|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 10:52:55 GMT -5
Lost the second set 23-25 and it ends in a tie, 1-1.
Harrison, Howard, and Wine with three kills apiece. Tontai with two. Same lineup as the first set except for the middles. Clark and Esterley played the first while Tontai and Howard played the second. Archer played setter primarily except for one rotation in the front row.
The team still isn’t playing with a ton of confidence and it doesn’t look smooth yet. We got off to a slow start in the second and later had a decent lead but we had too many errors from Wine in the net and couldn’t execute a kill late on either pin.
Passing looks a bit better but still an issue. Not getting three-ball passes even off of free balls.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 11:28:36 GMT -5
UNC 25, JMU 23 (Set 1)
We dug ourselves into an early hole but came back. Was a good set for the toughness factor. Atherton ran a 5-1 the entire time. Same pins as before. Esterley and Howard as the middles.
Harrison with three kills, Wine and Howard with two apiece.
Howard is a force. If we pass well to get her the ball, she terminated. Cox blocking on the right is a welcome addition this year. She’s been solid there getting solo stuffs and a lot of touches.
Esterley still cannot do anything with an overpass. It’s unbelievable.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 11:54:43 GMT -5
UNC 25, JMU 20; UNC wins 2-0
Lauren Harrison can be the real deal. She finished with seven kills in the second set. Atherton ran a 5-1 again. Tontai came in for Cox midway through the second set and ran six rotations on the right. The middles were Howard and Clark.
Howard finished with three kills in the set. She’s easily the first middle inserted in the lineup.
Howard also brings some fire and excitement to the team that we are lacking. When she gets a kill, she’s fired up.
Half of our serving is good/tough. Have are lollipops. Gotta be consistently tougher.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 12:43:43 GMT -5
Wake 29, UNC 27
We got into a very deep early hole. LaGarde got in for the first time today and Wake exploited her in serve receive and she wasn’t able to do anything offensively. She was lifted for Wine before she finished a full six rotations.
Cox was very good this set with five kills, four from the back row from the pipe and the C set. We had a lead but a good serving run from Wake at the end and some bad errors by Wine and Atherton gave Wake the set.
Atherton ran a 5-1 after Archer set the first three from the back row. Harrison was the only other one with multiple kills with two. Middles were Howard and Atherton.
Moseman has looked very good today.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 13:13:12 GMT -5
UNC 25, Wake 23; Tied 1-1
This set was a mess. We were very bad throughout 2/3 of the set. Clark got the start in the middle and Tontai played six rotations right side. Archer was setting in a 5-2 and then Atherton took over at the end at the 5-1. We still have a ton of problems with the setter in the front row. Howard and Tontai tried some slides but the passes were poor and led to bad sets.
Cox played OH and was stellar with five kills and Tontai had two. Wine was the other OH and Howard was again in the middle.
Moseman was the reason we won that set. We were down about six or seven midway through the teens and she came in late in the set and served well and had some amazing digs.
Dook up next.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 15:06:21 GMT -5
UNC 25, Dook 14
Best set of the day so far. Likely starting lineup as we have without counting incoming players. Harrison and Wine on the outside, Cox six rotation right side, Atherton 5-1 (Archer did come in mid set and ran the 5-1), Esterley and Howard in the middle.
Cox got hot from the service line and it was never close. Harrison had five kills, Wine had 3, and Esterley had two. Cox had two solo stuffs and Howard and Wine had one apiece.
Highlight of the set no doubt was Moseman getting a dig and waved off front row to attack from the pipe. Didn’t get the kill but Dook didn’t dig it well and resulted in our point.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 15:30:50 GMT -5
UNC 25, Dook 22; UNC wins 2-0
Came out a bit flat and then took a late lead we almost gave up when we got complacent but a big win to end Spring season.
Harrison and Wine had three kills apiece and Cox had two. Big serves from Moseman and clutch tough serves from Cox at the end in a tight set.
Will post my unofficial final tallies later.
|
|
|
Post by shawty on Apr 14, 2019 15:42:47 GMT -5
UNC 25, Dook 22; UNC wins 2-0 Came out a bit flat and then took a late lead we almost gave up when we got complacent but a big win to end Spring season. Harrison and Wine had three kills apiece and Cox had two. Big serves from Moseman and clutch tough serves from Cox at the end in a tight set. Will post my unofficial final tallies later. Thanks for all the above updates. What's your take on Duke? They were everyone's favorite underdogs last season. Did you observe any of that same scrappiness?
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 15:55:15 GMT -5
Yes and no. It is hard to tell from today’s matches but They are always really scrappy on defense and they had that to an extent but not quite what we’re used to seeing. It’s also spring volleyball too.. They had a really small roster. I think they have a lot of freshman coming in so they’ll be really young next year.
Their RS, Samantha Amos, was very good but she was really the only one to have regular success against us today.
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 16:27:06 GMT -5
Unofficial tallies of stats from today's game and some final thoughts... my stats are not perfect. I tend to be tougher with blocks and block assists... or more giving I should say. And I was also keeping up with the Masters.
| Kills | Blocks | Hunter Atherton | 2 | 1 | Raleigh Clark | 3 | 4 | Destiny Cox | 15 | 6.5 | Katharine Esterley | 4 | 1.5 | Lauren Harrison | 27 | 3 | Skyy Howard | 11 | 3 | Greer Moseman | 1 |
| Aristei Tontai | 6 | 1.5 | Skylar Wine | 14 | 2 |
Lauren Harrison is going to be huge for us. She's not Scoles but she's a better overall player than Borup. Pairing her with the expected contributions of Parker Austin could be really, really good for us. She was able to tool the block well, she got as many kills out of system as in system. Some of her kills were eye-popping and she didn't get roofed much at all (maybe twice). She and Cox interchanged from pin-to-pin based on serve receive and Harrison was successful on the right as well. Harrison is not phenomenal in serve receive but she's adequate. She's an upgrade from Cox's serve receive last year. Wine will be a good back-up for whichever pin is struggling. She played all six rotations essentially the entire afternoon but she isn't turning too many heads. She's solid, yes, but not All-ACC caliber. Destiny Cox on the right side is going to be very good for us next year. She didn't get a lot of kills from the front row because most of the sets were off and she had to adjust her approach and she would get blocked quite a bit but not like last year. She did well running offense out of the pipe and left back. Her blocking was very good for us! She more than held her own playing defense in all six rotations. She was hidden in all serve receives unless someone else was struggling. Atherton has a much better connection with everyone this year. Our offense will be much improved. She still isn't doing much for blocking, but her effort is amazing. She's diving all over the place. She still is not vocal enough for me, but she is a leader by action. Archer is a very capable setter. If we need her to come in, we will not drop off too much. Skyy Howard is going to be good. She is young but when she gets a good set, she's terminal. She's got a lot of fire in her which I think our team can really use. She can certainly terminate an overpass! As for the other middles... it's like none of them really can take the job. Esterley had one good set against Dook. Other than that, she was a non-factor. Clark had a really terrible set early but she did well in her set against Dook. She had a couple good blocks and her arm is powerful. I still think Clark is our best second option in the middle behind Howard, but I'm sure Joe will go with Esterley. Tontai is an enigma. She'll be called in at random times. Honestly, I feel like the best thing she offers us is tough serving. I think she'll spend more on a pin than in the middle though. Fradenburg and Moseman looked much better all the way around today. Moseman is such a spark plug for us. As in year's past, she'd come in late in the set to serve and she becomes a huge catalyst. However, Fradenburg couldn't even pass a three-ball pass on free balls all day. It was rough because we'd try to run combinations or slides off free balls and her passes were never where they needed to be. Serve receive was much better today than it was all last season. MG came in to serve for Howard, but that was it. LaGarde played about four rotations and that was it. It was not good. She got picked on pretty hard by Wake and her attempts on offense were not great. Boone saw no action today. All-in-all, we will be much better next year than we were. We won't win the ACC with this roster, but if the rest of the freshman come in, we could finish in the top four, I think.
|
|
|
Post by outofsystem1 on Apr 14, 2019 17:35:09 GMT -5
Bvolley, thanks for your very thorough coverage of today's tournament!
|
|
|
Post by whatsthescore on Apr 14, 2019 21:06:38 GMT -5
UNC 25, Dook 22; UNC wins 2-0 Came out a bit flat and then took a late lead we almost gave up when we got complacent but a big win to end Spring season. Harrison and Wine had three kills apiece and Cox had two. Big serves from Moseman and clutch tough serves from Cox at the end in a tight set. Will post my unofficial final tallies later. Thanks for all the above updates. What's your take on Duke? They were everyone's favorite underdogs last season. Did you observe any of that same scrappiness? Duke had a player on the sidelines in a boot -some were saying it was their top hitter (Payton Schwantz perhaps?)- and that two others may have not played due to injury as well....
|
|
|
Post by bvolley17 on Apr 14, 2019 23:36:43 GMT -5
There was a girl on the bench in a boot for sure. I didn't know who it was though.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2019 8:34:50 GMT -5
great summary bvolley17!
I was also there but I get to into the game to update. However, I agree with a lot of what was said. I see a tremendous improvement on the offensive end, much better serve receive, and some improvement in the blocking department. Here was my take on position playing:
Setter: The connection between Atherton and her hitters this year is light years better. With an in system pass, Atherton was putting up very good sets and was running what I would say was indeed a faster offense. Even when it was an OOS play, she did well setting, except when she tried to force the slide or a 32 set. the connection between Cox and Atherton is better but still a work in progress due to position change, but her ability to connect with Harrison is essential and very good. She still needs to work on middle sets, but her overall level of play has increased. I will say that Archer got some setting reps today in a 5-2 and she was very good at setting to the middle and navigating the offense. i like that we were running decoys and combination plays as well and layering our offense.
Opposite: Destiny Cox and Aristea Tontai both got time on the right in a 6 rotation capacity. It is very clear that due to her athleticism, Cox is moving to be a 6 rotation opposite. her blocking on left side hitters is absolutely stiffing, and I thought her "bone head" error count was dramatically lower than last year. She had some absolutely beautiful kills out of the back row and her defense was good. I think we finally see the real Destiny this fall. I will say that Tontai is probably the first back up there. She did okay and had some big block touches but her serving is her best weapon. Middles: Skyy Howard is going to be a major factor. When she gets a good set from Hunter, she absolutely crushes the ball. However, there is some timing issues to be worked out especially running the slide. Her blocking is also decent. She moves fast from pin to pin but still has to adjust to the level of blocking expected at the college level. The fire she brings is very contagious and her teammates, esp Cox and Harrison, seem to feed off of it. She is by far the first middle and is a lock to play. In my opinion the next middle option is Raleigh Clark. She did not have the most consistent day, but when she is trusted with a set, she is able to terminate. Terminating as a middle when in transition is key. I also though her block and block touches were solid. Esterly was similar in her lack of consistency. Esterly cannot put down a ball. Her blocking was decent but we need well rounded middles and her offense has a ways to go.
Outsides: There were primarily three left side hitters: Harrison, Wine, and LaGarde. Cox did play LS some and was fabulous, much better than last year, but she was even better on the right. The big story here is the emergence of Harrison. When facing the injury she did, some athletes struggle to return to form. Harrison is an eye turning player. She has the heat of some of the best Carolina Players to play on the pins (Treacy, Borup, McCorkle, Nelson), but has the finesse to put balls away whether a hard kill or a tool off the block. Her defense was also solid. Offensively, she is very advanced for her first year of college ball. Needs some work in serve receive and passing, but overall she is a solid All ACC caliber pin hitter. Wine to me looked like she regressed some since the fall….the bone headed hits in the net we saw the first of last season seemed to return and hitting the ball out of bounds…..she is very good at tooling a block and sometimes she creates errors trying to do that instead of going for it and hoping to find a seam. With a good set, she has some pop on the ball, but she still just is not consistent. Her back row play was stronger to me than her offense. I do think come fall, she will be first back up as Austin gets that nod to form a strong tandem with Harrison. LaGarde is a player I feel like has potential but there are so many things she has to work on to get there. Her form needs work. It is slow and mechanical…..not very fluid and fast. She is very physical and with her size could become a good blocker and hitter, but she was exploited in serve receive and on defense and it showed. LaGarde just needs to gain some confidence and work on the technical aspect of her game. In the fall, having Austin will be huge for this team and the two back-ups will help, plus the addition of Peck.
Defensive Core: the best defensive player on the floor today was Moseman. Moseman was her normal spark plug self and had some major digs in major times of sets. But Moseman was more consistent than I have ever seen her in matches. She was strong on serve receive and passed the best in system balls. Moseman in my opinion, did better than Fradenburg today. Mia had some really good digs, but her serve receive is a problem. At this stage, a libero cannot pass the ball over the net on a serve or have a poor pass on a lollipop serve. I felt her lack of good passes limited the offense. I think come August, Joe has a tough time between Diaz, Moseman, and Fradenburg vying for the libero spot.
Positives: The offense looks much cleaner and better. Seems a fast offense works better with the hitters we have. Our left side and ride side offense should spread defenders out and I like the aggressiveness in setting the pipe and right side a good amount. Setting connection looks better. The overall team chemistry and morale is stronger and players are getting more involved on the offensive end and defensive end. Serve receive is better. I feel that there were less shanks and aces given up. Depth and Versatility. We finally have a middle hitter that can do both offensive and defensive things (Howard) and several middle back ups. Cox and Harrison were playing both pins and are interchangeable. Each positions seems more competitive.
Cons: Lack of a true second middle. Clark is the closest thing to the second most well rounded middle. Otherwise, Esterly and Tontai seem to only be good in just one area. Still need to develop more blocking discipline. We seemed to move better, but still left some pretty good seams for opposing teams to exploit. Libero woes: finding s libero that will be able to be solid on both serve receive and passing.
Overall, yesterday was a very encouraging performance. I think that a lot of reason we have dropped some sets this spring, is that Joe is not just playing 7 starters. He is playing everyone and building the team as a whole. I am confident that our appearing starting lineup can compete this year. I think UNC has a big turnaround this season and both assistant coaches seem more involved. In regards to the Duke match, they did have a player out and I do think it was Schwantz, but they still had plenty of talent to field a good team and UNC took it to them in what I think was their cleanest play. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the season and off season unfold.
|
|
|
Post by vbfan2018 on Apr 16, 2019 11:45:46 GMT -5
It’s been an interesting year to say the least.
On a lot of levels, UNC volleyball was a dumpster fire last year. 75% of the staff leaves, 50% of the team leaves, virtually all of the best players leave, and at the end of the season the best freshman leaves. UNC goes from the top of the ACC to last place. This is not a good look for UNC volleyball.
I feel for the girls who suffered through last years troubles. Nobody signed up for what they got, except Atherton, Wine and Tontai, who came in after the shock of the coaching changes and the transfers. What a chaotic and crazy year. Kudos to all of them for surviving that mess.
Now the rebuild, can it be done? What do we have?
Can Sagula regain his mojo? Has the game passed him by? Is his style working with the young women of today? It’s hard not to surmise that Rackham had run the team in the last half dozen years, while Sagula took a back seat, CEO type posture. In contrast to UNC, Tennessee goes from the bottom of the SEC to 2nd place.
The coaches complain about players not stepping up to provide leadership on the court. Is this a cop out by the coaches? Did they recruit the wrong players? Where does the buck stop? With the head coach or with the libero or setter who doesn’t seem vocal enough.
What I see is a team that seems more disorganized than not. A team that does not control the game or the flow, even though it has on paper some nice pieces to work with. A team that reacts versus controlling tempo etc. Often there seems to be a struggle to maintain consistency from point to point and from set to set.
One would say the team lacks a leader, I would say the team lacks an overall court savviness, too many players are athletes that play volleyball and not volleyball players who are athletic. The team suffers from low volleyball IQ at key positions.
Setter: Atherton passes the eyeball tests. Nice size, great athlete, great HS and club career etc. Seems to be a great girl with no off court issues. Why is she not at Nebraska still? I’m guessing it was faulty on-court decisions that forced her to the sidelines at Nebraska. Sometimes a player gets in a rut at a school or has a personality conflict with the coach, and a fresh start is needed and gives the maligned player a new lease on life and puts her back on track. I’m not seeing that here. She is not providing the flow, the smart sets, the continuity, the control of the game. Maybe its just me, but Archer seems a more natural setter and understands the game better and has a feel for what needs to be done, what adjustments are needed, who is hot etc. I think Archer gives the team a more savvy presence and a greater chance of maintaining momentum and winning.
Defense: Not much to say. Moseman seemed to play well and provide spark. Fradenburg has had her great moments. Hough has been too often injured to really evaluate.
Middles: I think that Howard will be great. Clark on paper looks impressive, and is athletically impressive, but doesn’t seem to get the subtleties of the game and therefore is inconsistent and undependable. Maybe they should just commit to her for a month or two and see what happens, but this play one set, sit a set, play a match then don’t play a match or two is not doing her any favors. Let her sink or swim like they let Cox last year or just put her on the bench and if she transfers wish her well. She needs a higher volleyball IQ in order to excel and only playing will give her that. Esterly cannot live by blocking alone, if she can’t terminate 10 times a match then she is hurting the team, and taking court time away from a player who could develop into a stronger player. Tontai has an unorthodox style that reminds me of Beth Nordhorn. She has to be at least 6’5” if not more. She hits at odd angles, she is not overwhelming athletic but she can be effective. She and Clark are in this no-man’s land of play one set, sit a set, play a match then don’t play a match or even two. The staff needs to give one of them a chance to sink or swim and either they develop or they don’t, but right now neither is playing with confidence. I give Tontai the edge since she is a more savvy player in my mind and makes less mental errors. My solution would be to move Cox to the middle where she can use her quickness to get from pin to pin etc. Where she won’t hit into as many blocks. Where she can use her jump to block more shoots. Where her passing or decisions are not exposed. She is more athlete than volleyball player. Put your two best athletes in the middle, unless one is a great passer.
Outside: Harrison will be a very good player. In addition to being a great athlete, I think her savviness and volleyball IQ are where they should be for the position. Wine is a fine player, but is not a player that a team can ride to the top of any standings. She is good at most things, though in big games I think she gets psyched out, but really kills it against weaker opponents. She has reached her ceiling as a player and has no more upside than what you see now. In other words she is good enough to help but not good enough to put you over the top, but can get you an extra meaningless victory over a weak opponent in an 8-19 season. She should not take valuable court time from someone who could develop into a better player down the line but may not be as good as her at this moment in time. Despite being injured, LeGarde had some good moments last spring and led the team in kills in two ACC matches, then disappeared. It seems that the coaches who believed in her potential reside in Knoxville, thus making her an orphan in Chapel Hill. Sunday, she goes in cold for the fifth set of the day, as an after thought. She struggled and looked "stiff, mechanical and not fluid”. Anybody would, if they hadn’t done anything for two hours. A once promising player seems to have lost the support of this set of coaches and thus her own confidence. I hope she can turn it around. Austin could be great, could be good, could be average, who knows. But for those who think a freshman can come in and be a team leader, they are smoking something i’d like to try. Unless she is Zion or Kathryn Plummer, that ain’t gonna happen. So jury out here, but I hope she is all that some people expect. Peck, who knows.
Opposite: Cox can be a good right side but I’d like to see her in the middle. Tontai is a good option but let her sink or swim and not be in or out on a short leash. I’d give LeGarde a try here too. It might be a nice spot for her if the coaches are willing to give her an honest shot and not some random four rotation opportunity to fail.
Conclusion: Can Sagula and Mack Brown resurrect programs in disarray in the same year?
Can Sagula be Sagula 2.0 or are we just seeing a slow demise of a program ala Woody Hayes, Adolph Rupp, Sylvia Hatchel, Larry Fedora?
Can the coaches put a savvy team on the court and get continuity or will it just be whoever was more highly recruited and can jump the highest and hope for the best.
|
|