Stanford sweeps Cal

[BearClause]

hwy101 said:

whatever said:

Where's Bearclause? I was hoping to see some pictures. I looked for him (saw him last year), but didn't see him last night. The crowd was pretty large, though.

He was there, sitting behind the Men's volleyball team.

Yeah - I was there. No camera. Not much to for me to talk about, so I've been quiet.

[brybry]

I finally caught the match on FSN. Cal looked really bad in this match and not deserving of #7. Carter did an awful job. She made a lot of doubles and made some really poor choices and trap set her hitters on numerous occassions.
Jillian Davis was pretty disappointing. She didn't pass all that well and she seemed to miss the majority of her digs. I thought she would be one of the top liberos in the Pac 10, but from that match she looked like one of the worst. Far behind Seilshammer and Fishburn.
Morgan Beck did okay. She's really carrying a big load of the passing and it's going to take her a while to adjust to playing out of the middle.
Natalie Smart and Ellen Ochard seem to be nonfactors. Cal could use an elite MB.
Cutura is going to be a strong force when she gets healthy. She hits the ball freakin' hard. She goofed a lot of plays (maybe from being rusty). She does not look like a "pro". College vball is probably the highest level she's been able to start in.
I hope Cal has some good setters waiting in the wings, because it would be a shame for these hitters not to have a top notch setter.
The only one who was impressive was Pressey. I can't believe Florida passed on her. She would have been much better than their current options on the outside. She reminds me a lot of that little girl that was the star outside hitter from South Korea back in the 90s. Someone could probably enlighten me w/ her name. She's just so tiny but just jumps so high and swings everything into her hits. It's not only the height of her vertical but the speed of her approach. I think the only one I've noticed this season that has the same hops and fast twitch muscles is Merriweather.
Anyhow, Cal will hopefully just shake off that match and regroup. They need to work on their defense and scramble plays. None of them can set either.

[BearClause]

brybry said:

I finally caught the match on FSN. Cal looked really bad in this match and not deserving of #7. Carter did an awful job. She made a lot of doubles and made some really poor choices and trap set her hitters on numerous occassions.
Jillian Davis was pretty disappointing. She didn't pass all that well and she seemed to miss the majority of her digs. I thought she would be one of the top liberos in the Pac 10, but from that match she looked like one of the worst. Far behind Seilshammer and Fishburn.

Collective bad night. She's been nails all season, but I'd say Stanford had something to do with Cal's collective funk all night.

Morgan Beck did okay. She's really carrying a big load of the passing and it's going to take her a while to adjust to playing out of the middle.
Natalie Smart and Ellen Ochard seem to be nonfactors. Cal could use an elite MB.

Strangely enough, Natalie had one of her better offensive nights.

Here are the names:

Kathleen (Kat) Reilly - #10 wearing pants on the sideline. Excellent all-around player currently recovering from knee surgery. Athletic, hits hard, and knows the game real well. At the time she was recruited, considered the best recruit Cal had since Mia Jerkov. Tawa had her ranked #11 in his 2005 recruiting class.

Mindi Wiley - #21 with the soft cast on her right hand. Possibly the highest leaper on any Pac-10 roster right now. Was a competetive high jumper in HS, with a personal best of 5'11".

Cutura is going to be a strong force when she gets healthy. She hits the ball freakin' hard. She goofed a lot of plays (maybe from being rusty). She does not look like a "pro". College vball is probably the highest level she's been able to start in.

She did play **against** professional players, but again that's legal. Basically her foot is injured, and it's going to take some time to rest. She can play on it, but obviously she's not as explosive as she would be when 100%. That performance was not a fair representation of her talent.

I hope Cal has some good setters waiting in the wings, because it would be a shame for these hitters not to have a top notch setter.

2007 recruit Carli Lloyd of Fallbrook HS and Epic VBC from the San Diego area. 2005 CIF D-I player of the year. Bryte Neilson isn't bad either.

The only one who was impressive was Pressey. I can't believe Florida passed on her. She would have been much better than their current options on the outside. She reminds me a lot of that little girl that was the star outside hitter from South Korea back in the 90s. Someone could probably enlighten me w/ her name. She's just so tiny but just jumps so high and swings everything into her hits. It's not only the height of her vertical but the speed of her approach. I think the only one I've noticed this season that has the same hops and fast twitch muscles is Merriweather.
Anyhow, Cal will hopefully just shake off that match and regroup. They need to work on their defense and scramble plays. None of them can set either.

Oh - there are so many opponents who come in thinking that they can prepare for Angie simply because she's shorter. Her approach to the ball is so fast that opponents have trouble timing their block and defense. She practically explodes into her hitting position. While I was in Florida, I talked to someone who watched Angie play before she arrived at Cal. I asked whether Angie was underestimated a lot simply because of her height, and the answer was an "Oh yeah."

Again - one night. The team as a whole played like total crap all night, except for Angie. I'm pretty sure that they would concur.

[VolleyTX]

I have not had a chance to finish watching the match.... but...

It doesn't seem to me that Stanford played all THAT well.... it was more about how horrible Cal played. I have to agree with another poster.... certainly Stanford has someone who is a better defender than Nnamani. She just doesn't have a defenders mentality or instincts.