Post by roofed! on Sept 1, 2006 22:44:23 GMT -5
USC won 3-0. Some reflections of the USC team:
1) Carico is going to be a great player. She has an instinct for the game. She got under the balls most of the time, even with bad passes and transition plays, and dished out very good sets for her hitters. I like it that she went or jumped up for the ball, rather than waiting for the ball to fall to her. Her blocking was terrific, with several blocks for the match.
2) Kaczor is the go-to hitter for the team. She played opposite Taylor but hit from both the leftside and the rightside. She also got a couple of kills from the D (right back) which gave the team another offensive option that was missing last season.
3) Copenhagen is playing smarter and better. She had less hitting errors (I think that was a function of better setting too) and her hitting repertoire is better (last year, she was more of a one-dimensional hitter).
3) It was great to see Gysin on the floor. I have not seen her play before so I could not gauge whether she was 100% or 90% or 80% to her hitting form before struggling with injuries for 2 years. her hitting was crisp and her court vision was really good (she and Kaczor knew where to hit into empty parts of the court).
4) I found Seilhamer to be a little rusty as she let several easy serves and digs passed by her for points for FSU team.
5) While Johansen has locked down her starting spot on the team, the other MB position is still up in the air. Mick started Bishop in game 1, went with Tennant in game 2 (but when Bishop and Freeburg came in for 6-2 subs, Tennant moved to the Opp while Bishop assumed middle blocking). In game 3, it was Tennant and later substituted by Siemiatkowska. Both Bishop and Tennant hitting were still not satisfactory (timing issues with the setter), but Tennant was the better blocker.
Haley played the whole team, including the freshmen DS (Wilson and Hillgren). Hillgren especially looked pretty good in her passing.
Overall, I think at this early stage of the season, the team this year was better than last year's. Last season, the offense revolved mainly around Candelas and Venski and they both played for only 3 rotations (opposite each other) while the other hitters were inconsistent and error-prone (Copenhagen and Bishop) and inexperienced (Tennant). Carico already played great but as she and the team get more comfortable with each other throughout the season, I think this team can make some noise in the Pac-10 and post-season. The team's offense is more diverse (though not sophisticated enough to run combos). Surprisingly, the player who seemed like the vocal leader on the floor was Kaczor, maybe due to her more experience (especially with international vball). Still, the highlight of the match was seeing Gysin finally playing the game!
1) Carico is going to be a great player. She has an instinct for the game. She got under the balls most of the time, even with bad passes and transition plays, and dished out very good sets for her hitters. I like it that she went or jumped up for the ball, rather than waiting for the ball to fall to her. Her blocking was terrific, with several blocks for the match.
2) Kaczor is the go-to hitter for the team. She played opposite Taylor but hit from both the leftside and the rightside. She also got a couple of kills from the D (right back) which gave the team another offensive option that was missing last season.
3) Copenhagen is playing smarter and better. She had less hitting errors (I think that was a function of better setting too) and her hitting repertoire is better (last year, she was more of a one-dimensional hitter).
3) It was great to see Gysin on the floor. I have not seen her play before so I could not gauge whether she was 100% or 90% or 80% to her hitting form before struggling with injuries for 2 years. her hitting was crisp and her court vision was really good (she and Kaczor knew where to hit into empty parts of the court).
4) I found Seilhamer to be a little rusty as she let several easy serves and digs passed by her for points for FSU team.
5) While Johansen has locked down her starting spot on the team, the other MB position is still up in the air. Mick started Bishop in game 1, went with Tennant in game 2 (but when Bishop and Freeburg came in for 6-2 subs, Tennant moved to the Opp while Bishop assumed middle blocking). In game 3, it was Tennant and later substituted by Siemiatkowska. Both Bishop and Tennant hitting were still not satisfactory (timing issues with the setter), but Tennant was the better blocker.
Haley played the whole team, including the freshmen DS (Wilson and Hillgren). Hillgren especially looked pretty good in her passing.
Overall, I think at this early stage of the season, the team this year was better than last year's. Last season, the offense revolved mainly around Candelas and Venski and they both played for only 3 rotations (opposite each other) while the other hitters were inconsistent and error-prone (Copenhagen and Bishop) and inexperienced (Tennant). Carico already played great but as she and the team get more comfortable with each other throughout the season, I think this team can make some noise in the Pac-10 and post-season. The team's offense is more diverse (though not sophisticated enough to run combos). Surprisingly, the player who seemed like the vocal leader on the floor was Kaczor, maybe due to her more experience (especially with international vball). Still, the highlight of the match was seeing Gysin finally playing the game!
