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Post by Cruz'n on Oct 9, 2015 23:20:00 GMT -5
ASU without Macey is like taking any top team and removing their best player. Unfortunately she carries too big a load for the SunDevils to go far without her. They are still good but its like going from being an NC contender to maybe sweet 16 to elite 8 squad. This season sucks all around for every team that is experiencing injuries. I don't see ASU making Sweet 16 without Macey. Surely not Elite 8.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2015 23:44:34 GMT -5
Wow, that was quite the emotional rollercoaster.
This was the first match I've been too this year, and I was expecting it to be tough. I enjoyed once again seeing many of the fans I usually see in the seats around us. It was exciting to be at a match again, and the crowd was big and excited.
Then the first set started and suddenly all the momentum in the gym all just landed over on the Husky side of the net. The Dawgs could do no wrong and the Sun Devils could do no right and bam! it was suddenly 20-4 or some such score. It was crazy and fun, but we've all seen that between two good teams a set like that usually means nothing for the rest of the match.
And sure enough, behind determined play by Macey Gardner ASU came back and was pressuring the Huskies in every aspect of the game, slowly opening up a lead until it was 20-16. Then there was a player on the floor and ... oh no! it was Gardner. ASU tried to fight through it, but the Huskies took their chance and didn't let it go. ASU saved what seemed like an endless number of Husky set points but never put two points together to get a set point of their own and the Huskies won the set.
In the third set it seemed like ASU was going to try to come back from what had happened, but it was all too much and the Huskies started building a lead. Finally ASU bowed to the inevitable, but not before saving one match point. Unfortunately for them they would have had to have saved eight of them, and after the night they had been through you knew that wasn't going to happen.
Of course a win is a win, and the Huskies did play well. Their outside hitters made a marked improvement over the struggles they had gone through against Arizona and USC. And the Huskies made some miraculous hustling "survival volleyball" plays on rallies where they were on the ropes but kept the ball alive just long enough to eventually steal the points. But it all seemed a little hollow with Gardner off the court. (My assumption is they took her across the street to the UW medical center.) And yet, Gardner or not, the Huskies still had to play the match and they did play well.
Scambray looked a lot more like the player she was last year. I didn't realize it until I saw the match in person, but she was being served at pretty relentlessly. I imagine she's been under that pressure all year to basically step into the role of Krista Vansant and be the target of every other team, the only six-rotation hitter on the team right now.
It's interesting to me how Cook is willing to run himself out of subs in order to play Condie in the back row besides subbing out both setters. It's risky because in any close set he will run out of subs, but it also seems to be worth it because Condie is playing libero-level defense back there as well as serving a wicked, dying quail short serve. And when they did run out of subs, Julye walked back to the service line and served with total confidence. As the only freshman on the team I'm sure she knew it was likely she was not going to get much playing time, but when Schwan went out she has stepped up like a champ. It's going to be hard to get her back onto the bench, and the other hitters better be ready to step up their games.
Oh, and I finally have gotten to see DeHoog actually playing, and it's nice to see. She made a shot tonight that was pure lefty magic, cutting an angle that no right-hander is going to be able to make from the RS. It was fun.
But damn, I feel so bad for Gardner. And the whole ASU team, really.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2015 23:50:28 GMT -5
You're all talking like Gardner was carted off Hec Ed. She was back on the court a few plays later. No, she never even came back to the bench.
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Post by kokyu on Oct 9, 2015 23:52:02 GMT -5
At least Gardner took the ASU record before going out.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 9, 2015 23:51:48 GMT -5
10,000. UW has had over 8K one time for VB. But typical attendance is in the 2 to 3 range Just last year it was over 9000 for the Stanford match. That was amazing. 8600, I'm told.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 9, 2015 23:55:09 GMT -5
Back from the match. Really hot start for UW. You just don't hold a top 5 team to only six points.
I didn't see Gardner go down, just after. You could tell from the way she was reacting that it was a serious injury. After the trainers got to her, she was pointing to the outside of her left knee. Someone sitting behind me said she landed on one leg and her knee buckled. They took her straight to the locker room and she never came back out. After the break, ASU came back out real early, probably because it was a bummer in the locker room.
Hope she's not gone for the season - without her, ASU goes from being a potentially great team to being pretty average. And they still have to go to Wazzu.
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Post by dsound on Oct 10, 2015 0:00:16 GMT -5
Just back from the match, too, and finally getting to post.
What an epic match for UW fans! And a tremendously sad one for ASU. Nobody likes to see someone injured like that. I had the same feeling as when Vansant went down during that epic Oregon match, and really felt sad for Gardner and her team and fans. I didn't see it, but people near me thought she ran into the pole. Don't take that as fact, though.
What hasn't been mentioned in this thread so far is how incredible the Husky serve was tonight. The first serving error was in the middle of the second set, and there were plenty of opportunities. They had a lot of long runs in the first and later, and I think we finished with a total of two serving errors for the night. As MG said, Huskies could do no wrong and ASU could do no right.
Cassie's serve was killer and right on the money all night. She made one error out of what must have been 15 serves. She had several very nice runs going through the match. Kim I think made some really good serves, and Justice, who played only in the last set, got an ace and a couple of really nice digs! It was cool that Cook played her when he did and that she stepped right up.
Also, Cassie made an unbelievable flat out running/horizontal leap one-handed save way behind the serving line that got to a running Condie in the back court and she got it back over the net on three. Jaw dropping play all night by the Huskies, and ASU made some really nice plays, too, but not enough from their perspective to make it a game.
Just a complete dismantling of ASU; it will be fun (I hope) to see what happens on their court with a hopefully fully recovered Gardner. (No, she never came out in the third, and may have been taken to the locker room in the second. I didn't see her on the bench but that doesn't mean she wasn't there.
It was a good night to be a Husky fan, and if you weren't there you missed one for the ages with this team.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 10, 2015 0:01:35 GMT -5
10,000. UW has had over 8K one time for VB. But typical attendance is in the 2 to 3 range Just last year it was over 9000 for the Stanford match. That was amazing. 8,600, actually. Felt like 9,000, however.
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 10, 2015 0:05:52 GMT -5
Back from the match. First, I want to extend sympathy to ASU and wish Macey Gardner a super-speedy recovery. I didn't see how she injured herself, but apparently it happened as she came down after swinging. Definitely a knee issue. My first thought is ACL. She limped to the sideline and then a trainer was flexing her knee in the tunnel for a few minutes. She then disappeared with the trainer into the tunnel, not to appear again all night. I assume she was getting an x-ray and/or MRI.
ASU was up 20-17 in the second set when the ref blew the whistle and Gardner lay prone on the floor. ASU was really poised to take the set, having maintained leads of 3-4 points for a good stretch. Despite the loss of Gardner at this key junction, I have to hand it to the ASU team, which really fought for the second set win, only to succumb 28-26. With the loss of Gardner, the whole complexion of the match changed, and what appeared to be shaping up as a likely 4 or even 5-setter became a giant mountain that ASU could not scale. The real Sun Devils showed up in the second set and they were impressive, with Gardner leading the way, featuring a wide array of shots, combining power, precision, and some deadly swipes off the Husky block. ASU is an elite team with Macey; without her, not so much. The middle attack was not really there for them tonight, mostly because they really lost the serve-receive battle. Cassidy Pickrell is their next best option on the outside and she's good, but she can't do it alone. Bailey was ineffective. ASU hit .081 for the match and was outblocked 12 to 4. Come back soon Macey -- ASU needs you.
Hec Ed was rocking tonight. I was surprised to see the box score with attendance at 3400+. It felt more like 4000+. The arena was rocking like it hasn't since last year's Stanford game. Fun atmosphere.
This Huskies apparently like a loud partisan crowd. That first set was kind of surreal. The Huskies could do no wrong and ASU could do no right. Jason Watson just sat there in disbelief. Tia Scambray played possibly the best set of volleyball I've seen her play. She was terminating, playing standout defense, and unleashing a whole bunch of wicked serves on a long scoring streak. Wow. The Huskies sided out at 85% in that set and hit over .600 while ASU hit below negative .200. Here's an amazing stat: ASU sided out at a lowly 20% in that set.
The Huskies came down to Earth in the second set, making quite a few silly hitting errors. ASU took advantage and then the match changed with Gardner out.
Overall, I really liked what the Huskies did tonight. The serve-receive game was superior. Team defense was excellent.
As mentioned, Scambray had a nice match, playing excellent backrow defense and serving tough. She had a few bungles on serve-receive and a few errors that brought her hitting percentage down. Like Strickland, Tia brings competitive fire to the Huskies.
Strickland was fantastic, patrolling the backcourt and serving with more accuracy than just about anytime this season. When Cassie's serve is on, the Huskies go on streaks. Even when teams get a good pass on her serve, it just seems that the Husky block is waiting, probably because most passes off of Cassie's serve generally go high in the air with lots of spin, making it difficult for the setter and much easier for the blockers. Cassie also had some all-world saves in the backcourt.
Sybeldon "only" hit .417. She should be in the running for NPOW. Wade actually had more kills and hit .438.
Jones hit over .300 for the first time in a long time. She still needs to swing away more often. Excellent blocking as usual and some amazing defense on a couple of plays.
Julye remained our deadliest OH, hitting .389. It would have been higher but for a few preventable errors. You can't say that ASU didn't have time to scout her, either. Julye's performance over these last four games poses some real questions for Keegan Cook, assuming that Schwan comes back in the next couple of weeks, as reported by another poster here earlier today. I don't see how Cook can sit her on the bench when Schwan returns -- we need an OH, in addition to Schwan, who can terminate with efficiency.
DeHoog had a pretty good night, hitting .375 on only 8 swings. She was playing just two rotations up front; Tanner played the other rotation in the front row when Beals came in to serve and set.
Kim Condie played great defense and served fantastically well. She has been a vital cog in Schwan's absence. And Cook played Justice McGraw for the last five points or so, who responded with some great serves of her own.
Finally, I'd like to praise the setters, who don't get much ink around here. Beals was outstanding, making a number of difficult sets from her knees and generally setting very hittable balls. Tanner's back sets are a thing of beauty, quick and accurate. The Huskies hit .337 against the #5 team in the country -- a team that was leading the league in opponent's attack percentage at .119. The setters had a lot to do with that.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2015 0:08:30 GMT -5
I didn't see Macey go down, but I did see her get up. If that's not a torn knee ligament, I'll be shocked.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 10, 2015 0:08:55 GMT -5
No, she never came out in the third, and may have been taken to the locker room in the second. I didn't see her on the bench but that doesn't mean she wasn't there. They took her straight to the locker room. Never came back out. Talking about Vansant going down in the Oregon match. We were lucky to have a Parker to step in. When Schwan went down, we were lucky to have Julye step right in.
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Post by mikegarrison on Oct 10, 2015 0:12:26 GMT -5
Finally, I'd like to praise the setters, who don't get much ink around here. Beals was outstanding, making a number of difficult sets from her knees and generally setting very hittable balls. Tanner's back sets are a thing of beauty, quick and accurate. The Huskies hit .337 against the #5 team in the country -- a team that was leading the league in opponent's attack percentage at .119. The setters had a lot to do with that. Yeah, speaking of knees, Katy Beals plays like someone with absolutely no fear of her knee. Very impressive courage.
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 10, 2015 0:19:13 GMT -5
ASU had been second in the Pac for blocking, at 3.00/set, behind only UW. They had four, total, tonight. Wade with 10 block assists.
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 10, 2015 0:29:41 GMT -5
Wow, that was quite the emotional rollercoaster. It's interesting to me how Cook is willing to run himself out of subs in order to play Condie in the back row besides subbing out both setters. It's risky because in any close set he will run out of subs, but it also seems to be worth it because Condie is playing libero-level defense back there as well as serving a wicked, dying quail short serve. And when they did run out of subs, Julye walked back to the service line and served with total confidence. As the only freshman on the team I'm sure she knew it was likely she was not going to get much playing time, but when Schwan went out she has stepped up like a champ. It's going to be hard to get her back onto the bench, and the other hitters better be ready to step up their games. I agree that playing Condie is a good idea and I think Cook has done a good job with Schwan's injury and the sub situation. Yes, it is a calculated gamble and, at some point when a set goes beyond 25 points, the Huskies will run out of subs. But Condie is a MUCH better backrow player than Julye, and a 6-2 uses up a lot of subs. Condie's serve tonight was sick. When the second set went beyond 25 points, Cook made sure that Julye was in the backrow and thus would not be left out with Condie forced to play front row (as at USC). And Julye did fine for the few points she was there. FWIW, I like the fact that Cook is using lots of players, even bringing McGraw in to finish out the third set. I think it's a more inclusive approach that gets (literally) everyone involved, and it's not something we could have expected from JMac.
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Post by Mocha on Oct 10, 2015 0:33:48 GMT -5
You're all talking like Gardner was carted off Hec Ed. She was back on the court a few plays later. No, she never even came back to the bench. Whoopsie, yes my bad. I was misinformed and also looked at the wrong jersey number.
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