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Post by brucks on Sept 16, 2013 16:00:34 GMT -5
I was reasonably happy with Illinois' play against Texas. I think if Liz would have had a better match we may have won. I said I would not second guess the coaches, but after a strong Bloody Mary this morning, I cannot help myself. I think the coaches are putting too much pressure on Liz McMahon to be the primary point scorer for the Illini. She plays left side to hit for points, then she gets switched to the right side to block for points. It appears to me, at least in these early tournaments, playing 3 matches in two days, that Liz may be having difficulty handling it. I would personally like to see the coaches go back to the formula that was successful two years ago. Two strong hitters primarily on the left-side and Liz primarily on the right. Agreed, and right now Liz is not blocking well and she is not hitting well. She is also being asked to play more in the back row than she has in the past. She needs some rest during a long weekend like this past weekend, if not physically, then mentally. There were a couple of times in the Texas match where she just failed to get to a muffed ball that she would have normally gotten to.
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Post by vbthat on Sept 16, 2013 16:37:21 GMT -5
Perhaps judging from the pre-conference results, the B1G is not quite as strong top to bottom as last year. And, luckily the team we play only once in conference is Minnesota, and that game is at home. Last year, the team we only played once was Iowa. If we had played Iowa twice, we probably would have been in the tournament (needing only one more win). Each Big Ten team plays two opponents one time per season. Last season, Illinois played Iowa and Nebraska only once, so I'm not sure your theory works. This season, they play Wisconsin and Minnesota only once.
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 17, 2013 7:14:06 GMT -5
It could be like last year's experience at setter- you bring in the freshman only to find out that they're a 50/50 proposition with the current player(s): some nights better, some nights not. Hambly has already shown he's willing to play true freshmen when they can contribute (Liz, Anna) so I'm thinking he's determined that Strizak won't provide enough of an upgrade. I do think Liz back on the right side, subbed in the back row, Criswell in the front subbing with Stark in the back, is the best Illinois lineup, though you do lose a little back row firepower that way. The good news is that Illinois has enough talent to compete every night against every team, and I don't think .500 is going to be a difficult goal. This week will tell a lot. I have never understood the Criswell situation, every time she comes in she scores,shes got a real powerful swing and always brings a spark. Birks and Criswell on the OH,Liz on the OP is a pretty solid front row and the middles are producing nicely. I dont think having Strizak in adds anything but more inexperience, the last thing they need at this point. I think the problem with Criswell is that her overall game is not B1G strong. At Illinois State Morganne would probably be a star 6 rotation player. Ali Stark has a better 6 rotation game, B1G strong except for her ability to put the ball away when Illinois needs a point. Ali probably should be developing and using an array of different shots to try and score. While we are on the topic of hitting, is the Illinois coaching staff working with Jocelyn so that she is not quite so predictable. Everyone knows she has a high point of contact (I think she hit over Texas' huge block a few times), and a very heavy arm. But, to my untrained eye, Jocelyn constantly hits cross-court. I know other teams chart these sorts of things, and will set up their defense accordingly. Should not she be encouraged to develop more shots than just her very good cross-court? Kudos again to Jocelyn for her much improved passing. Hats off to the coaches as well for her improvement in this area. Signed...VB Know-It-All (when I really know very little!) Go Illini! Go Illini!
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 17, 2013 8:23:01 GMT -5
This post is strictly for Illini volleyball fans.
Saw former OH Kylie McCulley at the Texas match. Such a beautiful, confident young woman Kylie seems to be.
And, I believe she is coaching at Unity High School this year. I have always kept an eye on Unity volleyball going back to those teams of Liz Osborne's that made it to state a couple of times (I think finishing 4th and 2nd).
Unity has been a little down the last few years, but under Kylie's coaching, things appear to be looking up. I noticed they defeated their arch-rival St. Joseph in straight sets last night. Go Kylie and Go Rockets!
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Post by brucks on Sept 17, 2013 14:18:38 GMT -5
This post is strictly for Illini volleyball fans. Saw former OH Kylie McCulley at the Texas match. Such a beautiful, confident young woman Kylie seems to be. And, I believe she is coaching at Unity High School this year. I have always kept an eye on Unity volleyball going back to those teams of Liz Osborne's that made it to state a couple of times (I think finishing 4th and 2nd). Unity has been a little down the last few years, but under Kylie's coaching, things appear to be looking up. I noticed they defeated their arch-rival St. Joseph in straight sets last night. Go Kylie and Go Rockets! Kylie showed that she can still play the game a little bit, too, in the alumni game. Other alums who are coaching - Annie Luhrsen is an assistant in one of the Champaign high schools, I believe. Laura DeBruler is an assistant at Western Ill. U. under April Hall
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stc23
Sophomore
Posts: 195
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Post by stc23 on Sept 17, 2013 16:06:59 GMT -5
Kylie showed that she can still play the game a little bit, too, in the alumni game. Other alums who are coaching - Annie Luhrsen is an assistant in one of the Champaign high schools, I believe. Laura DeBruler is an assistant at Western Ill. U. under April Hall Hillary Haen and Jackie Wolfe are both coaching and brought their teams to the Texas match. Hillary is in her second year at Illinois Valley Central HS, and I think Jackie is a coaching a local JV team. Not sure if it was posted previously, but here's an article on Haen and IVC from the beginning of their 2012 season: www.pjstar.com/sports/preps/x580292038/IVC-volleyball-building-new-foundation
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 18, 2013 8:19:16 GMT -5
Kylie showed that she can still play the game a little bit, too, in the alumni game. Other alums who are coaching - Annie Luhrsen is an assistant in one of the Champaign high schools, I believe. Laura DeBruler is an assistant at Western Ill. U. under April Hall Hillary Haen and Jackie Wolfe are both coaching and brought their teams to the Texas match. Hillary is in her second year at Illinois Valley Central HS, and I think Jackie is a coaching a local JV team. Not sure if it was posted previously, but here's an article on Haen and IVC from the beginning of their 2012 season: www.pjstar.com/sports/preps/x580292038/IVC-volleyball-building-new-foundationThanks a bunch for the article. I have always thought Hillary was the most 'cerebral' (and intelligent, too) setter I have seen play at the U of I. (I really cannot think of ANY other setter anywhere who I thought made better setter decisions). As long as Hillary was setting for the Illini, I never worried about setting being a problem in a match. What I particularly liked about the article is I could see so much evidence of her coaching at Illinois coming through in her personal coaching approach. The whole core value classroom discussion I believe takes place with our current Coach Hambly. I suspect it happened with Coach Hardin, as well. I also liked Coach Haen's stressing, “You can’t control winning,” she said, “and the girls can’t control winning, but they can control how hard they work and how they show up. Winning is really a by-product of how hard you work.” Hillary is just one of many former U of I volleyball players that exemplify and represent Illini volleyball so admirably! Signed, VB-Know-It-All-When-I-Really-Know-Very-Little!
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Post by WI FIB on Sept 18, 2013 11:56:39 GMT -5
Kylie showed that she can still play the game a little bit, too, in the alumni game. Other alums who are coaching - Annie Luhrsen is an assistant in one of the Champaign high schools, I believe. Laura DeBruler is an assistant at Western Ill. U. under April Hall Hillary Haen and Jackie Wolfe are both coaching and brought their teams to the Texas match. Hillary is in her second year at Illinois Valley Central HS, and I think Jackie is a coaching a local JV team. Jackie Wolfe is coaching Freshmen and JV and Unity HS alongside Kylie McCulley. Annie Luhrsen is JV coach at Champaign Centennial. Laura DeBruler is an assistant at Western Illinois. Kayani Turner is an assistant at SEMO. Michelle Bartsch is a volunteer assistant with the men's team at California-Irvine. Going back in time, Sandy (Scholtens) Hamilton is the head coach at Springfield Sacred Heart - Griffin High School. Mary (Eggers) Tendler is the head coach at Elon University. Former Illinois grad assistant Jen Fry is one of her assistants. That's all I can think of for now...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2013 14:25:54 GMT -5
Vicki Brown is at Illinois State I think.
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Post by WI FIB on Sept 19, 2013 8:45:43 GMT -5
Vicki Brown is at Illinois State I think. Correct.
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Post by brucks on Sept 20, 2013 22:06:11 GMT -5
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Post by jma22 on Sept 20, 2013 23:19:41 GMT -5
Those hitting stats...yikes. I feel like Birks has been hitting at a pretty low percentage all season so far, strange because she was really good last year.
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 21, 2013 6:31:37 GMT -5
I am still depressed over the loss to North Carolina last night. It was not so much the losing, but the way we lost. The only way for me to come out of this funk is for the Illini to dispatch Duke tonight, and play some good, enthusiastic volleyball. There is another thread on VT about posters being considerate of the players and teams that are discussed on VT. Some players may read VT. I think if players get their feelings hurt easily, they should not read VT, particularly after a bad loss or individual bad play. I am guilty of posting pretty much what I am thinking or feeling, so the thread about being careful about posting very much applies to me. In this vein, I wanted to share a commencement address I became aware of lately given last spring to Syracuse University graduates by author George Saunders. Syracuse is the university Nancy Cantor left the chancellorship at Illinois to become SU's President/Chancellor back in 2004. I find this address inspirational: 6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/george-saunderss-advice-to-graduates/?_r=1&
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 21, 2013 18:40:22 GMT -5
Does Illinois radio announcer, Dave Loane, occasionally call Alexis Viliunas, Lexi? I realize this is the least of Illinois' volleyball worries, but Alexis wants to be called either Alexis or LEX, not Lexi.
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Post by herdmentality on Sept 21, 2013 18:45:24 GMT -5
Does Illinois radio announcer, Dave Loane, occasionally call Alexis Viliunas, Lexi? I realize this is the least of Illinois' volleyball worries, but Alexis wants to be called either Alexis or LEX, not Lexi. Least of their worries.
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