Michigan State at USC

[st15]

Tied 9-9 in game one.
It would help if MSU didn't already have 4 service errors.

[destrier]

Six service errors and ten hitting errors now, but it's only 25-22 USC.

[BeiBei]

Gysin is playing, quite a surprise cos there was another earlier thread that implied that she lost the starting position to
Roleder but she only had 1 kill but had 6 digs in the first game

[roofed!]

USC started Copenhagen at OH1 with Gysin at OH2, Garrett at MB1 while Johansen moved to MB2, Kaczor at Opp, Carico at S with Hillgren as libero.

Here are my observations:

OHs
Copenhagen and Gysin still struggled to get the kills. I believe this is mostly due to limited hitting repertoire from the outside - mostly seam shots and cross shots. Hardly any line shot or sharp cut shot. Also limited by the fact that they are not out-of-the-gym jumpers.

In game 2, Haley yanked Copenhagen and put in Roleder. She had 2 errors off 2 attempts. Her hittings (though errors) looked good...packing some heat, but I don't understand why she liked to pass with overhead receive especially on hard serves -- she got aced on her first pass by MSU's Johnson.

In game 3, Haley yanked Gysin twice, first by Urango who played backrow for her, and then late in the game, Gysin got yanked again and replaced by Siemiatkowska.

Unlike the past 2 years, USC has good OH reserves coming off the bench. Siemiatkowska has improved at her new playing position -- she was fast getting back into position to hit again, and her arm swing looked better now as last year, she was awkward hitting from the outside.

MBs
Garrett played well. She is a good blocker...great awareness at the net and fast in getting into blocking positions. She ended the night with 5 blocks (2 solos and 3 assists) and touched lots of balls. Her hittings looked good too, and she was quick on her slides though I would prefer if she could hit at sharper angles and straight down (near 10 foot line) and not flat and into the backcourt where there were defenders waiting.

Johansen started quite slow. For me, I didn't notice much improvement in her court awareness at the net (she let a serve receive overpass by MSU fall behind her for a point), and her hittings still lacking some heat and pace.

Opp and Setter
It was obvious that Haley was trying to diversify the offensive load and not relying too much on Kaczor (22 hitting attempts off the team's 102). I think the strategy was to get other hitters involved and opened the net but when USC went into hitting slumps, the team went back to Kaczor to get her to open the net for others.

Carico was having some timing issues with the OHs and MBs, but then again, those hitters were not too adept at adjusting to the sets like Kaczor.

One element of positive surprise was when Haley ran 6-2 with Wilson (walk-on setter) and Bishop. They were good and stopped the hitting slumps and instead sparked off points runs. Wilson's setting was good most of the time, and she was able to connect with the MBs -- her first assist was to Bishop out of the middle (with Johansen moved to Opp) and on the next point it was also to Bishop from the rightside for another kill. It is good to know that she'll be a good back-up to Carico (only scholie setter on the team). Bishop played great with 4 kills off 4 attempts. She was more aggressive and had more heat with her swings (compared to Johansen -- whom, to me, looked to be in slow motion). With Garrett at MB1 and playing well, I think Bishop may also see some playing time at MB2 apart from 6-2 rotation. Another thing that I noticed was that when Bishop and Johansen were hitting on the rightside, their approaches were slides instead of coming in from the wing (like a typical Opp).

Serving
There were many jump floaters - Garrett, Kaczor and Copenhagen. USC started the games with Garrett at the service line to start point runs -- I was sitting at the side but looking at how MSU passers were mishandling her jump floaters, I think she got a good moving serve, as did Kaczor when she did not serve into the net (I think still adjusting to her new serves). USC scored multiple point runs behind their services. Garrett was also a pretty good digger -- usually the serving MB would cover middle back, but she was covering the left back area of the court. The only jump server was Urango and she got a good mean serve as well. So the team has a good variety of servers who could cause passing problems for the other team.

For now, I am reserving my thoughts on Hillgren as libero. Thus far, she has done pretty well and I need to watch her several more times and focusing on her plays.

I might go and watch USC vs St John at noon which I think will be more exciting than against LMU match in the evening. St John's has a veteran team and a number of foreign starters -- their Chinese MB and OHs from Poland, Russia and Israel. So that match would be a good test for USC.

[bownlovingfreak]

Thanks for the write up! I really hope Bishop has a breakout year. I found when watching Johansen that she seemed to slow on slide shots and such. Weird she didnt even start for UCSB transferred to USC and started immediately, and was their M1 I believe last year.

[roofed!]

bownlovingfreak said:

Thanks for the write up! I really hope Bishop has a breakout year. I found when watching Johansen that she seemed to slow on slide shots and such. Weird she didnt even start for UCSB transferred to USC and started immediately, and was their M1 I believe last year.

Yup, I have similar hopes for Bishop as well. One advantage that Johansen had over Bishop and Tennant last season was her higher reach, so although she may be slower on the slides, she can reach higher to hit over the blocks. Both Bishop and Tennant hit at lower points of contact and mostly into seams, and as they were not fast hitters (like Washington MBs), it was easier to block them.

The MBs have to compensate for lower hitting reach by being quicker to beat the blocks (like the UW blockers), but Bishop and Tennants were not able to do that consistently.

Bishop had contributed a lot to the USC program. She became a starter in her sophomore year (in freshman year, she was behind Adams and Candelas) and immediately became a primary passing MB, a rare feat in collegiate vball, due to Gysin's injury and Florian transferring out. She played all 6 rotations which was alot to ask for in a MB. You could see her frustrations when her passing and digging went south at times and Haley was on her case, but she became a better player and now when she went to serve, she was a good backcourt defender as well.

[bownlovingfreak]

In the 2005 season I went to the USC vs Cal Poly season opener and remember being SO impressed with Bishop. She has some phenomenal moments and I love watching her when she's on. She seems very technically good. She competed at a under 20 or 18 competition once before.