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Post by Brutus Buckeye on Dec 12, 2021 20:58:33 GMT -5
No way Kentucky and Louisville make it to the NC match in back to back years.
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Post by badgerbreath on Dec 12, 2021 21:38:51 GMT -5
The Badgers' last two performances on the national stage have been abysmal. Granted, in 2019 they got Plummed. But they just didn't seem prepared, or something. I hope they have gained valuable experience from that. It is the same crew, after all. It has been a lifetime since they played outside the Field house too. They did OK against Butler in the semi's in 2019. Not particularly great, and they were helped by Sedwicks's off setting to Yossiana. Def looked off against Stanford and Texas. For understandable reasons the performance against Texas was actually worse, IMO, though I appreciated the fightback in the final set. I doubt they would have touched Kentucky playing the way they did that final four. I like the trajectory this year. They took lumps during the B1G to deal with injuries and get better, and they progressively have done so, and won the conference on the way. Hard to complain. They have put themselves in a good position. |
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Post by colby on Dec 12, 2021 21:40:10 GMT -5
No way Kentucky and Louisville make it to the NC match in back to back years. I hope you're right, but why do you say this? |
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Post by badgerbreath on Dec 12, 2021 21:54:48 GMT -5
No way Kentucky and Louisville make it to the NC match in back to back years. I hope you're right, but why do you say this? Bad statistical thinking. |
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Post by trainermch on Dec 12, 2021 22:03:16 GMT -5
*Players to watch*
No Stevenson in that group?
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Post by JJVb on Dec 13, 2021 3:18:17 GMT -5
Wisconsin impressed me in their last two games, but I'm a little concerned that they haven't been pushed more to the point of losing a set. When that happens I think it helps a team, up their level. They have also impressed me before, i.e. last year, and then lost just as quick in the later rounds. It's pretty rare for a team to win out the season all the way. I think if any team can beat Louisville, it is Wisconsin.
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Post by volleyusa on Dec 13, 2021 6:32:55 GMT -5
I think Wisconsin has the experience factor over Louisville on the big stage, but Louisville seems to play more care free. I think Wisconsin will give Louisville lots of issues with their size, but can Wisconsin pass well enough to get the ball to the middle & RS?
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Post by aardvark on Dec 13, 2021 8:04:06 GMT -5
It amuses me how people reach for any data point they can to reinforce their already held notions.
With 105 votes, 56% of the people here think Wisconsin will win. This is very close to the percent that think Nebraska will win the other semi.
However, the dialogue here seems more technical, while the other thread feels more emotional.
Louisville 32-0. SOS rank 5.
Wisconsin 29-3. SOS rank 7.
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Post by savannahbadger on Dec 13, 2021 9:51:26 GMT -5
Wisconsin impressed me in their last two games, but I'm a little concerned that they haven't been pushed more to the point of losing a set. When that happens I think it helps a team, up their level. They have also impressed me before, i.e. last year, and then lost just as quick in the later rounds. It's pretty rare for a team to win out the season all the way. I think if any team can beat Louisville, it is Wisconsin. Penn State led 2-1 before the Badgers came back to win the match at home (one of those sets went to 36 points to win). They've gone past 25 a number of times this year. I don't know much about Louisville, having watched them for the first time while eating dinner at the Big Ten Pub on Regent before we headed over to the Field House to watch the UW-MN match. I didn't see a whole lot, so I can't say much about them, but I think this is clearly a much stronger, deeper team than the past two years. I'm not sure I'd say that if not for the forced lineup change with Hart going down for the season. I don't think Demps would have emerged as a solid back row player much less turned into a decent serving option. That is one of things that Sheffield noted in the loss to Stanford in 2019, that they could attack from anywhere, keeping us off balance. They didn't develop that option in spring of 2021, but how could you blame them for not doing so when you've got the front row power that we had? |
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Post by savannahbadger on Dec 13, 2021 10:01:02 GMT -5
The Badgers' last two performances on the national stage have been abysmal. Granted, in 2019 they got Plummed. But they just didn't seem prepared, or something. I hope they have gained valuable experience from that. It is the same crew, after all. It has been a lifetime since they played outside the Field house too. This is a much different team that those past two years. I don't know if I can say they're better, but definitely different and more than likely deeper than they have been in years, if not ever. |
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Post by Wiswell on Dec 13, 2021 10:03:47 GMT -5
Wisconsin impressed me in their last two games, but I'm a little concerned that they haven't been pushed more to the point of losing a set. When that happens I think it helps a team, up their level. They have also impressed me before, i.e. last year, and then lost just as quick in the later rounds. It's pretty rare for a team to win out the season all the way. I think if any team can beat Louisville, it is Wisconsin. Oh, they have. When they have won their sets, more than 90 percent of the time it took three or more opponent points to finally get the set point. Not an exaggeration. |
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Post by BuckysHeat on Dec 13, 2021 10:20:38 GMT -5
Wisconsin impressed me in their last two games, but I'm a little concerned that they haven't been pushed more to the point of losing a set. A few recent examples from the last 3 weeks: Vs UCLA, were up 18-17 before running the table in the second set and then again up 19-16 before winning the third 25-17 Vs Minnesota (12/11), were down 15-12 and tied at 24's before winning the 2nd set. Third set were tied at 18's Vs Nebraska (11/26), lost first set 25-14, down 20-19 in the 2nd before winning 25-23, down 18-17 in the third before winning 26-24 Went 5 with Minnesota (11/21) before winning. Were at 13-12 in the 5th before two Minnesota hitting errors |
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Post by robtearle on Dec 13, 2021 10:27:28 GMT -5
Wisconsin impressed me in their last two games, but I'm a little concerned that they haven't been pushed more to the point of losing a set. A few recent examples from the last 3 weeks: Vs UCLA, were up 18-17 before running the table in the second set and then again up 19-16 before winning the third 25-17 Vs Minnesota (12/11), were down 15-12 and tied at 24's before winning the 2nd set. Third set were tied at 18's Vs Nebraska (11/26), lost first set 25-14, down 20-19 in the 2nd before winning 25-23, down 18-17 in the third before winning 26-24 Went 5 with Minnesota (11/21) before winning. Were at 13-12 in the 5th before two Minnesota hitting errors The match at Minnesota on 11/21, Wisconsin was down 2 sets to 1, and down 17-10 in the 4th; came back to win that 4th set, and win the match. |
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Post by Wiswell on Dec 13, 2021 10:52:25 GMT -5
At 17-10 I turned off the tv. Oops.
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Post by hail2pitt on Dec 13, 2021 10:58:27 GMT -5
I'm interested to see how Wisconsin plays against a setter that plays well in the match. Martin from UCLA and Shaffmaster from Minnesota were NOT good at Wisconsin in the regional and made their hitters ineffective by limiting the amount of balls they could swing hard at with bad location. and we all know Wisconsin is too good defensively to let a lot of soft shots go down, especially when they are obviously coming. Dilfer is very consistent and runs a balanced offense, although nothing too fast or flashy but she is good with good location!
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