Maryland @ Illinois: Fri 9/23/22, 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET (BTN+)

[bucky415]

Sept 23, 2022 22:02:32 GMT -5 trojansc said:

yikes, Maryland up 23-20 in the 4th and loses it 23-25.

Welp, they lost their league opener this year, rather than winning it, and I don't feel like puking as a result of their league opener. Big win for the Illini. They need to bring it against Northwestern and win that one too.

[volleyaudience]

Whew.

[vball778]

Kids learning the game need to watch Mosher. Truly personifies what it means to be an all-around player. What a special athlete. We’re lucky to have her.

Happy with Barnes tonight. Terry and Mosher were obviously our only offense. Burbage needs to step it up. Our depth is truly pathetic. We have 3 middles on the bench and an OH and our best option to fill in in case of an injury is a true setter? It was clearly the right choice, but again… revealing of Tamas’ recruiting abilities.

On to northwestern.

[exit237a]

KYLA!!! With the solo block for the win!

[pointillinois]

Don't know if it was shown on TV, but Cooney, Holzman, and Whittington sat behind the team tonight. Whittington was quite active and even ran to the team after the match to sing the Alma Mater.

[exit237a]

Sept 23, 2022 22:31:42 GMT -5 pointillinois said:

Don't know if it was shown on TV, but Cooney, Holzman, and Whittington sat behind the team tonight. Whittington was quite active and even ran to the team after the match to sing the Alma Mater.

So cool to see the continued support from those guys, including our former manager, Michael Ryan who was sitting with them!  Had fun watching their reactions throughout the match.  They were getting pretty animated : )

[alt]

Sept 23, 2022 22:09:48 GMT -5 vball778 said:

Kids learning the game need to watch Mosher. Truly personifies what it means to be an all-around player. What a special athlete. We’re lucky to have her.

Happy with Barnes tonight. Terry and Mosher were obviously our only offense. Burbage needs to step it up. Our depth is truly pathetic. We have 3 middles on the bench and an OH and our best option to fill in in case of an injury is a true setter? It was clearly the right choice, but again… revealing of Tamas’ recruiting abilities.

On to northwestern.

Mosher showed as all how great of an overall athlete and player she truly is. She should be an all around OH this season. She is just so stable and has a calming feel when she is on the court. Also I was impressed with Greugus I think she should be player over Sakoda as DS. 

[ilalum92]

Sept 23, 2022 22:31:42 GMT -5 pointillinois said:

Don't know if it was shown on TV, but Cooney, Holzman, and Whittington sat behind the team tonight. Whittington was quite active and even ran to the team after the match to sing the Alma Mater.

Great to see them supporting the team. Cant help but wish 2 of the 3 were on the court this season.

[liberovb10]

just watched the replay….

Can’t say enough good things about Mosher, the girl is a STUD. Stepping up to play OH2 in the B1G opener and hits .341??! If anyone has the ability to to lead this team with fire and passion it’s her.

We need to get the middles going. I think it was Kyla who had her 2nd and 3rd kill of the match late in set 4 with only 10 (?) total swings on the night? The offense needs to be spread around, going to Terry for the first 5 points of the match and then feeding her consistently through the night isn’t going to cut it against the big teams.

One thing i noticed…Barnes waived Brown off a ton in a number of second ball situations (where brown wasnt the first contact). A lot of those were within Brown’s reach to take but kept getting waived off, are they trying to conserve her energy? Just seemed like a consistent trend throughout the night and wondered if anyone else noticed?

[vbkahuna]

Sept 23, 2022 22:09:48 GMT -5 vball778 said:

Kids learning the game need to watch Mosher. Truly personifies what it means to be an all-around player. What a special athlete. We’re lucky to have her.

Happy with Barnes tonight. Terry and Mosher were obviously our only offense. Burbage needs to step it up. Our depth is truly pathetic. We have 3 middles on the bench and an OH and our best option to fill in in case of an injury is a true setter? It was clearly the right choice, but again… revealing of Tamas’ recruiting abilities.

On to northwestern.

Last night was not only the opening of the B1G season for the Illini but also the opening of "A Star is Born"...namely the start of the Brooke Mosher era. She's definitely a special athlete. And she showed that she's not only a true setter but a true hitter too, showing an impressive assortment of big swings, roll shots, and clever swipes. Could possibly be the Illini version of Wisconsin's Orzol. But she won't have the time to develop into that because next year she's going to take over the setter's job for the next 3 years. Lucky for you.

Yes, Illinois is "lucky to have her". But you say that like maybe she accidentally got off the wrong bus in Champaign. Somehow it seems to escape you that you have her because Tamas recruited her AND had the smarts to continue to develop her hitting role, indeed making the "right choice" of inserting her as on OH...for now. It also seems to escape you that Tamas also recruited Raina Terry, who will become an All-American before long, as well as Ellie Holzman, a Gatorade National Player of the Year, who is one of 3 Illini who had to take medical retirements in the last two years.

Which brings us to the lack of depth. I agree. But I disagree on why. You're welcome to your opinion on the cause. The 3 medical retirements and the two current injured (including your starting OH2) certainly are a part of it. But here's another observation. 

Do you seriously think downtown Champaign-Urbana and 97-year-old Huff Hall are recruit magnets? I'd say Tamas and his staff have probably (out of necessity) adapted their recruiting strategy to look for those diamonds in the rough, possibly overlooked and possibly playing in different positions (Kuper and Collins come to mind) to slowly develop them into future stars. And so far, they've made the playoffs 4 out of 5 years, with two Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four.

So yeah, thank your lucky stars. Not just for Mosher, but for Tamas too. 

[vbkahuna]

Sept 24, 2022 9:16:18 GMT -5 liberovb10 said:

just watched the replay….

Can’t say enough good things about Mosher, the girl is a STUD. Stepping up to play OH2 in the B1G opener and hits .341??! If anyone has the ability to to lead this team with fire and passion it’s her.

We need to get the middles going. I think it was Kyla who had her 2nd and 3rd kill of the match late in set 4 with only 10 (?) total swings on the night? The offense needs to be spread around, going to Terry for the first 5 points of the match and then feeding her consistently through the night isn’t going to cut it against the big teams.

One thing i noticed…Barnes waived Brown off a ton in a number of second ball situations (where brown wasnt the first contact). A lot of those were within Brown’s reach to take but kept getting waived off, are they trying to conserve her energy? Just seemed like a consistent trend throughout the night and wondered if anyone else noticed?

Great observation about Barnes. I noticed her waving Brown off too. It's called command presence. Pretty amazing for a rookie libero (but you'd know that) to do that to a veteran setter. She's got it and it's only going to get better. 

[vball778]

Sept 24, 2022 9:47:54 GMT -5 vbkahuna said:

Sept 23, 2022 22:09:48 GMT -5 vball778 said:

Kids learning the game need to watch Mosher. Truly personifies what it means to be an all-around player. What a special athlete. We’re lucky to have her.

Happy with Barnes tonight. Terry and Mosher were obviously our only offense. Burbage needs to step it up. Our depth is truly pathetic. We have 3 middles on the bench and an OH and our best option to fill in in case of an injury is a true setter? It was clearly the right choice, but again… revealing of Tamas’ recruiting abilities.

On to northwestern.

Last night was not only the opening of the B1G season for the Illini but also the opening of "A Star is Born"...namely the start of the Brooke Mosher era. She's definitely a special athlete. And she showed that she's not only a true setter but a true hitter too, showing an impressive assortment of big swings, roll shots, and clever swipes. Could possibly be the Illini version of Wisconsin's Orzol. But she won't have the time to develop into that because next year she's going to take over the setter's job for the next 3 years. Lucky for you.

Yes, Illinois is "lucky to have her". But you say that like maybe she accidentally got off the wrong bus in Champaign. Somehow it seems to escape you that you have her because Tamas recruited her AND had the smarts to continue to develop her hitting role, indeed making the "right choice" of inserting her as on OH...for now. It also seems to escape you that Tamas also recruited Raina Terry, who will become an All-American before long, as well as Ellie Holzman, a Gatorade National Player of the Year, who is one of 3 Illini who had to take medical retirements in the last two years.

Which brings us to the lack of depth. I agree. But I disagree on why. You're welcome to your opinion on the cause. The 3 medical retirements and the two current injured (including your starting OH2) certainly are a part of it. But here's another observation. 

Do you seriously think downtown Champaign-Urbana and 97-year-old Huff Hall are recruit magnets? I'd say Tamas and his staff have probably (out of necessity) adapted their recruiting strategy to look for those diamonds in the rough, possibly overlooked and possibly playing in different positions (Kuper and Collins come to mind) to slowly develop them into future stars. And so far, they've made the playoffs 4 out of 5 years, with two Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four.

So yeah, thank your lucky stars. Not just for Mosher, but for Tamas too. 

The transfer portal literally had more kids in it than there were spots available on teams… so like yeah, I think it’s recruiting. He couldn’t convince one or two more kids to come to the #10 public institution in the nation and top 10 ranked college town in the country…? sure it’s not a major metropolitan region or surrounded by lakes or whatever, but damn it’s not like he’s convincing people to come to the junior college of the Big Ten or the armpit of America. To use your point… look at Mosher and Holzman. Why can’t we double down on those big gets?!

And yeah, it is frustrating. Even with Nunge, we had Vrankovic leave and Kuper leave. I am sure they have valid reasons but as a coach you plan around these things and get kids in to do big things. You look down our bench and we have an entire roster of projects or freshmen. West Lafayette is no Paris, and yet Eva Hudson has no issue staying in state to settle for a high school gymnasium. It feels like we’re quickly turning into another Indiana of the big ten (sans coaching scandal… Tamas seems like a class act 100%) in that we have all the reasons why we should be consistently great and it’s getting increasingly frustrating as the years go by to see other teams come out of the gates exceeding expectations to only see us rarely meeting expectations and more often than not disappointing.

[oldmanvb]

Has Barnes ever set for anyone? At 5’11” she is probably big enough to block, her hands looked good when she used them, and with a terrific defender coming in next year using her as the setter may be a way to keep Mosher hitting. We certainly need the help on the left side.

I know this is a crazy and probably stupid suggestion, but as a former converted hitter to setter I can tell you it is not as tough as you think, so long as you are ready to run all night.  The toughest part is learning to keep track of the opposing block.

[ilalum92]

Sept 24, 2022 9:47:54 GMT -5 vbkahuna said:

Sept 23, 2022 22:09:48 GMT -5 vball778 said:

Kids learning the game need to watch Mosher. Truly personifies what it means to be an all-around player. What a special athlete. We’re lucky to have her.

Happy with Barnes tonight. Terry and Mosher were obviously our only offense. Burbage needs to step it up. Our depth is truly pathetic. We have 3 middles on the bench and an OH and our best option to fill in in case of an injury is a true setter? It was clearly the right choice, but again… revealing of Tamas’ recruiting abilities.

On to northwestern.

Last night was not only the opening of the B1G season for the Illini but also the opening of "A Star is Born"...namely the start of the Brooke Mosher era. She's definitely a special athlete. And she showed that she's not only a true setter but a true hitter too, showing an impressive assortment of big swings, roll shots, and clever swipes. Could possibly be the Illini version of Wisconsin's Orzol. But she won't have the time to develop into that because next year she's going to take over the setter's job for the next 3 years. Lucky for you.

Yes, Illinois is "lucky to have her". But you say that like maybe she accidentally got off the wrong bus in Champaign. Somehow it seems to escape you that you have her because Tamas recruited her AND had the smarts to continue to develop her hitting role, indeed making the "right choice" of inserting her as on OH...for now. It also seems to escape you that Tamas also recruited Raina Terry, who will become an All-American before long, as well as Ellie Holzman, a Gatorade National Player of the Year, who is one of 3 Illini who had to take medical retirements in the last two years.

Which brings us to the lack of depth. I agree. But I disagree on why. You're welcome to your opinion on the cause. The 3 medical retirements and the two current injured (including your starting OH2) certainly are a part of it. But here's another observation. 

Do you seriously think downtown Champaign-Urbana and 97-year-old Huff Hall are recruit magnets? I'd say Tamas and his staff have probably (out of necessity) adapted their recruiting strategy to look for those diamonds in the rough, possibly overlooked and possibly playing in different positions (Kuper and Collins come to mind) to slowly develop them into future stars. And so far, they've made the playoffs 4 out of 5 years, with two Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four.

So yeah, thank your lucky stars. Not just for Mosher, but for Tamas too. 

Have you been to Champaign recently? It was voted one of the best college towns in the nation. Nothing like it used to be. So many shops, bars , restaurants etc.