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Post by hawkfan on Jan 19, 2021 11:14:13 GMT -5
I just got caught up on the news that Bri Orr and Halle Johnston have moved on. Those are tough losses. Just when you think things may turn around in Iowa City, there's another set back. And also lost Griere Hughes...so losing overall 2019 kill leader, veteran/talented setter and returning libero.  But that being said, I am still optimistic, given the talent we have. Just may take bit to develop and gel as a team. |
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Post by udubhuskiefan on Jan 19, 2021 11:23:24 GMT -5
I just got caught up on the news that Bri Orr and Halle Johnston have moved on. Those are tough losses. Just when you think things may turn around in Iowa City, there's another set back. And also lost Griere Hughes...so losing overall 2019 kill leader, veteran/talented setter and returning libero. But that being said, I am still optimistic, given the talent we have. Just may take bit to develop and gel as a team. Where did Hughes go? |
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 19, 2021 11:39:01 GMT -5
And also lost Griere Hughes...so losing overall 2019 kill leader, veteran/talented setter and returning libero. But that being said, I am still optimistic, given the talent we have. Just may take bit to develop and gel as a team. Where did Hughes go? I assume she just decided to not compete her senior season when it was pushed back to the spring. I believe that is the case with all three seniors (Hughes, Orr and Johnston). |
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Post by rainbowbadger on Jan 19, 2021 11:41:29 GMT -5
I don't know the reason why but I do believe that a couple of them enrolled early and their scholarships could have expired. It could be a simple as graduating and moving on. I do remember that Orr enrolled early. |
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 19, 2021 11:50:50 GMT -5
I don't know the reason why but I do believe that a couple of them enrolled early and their scholarships could have expired. It could be a simple as graduating and moving on. I do remember that Orr enrolled early. I believe you are right. And maybe Johnston did, too, now that I am thinking about it? Anyway, sure wish all of these talented people well. They each had impact on our program! |
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 21, 2021 4:05:46 GMT -5
Just noticed this in the write-up for the Illinois matches on the Iowa athletics website: "Iowa will play its first games at Xtream Arena — the new home of Iowa Volleyball — Feb. 5-6 against Indiana." So, the Illinois matches this weekend will be at good ol' Carver-Hawkeye. Hmmm... Guess we've waited this long, what's a couple more weeks, right?
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Post by snickers on Jan 21, 2021 7:46:46 GMT -5
I'm routing for Iowa's coach to be successful!
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Post by vollem on Jan 22, 2021 18:43:07 GMT -5
Hawks! Did any of you get to see what the lineup was for the Illini match? The stats give me hints but there seems to be something funny going on at OH. Also, did Jones opt out for the season or did Rients nab the starting spot?
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 22, 2021 19:10:22 GMT -5
Hawks! Did any of you get to see what the lineup was for the Illini match? The stats give me hints but there seems to be something funny going on at OH. Also, did Jones opt out for the season or did Rients nab the starting spot? Hansen and Schmidt were at OH. Both really struggled. Lot of tipping. Both got tentative after being blocked early. Jones was on sidelines so unless she is hurt or something, looks like Rients took that 2nd MB spot for now. Coach Brown talked a lot in her media day press conference about asking the middles to step up from blocking standpoint and specifically called out Clayton in that area. Rients has shown to be a strong blocker so my guess is Coach is putting more focus there than on offense out of the middle (which, to me, would better describe Jones). Although both Rients and Clayton had some nice kills and hit .353 and .375, respectively, so had ok offensive showings. And sure appeared that we definitely were blocking better! Ran a 6-2 with Ortega setting and CBuzz setting/hitting. Black hit mainly on RS (a bit on left, too) when CBuzz was setting and think we have lot of potential in her! Heavy arm. Positive body language on court. I like what saw there. Boyer at libero. Solid job. She is going to be a mainstay there for few years, I would imagine. Slagle as primary DS. Lowry got some back row time, too. Would love to hear from others who saw the match. Both teams definitely rusty. Hawks had big leads late in sets 2 and 4. Almost gave it away in set 2 but hung on but let set 4 slip away...both were because of big runs for Illinois. |
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Post by PointHawks on Jan 26, 2021 19:49:00 GMT -5
Our Hawkeyes had a pretty rough 1st weekend, let see if Coach Brown can pull some of our girls out of their early slumps to get support to Boyer, Buzz and the Middles.
Also it will be interesting to see if she can effectively recruit to keep up with the talent in this conference.
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Post by vollem on Jan 26, 2021 19:55:31 GMT -5
Our Hawkeyes had a pretty rough 1st weekend, let see if Coach Brown can pull some of our girls out of their early slumps to get support to Boyer, Buzz and the Middles. Also it will be interesting to see if she can effectively recruit to keep up with the talent in this conference. Fwiw, I'm impressed that there wasn't a mass exodus at all when Brown came on as HC. I think that says a lot. Transfers happen all the time, but I'd think even moreso if something like what happened in the Bond/Brown change happened. CBuzz will do her thing but yes, definitely needs some help. She can't hold down the pins alone. Rients looks like she's getting lots of good swings in, but I haven't been able to watch the match in full. The OHs are young, so they'll need some confidence if they want to get the swings that'll terminate. The little I've seen appears to be lots of tips/rolls. |
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 26, 2021 20:08:51 GMT -5
Our Hawkeyes had a pretty rough 1st weekend, let see if Coach Brown can pull some of our girls out of their early slumps to get support to Boyer, Buzz and the Middles. Also it will be interesting to see if she can effectively recruit to keep up with the talent in this conference. Yep...agree with all of this. We simply must get more production from our OHs. Unless big and quick improvement, think Black hitting from the left may need to happen in place of either Hansen or Schmidt. They both got so tentative after some early stuff blocks. If so about Black on left, then that would mean if stay in 6-2, either Rients or Jones fills that RS spot when CBuzz is setting. Feel like Jones adds too much firepower to not have her on the court in some capacity...especially when we are sorely needing offensive production. All just my two cents here...but I realize the season is still very young. And also agree will be interesting to see how future recruiting goes. I am still optimistic that we can have a good spring. With as rough as things went this weekend, we still didn't get swept and showed signs of some real promise. Blocking was definitely improved. CBuzz is so solid! Bailey will get more and more comfortable. We got in some rotations that we just couldn't get out of. Let's see how Coach Brown can strategize and hope we can bring it against Purdue. GO HAWKS! |
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Post by vollem on Jan 26, 2021 20:17:59 GMT -5
Piggybacking off of hawkfan, Black is an OH normally, right? Since Iowa had a 6-2 sort of situation (if modified), who seemed to have the best connections with whom, between CBuzz and Ortega? Sounded like there wasn't much scoring with CBuzz setting, given she's a scoring outlet and the OHs had trouble terminating. They were, from what I could see, a bit timid. Which I get could be from youth/not having a Hughes type person who just goes for it. But Hansen and Schmidt have played front row before and they have it in them. Missing Orr and Hughes rn, but this is a strange season. |
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Post by PointHawks on Jan 26, 2021 21:26:57 GMT -5
Good observations Hawk fans - I think the outsides have potential to be solid and will improve. Nothing like the fire of a B1G 10 season to do that for you. I see the problem is they are all O2 type of players and their passing wasn’t there like you’d want out of an O2. Illinois did a good job putting pressure on our passing, which should be one of our strengths as we move forward.
Splitt should help this team in the fall! The program took more than its share of hits from player & staff, which are hard to recover from, but those make for others opportunities! GoHawks!
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Post by hawkfan on Jan 26, 2021 21:40:48 GMT -5
Good observations Hawk fans - I think the outsides have potential to be solid and will improve. Nothing like the fire of a B1G 10 season to do that for you. I see the problem is they are all O2 type of players and their passing wasn’t there like you’d want out of an O2. Illinois did a good job putting pressure on our passing, which should be one of our strengths as we move forward. Splitt should help this team in the fall! The program took more than its share of hits from player & staff, which are hard to recover from, but those make for others opportunities! GoHawks! Great points. Agree about Splitt helping this team in the fall. So will having Kacia Brown and Addie VanderWeide added to the mix at OH for more options. GO HAWKS! |
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But that being said, I am still optimistic, given the talent we have. Just may take bit to develop and gel as a team.
