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Post by ilikecorn on Aug 19, 2019 18:25:19 GMT -5
Changed titles to Washington Gold. Thumbs up! 👍I can't believe you initially blamed the victim by saying, "Turn your brightness up." How dare you.
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 19, 2019 20:01:16 GMT -5
Looking forward to this season! tempted to catch a flight to Hawaii
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Post by alwayslearning on Aug 24, 2019 20:58:57 GMT -5
Hello Husky Fans--
Today it was time to awaken from my volleyball slumbers and catch the preseason scrimmage for season ticket holders at Hec Ed. This is always a much anticipated event on my calendar. By the way, Hec Ed has undergone a bit of a makeover. Most notably, the seats in the lower bowl around the court now all appear to be very nicely cushioned, replacing the old hard plastic seats.
All current Huskies were present and healthy, except Dani Cole, who was in street clothes and wearing sunglasses. I'm assuming the sunglasses are part of a concussion protocol, though nothing was said about her apparent injury. Too bad as Dani missed last year's scrimmage and early season games as well.
Like last year, the Huskies mixed and matched teams and played four sets. The energy and communication level was high and there were a lot of smiles. Good to see. Since the Huskies only have two setters, Ella May Powell and Olivia Mikkelsen always played on opposite teams and each ran a 5-1 offense.
It's always a little iffy when watching this format and attempting to draw a lot of conclusions. But here are some of the things that stood out for me:
- UW's serving is very good at this stage of the season. It looks like Cook has the Huskies taking a fairly high risk/high reward strategy of trying to serve tough all the time. I can definitely see some matches being won this season, however, on the strength of the UW serve.
- UW's serve receive is very much a work in progress. UW will see some teams that serve at a significantly lower level than they see in practice, so that will help. Shayne McPherson is still clearly our best receiver. After that, I'm really not sure. Bajema, Hoffman, Crenshaw, Onosko, Calle, Houghton, and Drechsel all got reps. Houghton shows promise but I suspect she'll need to make a lot of progress if she is to make a significant contribution this season. When last season ended, a seasoned DS/libero transfer was on my wish list. Still is.
- Setting: I was a little surprised to see teams with Mikkelsen setting either winning sets or hanging in until the very end of a set. Olivia is a little rough around the edges and her timing with the middles is pretty bad, but she should make some real strides and would appear to be a good backup setter. Powell shows flashes of brilliance and some inconsistency. Her connection with the middles is not great either. In her second year, I'm hoping she really finds a groove.
- Outside hitters: No big surprises here. Bajema and Drechsel are the big weapons and both really brought the heat at times. Sam was putting away some less than stellar sets, something she sometimes struggled with last season. She also looks like a very potent weapon out of the back row. In the only runaway set, Bajema basically took over the game with kill after kill. Very impressive when she's on. The middles -- not so much. UW still can't run a slide with any consistency; Marin Grote would appear to be our best slide hitter. Yes, it's really early to expect the middle connection to be firing on all cylinders, but there were a ton of misfires today. Both Hoffman and Crenshaw had their moments, with Crenshaw looking like she could be a potent OH. One more thing. UW ran a greater variety of sets than I've seen in the past. There were quite a few quick 3's to the middles, most of which were mistimed. There were also a good number of back row sets to all the outside hitters, and those looked pretty good. All in all, I am hoping and expecting a more potent offense from the Huskies this year.
- Blocking and defense: The block was definitely in evidence today, with all four middles, including newcomer Sophie Summers, getting in on the action, plus some nice blocks from the likes of Bajema, Drechsel, and Crenshaw. It would be really cool if UW could pick up where they left off with Creighton and Penn State in the tournament last year. Overall team D is still a work in progress, but if I were to make a guess, I would say that the team seemed scrappier than at the same stage last year (which was pretty bad).
-Starting lineup? If I had to guess (and it's just that, a guess), I would say:
Powell at setter McPherson at libero Bajema at OH1 Crenshaw at OH2 (close with Hoffman) Drechsel at OPP Sanders and Niece at Middle
I doubt any of the three freshmen (Mikkelsen, Summers, and Houghton) will see a lot of playing time, unless some of the upperclassmen get injured. Dani Cole is still a question mark, just like she has been since arriving on campus. Maria B might be used as a serving specialist; otherwise, I doubt she’ll see any real playing time (she did not play as an OH this afternoon). Onosko could be a defensive back row sub.
Let’s hope the Huskies can make the most of the senior seasons of Bajema, McPherson, and Niece.
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Post by tomclen on Aug 24, 2019 21:04:01 GMT -5
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Post by alwayslearning on Aug 24, 2019 21:09:34 GMT -5
Sure, Tom. Just saw Coach Cook's comments after the scrimmage:
"The overall level of defense has gone way up, both along the net and behind it," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "It's getting harder to kill a ball and when you get a kill you know you did a couple things right. Serving remains a strength of ours, I like our gym full of servers. Some good high swings from some of the pin attackers, and some nice hitting out of the back row as well. I'd like to see us make some progress with our middles attacking; I thought that's the area that needs the most growth. You're never satisfied with your serve-receive, but I thought Kara Bajema and Shayne McPherson did really nice jobs today. So there's lots of good pieces and we know where we need to spend our time in this last weekend and heading into Hawaii."
Everything K-Cook says is consistent with what I saw. I may have underestimated the improvement in overall team defense, and I think this is a special point of emphasis for Cook and company. I didn't particularly notice Kara shining with serve receive, but if Cook says so, I don't doubt she did well. Clearly, Cook is not satisfied with the middle attack; I have to say it looked really off today. OTOH, all four of our primary outsides (Bajema, Drechsel, Crenshaw, and Hoffman) took some really great swings.
Go Dawgs!
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Post by dawgnerd on Aug 25, 2019 8:56:08 GMT -5
Very thorough commentary, Always; Thanks. Your comments and the coach fit well with the play that what I saw. The OH passing was inconsistent and I also did not think Bajema was strong in that area. That is going to be an important point, as she is the most likely to be targeted.
I am not sure what the problems with the middle attack was, but I do not recall many (any?) very hard hits from that position. It was mostly medium speed hits, tips, and wipes. The set location and heights often did not exactly match where the hitter was swinging from and I could not tell if this was communication or variable location. The hitters did well getting some creative and useful contacts anyways, but the big swing was not apparent. The other factor was that the block did well at taking the direct hits.
Another interesting factor was that both Niece and Grote spent some time at opposite, but that may have just been a side effect of having so many middles on the squad for the scrimmage.
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 25, 2019 9:31:38 GMT -5
Looking forward to this season! tempted to catch a flight to Hawaii Yeah, but you gotta get a hotel room, rental car, sunscreen, the works... Unless, you have friends there who’ll pick you up at the airport and let you sleep on their couch.
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Post by Wolfgang on Aug 25, 2019 9:32:20 GMT -5
Just scanning this thread for any mention of “Hawaii.”
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Post by ay2013 on Aug 25, 2019 11:36:47 GMT -5
Hello Husky Fans-- Today it was time to awaken from my volleyball slumbers and catch the preseason scrimmage for season ticket holders at Hec Ed. This is always a much anticipated event on my calendar. By the way, Hec Ed has undergone a bit of a makeover. Most notably, the seats in the lower bowl around the court now all appear to be very nicely cushioned, replacing the old hard plastic seats. All current Huskies were present and healthy, except Dani Cole, who was in street clothes and wearing sunglasses. I'm assuming the sunglasses are part of a concussion protocol, though nothing was said about her apparent injury. Too bad as Dani missed last year's scrimmage and early season games as well. Like last year, the Huskies mixed and matched teams and played four sets. The energy and communication level was high and there were a lot of smiles. Good to see. Since the Huskies only have two setters, Ella May Powell and Olivia Mikkelsen always played on opposite teams and each ran a 5-1 offense. It's always a little iffy when watching this format and attempting to draw a lot of conclusions. But here are some of the things that stood out for me: - UW's serving is very good at this stage of the season. It looks like Cook has the Huskies taking a fairly high risk/high reward strategy of trying to serve tough all the time. I can definitely see some matches being won this season, however, on the strength of the UW serve. - UW's serve receive is very much a work in progress. UW will see some teams that serve at a significantly lower level than they see in practice, so that will help. Shayne McPherson is still clearly our best receiver. After that, I'm really not sure. Bajema, Hoffman, Crenshaw, Onosko, Calle, Houghton, and Drechsel all got reps. Houghton shows promise but I suspect she'll need to make a lot of progress if she is to make a significant contribution this season. When last season ended, a seasoned DS/libero transfer was on my wish list. Still is. - Setting: I was a little surprised to see teams with Mikkelsen setting either winning sets or hanging in until the very end of a set. Olivia is a little rough around the edges and her timing with the middles is pretty bad, but she should make some real strides and would appear to be a good backup setter. Powell shows flashes of brilliance and some inconsistency. Her connection with the middles is not great either. In her second year, I'm hoping she really finds a groove. - Outside hitters: No big surprises here. Bajema and Drechsel are the big weapons and both really brought the heat at times. Sam was putting away some less than stellar sets, something she sometimes struggled with last season. She also looks like a very potent weapon out of the back row. In the only runaway set, Bajema basically took over the game with kill after kill. Very impressive when she's on. The middles -- not so much. UW still can't run a slide with any consistency; Marin Grote would appear to be our best slide hitter. Yes, it's really early to expect the middle connection to be firing on all cylinders, but there were a ton of misfires today. Both Hoffman and Crenshaw had their moments, with Crenshaw looking like she could be a potent OH. One more thing. UW ran a greater variety of sets than I've seen in the past. There were quite a few quick 3's to the middles, most of which were mistimed. There were also a good number of back row sets to all the outside hitters, and those looked pretty good. All in all, I am hoping and expecting a more potent offense from the Huskies this year. - Blocking and defense: The block was definitely in evidence today, with all four middles, including newcomer Sophie Summers, getting in on the action, plus some nice blocks from the likes of Bajema, Drechsel, and Crenshaw. It would be really cool if UW could pick up where they left off with Creighton and Penn State in the tournament last year. Overall team D is still a work in progress, but if I were to make a guess, I would say that the team seemed scrappier than at the same stage last year (which was pretty bad). -Starting lineup? If I had to guess (and it's just that, a guess), I would say: Powell at setter McPherson at libero Bajema at OH1 Crenshaw at OH2 (close with Hoffman) Drechsel at OPP Sanders and Niece at Middle I doubt any of the three freshmen (Mikkelsen, Summers, and Houghton) will see a lot of playing time, unless some of the upperclassmen get injured. Dani Cole is still a question mark, just like she has been since arriving on campus. Maria B might be used as a serving specialist; otherwise, I doubt she’ll see any real playing time (she did not play as an OH this afternoon). Onosko could be a defensive back row sub. Let’s hope the Huskies can make the most of the senior seasons of Bajema, McPherson, and Niece. Welcome back!!!
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Post by tomclen on Aug 25, 2019 18:53:33 GMT -5
Any of the UW matches in Hawaii available on TV or stream?
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Post by WahineFan44 on Aug 25, 2019 19:04:38 GMT -5
Any of the UW matches in Hawaii available on TV or stream? Big west Mandates that some form of free streaming is available for the Hawaii games at least. I dont know about the others. I have login for spectrums broadcast, if any UW fans want to watch that one
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Post by medusa on Aug 26, 2019 21:21:57 GMT -5
Any of the UW matches in Hawaii available on TV or stream? Last year, there were streaming from UH volleyball website.
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Post by mightytotems on Aug 28, 2019 8:21:48 GMT -5
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Post by alwayslearning on Aug 28, 2019 10:47:53 GMT -5
In the UW preseason article on setters, Cook says that Powell has improved her serving consistency when compared to the first half of last year. I'm here to tell you that her serve was absolutely wicked at the preseason scrimmage, resulting in several aces. If she progresses at this rate, she could be one of UW's best-ever servers.
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Post by mightytotems on Aug 28, 2019 15:40:37 GMT -5
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