The Back-to-Back National Champions Texas 2024 Thread

[mln59]

Aug 24, 2024 10:48:16 GMT -5 slxpress said:

Aug 24, 2024 10:19:50 GMT -5 mln59 said:

it's faster. rella is on orange and kena is on white.

I see you eyeroll

No eyeroll. I have too much affection for you for that. Just mild teasing. I like it. 

i was trying to call out eyeroll2021 , who had just walked into the gym. hard to @ people on the mobile

[mln59]

as starting setters go, barring something odd, i think ella starts both matches in milwaukee. she has the most experience with the team.

as of today, i feel comfortable penciling in madi, emma, ella, ayden, and mari for the 1st weekend

[nellynel]

Devin’s jump serve is nasty. I need to see that in the regular season.

[hookem1]

Aug 24, 2024 12:47:02 GMT -5 mikeyc said:

I'm sure it's been said many times before, but my thoughts from today's scrimmage are this:

I thought Averi Carlson's ball placement was much better than Swindle's. Especially in the first two or three sets, there were way too many misses by Ella. Both setters served very well, and Ella is clearly the better blocker. I didn't think Ella's dumps offer much by way of advantage over Carlson's setting.

I thought Jenna Wenaas played well in spite of her known shortcomings. Whitney Lauenstein, however, stole the show. She served lights out, she returned serve very well (especially in the 2nd-4th sets), she hit like a ton of bricks, and her blocking was exceptional. I'm very curious to see if there is an actual competition at OH2 because these untrained eyes saw a marked difference between the two players.

Reagan Rutherford didn't suit up so Devin got all the playing time at opposite. She did well, especially with Carlson setting. Devin's blocking was very strong today, and the combination of her and Ayden Ames was very effective on the block.

I thought Reese Emerick played well. Her digs were very good. She still needs to work on serve receive, but I thought she aquitted herself very well. I think we have a player in Sydney Helmers. I know she'll sit this year, but she made a strong impression on me.

Nothing really to say about Skinner, Halter, Akana other than they're locked in and we're lucky to have all of them.

Interesting thoughts! I definitely agree on the setters. However, I don’t think Whitney played significantly better than Jenna. Yes, Jenna struggled a bit OOS, but Whitney didn’t light it up in that department to me. Whitney for sure had flashier kills at times though, and her physicality and serving are advantages. But Jenna passed a lot better from the naked eye today and provides better defense IMO. WL was aced 4-5 times. Jenna hit more into the block and tipped, but Whitney hit more out of bounds and into the hands controllable for the defense. I would like to see both tool the block more often.

Basically I think it’s pretty close right now, but WL has more potential to improve as the season progresses. I think Wenaas starts weekend one, but Whitney will be right behind.

[VBallLife]

Glad VT’ers don’t coach 🤣🤣. How did Bunton look?

[hookem1]

Aug 24, 2024 13:40:37 GMT -5 VBallLife said:

Glad VT’ers don’t coach 🤣🤣. How did Bunton look?

She looked alright, not quite as athletic as the starters, but brings good height and solid offense.

[eyeroll2021]

I only got to stay through two sets.  It was clearly A-Team vs. B-Team with the setters swapping.  Some thoughts based on what I saw:

- We probably have the most competitive gym in the country.  No shade to UTSA, but this was way closer than last week.  B Team might be good enough to be ranked on its own, and definitely good enough to qualify for the tournament.  

- The "pure setting" differential between Averi and Ella isn't enough to negate Ella's advantages on offense and blocking.  I think Ella starts most marquee matches.

- Ayden / Mari a bit quiet offensively during the first 2 sets.  Nya, on the other hand, had a couple of swings which made me wonder if she might not challenge for a starting spot.

- Jenna was hot/cold streaky.  Would be nice to see her maintain the heat for an entire match.  She's been working on her line shot for sure.  I think she starts earlier in the season, but will be on a shorter leash.

- Whit had a monster kill that made the entire gym holler.  Ella got her a 1-on-none and she absolutely DESTROYED the ball down the line, it landed inside the 10 ft line (maybe @ 7 feet) and the boom on the ball was so damn loud I kinda expected it to be deflated.  Bit rusty on the backrow attack, a couple of foot faults today and against UTSA.

- Byrd had some boomers but also errors.  Maybe 50-50?  Don't expect to see her a lot this year.

- Helmers only played back row and no swings, hope her shoulder is ok.

- Reese kicked it up a notch.  Won't challenge Halter or Akana, but this was her best match since early spring.  Staying on the court the whole time let her get into a better rhythm

[mln59]

Aug 24, 2024 13:51:55 GMT -5 eyeroll2021 said:

- Byrd had some boomers but also errors.  Maybe 50-50?  Don't expect to see her a lot this year.

agree

[madithekuntress]

keep the thinkpieces coming i'm eating them up

[eazy]

How confident are we on Ayden starting and/or serving?

[mln59]

Aug 24, 2024 13:58:43 GMT -5 eazy said:

How confident are we on Ayden starting and/or serving?

i think she starts. she served today, but i believe rella served for her in the exhibition match vs. utsa.

[basil]

Aug 24, 2024 13:51:55 GMT -5 eyeroll2021 said:

- We probably have the most competitive gym in the country.  No shade to UTSA, but this was way closer than last week.  B Team might be good enough to be ranked on its own, and definitely good enough to qualify for the tournament.  

most competitive gym in the country is 1000% Nebraska when it comes to starting caliber players

I love the depth and size of roster we have though, we can throw a lot of different lineups, looks, and styles of player at our starters which is super fun

[eyeroll2021]

Aug 24, 2024 13:58:43 GMT -5 eazy said:

How confident are we on Ayden starting and/or serving?

Before today I was pretty confident she would start, but she was kinda quiet during the two sets I saw.  Some missed connections with both setters

[hookem1]

I would be very very surprised if the starting middles were not Ames/Singletary.

[Volleyhorns]

Did Nya look okay? What’s her best skill in high school it was her versatility