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Post by jagdpanther on Dec 21, 2014 15:15:44 GMT -5
the same time is a tough pill to swallow, given their positions and production. I think Wisky will survive their graduations much easier because they are retaining so much at the most critical spots. I hate when your post is a downer. 2011 is not the same as when 2015 comes next year. In 2011, it was Micha's first year as a setter. And remember that Micha was not a "pure" setter, but a RS hitter learning to be a setter. in 2015, Weiskercher will be a pure setter and the learning won't be as steep. Not saying Penn State win it all again, but you can't use 2011 as an example because each is different. But one thing I know is that RR will make the NCAA like he has the last 34 or so years. [/quote] Uh... I am confused. How did you get a discussion of Hancock out of that post? I was talking about the backrow D. And if you see other posts I've made, I've said that our setting might be as good as or better with Weiskircher/Rivera because I think Micha, even now, is not the best technical setter around. But she is just such a great all-around player that it will be extremely difficult to replace her.
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Post by gnu2vball on Dec 21, 2014 15:28:39 GMT -5
It occurs to me, after reading all the recent posts and re-watching the game, that PSU's success against BYU was due--in a large part--to their respect for BYU. They had enough respect for BYU to properly prepare. This is not to take anything away from BYU's achievements. Rose and his coaching staff developed a game plan, sold it to the players, and Micha led the team to executing it. That said, it certainly helps having players who are athletic and smart enough to execute. I guess that's where recruiting comes in.
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Post by jagdpanther on Dec 21, 2014 16:16:44 GMT -5
It occurs to me, after reading all the recent posts and re-watching the game, that PSU's success against BYU was due--in a large part--to their respect for BYU. They had enough respect for BYU to properly prepare. This is not to take anything away from BYU's achievements. Rose and his coaching staff developed a game plan, sold it to the players, and Micha led the team to executing it. That said, it certainly helps having players who are athletic and smart enough to execute. I guess that's where recruiting comes in. Great post and totally agree. The game plan was exactly what it had to be. Hancock spread out the BYU block. PSU sold out to contain Hamson (who, if you haven't read the stats yet, hit .071 and had 11 hitting errors) and did a good job of doing that. BYU's other offensive players really couldn't tune up too much to present a threat. And credit BYU; they did a great job containing Hancock's serve until the middle of set 3, by which point BYU was already collapsing after having blown their huge chance at the end of set 2. BYU came ready to play PSU and it showed for 2 whole sets. I, personally, think they were just floored after letting set 2 slip away. When PSU jumped on BYU early in set 3, it was pretty much over, you could tell. It's even more amazing how PSU won considering that Micha really wasn't much of a threat offensively (BYU played her SO well and really bottled up her attacks, leading Micha to hit negative on 8 attempts). Her serve wasn't phasing BYU. But she set a great match, maybe her best ever, simply because while it wasn't a "masterful" job in isolation, it was a masterful job against this particular opponent in this situation. The defense gave her good passes, she made good choices, and her hitters terminated as much as they needed to. Who would've thought PSU would outblock BYU 10-7? I certainly didn't. Between the Stanford and BYU matches, PSU showed how you game-plan for a specific opponent and execute on that plan to win at the highest level. But... as you said, it really helps to have a boatload of talent that *can* execute on plans like these. Wouldn't be of much use if middles couldn't streak to the boundaries before the opponent has any chance to setup a block or defenders couldn't grab any ball hit in their general direction.
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Post by jsn112 on Dec 21, 2014 16:18:12 GMT -5
Uh... I am confused. How did you get a discussion of Hancock out of that post? I was talking about the backrow D. And if you see other posts I've made, I've said that our setting might be as good as or better with Weiskircher/Rivera because I think Micha, even now, is not the best technical setter around. But she is just such a great all-around player that it will be extremely difficult to replace her. You said: "Go back to 2011. PSU's backrow D was NOT good. Fuller, Gonzalez, and Carpenter really struggled. That was a big part of PSU not winning a title that year." Which is incorrect. The backrow wasn't as bad as you made it out to be because at that time Ali Longo, who was a soph., was pretty good to go along with Dom and Fuller. It was the combination of Hancock learning to play as a setter and UCLA, whom PSU lost to in the NCAA, getting hot that year was the reason and not our backrow. Remember, we lost to Illinois twice that year, and UCLA beat them to win the NC. So that year wasn't Penn State's. Even if we had a senior Dom and Fuller, it wouldn't make a difference. 2015 will be different because I think we will be in better shape with setting and overall talents. The setters will be light years ahead to when Hancock was a freshman. And I think the Pierce sisters will do fine. Even though I am no expert, I have been focusing on their backrow play and I am impressed. If the new libero coming in better than them, great. And hence, that was why I said you can't compare 2011 and 2015.
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Post by bigfan on Dec 21, 2014 16:33:04 GMT -5
Best team won. They were there because they beat every opponent the NCAA gave them. Proud of them, and congrats to PSU. PSU is on a UCLA run.............6 of the last 8 championships. I loved the great run BYU had..............it made this final four so fun to watch and follow on volleytalk. AZVB I am one of your greatest fans, congrats on a great season. Cant wait for next year. Regards, bigfan
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Post by bigfan on Dec 21, 2014 16:34:01 GMT -5
Thanks to all the Volleytalkers who posted as this match went on....................you were my lifeline.
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Post by azvb on Dec 21, 2014 17:29:16 GMT -5
Best team won. They were there because they beat every opponent the NCAA gave them. Proud of them, and congrats to PSU. PSU is on a UCLA run.............6 of the last 8 championships. I loved the great run BYU had..............it made this final four so fun to watch and follow on volleytalk. AZVB I am one of your greatest fans, congrats on a great season. Cant wait for next year. Regards, bigfan Right back-atcha.
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Post by Mocha on Dec 21, 2014 17:40:14 GMT -5
azvb, now might be a good time to start drinking.
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Post by timduckforlife on Dec 21, 2014 17:42:07 GMT -5
It occurs to me, after reading all the recent posts and re-watching the game, that PSU's success against BYU was due--in a large part--to their respect for BYU. They had enough respect for BYU to properly prepare. This is not to take anything away from BYU's achievements. Rose and his coaching staff developed a game plan, sold it to the players, and Micha led the team to executing it. That said, it certainly helps having players who are athletic and smart enough to execute. I guess that's where recruiting comes in. Great post and totally agree. The game plan was exactly what it had to be. Hancock spread out the BYU block. PSU sold out to contain Hamson (who, if you haven't read the stats yet, hit .071 and had 11 hitting errors) and did a good job of doing that. BYU's other offensive players really couldn't tune up too much to present a threat. And credit BYU; they did a great job containing Hancock's serve until the middle of set 3, by which point BYU was already collapsing after having blown their huge chance at the end of set 2. BYU came ready to play PSU and it showed for 2 whole sets. I, personally, think they were just floored after letting set 2 slip away. When PSU jumped on BYU early in set 3, it was pretty much over, you could tell. It's even more amazing how PSU won considering that Micha really wasn't much of a threat offensively (BYU played her SO well and really bottled up her attacks, leading Micha to hit negative on 8 attempts). Her serve wasn't phasing BYU. But she set a great match, maybe her best ever, simply because while it wasn't a "masterful" job in isolation, it was a masterful job against this particular opponent in this situation. The defense gave her good passes, she made good choices, and her hitters terminated as much as they needed to. Who would've thought PSU would outblock BYU 10-7? I certainly didn't. Between the Stanford and BYU matches, PSU showed how you game-plan for a specific opponent and execute on that plan to win at the highest level. But... as you said, it really helps to have a boatload of talent that *can* execute on plans like these. Wouldn't be of much use if middles couldn't streak to the boundaries before the opponent has any chance to setup a block or defenders couldn't grab any ball hit in their general direction. It really just helps to have as many weapons as PSU has. It was clear from the get-go they just went right side almost exclusively when in system, whether that be opposite or slides. It also helped that their defense allowed them to run those slides and backsets as well. I don't think Megan Courtney had a single kill until the 3rd set. Which is also a testament to Russ and his players as they don't seem to care about who gets swings in which game, it all came down to the game plan and executing that game plan. Definitely hats off to PSU they played amazing. Also hats off to BYU for getting their when nobody gave them a chance. They were the underdogs in every match other than the 1st round going into it and played amazing to get there. And it might have been a different match had BYU been able to pull out that 2nd set. Because when the 3rd set happened and down 0-2, by the middle of it, they looked defeated and knew it was over. And had that 2nd set gone different, they probably would have been able to dig deep and rebound.
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Post by bigfan on Dec 21, 2014 17:43:15 GMT -5
azvb, now might be a good time to start drinking. Are we talking the Jim Jones KOOL-AID that contains NO ALCOHOL?
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Post by hammer on Dec 21, 2014 17:48:52 GMT -5
Maybe some hyperbole there, but he is damn good. That's why we should entice him to coach here at Stanford by doubling his salary, supplying him plenty of Cuban cigars (now that we have normalized relations with Cuba), and numerous bottles of Cabernet Franc (which we have plenty of due to our proximity to Napa Valley). Cheers! What will happen to Dunning then? You can't simply kick out such as nice gentleman of a coach/man. He looks like he can coach for another 10 years. Will you take him in a trade?
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Post by akbar on Dec 21, 2014 17:54:26 GMT -5
Oh the haters were out huh on this thread. Sigh.
Such transparency.
PSU will have as good a chance to win next year as they did the past two years. That's not saying they will but their chance is as good and they have the players in every position to do it.
I will go into detail why at some point down the road but I would rather people savor a tremendous champion we have in the 2014 PSU Womens team. CONGRATS!
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Post by bigfan on Dec 21, 2014 18:00:27 GMT -5
PSU will have as good a chance to win next year as they did the past two years. That's not saying they will but their chance is as good and they have the players in every position to do it. CONGRATS! PSU will be locked and loaded next year but......................it will be fun to see Texas, Stanford, BYU, Wisconsin and alot of other clubs going for the Championship. Its why they play the games. 17-0 New England was one play from going 18-0. I wonder if a unofficial PSU pre-season goal will be to go undefeated in 2015?
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Post by akbar on Dec 21, 2014 18:07:57 GMT -5
PSU will have as good a chance to win next year as they did the past two years. That's not saying they will but their chance is as good and they have the players in every position to do it. CONGRATS! PSU will be locked and loaded next year but......................it will be fun to see Texas, Stanford, BYU, Wisconsin and alot of other clubs going for the Championship. Its why they play the games. 17-0 New England was one play from going 18-0. I wonder if a unofficial PSU pre-season goal will be to go undefeated in 2015? Of course their goal is to win every rally, point, game and set bit their ultimate goal it to be the best players and team they can be come December 2015.
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Post by jsn112 on Dec 21, 2014 18:34:06 GMT -5
What will happen to Dunning then? You can't simply kick out such as nice gentleman of a coach/man. He looks like he can coach for another 10 years. Will you take him in a trade? But then how are we supposed to beat Stanford? You guys would win it every year, which would make it boring. Ahh...Oops, nevermind...
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