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Post by marnvbc2 on Aug 4, 2022 20:45:58 GMT -5
Any word or thoughts on the new setting coach? Any word or thoughts on Bowers recovery? The team can benefit from her swagger and leadership to get the season off to a great start. August is here! I am excited to see them play a good non-conf schedule for a couple of reasons. First, they will be able identify issues that need work right off the bat instead of getting caught by surprise when it is too late. Second, they will probably lose a few matches which will benefit them in the "hard work" dept and also keep a little more pressure on the starters and allow some bench players an opportunity to play more than BYU usually allows them to. There was no reason that Callahan and Stowell couldn't have player more last season. This year BYU has a ton of potential talent at OH. Some of the OH's might be an asset in the passing dept. I want to get a look a Billeter, Prior, E Bower, Montoya, and Moravec and few others with in match pressure on them. Lastly, I am very curious to see if they allow any other setter to have some court time. It would be healthy to see them allow Decker some time. I have heard that they aren't sold on her and never were .... but didn't have any other decent options when the Meyer bomb went off. What was the thinking in bringing in another setter, Abby Taylor? She is a 6-2 setter proto-type but could be used in a 5-1 if they had to. My guess is that they aren't taking any chances with Bower going down and only having Decker. I have had very limited time watching Decker but i simply didn't register her athletic ability as an asset. Good height but not fluid movement around the clock. But I stand to be corrected. Lots of questions that only playing time under pressure will answer about this team. But, the season should be a good learning experience for everyone. I think the 2023 season will bring an even tougher schedule to Provo in non conf and in league. This is a needed upgrade if they want to join the elites of college vb. |
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Post by bbg95 on Aug 4, 2022 21:33:39 GMT -5
Any word or thoughts on Bowers recovery? The team can benefit from her swagger and leadership to get the season off to a great start. August is here! What was the thinking in bringing in another setter, Abby Taylor? She is a 6-2 setter proto-type but could be used in a 5-1 if they had to. Abby Taylor married one of the BYU men's volleyball players, so I think she was just added because she was moving to Provo anyway. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on Aug 5, 2022 0:34:39 GMT -5
Well at least there is a reasonable personal tie to the program so it isn't completely out of left field. But, this is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. Abby isn't even close to being a top setter. She is just a safety net. Instead of taking a player who isn't good enough to lead BYU, if need be, why not ask a setter with higher upside to come to your program? There were a number of setters in Utah/Colorado/Wyoming etc (not to mention the West coast) who were and are better than Taylor. Taylor simply sucks up a roster spot and she isn't elite level. It is perplexing to me that this goes on in the BYU program. It isn't just with setters either.
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Post by bbg95 on Aug 5, 2022 0:42:20 GMT -5
Well at least there is a reasonable personal tie to the program so it isn't completely out of left field. But, this is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. Abby isn't even close to being a top setter. She is just a safety net. Instead of taking a player who isn't good enough to lead BYU, if need be, why not ask a setter with higher upside to come to your program? There were a number of setters in Utah/Colorado/Wyoming etc (not to mention the West coast) who were and are better than Taylor. Taylor simply sucks up a roster spot and she isn't elite level. It is perplexing to me that this goes on in the BYU program. It isn't just with setters either. Eh, it's not like she's taking up a scholarship. I really don't see the harm in letting her be with the team for one season (she's a super senior). |
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Post by marnvbc2 on Aug 8, 2022 1:22:57 GMT -5
BYU caps the roster, scholly or not. Would you rather have a freshman taking that roster spot or a girl who already has achieved her upside and is a senior? That decision is easy for most big P5 programs, it is the frosh! Why waste a year of training on a girl who isn't good enough to run a 5-1 at an elite level when there were numerous freshman available who probably would have walked on also? Building for the future isn't accomplished by doing these kind of moves. If Decker has more athletic ability than my only glimpse of her revealed, then she will be the legit backup. Otherwise she and Taylor will be running a 6-2 if Bower goes down for a short period of time or longer. That might not be terrible (running a 6-2) but it will make everyone on the staff very uneasy.
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BYU 2022
Aug 8, 2022 13:47:21 GMT -5
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Post by rrvbfan on Aug 8, 2022 13:47:21 GMT -5
Caps the roster? At 19?
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Post by mintonetteman on Aug 8, 2022 17:34:55 GMT -5
The volunteer assistant, Penina Snuka? It seems like she was a really good player. Her bio says she coached high school and club, but I don't know where. Snuka will be working with setters at BYU. Heather has no real deep knowledge of setting technique although she is very opinionated on the position. She has a background in defense and played L/DS at Utah St for a very average program. Now don't let that comment set off the defensive mechanisms for some of you blue goggled supporters, because I admit that some really elite players are not good coaches. Some physically average players are excellent coaches. Heather knows a lot about most aspects of the game but she isn't a top coach of setters. I think this hire/placement is an excellent move by Heather if she can allow another set of eyes to be as important as her own opinions. I think her complete frustration in the DS/L dept coupled with the setter issues/responsibilities was too much for her to deal with and be successful at an elite level. She decided to refocus, by delegation IMO. Feedback I got from campers and their moms (regular camp and position camp) was that they wanted W. Bower not Snuka to work with their daughters. Maybe Snuka doesn't feel comfortable in her role yet. Getting the feeling she may be a Hawaii recruiting asset more than an actual coach. That volunteer assistant role is an "interesting" position at BYU--and that is based a friends first hand experience. |
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Post by mintonetteman on Aug 8, 2022 17:41:03 GMT -5
Yea, I am not certain about that. You don't hire a all Pac12 setter to coach anywhere except her position of choice. She will certainly not coach the front row hitters or the back row passers so that leaves ..... setting. I think this a deliberate hire for setting only. Do you have much experience "hiring" (as a volunteer) all Pac12 setters? In my experience, volunteer coaches [including elite level former players] rarely have primary responsibility for training any position. She will likely assist the staff and head coach with many things including training. If you hear differently from the staff let us know. Is University of Arizona even in the Pac-12?  I am joking...AZVB, please don't get mad at me. But honestly, not sure I would call Arizona an "elite volleyball" program. In all seriousness, I hope she is a huge asset and uses this experience to land a great paid position in the near future. |
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vvv
Sophomore
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Post by vvv on Aug 8, 2022 19:38:13 GMT -5
Thats interesting... I heard the opposite from campers who had Snuka as a coach. The girls all want to be with W. Bower because she is the reigning queen of byu setting (which she totally deserves), so girls, that age want to be with that rather than another coach, who they have never heard of before. Snuka was really the only girl coach who wasn't a former byu player. She will be an awesome asset for BYU.
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vvv
Sophomore
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Post by vvv on Aug 8, 2022 19:38:52 GMT -5
BYU caps the roster, scholly or not. Would you rather have a freshman taking that roster spot or a girl who already has achieved her upside and is a senior? That decision is easy for most big P5 programs, it is the frosh! Why waste a year of training on a girl who isn't good enough to run a 5-1 at an elite level when there were numerous freshman available who probably would have walked on also? Building for the future isn't accomplished by doing these kind of moves. If Decker has more athletic ability than my only glimpse of her revealed, then she will be the legit backup. Otherwise she and Taylor will be running a 6-2 if Bower goes down for a short period of time or longer. That might not be terrible (running a 6-2) but it will make everyone on the staff very uneasy. |
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vvv
Sophomore
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Post by vvv on Aug 8, 2022 19:39:21 GMT -5
I am confused with the post on Taylor and running a 6-2? Which Taylor? Didn't Hifo leave for San Diego?
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Post by bbg95 on Aug 8, 2022 20:24:08 GMT -5
Snuka will be working with setters at BYU. Heather has no real deep knowledge of setting technique although she is very opinionated on the position. She has a background in defense and played L/DS at Utah St for a very average program. Now don't let that comment set off the defensive mechanisms for some of you blue goggled supporters, because I admit that some really elite players are not good coaches. Some physically average players are excellent coaches. Heather knows a lot about most aspects of the game but she isn't a top coach of setters. I think this hire/placement is an excellent move by Heather if she can allow another set of eyes to be as important as her own opinions. I think her complete frustration in the DS/L dept coupled with the setter issues/responsibilities was too much for her to deal with and be successful at an elite level. She decided to refocus, by delegation IMO. Feedback I got from campers and their moms (regular camp and position camp) was that they wanted W. Bower not Snuka to work with their daughters. Maybe Snuka doesn't feel comfortable in her role yet. Getting the feeling she may be a Hawaii recruiting asset more than an actual coach. That volunteer assistant role is an "interesting" position at BYU--and that is based a friends first hand experience. I don't think it's surprising that players at a BYU volleyball camp wanted to be coached by the three-year starting setter and public face of the team in Bower (my guess is that Bower is probably the most popular player on the team right now). Snuka didn't play at BYU and was hired maybe a week or so before the camps started. I doubt many of the girls at the camp were that familiar with her, despite her very good playing career. I had to look her up myself. I'm also a bit skeptical that a volunteer assistant would be much of an asset for recruiting. A permanent assistant, sure. But don't volunteers only stay for about a year? |
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Zazu
All-American
Singin' once again in the rain, snow, hail, fog, smog, mist, haze, sun, wind, etc.
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Post by Zazu on Aug 8, 2022 21:29:35 GMT -5
I am confused with the post on Taylor and running a 6-2? Which Taylor? Didn't Hifo leave for San Diego? Reference is to Abby Taylor, nee Olsen, who is a graduate transfer from Wyoming. She recently married Teon Taylor, a member of the BYU men's volleyball team, and yes, Taylor Hifo transferred--to UC Riverside.
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Post by bbg95 on Aug 8, 2022 22:03:01 GMT -5
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Post by mintonetteman on Aug 9, 2022 10:25:10 GMT -5
I thought Hifo was at UVU? What happened? UC Riverside has a new coach...Hifo should help her with rebuild, but I think UVU has a much better program.
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I am joking...AZVB, please don't get mad at me. But honestly, not sure I would call Arizona an "elite volleyball" program. In all seriousness, I hope she is a huge asset and uses this experience to land a great paid position in the near future. 