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Post by combes on Aug 24, 2019 20:52:12 GMT -5
Quade, Fleming, Cooney, O’Brien are sure starters.
I would lean to a healthy Prince over Bruna to start the year. Third leading kills on a Final Four team gives her an edge.
I’m guessing Kuper will get one of the DS positions. Eske will push Welsh for another. I need to see her more to make that call but I think Eske will serve a lot and she is just a water bug out there. Passes right on the money. The other freshman DS, Chi, was pretty good today, too. Bruder has a decent serve but I don’t see her getting a lot of DS time.
In the middle, it’s close but I’ll go with Hinton to start the year due to her early arrival which gives her more experience and confidence in the system. I really like Collins, though. Very powerful hitter. I thought of her as a pin but she is adjusting rapidly to the middle. Swanson is very talented and athletic (and the tallest at 6-4) but may need more strength. It really could be any of the three.
Setter? I think they go 5-1. I thought Brown was just so-so today. I think Allison has more weapons in her arsenal: lefty, can kill at the net, better serve. If she is healthy, I think she is the one. But I’m not sure she will be ready for first match. On the positive side, she was walking without a limp today.
I didn’t hear why Prince was out. Or Hollowell.
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Post by brucks on Aug 24, 2019 20:53:54 GMT -5
The bad news is that four players sat out due to injury. The good news is that Holzman was moving around a lot better than she was last week. None of the other injuries looked serious. Mica was a tad gimpy, but seems to walk just fine. So too, Prince and Hollowell. Don't know what their issues are, but I don't think there is anything to worry about. As combes said, it's hard to make many observations based on the format. There was little continuity and very few rallies. The two male players skewed the performance and the constant remix of players meant there was never any semblance of an offense. I was concerned with the serving and with the passing. Haven't seen any stats but it wouldn't surprise me to see that there were 20 service errors. The passing had the setters on the run most of the night. On the plus side, Brown/Fleming had a number of blocks when they played next to one another. Reminded of Poulter/Bastianelli. The older OHs looked good as did Fleming. If I had to guess, I think Hinton has the lead for the second middle. She is very quick on offense. Probably needs more time in the weight room. Bruna has a heavy arm but she is having issues with control. She really hasn't played for better than a year and hasn't even been able to participate in organized practices. I've also read that she is having some issues with tendonitis in her foot. But, wow, when she gets a clean swing - look out. Once it clicks for her she will start for us. It might not happen by the time the season starts or even by the time the season ends, but at some point she is going to make her mark in this league.
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Post by combes on Aug 24, 2019 21:22:09 GMT -5
I was just told that Mica is day to day. They weren’t sure about the others.
I agree with everything BRucks wrote.
The service errors were too many. Eske (Yes, her again) was one of the best and they had trouble returning her serve.
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 25, 2019 2:13:26 GMT -5
Give credit where credit is due: "illinoissportsfan" 'you called it' as far as DS Eske is concerned! And, unlike others on the VT board...'you called it' in a positive way. As usual, I am on the East Coast vacationing, so I missed the O & B scrimmage. It's great to see so much interest in Illinois volleyball among fans on Volleytalk. Coach Tamas and his team of coaches and players are definitely providing some nutrition for the competitive hunger that exists for Illinois sports fans. Now if we could just get the Illini football and men's and women's basketball teams headed in the winning direction, all would be well in Illini sports country! Go Illini!
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 25, 2019 6:47:24 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 25, 2019 6:58:11 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 25, 2019 7:03:09 GMT -5
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Post by exit237a on Aug 25, 2019 13:49:15 GMT -5
combes and Brucks covered all the bases thoroughly, so I don't have a ton new to add about the scrimmage, but I'll throw out some observations anyway.
-I thought the connections between Brown and Quade looked consistently good and much improved from where they were at in the spring league matches I saw. The other aspects of Quade's game looked really strong, too.
-Hinton's vertical and hang-time were noticeable again, which seem to allow her to adapt to a range of sets- that aspect of her game puts me in mind of Serena Gray (PSU) a bit.
-I thought Bruna looked comfortable in serve-receive in the back row and as others have mentioned, she has a powerful swing with good ups. Especially early in the scrimmage, she was pounding it through the block and off high hands- later in the match, Cooney was in on three stuff blocks of Bruna's attacks. The Cooney/Fleming blocking duo looked polished and well-timed.
-I was impressed with Collins's game. She had one of the cleaner kills off a middle quick set last night and had at least three nice covers/saves keeping the ball alive, which I thought was impressive for someone so tall in the front row.
-Others have mentioned Eske was noticeable and I'm in that camp, too. Her compete level was high, laying out on D, and communicating a bunch, bringing enthusiasm to the huddle after the point.
The coaching staff clearly has a lot of both established and promising players on this roster. It's going to be fun watching this lineup evolve as the season progresses and our off-season questions start to get answered. Hope the team gets, and stays healthy, but the depth looks pretty good at all positions to step into any open slots. Can't wait for the home opener next Sunday!
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Post by indyrun on Aug 25, 2019 14:03:42 GMT -5
That's a pretty amazing acknowledgment of Illinois' potential to be included in this list. And to be the only B1G team listed. No doubt the usual Badger fans will soon show up to point out that it should be Wisconsin because after all they scored more POINTS total than Illinois did (while losing 2 out of 3 matches, including the regional final) last year. Chill, Badger dudes. Realistically I don't see any B1G team going undefeated. In fact, I don't see any team in the country going undefeated. Too much talent everywhere. In my mind, your last sentence says it all, and correctly focus' on what national D1 VB has come to in the last few years. SO many good/great players, and teams. I say none will go undefeated.
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Post by indyrun on Aug 25, 2019 14:24:40 GMT -5
Kennedy Collins is a player. She’s a lot bigger than I thought. Hinton is playing well. I like Swanson although she appears to need strength. Good battle for second middle. Thanks so much for your comments - I couldn't make it as had family responsibilities. One of my 12 great grandchildren had her 6th BD party at exactly as the intersquad started. Hopefully, won't miss any more that I have the chance to see.
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Post by indyrun on Aug 25, 2019 14:33:18 GMT -5
Looks like a decent crowd for an inter-squad match. Can't wait for more, more, and more!
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Post by James on Aug 25, 2019 22:38:08 GMT -5
Going through what little info we have for TV schedules(looking at you BTN), the Illinois-Tennessee match on Sept. 1 will be aired live on BTN. In case you guys hadn't heard, the match from Knoxville on August 30th will also be televised -- on the SEC Network.
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Post by tallguy86 on Aug 25, 2019 23:29:40 GMT -5
Going through what little info we have for TV schedules(looking at you BTN), the Illinois-Tennessee match on Sept. 1 will be aired live on BTN. In case you guys hadn't heard, the match from Knoxville on August 30th will also be televised -- on the SEC Network. That means we’ll have to listen to those terrible SEC commentators who have the same monotone excitement for every play.
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Post by ilalum92 on Aug 26, 2019 11:04:31 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Aug 26, 2019 15:26:33 GMT -5
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