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Post by OverAndUnder on Dec 16, 2010 18:10:39 GMT -5
And what are you basing that on? The first player that comes to my mind is Alix Klineman. She had major shoulder surgery and had some bad knees at the end of her 2008 soph year. She is likely to be NPOY and injury free as she finishes her career. Cynthia Barboza comes to mind as well..... Barboza's injury was acute, not chronic. Let me ask you both this question: Imagine a graph with the y-axis being "Player's Level of Injury Impairment" and the x-axis being "Time (in months)". Plot three lines, one for Barboza, one for Klineman, one for Cook. What do they look like? From what I've seen, Barboza is the black line in this graph:  Klineman would be more like the black line on this graph:  But Karissa Cook has been more like this blue line:  I'm talking about the overall trend of a player with chronic ups and downs. That is different than the general progression of Klineman and Barboza. |
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Post by midnightblue on Dec 16, 2010 18:58:55 GMT -5
point taken.
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Post by StuffU on Dec 16, 2010 19:31:47 GMT -5
Carly and Rachel will certainly improve in the offseason, the question is "how much?". Murrey took two years to hit her groove and came in to Cal as a more complete player than Williams at Stanford. I'm not so sure Williams will be able to handle the increased passing/defensive responsibilities AND carry the type of offense load that an OH1 at Stanford usually requires. I do think Carly will have a breakout season next year. I think she is a more complete player at her position, but with questions at serve receive and passing in general, I wonder how much her offense will have opportunities to shine. With Stanford graduating from the 6-2, they will have more subs available to use for DSs to stabilize their passing. That may be true, but Stanford does not have a history of very good passing DS's. Regardless, Williams will likely have to be a 6-rotation player. |
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Post by jgrout on Dec 16, 2010 20:52:44 GMT -5
Even Jaimi Gregory falls into this category... her defense was superlative but her passing was just OK.
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Post by spalding on Dec 16, 2010 23:16:10 GMT -5
With Stanford graduating from the 6-2, they will have more subs available to use for DSs to stabilize their passing. That may be true, but Stanford does not have a history of very good passing DS's. Regardless, Williams will likely have to be a 6-rotation player. I would say the Benjamin's passing ability is very good and ahead of her defense at this point. Luck also looked to be very solid at passing. There are two more defensive specialists coming in 2011. 2 of these 4 are going to have to step up and elevate their games. |
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Post by beachbomb on Dec 16, 2010 23:22:09 GMT -5
Karch Said it tonight... and he'd know... she (Tarrah Murrey) ate better, she worked harder, she bought in... Rachel Williams did come into Stanford as complete as Tarrah Murrey and even came in from a tougher recruiting class... stanford has phenominal trainers including Devan McConnell who is working even more with the girls to get them inshape and out of the volleyball work-out but other work out programs to get them to be better athletes. he got Ailes squating 300 pounds for crying out loud... this past off season he hooked up Klineman to work out with the Aniehem Ducks... and look at the Wopats coming into Stanford GPA 4.8, they are perfectionist who will work very hard to give their team a happy ending...
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Post by tnp101 on Dec 16, 2010 23:40:36 GMT -5
Every great team gotta have a great setter to lead and help hitters being better at what they are doing. Stanford's setting has been questionable since Brynn Kehoe's departure. Hopefully, Cook is healthy next year and can take the leadership role.
Lloyd is a great setter since she was a freshman. That's why Cal is going to FF. She set smart and made great decision for her hitters. Carpenter is also doing a great job at PSU. So two of the best teams meet in the championship match at the end of the year. That is perfect.
In two days, we'll see if Cal will be able to win its first chamionship or not.
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Post by StuffU on Dec 17, 2010 2:47:24 GMT -5
Karch Said it tonight... and he'd know... she (Tarrah Murrey) ate better, she worked harder, she bought in... Rachel Williams did come into Stanford as complete as Tarrah Murrey and even came in from a tougher recruiting class... stanford has phenominal trainers including Devan McConnell who is working even more with the girls to get them inshape and out of the volleyball work-out but other work out programs to get them to be better athletes. he got Ailes squating 300 pounds for crying out loud... this past off season he hooked up Klineman to work out with the Aniehem Ducks... and look at the Wopats coming into Stanford GPA 4.8, they are perfectionist who will work very hard to give their team a happy ending... That's cool. It's a total homer post, but that's cool. It IS a Stanford thread. We'll have to disagree on the idea that Williams was as complete a player as Murrey during each player's respective freshman year. Murrey was a FAR better passer and defender than Williams was able to show for Stanford. I do expect Williams to become a very good player for Stanford, just not so sure it is realistic to expect her to be the kind of player they will need as a 6-rotation OH1 next year. I think Williams will be a feared 6-rotation STUD by her junior year. You use Klineman and Ailes as examples of what Stanford strength and training programs will do for its players. I point you back to each players' sophomore season (a more reasonable comparison), and while each player showed improvement it is not to the level that you are hoping for with Williams (and not anywhere near the growth Murrey has shown between 09 and 10). I'll use Spelman as a very recent example. While she has improved over last year, her growth was nowhere near the level you describe above. You'd think a 6'6" player (#3 recruit) with a year of playing in Stanford's systems and a year of strength training would be dominating in the hitting and blocking skills. I'm not trying to rip on these players. I think they are all solid players, but there is no Lichtman/Klineman/Ailes players returning. The best all-around returning starter is the middle blocker Wopat who will likely stay in the middle. Stanford will have to replace Klineman's offense, and virtually its entire passing core with mostly unproven players. Williams will be looked upon to shore up much of those responsibilites as the only returning starter at OH, taking on much of the out of system sets, passing/defending/attacking from the back row. I think that is a TON of responsibility for a sophomore. Bai may be able to play the role of Lichtman, but even Cassidy needed two years to grow into the role and displayed more skill than Bai early on. FWIW, I expect Stanford to be in the mix at the end of the year because they, more often than not, find a way. But I will be very surprised if they are anywhere as good as this year's team. |
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Post by vbdolly on Dec 17, 2010 5:12:57 GMT -5
If John Dunning reads vt: Please, recruit another setter. A fast, healthy one with great leadership attributes, a fighting spirit and unrivaled competitiveness. Karissa Cook is an excellent setter but she needs someone to push her in that position. Also, please get rid of the inside sets that is perfect for Alix. Williams tried and she was not as effective hitting those. Keep Rachel hitting the go's on the outside. Those inside sets are getting old. One last thing is change your defensive scheme. You need to stop making the RS blockers block the line while the setters hide behind them. USC's PLANET and FF burned your defense down the line and deep left corner. Teach your blockers to read better and stop just shutting down the line. Ailes won't be there on the sharp angle to dig those shots. Stop hiding your setter behind the block. Let them play defense down the line, let them pancake those tips (like UW). Stanford, it's time to try something new. Your big guns are gone and 2011 is the year to implement something new.
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Post by mango on Dec 17, 2010 12:57:17 GMT -5
If John Dunning reads vt: Please, recruit another setter. A fast, healthy one with great leadership attributes, a fighting spirit and unrivaled competitiveness. Karissa Cook is an excellent setter but she needs someone to push her in that position. Also, please get rid of the inside sets that is perfect for Alix. Williams tried and she was not as effective hitting those. Keep Rachel hitting the go's on the outside. Those inside sets are getting old. One last thing is change your defensive scheme. You need to stop making the RS blockers block the line while the setters hide behind them. USC's PLANET and FF burned your defense down the line and deep left corner. Teach your blockers to read better and stop just shutting down the line. Ailes won't be there on the sharp angle to dig those shots. Stop hiding your setter behind the block. Let them play defense down the line, let them pancake those tips (like UW). Stanford, it's time to try something new. Your big guns are gone and 2011 is the year to implement something new. Any financial advice ? |
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Post by paloalto on Dec 17, 2010 13:16:39 GMT -5
It seems to be VT culture that if a well-known team doesn’t win the NC, their season was somehow a failure. Each year Stanford doesn’t win the NC, there are posters who proclaim, “Dunning can’t coach”, Dunning can’t recruit”, Dunning can’t develop players”.
I totally disagree with that. It is though some people expect Stanford to have an all-star team of the country’s 12 best players every year. Things don’t work that way. The expectations of some posters is a little unrealistic.
Stanford has many sports teams (men’s and women’s) consistently in the top ten every year but I don’t see those fans posting on message boards that anything other than an NC every year is a disappointment.
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Post by hammer on Dec 17, 2010 13:24:41 GMT -5
Every great team gotta have a great setter to lead and help hitters being better at what they are doing. Stanford's setting has been questionable since Brynn Kehoe's departure. Hopefully, Cook is healthy next year and can take the leadership role. Lloyd is a great setter since she was a freshman. That's why Cal is going to FF. She set smart and made great decision for her hitters. Carpenter is also doing a great job at PSU. So two of the best teams meet in the championship match at the end of the year. That is perfect. In two days, we'll see if Cal will be able to win its first chamionship or not. But it is not perfect if Cal dismantles PSU. |
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Post by beachbomb on Dec 17, 2010 13:31:29 GMT -5
i hope Cal Makes PENN STATE CRY LIKE BABIES!!!
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Post by cbrown1709 on Dec 17, 2010 15:44:37 GMT -5
Where is this Burgess video footage you talk about? I want to see her.
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Post by hammer on Dec 17, 2010 21:07:50 GMT -5
Where is this Burgess video footage you talk about? I want to see her. I found one video but it wasn't game video -- it was just an interview of about one minute and 30 seconds with a few seconds of her spiking some volleyballs with no blockers. Not very helpful in my estimation. |
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