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Post by inpaign on Oct 22, 2023 16:43:20 GMT -5
Since I've had the opportunity to watch most of the Big Ten teams so far this season, I wanted to post my predictions for conference play for us! @ Indiana - L v MSU - W v PSU - L v Iowa - W @ Purdue - L v Wisconsin - L @ Ohio St. - L v Rutgers - W @ Maryland - W @ Rutgers - W v Indiana - W v Purdue - W V NW - W @ Wisconsin - L @ Iowa - W @ Nebraska - L v Ohio St. - W v Michigan - W @ Minnesota - L @ NW - L (11-9) I think when we look at our schedule, we actually have a pretty good one in terms of the teams we play once vs. twice. These predictions are assuming we play to a decent level each night and to the level we are capable of some nights (specifically at Huff) - I'm fully aware we will have off nights where we look terrible...consider this me being optimistic about the outlook of conference play for us haha. Watching Iowa, Rutgers and Michigan St., I believe we should win any and all games against those teams. They look to be a step below everyone else. Michigan is also close there as well, but I'm sure they will ramp up their level slightly as the season goes on. I also believe we can edge out a win against MD. NW is interesting to me..I think they are more talented than their play this season has shown and for that reason I have us splitting our games against them. That also goes with Indiana...I wanted so badly to pick us to win our first conference game but Indiana's serving is fantastic and I have a feeling it will be a long game for our serve receive :/, if we can stay in system, we will have a good shot. I picked us to pick up a win against them at home just to be a bit conservative. It was hard predicting games against teams at the top of the league - last season we stayed close with many of them (several 5 setters). Nebraska and Wisconsin are a step above - should be L's for us. Same when playing Minnesota at their place. I do believe that we have potential to knock off Purdue, Penn St. and Ohio St. at least once this season - those teams have clear weaknesses that can be exploited. I picked us to win a couple of those games. I'm sure I'll look back on these predictions and laugh after a long, tough season but here's to hoping I'm somewhat accurate. I-L-L! Halfway through conference play and still on track. Next two will be tough lol
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Post by exit237a on Oct 22, 2023 16:47:27 GMT -5
Way to pull off two five-setters on the road, Illini!
Brooke with more clutch serving in the fifth set.
Jess with a GREAT weekend.
Cari coming up big with the blocks and efficient hitting when she gets set.
Raina bouncing back in a big way when we needed her.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 22, 2023 16:48:43 GMT -5
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 22, 2023 18:04:15 GMT -5
One thing that this team needs to stop - tipping! We tip on at least 35% or higher on our attacks. Not going to win many games tipping that much. We are not good on OOS plays. The teams that have beating us take rips OOS, we tip. Our tips aren’t even good. They are moon balls which result in free ball kills 75% of the time.
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Post by inpaign on Oct 22, 2023 22:17:35 GMT -5
A good game today! Other than serve receive and use of challenges/timeouts, I think we looked good. Credit to Rutgers, they played very well today. Similar to Maryland, I think the Illini team earlier in the year would've rolled over and died, so it was good to see us grind one out. Terry, Collins and Bohm were great. Burbage struggled a bit but had some good swings. The biggest takeaway was Jess Nunge! Looks like she is finally getting in the swing of things and it is great to see! If she continues to contribute like this, we could be set up for more success than we expected. Her swings look to be so much harder and her timing so much better. Hoping this continues, it's a lot more fun to watch!
Question for you all - do we think a .500 conference record gets us close to the tournament? 11-9? 12-8? I'm not sure who else caught the stat during the Maryland game (if it's even correct), but it was something along the lines of "the last 32 of 33 Big Ten teams that reached 10 wins in conference play made the tournament, with the one exception being the Illini team from last year." What does everyone think we need to do with the remaining schedule to have a shot at postseason? Obviously we need some good wins to make up for some of our losses early on. Remaining we've got games at Nebraska and Wisconsin (probable losses), games against Iowa, Michigan, and NWx2 (games we need to win), and then games home vs. Indiana, Purdue, OSU and @ Minnesota (games that would be upsets, but feel like we've got an outside chance). Would love to hear your thoughts!
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 22, 2023 22:19:50 GMT -5
A good game today! Other than serve receive and use of challenges/timeouts, I think we looked good. Credit to Rutgers, they played very well today. Similar to Maryland, I think the Illini team earlier in the year would've rolled over and died, so it was good to see us grind one out. Terry, Collins and Bohm were great. Burbage struggled a bit but had some good swings. The biggest takeaway was Jess Nunge! Looks like she is finally getting in the swing of things and it is great to see! If she continues to contribute like this, we could be set up for more success than we expected. Her swings look to be so much harder and her timing so much better. Hoping this continues, it's a lot more fun to watch! Question for you all - do we think a .500 conference record gets us close to the tournament? 11-9? 12-8? I'm not sure who else caught the stat during the Maryland game (if it's even correct), but it was something along the lines of "the last 32 of 33 Big Ten teams that reached 10 wins in conference play made the tournament, with the one exception being the Illini team from last year." What does everyone think we need to do with the remaining schedule to have a shot at postseason? Obviously we need some good wins to make up for some of our losses early on. Remaining we've got games at Nebraska and Wisconsin (probable losses), games against Iowa, Michigan, and NWx2 (games we need to win), and then games home vs. Indiana, Purdue, OSU and @ Minnesota (games that would be upsets, but feel like we've got an outside chance). Would love to hear your thoughts! Maybe if we beat IN & OSU, we have an outside shot. But those early season losses kill our RPI.
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 22, 2023 22:37:26 GMT -5
We have put ourselves in a position in which Indiana is a must win. We made them look better than they are the first match. Our play has improved significantly since the first Indiana game. Nunge is now playing and playing well. Burbage has become much more aggressive. Passing and defense, although not where it should be, is improved. The match against tOSU may come back to haunt us, all the blown leads.
The question may be which Illini team shows up. The 2d, 4th and 5th set from today Illini, or the 1st and 3d set Illini.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2023 8:30:34 GMT -5
Realistically I think we have too many bad losses and our RPI is way too high to come back from sadly
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 23, 2023 11:15:54 GMT -5
If we win out against all but Nebraska and Wisconsin, we will be 13-7 in conference and 18-12 overall. Very doable. Even with a bad RPI that should be enough. I understand some consideration is made to significant progress over the course of the season, which is our main hope, assuming we continue to show improvement. Beating Purdue, Minnesota twice and Indiana are critical. I still don't understand how we looked so bad against Oklahoma and Notre Dame. Losing the late leads against tOSU was so frustrating. I really believe if we played ND, Okl, UCF and Wichita State now the results would be different. Woulda, coulda, shoulda....
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Post by inpaign on Oct 23, 2023 15:58:52 GMT -5
re-Illini NCAA tournament invite Reality .... given Illini current RPI of 95, zero significant pre-conference win, pre-conference opponents RPI & records, a down year for the BIG, Illini inability to take down a BIG dog, and strong/RPI of non-BIG P5 conference teams...no NCAA invite for Illini. As of 10/22, 95 10-10 Illinois (RPI cut-off is usually mid 40s, 15 wins needed to qualify for NCAA bid consideration) 271 8-15 08/26/2023 at NIU W 153 15-9 08/29/2023 Valparaiso W 3-0 48 15-5 09/01/2023 Wichita St. L 2-3 lost to iffy NCAA tournament team 174 11-12 09/03/2023 Illinois St. W 3-1 114 14-10 09/05/2023 at UIC W 3-1 85 10-8 09/07/2023 at Notre Dame L 0-3 lost to not probable NCAA tournament team 113 7-11 09/08/2023 vs Oklahoma L 0-3 lost to not probable NCAA tournament team 251 9-15 09/12/2023 at Bradley W 3-1 32 13-7 09/14/2023 vs Southern California L 2-3 lost to probable NCAA tournament team 42 15-4 09/15/2023 vs UCF L 2-3 lost to probably NCAA tournament team BIG RPIs 1 Nebraska ?? 4 Wisconsin L ?? 12 Penn State L 15 Purdue L ?? 39 Minnesota ?? 46 Indiana L ?? ----------------------------------------- 54 Ohio State L ?? 63 Northwestern ?? ?? 95 Illinois 96 Michigan State W 99 Maryland W 167 Rutgers W W 182 Iowa W ?? 196 Michigan ?? I guess when looking at this, our losses weren't as bad as I remembered them being. I guess that's because I'm just remembering how poorly we played. So our worst loss was Oklahoma? Notre Dame wasn't pretty, but it was at ND so that helps slightly. Other than those two, the other losses aren't out of the ordinary. Look at Minnesota, they lost to 160ish Rutgers. I think the problem for us is we need some quality wins. Indiana, Purdue, Ohio St. and Minnesota would help fit the bill on that one. Indiana on Wednesday is a super important game for us.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 25, 2023 21:51:39 GMT -5
AWESOME win, Illini! Major moxie to turn the page in the fifth set after struggling in the fourth. I think that’s the best the Illini have played as a team this season. Everyone contributed.
Game ball goes to Caroline Barnes, though. She was dialed in all night, passing the Haworth jump topspin serves like a champ, making key digs and OOS sets, and serving tough. Setting the tone for the team floor defense and keeping us in the point. Probably her best match yet as our libero. Well done, Caroline!
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trojansc
Legend
All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017), All-VolleyTalk 2nd Team (2016), 2021, 2019 Fantasy League Champion, 2020 Fantasy League Runner Up, 2022 2nd Runner Up
Posts: 30,173
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Post by trojansc on Oct 25, 2023 22:06:09 GMT -5
If we win out against all but Nebraska and Wisconsin, we will be 13-7 in conference and 18-12 overall. Very doable. Even with a bad RPI that should be enough. I understand some consideration is made to significant progress over the course of the season, which is our main hope, assuming we continue to show improvement. Beating Purdue, Minnesota twice and Indiana are critical. I still don't understand how we looked so bad against Oklahoma and Notre Dame. Losing the late leads against tOSU was so frustrating. I really believe if we played ND, Okl, UCF and Wichita State now the results would be different. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.... Illinois only plays Minnesota once. I think Illinois at least needs to get to 18-12 but it would help more if one of those 18 was Nebraska or Wisconsin. I think 19-11, with a win over Wisconsin/Nebraska would clinch Illinois into the tournament. But I don't see why an Illinois team at 18-12 would have to get in. They would still have a rough RPI, they could only have 1 top 25 win, and maybe even as little as 1-2 total top 50 wins (depending on where Indiana/Minnesota/Ohio State finish). Illinois also lost H2H to bubble teams like Wichita State and UCF. That could really hurt.
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Post by Pasquale on Oct 25, 2023 22:51:56 GMT -5
After a rough start to the season, Illinois is on a four-game win streak and currently tied with Indiana for sixth place in the Big 10. Not sure if they will make the tournament or not, but it's great to see them competing and winning again. Go Illini!
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 25, 2023 23:54:03 GMT -5
The best thing I saw was Collins laid out flat on a tip cover and her stepping in front of Pan to play a ball. Tamas should keep her in the back row more often.
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Post by notpriddy (COIF) on Oct 26, 2023 4:40:59 GMT -5
The best thing I saw was Collins laid out flat on a tip cover and her stepping in front of Pan to play a ball. Tamas should keep her in the back row more often. For all the criticism Illini's defensive specialists receive, I want to acknowledge two milestones Vanessa Pan and Caroline Barnes accomplished in this match for the season: - Vanessa Pan crushed her season-best dig mark, tallying 19 in the match. - Barnes posted back-to-back 20-plus dig performances, logging 21 in the victory.
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