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Post by bucky415 on Nov 25, 2006 21:54:26 GMT -5
I am really pleased with this result. It looks like the Badgers got back on track offensively with Simpson running the show. Lynch had a nice match offensively for Purdue, as I would expect if they could get her some good opportunities, but the Badgers were able to slow down the other hitters enough to win. For Purdue, it will be a disappointing end to the season if they can't make a run in the NCAAs. On the other hand, who would have seen 21 wins as a bit of a letdown a few years ago? I think this ensures a seed and hosting for the Badgers, unless the NCAA really pulls something strange. We will see, obviously, but this is a good sign.
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Post by baywatcher on Nov 26, 2006 2:22:37 GMT -5
Wisconsin RKPI is way up there, close to 4 or 5 before this weekend, so I'm sure they will be seeded and will probably host, unless the committee does something strange. They may have a very high seed, in front of some of the Pac 10 teams below them with higher RKPI (Washington was #10 entering this week, I believe, and lost to Stanford).
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Post by BoilerUp! on Nov 26, 2006 11:02:31 GMT -5
I would not say the season was disappointing ... it was rather exciting for most of it! Having people sick and injured made it tough in the end, but the NCAA tournament is the start of another "season" for Purdue, and hopefully a long one! After the Big Ten teams beat each other up all season, we all should all be road tested.
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Post by wiscvball on Nov 26, 2006 20:02:45 GMT -5
Had a chance to catch this match on satellite today and the Badgers looked pretty good. Dolgner had some wicked attacks from both the leftside and the backrow (especially the backrow... she had one from there against a purdue double block that was pretty sick). UW also used Carlini quite a bit from the back and that was effective. It makes such a difference to have outsides who can pound it from the 10-ft line - it definitely opens up more along the front row. Reineke and Bladow both played well. I noticed that Dykstra was on the sidelines with a cast on her lower arm/wrist area... i hope her injury isn't serious, but it didn't look like a walk in the park. Waite subbed Bladow out at the end of game two when the Badgers dropped a few pts in a row and put Salow in the middle. She definitely looks out of place there and wasn't the fastest person ever to close the block. On the rotation where she and Jeffers were in the front row, they played Jeffers in the middle at least once and Salow on the right.
Dolgner played pretty good floor defense and passed really well. The announcers were gushing over her, Carlini, and Lynch of Purdue for most of the match.
On the Purdue side of the net, their outsides were relatively ineffective. Gurnell had some absolute missle kills from the middle and Lynch had some powerful slide shots. Outside of those two, Merlau from the backrow was about the only time it seemed like Purdue was putting heat on the ball. Both Purdue setters struggled a bit and Purdue's defense wasn't as good as I've seen it in the past.
UW had a few problems closing out a couple of the games, so hopefully they get that corrected before they play better teams that will capitalize where Purdue didn't.
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Post by abcd098 on Nov 26, 2006 20:10:08 GMT -5
I also caught the game on TV today. I thought Purdue's passing was pretty weak. There were a lot of overpasses that resulted in Wisconsin kills. The previous poster was right, Purdue's left side attack was almost nonexistent. Dildine had some good service runs, but she was not very effective in the front row.
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Post by bucky415 on Nov 26, 2006 21:34:55 GMT -5
It isn't good to hear that Dykstra is hurt; I hope she is okay. The Badgers don't have much depth at the middle, which looks to be the biggest issue for them for the remainder of this year and into next year, barring injuries or unforeseen events. I hope they are able to sign the middle who has verbally committed for 2008 and find another good middle in that class. That is really the only area where the Badgers appear to be thin at this point.
I am glad that Dolgner and Carlini played well. The Badgers could do very well in the tournament if those two get rolling. I don't know if I have mentioned this in earlier posts, but Dolgner is quick and can cover a lot of ground in the back row. She still has room to improve there, but I think she could become very good as a passer and defender. I think that she will just continue to get better with more reps as her career moves along. She has already shown that she will put forth the effort to get better, as her blocking has improved a lot from the start of the season.
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