|
Post by dunninla3 on Feb 23, 2020 18:30:48 GMT -5
Also, not really looking like Sanchez or Phair are getting much of a chance this weekend. Right, but the reality is the top 3 teams seem pretty fixed this weekend, so they wouldn't play there. That leaves just 4s and 5s, with 9 active players and three we haven't seen yet to put into 4 slots. So far I think Mac May isn't getting a lot of opportunity (once at #2, once at #6) in 5 matches. I knew with highly touted newcomers Denaburg and Newberry, and Yeomans the Sr., it would be tough to get a lot of Big reps. Quade is the same position -- twice at #5 out of 5 matches. I'm not sure Quade OR May beats out Yeomans or Newbury.
|
|
|
Post by burbank55 on Feb 23, 2020 19:44:58 GMT -5
Yeah, I suppose this is leading me to point out again that there were NINE All Americans in the Bruin 2018 and 2017 classes. 2 played every match, 1 played most of the matches (and as a pair performed substandard), and the others are lucky to play 20-40% of the time if they’re even still on the team.
All 3 2019 All Americans are playing a lot though.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Feb 23, 2020 20:54:33 GMT -5
LSU Match going to 3rd set to decide.
UCLA repeats the pairs they used earlier in the day:
#1 Savvy Simo Abby Van Winkle (same) LOST IN 3 #2 Lindsey Sparks Lexi Denaburg (same) WON IN 2 #3 Lily Justine Lea Monkhouse (same) LOST IN 3 #4 Rileigh Powers Madi Yeomans LOST IN 2 #5 Megan Muret Devon Newberry WON IN 2
Congrats to LSU.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 1, 2020 12:01:30 GMT -5
Had a chance to watch UCLA/LSU #1s yesterday via live stream. No replay available that I can tell. Also could not figure out if there were, or how to get to, a stream for any court other than #1.
Van Winkle received almost all the serves. I had forgotten how sweet a hand set Simo can put up. And yet... what concerned me was the unadvanced sideout game Van Winkle exhibited. Neither power, nor placement more often than I would have expected, leading to a lower than needed termination %. Also of concern was the frequency of her drop off the net, because it seemed too often the hitter then targeted her and very few of those hits were controlled for a transition attack.
Don't mean to be negative. Season is early, and UCLA's 2-3 loss was quite close on all courts. Nonetheless, should UCLA and LSU meet again in the NCAAs, I would like to see a game plan at #1 that would turn out to be more terminal.
Lastly, it appears to me Simo has the raw tools necessary to give Pro Beach a go after graduation. She is just rock solid in every facet of the Beach game.
|
|
|
Post by sonofdogman on Mar 1, 2020 12:15:40 GMT -5
Had a chance to watch UCLA/LSU #1s yesterday via live stream. No replay available that I can tell. Also could not figure out if there were, or how to get to, a stream for any court other than #1. Van Winkle received almost all the serves. I had forgotten how sweet a hand set Simo can put up. And yet... what concerned me was the unadvanced sideout game Van Winkle exhibited. Neither power, nor placement more often than I would have expected, leading to a lower than needed termination %. Also of concern was the frequency of her drop off the net, because it seemed too often the hitter then targeted her and very few of those hits were controlled for a transition attack. Don't mean to be negative. Season is early, and UCLA's 2-3 loss was quite close on all courts. Nonetheless, should UCLA and LSU meet again in the NCAAs, I would like to see a game plan at #1 that would turn out to be more terminal. Lastly, it appears to me Simo has the raw tools necessary to give Pro Beach a go after graduation. She is just rock solid in every facet of the Beach game. I got the same impressions being there in person. I posted some thoughts in another thread about the entire UCLA/LSU match and made similar comments about Van Winkle's offense. I didn't mention her pulling, but you are spot on. Especially when she pulled off from Nuss - that kid will hammer it at you and make you pay. The set better be WAY off the net if you pull on her. Simo was pretty much unstoppable when she found herself the recipient of the first ball. Her vision reading the defense was impressive. I again agree with your assessment and believe she's clearly the no. 1 defender on the squad.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2020 12:37:42 GMT -5
Savvy will almost certainly give the pro beach game a shot. She's also got the personality to make the transition to broadcasting (did a bit through the tournament this year after UCLA were eliminated) but she's still very focused on playing right now.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 7, 2020 20:26:03 GMT -5
UCLA took down USC is a close one today, winning with pairs 4 (Newberry/Powers), 1 (Simo/Van Winkle), 5 (May/Muret)
The 3s pair of Justine/Monkhouse was handled rather easily by the Nourse twins, whom I would expect to be playing 2s, except for the fact that USC's 2s pair is also doing very well, handling Denaburg/Sparks in a closer match, but still in straight sets.
Quade/Sanchez played the #6s exhibition, winning.
Random observations:
- Monkhouse is being served almost all the time. - Sparks was not as sharp today as she is usually - May struggles at times on SR, but makes up for that by putting up an effective block and having a tough serve - still haven't seen Monk-Heidrich this year, which at this point tells me she is probably not healthy. - wondering if Muret has beaten out Whitmarsh, or whether Muret was simply given another look today and the last Little isn't decided yet. - wondering whether Quade or May has beaten out Yeomans, or whether they will continue to rotate for another month before deciding who our 5th Big is. Yeomans/Muret did win at LSU last they met, which could be an NCAA Tourney matchup. - didn't realize Simo has a little bit of Sponcil in her ... she went up to fake hit on 2, transitioned into a set, but got caught deep dishing it too much and was called on it. Speaking of which, if Simo keeps setting butter, Van Winkle's sideout game should progress nicely this year.
|
|
|
Post by GoUCLA on Mar 7, 2020 20:50:37 GMT -5
UCLA took down USC is a close one today, winning with pairs 4 (Newberry/Powers), 1 (Simo/Van Winkle), 5 (May/Muret) The 3s pair of Justine/Monkhouse was handled rather easily by the Nourse twins, whom I would expect to be playing 2s, except for the fact that USC's 2s pair is also doing very well, handling Denaburg/Sparks in a closer match, but still in straight sets. Quade/Sanchez played the #6s exhibition, winning. Random observations: - Monkhouse is being served almost all the time. - Sparks was not as sharp today as she is usually - May struggles at times on SR, but makes up for that by putting up an effective block and having a tough serve - still haven't seen Monk-Heidrich this year, which at this point tells me she is probably not healthy. - wondering if Muret has beaten out Whitmarsh, or whether Muret was simply given another look today and the last Little isn't decided yet. - wondering whether Quade or May has beaten out Yeomans, or whether they will continue to rotate for another month before deciding who our 5th Big is. Yeomans/Muret did win at LSU last they met, which could be an NCAA Tourney matchup. - didn't realize Simo has a little bit of Sponcil in her ... she went up to fake hit on 2, transitioned into a set, but got caught deep dishing it too much and was called on it. Speaking of which, if Simo keeps setting butter, Van Winkle's sideout game should progress nicely this year. May can be frustrating to watch. She can make a bunch of errors in a row. This is why she is served a lot because she can have difficulty siding out. I'm glad she got it together to win that second set and the match for UCLA. Monkhouse and Justine have struggled. They were 2 and then moved to 3 where they are still struggling a little. I wonder when Stein starts to move around some of the pairs. I'm not sure if I'm sold on Sparks/Denaburg at 2 yet.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 7, 2020 21:04:37 GMT -5
UCLA took down USC is a close one today, May can be frustrating to watch. She can make a bunch of errors in a row. This is why she is served a lot because she can have difficulty siding out. I'm glad she got it together to win that second set and the match for UCLA. Monkhouse and Justine have struggled. They were 2 and then moved to 3 where they are still struggling a little. I wonder when Stein starts to move around some of the pairs. I'm not sure if I'm sold on Sparks/Denaburg at 2 yet. I'm not sure what to make of the Justine/Monkhouse struggling. The thing is I never knew, even last year, how good either actually was, b/c each was paired with a truly elite partner, and it was hard to know to whom to attribute the success. Now these two unknown quantities are paired together, and, they're pretty good for a 3s team, just not today b/c in my opinion they faced a legit 2s team with AVP experience. Regarding shuffling the deck, I know Sparks is a legit 2. In fact I was wondering before the season whether she would be a 1 Little. Having seen Simo this year though, Simo is on a different level. So if you assume Sparks stays at 2, which big would you think is better than Denaburg? I think Denaburg belongs at two, and that Yeomans, Justine, May and Newberry are probably almost fungible and interchangeable between 3, 4 and 5.
|
|
|
Post by GoUCLA on Mar 7, 2020 21:25:08 GMT -5
May can be frustrating to watch. She can make a bunch of errors in a row. This is why she is served a lot because she can have difficulty siding out. I'm glad she got it together to win that second set and the match for UCLA. Monkhouse and Justine have struggled. They were 2 and then moved to 3 where they are still struggling a little. I wonder when Stein starts to move around some of the pairs. I'm not sure if I'm sold on Sparks/Denaburg at 2 yet. I'm not sure what to make of the Justine/Monkhouse struggling. The thing is I never knew, even last year, how good either actually was, b/c each was paired with a truly elite partner, and it was hard to know to whom to attribute the success. Now these two unknown quantities are paired together, and, they're pretty good for a 3s team, just not today b/c in my opinion they faced a legit 2s team with AVP experience. Regarding shuffling the deck, I know Sparks is a legit 2. In fact I was wondering before the season whether she would be a 1 Little. Having seen Simo this year though, Simo is on a different level. So if you assume Sparks stays at 2, which big would you think is better than Denaburg? I think Denaburg belongs at two, and that Yeomans, Justine, May and Newberry are probably almost fungible and interchangeable between 3, 4 and 5. When UCLA plays a lower ranked team, I'd like to see Stein play around with the pairs to find out. I'd like to see how Justine or Monkhouse does with Sparks. I do agree that Sparks belongs at 2.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2020 12:38:13 GMT -5
I really do wonder now if Justine's success only came with having a stellar partner. Same could be said with Lea, (Martin in Hawai'i and Simo in 2019). They are currently 6-3 and 2 of their 3 loses came in two sets. They're not doing that bad.
More of a general question I guess, What is considered a bad loss? Is losing by an average of 5.5 in two sets considered bad? and what is considered a blow out?
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 8, 2020 14:21:32 GMT -5
More of a general question I guess, What is considered a bad loss? Is losing by an average of 5.5 in two sets considered bad? and what is considered a blow out? everyone has a different perspective on that, but my feeling is: - losing by four points or more each set means no real pressure was put on the winners, so that is a bad loss. - losing by six points or more points each set is a domination, which I guess could be called a blowout. A close match is within 2-3 points each set, -or- trading sets (doesn't matter by how much) and pushing it to the tie break set.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 8, 2020 14:57:56 GMT -5
UCLA took down USC is a close one today I wonder when Stein starts to move around some of the pairs. I had another thought on that. The only thing I could see happening, but don't know if it is possible, would be for Monk-Heidrich to play at 3s as the Little, though she can also go Big in a pinch. As I said above, we haven't seen her this year, but that is where her quality of play would put her...2s, 3s, or 4s. Not seeing Monk-Heidrich playing is a pretty significant thing to me, and changes a little the expectations I had pre-season.
|
|
|
Post by dunninla3 on Mar 8, 2020 18:12:38 GMT -5
UCLA swept Oregon and Washington today.
Hannah Phair got two more another playing opportunities v. ASU yesterday and UDub today... that's three matches this year if I recall.
I'm still curious, for anyone who is around the practices -- does Hawley Harrer practice? Does Piper Monk-Heidrich practice? Does Walters practice? Still haven't seen that any of the three have played any regular or exhibition match this year.
Reason I ask about Harrer in particular is that her Mom coaches Oregon, and the two teams played today. It would have been interesting to see her Mom in the Oregon coaching box on her daughter's court.
Other thing of note is that Whitmarsh was paired with Powers. I assume Powers blocked, or did they split block?
|
|
|
Post by vb1999 on Mar 10, 2020 9:29:33 GMT -5
UCLA swept Oregon and Washington today. Hannah Phair got two more another playing opportunities v. ASU yesterday and UDub today... that's three matches this year if I recall. I'm still curious, for anyone who is around the practices -- does Hawley Harrer practice? Does Piper Monk-Heidrich practice? Does Walters practice? Still haven't seen that any of the three have played any regular or exhibition match this year. Reason I ask about Harrer in particular is that her Mom coaches Oregon, and the two teams played today. It would have been interesting to see her Mom in the Oregon coaching box on her daughter's court. Other thing of note is that Whitmarsh was paired with Powers. I assume Powers blocked, or did they split block? Monk-Heidrich is a hard worker and hopefully will get a chance.
|
|