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Post by jcorangeiguana on Oct 2, 2023 12:58:17 GMT -5
Official RPIs of Illini and opponents: 1 Wisconsin 2 Nebraska 8 Penn St. 20 Purdue 23 Minnesota 30 UCF 43 Southern California 49 Northwestern 52 Ohio St. 54 Indiana 64 Notre Dame 68 Eastern Ill. 74 Wichita St. 75 UIC 76 Michigan St. 97 Illinois 100 Maryland 109 Oklahoma 152 Rutgers 154 Valparaiso 179 Iowa 192 Michigan 239 Illinois St. 254 Bradley 260 NIU Being almost 30 points behind Eastern Illinois and 20+ behind UIC is just
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 2, 2023 13:37:15 GMT -5
I think it is encouraging the Illini did not fold at the end of close sets Saturday. Earlier in the season they would have lost both the first and third sets when Iowa caught them and took a lead. They demonstrated a toughness that has not been present.
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 2, 2023 13:50:06 GMT -5
One match I am not looking forward to is the Wisconsin match. I know Sheffield is going to line up 6’9” Smrek & 6’7” Booth on Raina.
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Post by pointillinois on Oct 2, 2023 15:08:59 GMT -5
One match I am not looking forward to is the Wisconsin match. I know Sheffield is going to line up 6’9” Smrek & 6’7” Booth on Raina. I cannot believe this is the match they decided to make the "Stuff Huff" match. Is this really what you want people to see?
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Post by maigrey on Oct 2, 2023 16:31:49 GMT -5
One match I am not looking forward to is the Wisconsin match. I know Sheffield is going to line up 6’9” Smrek & 6’7” Booth on Raina. I cannot believe this is the match they decided to make the "Stuff Huff" match. Is this really what you want people to see? Badgers like breaking records 🤣 (although I doubt it can be broken, as I'm sure Huff Hall has been packed to the gills many times before)
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Post by inpaign on Oct 2, 2023 16:33:58 GMT -5
Official RPIs of Illini and opponents: 1 Wisconsin 2 Nebraska 8 Penn St. 20 Purdue 23 Minnesota 30 UCF 43 Southern California 49 Northwestern 52 Ohio St. 54 Indiana 64 Notre Dame 68 Eastern Ill. 74 Wichita St. 75 UIC 76 Michigan St. 97 Illinois 100 Maryland 109 Oklahoma 152 Rutgers 154 Valparaiso 179 Iowa 192 Michigan 239 Illinois St. 254 Bradley 260 NIU Just have to make up like, what, 50+ spots over our next 16 games? Light work LOL.
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Jim Dietz
Freshman
"Neighbor is not a geographic term, it is a moral concept." Joachim Prinz, rabbi
Posts: 86
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Post by Jim Dietz on Oct 2, 2023 17:24:18 GMT -5
Josh Whitman needs all Illini coaches to be preeminent in-state and NIL solid for transfers. Oh, and build a better volleyball arena. I was at Huff on Friday for the first time since pre-COVID. They've changed things quite a bit in an effort to modernize it, but all it did was make Huff kinda suck. They eliminated the bleacher seats on the north end past the end line with the best view in the place. For the bleachers, they have people sitting behind the cameras and media people--and with the pillars, there are some seats with sight-lines worse than at Wrigley. This was made more frustrating by the insistence that if you had general admission, you NOT move down to fill in empty seats. It made for a sub-optimal entertainment environment. But with that said, there were some huge positives from taking 25+ Jr High kids to the game: 1 - Don Hardin was there, remembered me, then volunteered to talk 5-10 minutes with my young athletes, emphasizing the fun of the sport, the fun of being on a team, and being good teammates. Then we took a photo with him. 2 - Mike Deterding, the scorer, talked with my kids. If you know the Champaign area, you know his importance (via Twin City VB) for the sport's development south of I-80. He, too, took time to take a photo with my players and emphasize how much fun VB is. 3 - Coach Tamas was busy (with recruits)--but what he did was even better. He made 8-9 of his athletes available to speak with my kids, answering their questions (my favorites: "How did you get so good?"; "Have you ever hurt someone with how hard you hit?"; and "What's it like being tall?") They then posed for a photo AND THEN took even more time to take selfies and small pictures with my players, voluntarily spending 30 minutes of their time (before showering, changing or anything) with 12-14yr olds, sharing their love of the game...and also the importance of good grades. 3a - This was all even more important given the accident that caused most of T-town to evacuate on Friday. Kindness in the face of real life adversity--that was wonderful. These last three points 1,000% outweigh the botched renovation of Huff. I appreciate the time of Coach Tamas, Hardin, and Deterding and the Illini athletes. They made for a *great* evening with kids wanting to drive back to Champaign to watch them again...
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Post by volleyaudience on Oct 2, 2023 18:01:50 GMT -5
Curious as to why they took out the north end bleachers. Anyone know?
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Post by exit237a on Oct 2, 2023 18:04:23 GMT -5
Curious as to why they took out the north end bleachers. Anyone know? Strongly suspect it was ADA compliance since they were replaced by accessible floor seating.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 2, 2023 18:39:33 GMT -5
Josh Whitman needs all Illini coaches to be preeminent in-state and NIL solid for transfers. Oh, and build a better volleyball arena. I was at Huff on Friday for the first time since pre-COVID. They've changed things quite a bit in an effort to modernize it, but all it did was make Huff kinda suck. They eliminated the bleacher seats on the north end past the end line with the best view in the place. For the bleachers, they have people sitting behind the cameras and media people--and with the pillars, there are some seats with sight-lines worse than at Wrigley. This was made more frustrating by the insistence that if you had general admission, you NOT move down to fill in empty seats. It made for a sub-optimal entertainment environment. But with that said, there were some huge positives from taking 25+ Jr High kids to the game: 1 - Don Hardin was there, remembered me, then volunteered to talk 5-10 minutes with my young athletes, emphasizing the fun of the sport, the fun of being on a team, and being good teammates. Then we took a photo with him. 2 - Mike Deterding, the scorer, talked with my kids. If you know the Champaign area, you know his importance (via Twin City VB) for the sport's development south of I-80. He, too, took time to take a photo with my players and emphasize how much fun VB is. 3 - Coach Tamas was busy (with recruits)--but what he did was even better. He made 8-9 of his athletes available to speak with my kids, answering their questions (my favorites: "How did you get so good?"; "Have you ever hurt someone with how hard you hit?"; and "What's it like being tall?") They then posed for a photo AND THEN took even more time to take selfies and small pictures with my players, voluntarily spending 30 minutes of their time (before showering, changing or anything) with 12-14yr olds, sharing their love of the game...and also the importance of good grades. 3a - This was all even more important given the accident that caused most of T-town to evacuate on Friday. Kindness in the face of real life adversity--that was wonderful. These last three points 1,000% outweigh the botched renovation of Huff. I appreciate the time of Coach Tamas, Hardin, and Deterding and the Illini athletes. They made for a *great* evening with kids wanting to drive back to Champaign to watch them again... Glad you and your players had a great time at the game and got to interact with the Illini afterward! Hope y'all make the trip again soon. I wish they'd ease up on the whole enforcement of reserved seating when those seats are left empty. I've got one of those good seats at Huff and would love for the whole lower bowl to fill up every match. Maybe open them up to everyone after the first set ends or something like that. I'd think it's in everyone's interest to give groups like yours (prep players) a chance to see the game up close and be inspired by Big Ten volleyball.
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 2, 2023 22:43:47 GMT -5
The empty seats look terrible when watching on television.
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 2, 2023 22:45:18 GMT -5
Who were the recruits Tamas was with during the match? Someone who could provide desperately needed help?
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 2, 2023 22:47:15 GMT -5
Who were the recruits Tamas was with during the match? Someone who could provide desperately needed help? This was my question exactly! Who was there and were they OH’s?
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Post by liberovb10 on Oct 2, 2023 22:49:14 GMT -5
Who were the recruits Tamas was with during the match? Someone who could provide desperately needed help? This was my question exactly! Who was there and were they OH’s? please let it be outsides! and a sprinkle of middles.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 2, 2023 22:54:53 GMT -5
This was my question exactly! Who was there and were they OH’s? please let it be outsides! and a sprinkle of middles. Come to think of it, someone joined the rest of the 2023 Illini after the Iowa match for the singing of "Hail to the Orange" and I just assumed it was a younger sister. Maybe they were one of the recruits in question. If the BTN+ broadcast shows the squad singing after the match, maybe you interested sleuths could ID who that was! I wasn't paying close attention to her height but my hazy memory was that she seemed like a "little". Or maybe she's just shorter than Gabby Dean : )
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