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Post by Cruz'n on Sept 2, 2017 3:37:02 GMT -5
Just back to Houston from the match. I havent read this entire thread so forgive me if I am redundant. Lutz did not play. She was in tennis shoes, no boot, no limp. She did not stand with the subs however, she sat on the bench during the match. We did not get there until game time so I have no idea if she warmed up. Game 1 was all Stanford until the end when it was just error after error on Stanford's part. There was a rotation with McClure hitting that just killed Stanford. PSU played the worst back row defense I have ever seen from a PSU team. Frantti and Lee were also hitting everything out. Stanford's tough serving kept them from utilizing Washington. I don't remember her getting one swing. Surprisingly not a lot of blocking from either team whether simply put backs or stuffs. PSU experience and maturity turned the end of the set their way. Hentz was very vocal but their wasn't much leadership out there for Stanford. Game 2 started off like game 1 but PSU raised their intensity level and started hitting a lot harder and the back row got it together. Stanford did not respond and PSU walked all over them. They were able to really utilize washington and in system, Stanford had no answer for her. There really is no one in the stanford practice gym hitting a slide like that with Inky gone so they didn't seem prepared for that but few teams are. Had they been able to use her more, it would have been embarrasing. Washington was also getting her hands on most of McClure's shots as well. Game 3 Stanford played like a late season team. They were very poised, passed and served effectively and were really in charge the whole set. Fitzmorris also became much more a part of the offense and that spread out PSU defense. Stanford block also finally started to become part of the game. Game 4 was a little crazy and even sloppy at times, but the most exciting of the 4. Crowd was very into it as well which made it more fun. PSU experience and Stanford errors Individually... The most impressive player on the floor by far was Detering. I had no idea watching her last year that she had this much game in her. She is a smart hitter, finds seams, and tools well. She also hits with a lot of power. We were really impressed. I also liked her setting better than Weiskircher who threw up some real duds. Weiskircher's serve was very effective though. I have always loved watching Haleigh Washington play, and her energy on and especially off the court is really infectious. I don't remember her taking one swing in front of the setter however unless it was just a sloppy situation. Frantti played good defense but her passing was poor. I don't understand why she can't be stopped. She hit the ball to the same 2 square meter area every time if she wasnt hitting out. Very streaky hitting as well. Lee is just a joy to watch flying through the air, and a much craftier hitter than I would have expected. She improvised well out of system but also did not pass that well. She had 2 really big booming kills which got the crowd going, especially the one that ended game 2. Thelen did her job but nothing for a highlight real. Nia reed was dynamic, and if she had an open net or a big seam she was really powerful, other than that, a little underwhelming. Kendall White, no surprise, was an absolute rock star. Great passing and several jaw dropping and momentum changing digs. She's the only reason Plummer didn't have 40 kills. She took a beating from Plummer all night long when Plummer went line from the right side, and controlled a lot of them. Plummer was unstoppable and I could not figure out why PSU never could stop her. Lots of power and great location. Everyone in the building knew it was being set to her and it didn't seem to matter. If she had a well formed block, she tipped quite effectively just over the block. Beautiful to see. Gray played great defense and dumped very well. I liked her outside sets both left and back to the right, but the timing with the middles was bad. Some of the time Alade looked lost but most of the sets were really low, especially to Fitz. How long have they played together? Fitz seemed to hesitate before she hit and it cost her in velocity or the block was able to close. Alade, wow can she get up high, but offensively she doesnt ever seem to get her timing right. That really has to improve unless Lutz is going back to the middle. Im a big McClure fan but she had a lot of costly unforced errors, nets, and missed serves. At her size, I feel she needs to work on tooling. She got trapped inside against Washington/Detering and got blocked everytime. She was good in game 1 and I liked her defense and passing (until the end) along with Formico who also had untimely SE. Keefe played much better than I expected. I've never seen these girls in person and I was surprised how high she got up even going over the top a few times. She hit with good power too. I wished she had swung at a few of the balls instead of tipping however. Hentz, like her counterpart was a delight to watch. I dont know how she has any skin left on her legs as much as she slides around out there. I hope she asserts herself as the leader even more out there. Stanford back row defense was very good but they showed themselves to be vulnerable to the extremely deep hits. I hate to get into 'what if' territory but I think Stanford would have pulled this off with Lutz's offense and especially blocking out there. Thanks for taking the time to write such in-depth analysis. This is one of the best summaries I've read in a while. Seems like Penn State was balanced and played like veterans. In system unstoppable, especially Washington. Stanford seemed to have many weaknesses: certain players to target on serve receive; not many weapons offensively. I was especially disappointed in Fitz's numbers. As much as I love Jenna, her weakness last season also was low sets to the middle. Sometimes it seemed Inky had big games in spite of Jenna. Don't get me wrong: I think Jenna is a great setter and great volleyball player; but her weakness is low sets and inconsistency to the middle. Nice that Michaela played well. I hope McClure can learn from this and respond. Plummer is a stud, and yes she is our best Opp. Still, on this team, she helps us more on the left side with healthy Merete. Good match, good experience. Nice to see that Penn State is very strong again this year. |
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Post by bruinsgold on Sept 2, 2017 5:37:36 GMT -5
Just back to Houston from the match. I havent read this entire thread so forgive me if I am redundant. Lutz did not play. She was in tennis shoes, no boot, no limp. She did not stand with the subs however, she sat on the bench during the match. We did not get there until game time so I have no idea if she warmed up. Game 1 was all Stanford until the end when it was just error after error on Stanford's part. There was a rotation with McClure hitting that just killed Stanford. PSU played the worst back row defense I have ever seen from a PSU team. Frantti and Lee were also hitting everything out. Stanford's tough serving kept them from utilizing Washington. I don't remember her getting one swing. Surprisingly not a lot of blocking from either team whether simply put backs or stuffs. PSU experience and maturity turned the end of the set their way. Hentz was very vocal but their wasn't much leadership out there for Stanford. Game 2 started off like game 1 but PSU raised their intensity level and started hitting a lot harder and the back row got it together. Stanford did not respond and PSU walked all over them. They were able to really utilize washington and in system, Stanford had no answer for her. There really is no one in the stanford practice gym hitting a slide like that with Inky gone so they didn't seem prepared for that but few teams are. Had they been able to use her more, it would have been embarrasing. Washington was also getting her hands on most of McClure's shots as well. Game 3 Stanford played like a late season team. They were very poised, passed and served effectively and were really in charge the whole set. Fitzmorris also became much more a part of the offense and that spread out PSU defense. Stanford block also finally started to become part of the game. Game 4 was a little crazy and even sloppy at times, but the most exciting of the 4. Crowd was very into it as well which made it more fun. PSU experience and Stanford errors Individually... The most impressive player on the floor by far was Detering. I had no idea watching her last year that she had this much game in her. She is a smart hitter, finds seams, and tools well. She also hits with a lot of power. We were really impressed. I also liked her setting better than Weiskircher who threw up some real duds. Weiskircher's serve was very effective though. I have always loved watching Haleigh Washington play, and her energy on and especially off the court is really infectious. I don't remember her taking one swing in front of the setter however unless it was just a sloppy situation. Frantti played good defense but her passing was poor. I don't understand why she can't be stopped. She hit the ball to the same 2 square meter area every time if she wasnt hitting out. Very streaky hitting as well. Lee is just a joy to watch flying through the air, and a much craftier hitter than I would have expected. She improvised well out of system but also did not pass that well. She had 2 really big booming kills which got the crowd going, especially the one that ended game 2. Thelen did her job but nothing for a highlight real. Nia reed was dynamic, and if she had an open net or a big seam she was really powerful, other than that, a little underwhelming. Kendall White, no surprise, was an absolute rock star. Great passing and several jaw dropping and momentum changing digs. She's the only reason Plummer didn't have 40 kills. She took a beating from Plummer all night long when Plummer went line from the right side, and controlled a lot of them. Plummer was unstoppable and I could not figure out why PSU never could stop her. Lots of power and great location. Everyone in the building knew it was being set to her and it didn't seem to matter. If she had a well formed block, she tipped quite effectively just over the block. Beautiful to see. Gray played great defense and dumped very well. I liked her outside sets both left and back to the right, but the timing with the middles was bad. Some of the time Alade looked lost but most of the sets were really low, especially to Fitz. How long have they played together? Fitz seemed to hesitate before she hit and it cost her in velocity or the block was able to close. Alade, wow can she get up high, but offensively she doesnt ever seem to get her timing right. That really has to improve unless Lutz is going back to the middle. Im a big McClure fan but she had a lot of costly unforced errors, nets, and missed serves. At her size, I feel she needs to work on tooling. She got trapped inside against Washington/Detering and got blocked everytime. She was good in game 1 and I liked her defense and passing (until the end) along with Formico who also had untimely SE. Keefe played much better than I expected. I've never seen these girls in person and I was surprised how high she got up even going over the top a few times. She hit with good power too. I wished she had swung at a few of the balls instead of tipping however. Hentz, like her counterpart was a delight to watch. I dont know how she has any skin left on her legs as much as she slides around out there. I hope she asserts herself as the leader even more out there. Stanford back row defense was very good but they showed themselves to be vulnerable to the extremely deep hits. I hate to get into 'what if' territory but I think Stanford would have pulled this off with Lutz's offense and especially blocking out there. AMAZING write-up. Kudos to you and glad you got to watch such a competitive game. |
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Post by akbar on Sept 2, 2017 5:51:17 GMT -5
Just a side note, didn't Rose recruit Plummer, Hentz, and Fitzmorris? Pretty much every top 30 reruit is recruited by the top programs. |
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Post by Wiswell on Sept 2, 2017 10:05:00 GMT -5
Minnesota to #1, Penn State to #2, or does PSU jump over?
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Post by akbar on Sept 2, 2017 10:10:28 GMT -5
Minnesota to #1, Penn State to #2, or does PSU jump over? Honestly, as long as PSU is in that top 3 Im ok. |
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Post by lionsfan on Sept 2, 2017 10:16:23 GMT -5
How about we take care of Texas A&M first?
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Post by gnu2vball on Sept 2, 2017 10:56:27 GMT -5
Minnesota to #1, Penn State to #2, or does PSU jump over? I think Minnesota and Wisconsin should be Co- Number 1s. |
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Post by MTC on Sept 2, 2017 19:04:12 GMT -5
I wonder who will be the number one team now? Just sayin'. I say Florida That was my preseason pick. |
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Post by gnu2vball on Sept 2, 2017 19:56:20 GMT -5
That was my preseason pick. Florida was very impressive last weekend. Haven't seen them this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing them play TAMU. |
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