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Post by alwayslearning on Nov 27, 2014 1:30:53 GMT -5
Someone said Cassie Strickland has potential to be the best libero in the country next year. Lets not get ahead of ourselves now she is not that good. This was a career performance for her though. Where are all the UW fans who were upset at the beginning of the season complaining about her? Definitely she embraced the role this season and this game shows she can play the position which many doubters weren't convinced of in the early season. It was cardvbfan who said "Strickland has more potential, more raw talent; she could be the best in the country next year. She just needs to be consistent." Given how fast Cassie has learned this position, this is a pretty reasonable statement. Strickland is a better athlete than the vast majority of liberos out there and she still has considerable room to continue to grow into the position. Volleyfan24 says this was a "career performance" but overlooks the fact that she has been playing at this level for a month or so now. Most UW fans were not "upset" and most were not "complaining" about Strickland's play earlier in the season. If you go back and read the comments, most of us were saying be patient, she's learning a new position, she's got great potential, etc. We were right.
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Post by tomclen on Nov 27, 2014 1:32:59 GMT -5
Who gives a rat's patoot about a bunch of people in a skinny boat so far out in the water you can't see them rowing a race so long you can't see from one end to the other?
Gimme my Evinrude 50 and I'll run rings around these rowboats and I don't need some chump in the back seat with a megaphone strapped to his head barking orders.
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Post by volleyguy on Nov 27, 2014 1:33:51 GMT -5
Very well then, you are right. But I still think Washington's traditional premier sport is rowing. No other school in the US has the rowing tradition of success that Washington has (including a UW team winning the 1936 Olympic gold). Cal has won 19 national championships, and Cal eights won gold in three different Olympics. Not to mention something like forty other Olympic medals. The Bears are - to say the least - in the conversation about the best rowing program in the country. Harrumph. Bow down. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard–Yale_Regatta
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Post by Cruz'n on Nov 27, 2014 1:37:31 GMT -5
I hope to see Stanford, Washington, Penn State and Texas in the Final four!!!!! Hope the committee sets it up that way. Wisconsin might have something to say about that.
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Post by mikegarrison on Nov 27, 2014 1:37:38 GMT -5
Very well then, you are right. But I still think Washington's traditional premier sport is rowing. No other school in the US has the rowing tradition of success that Washington has (including a UW team winning the 1936 Olympic gold). However, as I was waiting in line outside the arena more than an hour and a half before the match, I was shaking my head over the way that basketball gets so much more attention in the media. There were more people here tonight than at a couple of the Mariners games I attended this summer. The local media needs to wise up and realize that this team has a big following. Really? Not even the Ivy League schools? Yup. The record is pretty clear, even though there have been periods when the top programs set up competing championships and didn't race each other. Cal and Washington are historically the two strongest collegiate programs. And I'm biased, but I think Washington>Cal. Cal does have more Olympic gold medals than UW does, however.
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Post by mikegarrison on Nov 27, 2014 1:38:12 GMT -5
Very well then, you are right. But I still think Washington's traditional premier sport is rowing. No other school in the US has the rowing tradition of success that Washington has (including a UW team winning the 1936 Olympic gold). Cal has won 19 national championships, and Cal eights won gold in three different Olympics. Not to mention something like forty other Olympic medals. The Bears are - to say the least - in the conversation about the best rowing program in the country. Harrumph. Yes, I slighted them. I agree.
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Post by Mocha on Nov 27, 2014 1:41:14 GMT -5
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Post by tomclen on Nov 27, 2014 1:44:46 GMT -5
From the HuskbyVB Twitter feed... Meh, not a bad crowd...
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Post by canda on Nov 27, 2014 1:47:24 GMT -5
I think the final AVCA poll will be Texas, Stanford, Wisconsin, Washington, Penn State.
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Post by tomclen on Nov 27, 2014 1:48:36 GMT -5
They'll still be #1 and the top seed despite what happened to them tonight...
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Post by mikegarrison on Nov 27, 2014 1:53:34 GMT -5
I think the final AVCA poll will be Texas, Stanford, Wisconsin, Washington, Penn State. I don't think so. Stanford should still be #1. If UW hadn't lost those matches in the mountains, I would say otherwise, but Stanford's only loss was to Washington in Seattle. Texas's loss was in their own home gym, to Oklahoma. Nuff said, IMO. I find it hard to understand keeping Wisconsin ahead of Washington, but I won't be surprised if the coaches poll does it.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Nov 27, 2014 2:10:34 GMT -5
I think the final AVCA poll will be Texas, Stanford, Wisconsin, Washington, Penn State. I don't think so. Stanford should still be #1. If UW hadn't lost those matches in the mountains, I would say otherwise, but Stanford's only loss was to Washington in Seattle. Texas's loss was in their own home gym, to Oklahoma. Nuff said, IMO. I find it hard to understand keeping Wisconsin ahead of Washington, but I won't be surprised if the coaches poll does it. Doesn't really matter what the coaches do. Matters what the Committee does. Stanford should be #1, UW #3 or #4.
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Post by playingwithfire on Nov 27, 2014 2:11:24 GMT -5
Before reading any of the posts here: First of all, I have to hand it to Washington. They played great. Everyone played great. Some played better than great. And it was nice to see such a large, enthusiastic crowd. Well done Washington, and Washington fans! The biggest factor, for me, was that Washington handily won the serve/pass game. The stats might not show just how dramatic it was, for UW constantly took Stanford out of system with their serve, whether good serves, or even medium serves. Stanford sucked at passing. Period. And Stanford's "best" server, whose only role is "serve specialist," was especially good at serving into the net over and over (Megan). Even Jordan's lollipop serves, that do nothing when they go in, were missing. Duh. Bugg did not have a bad game, but it was far from stellar. She was not connecting well with Inky. And after Washington blocked Inky a couple times, Bugg went away from her, which is a big mistake. Inky is Stanford's best player; you live and die with her. Bugg needed to set her "ones" higher, and let Inky figure out how to beat the block. Again, Stanford's two worst aspects--passing, and Bugg's connection to Inky--were brought on by Washington's great play, specifically serving and blocking Inky. Lastly, once again, Tomclen was right: Washington wouldn't be able to get many fans on day before Thanksgiving, and thus UW would not really have a home court advantage. Tomclen, you are a GENIUS! From now on I should read your posts exclusively! First of all, what a pleasure it was, being able to see two such outstanding teams battle it out, in person, in Alaska Arena tonight! Talk about ELECTRIC!!! The new attendance record set shows that Husky fans really understood and appreciated just how rare and special such an opportunity it is, to witness two of the top women's volleyball teams in the nation compete against each other right in their own backyard. Cardvbfan, I don't post much here, but do read the posts often, and I wanted to give you a shout out as I really enjoy reading your balanced, insightful posts about your team. You are a wonderfully devoted fan, and your love and admiration for the Cardinal is obvious and so great to see. It is always nice to be able to see a supportive fan be positive, and offer intelligent, constructive critique without having to drag other teams or players down. Positivity is the name of game. :-) And of course your fun humor, such as your playfully teasing posters like TomClen is appreciated too. TomClen's dry, understated humor cracks me up quite a bit too. A nice reminder to not take this forum or ourselves too seriously. It's just a game, after all. Right? ;-) The Cardinal had some great, friendly, loyal fans at Alaska Arena tonight, and I had fun speaking with them throughout the evening. :-) I really enjoy watching the Cardinal ladies play and admire the entire organization, their values of excellence, and their amazing coach John Dunning very much. Congratulations on such an outstanding season to all! As a Husky fan, I must say I am so proud of our Dawgs and their amazing coaching staff, as they really rose to the occasion for their best game of the season tonight. A big part of that was the leadership and energy of seniors Miss Krista and Miss Kaleigh. By the determined, focused looks on their faces and the electric energy in their body language, it was obvious they KNEW they wanted this win without a doubt, on Senior Night, and they willed it into happening with every ounce of their being, rallying the entire team behind them with their energy, leadership and determination. What a way to end their last home game as seniors! Congrats, Ladies! :-) How did I vote? I voted in this thread's poll for the Huskies in 4. Here's a link to my initial analysis (from earlier in November) which explains why I voted as I did as the "BEST TEAM RIGHT NOW" in the following thread post: volleytalk.net/thread/56146/best-team-right?page=2(If I find some free time, and just for fun, I may update the teams' stats in that thread after this Friday's final season games of both teams...) ;-) But to sum up my analysis of the two teams in one sentence: the Huskies' better serve-receive and tougher serving created just the right pressure in tonight's match up to help the Huskies defeat the heretofore undefeated Cardinal. At the risk of stating the obvious (for the more veteran forum members here, at least): As other's have said, how well teams will play is, in large part, about the match-ups between the teams, how each teams' strengths and weaknesses match up to the other's. Since before tonight's match up, we had not had the advantage of seeing these two teams play each other this season, fans of both teams, as well as the coaches and players, were obviously greatly curious to see how it would play out tonight, so to speak. Tonight's results have gone a long way towards helping answer that question, at least for the two teams who showed up tonight. And now the question becomes: What would the results be in a potential rematch, come tournament time? Devoted fans and curious minds alike want to know...and simply cannot wait for another chance to witness such outstanding high-level volleyball played by these amazing young women. Congrats again to all, Cardinal and Huskies alike, on yet another amazing season! And Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Post by ay2013 on Nov 27, 2014 2:16:39 GMT -5
Now I've read all the posts... I've been critical of Brittany at times these past couple years. But tonight I can't complain. Sure, I wish she would have been better by this point in her career; but she brought her best game tonight. She swung away, served well, blocked and played defense. I mostly get frustrated when she dinks a million times; but tonight she swung hard more times than usual. I'm ok with that. Strickland totally outplayed Gilbert, that's for sure. I could not BELIEVE some of the balls Cassie was getting up. Gilbert has had a better year, for sure. But Strickland has more potential, more raw talent; she could be the best in the country next year. She just needs to be consistent. Of course I wanted Stanford to win, but there are positives from this. Now there is little likelihood that Stanford could get stuck in Seattle--that would be a travesty. I sincerely hope that U-dub and Stanford will be placed on opposite halves of the draw. However, history suggests that the East-biased selection committee NEVER puts the two best PAC-12 teams on opposite halves, at least not recent history. I would love for there to be a chance to have U-Dub and Stanford meet in the final. However, I don't think that possibility will exist. Stanford better get refocused in a hurry. Strange things happen with Stanford and Cal play, no matter what the sport. I'm a little irked that the the two games being shown on Friday are Stanford/Cal, and UW vs WSU. More interesting matchups are the Top-25 contests: UA vs ASU, and Utah vs Colorado. Naturally, as a fan, I will be watching Stanford to make sure they have recovered from the emotionally draining loss, no longer undefeated, etc etc. I expect Inky to take out some frustration on Cal--assuming Bugg decides to start setting her again. Even if Stanford won, the likelihood of Stanford going to Seattle would be very very low. UW would have to be #8 to Stanford's #1. There is not 7 teams with better primary criteria than Washington.
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Post by ay2013 on Nov 27, 2014 2:18:26 GMT -5
Someone said Cassie Strickland has potential to be the best libero in the country next year. Lets not get ahead of ourselves now she is not that good. This was a career performance for her though. Where are all the UW fans who were upset at the beginning of the season complaining about her? Definitely she embraced the role this season and this game shows she can play the position which many doubters weren't convinced of in the early season. we are still here. Any while she has gotten much better, her play now does not change what she was doing in the first half of the season. nobody every argued that she wouldn't get better, it was merely a question of to what extent and how long.
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