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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 5, 2015 12:29:20 GMT -5
Jeez, They're 4-0 and have loss 2 SETS!! Relax. It's early and things will work themselves out. I hope they do but their passing and setting has to improve.
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Post by hawaiifan808 on Sept 5, 2015 12:31:41 GMT -5
Jeez, They're 4-0 and have loss 2 SETS!! Relax. It's early and things will work themselves out. But they've been playing sloppy volleyball and getting lucky at wining those sets.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 5, 2015 12:32:43 GMT -5
Did Cubicle really say Kahakai played a good match? Kahakai was not good. She was slow to react and her passing was inconsistent. She has been outplayed by almost every Libero thus far. This position is a weakness right now for Hawai'i, I hope she steps up. A few times it looked as if she gave up when the ball deflected off the defenders hand and didn't make the effort to hustle for the ball. She planted herself too much out on the court instead of being on her toes, that's why those tips helped out Iowa real well. At times where kahakai is out on left back, she tends to react slowly to those tips. She needs to get with the program or else face losing her spot to some other wahine who would give up her body just to keep the rallies on. Kahakai is on scholarship, she won't be pulled. She needs to step it up though.
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Post by DiggUH on Sept 5, 2015 12:36:12 GMT -5
whatever the case is, Iowa is most definitely a team to pay attention to. i would love to see them match up to UCLA. that would be a fun match to see. Shymansky's 3 middle system is fun to watch , especially with Keala at the helm but UCLA should win, I think Iowa played beyond their potential last night. Yeah, his GA Tech team was also fun to watch some years ago, even though I was nervous most of the time. I wonder if he would be interested in coming here when Dave retires?
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Post by hawaiifan808 on Sept 5, 2015 12:37:58 GMT -5
A few times it looked as if she gave up when the ball deflected off the defenders hand and didn't make the effort to hustle for the ball. She planted herself too much out on the court instead of being on her toes, that's why those tips helped out Iowa real well. At times where kahakai is out on left back, she tends to react slowly to those tips. She needs to get with the program or else face losing her spot to some other wahine who would give up her body just to keep the rallies on. Kahakai is on scholarship, she won't be pulled. She needs to step it up though. I hope so soon though, how much time does she need though, or how long will it take for shoji to realize that he is losing his grip/touch on the sport bc it seems he's been letting these girls make the same mistakes too often and let it carry on to the next match.
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Post by ACE on Sept 5, 2015 13:13:35 GMT -5
Greeley the silent hero - 12 kills hit .345 Took the words out of my mouth. Kalei very steady as always. Magill, too. Nikki cannot and I repeat CANNOT carry the load for this team. Others need to step up. And Dave, PULL TAI EARLIER when she's struggling! Leaving her in to see if she'll come out of a funk won't cut it! I wouldn't even "PULL TAI EARLIER" because, I don't think she should start. Pulling her might actually put more pressure on her to perform so she doesn't get pulled. I think from the get go Shoji should make it clear to her that she's going in only to hit. Don't try to see if she'll "work things out". She's a senior, it should be worked out already. I think her role of a designated front row attacker is just fine.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 5, 2015 13:20:47 GMT -5
i thought kahakai had a solid night. passed well, and got some nice digs. she's getting better at anticipating the tip shot. i'd like to see her put some more velocity on her float serve. that said, let's not be revisionist about the other players you've mentioned. longo, yes, i wish hawaii had her for 4 years (instead of just 2). mendoza struggled in the first half of the season as a starting libero, and was even replaced by kahakai for a time. hittle, although she found her calling at libero, was supposed to be a 6 rotation outside hitter. but (like another outside hitter on this year's team) never found the consistency to play all the way around. brandt came in to play in the back row, but she was never relied upon to pass. she was in there to serve and play defense (which i will agree, she did very well). maeda was better as a role player than as a starting libero. when you noticed her on the court as libero, it was because she went into the shank tank. even kaaihue took some time to get acclimated to the libero role. it showed during her first two years, and she didn't really get comfortable in the position until her junior ans senior seasons. Kahakai played a lot last year. This is the fourth match of the season and she has been the libero all four times. Still, she is watching balls fall around her. Mendoza had her struggles, but she wasn't as bad as Kahakai is now during this time. Here are Mendoza's stats for the first four matches of last season: Ohio (3 sets, 24 digs, 4 assists) Arizona State (3 sets, 5 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist) SDSU (4 sets, 24 digs, 3 assists, 1 kill) New Mexico (4 sets, 17 digs, 1 ace, 1 assist) Hittle was injured during the early part of the 2005 season and was out for weeks. She was never the same after that injury. But, she was the 2004 WAC FOY and was a passing right-side hitter. Maeda wasn't perfect. But she wasn't a bad passer and she had a lot of memorable digs. Agreed that she was a better as a role player when Longo took over the libero spot, but she should have been the libero in 2011, not Elizabeth Blake. Ka`aihue also had her struggles as a true freshman libero but she was injured during her sophomore season and saw limited playing time as a DS. She was pretty great when she started again at the libero position after that season. i think a lot of what you said supports my point -- let's not revise history and only think of our idealized view of these former liberos and DSs. there's nuance and these players were given the chance to overcome their struggles and get comfortable in their positions. mendoza's diging stats last year were great, and i'll agree she was an impressive defensive player. she scooped up a lot of digs. but it was passing that she seemed to struggle with early on, and i recall that's why she lost the job for a short time to kahakai. that said, i also remember a lot of the missed digs that mendoza was raked over for by fans on this board, especially picking up and anticipating tip shots (i remember comments along the lines of "longo would've gotten to those"). mendoza, of course, improved on this over the course of the season. yes, kahakai did play a lot last year (but so did players like mendoza and maeda the year before they become libero, and yet they still faced some struggles when asked to start). kahakai also overcame an an injury last year (like kaaihue did in her career). why is latitude being given then to some of these former liberos, but not to kahakai? or maybe this is simply the natural cycle of fans' memories? being critical of every aspect of their game while they're here, and then remember mainly the fond memories when they've gone. kahakai has improved at libero, imo, over the first few matches of this season. not perfect, of course, but there are aspects of her game that have steadied out, like her passing. there's room for improvement for her defense and serving. and i'd like to see her play with a more aggressive, confident demeanor out there. she will only get better as she gets more comfortable in the role.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 5, 2015 13:23:40 GMT -5
Unfortunately, it might take a loss before Dave Shoji realizes we are right and he is wrong. haha ... you're such an instigator!
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Post by ACE on Sept 5, 2015 13:25:25 GMT -5
Shymansky's 3 middle system is fun to watch , especially with Keala at the helm but UCLA should win, I think Iowa played beyond their potential last night. Yeah, his GA Tech team was also fun to watch some years ago, even though I was nervous most of the time. I wonder if he would be interested in coming here when Dave retires? That's where he's from. I was looking at him and kept saying "where the heck I seen him before"...2003 Regional Finals vs G. Tech. Didn't G-Tech have a hawaii setter running their offense that year? I could be wrong.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 5, 2015 13:25:45 GMT -5
Did Cubicle really say Kahakai played a good match? Kahakai was not good. She was slow to react and her passing was inconsistent. She has been outplayed by almost every Libero thus far. This position is a weakness right now for Hawai'i, I hope she steps up. i do and i stand by it. she struggled early on, but so did nearly every wahine in the first set loss. but kahakai's passing steadied out over the course of the match.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 5, 2015 13:33:55 GMT -5
Did Cubicle really say Kahakai played a good match? Kahakai was not good. She was slow to react and her passing was inconsistent. She has been outplayed by almost every Libero thus far. This position is a weakness right now for Hawai'i, I hope she steps up. A few times it looked as if she gave up when the ball deflected off the defenders hand and didn't make the effort to hustle for the ball. She planted herself too much out on the court instead of being on her toes, that's why those tips helped out Iowa real well. At times where kahakai is out on left back, she tends to react slowly to those tips. She needs to get with the program or else face losing her spot to some other wahine who would give up her body just to keep the rallies on. it really is like deja vu ... past liberos, like mendoza last year, faced nearly the exact same criticism.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 5, 2015 13:36:16 GMT -5
Did Cubicle really say Kahakai played a good match? Kahakai was not good. She was slow to react and her passing was inconsistent. She has been outplayed by almost every Libero thus far. This position is a weakness right now for Hawai'i, I hope she steps up. i do and i stand by it. she struggled early on, but so did nearly every wahine in the first set loss. but kahakai's passing steadied out over the course of the match. Her passing may have steadied out but she still struggled. She wasn't much better on defense. Kahakai was great against Texas, the Wahine need that version of Kahakai back.
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Post by Wolfgang on Sept 5, 2015 13:37:43 GMT -5
Why doesn't UHVolleyballFanToo upload the OCSports postgame interviews, too? He (or She?) is already uploading the matches.
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Post by Cubicle No More ... on Sept 5, 2015 13:39:51 GMT -5
i do and i stand by it. she struggled early on, but so did nearly every wahine in the first set loss. but kahakai's passing steadied out over the course of the match. If it steadied out than it must have been bad to begin with. well to be fair, nearly everyone played bad early on. there was just no energy from the wahine, and iowa really took it to them. i'm watching the replay right now, and even kahakai's passing started to steady out towards the end of the first set. let's also not forget that hawaii's block was nonexistent in set 1. they had zero blocks. leaving their back row defenders out to dry against the iowa offense.
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Post by Barefoot In Kailua on Sept 5, 2015 13:44:09 GMT -5
If it steadied out than it must have been bad to begin with. well to be fair, nearly everyone played bad early on. there was just no energy from the wahine, and iowa really took it to them. i'm watching the replay right now, and even kahakai's passing started to steady out towards the end of the first set. let's also not forget that hawaii's block was nonexistent in set 1. they had zero blocks. leaving their back row defenders out to dry against the iowa offense. Iowa runs an unconventional offense so it took Hawaii some time to figure it out but you're right, Kahakai was not the only one struggling.
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