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Post by mosser on Sept 24, 2023 16:02:07 GMT -5
Yeah I’d rather see her battle for an ncaa championship rather than battle to not be worst in the big ten.
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Post by brucks on Sept 24, 2023 16:59:14 GMT -5
Kennedy Collins was a beast today.
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Post by brucks on Sept 24, 2023 17:01:50 GMT -5
How do we start a NIL fund for Raina 2024? she deserves better! will probably end up in Madison next season and tear the conference apart haha. www.iconforillini.com/
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Post by exit237a on Sept 24, 2023 17:02:07 GMT -5
Kennedy Collins was a beast today. Yes, great match from KC! And props to Brooke on recognizing it and getting her a bunch of sets. Really good connection between them today.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 24, 2023 19:53:11 GMT -5
Watching our MB ( Collins) read the offense & pick up tips with perfect passes was awesome. She had a great match. Raina was off today. Bohm looked great on the block and had some good swings.
Defense had some bright spots but still lots of mistakes. Not sure why Burbage lacks confidence. She plays better when she does t think and just takes a rip. Nunge is the same way. She hits better when she is a little off the net and doesn’t run under the ball. Mosher had some good on 2 plays.
We got pummeled by an old ISU player (Moore) who is 5’9.” The teams beating us have smaller hitters who are quick, athletic, can jump and run a quicker offense.
Hopefully this gives the team a little confidence. But going 5 with MSU, not a good sign.
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Post by bops68 on Sept 24, 2023 20:34:14 GMT -5
Great win and must win honestly. I felt the team looked better in a lot of areas but still long ways to go. Passing was better but still not good. Defense was scrappy but we still seem out of position and reactiom times are not great....see oldmanvb comments. Offensively the biggest hurdle is we don't have any consistent hitter besides Terry and Collins although Bohm appears to be making progress.
Terry - she is just such a great athlete. We would be awful without her. She is far from perfect but we put a lot of pressure and responsibility on her and set her a ton in critical situationd when everyone knows she is getting it.
Collins - she was fantastic today. I feel like we are seeing the Collins we remember. Seems to have her elevation back and playing with intensity.
Bohm - she has been improving which you love to see. She is moving better laterally which means she is closing the block better which resulted in some great blocks. I think she needs to get more sets if possible. She was effective and when she is in front that is some tough rotations with Nunge and/or Burbage with her. She was the most effective of the three but need a pass to feed her which can be a challenge. If she can continue to work on her fitness/quickness she could end up being a great blocker for us.
Moser - she seemed more consistent but she still was streaky at times with her location. MSU seemed to focus on tooling the outside blockers late and she got tooled more than I would like but that is just me. She is too athletic
Barnes - passed way better today. Defense was ok. She definitely should be the libero but needs improvement.
Barry - didn't really pass well at all at all. Defense seems out of position a lot but they all do. She was scrappy though.
Pan - passed better but not great. Defense was better but not great.
Nunge - struggled. Tried to rip a few early and got stuffed. Lost confidence and rolled, tipped, hit out. Not a good night and feel for her bc she hasn't had the time the others have add.
Burbage - not very good. Hit out a lot. Tooled on the block a lot. Seemed disinterested honestly. If the set isn't in front of her or on or behind her even a little bit she is wailing it out of bounds. Moser's sets especially back sets can be inconsistent and off the net so that is a problem for her but at this level she should be able to adjust her approach. Also she never seems ready for a set in transition situations. She is getting set a lower ball even in transition so she needs to get her approach going and she always seems flat footed which makes her late and tips. Seems coaching can address that???
So played better I thought but struggled when Terry or Collins wasn't in the front. That is when MSU would make runs. Good win. Needed win. MSU was scrappy but by no means a great team.
Oh and how can we struggle time and time again to get Moser a good pass on free balls!!! We make free balls look difficult!!
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Post by bops68 on Sept 24, 2023 20:39:42 GMT -5
Watching our MB ( Collins) read the offense & pick up tips with perfect passes was awesome. She had a great match. Raina was off today. Bohm looked great on the block and had some good swings. Defense had some bright spots but still lots of mistakes. Not sure why Burbage lacks confidence. She plays better when she does t think and just takes a rip. Nunge is the same way. She hits better when she is a little off the net and doesn’t run under the ball. Mosher had some good on 2 plays. We got pummeled by an old ISU player (Moore) who is 5’9.” The teams beating us have smaller hitters who are quick, athletic, can jump and run a quicker offense. Hopefully this gives the team a little confidence. But going 5 with MSU, not a good sign. Yes Moore was good for them. She is a pogo stick and she was very effective against us. I had to look her up bc I thought I remembered her when we played ISU.
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Post by inpaign on Sept 24, 2023 23:02:17 GMT -5
My quick thoughts on the Michigan State game. Let me know if you agree/disagree ---
Backrow defense was actually pretty good (compared to usual). Our serve receive was solid as well. Kennedy Collins and Raina had great games, not sure where we would be without them. Cari Bohm also looked good, especially on blocking. Service errors kill us far too often...when we aren't playing top Big Ten teams I just feel it is much more beneficial to get the ball in play and give our blockers a chance. There's a point when you dial it back and I question why we don't do that more often. Kayla Burbage was tooled far too much and hit the ball out of bounds far too often. I was sad to see her benched but it had to happen - Bingham looked solid as her replacement. Nunge struggled today and didn't have many kills considering it was a 5 set match. I recognize she just joined the team a couple of weeks ago but we need more production from her in order for us to have any success the rest of this year. Brooke Mosher was...her usual self. Sets were just not consistent. Her sets to Burbage were way too low or too pushed out, there seemed to be a connection issue there. The sets that were on point Burbage was able to terminate. I've also noticed Terry and Nunge are approaching sets with different speeds. Raina tends to be a little quicker. the problem is Brooke's setting the same pace for both and it often looks like Nunge is trying to catch up to it and is being forced to swing into the block. Hopefully with time this gets settled out. I thought for sure we would lose this match after set 3, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the fight in this team. Michigan St. is improved from last year, no question about it. We have a lot of work to do, will be interesting to see how we perform against Penn St. and Iowa next weekend.
Also, does anyone know when RPI starts getting released? I'm very curious to see where we currently stand in that regard. Thanks!
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Post by pointillinois on Sept 25, 2023 9:18:25 GMT -5
Kennedy was a joy to watch yesterday; was really hoping she could get to 20 kills. Nothing to add from the others, they are spot on. For the remainder of this season, I'm just gonna enjoy watching Kennedy and Raina while we have them. It was good to see Bingham and Bohm get some positive minutes. Seeing tangible improvement from them, Mosher, Barnes, and Barry is really important for next season. Feel bad for Jess and Kayla - both struggled tremendously.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 25, 2023 10:20:27 GMT -5
I agree we looked much better overall. Our block was tooled too much, and we weren’t always good about sealing to the net, but even those issues are getting better. As the match went on we did a better job of the outside block turning their hands into the court. I get a kick out of watching coaches on the sideline mimicking a block and turning their outside arm into the middle of the court. It seems a like a universal coach’s involuntary reaction. I was also doing it from in front of the television.
Assuming someone on the coaching staff reads all of our insight, and our insights are driving the practices, it seems our conversations are having a positive impact. LOL.
It is too bad Nunge missed the spring and summer. Those were the times setting pace would have been resolved. I was glad to see her taking good solid swings, even when the ball was blocked. The hard swings are the next step in being able to put the ball away. I feel she is making progress, even as we suffer angst each time she is blocked. Terry and Nunge need to keep talking to Mosher about how they want the ball. Mosher is going through a skill progression. Learning what works for each hitter is a part of that progression. She is also learning to identify where the block is during each play, sometimes easier said than done.
Bohm seems comfortable hitting a 31. I wish they would run it more. The next step is getting Bohm to open herself to Mosher when the ball is off the net. The Indiana setter ran several from behind the 10 foot line which was in effect a 31 from behind the 10 foot line. Worked every time.
Pan’s missed serves are a big concern, although the zone coaches are calling for sometimes make missed serves more likely. Although it worked on one occasion, the serve to zone 4 (right front) necessitates a soft serve, and when it doesn’t fool anyone it is an easy transition to an effective attack. I’m not a fan. Some of our missed serves are because of coaching decisions.
MSU is a good team. They demolished a not very good Michigan team, bad enough I felt sorry for Erin Virtue. I really would like to see Virtue succeed, just not against Illinois.
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Post by inpaign on Sept 25, 2023 10:35:46 GMT -5
I agree we looked much better overall. Our block was tooled too much, and we weren’t always good about sealing to the net, but even those issues are getting better. As the match went on we did a better job of the outside block turning their hands into the court. I get a kick out of watching coaches on the sideline mimicking a block and turning their outside arm into the middle of the court. It seems a like a universal coach’s involuntary reaction. I was also doing it from in front of the television. Assuming someone on the coaching staff reads all of our insight, and our insights are driving the practices, it seems our conversations are having a positive impact. LOL. It is too bad Nunge missed the spring and summer. Those were the times setting pace would have been resolved. I was glad to see her taking good solid swings, even when the ball was blocked. The hard swings are the next step in being able to put the ball away. I feel she is making progress, even as we suffer angst each time she is blocked. Terry and Nunge need to keep talking to Mosher about how they want the ball. Mosher is going through a skill progression. Learning what works for each hitter is a part of that progression. She is also learning to identify where the block is during each play, sometimes easier said than done. Bohm seems comfortable hitting a 31. I wish they would run it more. The next step is getting Bohm to open herself to Mosher when the ball is off the net. The Indiana setter ran several from behind the 10 foot line which was in effect a 31 from behind the 10 foot line. Worked every time. Pan’s missed serves are a big concern, although the zone coaches are calling for sometimes make missed serves more likely. Although it worked on one occasion, the serve to zone 4 (right front) necessitates a soft serve, and when it doesn’t fool anyone it is an easy transition to an effective attack. I’m not a fan. Some of our missed serves are because of coaching decisions. MSU is a good team. They demolished a not very good Michigan team, bad enough I felt sorry for Erin Virtue. I really would like to see Virtue succeed, just not against Illinois. What's interesting is that Virtue wasn't at either of their games this weekend. She was out of the country with the national team. I recognize there's no greater stage than the Olympics but I'm not sure how I would feel as a player (or a fan) if my coach was with another team and missing in-season games. Obviously Michigan knew what they were signing up for, but still a very interesting dynamic there...
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 25, 2023 11:32:45 GMT -5
Agree with mostly everything. Bohm seems to be improving her offense and block. Needs some work on fitness and that would improve even more.
Nunge, sets are all over the place for her. She needs to stop running under the ball. I love her taking a good rip.
Raina had a bit of an off night. Teams are targeting her in serve. She had a lot of errors.
Burbage needs a good sports psychologist. Coaches need her to play with some attitude. She 6’4” and should be clobbering these smaller blockers.
Loved that Bingham came in and made an I impact kill wise.
Our defense was better but still a little split personality. Some great digs and saves and then terrible free ball passes and missed positions on defense. It was nice to see them adjust to digging line. They must read all of our comments.
Collins just amazes me. Great smart kills & blocks. Reads the play and is ther to cover and make digs. Plus she is a decent server.
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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 25, 2023 12:12:36 GMT -5
Some good objective observations here (Nunge's re-adjustment to playing shape/speed, Mosher's skill progression, etc.). I'll add a few, acknowledging that one match obviously doesn't fix everything, but yes, there continues to be progress on multiple fronts. And the official stats confirm it.
From yesterday's stats, the one that leaps out is Collins' amazing 19 kills on 25 attacks for a .680 average. I can't remember the last time I saw that kind of line for an MB. And it's not just a tribute for her personal amazing performance (including having the YTD #6 hitting average, .422, in the B1G), but it also says that at least 3 things had to happen. First, at least 25 passes had to be good enough to get to the setter close to the center of the net, second that the setter had to deliver a hittable ball before the blocking wall got there, and third that she either crushed the kill or tipped it where they ain't (which she did perfectly several times).
So yeah, the passing (and defense on extended rallies) definitely improved. Before the snickering starts from a few of the congenitally bitchy commenters suggesting that Michigan State isn't all that good, let's go to the stat machine again. In the YTD stats for the B1G (as of noon, 9/25/23), the #4, #8, and #10 league leaders for service aces are...from Michigan State (Swain, Iosia, and Holdem). So yeah, progress for the back row. And extra shout out for Lily Barry at #9 in the B1G for digs/game (3.41).
A few more B1G stats of interest for Illini fans. In addition to Collins at #6 for kill average, we have the following. The amazing Raina Terry is #1 (yes, #1) in total points (260.5) and total kills (229), and she is #2 in kills per set (4.67). And no, she's not going anywhere else (unlike some glory/NIL-chasing transfers elsewhere, cough-cough, not-to-be mentioned), and despite the voodoo wishes of some disgruntled fair-weather "fans", cough-cough, also not-to-be-mentioned.
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Post by vbkahuna on Sept 25, 2023 12:45:46 GMT -5
One more observation that needs to be said...Brooke Mosher is going to be an All-American setter before her era at Illinois is done. And it won't be in 3 years from now.
Yes, she's got location and timing problems right now, but she's learning fast. It's her first season as a B1G setter and she's learning on-the-fly and under fire. I almost fell over laughing when someone criticized her for being "too athletic". That's like criticizing Mozart for trying to compose music that's too fast for the current orchestra to play. I already see her connections with Raina (on back row swings especially), Collins (killer slides), and even Bohm (31's) starting to click. As she adjusts further for Burbage (the key to the rest of the Illini season) and Nunge, this team can be very competitive.
Bottom line, Mosher is a "FedEx kind of setter" (when the ball absolutely, positively has to get there before the blocking wall arrives), and it doesn't have to get there pretty. Poulter mastered it. And her hitters adapted to it (especially Quade). I believe Mosher can too. And a couple new OH/MB recruits that are similarly "too athletic" would really get Huff rockin' again.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 25, 2023 14:05:43 GMT -5
To further expand on the Mosher is going to be excellent thought, remember she is a first year setter setting to two three plus year starters. Figuring out who is in charge is a work in progress. It doesn't happen automatically. Eventually she will figure out she is in charge and will take charge. I'm looking forward to it.
Set placement, while it is easy for observers to pick up on, is only a small part of setting. Setting is simultaneously working in several dimensions. Get a read on the pass. Know where each of your hitters is located, both where they lined up and where the play has taken them. Remember what set has been called. Remember each hitter's tendencies in the available situations. Remember who is blocking each of the three (or four if Raina is in the back row) available hitters. Then watch where each of the blockers goes in response to what is happening on your side of the net. Throw it all down the drain when you go out of system and have to figure out Plan B. Putting all of these parameters into operation is not something that happens to a setter automatically. Each figures it out differently, some never figure it out. When Mosher gets there she will be amazing. She just has to get there.
Collins had an extraordinary number of swings. Many of them were using her as a right side attacker, as opposed to a middle running a slide. Its a good adjustment in our offense, as evidenced by the results.
You could tell Bingham is a middle trying to play the right side. How many of her swings were off one foot?
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