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Post by believer on Aug 16, 2004 0:32:18 GMT -5
I do not believe that some top level coaches have given enough respect to the Libero. What teams/coaches have recognized the importance of this position and spent recruitment time and scholarship money adding one this year? How would you rank the teams as far as their Liberos? Stacy Sygora has shown how important they are. Of the top teams I am not sure about USC and Florida's Liberos.
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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 16, 2004 0:38:59 GMT -5
Until Libero's are the least-abundant position, they will not become the highest scholarship priority.
The fact is, there are hundreds of solid libero-quality players willing to play their own way to keep playing. There are not hundreds of extra 6-2+ girls that are waiting to play collegiate volleyball.
Supply. Demand.
Occasionally, there are a few liberos that break this mold: Zartman, Gentil, etc. come to mind immediately. But at the top levels of college volleyball, scholarships HAVE to be reserved for taller players to stay competitive.
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Post by TheSantaBarbarian on Aug 16, 2004 1:42:57 GMT -5
I believe UCSB's Kristen Nelson is on scholarship.
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Post by cbrown1709 on Aug 16, 2004 2:47:42 GMT -5
If Kehoe starts as Libero this year, she is on scholarship for Stanford.
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Post by roofed! on Aug 16, 2004 9:03:18 GMT -5
Deborah Seilhamer is on a vb scholie. Last year, USC has 2 vb scholies for liberos -- nicole davis and backup libero/defense specialist deborah.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2004 9:12:34 GMT -5
The fact is, there are hundreds of solid libero-quality players willing to play their own way to keep playing. There are not hundreds of extra 6-2+ girls that are waiting to play collegiate volleyball. Unfortunately, this is exactly the mindset that will lead many programs down the wrong path. A great libero is almost always MUCH more valuable than that 6'2" (or taller) player. Idahoser. |
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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 16, 2004 9:51:22 GMT -5
Unfortunately, this is exactly the mindset that will lead many programs down the wrong path. A great libero is almost always MUCH more valuable than that 6'2" (or taller) player. Idahoser. How many "Great" liberos are there out there? Not many. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2004 9:55:44 GMT -5
How many "Great" liberos are there out there? Not many. Just to be clear: Zartman, Davis and Gentil are exceptional. I'd put "great" at a level below them. Regardless, my point is that programs need to emphasize that position as much, if not more, than the 6'2" OH. |
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Post by IdahoBoy on Aug 16, 2004 10:01:51 GMT -5
Dang! Somehow I deleted this comment...
I'm going to add...
A taller player also gives you more options than a typical libero-style player:
Blocking, Attacking, and of course, passing as well. With enough reps, almost everyone can become a solid passer.
Whereas, if you have 5'5 player trying to swing on the net, you're not going to need a libero on the other side of the court, you'll need one blocker and a truck to pick up all the roofing.
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Post by Gorf on Aug 16, 2004 12:25:22 GMT -5
Dang! Somehow I deleted this comment... I'm going to add... A taller player also gives you more options than a typical libero-style player: Blocking, Attacking, and of course, passing as well. With enough reps, almost everyone can become a solid passer. Whereas, if you have 5'5 player trying to swing on the net, you're not going to need a libero on the other side of the court, you'll need one blocker and a truck to pick up all the roofing. Isn't amazing though, the number of times you see that "one blocker" simply deflect those back row attacks away from their own defenders when trying to "stuff" the attacks of those mere 5'5" liberos? I heard plenty of people questioning Mike Hebert's decision to give a full scholarship to a mere libero before Paula Gentil's first game with the Gophers. I haven't heard any complaints about her receiving that scholarship after everyone has seen the extremely positive impact she's had on the Gopher defense. I believe what (R)uffda! is trying to tell you is that all of those coaches that bull headedly stick with the attitude that they will not give a scholarship to anyone that's not at least 6'0" tall is potentially hurting their team by not even scouting or being willing to consider giving a scholarship to a libero. |
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Post by 5100 on Aug 16, 2004 12:43:06 GMT -5
I wish college volleyball would give more importance to this position.
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Post by SaltNPepper on Aug 16, 2004 13:30:15 GMT -5
Here's the way I look at this, not sure if it really makes much sense, but seems right to me.
If the libero subs for the middles on a team then you have two MB's and one Libero that combine to make up two of the spots on the floor. The libero covers 5 of the 12 rotations for these two spots and the middles cover 3.5 each. So the way I see it, the libero can be quite a bit more important to a team than "a" middle, ie. 43% more time on the court. Since a team uses twice as many MB's, it would also seem that a really top MB would be in more demand that a really top libero, but probably not more valuable.
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Post by BearClause on Aug 16, 2004 15:18:05 GMT -5
I agree that some teams haven't put enough priority into specifically recruiting a libero (Stanford had two non-ideal candidates the last two seasons). However - even if they're not on scholarship, liberos are recruited and given ample opportunities to play. Perhaps it's short-sighted on the part of coaches, but the "supply" of really good back-row players is far greater than that for really good (and tall) front-row players.
I'm sure that there will be more scholarship opportunities for the libero position in the future. Even though there aren't that many scholarships available for the position right now, I'm sure that most top-flight liberos are still making it onto collegiate teams as walk-ons.
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Post by Xplaya on Aug 16, 2004 15:54:25 GMT -5
GT has a few ds/libero's on scholarships...as do others (UNC, Northwestern to name a couple). It's not only about defense, it's about overall ball control that starts the offense. Many coaches realize this and are starting (if they haven't already) scholarshiping to get the BEST liberos out there, I repeat, the BEST, which are a handful. Cause if it's between a solid 5'5" ds/libero and a solid 6'0" OH, they are gonna go with the outside that has bc and make her a ds.
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Post by plm on Aug 17, 2004 0:25:28 GMT -5
Hmmm, a libero more important than a middle blocker. I wonder how many kills per game a libero has. I wonder how many blocks per game a libero averages. IMO all positions are important in volleyball. You take the MB out of the front line and see how many fewer points are scored and also how much harder it is for the rest of the team to play defense.
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