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Post by brybry on Sept 3, 2006 21:00:38 GMT -5
Okay, I'm trying to beat out roofed on a brief assessment of the match. USC played okay. Kaczor and Copenhagen are their primary weapons, and both started off hot. They are the primary weapons for this squad thus far in the season. It seems like they're taking their time bringing Gysin along. USC's primary passers are Copenhagen, Seilhammer, and Gysin. All three were decent in this match. It's a big improvement over last season in the serve receive department. Gysin and Seilhammer had some fabulous digs in the match also. Carico is a really strong setter. She has sweet hands and her athleticism shines through. I'm not sure about her defense (perhaps Mick had her covering tips instead of hard driven spikes). She had a few miscues, but overall she's pretty good for a freshman. I'd love to see her attack the ball more, because she has a powerful lefty swing and can get up. Kaczor really can hit from all over the court, and she did rack up the kills from all around (outside, rightside, pipe, D zone). She has pretty good velocity. She's not much of a digger, and I'm not sure on her serve receive yet because she only passes in one rotation. Gysin has a really high volleyball IQ. She is a great passer/defender and has decent heat on her hits, but doesn't jump out of the gym. Recovering from ACL surgery seems to have slowed her a bit. Tennessee had a great strategy of serving her during one problematic 2 hitter rotation for SC where Gysin was passing and hitting. SC will need to work on that one. It's a pretty good serving team for SC this season. Their weakness is probably in their middle and in their relative inexperiece. Johansen had some big kills off the slide. Tennant was okay. Neither of them really racked up the blocks. Tennessee found the hole far too often against them. It'll be interesting to see what happens when SC brings in Zoe Garrett and Williams next season.
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Post by outsider on Sept 3, 2006 21:45:08 GMT -5
I just got home from the match. Brybry's comments are a little understated. First, USC played very well in the first two games. They excelled in all aspects of the game and did not make mistakes. They only gave up 3 points to Tennessee on unforced errors in those games. It was impressive! And Gysin was a primary attacker. Do not know what the stats were, but, she was set consistently and was effective. Got good swings and hit good shots. Nice player! As a point of comparison with Texas, these three outsides consistently got good swings and made Tennesse pay for every free ball they put over the net.
Tennesse struggled. They had the deer in the headlights look in game one. They also played kind of dumb. On the first four serve receptions they ran a slide. The results: Gysin Block, hitting error, Gysin Block, then a Gysin kill off of a dig. Then Tennsesse set left front, she was blocked. Tennesse's passing was fair, but the USC block, defense, and transition was impeccable. The key in both of the first games is that UT put USC under no pressure. And SC played like it.
Things changed in the last two games. Tennessse dug more, but, more to the point their block came into play. Between blocking balls down and soft blocking balls in play, the USC hitter started to press a bit. USC hitters became more careful with their shots and they made errors. Tennessee made an impressive mental comeback to get themselves into the match. It looked like it was going to go 5 games, but at 21-21 UT melted down. They stopped passing and and they started making hitting errors again. It was too bad.
Tennesse is not a bad team. They need some serious mental prep, though, because they were not ready to play. USC on the other hand is very good. This could be Mick's best team in 4 years. They are skilled and athletic. I think the only real fear they have is that Carico gets injured. If that happens, then they get to relive the frustrations of the last two years. At first view, though, it is not going to be a good year for the USC and the Mick haters.
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Post by Thrill of the 'ville on Sept 3, 2006 21:49:53 GMT -5
That pretty much sums up my feelings.
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Post by roofed! on Sept 3, 2006 23:05:34 GMT -5
I agree with outsider that Carico is the key to the team playing well. If she remains injury-free, she can take the team very far. Her setting skills are amazing for a true freshman! She can set the ball to any place on the court, she is deceptive, she blocks very well, and she is quite a good digger -- she is the second highest digger on the team (2.56 dpg) after Seilhamer. What I really like about her is that when she has the opportunity, she took a big swipe at the ball for a kill, not just a typical dump that most setters do. She is the best setter at USC since Toni Anderson. When Tennessee came back to take game 3, it was Carico that sparked the team in game 4 with a couple of kills and tough serving. Thank you TCA for developing her, and to think that Kendall Bateman, another TCA product, will be coming to USC in 08. With other hitting talents in for 07, the USC team looks good for the next few years.
Johansen has been pretty big in this match with her slides. Tennant has solidified her claim to the second MB position (she is a better hitter than Bishop who still has timing issues and is tentative in swiping the balls rather than smacking them), and I think she will become more involved in the offense. For the team to go far in the post-season, they need all the 5 players to be productive hitting-wise in order to open the net for the OHs. Kaczor continues to amaze me with her talents. She is a smart player who knows when to hit missiles, when to rollshot to an empty part of the court and when to tip. Most importantly, she provides a critical attacking outlet in the backrow as she can hit both the pipe and D.
Gysin, even at whatever % of her recovery, is still an amazing player. She has the quiet determination that you could see on her face, and she is such a smart all-around player. Hopefully, she will continue to get better with her knee, and that her hitting power gets ramped up even more as she will be able to jump higher. Copenhagen is really such a trooper. For a player who played mostly at MB in high school and club (last season at Vision, she converted to Opp), Haley has converted her to Opp in her freshman year, then made her OH by necessity (due to Gysin's injury and Florian's transfer) and assuming a major role in passing and backcourt defense in the last 2 years. She looks more comfortable and smarter in her hitting, and her hitting repertoire has improved as well (last season, it was mostly cross-court, but now, she is hitting missiles from the pipe, kills down the lines, and hitting off the blocks). She has really come far in her development as a vball player.
After an erratic season last year, it will be an exciting year ahead, full of potentials, for this USC team. The key is for everybody to remain healthy. Haley has cross-trained players in different positions -- for example, Tennant can play at MB and OPP, Bishop is a MB who was a primary passer last season -- so they have reliable back-ups but the chemistry among the starters are pretty strong.
If the team continues to develop in the next few weeks, I will be bold in predicting that this USC team will be in the hunt for Pac-10 title, and possibly a return to FF. Unlike outsider, I wouldn't say that this is the best USC team within the last 4 years. That team was the 2003 national championship team with Ross, Burdine, Adams, Candelas, Olsovsky and Anderson...a very tall and physical team that intimidated most of their opposition. The 2004 team was pretty good as well but with inconsistent setting, the team ran out of gas at FF. But this team certainly has the players and skills to create its own history, and remainly healthy will be the key ingredient.
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Post by Alberta on Sept 3, 2006 23:56:03 GMT -5
Thank you, USC. ;D
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Post by roofed! on Sept 4, 2006 0:12:45 GMT -5
I just got home from the match. Brybry's comments are a little understated. First, USC played very well in the first two games. They excelled in all aspects of the game and did not make mistakes. They only gave up 3 points to Tennessee on unforced errors in those games. It was impressive! And Gysin was a primary attacker. Do not know what the stats were, but, she was set consistently and was effective. Got good swings and hit good shots. Nice player! As a point of comparison with Texas, these three outsides consistently got good swings and made Tennesse pay for every free ball they put over the net. For the match, Gysin had 11 kills out of 27 swings, Copenhagen had 18 kills out of 44 swings while Kaczor had 24 kills out of 46 swings. Gysin had less swings mostly because she was usually in the same front row rotations with Kaczor. Also Kaczor is listed as Opp, she normally swings from the leftside and then scoots over to block on the rightside. Also, I think the coaching staff may be careful with not over-stretching Gysin's jumping if her knee is not 100% yet. I'm sure with time, she will get more swings. Even now, with the limited swings, she is making the most of them.
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Post by brybry1 on Sept 4, 2006 0:20:29 GMT -5
I agree with outsider that Carico is the key to the team playing well. If she remains injury-free, she can take the team very far. Her setting skills are amazing for a true freshman! She can set the ball to any place on the court, she is deceptive, she blocks very well, and she is quite a good digger -- she is the second highest digger on the team (2.56 dpg) after Seilhamer. What I really like about her is that when she has the opportunity, she took a big swipe at the ball for a kill, not just a typical dump that most setters do. She is the best setter at USC since Toni Anderson. When Tennessee came back to take game 3, it was Carico that sparked the team in game 4 with a couple of kills and tough serving. Thank you TCA for developing her, and to think that Kendall Bateman, another TCA product, will be coming to USC in 08. With other hitting talents in for 07, the USC team looks good for the next few years. Johansen has been pretty big in this match with her slides. Tennant has solidified her claim to the second MB position (she is a better hitter than Bishop who still has timing issues and is tentative in swiping the balls rather than smacking them), and I think she will become more involved in the offense. For the team to go far in the post-season, they need all the 5 players to be productive hitting-wise in order to open the net for the OHs. Kaczor continues to amaze me with her talents. She is a smart player who knows when to hit missiles, when to rollshot to an empty part of the court and when to tip. Most importantly, she provides a critical attacking outlet in the backrow as she can hit both the pipe and D. Gysin, even at whatever % of her recovery, is still an amazing player. She has the quiet determination that you could see on her face, and she is such a smart all-around player. Hopefully, she will continue to get better with her knee, and that her hitting power gets ramped up even more as she will be able to jump higher. Copenhagen is really such a trooper. For a player who played mostly at MB in high school and club (last season at Vision, she converted to Opp), Haley has converted her to Opp in her freshman year, then made her OH by necessity (due to Gysin's injury and Florian's transfer) and assuming a major role in passing and backcourt defense in the last 2 years. She looks more comfortable and smarter in her hitting, and her hitting repertoire has improved as well (last season, it was mostly cross-court, but now, she is hitting missiles from the pipe, kills down the lines, and hitting off the blocks). She has really come far in her development as a vball player. After an erratic season last year, it will be an exciting year ahead, full of potentials, for this USC team. The key is for everybody to remain healthy. Haley has cross-trained players in different positions -- for example, Tennant can play at MB and OPP, Bishop is a MB who was a primary passer last season -- so they have reliable back-ups but the chemistry among the starters are pretty strong. If the team continues to develop in the next few weeks, I will be bold in predicting that this USC team will be in the hunt for Pac-10 title, and possibly a return to FF. Unlike outsider, I wouldn't say that this is the best USC team within the last 4 years. That team was the 2003 national championship team with Ross, Burdine, Adams, Candelas, Olsovsky and Anderson...a very tall and physical team that intimidated most of their opposition. The 2004 team was pretty good as well but with inconsistent setting, the team ran out of gas at FF. But this team certainly has the players and skills to create its own history, and remainly healthy will be the key ingredient. Didn't mean to sound like I was short changing SC. I just tend to be a bit hestitant about deeming a team great this early on. THey definitely have a lot of potential. I definitely agree w/ outsider that Carico is hugely important to SC's success. USC can carry 5 setters on their roster but they can't replace that one. She's terrific. She still has a ways before catching up to a Kanoe or a Thompson, but she has the talent to surpass them. I didn't see her dig too many hard-driven balls, mostly covering tips so I wasn't sure about her defense. I thought she might have been cheating up a bit too much, because I saw her getting burned on a few hits, but I could be wrong. This is a very promising USC team, but yeah they're not at 2002/2003's level. That squad is arguably the best NCAA women's vball team of all time. The team does need to work on their blocking. Tennessee was getting away w/ too much in their off plays. 2006 USC is pretty good, but I don't think they're quite at the level of Texas or Nebraska (and maybe Washington). I watched last week's tournament on tv and also watched Texas play Pepperdine, so there's still a lot of teams I haven't seen play yet. I really do think Mick is bringing along Gysin slowly (well, slower than he would if she had not been coming off of ACL surgery). Yeah, Gysin did still get a lot of sets. Probably 3rd behind Copenhagen and Kaczor. I think as the season continues, she'll start getting more sets. It's a smart move on Mick's part. Anyway, I am happy w/ what I saw from SC in this match. They seem like a good passing and serving team so that's a good sign.
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Post by roofed! on Sept 4, 2006 1:33:10 GMT -5
Didn't mean to sound like I was short changing SC. I just tend to be a bit hestitant about deeming a team great this early on. THey definitely have a lot of potential. I definitely agree w/ outsider that Carico is hugely important to SC's success. USC can carry 5 setters on their roster but they can't replace that one. She's terrific. She still has a ways before catching up to a Kanoe or a Thompson, but she has the talent to surpass them. I didn't see her dig too many hard-driven balls, mostly covering tips so I wasn't sure about her defense. I thought she might have been cheating up a bit too much, because I saw her getting burned on a few hits, but I could be wrong. This is a very promising USC team, but yeah they're not at 2002/2003's level. That squad is arguably the best NCAA women's vball team of all time. The team does need to work on their blocking. Tennessee was getting away w/ too much in their off plays. 2006 USC is pretty good, but I don't think they're quite at the level of Texas or Nebraska (and maybe Washington). I watched last week's tournament on tv and also watched Texas play Pepperdine, so there's still a lot of teams I haven't seen play yet. I really do think Mick is bringing along Gysin slowly (well, slower than he would if she had not been coming off of ACL surgery). Yeah, Gysin did still get a lot of sets. Probably 3rd behind Copenhagen and Kaczor. I think as the season continues, she'll start getting more sets. It's a smart move on Mick's part. Anyway, I am happy w/ what I saw from SC in this match. They seem like a good passing and serving team so that's a good sign. Yes, this USC team has some ways to prove that they belong among the top teams, and can challenge them for the titles. They need to earn that respect, and to do that, they must prove that they can win consistently every week. Last season, the team was inconsistent, and often unable to win back-to-back weekend matches. That was partly due to lack of true passing OHs (Gysin and Florian), and being one-dimensional in their offense (high balls to Candelas and Venski, their 2 best players and they were not on the floor at the same time). USC passed the first test by winning all of its matches for the past 2 weeks. The next big test, I think, is at Pepperdine in 2 weeks' time, as Pepperdine presents a tall blocking team, and USC will have to figure out how to get by those trees (and there are several trees teams ie Nebraska, Texas, Stanford)
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Post by abcd098 on Sept 4, 2006 19:23:11 GMT -5
What is the significance of the peace signs in this pic? Or is it a two? I was greeted on USC's website with this pic and am very confused.
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Post by roofed! on Sept 4, 2006 19:42:34 GMT -5
What is the significance of the peace signs in this pic? Or is it a two? I was greeted on USC's website with this pic and am very confused. That is the victory sign. Also, the USC fans say "Fight On", they would flash that victory sign.
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