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Post by robvolei on Jan 17, 2024 4:35:22 GMT -5
She hasn't been that way a few years ago, and I don't imagine she will be in a few years from now... but you have to put this in context. She claims a religious awakening just after Tokyo, so it's kind of like a new thing for her. New things always get extra mind space. I've known her since she was 15, she's always been on the God Squad, if you'll excuse the term. Perhaps she's more vocal about it these days (or, as you said, experienced an "awakening" or sorts), I don't know - it's been a few years since I've last spoken to her. Are you an American who supports the Dockers/AFL? Or an Australian that moved to the US?
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Post by geddyleeridesagain on Jan 17, 2024 11:06:07 GMT -5
I've known her since she was 15, she's always been on the God Squad, if you'll excuse the term. Perhaps she's more vocal about it these days (or, as you said, experienced an "awakening" or sorts), I don't know - it's been a few years since I've last spoken to her. Are you an American who supports the Dockers/AFL? Or an Australian that moved to the US? Good catch! The former. Big AFL fan. Hopefully, Freo has a better 2024 than 2023. Ugh.
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Post by robvolei on Jan 18, 2024 0:12:09 GMT -5
Are you an American who supports the Dockers/AFL? Or an Australian that moved to the US? Good catch! The former. Big AFL fan. Hopefully, Freo has a better 2024 than 2023. Ugh. I was a supporter but I quit years ago. I might follow the Freo Women next season.
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Post by ajm on Jan 25, 2024 19:21:17 GMT -5
Looks like Sponcil is the starting libero for the first match starting now. Search Pro Volleyball Federation on YouTube for the live stream.
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Post by never2x on Jan 25, 2024 19:21:59 GMT -5
Her team's first match just started, streaming live on youtube. Sponcil is starting Libero for the opening set.
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Post by justaharmlessburrito on Jan 25, 2024 19:31:11 GMT -5
Looks like Sponcil is the starting libero for the first match starting now. Search Pro Volleyball Federation on YouTube for the live stream. It’s not as fun to watch Sponcil when she doesn’t get the chance to hit the ball every other time. Sponcil >>>>> Fury’s libero
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Post by katita on Jan 25, 2024 20:01:38 GMT -5
Looks like Sponcil is the starting libero for the first match starting now. Search Pro Volleyball Federation on YouTube for the live stream. It’s not as fun to watch Sponcil when she doesn’t get the chance to hit the ball every other time. Sponcil >>>>> Fury’s libero I’m thrilled to see her starting. She’s making it look easy.. I think she needs more action! Lol
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Post by ajm on Jan 25, 2024 20:06:34 GMT -5
Looks like Sponcil is the starting libero for the first match starting now. Search Pro Volleyball Federation on YouTube for the live stream. It’s not as fun to watch Sponcil when she doesn’t get the chance to hit the ball every other time. Sponcil >>>>> Fury’s libero It’s also weird seeing her have to bump set everything. But I’ll bet she loves having Chaussee to set on the outside. Quite a difference from Cannon, lol.
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Post by never2x on Jan 25, 2024 22:25:18 GMT -5
Sponcil started a bit slow into the match. Slightly inaccurate serve receive early in set one. A few digs were within her reach that she wasn't aggressive at all on as a libero should be. Hung the first few out of system bump sets pretty far off the net, not that it seemed to effect Claire Chausse's ability to detonate much. What a cannon on that girl.
The worst volleyball sin I saw from Sponcil early on was that she kept passing the free-est of free balls to about 2.5-3m off the net. Boy does that grind my gears as a setter; decreasing the success percentage of a middle attack by a huge margin (or fully eliminating it).
But as the match progressed, she seemed to continue to step it up. Corralled the serve receive a bit, and started placing some out of system sets right where they needed to be. Near the end of set two, the game was getting tight, and I feel this is when we started to see some of the wild scrappy digs and one arm stabs that the majority of indoor players just don't got like us. Aside from recording an ugly ace in crunch time, Sponcil played quite well in set two I'd say.
The rest of the match she continued to eat up some pretty hard driven swings from the opposition, even with decent accuracy onto the setter's head for a lot of them.
For a league opening night broadcast (I guess technically other teams played elsewhere last night, but you get it) it was pretty decent. Free at least! And a better production than the AVP already on day one (imagine that!) Kinda meh video quality on youtube, and there was a bit of awkwardness in things like camera angles, camera zoom speed/amount, timing between cuts etc. But hopefully they get all that figured out.
I'm not sure if the broadcast being a lil different vibe than what ESPN would produce is messing with my perception, but to my eyes, and anyone feel free to dispute this; this is slightly lower skill level than a top NCAA team, right? Looking at some of the rosters, most of these girls played at a major program and lots have overseas experience. But man, I hate to say it, if I'm being honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by the overall skill level on the court. A few girls were standouts and looked to be a tier above the rest. Some were about as good as I expected. But there was undoubtably some ugly volleyball actions witnessed in that gym tonight. Actions that I feel you don't see when watching the later rounds of the NCAA tournament.
Lastly, I started to get distracted near the end of the match so I could have missed it, but I never once saw Sponcil hand set a ball. Her setter did a good job to constantly place her first ball digs behind the 10ft line (you have to be behind it to handset as a libero; for any beach bums out there) as well as high into the air to give Sarah plenty of time to set up the out of system sets. And every time, she'd bust out that platform real early, and (for the most-part, decently accurately) roll the ball out to her pins.
What is that Sarah!! That aint you! Bust out them paws! We all know you got em. Maybe she's still working off that slow beach chowder and worried about getting a lift call. lol.
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Post by ajm on Jan 26, 2024 0:35:30 GMT -5
Agree that Sponcil seemed to get better as the match went on. And I imagine it’ll take awhile before she has a better feel for when she’s behind the 10 ft line and can use her hands. I do wonder whether she’ll continue to start and play the full match, as all prior indications were that she was the backup libero.
As for the level of play, yesterday’s match between Atlanta and Omaha was much better. And to be fair, Columbus was missing at least two key starters due to injury.
The TV coverage was decent, especially considering it was apparently a last minute decision to move the stream to YouTube.
One thing I loved, and wish beach would adopt, is the technology to assist in officiating. There were no line judges, all in/out calls were made electronically. And the challenge system worked really well and quickly. Camera quality for block touches and net faults was terrific, much better than Tlaxcala had for beach World Champs (or even NCAA indoor).
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Post by dunninla3 on Jan 30, 2024 12:17:15 GMT -5
Looks like Sponcil is the starting libero for the first match starting now. Search Pro Volleyball Federation on YouTube for the live stream. thanks for the heads up. I watched the match.
I do agree with a poster who mentioned her a few of OOS bump sets 1) hand settable, and she chose to bump set instead, and 2) early on, they were 6-8 feet off the net, but she tightened that up by the 2nd set and from then on was putting balls where the setter would put them.
I was also reminded that she has incredible reflexes and hand/eye coordination. She passes dimes from digs just off the floor, from serve receptions reaching back behind her, and from diving laterally. It was fun to watch. I don't follow indoor a lot, and I assume her positioning on the floor would be the last thing to get right. She was OH at LMU with league honors, then setter at UCLA, so the nuances of libero floor positioning are probably a year away from elite. Would appreciate any comment from a poster who is familiar with libero positioning to chime in.
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Post by ajm on Feb 18, 2024 20:47:23 GMT -5
I’ve watched three GR matches now and Sponcil looks very good. She’s played every set at libero, and her team has the best record in the PVF so far at 3-1. The libero who was supposed to be the GR starter has only played once as a serving specialist. Sponcil leads the league in digs per set, and while I haven’t seen league wide reception stats, opposing servers are clearly avoiding her. She’s also gotten the opportunity to use her hands behind the attack line a few times.
Anyway, it seems like her transition back to the indoor game is going very smoothly. Folks on the indoor boards seem to be impressed as well. I wonder if she’s still hoping to get back in Karch’s gym. Might not be a good sign for those who want to see her back on the beach though.
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Post by dunninla3 on Feb 18, 2024 21:12:19 GMT -5
I’ve watched three GR matches now and Sponcil looks very good. She’s played every set at libero, and her team has the best record in the PVF so far at 3-1. The libero who was supposed to be the GR starter has only played once as a serving specialist. Sponcil leads the league in digs per set, and while I haven’t seen league wide reception stats, opposing servers are clearly avoiding her. She’s also gotten the opportunity to use her hands behind the attack line a few times. Anyway, it seems like her transition back to the indoor game is going very smoothly. Folks on the indoor boards seem to be impressed as well. I wonder if she’s still hoping to get back in Karch’s gym. Might not be a good sign for those who want to see her back on the beach though. I thought she outplayed Hentz today, but I'm conflicted about that. Getting to see her touch one out of every 8-10 balls or so is just not the same as seeing her touch 40% of the balls on the Beach. Also, apparently liberos in this league are not allowed to serve, just as it is with men's NCAA.
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Post by ajm on Feb 18, 2024 21:46:49 GMT -5
I’ve watched three GR matches now and Sponcil looks very good. She’s played every set at libero, and her team has the best record in the PVF so far at 3-1. The libero who was supposed to be the GR starter has only played once as a serving specialist. Sponcil leads the league in digs per set, and while I haven’t seen league wide reception stats, opposing servers are clearly avoiding her. She’s also gotten the opportunity to use her hands behind the attack line a few times. Anyway, it seems like her transition back to the indoor game is going very smoothly. Folks on the indoor boards seem to be impressed as well. I wonder if she’s still hoping to get back in Karch’s gym. Might not be a good sign for those who want to see her back on the beach though. I thought she outplayed Hentz today, but I'm conflicted about that. Getting to see her touch one out of every 8-10 balls or so is just not the same as seeing her touch 40% of the balls on the Beach. Also, apparently liberos in this league are not allowed to serve, just as it is with men's NCAA. Right, liberos can't serve in PVF, just like international rules. Yes, she definitely outplayed Hentz today. I also feel like she's outplayed Kendall White in PVF, another libero who's been in the USA NT gym. I agree, I miss seeing her on the beach, and we may never find out what could have been with her and Klineman. But she really seems to be having fun on this indoor team, something we didn't see much from her on the beach the last couple of years.
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Post by twkpwrbtmlib on Feb 19, 2024 12:54:04 GMT -5
I thought she outplayed Hentz today, but I'm conflicted about that. Getting to see her touch one out of every 8-10 balls or so is just not the same as seeing her touch 40% of the balls on the Beach. Also, apparently liberos in this league are not allowed to serve, just as it is with men's NCAA. Right, liberos can't serve in PVF, just like international rules. Yes, she definitely outplayed Hentz today. I also feel like she's outplayed Kendall White in PVF, another libero who's been in the USA NT gym. I agree, I miss seeing her on the beach, and we may never find out what could have been with her and Klineman. But she really seems to be having fun on this indoor team, something we didn't see much from her on the beach the last couple of years. atp karch should look at her as an AP for Paris. she can replace almost any position.
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