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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 0:42:59 GMT -5
I just got back from the match. Downtown San Jose was very busy with a Shark game and, I think, the San Jose State football game. There may have been other events. I don't know.
I'll do a series of posts.
First, the Amber Kaufmann sighting. There was a huge contingent of Amber fans from her high school and neighborhood, I think, just yelling their asses off. One had a blowhorn that just irritated the hell out of the people in the stands. So, she came in game 2 (and for games 2 and 3, she came in whenever Kanoe went back to serve). It was funny because everyone wanted to see Amber do something big, something good, ya know, but Kanoe kept serving San Jose State off the court. It wasn't that Kanoe was serving particularly well, but San Jose State couldn't pass or otherwise play decent volleyball. So, there was a long delay (series of points) where everyone wanted to see Amber hit or block but it was just too sloppy on San Jose State's side of the net so, no go, no show for the Amber fans.
But wait...
Amber got a thunder kill that went off a BR defender. The crowd went wild! Later, Amber got a block...and the crowd went wild! I mean, it was a good homecoming for Amber.
In the 3rd game, when Amber went up to block, I swear she got up so high, her toes were above the tape.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 0:47:11 GMT -5
It really wasn't a good match, to tell you the truth. I was kinda bored until the 3rd game. It seemed like Hawaii could've taken San Jose State with one hand tied behind their backs and an eye patch to boot. Really.
Late in the 2nd game and all of the 3rd game, San Jose State played their backup setter Brittany Collett (#6) and they played better. Their libero Jessie Shull and DS Kristal Tsukano (from Kamehameha HS in Honolulu, HI, BTW) played well, for the most part. It's just that San Jose State lacked the terminators to put the ball away. To find Hawaii struggling against such a weak San Jose State team in the 3rd game was saying more about Hawaii playing half-asleep than anything else.
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Post by vbfan4life on Oct 1, 2006 0:50:45 GMT -5
will post this here also:
Insights from the match:
Passing: Really a mixed bag...sometimes they can pass beautifullly, but other times I literally shuddered when I watched. I think they had 1 or 2 balls that just fell to the floor from lack of communication. Lee is a pretty decent libero. I was amazed at how many times the other team would serve to her instead of some other players. She once in a while would just get the ball up to the middle of the court instead of to the net. Jamie Houston ... wow...what can I say... I finally saw what the fans were talking about. I never thought that the Player of the Year for Alabama could really have that much passing problems, but she did not impress me. I was glad that Shoji finally decided to sub her out of the backrow in g2 and 3 with Duggins for ball control. To Houston's credit though, she did make a couple of nice digs. Woolford ... she is a mediocre backrow player... she made more errors than I would like to have seen from a DS. If anyone has specific questions about passing...let me know (oh yeah...I was really shocked during the warmup watching them pass) For the most part the passing was decent enough to beat the WAC teams... I am kinda worried about NMSU and Nevada now.
Setting:
Sorry...I don't really want to be bashing KK here, but she just did not seem to connect well with the middles that well. A lot of times she would underset the middles esp and get them trapped into a wall. I have never seen her play before till tonight so I am sure this is not her AA self that is playing. Granted that she was better than the setter of the SJSU. I just expected more from an AA. It was kind of weird that if KK dug the ball, it was JL who would bump set the ball. I am used to seeing either the right side be the backup setter or whoever is opposite setting.
Hitting:
It was pretty good for the most part. I really liked Mason. Houston was pretty good too. I guess I am just used to a more fast-tempo/smooth transition from the Bows. They are not the well-oiled machine that I am used to. (Last time I saw them play on the mainland was when Kahumoku/KW were just putting everything away.) Houston needs to have more variety in her game. She is mainly just powering her way to get kills, but against a more athletic/defensive team, I don't think she will be as effective as she was tonight. I already mentioned how the middles were decent when they connected with KK, but they were not utilized too much.
Blocking:
It was a pretty big block that we put up. In stretches it appears, but then it disappears for stretches at a time too. Really impressed with Mason and also Sanders blocking. They were everywhere. Sometimes they soft blocked and slowed the ball down, but our defense was not able to pick it up.
Ok...time to eat...will post more when I see the replies.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 0:52:10 GMT -5
Point of order: San Jose State kept serving to either Jamie Houston or Sarah Mason, Hawaii's weakest passers. Sometimes to Keefe in the 1st game and twice to Duggins when she came in the 2nd game. Duggins got rattled two straight points in a row. I felt for her. But she redeemed herself later in the 3rd game. I like the girl.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 0:54:44 GMT -5
There was another funny sequence of points, which, I don't know if anyone noticed. In the 2nd game, San Jose State kept serving Sarah Mason the ball because she was shanking it or passing poorly. Mason knew she was a target. Unperturbed, she gave the server the stink eye and waved her hand in a "Come on, give me what you got..." kind of gesture. She did this two or three times. It was subtle but I SAW IT MAAAAAAN!! I love the girl for her spunk.
Oh, she shanked the next pass again. Doh!
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Post by vbfan4life on Oct 1, 2006 0:55:12 GMT -5
Point of order: San Jose State kept serving to either Jamie Houston or Sarah Mason, Hawaii's weakest passers. Sometimes to Keefe in the 1st game and twice to Duggins when she came in the 2nd game. Duggins got rattled two straight points in a row. I felt for her. But she redeemed herself later in the 3rd game. I like the girl. Yes...they did figure out that JH was a weak passer and kept serving to her. Sarah Mason only had 2 visibly horrific passes, but other than that I though SM passed very well.
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Post by vbfan4life on Oct 1, 2006 0:56:12 GMT -5
There was another funny sequence of points, which, I don't know if anyone noticed. In the 2nd game, San Jose State kept serving Sarah Mason the ball because she was shanking it or passing poorly. Mason knew she was a target. Unperturbed, she gave the server the stink eye and waved her hand in a "Come on, give me what you got..." kind of gesture. She did this two or three times. It was subtle but I SAW IT MAAAAAAN!! I love the girl for her spunk. Oh, she shanked the next pass again. Doh! Really? I didn't catch it...where were you sitting?
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 0:57:13 GMT -5
Kari Gregory, Juliana Sanders, Sarah Mason, and Amber put up a huge wall. I thought the block was great. If they didn't get a block, they had lots and lots of touches. Some of it had to do with Hawaii figuring out San Jose State's hitting tendencies, but most of it was result of San Jose State not having a killer terminator. Sad but true. But Gregory is a good blocker and Amber really gets up there and extends those long arms deep into the net.
Mason was a monster blocker, too. Houston wasn't bad.
All in all, powerful wall.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:00:32 GMT -5
I can serve better than Jamie Houston. It was painful to watch her go back and launch those ugly balloons.
She took a couple of out balls which, at the time, elicited several yells/groans from the Hawaii bench (or fans near the Hawaii bench). She does not have a high vb IQ (i.e., court awareness). But...she can terminate. One-dimensional player. Needs more work to be a more complete player like Kim Willoughby...I mean, if she aspires to be like KW.
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Post by vbfan4life on Oct 1, 2006 1:01:21 GMT -5
during warmup for SJSU, I thought they had 4 decent attackers in #4, #12, #2, and either #21 or #22 ... but I don't remember them using #4 in their match
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:02:37 GMT -5
Postgame Feet attire:
Sarah - slippahs Juliana - slippahs Kanoe - slippahs Amber - slippahs Jessica - slippahs Elise - slippahs
Kari - shoes Cayley - shoes Raeceen - shoes Jamie - shoes
Jaymie Lee - don't know
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:03:31 GMT -5
A friend of Amber's wore a tight curve-fitting white shirt that said: "Amber is my bitch"
Funny, I thought.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:04:52 GMT -5
Who was the beach bum-looking guy sitting next to and gabbing with Kari Ambrozich during pregame warmups? That guy really needs a wardrobe counseling. Seriously, man.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:08:18 GMT -5
It was a good crowd. I think they enjoyed it. Smelly in the gym...and stuffy. Somebody kept cutting the cheese. That's why I don't go out much. It's very uninviting.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 1, 2006 1:09:42 GMT -5
Yes...they did figure out that JH was a weak passer and kept serving to her. Sarah Mason only had 2 visibly horrific passes, but other than that I though SM passed very well. God, I love Sarah Mason but she passed horribly. Shanks, lobs straight up, etc. Passed better on off-system plays though. She has good instincts for the ball.
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