wmr8
Freshman
Posts: 65
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Post by wmr8 on Jul 12, 2015 10:23:20 GMT -5
I like the comparison but I would argue JT is a smarter player and sided out on the 18 Open level against a very large block consistently. Spann didn't against an average AVA block. I don't know what Colorado will do with her but I think she will be fine. She is a great kid and I wish her all the best. Being from the AZ region and having played storm many many times now I was really pulling for them to get the three peat and MAYBE then the four peat. I do not think they can win 18s now due to a future Kathryn Plummer team. Let's not forget TAV was not at full health this nationals. We will see, it will be interesting! All they had to do was either set khalia in the back or stivrins on the famous 10 ball and boom side out. Imho AVA block was not average. They won largely because of their ability to block both pins, slow the middle, and funnel to the backrow with positioning the block Properly. The block may have been set and low and tight but it was not big like the PAC 12 will be for Justine.
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wmr8
Freshman
Posts: 65
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Post by wmr8 on Jul 12, 2015 10:25:51 GMT -5
I only saw the final match, but I thought AVA was pretty good. I would say they won largely because Khalia rotated to the back row and the setter failed to spread the ball the last 5 points. Give credit where credit is due. Storm had their chances but was never in control of the match and Lanier was far from as dominating as you're suggesting. As has seemed her tendency lately, she got blocked several times and went to tipping and rolling which AVA ate up. It's unfortunate that Khalia has that tipping tendency the second she doesn't detonate. That will not transfer in college. She needs to manage the game, keep the ball high and when the opportunity arises she can detonate. But I thought khalia played the best out of the storm players. Katie who is is a phenomenal setter had a horrible gold bracket day!
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Post by zenyada on Jul 12, 2015 11:47:18 GMT -5
Give credit where credit is due. Storm had their chances but was never in control of the match and Lanier was far from as dominating as you're suggesting. As has seemed her tendency lately, she got blocked several times and went to tipping and rolling which AVA ate up. It's unfortunate that Khalia has that tipping tendency the second she doesn't detonate. That will not transfer in college. She needs to manage the game, keep the ball high and when the opportunity arises she can detonate. But I thought khalia played the best out of the storm players. Katie who is is a phenomenal setter had a horrible gold bracket day! Horrible? She missed Stivrins up 14-13 in the third and went outside to Spann instead. That was perhaps one of few questionable decisions I recall. Other than that she looked very solid. They just got beat.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2015 11:52:06 GMT -5
It's unfortunate that Khalia has that tipping tendency the second she doesn't detonate. That will not transfer in college. She needs to manage the game, keep the ball high and when the opportunity arises she can detonate. But I thought khalia played the best out of the storm players. Katie who is is a phenomenal setter had a horrible gold bracket day! Horrible? She missed Stivrins up 14-13 in the third and went outside to Spann instead. That was perhaps one of few questionable decisions I recall. Other than that she looked very solid. They just got beat. Her location was really off. I agree that lanier seemed off in the championship match, but a lot the sets she got from katie were completely unhittable. She had no choice but to awkwardly slap/tip them over then net
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Post by c4ndlelight on Jul 12, 2015 12:09:52 GMT -5
Storm lost primarily because they relaxed on defense and lot a bunch of meh roll shots and tips drop. Particularly in that first set they could have sewn up more easily. Secondary reason was the unusually large number of trap sets, as well as some brave swings from AVA's players at the end.
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Post by zenyada on Jul 12, 2015 13:20:01 GMT -5
Storm lost primarily because they relaxed on defense and lot a bunch of meh roll shots and tips drop. Particularly in that first set they could have sewn up more easily. Secondary reason was the unusually large number of trap sets, as well as some brave swings from AVA's players at the end. Too bad we don't have any stats. I thought Spann, Oleksak, and their libero played excellent floor defense in the final. To me, the first game loss was the result of Storm trying to run too low a quick to the outside causing Lanier to be less effective. Who knows whether this was strategy or execution. They went higher in the second and had success. But when Spann turned to her mom and complained about a less than perfect out of system set in the third, you knew the glitter was falling off in Stormville. Storm was off through much of the tournament and while it may not have been Oleksak's best, again I'm more inclined to give AVA credit than blame the setting.
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Post by onfiya on Jul 12, 2015 14:14:04 GMT -5
People Cray Cray! Lanier is the best player in this class...and it's not even close! She is built and plays like a 25 year old and has size, combined with top level skill. All of the other girls that have been mentioned in the conversation as the top 3 or 4 recruits in the nation have some holes. Lanier does not!
One plays good back row defense...for a middle. That's like the award for being the tallest midget.
Another is 6'6" and has nice hands, but slow as molasses. Bill Walton esque. Helluva a low post presence, but wouldn't necessarily want him as my point guard!
Khalia could play as the number 1 OH on any top 25 team in the country right now, save one or two. The others, while good, even great, aren't as ready for the big show going in to their senior year in high school as Khalia.
Oleksak is the best setter in the country as well. She did have a hiccup at a tough time, but the rest of the tourney I saw, she was incredible! She even won two (count'em 1, 2) jousts with King in the TAV match, one of them resulting in Darielle winding up on her keister! Very impressive young lady. It almost pains me to say it, because I'm from Texas and we have some great setters in the 2016 class, but Katie is the best! Seen the best from Cali as well, and they are great. Just not as good as KO in my opinion.
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wmr8
Freshman
Posts: 65
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Post by wmr8 on Jul 12, 2015 14:43:56 GMT -5
Everyone is in agreement here in my opinion. Storm was off. AVA capatalized and won.
I would agree Khalia is the best in the class but I would argue Lexi Sun has a higher ceiling. Is she 2017 though?
It takes a lot of luck to win three national championships in a row and they didn't have it unfortunately.
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Post by Disc808 on Jul 12, 2015 14:55:10 GMT -5
Everyone is in agreement here in my opinion. Storm was off. AVA capatalized and won. I would agree Khalia is the best in the class but I would argue Lexi Sun has a higher ceiling. Is she 2017 though? It takes a lot of luck to win three national championships in a row and they didn't have it unfortunately. I'm not sure if Khalia is the best recruit in the class. She may be the best outside, but not the best prospect in my opinion. Plummer and Fitzmorris I think are among the best recruits in 2016. Also Stivrins, Agbaji, and Haggerty. And I definitely think Lexi Sun has a higher ceiling than Lanier.
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Post by Disc808 on Jul 12, 2015 20:48:41 GMT -5
My personal top 5: 1. Plummer-best overall prospect. Good at all aspects of the game: hitting, blocking, setting, digging, serving. Lethal on the right side, elevates over most blocks. Best blocker in the class IMO. captained the Youth National Team last year. Big physical presence. 2. Fitzmorris- great blocker. Has a lot of international experience that not many have. Can hit the slide better than any other middle IMO. Good on the right side and in front of the setter. Has a great serve and is a huge physical blocker. Defense is solid, even in the back row. Can also play on the right side. Very efficient and deadly. 3. Lanier- athletic, fast, hard hitter. Not the best in the back row but she has time to improve. Obviously going to do well at USC with her hard hitting 4. Stivrins- IMO specialized to going off one foot. Brings a lot of power and heat. A technically good blocker. 5. Haggerty- I haven't seen much of her, but from what I have seen, she is a hard hitting, high jumping outside. Good all around skills
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2015 21:02:17 GMT -5
My personal top 5: 1. Plummer-best overall prospect. Good at all aspects of the game: hitting, blocking, setting, digging, serving. Lethal on the right side, elevates over most blocks. Best blocker in the class IMO. Big physical presence. 2. Fitzmorris- great blocker. Has a lot of international experience that not many have. Can hit the slide better than any other middle IMO. Good on the right side and in front of the setter. Has a great serve and is a huge physical blocker. Defense is solid, even in the back row. Can also play on the right side. Very efficient and deadly. 3. Lanier- athletic, fast, hard hitter. Not the best in the back row but she has time to improve. Obviously going to do well at USC with her hard hitting 4. Stivrins- IMO specialized to going off one foot. Brings a lot of power and heat. A technically good blocker. 5. Haggerty- I haven't seen much of her, but from what I have seen, she is a hard hitting, high jumping outside. Good all around skills When you say not the best in the back row for lanier, are you referring to passing or digging? I think her passing is very solid
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Post by wishinwestcoastvb on Jul 12, 2015 21:10:32 GMT -5
I'm curious to see where Haggerty lands. Every skill of her game impresses me. She has made great strides in her passing and was one of the better passers for SPVB. Her blocking has really impressed me too. I have rarely seen her have blocking errors.
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Post by Disc808 on Jul 12, 2015 21:15:20 GMT -5
My personal top 5: 1. Plummer-best overall prospect. Good at all aspects of the game: hitting, blocking, setting, digging, serving. Lethal on the right side, elevates over most blocks. Best blocker in the class IMO. Big physical presence. 2. Fitzmorris- great blocker. Has a lot of international experience that not many have. Can hit the slide better than any other middle IMO. Good on the right side and in front of the setter. Has a great serve and is a huge physical blocker. Defense is solid, even in the back row. Can also play on the right side. Very efficient and deadly. 3. Lanier- athletic, fast, hard hitter. Not the best in the back row but she has time to improve. Obviously going to do well at USC with her hard hitting 4. Stivrins- IMO specialized to going off one foot. Brings a lot of power and heat. A technically good blocker. 5. Haggerty- I haven't seen much of her, but from what I have seen, she is a hard hitting, high jumping outside. Good all around skills When you say not the best in the back row for lanier, are you referring to passing or digging? I think her passing is very solid From the videos I saw, her digging isn't the best. And some of the serve receive/passing I saw was not the most consistent. But of course she has time to improve and is really good. But I didnt really watch a lot of her at the GJNC.
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Post by pepperbrooks on Jul 12, 2015 21:19:58 GMT -5
I'm curious to see where Haggerty lands. Every skill of her game impresses me. She has made great strides in her passing and was one of the better passers for SPVB. Her blocking has really impressed me too. I have rarely seen her have blocking errors. I thought she already had landed somewhere.
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Post by onfiya on Jul 12, 2015 21:22:05 GMT -5
Wisconsin
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