links -PSU-OSU Q&A w/Talking Head; Lionsfan on Div 1 Week 10

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We've posted two new articles:

"Penn State wins Round 1 Against Ohio State: Q&A with Talking Head"

and


Lionsfan Looks at Week 10 (plus DigNittany’s North Pole Poll) --

Here are some excerpts:


"Penn State wins Round 1 Against Ohio State: Q&A with Talking Head"



Following Tuesday night’s 3-0 Penn State win over Ohio State (see Match Recap, below), we’re talking with Talking Head, a Penn State fan who both played the sport at the collegiate level and has been a coach for many years.

DigNittany: The past three weeks have seen a new lineup for Penn State, with 6-4 RS Jr. Aiyana Whitney at RS/Opp, 6-3 Fr. Haleigh Washington at MH, and 6-2 Jr. Megan Courtney (who started the season at RS/Opp) at OH, along with 6-1 Fr. Ali Frantti. It appeared to take some time during the previous three weeks for the players to become more comfortable with their positions and the players that were playing next to them. Focusing on just Aiyana Whitney, how do you think she’s doing now?

Talking Head: There seemed to be a collective gasp in Lion Nation, as many fans wondered why Coach Rose was making a significant change to the lineup when things seemingly looked ok, but it is apparent to me now how right he was is his overall vision as to what was best for the team. After three weeks, the flow, chemistry and energy that the team is bringing on a nightly basis is electric and the past three outings (wins over The Michigans and The Buckeyes) confirm this.

Aiyana Whitney is putting together an All-American caliber season and is literally hitting at a higher plane than most everyone on the floor. To think that she has one more year to develop her gifts makes me giddy and must make into B1G opponents at least a bit nervous too. When given a good set, Whitney has become virtually unstoppable anywhere on the floor — and especially on the rightside.

What is impressing me even more is her ability to score now not only with her high seam shot but with a hard cross and a blistering line shot — which she has added to her toolkit on a regular basis in recent weeks. Good luck to opponents to defend this. Anytime you have an athlete of her size, movement skills and textbook arm swing, they are going to present serious problems to the opposing team.

Aiyana Whitney is on track to becoming one of the great attackers in PSU history and if she continues to progress, can have a great pro career ahead of her.

Lionsfan Looks at Week 10 (plus DigNittany’s North Pole Poll)

As the second half of the conference season gets underway, Wisconsin, Illinois and Penn State seem to be on solid tracks. The Badgers haven’t lost since the conference opener against Penn State, and the Badgers swept Nebraska this weekend. Meanwhile, Illinois conquered Purdue in four—creating a three-way tie for second place with Penn State (Wisconsin stands alone at the top). Penn State doesn’t have to play Illinois or Wisconsin again, it’s most dangerous matches at Ohio State and at home against Nebraska. Wisconsin has two matches against Purdue and hosts Illinois, which also still hosts Nebraska. The Badgers are in charge…but one slip-up could create a photo-finish in the conference.

From the B1G:

Volleyball Central, October 28, 2014
• Wisconsin sits alone atop the Big Ten standings with a 9-1 conference record. Illinois, Purdue and Penn State are tied for second-place with 8-2 Big Ten marks, while Ohio State boasts a 7-3 conference record.
• Five Big Ten schools boast at least an .800 winning percentage on their home court this season. Ohio State is an unblemished 7-0 at home this season, while Illinois, Penn State and Wisconsin have lost just one home match.
• Seventeen Big Ten volleyball standouts have posted at least five double-doubles during conference play, led by Illinois’ Jocelynn Birks and Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini with 11 each.
• BTN is set to air the Ohio State at Penn State match on Tuesday, the Wisconsin at Purdue contest on Wednesday, the Illinois at Michigan State tilt on Friday and the Minnesota at Purdue match on Saturday.

Sooner Shocker

With Oklahoma coming off a sweep loss at Kansas State, lionsfan’s guard was down when the Sooners visited then-#2 Texas…and came away with a stunning sweep of the Longhorns, a win that earned them the last spot on this week’s poll. The win snapped the Longhorns’ 34-match home win streak, dropping them three spots in the poll. From the Sooner SID:

Oklahoma earned its first win in Austin since 2008 and first win over the Longhorns since 2011. The Sooners have claimed just four wins against Texas all-time; each coming since the arrival of head coach Santiago Restrepo in Norman in 2004. “The bottom line, is it was crunch time,” Restrepo assessed of his team’s ability to rise to the occasion. “ We did very well in crunch time on the road, which has been our problem. Our inconsistencies have been trying to put matches away, but tonight we did. It was awesome to see.”

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www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/women_volleyball/article_dd07d1c2-5fc8-11e4-b06d-001a4bcf6878.html

After forgetting to try and block an Ohio State attack that sailed out of bounds, redshirt junior Aiyana Whitney joked about being given an opportunity to capitalize on a Buckeye mistake.
“Check please,” coach Russ Rose recalled Whitney saying to her teammates after the point.

It was that kind of match, filled with Buckeye miscues and Penn State points.
The Nittany Lions defeated Ohio State in three sets on Tuesday night and improved their record to 21-3 (9-2 in the Big Ten).

Attack errors have been Ohio State’s Achilles’ heel all season. The team has committed 512 attack errors this season, 42 more than their opponents have had.
The Buckeyes finished with 23 attack errors, while the Lions limited their offensive mistakes to just seven.

“I thought we had 13 unforced errors, so four errors a game. That means the other team has to earn 21 points a game,” Rose said.
With only three service errors and zero attack errors, Penn State had a near flawless first set.
“A lot of times you’re fighting yourself,” Rose said, which affirmed the importance of limiting offensive errors.
Despite Ohio State’s size at the net, the Lions out-blocked the Buckeyes 12-2 in Tuesday’s match.

The coach also stressed that although his team played well, it cannot undermine the success that Ohio State has had this season. Penn State will travel to Ohio State for a rematch on Friday night.
Penn State will work hard in preparation for Friday’s match, but the Lions mentioned that the first outing against Ohio State could help them adjust their game for the second meeting.

“It’s one thing to watch film on a team, but getting to play them, it’s like you get a feel for at least a defensive player to know where they hit the ball,” senior Lacey Fuller said.
Even though Tuesday’s match went in favor of the Lions, they expect the Buckeyes to put up a tough fight.

“They’re really good. They just didn’t have their best outing tonight,” Rose said about Tuesday’s opponent. “…It’s not lost on us that [Ohio State] beat two teams that we lost to.”

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Match links:
Big 10 to go
www.btn2go.com/game/penn-statencaa-at-ohio-statencaa-on-20141031
gametacker
www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wvolley.html?event=1344107&school=osu&sport=wvolley&camefrom=&startschool=&