Was this Final THAT good?

[Beachy]

I disagree with Tigfan about the libero. The setter certainly controls the offense thereby having an extremely strong influence on the pace of the game,etc. But there are SOME times when the libero steps up and starts to control the defense. Stuntz did to Keenan during the Pepp game. He dug Keenan hits untouched by the block about 3-4 times in a row and took Keenan out of the offense in game 3 or 4. This forced Pepp to find another hitter to put the ball away. I look for this to happen more frequently as the teams start using true liberos like Stuntz instead of converted outside hitters. This position will have more influence on the defense. I do agree that the setter does have the most influence under most circumstances.

[NET2]

My take on the NCAA finals that quikset & VBCrusin mentioned:

Best played: UCLA/Hawaii ('96)
Most suspense: Stanford/UCLA ('97) The Bruins almost stole that match at the end from a superior Stanford team.
Most entertaining: Lewis/BYU this year. Something for everyone to appreciate &/or criticize.

[tigfan]

Beachy...I agree that a libero can be very influential in a match but think about it this way... a libero may dig 3 ball in a game, and that would be a pretty good game (National average wasn't even 3 per game) A setter can get 13-15 assists per game, plus they may get a couple of kills, blocks, aces, or digs.

A good libero is going to be taken out of the serve recieve by the other team... just ask Hawaii, they did it all year to opposing liberos, and did it pretty well.

I have seen liberos make a huge difference in certain games this season, however, for the most part the setter controls the 'power' to influence 90% of the time on the court. He's your brains and your quarterback... It's hard to say that the most important player on a football team is the kicker, even though they can score points... Field Goals aren't going to win you many games unless you get some other points to go with it. Just my opinion...