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Post by tomclen on Oct 9, 2021 5:17:26 GMT -5
A win is a win. Montana State was a win. Now UA is a win for the Dawgs.
But the streaky play, especially the inability to side-out, is going to be a killer at some point.
UW was up 10-2 in the first set. 10-2! And still lost. They allowed UA to go on runs of 6-1 and 5-1 to pull it out.
The second set was nearly disaster because UA went on runs of 4-1; 4-0 and 4-1. UA had a 21-17 lead when UW went on an 8-2 run to pull out the win.
In the 3rd set, UW only allowed a couple of 3-point runs. Despite being up 15-7, UA made it relatively close at 25-19.
In the 4th set, Washington had a nice 10-6 lead but they allowed UA to go on an 8-0 run.
Is it the blocking? The back-row defense? Both? Something else?
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 9, 2021 14:41:47 GMT -5
But the streaky play, especially the inability to side-out, is going to be a killer at some point. Is it the blocking? The back-row defense? Both? Something else? Yep, it will be a killer at some point. Long runs don't happen unless you don't side out five or six or seven times in a row. That means your passing has broken down or you simply can't terminate. I missed the match last night but watched the replay just now. In the Huskies case, their side out offense disappeared for long stretches, something that shouldn't be happening with EMP setting and hitters like Drechsel, Grote, Hoffman, and Endsley. I give a LOT of credit to Arizona's defense, though. They outblocked the Huskies and got a ton of soft blocks on Hoffman and Endsley. Their floor defense was excellent, especially the libero Hiapo. Once Hodge finds her groove, Arizona is going to surprise some people. They are fundamentally sound on defense and I like their setter Herman. Fortunately for the Huskies, Sam Drechsel appears to have completely shaken off her early season blues and Marin Grote, after a slow start to the match, really started dominating in sets 3 and 4. The Lauren Bays serve didn't do a whole lot but she played some nice back row defense and Crenshaw, after a slow start, also played some nice defense. We will need more from Hoffman offensively but she compensated her low hitting percentage with her all-around play. The key going forward might be getting Endsley going. She didn't look entirely comfortable out there after missing last weekend. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 9, 2021 17:23:26 GMT -5
But the streaky play, especially the inability to side-out, is going to be a killer at some point. UW was up 10-2 in the first set. 10-2! And still lost. They allowed UA to go on runs of 6-1 and 5-1 to pull it out. The second set was nearly disaster because UA went on runs of 4-1; 4-0 and 4-1. UA had a 21-17 lead when UW went on an 8-2 run to pull out the win. In the 3rd set, UW only allowed a couple of 3-point runs. Despite being up 15-7, UA made it relatively close at 25-19. In the 4th set, Washington had a nice 10-6 lead but they allowed UA to go on an 8-0 run. Is it the blocking? The back-row defense? Both? Something else? Arizona outblocked UW 14 to 12, especially against their left-side hitters, with Fellows (MB) with 8 blocks and Herman (S) with 5 blocks, plus very good backrow defense in left-back by Hiapo (L) with 17 digs. Hoffman, Bush, and Endsley had 18 hitting errors, hitting .060. To add to the damage, Herman had 8 kills (.667). Usually, when you give up a lot of long runs, it is because you're getting stuck in bad rotations, with Powell in the frontrow and Drechsel in the backrow, for instance. UW did improve its efficiency, from 9 to 7 to 6 to 4 hitting errors, while becoming less left-centric (58% in Sets 1 and 2 vs 44% in Sets 3 and 4). We did roll the dice to start Set 3, presumably to get better matchups. Grote and Drechsel finished strong: 8-0-9 (.888) and 10-1-17 (.529) in Sets 3 and 4. Still, it was a very competitive match that could have gone either way. AZ came within a whisker of going up 2-0. UW's blocking assignments were complicated by AZ having a very aggressive setter in Herman (8-0-12, .667). AZ had a MB from Seattle with a point to prove in Fellows (6-1-9/.556 and 7 blocks). UW is living on the edge. On the other hand, everyone is gunning for them. |
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Post by huskyvolley on Oct 9, 2021 21:25:49 GMT -5
Rotation 6 is our weakest rotation on paper but it didn't really bite us this spring. AZ definitely exploited that yesterday.
With Endsley, Sanders, EMP in the front row, we struggle to side out. It got even worse when they were trying to run Sanders in front of the setter, so the blockers can easily camp out on the left side. There's no right back attack either because Drechsel is passing at zone 4. Personally I think they need to make Sanders run slides to spread out the blockers and have a bic/pipe option in Hoffman.
I also noticed that they sped up the OOS to outside from EMP. I don't know if I really like this decision because I don't really understand the reasons behind it. But I am impressed how consistently EMP can deliver that ball.
We only won yesterday because of AZ's unforced errors. It's gonna be tough if both of our OHs are struggling offensively and hopefully they can find their rhythm again.
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