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Post by mplssetter on Apr 30, 2016 18:01:30 GMT -5
Rosado played very very well as did Wilhite. Both have improved. As a whole, MN looked very sharp. I was impressed with Taylor Morgan. Maddie Beal had some really nice hits while she was in, although H. Tapp was nearly unstoppable at opposite as well.
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Post by craftylefty on Apr 30, 2016 18:05:47 GMT -5
I also thought Beal hit great. Really buried a few balls. Hannah also pummeled from the right, as did Paige from the middle and on the slide, but she (Hannah) had a couple hitting errors and ball handling issues in the back. Still, she looked good back there and if she keeps working, she will be good to go by fall.
Molly was great. Hit and terminated well. Hitting a bit harder, too. Taylor looked really good and blocked surprisingly well, too. I didn't expect that from her yet. Kayla looked good on the slide but didn't connect as well in front of the setter (this is with Handley setting, in this instance).
Alyssa is all over the court and doing it all. Hit well, passing as well as ever. Just really good all around. Margaret lacks some range and isn't really as dynamic as an OH, but hit well. Digging and passing are still not really her forte.
Erica set well but had slightly less experienced passers to work with. Overall, did a nice job. Schau played DS for Maddie Beal and dug nicely. SSS had a couple great digs and is setting as well as ever. Making good choices.
Sophie Beckley served occasionally for Rosado but saw little time.
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Post by craftylefty on Apr 30, 2016 18:09:25 GMT -5
Also, Goehner had several HUGE serving runs. Really gave the other team trouble. Beckley served very well, too.
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Post by ndodge on Apr 30, 2016 18:36:57 GMT -5
Not much Schau tonight, I wonder if that will be the case come fall too. Or maybe they'll go with whatever they think will work best in a given situation. I thought she did very well last year in the back, so am curious about it. Having another weapon back there is obviously nice (Hannah).
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Post by spikerthemovie on Apr 30, 2016 18:57:40 GMT -5
Not much Schau tonight, I wonder if that will be the case come fall too. Or maybe they'll go with whatever they think will work best in a given situation. I thought she did very well last year in the back, so am curious about it. Having another weapon back there is obviously nice (Hannah). I'm intrigued by that, too, partially because there were many times when it was handy for the Gophers to have three capable setters out there, in the Snake, Schau and Rosado. Just riffing here: I'm assuming Wilhite plays all six rotations (which will be a tough job, given how much the Gophers will miss back-row Santana) and, if H-Tapp is being groomed to also play six rotations, that maybe means the other OH is not going to be a six-rotation player? (ie, not Goehner -- so Hart, with Goehner in the back row?)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 19:07:31 GMT -5
Not much Schau tonight, I wonder if that will be the case come fall too. Or maybe they'll go with whatever they think will work best in a given situation. I thought she did very well last year in the back, so am curious about it. Having another weapon back there is obviously nice (Hannah). I'm intrigued by that, too, partially because there were many times when it was handy for the Gophers to have three capable setters out there, in the Snake, Schau and Rosado. Just riffing here: I'm assuming Wilhite plays all six rotations (which will be a tough job, given how much the Gophers will miss back-row Santana) and, if H-Tapp is being groomed to also play six rotations, that maybe means the other OH is not going to be a six-rotation player? (ie, not Goehner -- so Hart, with Goehner in the back row?) I'd put my money on Wilhite 6 rotations, Hart front row Goehner back
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Post by Draco_MN on Apr 30, 2016 19:58:04 GMT -5
Overall the one thing that I noticed from when the starters were still in was that we were making a huge effort to go to the middle. I counted only three times SSS set the slide in the first two sets alone, but P Tapp, Lohman (who was playing in the actual middle rotational position) got set in front often. On the right, H Tapp was hitting only 5s (fantastic ones), and P Tapp hit a great 5 as well. We also made more effort to set the pipe in system off a perfect pass. SSS set both Wilhite and H Tapp in the pipe (Wilhite the advantage here but H Tapp had one nice swing).
Here are brief thoughts about how each player looked:
Wilhite - she looked phenomenal, really in shape and hitting much more aggressively on the left and in the back than we've seen her. She was terminal today, her hitting efficiency had to be through the roof (I think I saw maybe one or two errors). Her passing and defense were decent. Overall, she just seemed newly confident and calm/in control, similar to the SSS demeanor.
Goehner - she also looked much improved, her arm swing has gotten more power and as always, she was really getting up there. She was passing incredibly well of course. The main difference here was her serve has gotten so much better. Powerful and low floater. We had some of the longest service runs with her. Part of me (although maybe foolishly) thinks she'll be tough to beat out for the OH2 spot, even though it's still likely to happen.
Eggert - played sets 4 and 5 and had some nice swings from the left (including a powerful line shot), but overall just not as dynamic as the other two outsides. I actually thought her passing looked much improved as well.
H Tapp - really effective on 5s these days, she was almost unstoppable. She played 6 rotations for the first 3 sets, but was a little shaky on defense. Her ball control was great in warmups, but she seemed nervous during actual play. She's definitely improved on hitting from the back. I think we only saw one slide attack.
Beal - came in late in the 3rd set as a double sub. She was hitting with so much more power now, it was so nice to see. She was the main offensive weapon in sets 4 and 5. She didn't serve or play back row.
P Tapp - great blocking, hit a lot more in front of SSS and was very effective doing it. Serve also seems to have improved, a lower and more powerful floater than we're used to (she served instead of Lohman).
Lohman - was definitely more of a threat hitting in the middle and she had quite a few attempts. What really stood out to me was her quickness blocking, she was closing the gap a lot better than what we often saw last year. She did not serve.
Morgan - came in at the end of the 2nd set for Tapp then played all of 3rd set for Lohman and finished out the rest of the sets as well. She looked really powerful and impressive attacking (although sometimes it didn't look like she was paying attention to NDSU's block, giving her a couple of errors). She also hit a great 5 in system. The one thing that might hold her back is her blocking is good but seems undisciplined, she doesn't always press and can end up a little off the net sometimes. She did not serve.
Buford - played for a bit in set 3 then all of 4 and 5. Her power in front of the setter has improved a lot. She was most effective on the slide in game time. Her blocking was probably a little ahead of Morgan's, and she notched a couple stuffs. She did not serve.
SSS - so in control. Made all the right decisions and her location and connection with the hitters was almost better than what I'm used to seeing. It was really nice to see her setting the middle and the pipe so effectively as well. Serve was great.
Handley - came in as a part of the double sub at the end of the 3rd, played sets 4 and 5. I thought she did a great job setting, her distribution was really even and she seemed very confident and in control. Her main weakness is back row defense, she let go a few balls that definitely should have been dug.
Schau - played back row for the opposite in sets 3-5. Gophers have really moved her to a DS role now as she doesn't warm up with the setters (or setting at all, really) anymore, but with Beckley and Rosado. She warmed up serve receive, but was not a primary passer during actual play. What stood out to me was that her serve is so much better, very low floater and gave NDSU a bit of trouble.
Rosado - looked much more confident and much improved on passing. She was all over the court and really made some impressive saves. Serve was also even better, she switched between dropping it on the ten foot line and pushing it back.
Beckley - only saw action as a server for Buford in sets 4 and 5. Had one really nice pass to Handley for an eventual kill.
It was a really fun match to watch, I feel great about all of the changes and improvements the team has already made, can't wait for the Fall!
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Post by ndodge on Apr 30, 2016 20:23:03 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2016 20:44:07 GMT -5
Rosado was terrific. The whole team played at a really high level until subbed out in the middle of g3. Not much NDSU could do if Minnesota is not going to give them ANYTHING.
Very, very impressed with the team. Really liked the 2015 highlight video, too.
Miss Harms in the house.
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Post by B1Gminnesotafan on May 1, 2016 6:58:05 GMT -5
I went to the exhibition match yesterday also. My only complaint is that I wish they would show slow motion replays on the scoreboard. For example I saw Alyssa speed across court from the left side to dig a ball on the right. My DH said "who dug that ball?". Similarly with the hits - When Taylor hit quick sets in the middle I always felt like I missed something. Ditto for Molly. I could go on, but I really don't like to complain;)
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Post by biohazard on May 1, 2016 13:25:07 GMT -5
I'm intrigued by that, too, partially because there were many times when it was handy for the Gophers to have three capable setters out there, in the Snake, Schau and Rosado. Just riffing here: I'm assuming Wilhite plays all six rotations (which will be a tough job, given how much the Gophers will miss back-row Santana) and, if H-Tapp is being groomed to also play six rotations, that maybe means the other OH is not going to be a six-rotation player? (ie, not Goehner -- so Hart, with Goehner in the back row?) I'd put my money on Wilhite 6 rotations, Hart front row Goehner back My concern with this is that when Hart is in the front row, Wilhite and Rosado are the only passers...
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2016 14:23:16 GMT -5
Someone would have to play really, really well to beat out Goehner. Or the team would need offense. Right now, I think what she gives them in terms of ball control is more important than the offense they might lose, especially if everyone else picks it up a notch from last year.
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Post by zero-rotation outside hitter on May 1, 2016 15:59:11 GMT -5
I'd put my money on Wilhite 6 rotations, Hart front row Goehner back My concern with this is that when Hart is in the front row, Wilhite and Rosado are the only passers... I would normally assume this was well, but in the video I've seen of Lexi Hart passing/playing defense, I was surprised by how much she impressed me. Particularly at the Under Armour match in December, she had some fantastic passes. I wouldn't be surprised if Goehner played back row for Hart, but Hart doing an ok job on serve receive (when she's front row) if Rosado/Wilhite need help. It's a nice problem to have...so much talent that you want more than six players on the court.
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Post by dcvolleyball on May 1, 2016 17:24:35 GMT -5
I can say losing Daly is not a huge loss. Minnesota is going to be fine. The setter tho.. That's ridiculous. Daly, the should-have-been-national-player-of-the-year, is an enormous loss but teams lose great players every year and new/returning players step up. I'm confident that will happen with the Gophers. It happened with Katherine Harms, it should happen with Wilhite.
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Post by vbgirls2 on May 2, 2016 9:57:35 GMT -5
how do the new recruits fit in with this team?
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