Tennessee Scouting Report

[Gorf]

barefootinkailua said:

gorf said:

Cincy, BiK has long been noted for his prognostication jinxes.

Two years ago for the NBA finals he said the Lakers were just too much better than any other team and would easily sweep the Pistons. Then the Pistons won the series 4-1.

Hmmm....... no mention of me correctly predicting the Presidential winner of the 2004 election. ;D

You correctly predicted the winner of that election, however, I didn't want to embarass you by mentioning it.

Besides, even a stopped clock is right twice per day BiK. So its likely even you might be correct in your predictions occasionally.

[TDCincy]

Hey Lunatics, I saw 3 of you on TV last night! I got to see the replay of the Missouri match. You 3 and a couple volley moms (& one players sister with an Orange Santa hat) got a lot more time on air that I got. Guess I SHOULD have moved.

My scouting report from the replay.....Never count these Lady Vols out!

Also, saw the pre-taped introductions which cleared up a couple wierd posts I saw. Amy Morris said she was going to be in "Making the Band 4" and Knytych said she was training for a cage match. Kelsey talked about raising horses, Kristen said her California home as the Bear (or Pear?) Capital. I don't remember what the others said, so you all will have to work on that.

Another thing...The court @ the Alamodome is Blue surrounded in ORANGE!!
[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]


graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/tennw/galleries/w-volley/2005/ncaa-practice-1214/DSC_6880-lg.jpg[/img]

[Chance]

Were you sitting diagonally across from us wearing a white shirt?

Knytych said she was training to be a cage fighter. I think its a joke from the movie napoleon dynamite (ive never seen it but ive heard that quote a lot). I bet a lot of older people who hadnt seen or heard of the movie were pretty confused by that one.

I don't know if Morris was joking, or actually plans in being in "making the band 4." I think Kristen said she was from the pear capital of the world (kelseyville CA).

I still havnt seen the UW-UW match. I've seen the other three quarterfinals. It would be nice to at least know a little about Washington before we play them.

[TDCincy]

chance said:

Were you sitting diagonally across from us wearing a white shirt?

Knytych said she was training to be a cage fighter. I think its a joke from the movie napoleon dynamite (ive never seen it but ive heard that quote a lot). I bet a lot of older people who hadnt seen or heard of the movie were pretty confused by that one.

I don't know if Morris was joking, or actually plans in being in "making the band 4." I think Kristen said she was from the pear capital of the world (kelseyville CA).

I still havnt seen the UW-UW match. I've seen the other three quarterfinals. It would be nice to at least know a little about Washington before we play them.

Yes.

I did get to see most of the UW-UW match last night as well. Washington has a legit top 3 ranking with a lot of talent. They are very efficient and won't give up many easy points. Sonya Tomosavick (sp?) is amazing and will be fun to watch. She is older, having entered UW at age 21. She was supposed to have exhausted eligibility last season, but was granted an extra year by the NCAA due to hardship with war in her home in teh former Yugoslavia. Morrison is like a bigger Andre, very active in the front row getting kills on slides. I believe their Libero is the only All American on the 1st 3 AA teams (Amy Morris should have been their too .

[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]

This will be a battle.

[Chance]

Here's an article with some comments by Pat Summit and Coach Patrick

Summitt among those giving UT volleyball team Final Four send-off

TricitiesSports.com

KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee volleyball team, a surprising entry into the NCAA Final Four in volleyball, got a send-off on Tuesday as it left for San Antonio and national semifinals on Thursday and among those wishing them well was Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summitt.

"I want to come over and tellyou how proud we are of you,'' said Summitt on Tuesday. "When I got the news, I was very emotional myself, because who would have ever thought that in this amount of time that this volleyball program would be going to the national semifinals? You have all made history and will be remembered by this community, university and all of the Lady Vols for what you have stood for and have been able to accomplish.

"You don't do that unless you've got something really special. You remind me of my 1987 team. They were on a mission. I could feel this. I got to watch you play more this year than I have any other team play, and you can see it and feel it. Take that feeling with you and stay together as one. When you are one as a team, you are very powerful. That team (1987 national championship team) was not the most talented one in the country, but when it was all said and done, they were the best team. You have proven that you can be the best team against some of the best and most talented teams out there.

"Be proud, represent us. I know you will. I would love to be there on Saturday (for that national championship match) and Joan Cronan (Women's Athletic Director) promised me that she would take me there if you all take care of business.''

Summitt has her own business to tend to Thursday night when her team hosts Louisiana Tech. But they don't play again until Tuesday and the No. 15-ranked Lady Vol volleyball team would be in the finals on Saturday at 6 p.m., if it can beat No. 3 Washington (30-1) in the first of two semifinal games set for 7 p.m., on Thursday. No. 1 Nebraska (32-1) meets unranked Santa Clara (27-4) at 9 p.m.

Being in the national semfinals doesn't surprise coach Rob Patrick.

"I thought we would have the opportunity to advance,'' said Patrick. "It takes a little luck to get to the national semifinals. It does not take luck to get to the Sweet Sixteen. I thought this was a team that had the opportunity to put itself in that position. Once you get there, anything can happen, and they made it happen. It is a pretty neat situation for them to be in.''

At 25-8, Tennessee has the worst record of any Final Four participant. But Summitt's 1987 team had 10 losses in basketball and still won.

"Sometimes, it is a once in a lifetime thing for certain programs, players and coaches,'' said Patrick. "There are a tremendous amount of great coaches and players who have never made it to the national semis. It isn't because they weren't good enough. There is just some luck involved sometimes. I believe that you create your own luck and thought that we were prepared to take that step, if it was presented to us.''

[saldaman87]

Yeah Chance, Washington is really really good. I havent seen any of their matches either, but just looking at those stats, you can tell that Washington is a pretty good team, actually, really good. Even though i havent seen Washington play, im willing to say bet that our team plays with more emotion giving us a good chance in the game tonight. By the way, Julie Knytych, honorable mention all american? Thats gotta be the biggest bs i have ever seen in my life.

[lilred]

I've been able to see Washington a few times this year. The two things that stick out for me are that as much firepower as they have they are "blockable" In their five set matches against Cal they were out blocked 21-17, and 17-9.5 respectively. Against UCLA 21-13 (loss) against Arizona 17-7.5 (five set match) and against Wisconsin 13-11.5. Also for as good as a passing team as they are they don't run the middle as much as I thought would.

Percentage of attacks going to the two middle blockers:

Santa Clara 30.6%
Tennessee 29.5%
Nebraska 23.9%
Washington 20.9%

I just took the numbers for the two main middles of each team.

Now I don't know how important these things are given that they still win despite these facts. Their middles are both hitting over .400 when they do get it and even though they can be outblocked they still won anyway. I would look for Tennesse to probably outblock them in the first game but then the Huskies will make good adjustments. Offensively I love Morrison. Awesome serve, fast wrist snap and can put the ball down from anywhere. How the hell she got stuck on the third team is beyond me.

[TDCincy]

UW great information...in the Wisconsin match only 17% of Attackes came from the middle. Oops, I thought Morrison was a middle the way she was all over the place. Well, with Tomasavic, Hagerty & Morrison, I see why the middles don't get it much.

[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]

[lilred]

tdcincy2 said:

UW great information...in the Wisconsin match only 17% of Attackes came from the middle. Oops, I thought Morrison was a middle the way she was all over the place. Well, with Tomasavic, Hagerty & Morrison, I see why the middles don't get it much.

[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]

I'm a Husker so the info is just stuff I have seen on TV and gathered from the website.

[TDCincy]

Hey Chance, the exact quote would be:

Julie Knytych wants to win, so they are


[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]

[Chance]

you're right, my bad.

I think i gave you a high five during "halftime" (intermission? whats the volleyball word for the break after the second game?) of the mizzou game. I had no idea that was you though.

[TDCincy]

chance said:

you're right, my bad.

I think i gave you a high five during "halftime" (intermission? whats the volleyball word for the break after the second game?) of the mizzou game. I had no idea that was you though.

Yep, that was me...Sorry, I thought you knew. The Gator fans would have loved my shirt heh? (2004 SEC Champs!) Now I need to get my own volleyball hat.

Enjoy the match tonight!!

[glow=red,2,300]GO LADY VOLS![/glow]

[TDCincy]

chance said:

you're right, my bad.

I think i gave you a high five during "halftime" (intermission? whats the volleyball word for the break after the second game?) of the mizzou game. I had no idea that was you though.

Lately, the break has been called a "breather" for the UT opposition.

[cdizzle]

What's going wrong with the LadyVols right now?!! Washington up 30-25, 27-17!

[TDCincy]

Good luck Saturday UW!

Congratulations Lady Vols on a great season and an amazing run this past month! You will forever be the first Tennessee team to reach the Final Four and no one can ever take that banner away from you!

[glow=red,2,300]WAY TO GO LADY VOLS![/glow]