Post by rjaege on Nov 28, 2021 8:33:54 GMT -5
Reminiscing on the 2021 regular season. Huskers secured 2nd place in the BIG with a surprising(at least to me) 4 set win at Purdue. Played WI 2x and lost both matches, although won 1 set at WI. WI with Rettke seems to have NE figured out.
Agree with Coach Cook's Purdue post-game comment that the team can take considerable pride in their 2nd place conference finish. Some may feel this team under performed, but there were so many "super seniors" this year, which meant the competition was very good. And experienced, a definite factor as NE regularly played 4 freshman in key roles. Most significantly "Roddie" at libero.
I found Roddies performance in the Purdue game unreal. So many incredible digs in what looked like awkward body positions, that go right to Hames. Incredible. She appears headed for greatness.
Maybe it was just me, but Knuckles seemed to be putting some extra heat on her backrow hits at Purdue. The value of her shots seemed more than her hitting percentage because Purdue had difficulty getting good return hits. Her energy may have also lifted the team on a night when NE's energy could have been suspect coming in, but was not.
The regular season has ended, and 4 players are still rotating playing time at OH and OPP: Batenhorst, Krause, Laurenstein and Sun. The best performers seem to vary match to match. In part because all have their strengths and weaknesses, and the 3 freshman are freshman. Expect more of the same next year, with Hayden Kubik added to the mix. Some don't like the performance based match to match rotation, but the alternative would lead to the transfer of 1 or 2 very talented players. As a fan I like to see more players compete, but wish they would consistently show more dominance.
In 2022, will we see similar competition at MB: Meyer, Gray, Allick and Mendelson with Caffey and Schwazenbach also possibly returning? This year Stivrens and Caffey logged most of the playing time. Swarzenbach looked improved offensively with her blocking being her strength, but she played behind 2 very good offensive MB's. Think she is more likely to return than Caffey, but that is just a guess on my part, no tea or inside info.
I'm optimistic that NE can surprise a bit in the tournament. In the BIG, all the teams are well prepared for NE and know their tendencies well. This will be much less so in the tournament. The lack of established starters at OH and OPP other than Kubik is a bit unsettling, but see how it goes. It does provide NE with match up flexibility.
All in all, it was a fun regular season from this fan's perspective. Ended on a very positive note with a very good win at 6th ranked Purdue!
GBR in the tournament!
What a lot of great observations! Given the nature of VolleyTalk, I'm sure there will be some disagreement, but I thought you nailed it. Completely agree about being a bit unsettled by the musical chairs approach to OH. But it seems to be working (except against the Badgers!).
My wife and I were fourth row in the little corner section back of the Nebraska bench last night. The seats were low enough that some of the Husker backcourt action was a bit hidden by the players standing at the corner. Still, the incredible ups Roddy made time after time were simply jaw-dropping--if we didn't always see the dig, we did see the result. She is unbelievable. K-lei, K2, and Nicklin all played great defense too. The one armed stabs that Nicklin made to keep balls in play were something else and just made me shake my head. She was just throwing her body all over the court--good thing she is as durable as she is, on some of those plays she hit the court hard.
Good observation about Kenzie's BR attack. Incredible energy! Certainly some will criticize she was set 10 times, but 3 kills on that many swings is a great contribution. More to your point though, her attacks were just ferocious and no doubt inspiring to here teammates. I wonder if playing somewhat close to her high school area was a factor.
The players all seemed energized, engaged, and happy. They were *constantly* encouraging and supporting each other. Seems like a very cohesive and close-knit group. We got to chat briefly with a couple parents of freshman outsides (none for Whit) and they were pretty sanguine about their satisfaction in being at Nebraska.
Thank you I did slight the other backrow DS players. They all had a great game last night. Akana is also incredible and her serve is great.