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Post by beavis on May 11, 2023 22:31:10 GMT -5
By the way, it was kinda disappointing to see how Kraft/Maple performed for USC. Given that they were partners for sooooo long when they were young kids and since Kraft has been playing like crazy in the pros, we really thought they would perform much better. We had even hoped for a possible pro reunion for them going forward, but Kraft seems to be that tweener who is truly not going to be able to make much impact as a big going forward. Had also watched the Nourses when they were young but had not seen them for a bit - they are so intense, and would likely be able to really have some success, if they choose that route, if they could split up and each find a good big, but not sure they would ever do that, ala the Lindquist sisters? They are serious as heck out there - very intense! Also, I think that the best big I watched all week was TCU's Daniela Alvarez. She is a beast - any chance she might start playing for the US instead of her native Spain?
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Post by blackmambabeto on May 11, 2023 22:42:09 GMT -5
By the way, it was kinda disappointing to see how Kraft/Maple performed for USC. Given that they were partners for sooooo long when they were young kids and since Kraft has been playing like crazy in the pros, we really thought they would perform much better. We had even hoped for a possible pro reunion for them going forward, but Kraft seems to be that tweener who is truly not going to be able to make much impact as a big going forward. Had also watched the Nourses when they were young but had not seen them for a bit - they are so intense, and would likely be able to really have some success, if they choose that route, if they could split up and each find a good big, but not sure they would ever do that, ala the Lindquist sisters? They are serious as heck out there - very intense! Also, I think that the best big I watched all week was TCU's Daniela Alvarez. She is a beast - any chance she might start playing for the US instead of her native Spain? Sooo many good US women’s teams, it’ll be easier to be top 20 worldwide than beat out TKN & Chughes at this moment, playing for US seems like the tough route to try to make the Olympics |
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Post by beavis on May 12, 2023 1:10:53 GMT -5
Blackmambabeto - that is a great point - she has a much better chance playing for her native Spain - selfish on my part, because the US could use a few more good bigs! See you in Huntington Beach!
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Post by dunninla3 on May 12, 2023 9:51:33 GMT -5
Kraft seems to be that tweener who is truly not going to be able to make much impact as a big going forward. Kraft/Scoles would be a very good team. I think slightly better than either of their current partnerships. Neither partnership will challenge Cancil for the "just in case TKN or Chughes get injured" USA3 position. They each bring enough points this moment to enter Challenge event Main Draws or E16 qualis. Maple? Don't think so. As with other FIVB teams with tallish defenders, such as Joanouk, Scoles/Kraft would live and die on great sideout %. They are both already there in that regard. It would help also if Kraft developed a point earning serve like Kloth, Scoles and Cheng have. Also Scoles would need to continue working on putting up a better bump sets which is a really difficult skill ... her hand sets are pretty good. |
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Post by Fight On! on May 12, 2023 10:23:08 GMT -5
By the way, it was kinda disappointing to see how Kraft/Maple performed for USC. Given that they were partners for sooooo long when they were young kids and since Kraft has been playing like crazy in the pros, we really thought they would perform much better. I am not sure who “we” is, but Kraft and Maple have been rocks for USC for the past two seasons. One rough weekend shouldn’t discount that. Good thing they had a team to back them up, I guess. |
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Post by beavis on May 14, 2023 15:31:09 GMT -5
My point was that since they were reunited, we expected as bit more out of them when it really counted. Sure, they had a great season together, but you could argue that Delaynie played just as well if not better with Scoles, and the same for Kraft while playing with Slater/Graudina. It was just disappointing to see them lose twice in the two most important matches at the end.
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Post by Fight On! on May 14, 2023 18:17:14 GMT -5
My point was that since they were reunited, we expected as bit more out of them when it really counted. Sure, they had a great season together, but you could argue that Delaynie played just as well if not better with Scoles, and the same for Kraft while playing with Slater/Graudina. It was just disappointing to see them lose twice in the two most important matches at the end. I was sad they lost too. But for perspective, Kraft/Slater lost twice in Gulf Shores last year. Maple/Scoles played at the 3s which isn’t so comparable to the 1s. |
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Post by burbank55 on May 14, 2023 18:35:39 GMT -5
My point was that since they were reunited, we expected as bit more out of them when it really counted. Sure, they had a great season together, but you could argue that Delaynie played just as well if not better with Scoles, and the same for Kraft while playing with Slater/Graudina. It was just disappointing to see them lose twice in the two most important matches at the end. I was sad they lost too. But for perspective, Kraft/Slater lost twice in Gulf Shores last year. Maple/Scoles played at the 3s which isn’t so comparable to the 1s. Yeah, the Kraft/Slater situation in 2022 was very similar to Kraft/Maple this year. Kraft/Slater went undefeated at the 2s in 2022 except for two losses at Gulf Shores to FSU’s Fitzpatrick/A.Chacon including the Finals. Kraft/Maple were something like 30-1 at the 1s in 2023 before two losses at Gulf Shores to TCU and UCLA. A trend? Maybe, but I don’t care and Dain seemed to understand in his interviews. |
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Post by tamz on May 14, 2023 19:06:41 GMT -5
Impressive that Dain mentioned they lost 12 girls last year and the group this year had 10 new girls. Surely he deserved Coach of the Year.
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Post by vballfanattic on May 14, 2023 20:18:33 GMT -5
Kraft and Maple have had a tremendous season. Their 3 losses have been to Ferary twins (by a score of 14-16 in the 3rd set), a 19-21, 19-21 loss to TCU's Moreno/Alvarez, and a relatively bad loss to Boyd/Denaburg in the finals. These are all strong opponents. It's not like they lost to nobodies. The only pair with a stronger body of work than them this season imo is TCU's 1s.
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Post by vballfanattic on May 14, 2023 20:22:46 GMT -5
In Gulf shores, it seemed that some players/pairs that were very successful/dominant all year - Kraft/Maple, A. VanWinkle/Brennan, Powers/Hallgren, Smith/Monserez, S. McTavish, A. Vergara, Scott/Brockett did not play their absolute best and were beaten. It shows how strong beach volleyball is across the board and that if you don't play your best, you can be beat.
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Post by viperton on May 15, 2023 2:57:56 GMT -5
By the way, it was kinda disappointing to see how Kraft/Maple performed for USC. Given that they were partners for sooooo long when they were young kids and since Kraft has been playing like crazy in the pros, we really thought they would perform much better. I am not sure who “we” is, but Kraft and Maple have been rocks for USC for the past two seasons. One rough weekend shouldn’t discount that. Good thing they had a team to back them up, I guess. literally. The OP must’ve only watched the ncaa tournament. Kraft/Maple is one of the best duos in the country. I would never call them bad just off of one weekend |
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Post by sonofdogman on May 15, 2023 15:52:11 GMT -5
I am not sure who “we” is, but Kraft and Maple have been rocks for USC for the past two seasons. One rough weekend shouldn’t discount that. Good thing they had a team to back them up, I guess. literally. The OP must’ve only watched the ncaa tournament. Kraft/Maple is one of the best duos in the country. I would never call them bad just off of one weekend I find that to be an odd take from you. beavis never calls them "bad," he said he was disappointed in their performance. He actually praised both those players in his post. It was the departure from the norm of being so successful, which he explicitly acknowledged, that resulted in him feeling disappointed at their results in Gulf Shores. Implied was that he expected a great weekend from them. |
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Post by beavis on May 17, 2023 16:18:16 GMT -5
literally. The OP must’ve only watched the ncaa tournament. Kraft/Maple is one of the best duos in the country. I would never call them bad just off of one weekend I find that to be an odd take from you. beavis never calls them "bad," he said he was disappointed in their performance. He actually praised both those players in his post. It was the departure from the norm of being so successful, which he explicitly acknowledged, that resulted in him feeling disappointed at their results in Gulf Shores. Implied was that he expected a great weekend from them. Thanks, Sonofdogman - you explained my comments much better than I could have! We have been watching them for years, and saw them in person in Hermosa and Huntington in 2019 when they took the 5th and the 13th (I think they were like 9 years old???), and have loved both of their games ever since. We thoroughly enjoy watching them, and are amazed at the transformation Delaynie has had in her conditioning and how much quicker she now seems to be on defense. I stand by my earlier comments that we were simply disappointed watching them lose two very big matches in Gulf Shores. I also hope that Kraft does not end up being that classic tweener, because it seems like being a defender might be the best future for her. |
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Post by burbank55 on May 26, 2023 12:09:14 GMT -5
How about Carl Henkel and Annett (Buckner) Davis. I guess that makes thirteen then. I apologize for reopening this topic but I saw this in the official UCLA announcement about Stein leaving and JJJ becoming interim head coach. ”Metzger (2004) and Johnson Jordan (2000), have both represented the United States at the Olympic Games, and together, they produced another Bruin Beach Volleyball Olympian in Sarah Sponcil (2020). Sponcil is part of the nation's-leading 20 beach volleyball Olympians to play collegiately at UCLA.” So you folks can challenge yourselves to find 7 more Bruins who played beach volleyball at the Olympics. Could be for other countries too. |
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