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Post by bucky415 on Aug 28, 2015 22:42:08 GMT -5
Congrats to Western Kentucky on the win. They just plain outplayed the Badgers for the last two and a half sets and made big plays on crucial points while the Badgers tended to be error prone. The Lady Toppers won the back row battle over that period, and they hit efficiently on the high sets to the middle and cross court on the outside, along with some timely setter dumps.
As for Wisconsin, they looked really good for the first set and a half, but when they started to lose the serve/pass battle, things predictably did not go so well for them. They weren't able to find a go to terminator out of system, although Gillis had a good night hitting overall. It just seemed like the whole team got a bit off their game, and they weren't able to shake it off and overcome a WKU team that was playing a really solid match after the first set and a half. I hope they can get their issues figured out and be more on their game tomorrow and going forward. It is a tough way to start the season, but the team clearly has a lot of potential. They just need to be able to grind it out and execute better when things aren't going their way. WKU just did a much better job of winning the big points tonight.
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Post by Mocha on Aug 28, 2015 22:49:27 GMT -5
WKU has a history of upsetting good teams in the preseason; it has owned Purdue the last two years.
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 28, 2015 23:15:34 GMT -5
Got near the end of the third set, and the grainy video on BTN and the commentators, especially the guy, made me skip forward. Will have to watch the rest later.
Really hard to tell from that video, but after the first set, where we played well and seemed to show some diversity and sharpness in attack, we kind of lost connection among the players and played predictably and disjointedly. That's a bad combo. WKU cleaned up some errors and took advantage of naivete covering the block on attack. They played gritty when we seemed lacking in focus. Seemed the more mature side to be frank.
Not really sure Carlini is all the way back yet, which shouldn't be surprising. Maybe we were seeing some mental and/or physical fatigue set in. Or the new crew and her haven't quite worked out how to stay connected through the whole match. Was impressed by MacDonald through the second set. I'm sure they will get better, but this wasn't very good to be honest. Hope it's a wake up call.
This won't be like the last two years when cohesion was basically built into the team from the get go. This team will have to find itself all anew. That's not trivial -- badger fans will have to be patient. The team is capable of some pretty great play based on that first set. I think the defense will be there. The block was actually better than I expected initially, though why the triple block as so ineffective is a good question. But now we need the consistency and the resilience and the belief to keep that kind of play going. That takes a bit more sass and grit than we showed. I only saw that from a few players after the first set. Lot of players have to get their legs under them.
Surprised to see Blake start, but she did really well that first set. And then not so well - the connection got worse, and WKU seemed to figure out their block. I really missed Dom on the slide to add a little dynamism. Really surprised Tionna did not start to provide that and felt it made us a bit predictable. Sheff is clearly working the new girls in. For his starting lineup he seemed to opt mostly for experience rather than any strategic plan. I noticed we tried a number of options out of the back row, (Kriskova, Bates, Gilis) but it seemed to get confused as the match went on, along with all the other connection. It interesting how you can lose that after starting so well and how hard it is to get back when you don't have experience.
Anyway. Congrats to the Hilltoppers!! Well deserved!
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 28, 2015 23:29:51 GMT -5
Surprised somewhat, but not shocked. WKU is a very good team, really dangerous early in the season, and has zero fear of top teams. Not a match I would schedule first. No doubt Wisconsin will rebound and be a top team, but this was a scary match for a first match. Actually, if I had a young team, maybe letting them see a good scrappy team this early is not a bad idea, even with a loss. It definitely sends an early message that you can't be complacent. It also gives the team a look at how a cohesive mature team handles adversity...and gives a good idea of how far they have to go. This is not how I wanted the season to start, but if I'm honest with myself, I did expect some set backs early in the season with the young team. Better now than during the B1G season. We'll have a number of these challenges this preseason.
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Post by bc2016 on Aug 29, 2015 2:19:53 GMT -5
WKU has a history of upsetting good teams in the preseason; it has owned Purdue the last two years. Though not as much as WKU owned UW today.
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Post by bball on Aug 29, 2015 8:42:14 GMT -5
any truth to the W badgers having team chemistry issues? At least thus far? Rumors were swirling some of the girls weren't clicking. Hopefully things will clean up for them, they will be in good shape by the time big 10 rolls around.
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Post by BadgerAce42 on Aug 29, 2015 9:23:37 GMT -5
any truth to the W badgers having team chemistry issues? At least thus far? Rumors were swirling some of the girls weren't clicking. Hopefully things will clean up for them, they will be in good shape by the time big 10 rolls around. I don't think most of us would be privy to that information. There are 8 newcomers to this team... trust/growth comes from overcoming adversity as a unit. They need time.
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 29, 2015 9:29:50 GMT -5
I've not seen anything obvious. Important to use the term "chemistry issues" with caution. It's natural to compare this team to that of the last few years, which was an extraordinarily cohesive unit. So by definition, building team chemistry is one of the key challenges facing the team if it wants to match the previous years' successes. I expect that chemistry will have to evolve, if it does, by dealing with setbacks like this and learning from them.
The one thing that concerned me was that the team seemed to start out playing cohesively, but lost it as the match went on. It looked like they haven't found what they can fall back on when things don't go well. Felt like the whole team started pressing. Sometimes it seems like that is the hardest thing for teams to develop - a sense of what to do to get oneself out of a rut. WKU had that figured out. Looked like a veteran team who been there together before.
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Post by rainbowbadger on Aug 29, 2015 10:09:06 GMT -5
I thought the freshman looked stunned last night, with the exception of MacDonald, who had her game face on. Girl's got real grit.
Anyone else notice that when Madison did come in, it was for Romana on the right and not Gillis on the left? Things that make you go "Hmm."
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 29, 2015 10:36:26 GMT -5
Mac Donald I thought played great. She looks like she will immediately slide into the the long line of gritty UW floor defenders. Very happy with that performance. Sheff seems to be easing the other freshmen in.
Gillis seemed to do OK to me, although she was not very lethal for periods. We had a few more errors than usual in the last three sets. Kriskova was less so. But she is going to be rusty for a while I think. Strange that Saunders disn't come in for Kriskova.
But the real concern was defense in the end. We gave up nearly a .400 HP the last two sets. That is way way too high. I'll need to watch the last two sets again to see what let up...whether it was the serving that got too conservative, or the blocking. That triple block didn't seem to work all night.
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 29, 2015 10:54:11 GMT -5
Mac Donald I thought played great. She looks like she will immediately slide into the the long line of gritty UW floor defenders. Very happy with that performance. Sheff seems to be easing the other freshmen in. Gillis seemed to do OK to me, although she was not very lethal for periods. We had a few more errors than usual in the last three sets. Kriskova was less so. But she is going to be rusty for a while I think. Strange that Saunders disn't come in for Kriskova. But the real concern was defense in the end. We gave up nearly a .400 HP the last two sets. That is way way too high. I'll need to watch the last two sets again to see what let up...whether it was the serving that got too conservative, or the blocking. That triple block didn't seem to work all night. Everything was incredibly hard to see on the BTN plus broadcast. Wow that was bad. I digress. Passing was okay, and when it's just okay and we're out of system, we struggled. Like to see use of the back row if we can't get kills from the front, and even when we can. Seemed OH struggled in those situations. Kriskova played as expected. I hope as she gains familiarity and shakes off the rust, she can step up in situations where we need a big side out. Seemed errors came when pressure came. But again, to be expected with rust. Haley didn't serve well enough to warrant back row play. Period. We didn't have the luxury of bad back row defense last night and likely won't going forward. Get this out their system and use these matches as a way to gain trust, learn each other's tendencies and pull together. Hope we see Tiana.
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Post by SportyBucky on Aug 29, 2015 10:57:12 GMT -5
WKU has a history of upsetting good teams in the preseason; it has owned Purdue the last two years. Though not as much as WKU owned UW today. Troll elsewhere, please. Good game, but come on now.
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Post by badgerbreath on Aug 29, 2015 11:06:44 GMT -5
Everything was incredibly hard to see on the BTN plus broadcast. Wow that was bad. I digress. I'm with you. I thought the feed was terrible. How hard is it to put out a decent feed these days?
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Post by badgerbill on Aug 29, 2015 11:06:54 GMT -5
Considering that the Badgers did not complete during the spring season; Kriskova and Carlini coming back after injuries;and six newcomers with only 4 weeks of practice - It really isn't that big of shock to lose a match line this. The Badgers played lights out in the first set, which is couraging. There is quite a bit of rust, but that should correct itself.
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Post by Phillytom on Aug 29, 2015 11:11:29 GMT -5
I'm beyond shocked. I was led to believe Carlini and five cardboard cutouts could win matches like this. Maybe the other players are just getting in her way. Seriously, hard to read much into it. They're rebuilding their entire front line with young players who have little to no college experience. Bates is a terrific supporting player but at 5-11 isn't exactly a hitter you can build an offense around. Probably they will be fine. It is worrisome to hear Wisky fans expressing concerns that Carlini maybe doesn't look 100%. She has a lot of mileage on those knees. She would still obviously be a great player with reduced mobility but it does mean other players have to cover a little more ground defensively.
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