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Post by stanfordvb on Sept 16, 2024 7:14:35 GMT -5
Maybe sub in Parra…she might be able to help especially from the back row..oops nvm Back row? She may be leading the team in the front row at this point… parra is looking like a top 5 OH in the ncaa rn, lucky for everyone else that she was replaced with wenaas lol Are parra’s passing #’s any good tho?
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Post by hookem1 on Sept 16, 2024 8:04:56 GMT -5
I think Parra getting a change of scenery ultimately ended up being beneficial for her, who knows if she would’ve played as freely here. With TCU she’s guaranteed a six rotation leading role and it provides some liberty to make more mistakes when you’re as high volume as she is there. Plus there’s no championship level pressure as a team, you get to play the underdog role.
Anyways, I don’t think it makes much sense to wonder “what if”, considering it was her decision to leave.
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Post by horns1 on Sept 16, 2024 8:08:52 GMT -5
Back row? She may be leading the team in the front row at this point… parra is looking like a top 5 OH in the ncaa rn, lucky for everyone else that she was replaced with wenaas lol Are parra’s passing #’s any good tho? The trolls are back. And this dud(e) wonders why his posts are not well-received on here. SMFH
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Post by harryspotter on Sept 16, 2024 8:49:45 GMT -5
I never said I didn't expect a fall-off. Of course a team in early September isn't going to look as good as the previous team in December. But in 2023 we were replacing the setter, libero, and go-to outside—not just key positions, but important leaders on the court. Because of that, I expected last season to have a lot of growing pains. That's what I meant by work-in-progress. Based on who was returning this year—starting setter, libero, both OHs, and another primary passer in Akana—and the extra practice the team got on the European trip, I thought things would look cleaner to start the season. Not Championshion level by any means, but I don't think it's unreasonable that I expected less of a mess at the beginning.
I may be in the minority, but I'm okay with not getting a 5th year middle. If we got one, we'd have the same problem next year, but we'd also have inexperienced starting pins. Ames already does so many of the little things right—things that made a player like Bella Bergmark such an asset to the team. And Singletary is going to be such a force. Both of them need reps, and unfortunately they had to face some experienced setters in Shaffmaster and Miner to start the season.
But yeah, I'm with you on the DS. My guess is it was a harder sell once Halter balled out in the Final Four. Barnes transferred when there wasn't a proven libero, so she got to compete for the role. I feel like anyone who transferred in this year would be coming in expecting to be a DS. We didn't play well to start the 2023 season, remember? And, that was with all those 5th year seniors. Yes, Asjia was injured. But, losing to Long Beach and getting swept at home by Stanford was more of a "mess" to me than this season. I think some posters expected this team to just pick up where the 2023 squad ended with 3 incredible post-season matches even though we have 4 senior starters to replace. So, starting out slow this season doesn't seem so unexpected to me considering we started out slow last season, and we are so much younger at MB this season. Agree! We need to stay positive. Though, just like last year, this thread will not be fun without the doubters. We have one of the best coaching staff. And a great culture. They will figure it out and will be better.
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Post by stanfordvb on Sept 16, 2024 8:50:29 GMT -5
parra is looking like a top 5 OH in the ncaa rn, lucky for everyone else that she was replaced with wenaas lol Are parra’s passing #’s any good tho? The trolls are back. And this dud(e) wonders why his posts are not well-received on here. SMFH this isn’t trolling lol ur just being sensitive, it’s not like ppl thought parra was some big loss at the time she left… she ended up being extremely successful elsewhere and it’s a relief to other fans of top programs that aren’t Texas that she didn’t find this potentially first team AA form while she was at Texas. UT fans are allowed to absolutely trash Wenaas all the time but me calling parra (hitting over .300 with over 5 kps) better than her is trolling? If my name on here was “Texasvb” on here you wouldn’t you have batted an eye 🤣
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Post by harryspotter on Sept 16, 2024 8:51:27 GMT -5
id like to see averi start on wednesday — the supposed strengths ella brings to the table dont outweigh the location issues and we saw that today. Against her former team, that will be fun!
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Post by horns1 on Sept 16, 2024 9:49:48 GMT -5
The trolls are back. And this dud(e) wonders why his posts are not well-received on here. SMFH this isn’t trolling lol ur just being sensitive, it’s not like ppl thought parra was some big loss at the time she left… she ended up being extremely successful elsewhere and it’s a relief to other fans of top programs that aren’t Texas that she didn’t find this potentially first team AA form while she was at Texas. UT fans are allowed to absolutely trash Wenaas all the time but me calling parra (hitting over .300 with over 5 kps) better than her is trolling? If my name on here was “Texasvb” on here you wouldn’t you have batted an eye 🤣 Once again, you play the victim. We both know your history on here. I have voiced my displeasure many times with Texas posters who feel the need to trash Wenaas. You taking your shots at Wenaas is different than several Texas posters because those posters actually WANT to see her do well and see Texas do well; we both know you do NOT want that. So, why are you here (again)? To provide constructive criticism? To provide analysis and your volleyball "expertise"? No, you are here to troll; just own it. You believing that adding an immature "lol" after insulting a player who works very hard exonerates your insult is very cute.
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Post by stanfordvb on Sept 16, 2024 11:07:15 GMT -5
this isn’t trolling lol ur just being sensitive, it’s not like ppl thought parra was some big loss at the time she left… she ended up being extremely successful elsewhere and it’s a relief to other fans of top programs that aren’t Texas that she didn’t find this potentially first team AA form while she was at Texas. UT fans are allowed to absolutely trash Wenaas all the time but me calling parra (hitting over .300 with over 5 kps) better than her is trolling? If my name on here was “Texasvb” on here you wouldn’t you have batted an eye 🤣 Once again, you play the victim. We both know your history on here. I have voiced my displeasure many times with Texas posters who feel the need to trash Wenaas. You taking your shots at Wenaas is different than several Texas posters because those posters actually WANT to see her do well and see Texas do well; we both know you do NOT want that. So, why are you here (again)? To provide constructive criticism? To provide analysis and your volleyball "expertise"? No, you are here to troll; just own it. You believing that adding an immature "lol" after insulting a player who works very hard exonerates your insult is very cute. No one is a victim, you’re just permanently offended. But this is where we are just fundamentally different people, because there has never been a second in my life that I’ve considered calling someone else better as “taking shots” or “insulting” the other person. I didn’t say Wenaas was bad, and I’m probably higher on her than 90% of ppl on this site, I actually think she’s pretty good with the right setter. Elia Rubin is better than Harper Murray, Madi skinner is better than Anna debeer, Emma halter is better than Lola schumaker…. the list goes on. That doesn’t mean any of those players were just insulted, well except to you I guess it does. Players are better than each other and it’s okay to say that, even if they work both very hard.
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Post by hornshouse23 on Sept 16, 2024 12:18:40 GMT -5
Thoughts after the match, several tequila shots, and potentially finding a tech bro husband in San Francisco:
we played badly. We are not a bad team. Stanford is an incredible squad this year, as always, but they’ve shaken off some of the shakiness I’ve noticed in them the last two or three years. They are playing #1 volleyball right now. No shame in this loss.
Emma is the life blood of this team. Full stop.
If Madisen isn’t the best player in the gym, Texas is mid. When she decides to be in rare air, Texas is top 4. Nothing will come easy for this team, I fear, but we’ve been there before.
The lineup has to be what we saw in set 3 and we need to solidify it, get the reps in, get Whitney going, and get Devon on the court as much as possible, even if that’s a situational 6-2. Reagan is amazing until she’s not. Something about a passing opp gives me life, especially when it frees up Madisen to do Madisen things. Whitney’s offense wasn’t great today, but her ceiling is higher, IMO. And Jenna really does shine on defense. She’s a little. Let her embrace it. Set her a pipe or two per set, and she can let her OH juices flow. I love her, but these are the facts.
I’m tough on Ames, but she is that girl and you can tell how much respect coaches and teammates have for her. Her intangibles will pay dividends in the future, in my opinion.
Lastly, several of the girls looked under the weather or simply lagged. Thanks to everyone who did the meet and greet after! It was a tough time for the players, you could tell, but you made the day of so many fans and young girls who look up to you and doing that after a pretty brutal showing took a lot of courage. Emma, whit, Mari; yall are the real MVPs for that.
Chin up, ladies! It’s business time.
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Post by nederlander on Sept 16, 2024 12:40:59 GMT -5
The lineup has to be what we saw in set 3 and we need to solidify it, get the reps in, get Whitney going, and get Devon on the court as much as possible, even if that’s a situational 6-2. I definitely agree this is the way to go. And find a way to maximize what Wenaas, Carlson, and Rutherford can contribute in more limited roles.
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Post by g4lvolley on Sept 16, 2024 14:20:33 GMT -5
As we’ve watched the first 6 matches, it’s time to collect my thoughts….
Averi Carlson should be the setter. This whole narrative about her being a blocking liability needs to stop. She gets ALOT of block touches to slow the defense down so she can run the offense. She’s also a better defender in the backrow. And her connection with everyone else has gotten so much better. She was solid against Miami. I saw highlights of her setting against Miami on Facebook and her connection was amazing with Madison, Jenna, Marianna, Ayden, and Reagan. Her tempo and location is what will help us. And then I look and wonder why did we lose. We had so many hitting errors. We had 2 in set 1 against Miami and hit .481 then those errors went to 5 in set 3. Then Swindle took over in set 4 and we had 11. And then 5 errors in set 5. That’s just way too many and probably due to him switching them so much during the game.
Carlson has never had a full match to herself. Swindle has had two full matches to herself and they have both been this week. He is always starting Carlson and then putting Swindle in to get reps at the end of sets or if we’re down and she doesn’t make it better. Then he puts Carlson back in and the hitters are having to adjust back to her again. I wish he would stop doing that. Swindle’s blocking numbers are identical to Carlson so we can stop using that excuse now. Swindle had 2 blocks against Houston and 1 against Stanford. and 6 total blocks in 19 sets compared to 6 total blocks in 17 sets for Carlson. Also no outsides have had good numbers against us. None whatsoever so this whole Carlson is a blocking liability needs to give it a rest.
I also love how Carlson spreads the ball around. She keeps the blockers and defense guessing. I feel like with Swindle she keeps feeding Madi over and over again which is fine if she’s on but she hasn’t been on. You have other players on the team. Use them. Bunton played 2 sets and did not get one set. That’s a problem.
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Post by katn on Sept 16, 2024 14:21:14 GMT -5
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Post by g4lvolley on Sept 16, 2024 14:22:31 GMT -5
id like to see averi start on wednesday — the supposed strengths ella brings to the table dont outweigh the location issues and we saw that today. THIS! Ella’s location was all over the place!
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Post by mln59 on Sept 16, 2024 14:26:50 GMT -5
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Post by basil on Sept 16, 2024 14:27:04 GMT -5
we should be lower lol
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