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Post by thevoiceofreason on Sept 3, 2023 22:42:34 GMT -5
I know I said my expectations were basement-level, but I was not expecting a loss to Western (had BG as the MAC loss for the non-con). I'm not able to travel as much to games this year, so it was disappointing to not have any coverage (besides Twitter) tonight. I know there are internet issues on campus right now that restrict the BTN+ stream, but other U-M sports had live stats during this situation. Anyone there tonight? Notice in the final box that Burke had 21 assists and Johnson only 8. There haven't been any other sports on campus since the internet went out, so not sure what live stats you were following. The broadcast will be sent to BTN so you will be able to watch it eventually. I followed the men's soccer stats from last Sunday against Cal Baptist, which I thought was at during the internet outage. But maybe not. Ultimately it is a tape I'm fine with never seeing. |
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Post by bprtbone on Sept 9, 2023 22:28:06 GMT -5
Notes after an encouraging weekend of volleyball in Ann Arbor:
- After a very shaky first two weeks, it looks like the coaching staff has found a workable, competitive lineup. The 6-2 pairing Burke and Vaulet and S. Johnson with L.Johnson/McBurrows has helped both offensive and defensive balance.
- With Grant out for an indefinite time, Maddie Cuchran has stepped up admirably at libero. Need to work on those bump sets, but she made some nice plays this weekend.
- Simmons has been passing great out of the back row, where has she been hiding all this time?
- L. Johnson, Burke and Vaulet are promising freshmen who have been thrust into the starting lineup. This is a solid core to build off of for the future.
- The new video board and upgraded concourse at Cliff Keen cannot hide the fact the team is housed in a 70 year old natatorium.
- After a dominating sweep over UNC, Michigan dropped an entertaining, gritty 4 setter to Duke where they out hit the Blue Devils and were only outscored by 3 points. Very fitting for Jess Robinson to get the match winning kill.
Michigan fans have a little more hope after seeing this team play together as a cohesive unit. They are not going to be a serious threat in the B1G this season, but they won't necessarily be in the basement either. You can start to see Virtue's stamp on the program take hold. Go Blue!
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Post by gobluevb on Sept 10, 2023 9:57:17 GMT -5
Notes after an encouraging weekend of volleyball in Ann Arbor: - After a very shaky first two weeks, it looks like the coaching staff has found a workable, competitive lineup. The 6-2 pairing Burke and Vaulet and S. Johnson with L.Johnson/McBurrows has helped both offensive and defensive balance. - With Grant out for an indefinite time, Maddie Cuchran has stepped up admirably at libero. Need to work on those bump sets, but she made some nice plays this weekend. - Simmons has been passing great out of the back row, where has she been hiding all this time? - L. Johnson, Burke and Vaulet are promising freshmen who have been thrust into the starting lineup. This is a solid core to build off of for the future. - The new video board and upgraded concourse at Cliff Keen cannot hide the fact the team is housed in a 70 year old natatorium. - After a dominating sweep over UNC, Michigan dropped an entertaining, gritty 4 setter to Duke where they out hit the Blue Devils and were only outscored by 3 points. Very fitting for Jess Robinson to get the match winning kill. Michigan fans have a little more hope after seeing this team play together as a cohesive unit. They are not going to be a serious threat in the B1G this season, but they won't necessarily be in the basement either. You can start to see Virtue's stamp on the program take hold. Go Blue! I’m not going to lie, after the first few weeks I was simply hoping we could at least beat Rutgers and Michigan State in conference play. However, after the significant improvement in play this weekend, I think if we end up in the 9-11th place range then we’ll have had a successful season. Making tournament is not in the cards at all. Simmons provides consistent and confident play on the pin and surprised me as well! I think she provides the best serve receive on the team at this point. Unfortunately, her size is real limiting factor as we go into conference play against much bigger and more talented teams than we have played against to date. The Freshman 3 are improving at a rapid pace as I would expect for freshmen. Burke is a nice surprise with her confidence running the offense, location, and connection with the middles. A few times I saw a poor choice with a set, but those are learning opportunities. I do think Burke’s location is more consistent than Scottee’s but Scottee’s leadership, defense, and experience gives her the edge. It will be interesting to see how the setting position plays out as the season continues and Burke gains experience. L. Johnson and Vaulet both hit with power at opposite but are inconsistent. Part of that is being freshmen and improving their shot selection as they gain experience. However, our passing last night provided for some pretty atrocious out of system sets being thrown back to them so we weren’t doing them any favors. Kendall Murray had some great pre-conference play last year which had me really high on her at outside but then she tanked when we got into conference play. I’m expecting the same to happen this year but we don’t have any depth to replace her. I would be interested in seeing L. Johnson more at outside with Saj at opposite but that’s a tough ask of L. Johnson. Maddie Cuchran’s defense was lights out this weekend and you can clearly see her confidence in leading the backrow growing by leaps and bounds. She needs to continue working on her serve receive and yes, the bump sets. What is the deal with Grant? Why is she out and I haven’t even seen her with the team? The offensive production with the middles has been much improved (and needed) but that goes along with improved passing. Burke is clearly better setting the middles but I saw a couple of beautiful sets from Scottee as well. However, the slide need a lot more repetition and consistency so our middles can run their pattern without wondering where the set is going to be. A nice showing by our Wolverines this weekend and I hope to continue to see the improvement and fight with this team. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2023 11:02:45 GMT -5
Yes improvement gives some more hope. Looked bleak.
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Post by bprtbone on Sept 12, 2023 13:22:10 GMT -5
The preview notes for this weekend's Bowling Green series shares this news: Michigan will be without head coach Erin Virtue for the next two weeks as she will be with Team USA in Poland for the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Associate head coach Benavia Jenkins will once again fill in as acting head coach for this weekend against Bowling Green.
Taking the trip with Virtue is Michigan's DOVO Coley Pawlikowski, who doubles as the USA WNT team manager. Given all the assets that Michigan Volleyball has devoted to Team USA this season, I feel like we should get something in return. A new volleyball arena would be nice, for example.  Again, it's especially disappointing that Erin will be missing the B1G opener against MSU on September 22. I heard a radio spot during the football broadcast on Saturday that said they were going to try to break the attendance record at this match but have seen little promotion elsewhere. The current attendance record at UM is 8,137 set in 2017 against OSU at the Crisler Center. The state record is 40 years old; 8,543 at the 1983 NCAA Mideast Regional match where Western Michigan hosted Nebraska in the first round at Read Fieldhouse. I love that they are trying to boost attendance, but there needs to be better promotion of the event soon if they are going to threaten any records. Go Blue! |
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Post by thevoiceofreason on Sept 14, 2023 20:16:15 GMT -5
The preview notes for this weekend's Bowling Green series shares this news: Michigan will be without head coach Erin Virtue for the next two weeks as she will be with Team USA in Poland for the FIVB Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifiers. The top two teams will automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Associate head coach Benavia Jenkins will once again fill in as acting head coach for this weekend against Bowling Green.
Taking the trip with Virtue is Michigan's DOVO Coley Pawlikowski, who doubles as the USA WNT team manager. Given all the assets that Michigan Volleyball has devoted to Team USA this season, I feel like we should get something in return. A new volleyball arena would be nice, for example. Again, it's especially disappointing that Erin will be missing the B1G opener against MSU on September 22. I heard a radio spot during the football broadcast on Saturday that said they were going to try to break the attendance record at this match but have seen little promotion elsewhere. The current attendance record at UM is 8,137 set in 2017 against OSU at the Crisler Center. The state record is 40 years old; 8,543 at the 1983 NCAA Mideast Regional match where Western Michigan hosted Nebraska in the first round at Read Fieldhouse. I love that they are trying to boost attendance, but there needs to be better promotion of the event soon if they are going to threaten any records. Go Blue! Wow, I had no idea there was a goal to break the attendance record! I'd think it would be getting more promotion than it is since we're only a week away. Something on one of the podcasts perhaps... but I guess if the coach is out of town with Team USA its hard to do that. Now that I look back I see that the graphic for the Maize Out says "set the record" on it. Seems poorly executed to this point. Hope it picks up this next week. I had to look back because I knew that the previous record (for U-M) was against Ohio State back when they only played one game in Crisler. 8,137 people came out. That was such a fun night. I remember how hyped the crowd got each time they had to raise the curtain to open up more seating. Unfortunately I don't have enough time to change plans to get there this time around. |
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Post by photos1 on Sept 14, 2023 22:24:41 GMT -5
I’ve posted about my thoughts on Michigan volleyball so I and not going to repeat that but saw Virtue on a podcast this week and it boggles my mind that with the way this sport is exploding, the roster situation, playing in the premier volleyball conference in the country that she could brag about how the Michigan administration was celebrating her continued involvement with the USNT. Is the Michigan administration just writing off the 23 and 24 seasons? I don’t see her being around much in the months leading up the Paris Olympics next summer. Why would any recruit sign on for that? How can she build a program by coaching elsewhere? Isn’t being the head volleyball coach at Michigan a full time gig? Feel sorry for the members of this team….
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Post by ballvolley28 on Sept 15, 2023 8:12:47 GMT -5
I’ve posted about my thoughts on Michigan volleyball so I and not going to repeat that but saw Virtue on a podcast this week and it boggles my mind that with the way this sport is exploding, the roster situation, playing in the premier volleyball conference in the country that she could brag about how the Michigan administration was celebrating her continued involvement with the USNT. Is the Michigan administration just writing off the 23 and 24 seasons? I don’t see her being around much in the months leading up the Paris Olympics next summer. Why would any recruit sign on for that? How can she build a program by coaching elsewhere? Isn’t being the head volleyball coach at Michigan a full time gig? Feel sorry for the members of this team…. Why couldn't the coach being involved with the USNT be a positive to a recruit? Especially if she were a player that had hopes of playing on the USNT. I'd think that would make Michigan intriguing... |
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Post by photos1 on Sept 15, 2023 12:00:00 GMT -5
I’ve posted about my thoughts on Michigan volleyball so I and not going to repeat that but saw Virtue on a podcast this week and it boggles my mind that with the way this sport is exploding, the roster situation, playing in the premier volleyball conference in the country that she could brag about how the Michigan administration was celebrating her continued involvement with the USNT. Is the Michigan administration just writing off the 23 and 24 seasons? I don’t see her being around much in the months leading up the Paris Olympics next summer. Why would any recruit sign on for that? How can she build a program by coaching elsewhere? Isn’t being the head volleyball coach at Michigan a full time gig? Feel sorry for the members of this team…. Why couldn't the coach being involved with the USNT be a positive to a recruit? Especially if she were a player that had hopes of playing on the USNT. I'd think that would make Michigan intriguing... Just my view, but even in the best of times, being able to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations of being the head volleyball coach in the B1G is a 24/7 job. There are only 24 hours in a day no matter what. For Michigan volleyball this is not the “best of times”; bottom tier facilities, a shaky roster, being in a conference one year away from infusing four additional top flight volleyball programs, does not seem the time for the new head coach to delegate her head coaching obligations and abandon her team during the start of the conference season. It’s unacceptable… This is a team that needs better players. IMO, Virtue should be searching every gym in this country to find better players instead of watching USNT matches in another country. They aren’t going to search for her… even if she was in Ann Arbor. She’s the head coach at one of the biggest name brands in college sports, she has a product to sell, but it’s hard to sell something when you are in another country instead of being the head coach at Michigan and missing 2 weeks of their matches. In case No one has noticed the best Michigan prep players are leaving the state. But I guess it’s ok, most of them will see her once a year when the play Michigan. Is Erin Virtue so vital to the USNT that no one could replace her? Mark Rosen may not have been Karch but his Michigan teams were always competitive in the best conference in the country. If someone wanted to destroy the program for the next decade they couldn’t have made a better plan than this reality. I don’t see an argument or scenario where this will not regress the program. Maybe that’s the intention of Michigan’s administration-if their head volleyball coach is in another country she can’t be in their offices pointing out why the facilities need immediate upgrades and how inaction and delay will most assuredly leave Michigan women’s volleyball at the absolute bottom of the conference. This is not going to end well…imo 🏐 |
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Post by ballvolley28 on Sept 15, 2023 12:54:03 GMT -5
Why couldn't the coach being involved with the USNT be a positive to a recruit? Especially if she were a player that had hopes of playing on the USNT. I'd think that would make Michigan intriguing... Just my view, but even in the best of times, being able to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations of being the head volleyball coach in the B1G is a 24/7 job. There are only 24 hours in a day no matter what. For Michigan volleyball this is not the “best of times”; bottom tier facilities, a shaky roster, being in a conference one year away from infusing four additional top flight volleyball programs, does not seem the time for the new head coach to delegate her head coaching obligations and abandon her team during the start of the conference season. It’s unacceptable… This is a team that needs better players. IMO, Virtue should be searching every gym in this country to find better players instead of watching USNT matches in another country. They aren’t going to search for her… even if she was in Ann Arbor. She’s the head coach at one of the biggest name brands in college sports, she has a product to sell, but it’s hard to sell something when you are in another country instead of being the head coach at Michigan and missing 2 weeks of their matches. In case No one has noticed the best Michigan prep players are leaving the state. But I guess it’s ok, most of them will see her once a year when the play Michigan. Is Erin Virtue so vital to the USNT that no one could replace her? Mark Rosen may not have been Karch but his Michigan teams were always competitive in the best conference in the country. If someone wanted to destroy the program for the next decade they couldn’t have made a better plan than this reality. I don’t see an argument or scenario where this will not regress the program. Maybe that’s the intention of Michigan’s administration-if their head volleyball coach is in another country she can’t be in their offices pointing out why the facilities need immediate upgrades and how inaction and delay will most assuredly leave Michigan women’s volleyball at the absolute bottom of the conference. This is not going to end well…imo 🏐 You seem to have a vendetta against Erin Virtue for some reason....The volleyball program has 3 assistant coaches that can do the recruiting (which is typically how it works whether the head coach is coaching the USNT or not). The facility has always been sub-par and they've recruited just fine in the past. Maybe Erin did so well in the interview process and knocked the administrations socks off and they decided the positives outweigh the time spent away from the team. Maybe the players on the team don't feel abandoned but instead are happy to have a new coaching staff that cares about them on and off the court. Plus, it's 2 weeks out of what will hopefully be a long tenure at Michigan. It will end up being like 1/1,000th of her time here at Michigan when it's all said and done. |
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trojansc
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Post by trojansc on Sept 15, 2023 18:32:51 GMT -5
Michigan was up 19-11 against Bowling Green in the 1st set.
They lost 25-20.
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Post by b1gvb23 on Sept 15, 2023 20:07:10 GMT -5
Is Hannah Grant still on the team?
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Post by photos1 on Sept 15, 2023 21:00:14 GMT -5
Just my view, but even in the best of times, being able to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations of being the head volleyball coach in the B1G is a 24/7 job. There are only 24 hours in a day no matter what. For Michigan volleyball this is not the “best of times”; bottom tier facilities, a shaky roster, being in a conference one year away from infusing four additional top flight volleyball programs, does not seem the time for the new head coach to delegate her head coaching obligations and abandon her team during the start of the conference season. It’s unacceptable… This is a team that needs better players. IMO, Virtue should be searching every gym in this country to find better players instead of watching USNT matches in another country. They aren’t going to search for her… even if she was in Ann Arbor. She’s the head coach at one of the biggest name brands in college sports, she has a product to sell, but it’s hard to sell something when you are in another country instead of being the head coach at Michigan and missing 2 weeks of their matches. In case No one has noticed the best Michigan prep players are leaving the state. But I guess it’s ok, most of them will see her once a year when the play Michigan. Is Erin Virtue so vital to the USNT that no one could replace her? Mark Rosen may not have been Karch but his Michigan teams were always competitive in the best conference in the country. If someone wanted to destroy the program for the next decade they couldn’t have made a better plan than this reality. I don’t see an argument or scenario where this will not regress the program. Maybe that’s the intention of Michigan’s administration-if their head volleyball coach is in another country she can’t be in their offices pointing out why the facilities need immediate upgrades and how inaction and delay will most assuredly leave Michigan women’s volleyball at the absolute bottom of the conference. This is not going to end well…imo 🏐 You seem to have a vendetta against Erin Virtue for some reason....The volleyball program has 3 assistant coaches that can do the recruiting (which is typically how it works whether the head coach is coaching the USNT or not). The facility has always been sub-par and they've recruited just fine in the past. Maybe Erin did so well in the interview process and knocked the administrations socks off and they decided the positives outweigh the time spent away from the team. Maybe the players on the team don't feel abandoned but instead are happy to have a new coaching staff that cares about them on and off the court. Plus, it's 2 weeks out of what will hopefully be a long tenure at Michigan. It will end up being like 1/1,000th of her time here at Michigan when it's all said and done. “Vendetta”? Have you listened to her? I don’t believe she has a clue about being a head coach. But she does have a gold medal in her office…huh? To say “they’ve recruited just fine in the past”, is sorta bizarre. That’s part of the point, we are not in the past, there are new venues and facilities going up all over the conference and Michigan isn’t doing or planning a thing. Michigan has fallen behind and now they hired someone to be a part time coach for the next two years as the conference is a year away from becoming much better with the four west coast schools coming to the B1G in ‘24. “Vendetta”? More likely just accurate. |
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Post by bkedane on Sept 15, 2023 21:37:40 GMT -5
Michigan is really bad and has a part time head coach.
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Post by volleyaudience on Sept 15, 2023 22:13:49 GMT -5
Why couldn't the coach being involved with the USNT be a positive to a recruit? Especially if she were a player that had hopes of playing on the USNT. I'd think that would make Michigan intriguing... Just my view, but even in the best of times, being able to fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations of being the head volleyball coach in the B1G is a 24/7 job. There are only 24 hours in a day no matter what. For Michigan volleyball this is not the “best of times”; bottom tier facilities, a shaky roster, being in a conference one year away from infusing four additional top flight volleyball programs, does not seem the time for the new head coach to delegate her head coaching obligations and abandon her team during the start of the conference season. It’s unacceptable… This is a team that needs better players. IMO, Virtue should be searching every gym in this country to find better players instead of watching USNT matches in another country. They aren’t going to search for her… even if she was in Ann Arbor. She’s the head coach at one of the biggest name brands in college sports, she has a product to sell, but it’s hard to sell something when you are in another country instead of being the head coach at Michigan and missing 2 weeks of their matches. In case No one has noticed the best Michigan prep players are leaving the state. But I guess it’s ok, most of them will see her once a year when the play Michigan. Is Erin Virtue so vital to the USNT that no one could replace her? Mark Rosen may not have been Karch but his Michigan teams were always competitive in the best conference in the country. If someone wanted to destroy the program for the next decade they couldn’t have made a better plan than this reality. I don’t see an argument or scenario where this will not regress the program. Maybe that’s the intention of Michigan’s administration-if their head volleyball coach is in another country she can’t be in their offices pointing out why the facilities need immediate upgrades and how inaction and delay will most assuredly leave Michigan women’s volleyball at the absolute bottom of the conference. This is not going to end well…imo 🏐 Photos1! When you say: "Michigan, this is not the best of times.."..You've said it all. |
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