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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 13, 2021 18:57:50 GMT -5
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 14, 2021 11:48:30 GMT -5
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Post by jgoodson on Sept 14, 2021 12:40:36 GMT -5
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Post by liberovb10 on Sept 14, 2021 13:23:53 GMT -5
So we’ve had a couple of weeks to look at this team…do we think they’ll be tournament bound? I’m not feeling so optimistic
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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 14, 2021 13:41:26 GMT -5
So we’ve had a couple of weeks to look at this team…do we think they’ll be tournament bound? I’m not feeling so optimistic Still early. They've shown some good stretches (Creighton sets 3 & 4, Colorado sets 3,4,5) along with the early jitters. But they've got weapons. I'm also guessing that at least Bruna will be back sometime this season, and likely Hinton too. The added depth will be significant. Bluepenquin's RPI Futures has them at #37 with a projected W-L of 17-14 and strength of schedule at 20. If that holds up, their chances are pretty good. TBD. |
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Post by exit237a on Sept 14, 2021 15:10:15 GMT -5
So we’ve had a couple of weeks to look at this team…do we think they’ll be tournament bound? I’m not feeling so optimistic I guess I'm not even really looking that far ahead, so I'm no fun on that front. I am encouraged by the growth we've seen out of the Illini over the course of this preseason. Our three losses are to teams that are all currently ranked in the top 25, and none of them were sweeps- we've shown we can battle. I thought the team passing in the Creighton game looked maybe the best we've seen all season and might be trending up. Diana's connection with Cooney on the right side and Kennedy on the slide have both looked really good of late. I think Kuper had her best all-around match of the season against Creighton- that clutch late service run with the match on the line and so many nice digs against a really good trio of pins (matched her career high with 29 digs). Questions I still have: Will we see stability at the second middle blocker position? Hinton hasn't played all season but she goes through most of the warmups and is in uniform on the bench- someone said the radio broadcasts have mentioned that she's injured. The radio also said Swanson had a minor injury in warmups and that's why she was out for the SMU match. Looking forward to this weekend's three matches to see who gets the nod there. Will our offense become too predictable if we don't have any back-row attack threat? Raina's back row attacks last season looked pretty good and were effective- why aren't we seeing any of those this year? I can understand not setting Nunge and Cooney back there- Nunge only plays back row for that half rotation when she serves and Cooney has never looked as comfortable as Raina hitting out of the back row. Interested to hear your thoughts, libero- what has you feeling less than optimistic about tourney chances? |
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Post by makman2987 on Sept 14, 2021 18:57:51 GMT -5
So we’ve had a couple of weeks to look at this team…do we think they’ll be tournament bound? I’m not feeling so optimistic I guess I'm not even really looking that far ahead, so I'm no fun on that front. I am encouraged by the growth we've seen out of the Illini over the course of this preseason. Our three losses are to teams that are all currently ranked in the top 25, and none of them were sweeps- we've shown we can battle. I thought the team passing in the Creighton game looked maybe the best we've seen all season and might be trending up. Diana's connection with Cooney on the right side and Kennedy on the slide have both looked really good of late. I think Kuper had her best all-around match of the season against Creighton- that clutch late service run with the match on the line and so many nice digs against a really good trio of pins (matched her career high with 29 digs). Questions I still have: Will we see stability at the second middle blocker position? Hinton hasn't played all season but she goes through most of the warmups and is in uniform on the bench- someone said the radio broadcasts have mentioned that she's injured. The radio also said Swanson had a minor injury in warmups and that's why she was out for the SMU match. Looking forward to this weekend's three matches to see who gets the nod there. Will our offense become too predictable if we don't have any back-row attack threat? Raina's back row attacks last season looked pretty good and were effective- why aren't we seeing any of those this year? I can understand not setting Nunge and Cooney back there- Nunge only plays back row for that half rotation when she serves and Cooney has never looked as comfortable as Raina hitting out of the back row. Interested to hear your thoughts, libero- what has you feeling less than optimistic about tourney chances? |
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Post by makman2987 on Sept 14, 2021 21:50:51 GMT -5
I guess I'm not even really looking that far ahead, so I'm no fun on that front. I am encouraged by the growth we've seen out of the Illini over the course of this preseason. Our three losses are to teams that are all currently ranked in the top 25, and none of them were sweeps- we've shown we can battle. I thought the team passing in the Creighton game looked maybe the best we've seen all season and might be trending up. Diana's connection with Cooney on the right side and Kennedy on the slide have both looked really good of late. I think Kuper had her best all-around match of the season against Creighton- that clutch late service run with the match on the line and so many nice digs against a really good trio of pins (matched her career high with 29 digs). Questions I still have: Will we see stability at the second middle blocker position? Hinton hasn't played all season but she goes through most of the warmups and is in uniform on the bench- someone said the radio broadcasts have mentioned that she's injured. The radio also said Swanson had a minor injury in warmups and that's why she was out for the SMU match. Looking forward to this weekend's three matches to see who gets the nod there. Will our offense become too predictable if we don't have any back-row attack threat? Raina's back row attacks last season looked pretty good and were effective- why aren't we seeing any of those this year? I can understand not setting Nunge and Cooney back there- Nunge only plays back row for that half rotation when she serves and Cooney has never looked as comfortable as Raina hitting out of the back row. Interested to hear your thoughts, libero- what has you feeling less than optimistic about tourney chances? Hinton will be back soon. Swanson rolled an ankle slightly in warmups |
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Post by exit237a on Sept 14, 2021 21:59:15 GMT -5
Hinton will be back soon. Swanson rolled an ankle slightly in warmups Glad to hear Rylee's on the mend and that Kyla's injury sounds minor. |
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Post by BumpSetKill on Sept 14, 2021 22:32:50 GMT -5
Do we think Illinois is still the 7th best team in the B1G? Can they move up 1 or 2 by the end of the season somehow? I think that's what the coaches predicted, 7th right?
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Post by bucky415 on Sept 15, 2021 4:50:59 GMT -5
I think Illinois is 7 or 8 in the league at this point, battling it out with Michigan. Pablo rankings aren't great early, per their creator, but they currently have Illinois at 24. If they take care of business the next two weekends, as they should, they should be in pretty good shape, and it is not like they won't have opportunities for statement wins with their league schedule.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 15, 2021 11:41:24 GMT -5
I;’m going to try to get to the Missouri match Friday at ISU. Are the games at Redbird Arena? Many years ago watched my daughter play there in the IHSA tournament and recall it was a decent facility for watching a volleyball match. Are there any covid restrictions on attendance?
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 15, 2021 11:41:35 GMT -5
Tamas has faced more than his share of injury issues the past two years. Is this makeup for the final four year when as I recall there was only one setter on the roster?
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 15, 2021 12:42:25 GMT -5
I;’m going to try to get to the Missouri match Friday at ISU. Are the games at Redbird Arena? Many years ago watched my daughter play there in the IHSA tournament and recall it was a decent facility for watching a volleyball match. Are there any covid restrictions on attendance? A match-up with Missouri would have been more interesting when the two or three former Illini were seeing court time at Mizzou. Without former UI players Deberg and Omazic (and other players that have departed with eligibility still remaining) the Tigers have lost a lot of their ferocity! |
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Sept 15, 2021 12:47:41 GMT -5
And as Coach Tamas mentioned in his most recent interview, the powers that be are interested in scheduling more "Border War" contests with Mizzou in various sports. The men's basketball "Border War" matchup has been very fan popular for many years now.
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