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Post by definitelymaybe on Aug 20, 2022 19:35:05 GMT -5
Some thoughts after the scrimmage. Gold team won the first two sets & I left before the 3rd. Kudos to Jacqlyn Caspers on the black team who was the only middle and never left the court. Madi Wahrmund, Anna Davis, & Amanda Darling did not play. Wahrmund had a brace on one of her knees and was walking with a noticeable limp while Davis & Darling looked fine.
Middles - Jones had a nice day kill wise. Caspers was hitting a nice slide in warmups but didn't get many opportunities during gameplay. As I mentioned, she never left the court so she had to be gassed. McSweeney has a high contact point with her height and reach. Her velocity is less than the others. I would not expect a great deal of points from whoever plays the 2nd middle.
OH - VanderWeide was decent with her hitting & passing. Urquhart much the same. Freshman Nia Washington is a very explosive leaper but needs time to develop a more consistent shot. She's listed as 5'10 on the roster but that may be a stretch. Audrey Black had a solid day for the gold team. Overall nothing spectacular from this group.
Opp - Toyosi had some explosive kills and looked good hitting from the right. I would say she has that position locked down.
Setter - I'm not a setting expert by any means. Ortega is much quicker on defense but obviously with her height, she'll be a liability blocking. Tessier did fine.
Libero/DS - Hinkle is playing for sure & with Darling out, freshman Harlei Cole was the next best on the court.
Overall it seemed like a typical scrimmage with the teams as equally balanced as possible with the injuries. Jones & Onabanjo will probably get the majority of the points for the Hawks this year. Someone from the OH group needs to become a consistent 3rd scoring option. Judging by today, the team is still working on that. Crowd was okay for it not being an actual game. Guessing 500ish but I could be off🤣
One other note, it looked like middle recruit Carly Butler was in attendance so hopefully that is a positive sign.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2022 4:57:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. I made it to the Nebraska scrimmage. Wow what a crowd for a scrimmage. Just incredible. Pictures of the Iowa crowd looked really good as well. That court and arena look very nice.
A friend snapshot me a box score from the Iowa scrimmage. She said there was over a thousand there. Both teams hit over .300. Statistically on the outside both Urquhart and Washington hit over .350. I heard Washington is very impressive. And Onabanjo hit over .400 but Schmidt hit over .500. My guess is Schmidt played the other right side so not sure Onabanjo has it wrapped up. Tessier led her team with 8 digs and Ortega had 4. But Ortega the smaller setter had 7 kills to Tessier's 4. Jones had 11 kills and hit over .400. The other middles didn’t hit any thing impressive. Not sure how the serve receive looked but for both teams to hit over .300 it had to be decent.
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Post by definitelymaybe on Aug 21, 2022 8:55:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the update. I made it to the Nebraska scrimmage. Wow what a crowd for a scrimmage. Just incredible. Pictures of the Iowa crowd looked really good as well. That court and arena look very nice. A friend snapshot me a box score from the Iowa scrimmage. She said there was over a thousand there. Both teams hit over .300. Statistically on the outside both Urquhart and Washington hit over .350. I heard Washington is very impressive. And Onabanjo hit over .400 but Schmidt hit over .500. My guess is Schmidt played the other right side so not sure Onabanjo has it wrapped up. Tessier led her team with 8 digs and Ortega had 4. But Ortega the smaller setter had 7 kills to Tessier's 4. Jones had 11 kills and hit over .400. The other middles didn’t hit any thing impressive. Not sure how the serve receive looked but for both teams to hit over .300 it had to be decent. Watching it live, I am surprised by those numbers for the OH's. That's a plus...Serve receive for the hitters was solid. Schmidt did play the other opposite and had a nice match. My point with Onabanjo is when she makes solid contact, it's on a different level than all the other hitters. Washington is a very explosive. She had some nice off speed shots but missed a few full swings into the net (what I would consider typical freshman stuff). Her play on defense & passing was more than I expected for her age & you can definitely see the potential. Only concern with her is her height & being able to consistently hit over a B1G 10 block but maybe I'm over thinking it. Definitely liked the vibe within the team and how they were interacting with each other. All in all, it was great to watch some volleyball and I'm looking forward to the season!
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Post by hawkfan on Aug 21, 2022 9:00:15 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, definitelymaybe and PostPrime. Sounds like some definite positives yesterday.
I am curious if in that box score, PostPrime, it showed any stats on blocking or what you have noted in that area, definitelymaybe? My concern in seeing hitting percentages that high in a scrimmage is that blocking may have been subpar and that is an area in which Iowa has been sorely lacking for several seasons now. Missing Davis definitely is concerning there, given she led Tulane in total blocks last season. Plus, having both she and Wahrmund unavailable puts quite a hit on our depth in the middle. And same goes for Darling being unavailable, as she brings some substantial back row experience to the court to complement Hinkle. Hoping for quick recovery for all of them. Had to be hard on them to not be able to be out on the court yesterday.
Glad to hear Schmidt must have had a pretty solid day at RS. That is encouraging! Have always really liked Edina. She has had some great matches as a Hawk in the past (had 21 kills in a match in spring of 2021) and appears to have such a consistently positive demeanor.
Hoping for a healthy final pre-season week coming up. GO HAWKS!
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Post by definitelymaybe on Aug 21, 2022 9:34:37 GMT -5
I'd be interested to see blocking stats as well. I would point out that with Caspers playing the first 2 sets for the black team without a sub, that had to affect her ability to close as the sets went on so those numbers might not give a true picture. The gold team definitely played better the first two sets though black came back in set 1 to make it close. I was most surprised by Schmidt and Black (especially her defense) for how little they've played in their careers so far. I left before set 3 but from pictures it looks like Amiya switched to the black team & they won their only set. There were 2 huge swings that ate up defenders. Toyosi floored Hinkle on a rightside attack and Jones did the same to Cole on a quick middle. Welcome to D1 volleyball! Davis looked like she could possibly be back fairly soon. Watching her walk around she seemed fine but Warhmund is probably a different story. Strictly going off the knee brace & how she was limping around.
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Post by hawkfan on Aug 21, 2022 12:41:55 GMT -5
I'd be interested to see blocking stats as well. I would point out that with Caspers playing the first 2 sets for the black team without a sub, that had to affect her ability to close as the sets went on so those numbers might not give a true picture. The gold team definitely played better the first two sets though black came back in set 1 to make it close. I was most surprised by Schmidt and Black (especially her defense) for how little they've played in their careers so far. I left before set 3 but from pictures it looks like Amiya switched to the black team & they won their only set. There were 2 huge swings that ate up defenders. Toyosi floored Hinkle on a rightside attack and Jones did the same to Cole on a quick middle. Welcome to D1 volleyball! Davis looked like she could possibly be back fairly soon. Watching her walk around she seemed fine but Warhmund is probably a different story. Strictly going off the knee brace & how she was limping around. Great add about Caspers being a trooper to be the only middle for 2 sets and how that could impact blocking stats yesterday. Just know blocking has to be a huge point of emphasis/improvement this season for Iowa to make the type of progress they hope to make. And actually both Schmidt and Black have played quite a bit in their careers at Iowa. Schmidt led the team in total attacks and was 2nd in kills her Sophomore year (the spring of 2021). And that same season, Black played in each match, starting in many...3rd on team in total attacks, 4th in kills. Yes, their court time definitely did diminish last fall but they do each have some good match experience under their belts so the OH corps is pretty deep. To your great point, though, gotta have a couple really step up to be more reliable terminators for us. Hopefully the competition in the practice gym between them will push them all. There is talent there.
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Post by sonofdogman on Aug 21, 2022 13:04:51 GMT -5
I'm hearing that MB Davis is out for the season with an injury.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2022 14:02:31 GMT -5
When I saw both teams hit over .300 I thought the same thing about the defense/blocking. Both teams had 5 blocks. Probably half the amount you would like. And both teams had 31 digs. Not sure if it’s accurate since both teams had the same digs and same blocks, but neither are high enough. It is a great sign that the pins are capable of being that terminal.
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Post by PointHawks on Aug 22, 2022 12:05:47 GMT -5
GoHawks
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2022 13:42:14 GMT -5
Might come down the the last game of the season vs MSU
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Post by jayj79 on Aug 22, 2022 16:49:08 GMT -5
How have those 2 schools not played in 17 years?? Why? Glad to see they are. I thought I remembered there being some bad blood between UNI and one of the former Iowa coaches, but perhaps that is just my imagination (or some mental spillover from the bad blood between the two in MBB). Perhaps another factor was how things worked in terms of strategic RPI scheduling. UNI would often try to schedule teams that would provide an RPI boost for at-large NCAA chances; and Iowa's record hasn't always fit into that. On the flip side, I imagine Iowa might often try to load up on easier OOC matches to balance out their tough Big Ten schedule, and UNI wasn't known for being an easy win. Or perhaps it really was just a matter of scheduling not working out. Some people have proposed having a "Big Four" instate event, with Iowa, Iowa State, Drake and UNI. But UNI wouldn't want to do that for two reasons: a) Drake and UNI are in the same conference, and they don't want to play them an additional time since they already play each other twice during the regular season and perhaps a 3rd time in the conference tournament, and b) ISU and UNI have had a successful, fun, and profitable series between the two of them (playing one year in CF, the next in Ames, and so on) as a midweek match; drawing big crowds in both locations. And they wouldn't want to give that up any more than Iowa and ISU would want to give up their CyHawk series. But, with Iowa having a new coaching staff, and UNI in a rare "rebuilding" cycle which perhaps meant that strategic RPI scheduling wasn't as big a factor.... or perhaps it just worked out scheduling-wise with UNI looking for a tournament to play in that weekend and Iowa looking for a 4th team for their tournament. who knows.
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Post by hawkfan on Aug 22, 2022 20:57:47 GMT -5
Good interviews here from Saturday with Coach Barnes, Delaney McSweeney, Edina Schmidt and Amiya Jones. Hoping the video can be accessed via this link below for all (I have a subscription to the site so I can get to it...not sure if all others can). www.si.com/college/iowa/spring-sports/hn-tv-iowa-volleyball-media-dayFew things I noted from Coach's interview: - clear goal of improving defensively; cited that Iowa finished "dead last in defense in the Big 10" last season and that must and will improve this year (NOTE: this is not surprising to me but it is good to hear the focus stated because it is such a needed area of improvement) - confirmed that Edina Schmidt has been moved to the right - when asked who was "poised for a breakthrough year," he cited Amiya, Lily Tessier and Nia Washington in his response - stated the "leadership corps," which was voted on by the team, includes: Amiya Jones, Edina Schmidt, Anna Davis and Madi Wahrmund. GO HAWKS!
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Post by definitelymaybe on Aug 22, 2022 21:22:48 GMT -5
What's a successful first tournament record wise for this weekend? I think they need to come out of this one 3-0 with the Pac 12 challenge up next. Looks like the Oklahoma match is on ESPN + for those that have it.
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Post by hawkfan on Aug 22, 2022 23:23:10 GMT -5
What's a successful first tournament record wise for this weekend? I think they need to come out of this one 3-0 with the Pac 12 challenge up next. Looks like the Oklahoma match is on ESPN + for those that have it. I would concur that the Hawks absolutely need to come away 3-0 from the weekend to have it be considered successful. Opponents: Gonzaga was 9-20 last season; new coach hired for this year FIU was 9-13 last season; new coach hired for this year Oklahoma was 10-17 last season; finished 2nd to bottom of Big 12; picked to finish last this year in Big 12 by the coaches I am not at all meaning to slight these programs/teams (heck, they would absolutely be able to look at Iowa and be able to legitimately come to similar conclusions based upon our records and coaching changes), nor do I have much knowledge of their outlooks for 2022. I am just intending to point out that at least on paper, these are absolutely winnable matches so it would be important and quite confidence-instilling to earn 3 early victories to help carry them into a very tough 2nd weekend. I would sure assume the staff and players feel the same about what they hope to accomplish this weekend.
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Post by rjaege on Aug 23, 2022 0:02:26 GMT -5
What's a successful first tournament record wise for this weekend? I think they need to come out of this one 3-0 with the Pac 12 challenge up next. Looks like the Oklahoma match is on ESPN + for those that have it. I would concur that the Hawks absolutely need to come away 3-0 from the weekend to have it be considered successful. Opponents: Gonzaga was 9-20 last season; new coach hired for this year FIU was 9-13 last season; new coach hired for this year Oklahoma was 10-17 last season; finished 2nd to bottom of Big 12; picked to finish last this year in Big 12 by the coaches I am not at all meaning to slight these programs/teams (heck, they would absolutely be able to look at Iowa and be able to legitimately come to similar conclusions based upon our records and coaching changes), nor do I have much knowledge of their outlooks for 2022. I am just intending to point out that at least on paper, these are absolutely winnable matches so it would be important and quite confidence-instilling to earn 3 early victories to help carry them into a very tough 2nd weekend. I would sure assume the staff and players feel the same about what they hope to accomplish this weekend. New team. New coaching staff. This tournament should not be considered a predictor of the 2022 season. If the team performs well, great! If not, give the team time to gel and improve as the season progresses. Besides building the Iowa volleyball program will be a multi-year endeavor.
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