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Post by slxpress on Nov 6, 2023 17:47:32 GMT -5
I like being realistic. I’ve seen some people think a player should just stay because it’s Texas and the player should want to stay for the good of the program. Not just in volleyball. Football fans at times over the years have been notorious for it. Last year’s bench was an alltimer. Bergmark, Pierce, Parra, Kahahawai, Ewert, Miller, Heinrich. But it comes at a cost. Bergmark admits she wanted to give up volleyball. Parra and Pierce transfer. Kahahawai uses up a year of eligibility for inconsequential playing time. We may never see a bench like that. Holding up last year’s bench as some kind of ideal is unrealistic. I know it's not relevant to the scholarship count, but I think Miller might transfer too. She's good enough to get decent playing time at other schools- the coaches did right by Pierce and I'm sure they'd make some calls if Kenna decided to transfer. I'd be sad to see her go - IMO she and Crownover have really brought intangibles to the team in terms of camaraderie and are the team's biggest hypemen on the sidelines I’m with you. The thing I wonder about is if she wants to go into politics. That appearance with Abbott regarding the bill covering transgender athletes was interesting to me. To me there’s a little bit of a difference between Miller, who while absolutely a legitimate scholarship player in my mind at a Div 1 school, and Kahahawai, who in my opinion has legitimate international professional ambitions and national team potential. Not to be dismissive of Miller. But frankly she could earn her degree at Texas and still go play aomewhere else for a year or two. Kahahawai doesn’t have that as a realistic option. If she’s going to play two years somewhere, she’ll need to leave after this season. |
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Post by horns1 on Nov 6, 2023 18:48:07 GMT -5
so you think devin is leaving texas no matter what? That is only my opinion. Why would she stay? She only has two years of eligibility left. She has seen limited meaningful playing time her first two years. Why take a chance with a staff that’s not going out of their way to get her on the court? She needs to go some place where she has a much stronger opportunity to see the court. If Lauenstein wasn’t coming in she’d still be competing against Byrd/Helmers/Tomkinson. If the staff was prioritizing keeping her they would have played her more. That’s my feeling on it. Not sure I understand that statement. Who are some examples of this within the Texas program in the past? I don't think coaches need to "go out of their way" (sounds like doing something that goes against their better judgement) as much as players typically make it easy on the coaching staff (via practice performance) to play them when the opportunity arises. Do coaching staffs across the country typically "go out of their way" in this regard? I do recall after the 2009 national runner-up season where Coach Elliott said he told Sha'Dare that she should be upset with him for not having played her more during the season; she was mainly a serving specialist her freshman season, I believe. To me, a player earns their playing time. |
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Post by slxpress on Nov 6, 2023 18:58:12 GMT -5
That is only my opinion. Why would she stay? She only has two years of eligibility left. She has seen limited meaningful playing time her first two years. Why take a chance with a staff that’s not going out of their way to get her on the court? She needs to go some place where she has a much stronger opportunity to see the court. If Lauenstein wasn’t coming in she’d still be competing against Byrd/Helmers/Tomkinson. If the staff was prioritizing keeping her they would have played her more. That’s my feeling on it. Not sure I understand that statement. Who are some examples of this within the Texas program in the past? I don't think coaches need to "go out of their way" (sounds like doing something that goes against their better judgement) as much as players typically make it easy on the coaching staff (via practice performance) to play them when the opportunity arises. Do coaching staffs across the country typically "go out of their way" in this regard? I do recall after the 2009 national runner-up season where Coach Elliott said he told Sha'Dare that she should be upset with him for not having played her more during the season; she was mainly a serving specialist her freshman season, I believe. To me, a player earns their playing time. I’m talking about whether Kahahawai should come back for a junior year. The staff needs to do whatever the staff needs to do. They don’t owe anyone anything. But I think it’s unreaonable for a player to be expected to return for their junior year if they have international/national team aspirations if they haven’t been used in any meaningful way their first two years. The staff can do what they think gives the team the best chance to win AND Kahahawai can find that decision making process not very conducive to her volleyball career. What is challenging about that for you to understand? |
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Post by horns1 on Nov 6, 2023 19:11:00 GMT -5
Not sure I understand that statement. Who are some examples of this within the Texas program in the past? I don't think coaches need to "go out of their way" (sounds like doing something that goes against their better judgement) as much as players typically make it easy on the coaching staff (via practice performance) to play them when the opportunity arises. Do coaching staffs across the country typically "go out of their way" in this regard? I do recall after the 2009 national runner-up season where Coach Elliott said he told Sha'Dare that she should be upset with him for not having played her more during the season; she was mainly a serving specialist her freshman season, I believe. To me, a player earns their playing time. I’m talking about whether Kahahawai should come back for a junior year. The staff needs to do whatever the staff needs to do. They don’t owe anyone anything. But I think it’s unreaonable for a player to be expected to return for their junior year if they have international/national team aspirations if they haven’t been used in any meaningful way their first two years. The staff can do what they think gives the team the best chance to win AND Kahahawai can find that decision making process not very conducive to her volleyball career. What is challenging about that for you to understand? Those words make more sense to me than the coaching staff "going out of their way" to play someone which implies trying to force something that isn't the best idea. It's not like Devin didn't know Molly was returning for a fifth season. And, she knew in December that Parra was leaving, and that Wenaas was transferring in. She knew Byrd was enrolling early in January. So, she got to practice with and compete against all of those players in the Spring and even in the Summer. No way of knowing if her thoughts were that she'd win a starting spot for 2023, or that she was content waiting for the opportunity to start in 2024. It's all about choices. |
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Post by slxpress on Nov 6, 2023 19:19:14 GMT -5
I’m talking about whether Kahahawai should come back for a junior year. The staff needs to do whatever the staff needs to do. They don’t owe anyone anything. But I think it’s unreaonable for a player to be expected to return for their junior year if they have international/national team aspirations if they haven’t been used in any meaningful way their first two years. The staff can do what they think gives the team the best chance to win AND Kahahawai can find that decision making process not very conducive to her volleyball career. What is challenging about that for you to understand? Those words make more sense to me than the coaching staff "going out of their way" to play someone which implies trying to force something that isn't the best idea. It's not like Devin didn't know Molly was returning for a fifth season. And, she knew in December that Parra was leaving, and that Wenaas was transferring in. She knew Byrd was enrolling early in January. So, she got to practice with and compete against all of those players in the Spring and even in the Summer. No way of knowing if her thoughts were that she'd win a starting spot for 2023, or that she was content waiting for the opportunity to start in 2024. It's all about choices. I don’t understand your point. |
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Post by horns1 on Nov 6, 2023 19:27:29 GMT -5
Those words make more sense to me than the coaching staff "going out of their way" to play someone which implies trying to force something that isn't the best idea. It's not like Devin didn't know Molly was returning for a fifth season. And, she knew in December that Parra was leaving, and that Wenaas was transferring in. She knew Byrd was enrolling early in January. So, she got to practice with and compete against all of those players in the Spring and even in the Summer. No way of knowing if her thoughts were that she'd win a starting spot for 2023, or that she was content waiting for the opportunity to start in 2024. It's all about choices. I don’t understand your point. The point is your initial choice of words that our coaches didn't "go out of their way" to get Devin on the court versus your second choice of words that they "haven't (used her) in a meaningful way" mean completely different things, at least to me. |
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Post by xlumie on Nov 6, 2023 19:29:33 GMT -5
Is Devin an OH or OPP? The lack of specialization is hurting her IMO.
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Post by slxpress on Nov 6, 2023 20:00:55 GMT -5
Is Devin an OH or OPP? The lack of specialization is hurting her IMO. She’s an OPP. She plays opp for the national teams. She subbed in as an opp her freshman year when Elliott would double sub her and Ewert late in matches to get a bigger block when SKT rotated to the front row. She’s also the first sub as an OH. I don’t think there’s any lack of specialization, really. Just a lack of playing time with Phillips coming back for her Covid year. Her best use on a team IMO is as a 6 rotation opposite. |
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Post by WahineFan44 on Nov 6, 2023 20:15:28 GMT -5
Is Devin an OH or OPP? The lack of specialization is hurting her IMO. She’s an OPP. She plays opp for the national teams. She subbed in as an opp her freshman year when Elliott would double sub her and Ewert late in matches to get a bigger block when SKT rotated to the front row. She’s also the first sub as an OH. I don’t think there’s any lack of specialization, really. Just a lack of playing time with Phillips coming back for her Covid year. Her best use on a team IMO is as a 6 rotation opposite. I don’t remember what she played in high school. I want to say both. But I just can’t seem to remember |
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Post by horns1 on Nov 6, 2023 20:18:15 GMT -5
Just for fun . . .
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Post by nederlander on Nov 6, 2023 20:51:57 GMT -5
If Lauenstein wants to come play for Texas, I think you have to find a spot for her on the roster. Hard to know what to expect from her, coming back, but I think she would make the talent on the team deeper for sure.
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Post by xlumie on Nov 6, 2023 21:43:28 GMT -5
For funsies, who do ya'll predict will win the starting OPP spot next year between Devin & Whitney? Whitney has had more in-game experience but has taken an year-long break from training (?).
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Post by hornfanaustin on Nov 6, 2023 21:47:55 GMT -5
For funsies, who do ya'll predict will win the starting OPP spot next year between Devin & Whitney? Whitney has had more in-game experience but has taken an year-long break from training (?). Devin. |
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Post by xlumie on Nov 6, 2023 22:00:33 GMT -5
For funsies, who do ya'll predict will win the starting OPP spot next year between Devin & Whitney? Whitney has had more in-game experience but has taken an year-long break from training (?). Devin. Whitney has a wicked serve, I forgot to mention. I think she led NEB in aces that one season we don't talk about. |
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Post by horns1 on Nov 6, 2023 22:01:44 GMT -5
Even though the transfer portal is relatively new, Jerritt's history of taking (scholarship) transfers recently seems to indicate they end up being day-one starters, not to provide depth.
Carissa Barnes
Jenna Wenaas
Keonilei Akana
Kayla Caffey / Bella Bergmark
Jenna Ewert (backup)
Madi Skinner
Zoe Fleck
Saige Torres (probably would have started first season at Texas if not for the late summer graduation from Utah and red tape in transcript)
Morgan O'Brien
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