra territory, particularly if she is in middle back, not sure if Washingtons libero is. I know that's been discussed. Haven't seen Washington play but should on Friday night at Cal. Higgins v. Strickland will be huge; as Higgins goes, so does Cal.
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Post by FTLOG on Sept 21, 2014 13:47:59 GMT -5
haven't read the whole thread, so i might be echoing others' thoughts, but finally saw the match last night. i'm very impressed with Sybeldon. last season i remember a lot of huskies fans talking about how athletic she was, but her athleticism just didn't stand out for me. against wisconsin she was very athletic looking, fast to close the block, really fast and powerful arm swing, frizzy blonde hair intimidating opponents into weird hitting errors. she's gotta be the 2nd best middle in the pac12 and there's probably not a huge difference between Lianna and Inky. i know her numbers against maryland weren't great, but i'd like to see her get some pac12 weekly award, maybe defensive?, based on her performance against wisconsin alone.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Sept 21, 2014 14:01:21 GMT -5
Playing libero in a 6-2 has to be somewhat stressful; setters can and do play good defense, but on the other hand a setter is constantly cheating toward the front row to get to the pass, and a setter is always in, and a libero has to be conscious of covering extra territory, particularly if she is in middle back, not sure if Washingtons libero is. I know that's been discussed. Haven't seen Washington play but should on Friday night at Cal. Higgins v. Strickland will be huge; as Higgins goes, so does Cal. Strickland actually played BOTH, in this match, anyway. Vansant was at middle-back when in the backrow, and Strickland was at left-back. Scambray was at left-back when in the backrow, and Strickland was at middle-back.
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Post by tomclen on Sept 21, 2014 21:54:54 GMT -5
Here's hoping the Huskies don't get over-confident after a great win over a quality team like Wisconsin. WSU ain't Wisconsin, but they can't be overlooked.
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Post by Mocha on Sept 21, 2014 22:24:14 GMT -5
This thread is starting to remind me of the old Stanford-UW discussions from a few years ago that would go on for months after the match ended.
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Post by mikegarrison on Sept 21, 2014 22:27:47 GMT -5
It's still about 100 pages short of the "that ball was in/out" match v. Nebraska.
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Post by Mocha on Sept 21, 2014 22:52:52 GMT -5
Kelly sends his appreciation to UW fans;
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Post by UCDVolley on Sept 21, 2014 22:59:20 GMT -5
Is the replay of the match available somewhere? (YouTube, UW athletic website, Pac-12 website?)
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Post by mikegarrison on Sept 21, 2014 23:36:01 GMT -5
Is the replay of the match available somewhere? (YouTube, UW athletic website, Pac-12 website?) It's going to be on PAC-12 WA at 2am Sun night (Monday morning). But I don't know if you can find a streamed replay somewhere.
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Post by ay2013 on Sept 21, 2014 23:52:12 GMT -5
It's still about 100 pages short of the "that ball was in/out" match v. Nebraska. epic, pushed further by the fight. Still the most commented match thread in volleytalk history...second most? Washington v. Hawaii 2nd round 2012... Always a blast when Washington meets up with Hawaii or Nebraska.
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Post by zenyada on Sept 22, 2014 0:09:18 GMT -5
Strickland is a lightning rod for criticism because team defense is a relative weakness on a Husky team that looks pretty good in other areas. I don't mind Ay's criticism too much; it's the sort of thing you expect to see on a forum with passionate fans, and I certainly don't question Ay's passion. And he sticks to his guns. That said, I'm in the camp that sees Cassie making progress. I agree with Ay that Cassie looks frozen on the court sometimes when the ball is coming over the net. It seems to me that this is something that JMac and his staff could really work on with her -- the positional play and anticipating where a ball is going based on reading the hitter. I think with better positioning her touches will become higher quality. I thought Morey's positioning for the Badgers was just outstanding -- she seemed to know when the shot was coming hard cross court as well as when to expect the dink or roll. If Cassie can improve her positioning, she's got the skills to get quality touches. It's the sort of thing that takes time, though. Is there a little bit of denial going on in this thread? An often heard phrase in junior golf development is "you are who you are after four years". Meaning your vital short game (touch) skills are largely god given, and can only be coached and practiced-up to a certain skill level. Ball handling touch, anticipation, seeing angles and patterns are talents, like putting and chipping. Over coaching her could become counterproductive. Likely, Strickland is who she is. She's a terrific volleyball player, that will both wow and disappoint at moments as libero. I had the pleasure this past weekend of watching future Nebraska libero Kenzie Maloney play at the Durango FC in Las Vegas. Her team Assumption High went on to win the tourney. That girl is terrific. Everything looks simple, clean and effortless. She's in early on every angle, it's instinctual and it's another level of talent. And oh btw, there were four other DSs on her team nearly as good....dug everybody off the floor.
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Post by mikegarrison on Sept 22, 2014 0:16:53 GMT -5
Strickland is a lightning rod for criticism because team defense is a relative weakness on a Husky team that looks pretty good in other areas. I don't mind Ay's criticism too much; it's the sort of thing you expect to see on a forum with passionate fans, and I certainly don't question Ay's passion. And he sticks to his guns. That said, I'm in the camp that sees Cassie making progress. I agree with Ay that Cassie looks frozen on the court sometimes when the ball is coming over the net. It seems to me that this is something that JMac and his staff could really work on with her -- the positional play and anticipating where a ball is going based on reading the hitter. I think with better positioning her touches will become higher quality. I thought Morey's positioning for the Badgers was just outstanding -- she seemed to know when the shot was coming hard cross court as well as when to expect the dink or roll. If Cassie can improve her positioning, she's got the skills to get quality touches. It's the sort of thing that takes time, though. Is there a little bit of denial going on in this thread? An often heard phrase in junior golf development is "you are who you are after four years". Meaning your vital short game (touch) skills are largely god given, and can only be coached and practiced-up to a certain skill level. Ball handling touch, anticipation, seeing angles and patterns are talents, like putting and chipping. Over coaching her could become counterproductive. Likely, Strickland is who she is. She's a terrific volleyball player, that will both wow and disappoint at moments as libero. I had the pleasure this past weekend of watching future Nebraska libero Kenzie Maloney play at the Durango FC in Las Vegas. Her team Assumption High went on to win the tourney. That girl is terrific. Everything looks simple, clean and effortless. She's in early on every angle, it's instinctual and it's another level of talent. And oh btw, there were four other DSs on her team nearly as good....dug everybody off the floor. Because yeah, it's so easy to tell who is going to be able to handle elite-level NCAA play while watching them dig attacks from high school kids.
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Post by Incognito on Sept 22, 2014 10:47:12 GMT -5
In regards to Sybeldon - what a pleasure to watch! She is improving each and every match and she is headed for a standout year! She is reacting to the ball so quickly and her blocking efficiency is fantastic!
Vansant is Vansant! need I say more? She is an amazing attacker and her passing and defense have grown immeasurably since her Freshman year. I look forward to another fantastic year for this amazing young woman. As for the comments that her interview showed her to be cocky, nothing could be further from the truth. She is one of the most humble young women I have ever had the pleasure to know. She believes in her teammates and supports them completely. There is nothing cocky about that.
As for Strickland, yes she has a lot of room for improvement, yes she probably holds herself to an even higher standard that AY seems to, but come on people, this is a young woman who has NEVER played the Libero role before in her life! Then to have to jump in and do so on a team of this caliber against competition of the highest level in the NCAA there are going to be some growing pains. The mental approach of a Libero is COMPLETELY different than that of an OH and then to top it off, she has to rotate from playing left back for one OH to middle back for the other OH (who has A LOT of room for improvement on her defense being a Freshman) AND cover for two setters that are always back row, she has A LOT to learn and master. I am completely confident that we will see improvement consisently over this season. Cassie has one of the best work ethics that I have ever seen and I am sure that she is putting in hours and hours of extra reps and studying her film endlessly to assure that she makes the improvement necessary to be one of the best liberos in the nation. Obviously we all agree that JMac is an amazing coach and he has faith in her that she can be the Libero this team needs.
I would love to see more of Jade Finau on the court as well. She is an amazing setter with great potential. Bailey may struggle some but she is going to be amazing as well.
Overall, what a wonderful group of young ladies with LOTS of talent and a HUGE upside for growth. I look forward to seeing them all grow and improve this season.
GO DAWGS!
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