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Post by Huskyfan on Oct 8, 2022 10:59:18 GMT -5
Yes, that was a very nice and informative chalk talk by Keegan.
One additional point that I remembered was when Keegan said that Audra had to have a crash course of playing opposite since Madi's injury. So it is not a position she regularly practices at.
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Post by Huskyfan on Oct 8, 2022 11:01:41 GMT -5
Not that any of you asked for his opinion on the matter lmao but I think it’s interesting given the conversation, John Cook on the radio show the other day said that he and others on a committee he’s on are proposing a rule that says if a player has multiple center-line violations in a match, they’re ejected. Too many people getting hurt. Interesting. The problem is still the rule. You shouldn’t have any part of your body over the center line, at ANY time. I don’t even understand why in mens volleyball, big powerful Spikers can bang a ball and come off their approach UNDER the net and just casually jog back to the other side like it’s no big deal just because the ball is technically down and the play is over. Like, no, that’s no ok. I don’t want 200lb freight trains running into me. The only time any player should be coming under the net, ANYWHERE along the net, is to shake hands with the other team, or help another player. I agree, players will be more careful with the landing if touching centerline with any part of the shoe is a fault |
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Post by luckydawg on Oct 8, 2022 11:05:11 GMT -5
I attended last night's OSU game, but before I post impressions of that game (in that game thread), I wanted to let folks know about a pre-match "chalk talk" that Keegan Cook gave to interested season ticket holders. I was pretty skeptical that this would be a worthwhile investment of my time, but I sat down with over 100 other fans shortly after 7 pm last night in the Founder's Club room in Hec Ed. Keegan began by giving a short overview of what the Huskies expected from OSU and Oregon. Then he opened it up to questions. To my shock, Cook fielded a good 15-20 questions over the next 20+ minutes, patiently answering every question with forthright and candid responses. He was relaxed, funny, and entertaining before this friendly crowd. More importantly, he provided some insight into what is going on with this team in 2022. Here are some of the nuggets I remember: -Cook is generally pleased with UW's offense this year, while acknowledging that Endsley's injury (and Crenshaw's, and Cole's absence) are hurting the team. -Defense continues to be a work in progress, especially blocking. Defense behind the block has improved but blocking itself remains a problem. In particular, Cook believes that Summers, Bush, and Hoffman can all improve in this phase of the game. -Endsley has suffered a really bad ankle sprain. (I asked when we might expect Madi back in action.) The gist of Keegan's response was that, while no surgery will be required, it's just a really nasty sprain that will take a long time to rehab. I got the impression that we might not see Madi again this season (but that's just an impression, nothing that Keegan said, unless I missed something). During the match last night, Madi was in a boot and was either riding a three-wheeled scooter to keep all the weight off her injured leg, or hopping around on one leg. Cook also mentioned that, on UW's summer European tour, Crenshaw was the team's regular Opposite since Bush was with the Canadian national team. A really unfortunate combination of injuries. -He also let us know that Crenshaw had been cleared for back row duty. She appeared to be wearing a soft cast last night and took hitting practice before the match (her broken pinky is on her non-dominant left hand). I thought she looked quite comfortable in hitting practice. I assume she will be cleared for front row duty when she can block without risk of additional injury. No idea when that will happen. -Cook singled out Kate Morin as being a pleasant surprise defensively. -Cook said UW is not actively recruiting in Europe but wouldn't reject the possibility, explaining that most of the players UW might be interested in could probably turn pro and make money. He is skeptical that the significant investment of time and resources into European recruiting would pay off, and is happy that UW has been able to recruit all over the USA. He also mentioned that UW hoped to have more good recruiting news in the next month or so. -UW's recruiting attempts to focus more on the intangibles. ("Everyone can see how high a player jumps or how hard she hits the ball.") -UW will have no problem getting ready for Oregon on Sunday. I briefly talked with Keegan after the match. He said he was very surprised that this many fans were interested in what he had to say and really enjoyed the time with them. |
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 8, 2022 17:36:25 GMT -5
One more point that could be relevant to future serving success by UW. Maeve Griffin has only played in six sets this year, primarily as a late match serving sub. That's what she did last night against OSU. I couldn't help noticing an excellent serve, and then I remembered that this is the same impression I have each time she comes in. Checking the stats, Maeve is leading the team in aces per set, with a super high .67. Claire is next at .50, then Madi at .34.
Keegan and the rest of the staff: I'm sure you are on this, but if you are looking for another Maria Bogomolova type serving sub, she might already be on the team.
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 8, 2022 17:47:54 GMT -5
Another stat that should interest everyone. Sophie Summers has averaged .94 blocks per set in conference play. Bush and Grote are at .53. Ok, we're just five games in, so it's a small sample size, and Grote was much the better blocker during non-conference play. But Sophie is coming on pretty strong, especially the last few matches. Grote must get better. Again, a small sample size.
Clearly, the team as a whole needs to really pick up blocking. For example, Hoffman is at .18 in conference. As a measure of comparison, last year Sanders averaged 1.23 blocks per set for the entire season and Grote 1.05, Summers .68, and Bush .59.
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Post by blue-footedbooby on Oct 8, 2022 19:24:25 GMT -5
Ms win!, Ms win!, Ms win!
Where's Dave Niehaus when you need him. I miss the guy.
Go Ms!
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 8, 2022 19:55:01 GMT -5
GO MARINERS!!!!!
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 16, 2022 15:57:47 GMT -5
On one end of the spectrum I think getting out of the mountain schools 1-1 isn't "bad". Both Utah and Colorado factor to be tournament teams. However, the sweep at Utah is concerning, and really highlights how critical Hoffman is to our success. We are going to NEED Wilmes, Bush, and Summers to pick it up offensively. You can count on one hand the number of times we've been swept in like the last 5 years.
In terms of UW's seed chances, it's helpful that Purdue also finally took a loss after continually escaping 5 set losses. It would have been nice if Depaul could have pulled out the win against Creighton and Rice could have taken a bad loss to Charlotte, but it didn't happen.
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Post by VolleyballFella on Oct 16, 2022 16:11:32 GMT -5
On one end of the spectrum I think getting out of the mountain schools 1-1 isn't "bad". Both Utah and Colorado factor to be tournament teams. However, the sweep at Utah is concerning, and really highlights how critical Hoffman is to our success. We are going to NEED Wilmes, Bush, and Summers to pick it up offensively. You can count on one hand the number of times we've been swept in like the last 5 years. In terms of UW's seed chances, it's helpful that Purdue also finally took a loss after continually escaping 5 set losses. It would have been nice if Depaul could have pulled out the win against Creighton and Rice could have taken a bad loss to Charlotte, but it didn't happen. Did Hoffman not play against Utah? Or just had a bad night? |
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 16, 2022 16:12:34 GMT -5
On one end of the spectrum I think getting out of the mountain schools 1-1 isn't "bad". Both Utah and Colorado factor to be tournament teams. However, the sweep at Utah is concerning, and really highlights how critical Hoffman is to our success. We are going to NEED Wilmes, Bush, and Summers to pick it up offensively. You can count on one hand the number of times we've been swept in like the last 5 years. In terms of UW's seed chances, it's helpful that Purdue also finally took a loss after continually escaping 5 set losses. It would have been nice if Depaul could have pulled out the win against Creighton and Rice could have taken a bad loss to Charlotte, but it didn't happen. Did Hoffman not play against Utah? Or just had a bad night? bad night |
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Post by ay2013 on Oct 17, 2022 15:14:05 GMT -5
Illinois losing all of those 5 set matches (Illinois State, Marquette, Purdue, Wisconsin) really has the possibility of biting UW hard as they are currently projected to end the season 15-15 and just outside of the RPI top 75 which means Washington doesn't get the scheduling bonus. After the loss to Utah, I think our path to a seed is the following: lose no more than 2 more matches (beat our projected record by 1 fewer loss) and for Illinois to be in the top 75 rpi so that we get the scheduling bonus.
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 17, 2022 18:09:10 GMT -5
We are going to NEED Wilmes, Bush, and Summers to pick it up offensively. Couldn't agree more. There should be limits on what we can expect from Wilmes. She's getting more sets (24 attempts in Boulder) and that's a good sign. As I said in the Colorado match thread, if she can average 20 or more attempts per match and hit somewhere around .200, it's a big positive. Bush has had a really good season but there is room to improve by both being more terminal and cutting down OOS errors. It's going to take more than better offense by a couple hitters, however. UW's defense -- and I mean all phases of the defense -- still has lots of room for improvement. When Hoffman is on, UW can be an elite offensive team. If they want to contend for a league title AND go deep in the tourney, the defensive improvement is key. |
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Post by redbeard2008 on Oct 17, 2022 20:51:08 GMT -5
Blocks/Set (Conference) - min. 10 sets:
1. Summers 0.86
2. Grote 0.62
3. Bush 0.59
4. Wilmes 0.32
5. Powell 0.28
The difference may be that Summers is playing two rotations with Bush in the frontrow, while Grote is only playing one. UW wants Bush to block against the opposing OPP, giving her more blocking opportunities, leaving Hoffman to hit against the opposing Setter. Block assists, of course, are awarded to two blockers, regardless of which one actually blocked the ball.
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Post by huskyvolley on Oct 18, 2022 11:14:51 GMT -5
I have recognized a trend.
During 2015-2019, UW was pretty comfortable with 6-10 range when it comes to seeding. (2018 was an exception because it was a rebuilding year)
But these couple years, we are fighting for being seeded. Last year, we were 15th seed. We might not be seeded if we lost 2 more conference matches this year.
Why?
I don't think we are losing more these couple years. UW always loses some weird matches every now and then, but it did not really influence our RPI rankings that much. The impact of those losses really hurt us these couple years. Is it because of the decline of Pac12? or is it because of the decline of the program? or is it because of the increase of the parity among top teams?
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Post by alwayslearning on Oct 18, 2022 11:29:29 GMT -5
My gut reaction is that other schools and leagues have gotten better, especially the B1G and the ACC, while the Pac (with the exception of the great Stanford NC teams) has not. There does seem to be more parity this year, at least that's what my gut says.
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