Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2019 0:33:12 GMT -5
Poulter's a "once in a generation" type of athlete. Hope the Illini fans recorded her matches to fully appreciate and re-visit her unique combination of talents. If you missed that opportunity, start recording her USWNT matches as she develops. It might take another year or two but I'm projecting that she'll be leading Team USA in the coming years. For purely selfish reasons, I hope your prediction comes to fruition. I have been a JP fan since I first heard that she was committing to the U of Illinois when she was a high schooler in Colorado. I knew little of the reasons why the number 1 high school setter in the country from far off Colorado chose to come to Illinois. For me it was a complete reversal of fortune from 1998 when the state of Illinois' best high school setter, 6'1" Elizabeth Gower, from Naperville Central High School (just a couple of miles away from where I went to high school) chose to attend the University of Colorado and play for Coach Pi'i Aiu. Gower had been a substitute setter for the U.S. Junior National Team, and was one of the top two or three setters nationally coming out of high school her senior year. Gower's recruiting story goes that when she visited Boulder, Aiu took her hiking into the mountains that surround the university, and she was immediately sold on setting for the Buffs. By the way, this was supposedly one of the recruiting tactics that Aiu regularly employed to sway girls to his program. So I was overjoyed to hear that Poulter was leaving the mountains of Colorado to come to the flat lands of Illinois. I only found out later that Poulter had been an Illini fan since she was young. I still am unaware of all of the details. However, I have heard JP's grandparents still reside in Charleston, Illinois, about an hours drive from Champaign. I have also read that she had a lot of Illini Orange and Blue decorating her bedroom as a youngster. Whatever the reason, for all my 50 years of following women's college volleyball, watching and supporting JP has been one of my greatest joys. This is the sweetest post.
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 24, 2019 6:24:58 GMT -5
As an Illinois sports fan (and a lover of the University of Illinois) I enjoyed reading this spot in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette Sunday. Of course, I was most interested in former vb coach Hambly's anecdote. The heading on the article: "In a spinoff of our 'UI 150 & Beyond' project, we asked 10 former Illini coaches now living elsewhere to tell us about the first spot (other than a sports facility) or story that comes to mind when they think back to their C-U days." Jeff D'Alessio www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/baseball/2019-06-23/the-big-10-with-jeff-dalessio-june-23-2019.html
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 24, 2019 12:55:56 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by brucks on Jun 24, 2019 16:19:18 GMT -5
You can catch Bartsch and Poulter on TV next month:
Team USA will compete August 2, 3, 4 against Kazakhstan (Aug 2, 6 p.m. CT), Bulgaria (Aug 3, 5 p.m. CT) and Argentina (Aug 4, 1 p.m. CT) in round-robin play, with the winner earning a berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. This tournament is the first of only two qualifiers that are allowed each nation to qualify for the Olympics.
All three Team USA matches will air live on either NBC Sports Network, the Olympic Channel or NBC (Aug. 4 match).
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 24, 2019 18:49:06 GMT -5
This info is primarily for area locals, however, of interest none the less:
Volleyball Alum Laurie (Watters) Morvan Band Guitarist Performs August 10 County Fairgrounds
Laurie Watters was the ILLINI Volleyball Most Valuable Player in 1983. She was the team leader in kills, attempts, solo blocks, block assists, and total blocks in 1982 and 1983. Laurie earned her degree in Electrical Engineering. She is one of the women featured in the recent (August 2018) book Women and Ideas in Engineering: Twelve Stories from Illinois by Illini alums Laura D. Hahn and Angela S. Wolters. Since her time at Illinois and her work in aerospace in southern California, Laurie has pursued a career as a touring musician as a blues guitarist. Her Laurie Morvan Band will perform at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night August 10th at the Champaign County Fairgrounds as part of Blues Fest.
Thanks to Tom Rozanski (Editor, Networker News) for this information
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 24, 2019 20:02:27 GMT -5
Part 2 video just released "Finding our identity. Setting the tone.
An undefeated non-conference set the stage for what was to come"
|
|
|
Post by combes on Jun 24, 2019 22:57:54 GMT -5
Hearing there’s a new commit. Anyone know who it is?
|
|
|
Post by vbkahuna on Jun 25, 2019 9:53:32 GMT -5
Hearing there’s a new commit. Anyone know who it is? Looks like Tamas has a new dab confirming it, but no name yet.
|
|
|
Post by Pasquale on Jun 25, 2019 11:26:25 GMT -5
Exciting! It's been a while since we've seen a dab!
|
|
|
Post by combes on Jun 25, 2019 14:09:05 GMT -5
Haha. Yeah, I was part of that. He’s a good writer but a football guy.
|
|
|
Post by Socleanclean on Jun 25, 2019 15:43:22 GMT -5
Sophie Gregus 2020 Pin Hitter from Adversity.
Dont know much about her but was posted on Adversity’s social network stuff.
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 25, 2019 16:05:34 GMT -5
Good article. I like the last two paragrahs: "Six months ago, Illinois was two points away from a National Championship game appearance. Six months from now, Tamas hopes to be back in the Final Four. This time, with a little different ending. Illinois has the depth. They have the pieces. They have the culture. But perhaps most importantly, they have the right head coach. “I’m not going to say the expectation is to go undefeated,” Tamas said. “I mean, it’s the Big Ten! But we expect to compete at a high level. The expectation is to get better every day until we’re done, and hopefully, that’s in the championship. Whether it does or it doesn't, there are so many journeys for us to go on as a team. The wins and losses, I can’t guarantee, but we’ll produce the best situation as long as we take care of those things.”" Where I most agree with the author is the statememt, "But perhaps most importantly, they have the right coach." We have had some very good volleyball coaches at Illinois. Mike Hebert and Kevin Hambly come immediately to mind. What Chris Tamas has accomplished at Illinois in two seasons is remarkable. How fortunate are we Illinois fans and Illini players to have Coach Tamas. I would not want any other!
|
|
|
Post by combes on Jun 25, 2019 16:09:44 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by blackiechan1999 on Jun 25, 2019 16:18:14 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Jun 25, 2019 16:27:19 GMT -5
Tamas and staff are definitely at a disadvantage for the next few years in the recruiting wars. We will have to wait until 8th and 9th graders start making their college choices in a couple of years before we get a true handle on how Illinois coaches stack up competing for recruits. In the interim, hopefully Illinois will pick up a few good/great recruits who have waited to make their college choice, or who may have been overlooked by other top programs.
|
|