|
Post by combes on Apr 10, 2019 18:36:46 GMT -5
26-24 Illinois. Played a set lineup. Just regular subs.
Lefts: Quade and Prince Middles: Fleming and Hinton Opp: Cooney and Allison Setter: Brown and Allison DS: Kuper Lib: O’Brien
Same lineup to start game two.
Allison had the kill to end game one and has several others. She’s a weapon at Opp. Will be interesting when Bruna, Holzman and the middle from Nebraska get here in the fall.
Illinois ois
|
|
|
Post by combes on Apr 10, 2019 18:39:26 GMT -5
Illinois getting hammered in game two 14-7.
Missing Poulter right now. Timing off.
|
|
|
Post by ilalum92 on Apr 10, 2019 18:42:33 GMT -5
It’s gonna take time to get the timing down with 2 new setters and a new middle. Hopefully the summer gets things clicking! I’m pretty excited about the upcoming season.
Now where are all nay sayers about Coach Tamas running a 6-2??
|
|
|
Post by combes on Apr 10, 2019 18:49:59 GMT -5
It will be interesting if this is just a spring thing. If Bruna starts at Opp with Cooney, they may go back to a 5-1.
Purdue wins game two 25-21.
|
|
|
Post by combes on Apr 10, 2019 18:58:49 GMT -5
Lots of subbing in game three. Quade out. I have to leave, too.
|
|
|
Post by Freeman on Apr 10, 2019 19:53:19 GMT -5
Friend in town just texted me that Illinois lost sets 3 and 4 as well. I’m not terribly concerned though. I think the problems Tamas has right now can be fixed with time and incoming kids.
|
|
|
Post by brucks on Apr 10, 2019 20:43:33 GMT -5
Everyone played tonight except Smith. Didn't see her in the gym. Did see Jordyn, Ali and Bruna there. I wasn't expecting much out of Hinton having seen her in high school, but I was impressed. Jumps well, quick. Needs work in the weight room. I didn't keep stats but I wouldn't be surprised if Hollowell wasn't one of our top point scorers. I wasn't expecting that. Frankly, I thought Bruder had the better sets but I don't see how she can play much because she is a real liability blocking and digging. Both Brown and Allison had some nice sets and then some that had you shaking your head. Much of that will come with repetition. Two gripes: either our scoreboard or score keeper should be replaced. You never knew who was in the match if you looked at the scoreboard. Second, we suck at serving. Must have had 15 service errors. Looked like the fifth set vs. Nebraska in Minnesota. You can not give up that many free points and expect to win.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2019 21:36:08 GMT -5
Everyone played tonight except Smith. Didn't see her in the gym. Did see Jordyn, Ali and Bruna there. I wasn't expecting much out of Hinton having seen her in high school, but I was impressed. Jumps well, quick. Needs work in the weight room. I didn't keep stats but I wouldn't be surprised if Hollowell wasn't one of our top point scorers. I wasn't expecting that. Frankly, I thought Bruder had the better sets but I don't see how she can play much because she is a real liability blocking and digging. Both Brown and Allison had some nice sets and then some that had you shaking your head. Much of that will come with repetition. Two gripes: either our scoreboard or score keeper should be replaced. You never knew who was in the match if you looked at the scoreboard. Second, we suck at serving. Must have had 15 service errors. Looked like the fifth set vs. Nebraska in Minnesota. You can not give up that many free points and expect to win. We suck at serving because we’re being aggressive or we suck at serving because we can’t get it over the net? Difference in missing long versus not going over.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2019 21:37:31 GMT -5
It’s gonna take time to get the timing down with 2 new setters and a new middle. Hopefully the summer gets things clicking! I’m pretty excited about the upcoming season. Now where are all nay sayers about Coach Tamas running a 6-2?? Easy, slugger, it’s a spring match. It is nice to have options, though.
|
|
|
Post by exit237a on Apr 10, 2019 21:54:36 GMT -5
Here's some additional observations from tonight's rematch against Purdue, and apologies in advance for getting long-winded:
Purdue won 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 26-24, 25-20) with Illinois winning a bonus fifth set, 15-10.
I thought the two hometown kids had strong Huff Hall debuts. Mica Allison was dynamic and had some nice swings in the front row, including a couple where she was set well inside the pin by design (I think I've heard that style attack being called a "combination" play). She served tough and had an ace along with one service error, getting most of her serves in with some heat. She connected on a back row quick with Jacqueline Quade in the first set that felt as fast as a 2018 JPxJQ set. Rylee Hinton had a number of kills and blocks from the middle, in addition to getting several touches on the block. Her vertical is impressive and she plays higher than 6'2" might suggest. Her hangtime tonight was really noticeable and she was able to terminate off a range of sets, seemingly in part due to staying in the air so long.
For the second straight match against Purdue, I believe Megan Cooney was the most efficient Illini hitter and seemed to provide a steadying presence out there. As brucks mentioned, Emily Hollowell had a number of nice swings, too.
Two noticeable differences between Purdue and Illinois tonight that contributed to the result were setting consistency and service errors. Hayley Bush was consistent and gave her hitters a lot of opportunities to score. It felt like the Illini setters were often setting too deep to the left side pin, forcing the outsides to adjust in midair, while they were connecting pretty well on back sets to the opposites. Connections with the middles felt like a mixed bag. As for serving, Purdue consistently got their serves in play and Illinois had a bunch of service errors which helped kill momentum and maybe even Illini morale in game.
All that said, it was really nice to get another taste of Illini Volleyball at Huff Hall. The west side bleachers looked like they were full, and there weren't many empty seats in the seatback sections, with probably dozens of fans in the general admission seats, too. The Spike Squad was lively. It was really cool to see Jordyn Poulter, Ali Bastianelli, and Blayke Hranicka in the stands! Bruna Ana Vrankovic was sitting with those guys, too, probably itching to get onto the court.
|
|
|
Post by brucks on Apr 10, 2019 22:13:48 GMT -5
Ah, so that was Blayke. Sometimes hard to recognize the ladies when they are dressed in their civies and have their hair down. Not yet used to Ali being a blonde, either.
|
|
|
Post by brucks on Apr 10, 2019 22:16:16 GMT -5
Everyone played tonight except Smith. Didn't see her in the gym. Did see Jordyn, Ali and Bruna there. I wasn't expecting much out of Hinton having seen her in high school, but I was impressed. Jumps well, quick. Needs work in the weight room. I didn't keep stats but I wouldn't be surprised if Hollowell wasn't one of our top point scorers. I wasn't expecting that. Frankly, I thought Bruder had the better sets but I don't see how she can play much because she is a real liability blocking and digging. Both Brown and Allison had some nice sets and then some that had you shaking your head. Much of that will come with repetition. Two gripes: either our scoreboard or score keeper should be replaced. You never knew who was in the match if you looked at the scoreboard. Second, we suck at serving. Must have had 15 service errors. Looked like the fifth set vs. Nebraska in Minnesota. You can not give up that many free points and expect to win. We suck at serving because we’re being aggressive or we suck at serving because we can’t get it over the net? Difference in missing long versus not going over. All of the above. If your seats are in the first few rows of the bleachers, stay alert.
|
|
|
Post by bops68 on Apr 10, 2019 23:33:19 GMT -5
A little more to add to the spring game.
As others said everyone played. Ran a 6-2 in every game with different combos of setters. I think Diana sat the 4th? Mica 3rd? Mica set and hit opposite when she was in.
The Good: Mica is very athletic and a effective hitter. Had some good rips. Rylee is a pleasant surprise. I can see why Tamas liked her. Long arms and she really can get up. She oozes potential. She is thin so Weight room and a summer working with the team and she could really improve. She should still be in high school also! She played well. Hallowell was good. Has a big swing and hits a heavy ball. Connected the best with the setters.
The Bad: As people mentioned serving. Lots of errors. Passing and ball control was not great which was disappointing considering everyone was back. Purdue did take every opportunity to serve hitters that don't normally pass (Cooney, Hallowell, Prince) when they were in serve receive in the front. Quade didn't pass well either and she ended the season well??
Connection between setters and hitters was not good from both setters. Mica seemed to get better in the final set. So I feel like this needs to be elaborated on. Both setters were setting extremely fast and flat sets to the pins. Almost like shoot sets (not sure what they call them today Lol). I am assuming this is what Tamas wants bc both setters did this?? Even if the pass was way off the net they were shooting low, flat, fast sets to the pins. For those type of sets the timing has to be perfect to be effective unless you are an amazing athlete that can adjust and jump out of the gym which is none of our pin hitters. So there was a lot of late approaches, early approaches, and dinking, rolling, and errors. Prince really struggled. Quade had some struggles as well but her athleticism compensated some but never really had a good rip like you would expect. Hallowell did the best for whatever reason. I just felt like every set needed a little more air under them and more arc on them. We don't have Minny's pin hitters. The margin for error is just really small for those flat low and fast sets. Poulter set a quick offense but not that flat to the outside especially if the pass was off the net she put more air under it to give the hitters better angle options.
All and all good time and this was lots of experimenting.
Side note: Bruna is taller than 6'2" and has extremely broad shoulders. Can't wait to see her hit. Imagine she can put some real heat on it. -
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Apr 11, 2019 5:53:36 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by vbkahuna on Apr 11, 2019 10:30:44 GMT -5
Lots of excellent observations above, especially bops68. Here are a few I'd like to add.
Nice crowd for a spring scrimmage. Overall the fans seemed to take in stride that this was in fact a spring scrimmage. Right level of hopeful expectations with just enough reality check.
A few words first about Purdue. They were very sharp and are going to be solid. Strong hitters with Cleveland and Mohler real standouts. But their real strength this year will be their back row. Hornung and Otec are outstanding. They dug everything in sight and put up really nice passes consistently. Overall, a very smooth performance. Frankly, given the number of errors by the Illini, the scores were closer than it seemed. Purdue was the better team at this stage.
But unfortunately for them, the Illinois team they're going to face in the fall will look a lot different than the one they faced least night. There are 5 quality recruits coming in the fall, and at least two of them will likely see significant playing time. This is going to be a power team with lots of options.
The serving will likely continue to be aggressive but not as amped up and error prone as last night. This coaching staff clearly believes in aggressive serving as a basic strategy. And the setting will start making better connections with the hitters, but not Poulter level.
The revelations...Allison and Hinton. First live look at both. Allison is incredibly athletic. Super quick with real competitive fire. She has abilities you can't teach or train. Obvious rough edges setting, but just too good in too many ways to not be on the court. Can't wait to see what this coaching staff does with her.
And Hinton is flatout going to be a star. In basketball terms, she's already got length and hops. Just wait till she develops muscle. Her hands seemed to be a full foot higher at the net than anyone else's (already jumps 10'3")...and hang time longer too. Should be a blocking machine.
The future looks bright for Illini fans. The only question will be how quickly it will all come together.
|
|