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Post by exit237a on Apr 9, 2019 18:23:55 GMT -5
I was at Saturday's match which Purdue won in four sets (25-21, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18). I thought Purdue looked really solid in many respects. Hayley Bush was connecting well with her hitters and executed one of those setter dumps on two that she's good at. Shavona Cuttino, Jael Johnson, and Blake Mohler all saw playing time at middle and I feel like they were in on a bunch of blocks along with Bush and the pins. I was really impressed with Grace Cleveland and Caitlyn Newton. They each had several kills and big swings, including out of the back row. My recollection was that they were both playing six rotations, but don't quote me on that- I'm fairly certain they were at least both serving. I thought Purdue's floor defense and serve receive game were both solid. Marissa Hornung and Jena Otec were noticeable in this respecbt and had some huge digs. Hornung was libero in the first three sets and Otec was libero in the fourth. I was primarily focused on Illinois, with their new setters and middle, so my Purdue recall from Saturday wasn't especially specific but I'll try to take some better notes on them next week when they play Illinois again. Breakdown on Illinois??? In the match at Purdue, every Illinois player saw playing time. Here are some Illini items of note: Mica Allison, the new transfer who was the full-time setter at Auburn in 2018, saw time at setter and opposite against Purdue. Allison, red-shirt freshman Diana Brown, and junior Kylie Bruder all shared time at setter. One of the big off-season questions is figuring out who succeeds Jordyn Poulter and so far this spring it appears all three setters on the roster are getting looks. The lineup they roll out for tomorrow night's match with Purdue may shed some more light on how that setter battle is shaping up. Morgan O'Brien, the full-time 2018 libero, played libero for two sets and Taylor Kuper liberoed the other two- they also shared time in that role this past weekend at the KIVA tournament in Louisville. Jacqueline Quade, who is usually a six-rotation outside hitter, saw time on the sideline- so that was notable and also representative of the approach to rotate in all the pins and defensive specialists. Rylee Hinton is a new freshman middle blocker who has started early this semester and she split time at middle with senior Ashlyn Fleming at Purdue. Hinton is expected to be competing for playing time at middle with a freshman out of Nebraska, Kyla Swanson, who will be starting this fall. I found it somewhat difficult to evaluate the Illini performance as a whole in the match at Purdue, with all the substitutions going on and the setters changing. It felt like they may not have been able to get into much of a rhythm with that much change. It probably didn't help that Purdue was clicking so well, too. For what it's worth, I thought Purdue looked like they were in mid-season form. As I mentioned before, Bush looked really comfortable and consistent with her timing, and Newton and Cleveland were both especially impressive. There's some chatter on the Illinois 2019 thread that tomorrow night's Illini lineup and game approach may resemble more of a mid-season match. Hopefully some Boiler fans will make the trip to Champaign tomorrow night for the rematch! Admission is free and it's supposed to start at 6 PM central.
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Post by shawty on Apr 9, 2019 19:10:31 GMT -5
I would be so cool if there was a Periscope or Facebook live video (please).
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 10, 2019 9:36:00 GMT -5
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Post by kingofthebeach on Apr 10, 2019 19:54:43 GMT -5
Purdue won in 4 again - per the Illinois thread.
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Post by bruinsgold on Apr 10, 2019 20:24:30 GMT -5
By the videos posted on Purdue's IG stories, looks like:
OPP: Cleveland (6-rotation) S: Bush/Chen OH: Newton (6-rotation) OH: Joiner (DS sub) MB: Mohler/Cuttino (I think Johnson probably got playing time too?) L: Hornung L: Otec
I saw both Hornung and Otec wearing the off-color jersey in different sets. Chen looked to get some time as setter later in the match?
Really looking forward to this next year, especially if Newton is being played 6-rotations. She held her own late last season when Otec needed to be subbed out of the back row.
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Post by bruinsgold on Apr 10, 2019 20:27:03 GMT -5
16 digs for Otec! 7 blocks for Cuttino!
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Post by exit237a on Apr 10, 2019 22:43:30 GMT -5
Here's some additional observations from tonight's match:
Purdue won 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 26-24, 25-20) and Illinois took a bonus fifth set 15-10.
Purdue looked really steady in all facets of the game. Hayley Bush was setter for the first 3.5 sets before Joy Chen came on in relief, and Bush was connecting well with her hitters. Her court awareness seems really strong and she caught the Illini twice, with nice setter dumps on two. Caitlyn Newton displayed a range of shots, including some finesse placement tips, heavy swings from both front and back rows, and a thin cut shot. She and Grace Cleveland looked totally comfortable playing six rotations and I expect the rest of the B1G will have to take notice this year and try to game plan accordingly.
Blake Mohler and Shavona Cuttino both played well with numerous blocks and kills on middle quicks and slides. Jael Johnson was out with an air cast on her left foot, though she was standing on it for most of the match, so hopefully that suggests it isn't too serious.
Julianna Reisinger had three aces in the first set and was serving during at least a couple long scoring runs for the Boilers in the match. Purdue had significantly fewer service errors than Illinois and that definitely made a difference. Jena Otec wore the libero jersey in the first two sets and Marissa Hornung took over for sets 3-5.
Cool to see the Boilers clicking already in April. If they can stay healthy, they'll probably surprise a lot of folks in the B1G this fall. Looking forward to following their season!
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Post by exit237a on Apr 11, 2019 12:45:03 GMT -5
FYI, from the "2019 Schedules and Important Dates" thread:
Xavier University released their full 2019 regular season schedule and they're playing Purdue on Saturday, September 14, as part of the Lipscomb Tournament. The other teams participating are Lipscomb and Louisville, so one would think Purdue will likely be playing those teams, too on that Friday and Saturday.
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Post by redcard on Apr 11, 2019 15:34:50 GMT -5
FYI, from the "2019 Schedules and Important Dates" thread: Xavier University released their full 2019 regular season schedule and they're playing Purdue on Saturday, September 14, as part of the Lipscomb Tournament. The other teams participating are Lipscomb and Louisville, so one would think Purdue will likely be playing those teams, too on that Friday and Saturday. They will play all three. I believe this group will play preseason together on a rolling location basis for 4 years. Last year these four were at Purdue.
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 14, 2019 8:12:31 GMT -5
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 16, 2019 12:15:35 GMT -5
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 19, 2019 12:35:30 GMT -5
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 23, 2019 6:53:40 GMT -5
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 23, 2019 6:54:17 GMT -5
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Post by ilikecorn on Apr 24, 2019 12:14:23 GMT -5
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