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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 3:05:04 GMT -5
This match report is dedicated to Mike Ching, Woozie, and Ravi Narasimhan.
The Prelude:
So I himmed and hawwed all day today whether I should drive the 2+ hours each way from Colorado Springs to Ft. Collins just to watch a volleyball match that in all probability would last less than an hour and fifteen minutes. In the end, I decided to drag my large yet flabby azz into the car and onto the road, because I knew I would regret it later if I by some kinda crazy cosmic luck UH does actually win a national championship, and I blew my one chance to see them play live.
So I blasted north out of Colorado Springs, jumped on the E-470 tollway to avoid the pau hana traffic rush through Denver, only to get hammered by the mass migration leaving the city heading north on I-25 as soon as I jumped off the tollway (7 bucks poorer...no less. Good thing I armed up on yuppie foodstamps/$20 bills from the ATM before leaving on the trip).
The miscalcuation of travel time, in addition to me forgetting the stupid Mapquest directions to Moby Arena in my Dilbert cubicle at work, caused me to be about 20 minutes late getting there. Good thing I have a photogenic memory and remembered how to get to CSU. From there I just followed some cars which luckily led me to Moby Arena. I arrived just as the technical timeout at 15 in G1 started.
G1 Lineups(no idea if these are the starting lineups since I got there late): Purdue - Dargan (S), Mader (OH), Jacques (MB), Ukovich (RS), Wischmeier (OH), McConaha (MB), Poe (Liberace) UH - Kamanao (S), Arnott (OH), Sanders (MB), Hittle (RS), Boogaard (OH), Prince (MB), Fotu (Liberace)
Purdue led at the technical timeout 15-13. They stretch the lead to 16-13 coming out of the timeout on a Dargan dump. UH scores 2 to pull to 16-15, before Purdue goes on a 3-0 run (aided by 2 Arnott attack errors) to lead 19-15 and prompt a UH timeout. Purdue scores 2 more out of the timeout 21-15 before UH can stop the bleeding. UH scores two and Purdue answers with one to 22-17. The same pattern repeats itself to 23-19. The last two points (one UH, one Purdue) coming on a trade of ball-handling errors (BHE). Then, with UH in Rotation 3 serve (Fotu serving for Sanders) and Purdue in Rotation 1 receive, UH goes on a 5-0 run (Purdue timeout halfway through the run) to take a brief 23-24 lead. Fotu keyed the run with some tough floaters, including two aces and forcing an overpass kill. The second of Fotu's two aces in this run was a net dribbler that ran along the tape and down on Purdue's side. Purdue finally sided-out to even it at 24-24 on a nice 31 set/attack from Dargan to Jacques. Purdue got to 25-24, then a Kamanao dump made it 25-25. Teams trade pairs of points to get to 27-27, then trade single points all the way to 31-31. At 31-31 with Purdue serving, UH ran a terrific 71x in Rotation 3 receive - Prince went behind Kamanao on a back-1 and Hittle came around the horn on a front-2 and absolutely murdered the set. Unfortunately, as spectacular as that hit was, Purdue dug it. Play continued until Boogard killed it off the Purdue touch in transition 31-32. On the ensuing play, Boogaard solo'd Ukovich's rightside attack for the game 31-33. The final block coming complete with a flex and mini-staredown through the net by Boogaard. Just a little one.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 3:26:40 GMT -5
(continued)
G2 Lineups: Purdue - Dargan (S), Cappa (OH), Dildine (DS) in for Jacques (MB) backrow to serve, Ukovich (RS), Wischmeier (OH), McConaha (MB), Poe (Liberace) UH - Kamanao (S), Arnott (OH), Gregory (MB), Hittle (RS), Boogaard (OH), Prince (MB), Fotu (Liberace)
Purdue starts G2 in Rotation 3 serve with Dildine serving in Jacques' spot. Dildine has a pretty good jumper, what makes it unique is her sideway runup on approach. Very much like Andrea Sartoretti of the Italian Men's Olympic team. I like it. She puts some decent pace and topspin on it. Plus that parallel-to-square approach is MUY MACHO! Anyway, UH is able to string together several 2 and 3 point rotations, whereas Purdue only scores on its receive except for a 2-point run early on. As a result, UH leads going into the technical timeout 15-9. Gregory was hot early in G2, scoring on a slide, a solo block of a Dargan dump, and on a transition quick. Boogaard continues to be money on the left. Prince bombs a slide down-the-line as well. When she is on time and Kamanao connects with a good set, Prince is quite spectacular. Only happened 3x tonight, though. Two bombs down the line and one cross-court on those slides. The rest were mostly cheese/slop kills. Purdue scores right out of the timeout get it to 15-10, but UH responds with a 3-point run on a Arnott line shot, a Hittle kill on the RS, and another Gregory block. Dargan dumps again to get Purdue to 18-11. Arnott kills one on the RS in receive to get UH to 19-11. A 4-point Purdue run is sparked by a leftside kill off the Hawaii block, and 3 successive UH errors (two attacks blocked, and an attack error by Hittle on an ill-advised and poorly executed dump that went wide). Purdue's strategy during this run was to serve short right onto Gregory with UH in Rotation 2 receive. This was very good strategy by Shondell and his staff. By lobbing the ball on Gregory, it created alot of congestion in UH's short right front area. Gregory had to handle the initial pass before starting her approach, with Kamanao penetrating from the backrow trying to get to the setting spot, and Hittle stacked in front of Kamanao trying to get out to hit on the right. Plus, this kept the serve away from UH's primary passers of Fotu/Boogaard/Hittle. Purdue did this all night, with some degree of success. Shoji subs in Sanders for Gregory at 19-15 to try to slow the momentum. Boogaard kills from the left to get UH to 20-15. Teams trade points to 26-23, with Shoji doing some creative substituting in the M2 position during this sequence - bringing in Eckmeier with UH on serve for her blocking prowess, then replacing her with Sanders on receive to take advantage of Sander's offensive ability. Ong comes in for Hittle to serve and Boogaard gets a transition kill to get UH to 27-23. Purdue sides out on the next play to get to 27-24. Hittle returns replacing Ong. Teams continue to trade single points until an Arnott kill off-the-block wins the game for UH 30-27.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 3:42:00 GMT -5
G3 Lineups - no changes (actually I have no idea I forgot to note the lineup pies)
UH begins in Rotation 5 serve (Boogaard) against Purdue's Rotation 3 receive - pretty much guaranteeing the same damn matchups at the net. LOL. Teams trade points with no team able to string together a run bigger than 3 points at a time. Going into the technical timeout, UH holds onto a slim 15-12 lead. Out of the timeout, UH Rotation 1 gives up 3 points on a Purdue kill on the left, a block on Hittle on the right by Purdue, and a quick in the middle in transition to make the score 16-15. Teams trade points to 18-17 UH. Rally of the match occurs at this point, with the ball crossing the net at least 7 times (I stopped counting after 7), before Purdue puts it away with a rightside attack. Terrific rally.
Then, it happened. THE RUN.
Prince swoops in on a slide and hammers the kill cross-court to take UH to 19-18. Ong replaces Prince in the lineup and steps back to the service line to serve in UH Rotation 6. UH proceeds to go on an 11-0 run from the 18-18 score to get to match point at 29-18. The points come as follows - Boogaard transition kill on the left, Gregory kill in transition on the slide, Boogaard again on the left in transition, Purdue attack error wide, Gregory/Boogaard block of a Purdue quick, attack error by Purdue on a 31 set, Ong with a service ace (nasty floater!) in the seam between Purdue passers #13 Wischmeier and #10 McConaha, Ong with a second ace to the exact same spot, a UH block, and Arnott from the backrow (I think). Notable during this time is that Purdue didn't take a timeout. Maybe Shondell forgot, who knows? I would have called a timeout before it got to be too out-of-control, like maybe after a 3-0 run. He also could have done more to adjust to Ong's floaters, like maybe move his passers shallower in the court and have them take it overhand. I don't know. Anyway, Purdue managed one last kill on the leftside to get it to 29-19, before Brittany "Sartoretti" Kildine launched her jumpserve long to give UH the match.
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Post by Island on Dec 4, 2004 3:56:57 GMT -5
Nice report, SOBB.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 4:05:58 GMT -5
Random observations/musings:
- Dargan dumps way too much. 2-3 times a game is ok. 7-10 times, nope. I think Purdue's offense would run better if the hitters hit and the setter sets. And besides, her dump shots aren't THAT good. Based on what I was reading, I thought they would be Misty May-ish. But they were maybe slightly-above-average at best.
- Purdue runs a pretty varied middle attack. I saw front quicks, tight slides, and wide slides as part of the middle attack. But what I really liked were the 31 attacks to Jacques. Any women's team that can run good 31 attacks like that is okay in my book. However, between Dargan's constant dumping and the emphasis on running every which way but loose in the middle, I thought Purdue's outside attacks (left and right) were virtual non-factors in the match.
- Boogaard really stepped up tonight, not only offensively, but also rock steady on the passing. A few overpasses by all 3 UH primary passers, but not excessive enough to dictate the outcome of the match.
- Fotu is a terrific passer and very smooth overall in how she moves and covers court. Lots of intangibles (good intangibles) in her game.
- Kamanao - very good but not yet great. Not a serious contender for POY in my book. Gifted, quick, and athletic with great "volleyball sense". However, to get better as a setter she needs to be more aware of situations as they develop during play. For instance, I'm sure it's a point of emphasis in the UH offense to speed it up to the leftside attack. However, there's a time to shoot it on a string and a time to maybe put a little lob on the shoot, particularly in transition. Many times tonight the Purdue MB had already released to the outside and was waiting along with the wing blocker, pretty much camping out on UH's leftsides. Kamanao still elected to shoot it out there on a string, pretty much putting clamps on Arnott and Boogard's ability to get a kill. In system off a good pass, no problem run that shoot. But, when the MB releases, and you have 2 out there camping on the hitter, it's probably better to put some altitude on that shoot and give the hitter more room/options to work around the block. Also, set selection at times was predicable. And her sets to the rightside were all dying inside tonight, making it tough for Hittle to get good swings on the right.
- UH's backrow attack is pure cheetos. It works though. Last year they had Willoughby broadjumping into the pipe set that was set about 7-8 feet off the net by Kamanao so it looked almost as lethal a trajectory as a regular frontrow set. This year we get offspeed junk and rolling topsin of death from both Boogard and Arnott. But hey, like I said, it's working so whatever.
- Had a chance to chat briefly with Shondell after the match. He lamented that his team was decimated by injury this year, so they have a hard time putting together big performances back-to-back. I congratulated him on the big win over host CSU. Was gonna shoot the shiite with him more about his dad and the Ball St. men's program, but some dude with a Colorado Juniors sweatshirt swooped in on him, so I left.
- Schmoozed with McLachlin and Leahy for a little bit after they went off air. I like McLachlin - he's da man! Architect of the Punahou volleyball dynasty that continues on even today (along with other architects by the names of Balding, Rigg, et. al.). Very knowledgeable on the game, and good guy to boot. Also had to do the obligatory schmooze to Leahy. "Hey, Mr. Leahy, my sister says hi. You were her teacher at Campbell H.S. back in da day". Of course, he didn't recognize my sister by name at all, but he did recognize her by face last year when I took her to a UH men's match in the SSC when I was home on vacation.
- So, after spending close to 50 bucks on gas, Burger King, payroad tolls, parking, ticket, and obligatory NCAA souvenir program (since those airheads didn't print out any free lineup sheets) and obligatory NCAA tournament T-Shirt, I'd say it was worth it. Outcome of the match was never in question, but it was still good to see some college ball again.
Best of luck to UH and all the other teams who made it to the regionals. Hopefully I'll see them again in Long Beach in a few weeks. Will be in SoCal on a business trip, so I'll probably stay the Saturday night and take in the championship match.
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Post by Island on Dec 4, 2004 4:18:14 GMT -5
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Post by gobows18 on Dec 4, 2004 4:26:43 GMT -5
good, even-handed report, SOBB. one correction: i've watched "the run" several times already today, and Purdue did take a TO at 22-18, but that did little to slow down the Ong machine.
one thing i've noticed about (mostly the recent) hawaii victories (and i've been following them all season, going to most games and "upgrading" seats mid-match to right behind the bench) is that once they start playing their game, other teams start committing error after error and just fall apart. not sure why this is, whether it's the fact that we havne't played "great" teams, the fact that we usually have a poor first or second game, bring up the spirits of the opponent and then crush them, or whether our generally mistake-free volleyball (when it's on) just frustrates teams, i dunno. but this team just seems to play more and more solid as a match progresses, while oppenents just whither. i'm curious if any other wahine fans have noticed this and have ideas about it? it'll be interesting to see if the "big time" teams like usc, nebraska, uw, et al would do the same against hawaii, because they're not as used to battling as the wahine are. i'm really biased, and admit there are definitely weaknesses in the team, but i think hawaii is bit underrated by a lot of people on these boards, and that while they don't bowl you over with physicality and size, they may be more solid than the big names everyone's throwing around. they are very tough to scout and simply refuse to crumble. i look forward to seeing how they play their next opponent. go bows!
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 4:35:18 GMT -5
good, even-handed report, SOBB. one correction: i've watched "the run" several times already today, and Purdue did take a TO at 22-18, but that did little to slow down the Ong machine. Thanks. I remember the timeout now. I had all the UH faithful sitting near me on the endline, and they were trying to get on camera during the timeout. I think they were all local kids going to school in Colorado (either CSU, UC-Boulder, or alot of the smaller schools in the area) and came out to support the Wahine. Alot of them were dressed up too. They got alot of TV coverage coming in/out of timeouts and between games. I thought it was cool of the K5 broadcast team to also showcase all of the Purdue faithful who were sitting together in one section. Of course, sitting by all the Hawaii fans/students, I had to put up with all the constant Samoan "CHEEEE-HAAAA!!!!!" screams. Kinda reminded me of hanging out with my nieces back home. And my family isn't even Samoan, but for some reason my nieces think they are. So did the girls who were sitting by me tonight. LOL. ;D I think I heard the canned, taped version of "Co-Ed" (the UH fightsong) and the Purdue fightsong at least 25 times total tonight. Sheesh.
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Post by gobows18 on Dec 4, 2004 4:39:06 GMT -5
oh, and while agree with you that kamana'o should set high to the outside more in transition, in her defense (and i'm a punahou grad, so it's not easy for me to defend an iolani alum ) the coaches probably tell her to set it quicker. to me what makes kamana'o so impressive are all of the other things she's good or great at. her unpredictable bump serve can be pretty nasty, and it rarely goes out. she's a great digger (former libero for the junior natl team) and for her size she's a great blocker and wins an astounding number of jousts at the net, mainly due to impeccable timing and athleticism. and she can get fired up and fire her teammates up. i haven't seen too many of the other POY candidates play, but i'm wondering how many are that well-rounded? plus she's only a sophomore. i'm not saying she should win this year, but i think she has quite a resume.
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Post by Island on Dec 4, 2004 4:41:52 GMT -5
Actually, the real thing is that Hawaii discombobulates other opponents by really looking vulnerable in passing and attacking, then ramping it up and just running away. You didn't really see that happen in this match. They played much steadier but they still were scattering out on the floor as usual, scrambling for balls that Purdue spotted into the open floor. Execution was better too although Hittle continues to get reprimanded for not watching her corner(still didn't happen as often). Fotu stayed real focused, the best I've seen her so far. When she locks in, her experience and presence comes out and she becomes a great influence on the team. Plus she passes well and adjusts. When she gets knocked out of it, that's the question. During the WAC tournament, Watanabe actually subbed in on one rotation because they were just blasting her with short serves. Ong's serving could be an additional weapon. I am real glad they chose her because I like her both as a libero and as a server(the reason she was probably on the roster).
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Post by Island on Dec 4, 2004 4:46:48 GMT -5
It's a little early for Kano'e to be POY, I don't think she's there yet. But you have to take value when picking POY and if I would pick someone who has to be the reason for Hawaii's success, Kano'e has to get a lion's share of credit for taking a team that was pretty raw together and carrying them through the problems(which were many). Still, my pick is Gordon this year. oh, and while agree with you that kamana'o should set high to the outside more in transition, in her defense (and i'm a punahou grad, so it's not easy for me to defend an iolani alum ) the coaches probably tell her to set it quicker. to me what makes kamana'o so impressive are all of the other things she's good or great at. her unpredictable bump serve can be pretty nasty, and it rarely goes out. she's a great digger (former libero for the junior natl team) and for her size she's a great blocker and wins an astounding number of jousts at the net, mainly due to impeccable timing and athleticism. and she can get fired up and fire her teammates up. i haven't seen too many of the other POY candidates play, but i'm wondering how many are that well-rounded? plus she's only a sophomore. i'm not saying she should win this year, but i think she has quite a resume.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 4:51:26 GMT -5
oh, and while agree with you that kamana'o should set high to the outside more in transition, in her defense (and i'm a punahou grad, so it's not easy for me to defend an iolani alum ) the coaches probably tell her to set it quicker. to me what makes kamana'o so impressive are all of the other things she's good or great at. her unpredictable bump serve can be pretty nasty, and it rarely goes out. she's a great digger (former libero for the junior natl team) and for her size she's a great blocker and wins an astounding number of jousts at the net, mainly due to impeccable timing and athleticism. and she can get fired up and fire her teammates up. i haven't seen too many of the other POY candidates play, but i'm wondering how many are that well-rounded? plus she's only a sophomore. i'm not saying she should win this year, but i think she has quite a resume. Kamanao is a terrific blocker. No caveat for size or lack thereof. Even in still pictures of her (there was a good one that the Hawaii papers used from the AP source photographer from Thursday night's match). Some things she does well - -jumps well -keeps her eyes open -takes away good areas of the court -good hand position -lines up the post well when the opponent sets the ball to the pin Some things she needs to get better on - -needs to move the post up inside faster when the opponent's set dies inside. Alot of times tonight she was way wide on her post-up when the opposing hitter had moved inside to chase a dying set. Big seam left open between her and the MB in those instances. -penetrate more. She's getting way up there, but at the expense of getting over. That's a common fault with alot of women blockers - they go up and get over late, instead of going straight over and reaching out as soon as their hands clear the tape. -maybe spread her block just a tad, her hands start pretty close together on her initial move. doesn't mean she'll block more balls necessarily, but it will make her block look bigger to the opposing hitter if she spreads her hands apart just a little bit more. As far as jousts go, I've always found that setters are usually the best at jousting on the team. Timing and the strength of their wrists have a lot to do with that.
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Post by Island on Dec 4, 2004 4:52:25 GMT -5
If there's one trait that Kano'e should shake, it's that she decides on a course of action pretty much before the play develops and makes the adjustments accordingly but never abandons the play even if the warning signs are there to try something else. She's set a number of balls that were blocked before it was hit because the blockers were already there.
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Post by roy on Dec 4, 2004 4:58:47 GMT -5
one thing i've noticed about (mostly the recent) hawaii victories (and i've been following them all season, going to most games and "upgrading" seats mid-match to right behind the bench) is that once they start playing their game, other teams start committing error after error and just fall apart. not sure why this is, whether it's the fact that we havne't played "great" teams, the fact that we usually have a poor first or second game, bring up the spirits of the opponent and then crush them, or whether our generally mistake-free volleyball (when it's on) just frustrates teams, i dunno. but this team just seems to play more and more solid as a match progresses, while oppenents just whither. i'm curious if any other wahine fans have noticed this and have ideas about it? it'll be interesting to see if the "big time" teams like usc, nebraska, uw, et al would do the same against hawaii, because they're not as used to battling as the wahine are. i'm really biased, and admit there are definitely weaknesses in the team, but i think hawaii is bit underrated by a lot of people on these boards, and that while they don't bowl you over with physicality and size, they may be more solid than the big names everyone's throwing around. they are very tough to scout and simply refuse to crumble. i look forward to seeing how they play their next opponent. go bows! I have noticed this as well. It is a very strange thing that happens. Personally, I think Hawaii has the ability to make their opponents play to their level and their game. As SoBB said, Kamanao is good (and I agree not yet great, but give her time) and I think the offense that she runs makes other teams try to do the same. It felt that way with GT last year. When GT started to speed up their offense, so did their opponents and it made the play of their opponents a lot more sloppy. Against Hawai in the regional final. Hawaii sped up their offense and it allowed GT to stay close. I think Hawaii is doing the same to opponents. They are running an offense that isn't GT fast, but about a half step faster than most other teams. Its forcing the opposing team to react faster than they normally do. Thus, the blocking and defense of the other teams start to suffer. And then as a whole, the opposing team just gets into a rythem faster than what they are used to so the rest of their game suffers. The opposing setters start to run a slightly faster offense and so the hitters are feeling rushed. That rushed feeling translates into the passing and that suffers. The one thing I have noticed about Hawaii's matches are they are not "pretty" to watch. Last year, there was a crispness to the players on both sides of the court. This year, both Hawaii and their opponents seem to be lacking that. This is just a guess. Feel free to comment or rebut.
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Post by sonofbarcelonabob on Dec 4, 2004 5:20:06 GMT -5
More random musings:
-It appeared that Ft. Collins got dumped on alot worse than we did in C. Springs from the Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm that passed through. While snow is cool when it first falls, after it's been around for awhile and piled up along the side of roads or in parking lots, heated, melted, refrozen at night, and combined with dirt and the sand they put down on the roads for traction, you no longer have snow. You have "snirt" which is some kinda combination of snow and dirt. And it sucks
-Also when it gets warm enough to melt the piled up snow during the day, then gets below freezing again at night, all that standing water becomes sheets of ice. I almost slipped and fell multiple times in the Moby parking lot. Were it not for the fact that I'm built low-to-the-ground and my spidey sense, it could have been ugly. Usually the first things that hit the ground when you slip on ice are your elbows or the back of your head. Both are painful.
-Why does the friggin' NCAA have to charge so damn much for souvenir items? $22 bucks for a stupid-azz t-shirt. And why am I so dumb to buy one?
-Funny story regarding souvenirs. 1996 Pauley Pavilion. Around 5000 rabid Yuval-esque UH fans in attendence to see UH try to win their first NCAA men's vball championship (they lost a 5-game heartbreaker). But the friggin' T-shirt vendors sold out on all the normal sizes in less than 30 minutes. All that were left were smalls and XXX Larges. LOL.
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