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Post by GatorVball on Oct 6, 2004 20:15:39 GMT -5
That's win #600 for Florida's volleyball program.
Game 1: 30-22 Florida Game 2: 37-35 UGA Game 3: 30-24 Florida Game 4: 30-21 Florida
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Post by believer on Oct 6, 2004 20:29:35 GMT -5
Pretty soon we may realize that every SEC team is getting better and in fact getting closer to us. Scares me a lot this year with such a young team. I hope we have enough time before we meet anyone tough at their home. This is a team that can beat Georgia at home but I am afraid that right now they could not beat a top 10 team the way they are playing.
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Post by GatorVball on Oct 6, 2004 20:38:50 GMT -5
This is pretty much how they played last week against Texas. A good team would've made them pay tonight. They got lucky that UGA isn't at their level yet. I was surprised that Florida had 101 digs tonight, their D didn't seem that good to me. The blocking was there, but I thought they missed a lot of diggable balls. Oh well. I was pleased with the freshmen tonight, all 4 and the play of Moscovic in the backrow and Chatman.
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Post by FloridaPerson on Oct 6, 2004 20:39:38 GMT -5
That's what I thought tonight while watching; The team is very talented, but doesn't execute on any consistent basis.
I think the setting situation has a good bit to do with it, but that's just repeating my thoughts since the season's start.
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Post by believer on Oct 6, 2004 21:38:21 GMT -5
Floridaperson---- I agree that Florida undervalues the impact of the emotional team dynamics and is totally depending on the technical skill of the freshmen. They are great freshmen, I totally agree, however it is too early for that many freshman to be out on the court. Florida has always had great players that have been able to force there way through tough games---this year the team is too young and they are making a mistake depending on them for so much.
Check out Collymore and Williams stats---they will not get past top 10 teams without them on board.
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Post by foreignball on Oct 7, 2004 1:42:17 GMT -5
Why you are so mad at her? Stats says tonight she has tied her season best 30 digs. Only 2 RE but she is also a human isn't she
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Post by Rus Socoli on Oct 7, 2004 2:04:42 GMT -5
Collymore tonight has 8 kills, 11 errors, 4 service errors. She either hits into the block or dinks, no offense from her tonight. I'm concerned as she's gotten worse each of the last 5 or 6 matches. Maybe she's feeling the pressure as the go-to player?
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Post by bucky415 on Oct 7, 2004 2:28:35 GMT -5
I agree that Florida was lucky not to be playing a better team tonight. They just made way too many mistakes and really struggled to pass at times. That was unfortunate for them, because Georgia absolutely could not stop the back slide when McGinnis was able to set it close to the net and thus not tip it off. Engel was better than she was against Texas, but she didn't make some plays she probably should have. Moscovic really impressed me with her defense. I haven't seen Florida enough to say who should be setting, but I would definitely have Lauren in there as much as possible to play defense if she isn't the setter. Hampton played really well, which probably saved the Gators. I am not sure how good Florida is; they haven't played very well in the three televised matches I have seen. They can look great but then look awful on the next play. They make too many errors of all types and really need to improve the back row play. I think they certainly could improve a lot over the course of the rest of the season. Mary hasn't won about a bazillion matches there by accident. They need to get it together before the NCAAs, though, or they won't be around all that long.
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Post by Gorf on Oct 7, 2004 2:34:26 GMT -5
Why you are so mad at her? Stats says tonight she has tied her season best 30 digs. Only 2 RE but she is also a human isn't she I didn't see the match but we know that stats don't always tell the whole story of how well a someone played in a particular match / game. They can have 30 digs but still have missed just as many opportunities for additional digs. They can have no serve receive errors because the other team never served to them. Or they could have kept the ball in play but not well enough to allow the team to run in system. They only get a serve recieve error if they're aced. Its like a player getting a big headline for getting 20 kills in a match while ignoring the 90 attacks and 15 attack errors that go along with the kills.
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Post by Gorf on Oct 7, 2004 2:40:42 GMT -5
I agree that Florida was lucky not to be playing a better team tonight. They just made way too many mistakes and really struggled to pass at times. That was unfortunate for them, because Georgia absolutely could not stop the back slide when McGinnis was able to set it close to the net and thus not tip it off. Engel was better than she was against Texas, but she didn't make some plays she probably should have. Moscovic really impressed me with her defense. I haven't seen Florida enough to say who should be setting, but I would definitely have Lauren in there as much as possible to play defense if she isn't the setter. Hampton played really well, which probably saved the Gators. I am not sure how good Florida is; they haven't played very well in the three televised matches I have seen. They can look great but then look awful on the next play. They make too many errors of all types and really need to improve the back row play. I think they certainly could improve a lot over the course of the rest of the season. Mary hasn't won about a bazillion matches there by accident. They need to get it together before the NCAAs, though, or they won't be around all that long. That's the bit of luxury that Mary / Florida have this year. The SEC may be improving overall as a conference, however, the teams are still not at the same level of Florida even when Florida isn't playing at their normal high level. With that being the case Florida has the opportunity to allow McGinnis to mature as a setter and to experiment with players in new positions (ie, Moscovic as libero) or to experiement with various other adjustments throughout their conference matches in order to get themselves in synch and have their best chance of succeeding in the tournament. Florida probably won't end up with a top 4 ranking by the time the tournament rolls around but I certainly wouldn't bet against them finishing with a top 16 rating to be able to host the 1st / 2nd round. They already know they're going to be on the road for regional matches if they get that far.
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Post by romeo on Oct 7, 2004 9:54:52 GMT -5
I didn't see the match but we know that stats don't always tell the whole story of how well a someone played in a particular match / game. They can have 30 digs but still have missed just as many opportunities for additional digs. They can have no serve receive errors because the other team never served to them. Or they could have kept the ball in play but not well enough to allow the team to run in system. They only get a serve recieve error if they're aced. Its like a player getting a big headline for getting 20 kills in a match while ignoring the 90 attacks and 15 attack errors that go along with the kills. Oh this is so true! The libero gets press or all-tourney selections for a big dig total, but could have stunk up the place with passing. Passing is by and far the most important thing, and it is an intangible from stats, but makes or breaks a team. A flashy dig is fine, but steady passing enabling the rest of the team to perform is wayyyyy more important. In watching the Georgia team, the setter was consistently setting at the 10 ft. line or beyond, and the team was often out of sync. When she got a pass at the net, they were very successful because they could run their middles and such. I have no doubt that had the passing been better, people would have been saying 'that setter was really good, she distributed the ball very well'.
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Post by USAFAN on Oct 7, 2004 10:24:37 GMT -5
I watched the game on Sunshine Network and here are some of my thoughts: 1. Michelle Chatman has done an incredible job adapting herself to becoming a middle blocker. She hits the slide so quickly and gets up so high, that its hard to believe she hasn't been playing MB her entire college career. While her blocking may not be a huge asset to the team she definitely provides some great offense. 2. Sherri Williams and Jane Collymore don't look all that improved from last season. Sherri seamed much more intimidating last year and took more leadership. She was very quiet in the role and definitely wasn't playing at All American caliber level. Jane Collymore was making huge amount of errors and coming into this season people were saying she is a shoe in first team all American. The thing that concerned me was that she didn't look improved from last year. When you look at great players they improve steadily every year. 3. Angie McGinnis is doing a great job and not only sets a distributed offense, but provides offense and blocking of her own. I think she should stay in over Moscovic at this point. 4. Hampton did play well and passed well as well
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Post by Gorf on Oct 7, 2004 11:37:36 GMT -5
Thing about Callymore in relation to last year and this year is that she wasn't the focus of the Florida offense last year and wasn't the focus of opponent's defenses either with Aury Cruz on the Florida team.
This year she appears to be the primary focus of Florida's overall offense (especially when they're running out of system) and often enough is the focus of the opponent's defense.
That's a big change in responsibility for a player to adapt to and not an easy change either.
Last year she could pound away at the ball a bit more easily / liberally because the opponents always had an eye on Aury. This year when she's in the front row and out of system she often has to try to hit around triple blocks or at least well formed double blocks.
I suspect she will adjust to those changes by the time the tournament starts.
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Post by GatorVball on Oct 7, 2004 12:48:29 GMT -5
Not an excuse, by any means, but one thing to keep in mind is that while Florida may return 4 starters from last year, not a single one is playing the position they played for most of last year. Sherri and Michelle did play M1 and M2 when Benavia went down, but neither has had even a full year in those roles. And while Chatman and Sherri are seniors, Chatman has played 3 different positions in her career and Sherri is only in her 2nd year as a starter. Same with Jane, though she's only a junior, and in a new position. Of course the right side, libero and setter are all new. However, I didn't think it would take this long for the team to get their act together, but oh well. If they do get everything working, they will be tough. Otherwise, they aren't a top 10 team.
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