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Post by inpaign on Oct 29, 2023 23:38:14 GMT -5
Just wanted to post my quick usual post-game review, a little late this time. Watched this one in person so maybe got caught up chatting, but from what I saw it was a great game. Pins played well, another shoutout to Jess Nunge who continues to carry her weight and really boost this team. Our back row players played well for the most part, defense and serve receive were solid. Brooke Mosher is really rounding into form, she's taking control, changing up her sets, and is really in tune with her hitters and it shows. Kennedy did what she normally does...EVERYTHING. MVP of the match without a doubt goes to Cari Bohm. Her blocking was phenomenal and she was consistently involved with the offense. I cannot wait to see where she's at in 4 years.
I am not jumping on the coaching staff bandwagon just yet. Yes, they've had a great run, but let's see how they finish these last 8 games. As previously mentioned, part of coaching is also recruiting and we've got some HUGE holes to fill still in our future rosters. I'm optimistic, but not ready to put it in ink just yet. I will say that assuming Jen Tamas primarily works with the middles, she's done a tremendous job of coaching up our middles. They may not be the most athletic middles in the Big Ten, but it is clear that fundamentally they are well above where they should be.
As for the postseason talk...I truly don't know. Early losses (and lack of quality wins) killed us. This run we are on is nice. Our RPI is very high with only 8 games remaining. It becomes a matter if we can gain 30-40 spots in these 8 games. Practically every game is a must-win for us with the exception of Nebraska and Wisconsin. It's hard to believe we can continue this streak, but I'm hopeful! Even NW on Wednesday is a sneaky good team, we cannot let our guards down. We've got them twice, Michigan (who just beat OSU), Iowa, OSU, Minnesota (AT Minnesota, which is tough), and of course the two powerhouses. I like to think if we go 6-2, we will be close enough in RPI to at least be considered. If that happens, we would be top 5 or 6 in conference, which is appealing to the committee. Factor that in with the fact that Tamas could plead his case and explain that we played a good portion of the early season without our starting lib and outside, and we might have a decent shot. A lot has to happen before then, but I think we can all agree it's nice to even have these discussions given how dull things looked earlier this season. Let's continue this hot streak!
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 29, 2023 23:49:53 GMT -5
Just wanted to post my quick usual post-game review, a little late this time. Watched this one in person so maybe got caught up chatting, but from what I saw it was a great game. Pins played well, another shoutout to Jess Nunge who continues to carry her weight and really boost this team. Our back row players played well for the most part, defense and serve receive were solid. Brooke Mosher is really rounding into form, she's taking control, changing up her sets, and is really in tune with her hitters and it shows. Kennedy did what she normally does...EVERYTHING. MVP of the match without a doubt goes to Cari Bohm. Her blocking was phenomenal and she was consistently involved with the offense. I cannot wait to see where she's at in 4 years. I am not jumping on the coaching staff bandwagon just yet. Yes, they've had a great run, but let's see how they finish these last 8 games. As previously mentioned, part of coaching is also recruiting and we've got some HUGE holes to fill still in our future rosters. I'm optimistic, but not ready to put it in ink just yet. I will say that assuming Jen Tamas primarily works with the middles, she's done a tremendous job of coaching up our middles. They may not be the most athletic middles in the Big Ten, but it is clear that fundamentally they are well above where they should be. As for the postseason talk...I truly don't know. Early losses (and lack of quality wins) killed us. This run we are on is nice. Our RPI is very high with only 8 games remaining. It becomes a matter if we can gain 30-40 spots in these 8 games. Practically every game is a must-win for us with the exception of Nebraska and Wisconsin. It's hard to believe we can continue this streak, but I'm hopeful! Even NW on Wednesday is a sneaky good team, we cannot let our guards down. We've got them twice, Michigan (who just beat OSU), Iowa, OSU, Minnesota (AT Minnesota, which is tough), and of course the two powerhouses. I like to think if we go 6-2, we will be close enough in RPI to at least be considered. If that happens, we would be top 5 or 6 in conference, which is appealing to the committee. Factor that in with the fact that Tamas could plead his case and explain that we played a good portion of the early season without our starting lib and outside, and we might have a decent shot. A lot has to happen before then, but I think we can all agree it's nice to even have these discussions given how dull things looked earlier this season. Let's continue this hot streak! Do you know if DeBoer is playing at all in practice? She still looks very fit.
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 29, 2023 23:51:56 GMT -5
KPI has us at 76. Gotta go 6-2 to even be considered.
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 30, 2023 10:40:28 GMT -5
A couple of weeks ago I observed we could get in by winning the balance of our schedule other than Nebraska and Wisconsin. At the time I thought Indiana and Purdue were the biggest obstacles. I confess there was a substantial amount of orange optimism involved. Having beaten Indiana and Purdue, I assume Minnesota at Minnesota is the biggest challenge. I’m turning into a believer. What does everyone think our toughest matches will be?
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Post by Stargazer on Oct 30, 2023 10:57:56 GMT -5
A couple of weeks ago I observed we could get in by winning the balance of our schedule other than Nebraska and Wisconsin. At the time I thought Indiana and Purdue were the biggest obstacles. I confess there was a substantial amount of orange optimism involved. Having beaten Indiana and Purdue, I assume Minnesota at Minnesota is the biggest challenge. I’m turning into a believer. What does everyone think our toughest matches will be? At Wisconsin, at Nebraska, at Minnesota
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 30, 2023 11:57:29 GMT -5
Congrats Brooke!!! Big 10 SOTW
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Post by exit237a on Oct 30, 2023 12:07:42 GMT -5
Congrats Brooke!!! Big 10 SOTW
WOOHOO! Well-deserved VT honors, Brooke!
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Post by vbplaya on Oct 30, 2023 15:11:19 GMT -5
Congrats Brooke!!! Big 10 SOTW WOOHOO! Well-deserved VT honors, Brooke!
Wait…I just came from the Big Ten website and it says Cam Haworth with her two triple doubles was SOTW. I actually thought Brooke was our first good chance of getting a weekly award this season with our 2 wins (and Indiana’s 2 losses). So I was kinda bummed. Did someone demand a recount and Mosher was declared the winner?
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Post by exit237a on Oct 30, 2023 15:21:34 GMT -5
WOOHOO! Well-deserved VT honors, Brooke!
Wait…I just came from the Big Ten website and it says Cam Haworth with her two triple doubles was SOTW. I actually thought Brooke was our first good chance of getting a weekly award this season with our 2 wins (and Indiana’s 2 losses). So I was kinda bummed. Did someone demand a recount and Mosher was declared the winner? Brooke won VolleyTalk's Big Ten setter of the week earlier today. The one that comes from the conference went with Cam Haworth and was released later in the day. Cam had a triple-double in each of Indiana's games last week- an impressive feat. That said, I'll take Brooke's performance over that last week. Brooke set her team to two upset wins, one of which was over Cam's team. Indiana lost to two lower ranked teams last week (Northwestern being the other one). The amount of consideration that I believe goes into the Big Ten player of the week selections and goes into the AVCA coaches poll likely pales in comparison to the time and thought our VT committees put into their weekly selections and rankings. I'd say this even in weeks where the Illini aren't honored or ranked Top 25 by our VT compadres.
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Post by vbplaya on Oct 30, 2023 15:39:36 GMT -5
Wait…I just came from the Big Ten website and it says Cam Haworth with her two triple doubles was SOTW. I actually thought Brooke was our first good chance of getting a weekly award this season with our 2 wins (and Indiana’s 2 losses). So I was kinda bummed. Did someone demand a recount and Mosher was declared the winner? Brooke won VolleyTalk's Big Ten setter of the week earlier today. The one that comes from the conference went with Cam Haworth and was released later in the day. Cam had a triple-double in each of Indiana's games last week- an impressive feat. That said, I'll take Brooke's performance over that last week. Brooke set her team to two upset wins, one of which was over Cam's team. Indiana lost to two lower ranked teams last week (Northwestern being the other one). The amount of consideration that I believe goes into the Big Ten player of the week selections and goes into the AVCA coaches poll likely pales in comparison to the time and thought our VT committees put into their weekly selections and rankings. I'd say this even in weeks where the Illini aren't honored or ranked Top 25 by our VT compadres. Got it! So VT did the recount (in advance ). The Big Ten is usually pretty good about giving the top awards each week to a player on a team which won both of their matches the previous week. So I was a bit surprised to see Haworth as the honoree, despite the triple doubles, for all of the reasons you mentioned.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 30, 2023 15:48:48 GMT -5
Brooke won VolleyTalk's Big Ten setter of the week earlier today. The one that comes from the conference went with Cam Haworth and was released later in the day. Cam had a triple-double in each of Indiana's games last week- an impressive feat. That said, I'll take Brooke's performance over that last week. Brooke set her team to two upset wins, one of which was over Cam's team. Indiana lost to two lower ranked teams last week (Northwestern being the other one). The amount of consideration that I believe goes into the Big Ten player of the week selections and goes into the AVCA coaches poll likely pales in comparison to the time and thought our VT committees put into their weekly selections and rankings. I'd say this even in weeks where the Illini aren't honored or ranked Top 25 by our VT compadres. Got it! So VT did the recount (in advance ). The Big Ten is usually pretty good about giving the top awards each week to a player on a team which won both of their matches the previous week. So I was a bit surprised to see Haworth as the honoree, despite the triple doubles, for all of the reasons you mentioned. Same! I think vbkahuna was the one who recently pointed out that it can disrupt a team's offensive rhythm when their setter attacks so much on two. That's what it felt like happened to Indiana in Set 5 at Illinois. It makes for an impressive scoresheet but if it doesn't translate to wins, I don't know how much value it provides. Haworth seems like a serious competitor so I'm sure she'd sacrifice the individual award for two Hoosier wins last week.
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Post by oldmanvb on Oct 30, 2023 18:58:31 GMT -5
10/30 RPI Futures being obstinate towards Illinois forecasting Illini to win 3 of remaining 8 matches (Northwestern (Huff); Wisconsin; Iowa; Nebraska; Ohio State (Huff); Michigan (Huff); Minnesota, Northwestern). "RPI Futures is a season ending projected RPI based on the win probabilities per Pablo ratings for all matches scheduled. RPI Futures Rank. (last week rank) - Conference (projected wins-losses[rounded] - RPI Score - Strength of Schedule 99. (117) Illinois - Big Ten (15-15) - .5395 - 69 IMHO...Illini fate will be determined by triad Barnes, Burbage, and Nunge. Did RPI futures predict we would win our last 5 in a row? Including two road wins at Rutgers and Maryland, and Indiana and Purdue? Given their analytic system, my guess is they would have predicted we would go, at best, 2-3 in that stretch. I've always thought volleyball is the ultimate team sport - Barnes will control our fate as much as any other of our players, but her improved play has enabled Mosher to run an effective middle with Collins and Bohm which in turn has enabled Burbage and Nunge to become far more productive and take rips we did not see earlier in the year. Yet somehow, Terry continues to get 40 to 50 swings each match.
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Post by exit237a on Oct 30, 2023 21:20:52 GMT -5
Anyone who goes on Illinois Twitter has probably already seen these photos from the Purdue match but they're too good not to bring to Illinois VT. What an exciting win!
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Post by exit237a on Oct 30, 2023 21:25:28 GMT -5
...and here's four photos taken during play.
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Post by ilalum92 on Oct 31, 2023 0:24:11 GMT -5
Brooke won VolleyTalk's Big Ten setter of the week earlier today. The one that comes from the conference went with Cam Haworth and was released later in the day. Cam had a triple-double in each of Indiana's games last week- an impressive feat. That said, I'll take Brooke's performance over that last week. Brooke set her team to two upset wins, one of which was over Cam's team. Indiana lost to two lower ranked teams last week (Northwestern being the other one). The amount of consideration that I believe goes into the Big Ten player of the week selections and goes into the AVCA coaches poll likely pales in comparison to the time and thought our VT committees put into their weekly selections and rankings. I'd say this even in weeks where the Illini aren't honored or ranked Top 25 by our VT compadres. Got it! So VT did the recount (in advance ). The Big Ten is usually pretty good about giving the top awards each week to a player on a team which won both of their matches the previous week. So I was a bit surprised to see Haworth as the honoree, despite the triple doubles, for all of the reasons you mentioned. Sorry, forgot to add VT SOTY for Brooke. Would love to see Bohm get any shine but with Freshman like Murray, Reilly & Chicoine playing every week, not gonna happen
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