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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2021 12:42:09 GMT -5
No thanks to a low academic school like Lincoln.
They got in the Big Ten solely to win national champions for the conference in football. Oops. Great move, Jim Delany, really worked out just like you were thinking.
Moving on
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Post by craftylefty on Dec 21, 2021 12:54:35 GMT -5
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To folks who went to the scrimmage, how did Crowl look?
Crowl did well. Didn’t get a lot of looks offensively early but gradually received more attempts as the day went on. She was (maybe surprisingly to me) very technically sound for a freshman, yet also hit a lot of balls just to keep them in play, as opposed to really terminating. Definitely a slower-twitch athlete and not a huge jumper (think along the lines of a Plummer), but she really did everything well. She did get some nice in-system swings where she was able to really terminate near the end. Blocking was good - even set a few balls well.
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Post by Kingsley on Dec 21, 2021 13:07:09 GMT -5
No thanks to a low academic school like Lincoln. No wonder I got accepted. |
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:27:21 GMT -5
Traditionally, having a tall Opp was great for blocking OH. Will be interesting to see now if we continue to use our tallest pin hitter (Landfair) at OH to counter the WI slide attack, or if we'll go the traditional route. Smrek right over the middle could be more if not as dangerous than Rettke and her slide. |
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:30:46 GMT -5
MB Crawford from Kansas just committed to Wisconsin...nooooooooooooo! Bummer, don't they have enough middles? I just feel a lot of colleges are benefitting more from the transfer portal than ever before. |
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:35:54 GMT -5
] To folks who went to the scrimmage, how did Crowl look? Crowl did well. Didn’t get a lot of looks offensively early but gradually received more attempts as the day went on. She was (maybe surprisingly to me) very technically sound for a freshman, yet also hit a lot of balls just to keep them in play, as opposed to really terminating. Definitely a slower-twitch athlete and not a huge jumper (think along the lines of a Plummer), but she really did everything well. She did get some nice in-system swings where she was able to really terminate near the end. Blocking was good - even set a few balls well. I was getting in comparison some Adrianna Nora vibes. Or was it just me? |
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Post by Badger Alum on Dec 21, 2021 13:38:01 GMT -5
Wisc did get their first natty ... by having three of their major stars be 5th year players, something completely and totally unprecedented. Huge asterisk on that title, forever. That said, they don't even get close without Smrek. I can't say for Hilley, but to me Barnes and particularly Rettke were very meh in the FF matches. They were good to great, of course, because they're AA players. But they weren't stars or dominant, at all. Nebraska was there, and should have won it, because they had three AA level liberos in their back row. Not sure if that's realistic for us, or anyone. Unless we have more consistent firepower out of middle sets and hits, we have a ceiling that is probably south of the FF. Wow....the jealousy is strong with this one. I feel sorry for you. |
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Post by Sub One! on Dec 21, 2021 13:39:31 GMT -5
Traditionally, having a tall Opp was great for blocking OH. Will be interesting to see now if we continue to use our tallest pin hitter (Landfair) at OH to counter the WI slide attack, or if we'll go the traditional route. Smrek right over the middle could be more if not as dangerous than Rettke and her slide. Yes, but then you also have the option to triple block. The slide is often dangerous because of the matchup issues it can cause with smaller OH. Just curious if Hugh will strategize to defend 6'9" or play the best hitters front-row regardless of size, and just use Booth. |
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:42:59 GMT -5
Personally, I just didn't feel our offense this season was running SMOOTH at all after watching several teams in the post season....a middle game would certainly help. Nice to be hopeful, but still many questions to be answered.
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Post by ted_heise on Dec 21, 2021 13:43:11 GMT -5
Can we put them both in the transfer portal and send them to Nebraska? We don’t have a scholarship for them. Whew! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2021 13:44:07 GMT -5
Smrek's best blocking success was on the right side, blocking with Rettke as middle. Just could not understand, often shaking my head, laughing at the TV, why OH again and again and again tried to power right through two sets of 6'913821937" hands. Just silly beyond silly.
Not sure if she hit better on the right side or middle, guessing middle. Does she have the speed/athleticism to block middle? She's tall, and doesn't even need to jump, but how about the lateral quickness?
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:48:48 GMT -5
Smrek right over the middle could be more if not as dangerous than Rettke and her slide. Yes, but then you also have the option to triple block. The slide is often dangerous because of the matchup issues it can cause with smaller OH. Just curious if Hugh will strategize to defend 6'9" or play the best hitters front-row regardless of size, and just use Booth. The slide when we played Wisconsin was a HUGE issue for us to defendd just like Minnesota not having a slide in our offense was a HUGE issue. Hugh really needs to correct the middle situation. I just don't see how we can survive next season without it. |
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Post by gopherhim on Dec 21, 2021 13:56:31 GMT -5
Is Booth more of an M1 or M2? Can she hit off of one foot? What about Wolf for that matter?
Husemann ran a few slides this fall but was always the M2. She could be M1 if needed, but from the limited match reps we saw it does seem like she’s more comfortable in front of the setter.
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 13:57:42 GMT -5
As great a middle as Stivrins is, she could not defend the quick middle set to Smrek. So we will next season by putting a 6'7" inexperienced middle to defend her? I can see it happening as the season goes on, but not right away.
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Post by courtwatchers on Dec 21, 2021 14:11:49 GMT -5
Not many are talking about Wolf. I remember I did like what I saw during the St. Thomas game. I know that was not a very competitive game to speak of, but she brought some moxie to the position.
Hugh is not going to change setters no matter what. He has fully invested in Shaffmaster. When it comes to our middle game, it might just come down to whoever can adjust to her setting and/or connect with her the best way possible or scrap the hitting entirely and we are talking who will be our BEST BLOCKERS.
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