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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 17, 2024 12:00:01 GMT -5
Take this for what it's worth as I have only seen Batenhorst play indoor, but I would be pretty (very) surprised if Batenhorst contributes on the beach. Yes, she is 6'5" and will put up a very big block. But she does not seem to have the quickness or explosiveness necessary to play on the beach. Personally, I find beach passing to be much easier than indoor, and she is an adequate indoor passer, so I'd expect her passing to be fine. My guess is she will be very similar to Molly last season, big and puts up a big block. Effective in serve receive. But poor in transition and all scramble plays. Probably also a major question mark whether she'll be able to set (I'm assuming she'll be bump setting, which is becoming less than ideal given how many girls hand set now). Hope I am wrong. Agree. Nobody should get their hopes up. She also has less of a beach background than Molly had. Although, being an OH, she's probably moves quicker. |
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Post by burbank55 on Oct 17, 2024 20:44:41 GMT -5
And Maggie is paired with Sally Perez. Those two easily could be in the top 5-10 pairs of Gold. Either UCLA couldn’t squeeze another $100 out of the beleaguered athletics budget or the Bruins were caught napping and were too late to grab one of the bonus Gold third pairs. Beach’s Gementera/Hagenah vs USC’s Henson/White could be the best Pool matchup. Surprised they’re pushing the first round of the elimination round on Friday afternoon. Wonder if everything will finish up on Saturday. |
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Post by burbank55 on Oct 18, 2024 13:03:20 GMT -5
As mentioned on another thread, Big Congrats to Tina Graudina for her FIVB World Number One ranking with Anastasija Samoilova. It’s an oddity caused by preparation/rest affecting schedules leading up the the Paris Olympics, but there’s no doubting that Tina/Anastasija earned their #1.   Also, good to see the USC Beach recruit class of 2025 gathering at last weekend’s football game. Does this mean Taylor Deckert will be indoor only? http://instagram.com/p/DBNdwGnsTS_ |
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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 18, 2024 19:57:11 GMT -5
Not a bad first day. Pairs went 3-0, 2-1, 2-1 in Gold and 3-0, 3-0, 3-0, 1-2, 1-2 in Silver. Although the Gold bracket losses were not close. TCU and UCLA top teams were up and down as well. Cal Poly did well and Stanford kind of mediocre. Picking Thomas/Coakley over Hamlett/Khmil in the finals.
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Post by Fight On! on Oct 18, 2024 20:33:53 GMT -5
Not a bad first day. Pairs went 3-0, 2-1, 2-1 in Gold and 3-0, 3-0, 3-0, 1-2, 1-2 in Silver. Although the Gold bracket losses were not close. TCU and UCLA top teams were up and down as well. Cal Poly did well and Stanford kind of mediocre. Picking Thomas/Coakley over Hamlett/Khmil in the finals. Crappy bracket for SC in Gold. 2 pairs playing each other in Round 2. Then potential SC/SC match in Round 3. |
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Post by beachnut94 on Oct 19, 2024 11:00:42 GMT -5
I got to watch for a couple hours yesterday. Lot of service errors on the higher pairs I watched. New Ball?
White and Thomas looked sharp when I watched. Typical White pulling it out when needing to in the UW match. Thomas has really matured into a pretty good defender. I assume she is going to need to be at the 1-2’s. I only saw Pater from a distance. I wanted to watch some of the silver matches but had to run.
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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 19, 2024 11:22:23 GMT -5
Looks like Walker is not playing today for some odd reason. They've moved Thomas to play with Karl, and still have her paired with Coakley in Gold. Truslow has moved over with Kok to take Walker's spot.
Well now Thomas/Coakley have forfeited to White/Henson due to the player swaps.
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Post by uscvel on Oct 19, 2024 14:26:32 GMT -5
Who was Karl playing with yesterday? Walker?
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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 19, 2024 14:33:37 GMT -5
Who was Karl playing with yesterday? Walker? Yes. Hearing now Coakley and Walker had some minor ailments which was the reason for the swaps. |
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Post by burbank55 on Oct 19, 2024 15:12:03 GMT -5
TCU also didn’t play their TCU vs TCU match. Nor LMU vs LMU. Makes sense since the pairs play each other enough in practice.
Glad to see Gessner/Pater beat UCLA’s Fernandez/Perez.
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Post by beachnut94 on Oct 19, 2024 16:22:21 GMT -5
Seems smart to forfeit the head to heads. No reason to play those and risk injury or drama.
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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 19, 2024 16:36:54 GMT -5
TCU also didn’t play their TCU vs TCU match. Nor LMU vs LMU. Makes sense since the pairs play each other enough in practice. Glad to see Gessner/Pater beat UCLA’s Fernandez/Perez. Did they though? Seems an odd score for the TCU forfeit. |
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Post by burbank55 on Oct 19, 2024 16:40:46 GMT -5
TCU also didn’t play their TCU vs TCU match. Nor LMU vs LMU. Makes sense since the pairs play each other enough in practice. Glad to see Gessner/Pater beat UCLA’s Fernandez/Perez. Did they though? Seems an odd score for the TCU forfeit. Oh, maybe I was remembering the LMU v LMU match…. |
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Post by burbank55 on Oct 22, 2024 12:42:56 GMT -5
Ok, here are my Trojans oriented notes from a couple of hours of watching the AVCA Qualifier tourney on Sunday…
MB Pier area was even more congested than normal as there was a concurrent Pier to Pier Walk Fundraiser with maybe 1000-2000 participants.
This tournament showed that the level of NCAA competition continues to elevate across the board as more and more of these young women have played Beach VB since an early age. So VB IQ and skill level really impressed.
Disclaimer: my VB notes are as an untrained fan and with very limited sample size so may not be indicative of usual performance.
- Zoey Henson’s gotten hype from before she joined Washington and this was my first time watching her. In the quarterfinal losers match against LMU, Henson’s performance showed, dare I say it, solid pro potential. She gets up and consistently pounds the ball. She covers the court like she’s running on grass. Great instincts at anticipating where touch shots are going. Will need to see more to judge the rest of her game.
- Maddi White continues to improve. It seems like her touch has improved on offense. I saw her execute a perfect dink over the net.
- Maya Gessner seemed solid. Didn’t see any Grace Seits level blocking wow moments though. Good to see that Gessner/Pater earned 3rd place by beating TCU’s Gonzalez/Navais (presumably TCU’s 3s though).
- Calinda Kok also seemed good, not great. In my limited viewing, she didn’t show anything at a higher level than Delaney Karl. Maybe consistency?
Didn’t see UCLA’s Boyd/Dodd pairing in person, but they only went 4-4 in Silver division. Either someone is hurt/recovering or Dodd is not nearly ready to play 1s or 2s like some have speculated. Lost to Cal 2 (must really be 5th pair), TCU 4, ASU 6, Stanford 5.
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Post by hbmb10k on Oct 23, 2024 2:31:32 GMT -5
Good to hear about Henson cause I had heard she didn't have a good game against Pater/Gessner. It was a lopsided score. Thomas/Coakley crushed ASU's #1 pair as well in their only match against a quality team. Kok maybe is not mature enough to start despite her natural talent. Hopefully, Young or Karl can step in and start. Gonzales/Navais did beat Hamlett/Khmil so I was impressed with Pater/Gessner's win over that team. Pater really matches up well against ball control teams or teams with traditional blocker/defender players. It's really only split blockers or athletic defenders where she get's challenged. I was bummed the lower courts didn't have a better record but it's early. Sometimes when you pair an above average defender with a lower court blocker, the blocker starts getting served and they are just not used to that.
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