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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2013 2:21:52 GMT -5
What were you expecting? I think going from not making it to the dance and getting to the sweet 16 is pretty deep.
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Post by topperbell on Dec 15, 2013 2:45:42 GMT -5
What were you expecting? I think going from not making it to the dance and getting to the sweet 16 is pretty deep. The personal that came in was suggested to increase Illi back to or around the level they were two years ago. Illi missing the playoff last year because of a lack of talent. They made to many mistakes in the second half of the season advance. The talent was there. Expecting more than getting swept by a good, not great Purdue side.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2013 3:21:00 GMT -5
What were you expecting? I think going from not making it to the dance and getting to the sweet 16 is pretty deep. The personal that came in was suggested to increase Illi back to or around the level they were two years ago. Illi missing the playoff last year because of a lack of talent. They made to many mistakes in the second half of the season advance. The talent was there. Expecting more than getting swept by a good, not great Purdue side. So who did they get to replace Ward and Bartsch? Those two pretty much were the offense that year..
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Post by rogero1 on Dec 15, 2013 3:41:32 GMT -5
Hambly said that they missed out on the NCAAs last year because the new kids didn't realize how much work was needed to get to that level. It is not so much the physical talent as it is being mentally tough enough to execute, outlast, & outplay your opponent in the NCAA tourney. A little luck also helps along the way. While Hambly did the correct thing in scheduling tough, bottom line is that they did not perform as expected. If they were 8-2 or 7-3 instead of 4-6 this season, then I would say they were a contender to be back in the top 10. 10-0 or 9-1 would have meant they were a NC contender. 6-4 or 5-5 meant a sure sub-regional host. Physical talent is there, but I think they need an attitude tweak to get to the next level. How much does this group want the NC? I think Beltran said it best that next year starts tomorrow, not next pre-season.
Not sure if the middles' timing was off or if the setter was not putting the ball consistently enough, but they were not connecting with each other.
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Post by thechief on Dec 15, 2013 10:53:31 GMT -5
I'm actually happy with this season. Two months ago, most people considered us dead in the water but we still made the tournament and finished as one of the top 16 teams. It sucks that we lost to Purdue but they have a ton of seniors and we had 1 starting senior. We let the pressure of being at home get to us, as well as nerves. I think Beltran handled it PERFECTLY, telling her team post-match that they need to learn from this.
Our team is still really young. We have six starters returning. Davis will be able to replace Beltran. I think this run will make Illinois hungry. I'm already looking forward to next season.
What recruits do we have coming in next year?
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Post by topperbell on Dec 15, 2013 12:02:50 GMT -5
So who did they get to replace Ward and Bartsch? Those two pretty much were the offense that year.. Is that a serious question? Birks led the team in kills her freshman and sophmore year adjusting to the setting issues and in the front with McMahon and Mayers so basicaly recieved the sets that she couldnt put anywhere else.She hit 1000 kills this weekend as a sophmore. Criswell had the same potential,he just didnt play her.IMO,I do not think that the young ones "didnt understand how hard it was" I think it was the setting and team chemistry over all.I also agree, we should have never been swept by Purdue , but lacking effective setting and inexperience and pretty much no block, that is the result.They do have talent though, lets see if they can get it together next season and go even further. The parts in red is what I don't agree with. If the deep rooted problem is team chemistry than we've had this problem all last year and the previous year( that was extremely evident during the UCLA match). And that's with the 2 different Senior classes. How much are we inexperience when we have 7+ upper classmen? A few of the players were on the Championship runner up squad. Surely we could've expected the team to kick on from there, no? Everything else I agree with you on.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2013 13:54:15 GMT -5
Nice season ladies, Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your families.
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Post by jma22 on Dec 15, 2013 16:53:04 GMT -5
What the hell happened to Illinois? I thought the 3 freshman that came in this year would be the X factors that get Illinois to a deep run in the tournament. Illinois definitely exceeded expectations, considering we weren't even ranked in the preseason. We were also still a relatively young team. We only lose one starter, our libero, after this season so we should be better and more experienced next year, maybe even a Big Ten title contender with the top B1G teams losing a lot. In 2015 we have what may be the top recruiting class in the country coming in, so the future is looking bright.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2013 23:34:16 GMT -5
So who did they get to replace Ward and Bartsch? Those two pretty much were the offense that year.. Is that a serious question? Birks led the team in kills her freshman and sophmore year adjusting to the setting issues and in the front with McMahon and Mayers so basicaly recieved the sets that she couldnt put anywhere else.She hit 1000 kills this weekend as a sophmore. Criswell had the same potential,he just didnt play her.IMO,I do not think that the young ones "didnt understand how hard it was" I think it was the setting and team chemistry over all.I also agree, we should have never been swept by Purdue , but lacking effective setting and inexperience and pretty much no block, that is the result.They do have talent though, lets see if they can get it together next season and go even further. Implied in my question is that replacing the two golden outsides they had will not be quick and painless. Also, a million kills hitting .191 isn't the same as 400 or 500 kills hitting .300
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2013 4:26:16 GMT -5
As anyone who has ever played or coached knows that % for an outside doesn't tell the entire story. Ok let me make this simple for you. Is it easier or harder for a hitter to carry more of an offense? Is it easier to hit .190 doing that, or .280? Answer key: Harder. .280 What was done in the championship run, by those two outsides was remarkable. You are trying to compare apples to oranges when you say they will be right back to the championship level of those two. (Not that I don't hope for that, but dude what they did was amazingly difficult)
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Post by brucks on Dec 16, 2013 20:06:08 GMT -5
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Post by jma22 on Dec 17, 2013 0:41:06 GMT -5
What will happen with the defensive positions next season? Davis as libero while Conard/Donnelly compete for the DS spot?
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Post by thechief on Dec 18, 2013 17:30:12 GMT -5
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Post by brucks on Jul 12, 2014 17:36:29 GMT -5
Test.
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