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Post by oldmanvb on Feb 24, 2015 15:56:25 GMT -5
There are 18 on next year's roster and only 12 scholarships. I can maybe guess 3 or 4 of the non-scholarship players. Hambly has done a remarkable job of building depth. I think every one of his players is capable of a D1 scholarship somewhere. Some of them are on 2 of 4 year or 3 of 4 year scholarships. Getting athletes of that caliber to play for the Illini on their own dime is a truly remarkable salesman job.
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Post by Kamja68 on Feb 25, 2015 11:33:31 GMT -5
Isn't it normally L/DS most of the time walking on that are not promised anything? I would guess depending on playing time etc.. most walk ons would have a chance to earn a year down the road. The walk ons seem really crucial to all teams success. Like football quite often the late round picks and unsigned are the steals that make the teams better and I think Illinois seems to do that really well with players.
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Post by dejmaster on Mar 1, 2015 19:21:08 GMT -5
Illinois lands a RS hitter from Oregon, in Naya Crittendon, who also is left-handed (I've always been biast about that since I'm left handed . She is a player that could really help to fill in the void left by Liz McMahon. After watching her play and listening to the commentators comments, I think that she could potentially be one of the RS hitters that regularly plays. What I like about her is that she has already played 2 seasons and played in what was said by some to be the best the Pac-12 has ever been (yet the B1G still won the title :-). The commentators also had some things to say about her. They said that her vertical was very impressive. Anyway, I've also been wondering what will happen with Illinois this next year in general. I watched the under-armour match, and Jordyn Poulter looked great. Bastionelli looked strong too. (can't say the same for her whole team :-) What is everyone's predictions for B1G results? I think honestly that Illinois has a shot at winning it. Wisconsin and PSU, (the teams who finished above Illinois in last year's B1G conference play) both lost a lot of key players. (Thomas, Chapman, Thompson, Hancock, Grant, Gonzales). Nebraska will be good. Mickaela Foecke (my apologies if I'm misspelling her name), is REALLY good. I think that it will be fun to see Illinois' balance of players (Birks and Stark, both 5th year seniors and Viluinas as a 4th year senior, Stadick, Roustio, Crittendon, Mayers, and Palmer are all Juniors, Donnelly will be a sophmore, and Poulter, Bastionelli, and Prince as Freshman.) We'll see.....
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Post by jma22 on Mar 1, 2015 19:49:19 GMT -5
Illinois lands a RS hitter from Oregon, in Naya Crittendon, who also is left-handed (I've always been biast about that since I'm left handed . She is a player that could really help to fill in the void left by Liz McMahon. After watching her play and listening to the commentators comments, I think that she could potentially be one of the RS hitters that regularly plays. What I like about her is that she has already played 2 seasons and played in what was said by some to be the best the Pac-12 has ever been (yet the B1G still won the title :-). The commentators also had some things to say about her. They said that her vertical was very impressive. Anyway, I've also been wondering what will happen with Illinois this next year in general. I watched the under-armour match, and Jordyn Poulter looked great. Bastionelli looked strong too. (can't say the same for her whole team :-) What is everyone's predictions for B1G results? I think honestly that Illinois has a shot at winning it. Wisconsin and PSU, (the teams who finished above Illinois in last year's B1G conference play) both lost a lot of key players. (Thomas, Chapman, Thompson, Hancock, Grant, Gonzales). Nebraska will be good. Mickaela Foecke (my apologies if I'm misspelling her name), is REALLY good. I think that it will be fun to see Illinois' balance of players (Birks and Stark, both 5th year seniors and Viluinas as a 4th year senior, Stadick, Roustio, Crittendon, Mayers, and Palmer are all Juniors, Donnelly will be a sophmore, and Poulter, Bastionelli, and Prince as Freshman.) We'll see..... Agree that PSU and Wisconsin will take a step back, but both should still be really good. Nebraska is my pick to win the conference. I think it will be a really close race between those three teams and Illinois. Whether or not we can win the conference will depend on how much of an impact Poulter makes.
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Post by WahineFan44 on Mar 1, 2015 21:00:29 GMT -5
Illinois lands a RS hitter from Oregon, in Naya Crittendon, who also is left-handed (I've always been biast about that since I'm left handed . She is a player that could really help to fill in the void left by Liz McMahon. After watching her play and listening to the commentators comments, I think that she could potentially be one of the RS hitters that regularly plays. What I like about her is that she has already played 2 seasons and played in what was said by some to be the best the Pac-12 has ever been (yet the B1G still won the title :-). The commentators also had some things to say about her. They said that her vertical was very impressive. Anyway, I've also been wondering what will happen with Illinois this next year in general. I watched the under-armour match, and Jordyn Poulter looked great. Bastionelli looked strong too. (can't say the same for her whole team :-) What is everyone's predictions for B1G results? I think honestly that Illinois has a shot at winning it. Wisconsin and PSU, (the teams who finished above Illinois in last year's B1G conference play) both lost a lot of key players. (Thomas, Chapman, Thompson, Hancock, Grant, Gonzales). Nebraska will be good. Mickaela Foecke (my apologies if I'm misspelling her name), is REALLY good. I think that it will be fun to see Illinois' balance of players (Birks and Stark, both 5th year seniors and Viluinas as a 4th year senior, Stadick, Roustio, Crittendon, Mayers, and Palmer are all Juniors, Donnelly will be a sophmore, and Poulter, Bastionelli, and Prince as Freshman.) We'll see..... Agree that PSU and Wisconsin will take a step back, but both should still be really good. Nebraska is my pick to win the conference. I think it will be a really close race between those three teams and Illinois. Whether or not we can win the conference will depend on how much of an impact Poulter makes. I REALLY REALLY hope poulter runs a 5-1. Her running a 6-2 would be a travesty
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Post by oldmanvb on Mar 2, 2015 11:32:26 GMT -5
Last year during the short-term 6-2 experiment, Lex was subbed out in the front row, even though she is a competent front-row blocker. Jordyn is also a competent blocker, from what I could tell from you tube videos. I suppose having them play all around is an option. We have at least three potential right sides in Ali, Beth Prince and Crittenden. I know that Ali has not done a great job when given chances in the front row, despite high hopes. I think her lack of effectiveness was one of the reasons we went back to the 5-1. After Lex has given so much heart to the program, it would be sad to have her sit next year. Watching the coaches work out the permutations will be interesting. It is too bad Poulter, Prince and Crittenden could not spend the spring season together. Last spring was invaluable for Brandi Donnelly. I know that the only person Hambly has to keep happy is Hambly, and you can never have too much depth. On the other hand, that is an awful lot of people to keep happy.
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Post by BuckysHeat on Mar 2, 2015 13:26:47 GMT -5
Schedule break allowed UW to win last year, but Russ will replace his seniors and win another title. Is this John Cook still complaining about the same thing, man that guy needs to give it a break already.
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Post by big10vb on Mar 2, 2015 14:17:11 GMT -5
Does anyone have any idea of what the Illinois spring schedule looks like? What about their preseason OOC schedule?
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Post by jma22 on Mar 2, 2015 15:52:06 GMT -5
I REALLY REALLY hope poulter runs a 5-1. Her running a 6-2 would be a travesty Anybody who picks anybody but Penn State to win the Big Ten has been living in a hole. Schedule break allowed UW to win last year, but Russ will replace his seniors and win another title. "The road to power is paved with hypocrisy, and casualties.” Even Penn State has to have down years, they can't dominate every single season. They had one in 2011, and they're due for another. Hancock was a VERY important part of the team and Russ won't be able to replace her immediately. I still see them being a top 10 team, but I don't see them running away with the Big Ten title. It will be a close race.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2015 17:18:05 GMT -5
Penn State is not going to be down this year. Take some time to scroll down their roster. penn State wins the Big Ten in 2015.
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Post by alt on Mar 3, 2015 20:18:26 GMT -5
Agree that PSU and Wisconsin will take a step back, but both should still be really good. Nebraska is my pick to win the conference. I think it will be a really close race between those three teams and Illinois. Whether or not we can win the conference will depend on how much of an impact Poulter makes. I REALLY REALLY hope poulter runs a 5-1. Her running a 6-2 would be a travesty I can not see Poulter being a 6-2 setter, she's elite, elite setters do not set only half the time. Sucks to see Alexis bench her last season, but hey she can help the teams mentality next year. Her presence won't be forgotten. I think Naya can be a great threat to this team. She can maybe even put up better numbers than Liz (if and only if Hambly works a lot on her). She jumps like crazy, she really needs to work on her defense and hitting out of system balls. If she can manage to do that I think Illinois can be top two in conference next year. Who do y'all think is going to take the L2 spot? I know Beth Prince is not yet ready for college, her vertical is not that great she needs to learn a lot if or when she starts playing in matches. I'm routing for Strizak to be L2. She has a great vertical, all she needs is to terminate.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2015 20:59:10 GMT -5
I REALLY REALLY hope poulter runs a 5-1. Her running a 6-2 would be a travesty I can not see Poulter being a 6-2 setter, she's elite, elite setters do not set only half the time. Sucks to see Alexis bench her last season, but hey she can help the teams mentality next year. Her presence won't be forgotten. I think Naya can be a great threat to this team. She can maybe even put up better numbers than Liz (if and only if Hambly works a lot on her). She jumps like crazy, she really needs to work on her defense and hitting out of system balls. If she can manage to do that I think Illinois can be top two in conference next year. Who do y'all think is going to take the L2 spot? I know Beth Prince is not yet ready for college, her vertical is not that great she needs to learn a lot if or when she starts playing in matches. I'm routing for Strizak to be L2. She has a great vertical, all she needs is to terminate. Alt just made one of the more accurate and well-researched posts on this thread.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2015 21:09:41 GMT -5
Still curious, and maybe somebody posted on this, but why did Naya transfer from Oregon?
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Post by oldmanvb on Mar 3, 2015 21:51:41 GMT -5
Last year Oregon went from a 6-2 to a 5-1 which cut right side playing time in half. Martenne Bettendorf was a third team All American right side and will be back. When Naya played she had a lot of trouble hitting out of system. She was not going to be more than a spot blocker. I think they have a high-rated right side recruit. My guess is she did not see a lot of playing time in her future, either next year or the year after.
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Post by alt on Mar 4, 2015 0:32:19 GMT -5
Last year Oregon went from a 6-2 to a 5-1 which cut right side playing time in half. Martenne Bettendorf was a third team All American right side and will be back. When Naya played she had a lot of trouble hitting out of system. She was not going to be more than a spot blocker. I think they have a high-rated right side recruit. My guess is she did not see a lot of playing time in her future, either next year or the year after. I see Naya as raw talent. She is tall, jumps high, and she looks like she can be an elite hitter. She just does not have the experience. She started playing volleyball in high school, if I stand corrected. She has not gotten repetition other hitters may have gotten playing club. I think all she needs is a good coach that can focus on her. The coach at Oregon looked liked like he did not do a great job coaching Naya. I saw some games of hers, she is a dominant hitter she just needs more opportunities. She rarely got set the ball at Oregon.
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