|
Post by vbkid111 on Dec 19, 2014 14:57:30 GMT -5
Sure, Frantti and Courtney hit tremendously yesterday. Florida's stars hit great against Stanford too. The difference was that Stanford passed well against Florida, not against Penn St. Sure, adjustments would have been nice. But if Stanford would have passed well, and thus sided out better, they could have pulled this out, despite Penn State's OH's. Stanford WAS in system for nearly all of the 2nd game, and, as a result, their middle attack was really chugging, along with Boukather getting her in-system kills. However, although PSU exacerbated Stanford's efficiency with uncharacteristic passing struggles of their own in that same game, I thought the run PSU put together at the end of that game had significant impact in the games following even though they ultimately lost it. The blocking clinic during that run got Grant emotionally involved who, up to that point, hadn't impacted the match much at all, and Inky, who I think at one point was roofed 3-4 times in a row, really never seemed to recover from it. Neither did Bugg quite. (They seemed to be doing a lot a talking with/at each other the rest of the night.) Another illustration of how these Penn State teams seem to be able to dig deep and find something when they most need it was Grant's performance late in the pivotal 3rd game when they were still struggling to score points on serve and seemed to consistently trail by 2-3 points. Grant, who had a sub-par performance offensively for much of the match, suddenly caught fire to score on 3-4 big kills (some of them thundering) to surge the Lions into a lead that they never relinquished. BTW, many of those were nicely designed to prey on Lutz slowness: the misdirection, step-in A-quicks off one foot and the intermediate slides that both created gaps in the block for easy scores. That series of kills came at such a key moment. (It was AA material, just saying.) Of course, the stellar passing of Dom (who got much better as the match progressed), Courtney, Pierce, and Frantti allowed fast, in-system attacking from the lefts. Pierce, especially, was really laying them up there.
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Dec 19, 2014 15:36:27 GMT -5
Frankly, if you are staying in a 5-1 system, there is not much Dunning could do to stop PSU's in system LS attack. PSU's middles are good enough to hold Stanford's middle blockers. Lutz gets over pretty slowly anyway, and Bugg isn't a strong enough blocker to stop hitters like Frantti and Courtney. Maybe you could go with a double switch bringing in Humphreys in one or two rotations (something they've never even attempted this year), but the only available tall person on the bench is Vanjack (who is not a RS hitter). Stanford had to either get PSU OOS more or terminate more effectively themselves so Frantti and Courtney would get less swings, but it didn't happen.
|
|
|
Post by strikestwice on Dec 19, 2014 15:47:08 GMT -5
If you watched the match, Stanford was trying to make some defensive adjustments on the back row as the match progressed. Their middle back defenders (I noticed Howard more than Burgess) sliding all the way over to the line when the Penn State leftsides were attacking. They were then getting killed in the seam between Gilbert and middle back. Penn State's floor defenders were out of their minds last night also. Penn State was hitting some great shots into some seams and those little pesky defenders just slid in there and scooped them up.
Penn State is going to miss Hancock next year, but Gonzalez and Fuller are going to be big losses as well. I know Russ has about 50 DS players on the roster, but those two have been staples in the lineup for sometime now.
|
|
|
Post by Phillytom on Dec 19, 2014 15:47:51 GMT -5
And the middles also have to worry about Hancock attacking. That's something Penn State has that teams don't even see much -- a left handed setter who can hit from the same exact position she sets from. When PSU was passing well, Hancock could keep the middles on her and then kick it to Courtney or Frantti or the PSU middle or a slide, or back row attack if Courtney is back there. Just too many options to have to defend. But the foundation of it all is serving and passing. Frankly, if you are staying in a 5-1 system, there is not much Dunning could do to stop PSU's in system LS attack. PSU's middles are good enough to hold Stanford's middle blockers. Lutz gets over pretty slowly anyway, and Bugg isn't a strong enough blocker to stop hitters like Frantti and Courtney. Maybe you could go with a double switch bringing in Humphreys in one or two rotations (something they've never even attempted this year), but the only available tall person on the bench is Vanjack (who is not a RS hitter). Stanford had to either get PSU OOS more or terminate more effectively themselves so Frantti and Courtney would get less swings, but it didn't happen.
|
|
|
Post by ballervolley on Dec 19, 2014 15:50:47 GMT -5
i saw the brazil men's team do this: the middle would switch with the end blocker (who was a shorter setter) to post up and shut down the line. i feel they should have done this obviously it was penn state's game plan to hit zone 1
|
|
|
Post by Phillytom on Dec 19, 2014 15:51:54 GMT -5
....and in response to the original question. Stanford's a great team. Last year they were clearly the best team PSU played; and if PSU hadn't beaten them they would have won the title. This year too they have been the best team PSU has played. I think Stanford would have matched up very well against the Badgers -- pity we didn't get to see that match.
Anyway, Stanford is a great, great team. Nothing wrong with them or Dunning. Just the misfortune of having Penn State be a little bit better.
Maybe next year the tournament committee will wise up and stop putting PSU and Stanford in the same semifinal bracket so they have a chance to play this match in the finals (if it comes to that). I fully expect Stanford will be there next year. Penn State -- losing Hancock and Dom, who knows, but we'll see.
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Dec 19, 2014 15:55:21 GMT -5
i saw the brazil men's team do this: the middle would switch with the end blocker (who was a shorter setter) to post up and shut down the line. i feel they should have done this obviously it was penn state's game plan to hit zone 1 You can do that on a telegraphed set, but in system most women middles are just too slow to pull it off.
|
|
|
Post by crosscourt3m on Dec 19, 2014 15:57:08 GMT -5
I think there was an adjustment made as Howard and Burgess came up with some great touches in zone 1. However, I think the adjustment just came too late and as a previous poster said, Penn State just played better in the crucial stages of game.
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Dec 19, 2014 16:03:23 GMT -5
....and in response to the original question. Stanford's a great team. Last year they were clearly the best team PSU played; and if PSU hadn't beaten them they would have won the title. This year too they have been the best team PSU has played. I think Stanford would have matched up very well against the Badgers -- pity we didn't get to see that match. Anyway, Stanford is a great, great team. Nothing wrong with them or Dunning. Just the misfortune of having Penn State be a little bit better. Maybe next year the tournament committee will wise up and stop putting PSU and Stanford in the same semifinal bracket so they have a chance to play this match in the finals (if it comes to that). I fully expect Stanford will be there next year. Penn State -- losing Hancock and Dom, who knows, but we'll see. I'm not certain who PSU's new setter will be next year, but the backup I saw (Weiskercher) at Maples in early Sept. looked pretty good to me. Russ should be able to replace his current starting back row players with competent individuals, so PSU should still be at least FF capable in 2015.
|
|
|
Post by #skoskers on Dec 19, 2014 16:38:52 GMT -5
1985 and 1986 at Pacific. 2001 and 2004 at Stanford. Yes, I was being sarcastic regarding someone suggesting Dunning was too soft to win it all. You said he hasn't "one" [sic] a national championship, and when Geddy pointed out he had four, you said, "Wait, what? Did I miss something, has Dunning won titles?" I mean, you're the almighty font of knowledge when it comes to NCAA volleyball, because you coached Harmotto in club (one of the best middles in college history--not disputing that at all), but you had a mediocre career at Ohio State yourself? Or was that someone else...? Before I hit Create Post, I'll mention I'm being sarcastic. ;-)
|
|
|
Post by kokyu on Dec 19, 2014 16:43:51 GMT -5
Dunning's created a culture similar to the WNT, but unlike Karch he hasn't lucked into a title. Single elimination will do that every time for this soft culture.
|
|
|
Post by akbar on Dec 19, 2014 16:44:19 GMT -5
Yes, I was being sarcastic regarding someone suggesting Dunning was too soft to win it all. You said he hasn't "one" [sic] a national championship, and when Geddy pointed out he had four, you said, "Wait, what? Did I miss something, has Dunning won titles?" I mean, you're the almighty font of knowledge when it comes to NCAA volleyball, because you coached Harmotto in club (one of the best middles in college history--not disputing that at all), but you had a mediocre career at Ohio State yourself? Or was that someone else...? Before I hit Create Post, I'll mention I'm being sarcastic. ;-) Ohio state! Oh boy...hahahhahahha. no not Ohio state. Try the Coaching Factory.
|
|
|
Post by Boof1224 on Dec 19, 2014 16:53:01 GMT -5
....and in response to the original question. Stanford's a great team. Last year they were clearly the best team PSU played; and if PSU hadn't beaten them they would have won the title. This year too they have been the best team PSU has played. I think Stanford would have matched up very well against the Badgers -- pity we didn't get to see that match. Anyway, Stanford is a great, great team. Nothing wrong with them or Dunning. Just the misfortune of having Penn State be a little bit better. Maybe next year the tournament committee will wise up and stop putting PSU and Stanford in the same semifinal bracket so they have a chance to play this match in the finals (if it comes to that). I fully expect Stanford will be there next year. Penn State -- losing Hancock and Dom, who knows, but we'll see. I'm not certain who PSU's new setter will be next year, but the backup I saw (Weiskercher) at Maples in early Sept. looked pretty good to me. Russ should be able to replace his current starting back row players with competent individuals, so PSU should still be at least FF capable in 2015. I don't think wieskircher played at all this year. Her and nia reed the other under armour all American both redshirted. She looked good in last years under armour game. She has Rockwell there working with her though and it doesn't hurt to have Hancock on your team and see what she does. Think Brianna will be fine.
|
|
|
Post by Boof1224 on Dec 19, 2014 16:54:08 GMT -5
Plus a few of the freshman she played in club volleyball team with. So they know each other
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Dec 19, 2014 17:05:36 GMT -5
i saw the brazil men's team do this: the middle would switch with the end blocker (who was a shorter setter) to post up and shut down the line. i feel they should have done this obviously it was penn state's game plan to hit zone 1 You can do that on a telegraphed set, but in system most women middles are just too slow to pull it off. But, and I forgot about this, on my way to lunch I remembered that Boukather can hit the one set, and Lutz can hit right side. So switching Boukather to middle and Lutz to RS in a rotation or two might have been worth a try. However, if you don't practice and play matches with this arrangement you are asking for big trouble.
|
|