BYU 2019

[pelagius]

Just got back from the BYU v. Utah Scrimmage. I didn't takes notes so mistakes will be made. They played 4 sets: BYU 3-1. I didn't pay much attention to the Utah side of the net other than to note they have a lot of players coming back from last year.

Starters:

OH1: Madi Robinson (played six rotations today)
OH2: Riley Lyman (played six rotations)
OPP: Taylen Ballard and Morgan Bower played back row
MB1: Kennedy Eschenberg
MB2: Whitney McEwan
S: Kiani Moea'i
L: Mary Lake

Other Positions:
Lineswoman: Heather Gneiting
Radar gun operator: Allison Stapleton

Subs:
S: Kiani Moea'i played sets 1 and 3 and Tayler Tausinga played 2 and 4
DS sub for Opp: Morgan Bower played sets 1-2 and Callie Whitney played sets 3-4
OH2: Taylen Ballard played OH2 in set 4
Opp: Riley Lyman moved to the RS in set 4 but still played six rotations

I think that's everyone who played. I'll add some impressions about the play later.

[pelagius]

Setters: Kiani Moea'i versus  Tayler Tausinga

Like I mentioned above, Kiani Moea'i played setter for sets 1 and 3 and Tayler Tausinga was in for sets 2 and 4. I thought Kiani Moea'i was clearly the better setter today (my wife agrees with this assessment and she is the former setter in the family).

Kiani Moea'i

• I thought she had pretty good location
• To me she sets a similar ball as Lyndie, and I think that led to the offense being in sync with her
• Clearly comfortable with the offense and has command over the offense
• She moves pretty well
• As a nice jump float but we knew this because she was the main serving sub last year
• Not as athletic as Lyndie; certainly doesn't jump as well, block as well, or dump the ball as well

Tayler Tausinga

• Struggled with location overall but her location was much better in the 4th set. By the end of the 4th set I thought she looked good location wise.
• Closer to a "deep dish" setter
• Might have been nerves, but I don't think she has the same comfort level or command over the offense. Pretty natural thing given her time in the system.
• Very athletic. Like Lyndie level athleticism but, of course, she's a few inches shorter. For her size, she will be an excellent blocker (but she's quite small)
• Moves really well and digs really well
• Nice float ... I don't think there is much difference in the serving potential across the two setters

[pelagius]

Pin Hitters

Madi Robinson: Won't say much about Robinson offensively given she's a known-quantity: an athletic but undersized OH with a heavy arm. Got a lot of sets in the first two games. The new part was playing in the back row. In terms of passing she was pretty inconsistent. Utah targeted her a lot on serve-receive. I think she's got to improve her passing relative to today if BYU wants to use her in the back row. Not surprisingly it looks like she can hit the BIC well. She also looked good on serve; had maybe three aces. She gives BYU a nice jump-spin.

Taylen Ballard: I thought her play was encouraging. In the fall her approach and swing always looked tentative to me but today I liked her swing for the most part. On the other hand, she's still not jumping well and her lateral quickness isn't where you would want it to be. Still, it was nice to see her take strong/heavy swings. Also, today was the first time I've ever seen her serve. Really nice float; her float reminds me of McKenna Miller's float. That said, there is a clear opportunity for Grimmer to come in and take the opposite spot.

Riley Lyman: to me Lyman == Stetler. A versatile OH but not a high level terminator. Looked good in the backrow and can run the BIC back there. She looked uncomfortable on the RS (4th set), but I thought the sets to her on the RS were generally not very good. I think Lyman will be a back row starter. But hopefully either Miller is healthy enough to play or someone like Erin Anderson takes over those front row rotations when she gets to town.

[pelagius]

Middles: Whitney McEwan. So McEwan played all four sets. To me the closet comp is Eschenberg as a redshirt Freshman. She's not quite as tall as Eschenberg but she she does have very good length. I think her defense is ahead of her offense. She can run the slide and was effective at both the slide and the quick at times. My guess is she is the #3 middle. One, she has some physical advantage over Stapleton, and, two, she will be around after Eschenberg graduates. 

[azvb]

Thanks for this!
Did Allison Stapleton play at all?

[pelagius]

Feb 23, 2019 18:32:36 GMT -5 azvb said:

Thanks for this!
Did Allison Stapleton play at all?

No, Radar gun duty the whole time. Only Eschenberg and McEwan played at middle.

[pelagius]

DS:

Morgan Bower played the first two sets at DS. She was rotating with Taylen Ballard. I was impressed with her quite a bit. Good platform, quickness, and range. 

Callie Whitney: I don't think I have enough info based on today to say anything. She did play two sets, but she was not really involved in serve receive. In sets 3-4, BYU had Lyman, Robinson, and Lake in serve-receive for almost all rotations. So Callie Whitney was in the back like she was an opposite in the Men's game. I assume Olmstead wanted to give Robinson at lot of serve-receive reps.

[Brutus Buckeye]

Is Miller still alive?

[pelagius]

Feb 23, 2019 18:53:53 GMT -5 Brutus Buckeye said:

Is Miller still alive?

She was there. I think she was running the scoreboard.

[Deleted]

I wrote down 25-17, 22-25, 26-24, 25-22 for set scores.

Glad I'm not the only one who attended today. I like getting other's viewpoints. These are my impressions.

My recollection is Taylen Ballard started playing outside in the 3rd set, not in the 4th. They were getting very little from the opposite position in the first two sets. I did not like how they were setting Ballard there, but also don't like her approach on that side. She's gotten better, but it's still too passive for her to generate a good strong swing most of the time, and she just doesn't seem to have a good feel for how to hit the ball from that side. Maybe she'll never be able to get back to that level on the right side that she was just starting to hit as a freshman prior to her injury. Once they switched her to the left side, she really hit her stride. She was much more comfortable and aggressive there and really gave them a nice lift, especially in the 4th. Her blocking is still a bit weak, but it's better than it was. She didn't do a lot of passing, but it's still not very good. She's moving better though. She was getting down well on digs and such, which I didn't see a few months ago.

Perhaps the player that surprised me the most is Riley Lyman. BYU only has three healthy pin hitters right now, so she's getting the opportunity to show what she can do, and she did an admirable job today. Her passing is the same as ever. She rarely overpasses the ball, but unfortunately frequently underpasses the ball. That hasn't changed, but she's the best pin-hitting passer they have at the moment. She surprised me with her hitting. She's good at hitting the seams between the blockers, tooling the block, and sometimes just hitting weird clunkers that occasionally work. She isn't afraid to really get after it either. I disagree with Pelagius about her right-side hitting. I thought she did pretty well there, particularly in set four. When the set was good and she didn't jump too soon, she had some nice hits, including some good ones tooling the blockers. She wasn't spectacular, but she did what they needed her to do. She's a different style of player than Stetler, and not as good, but I could see her possibly filling the same role for her senior season, though I'm still skeptical at this point.

Madi Robinson's jump serve and back row attacks were the best part of her play today. The jump serve is finally getting consistent, and was actually a weapon today. I can't quite figure her out though. Her hitting was all over the place today, sloppy and wild, with some great kills here and there, but not her best outing. Maybe that was due to playing all six rotations for the first time. I'd like to see her settle down a bit though and not be so up and down.

Morgan Bower looks good. It'll be fun to watch her and Mary Lake next season. Callie Whitney's level at this point seems so-so. They hid her on one serve-receive rotation, which is strange for a DS.

Kennedy Eschenberg is so much quicker now than when I first saw her as a Coug in the blue-white scrimmage 2 1/2 years ago. She continues to develop little by little, just getting a little bit better here and there with everything. She served today, though just a standing serve that didn't appear to have much on it. She was moving it around to different spots at least. Whitney McEwan is progressing nicely as well. I also find her very reminiscent of Eschenberg as a freshman, but I think offensively she's more aggressive than Eschenberg was. She's definitely quicker. She does well hitting around the block and adjusting to poorly-placed sets. I was pleasantly surprised by her play today. I thought she'd be more clunky and awkward at this stage.

As Pelagius said, Kiani Moea'i is the better setter right now. She really is quite similar to LHE in body type and setting style, but isn't as athletic or dynamic. She's a good blocker, but doesn't have the vertical that LHE did. She digs well, but not as good as Tausinga. Serves well. Location was pretty good. Not a huge risk-taker and doesn't really push the envelope, but she was consistent. Tayler Tausinga had a rough start to the day. The ball was sticking in her hands and she wasn't getting a good push on it, resulting in low and shallow sets that hand-cuffed her hitters. It's true she was saddled with poor passing in set two, but she was not getting herself in good position even on the good passes, and I think that's why she wasn't getting a good feel for the ball. She made adjustments though and had a good 4th set. She is a great little digger, looks like the libero a lot of the time. I kept getting her mixed up with Lake or Callie Whitney and forgot she was setting.

As Pelagius mentioned, Heather Gneiting did lines all four sets. She was dressed though, so I assume she could have played. Allison Stapleton was only dressed for radar duty. McKenna Miller was watching.

[pelagius]

Feb 23, 2019 20:06:03 GMT -5 @zazu said:

My recollection is Taylen Ballard started playing outside in the 3rd set, not in the 4th.

Yeah, you're right. It was the third.

[Deleted]

Feb 23, 2019 20:15:00 GMT -5 pelagius said:

Feb 23, 2019 20:06:03 GMT -5 @zazu said:

My recollection is Taylen Ballard started playing outside in the 3rd set, not in the 4th.

Yeah, you're right. It was the third.

I'm getting over a very bad cold, so my head is still in a bit of a fog, but I was really pretty sure it was set three. Well, it's just about time to head out for the men's game. I wonder how they'll play tonight. Better or worse than the women?

[pelagius]

Feb 23, 2019 20:17:50 GMT -5 @zazu said:

Feb 23, 2019 20:15:00 GMT -5 pelagius said:

Yeah, you're right. It was the third.

I'm getting over a very bad cold, so my head is still in a bit of a fog, but I was really pretty sure it was set three. Well, it's just about time to head out for the men's game. I wonder how they'll play tonight. Better or worse than the women?

I was encouraged by how they looked at times against USC (that 4th set was nice) ... Gardini can be absolutely amazing but passing is still an "adventure." 

[azvb]

The only thing I really know about the men’s team is Taylor Richards mustache is atrocious. 😐

[pelagius]

David Hyte on BYU Sports Nation today: touched on the scrimmage, Mckenna Miller, and the recruting class. But as always with this interviews, it's pretty superifical: