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Post by exit237a on Sept 4, 2024 13:54:23 GMT -5
Here's a screen grab of last night's livestats. Great night from Averie carrying the load for us, seven more swings than Raina even! Love that even distribution of offense. Laynie taking confident rips from opposite and even mixing in a tip or two. Another massive night from Ashlyn. Already has a good connection with Brooke!
Also so cool to see Taylor hit the court! I only wish more of the home crowd had been aware of it- those of us who were, were clapping and cheering : )
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 4, 2024 15:51:49 GMT -5
A tempo offense has nothing to do with set distribution. That is clearly on Brooke. Our offense is more diverse because we finally have 4 other legit attackers who can score at any time. We are also much more in system (better passing) which allows Brooke to distribute the ball more evenly. Multiple attackers also means the block isn't camping out on Raina every time she is the front row. Totally disagree with your first sentence (the rest I agree with, but it doesn't negate the importance of tempo). Here's why IF you have better passing (still not great, but better), AND you have 4 legit attackers (we do, in both front and back), you get (1) better kill distribution AND (2) better team kill stats...it's because the ball more frequently gets to any one of those attackers before there's a fully closed blocking wall. Even with 4 legit attackers, if you throw up 20-ft high sets most B1G middles can get to wherever they need to go to close the blocking wall. This isn't rocket science level physics. And furthermore, hitters who are decent but not typically terminal have a much better chance of getting kills through the blocking holes...and this is in fact happening now. A tempo offense is just the speed and location of the sets. Set distribution is based on passing, what hitters are options & oposong teams blockers. Tempo does help the hitter in terms of the opposing teams block not closing all the way. As a former setter, i set who was hot & getting kills regardless of what kind of set. Philipot was money on the slide so Brooke kept going to her. Same with Smith. You set the hot hand and who has a favorable match up.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 4, 2024 15:55:05 GMT -5
Here's a screen grab of last night's livestats. Great night from Averie carrying the load for us, seven more swings than Raina even! Love that even distribution of offense. Laynie taking confident rips from opposite and even mixing in a tip or two. Another massive night from Ashlyn. Already has a good connection with Brooke!
Also so cool to see Taylor hit the court! I only wish more of the home crowd had been aware of it- those of us who were, were clapping and cheering : ) Amazing to see Ashlyn gets so many attempts in a 4 sets! Spreads the block & makes it easier to get kills. So different from last year.
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Post by exit237a on Sept 4, 2024 16:09:48 GMT -5
Here's a screen grab of last night's livestats. Great night from Averie carrying the load for us, seven more swings than Raina even! Love that even distribution of offense. Laynie taking confident rips from opposite and even mixing in a tip or two. Another massive night from Ashlyn. Already has a good connection with Brooke!
Also so cool to see Taylor hit the court! I only wish more of the home crowd had been aware of it- those of us who were, were clapping and cheering : ) Amazing to see Ashlyn gets so many attempts in a 4 sets! Spreads the block & makes it easier to get kills. So different from last year.
Seeing last night's game in person at Huff, Ashlyn is super vocal calling for the ball and it's almost like Brooke can echo locate her. Love the confidence they already each have in that connection. Ashlyn has a big window, too, and can adjust her shot based on where the set goes.
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Post by UofIlliniVBFan on Sept 4, 2024 16:18:20 GMT -5
RPI Futures Rank - Conference (projected wins-losses[rounded] - RPI Score - Strength of Schedule
Week 1 RPI Future: 77. Illinois - Big Ten (14-16) - .5538 - 30 Week 0 RPI Future: 96. Illinois - Big Ten (12-18) - .5342 - 27
Illini opponents this weekend:
169. Toledo - Mid-American (17-13) - .5016 - 200 42. Iowa State - Big 12 (17-12) - .5897 - 35 120. Wake Forest - Atlantic Coast (13-18) - .5256 - 63
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Post by volleyaudience on Sept 4, 2024 16:35:39 GMT -5
Here's a screen grab of last night's livestats. Great night from Averie carrying the load for us, seven more swings than Raina even! Love that even distribution of offense. Laynie taking confident rips from opposite and even mixing in a tip or two. Another massive night from Ashlyn. Already has a good connection with Brooke!
Also so cool to see Taylor hit the court! I only wish more of the home crowd had been aware of it- those of us who were, were clapping and cheering : ) IMO this is a moment to savor. After consistent calls to get Terry some help, the coaches recruited Hernandez, Philpot, and Smith who came, stepped up, and provided exciting, balanced success.
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Post by exit237a on Sept 4, 2024 17:23:06 GMT -5
Here's a screen grab of last night's livestats. Great night from Averie carrying the load for us, seven more swings than Raina even! Love that even distribution of offense. Laynie taking confident rips from opposite and even mixing in a tip or two. Another massive night from Ashlyn. Already has a good connection with Brooke!
Also so cool to see Taylor hit the court! I only wish more of the home crowd had been aware of it- those of us who were, were clapping and cheering : ) IMO this is a moment to savor. After consistent calls to get Terry some help, the coaches recruited Hernandez, Philpot, and Smith who came, stepped up, and provided exciting, balanced success.
Couldn't agree more! There will always be areas where a team can improve and there's no doubt this coaching staff is addressing them in the practice gym. In fact, I listened to last night's postgame radio interview and Chris mentioned the faster offense they're trying to run this season and how he recognizes there are kinks to be ironed out in implementing it.
But to your point, NCAA volleyball fans have a long offseason and once the season finally comes around, it's a choice to spend it grousing about every thing that could be improved and dwelling on whether one's offseason expectations are immediately being met. This team with so many new parts (in key roles) is already starting to jell in this young season and has found a way to win all three matches. Exciting times to be an Illinois fan and important to enjoy the ride before that inevitable next long offseason hits. I mean, as much as I love bantering on VT from December to August, this is our time to enjoy actually watching our teams instead of just recollecting or forecasting.
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Post by inpaign on Sept 4, 2024 17:46:08 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty. Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now. The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then. Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini. To be clear, my mentioning of PTSD from previous seasons was regarding some of the horrible losses we have suffered early in the season that held down our resume as we tried to make the tournament later in the season. It had NOTHING to do with the talent of our team. I've held firm since the offseason that this team is much improved from last year and I still believe that. I do still get nervous when we play shaky against much inferior opponents, but that's just part of being a sports fan. Just had to clarify Other than that, totally agree with everything you said!
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Post by liberovb10 on Sept 4, 2024 21:32:48 GMT -5
Remember the saying about people who view the glass as half empty instead of half full? Looks like we're going to have to change that for some Illini fans who start suffering PTSD because it's the 3rd match of a 30-match season and they're bummed that the glass is only up to 75% full now but still 25% empty. Get real. And appreciate the difference. This team is a major improvement, and it can get even better once CMM is wearing the Libero jersey. Philpot, Smith, Hernandez, and CMM are major upgrades, with Philpot (11 kills, 10 blocks!) a budding star. The tempo offense, in spite of the issues created for Raina, has clearly resulted in very balanced scoring (no longer totally dependent on Raina - check the stats), and very importantly, in every rotation now. The major remaining issue is serve receive/passing when both Barnes and Raina are in the back row. Both the 2nd and 4th set blew up when the ISU servers started going hard at both of them. It wasn't just the shanked serves but also the poor 1st passes that kept pulling Mosher OOS. When that happened it was goodbye tempo offense (taking both Philpot and Smith away). IMO this can be significantly corrected when CMM is running the back row with either Hernandez or a DS to hide Raina on serves. Let's see what happens then. Cheers. I raise my 75% full glass (85% when CMM) to the improved Illini. A tempo offense has nothing to do with set distribution. That is clearly on Brooke. Our offense is more diverse because we finally have 4 other legit attackers who can score at any time. We are also much more in system (better passing) which allows Brooke to distribute the ball more evenly. Multiple attackers also means the block isn't camping out on Raina every time she is the front row. i don’t want to belabor the point - but a tempo offense and set distribution can be very much related. when you get a good pass off SR - it allows for tempo to come into play and shift distribution around to your various hitters (we now have 4 capable as you alluded to). As we know - tempo doesn’t just mean go sets to the OH, but it can mean a slide with the middle, a 31, a bic, etc. causing more confusion with the opposing block. Brooke is forcing tempo and distribution when the pass is off resulting in a number of missed connections. distribution without tempo is also a thing - but but to say a tempo offense has nothing to do with set distribution, not sure i 100% agree.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 4, 2024 22:28:32 GMT -5
In a way a tempo offense has everything to do with set distribution and still nothing to do with set distribution. In order for the tempo offense to be effective the setter has to have distribution options - if there is only one place to go it doesn’t matter how fast the tempo, the blockers will be able to get to the location of the set. The whole purpose is to beat the block, with the result the defense determines the set distribution. If the block focuses on Raina, a properly executed tempo offense will primarily go elsewhere, even if that means every set goes to the same elsewhere. Which is one of the reasons Averie had more swings than Raina yesterday - when was the last time that happened? In baseball terms, “hit em where they ain’t.” One of the main reasons we were not able to run a tempo offense previously is because we didn’t have enough hitting options.
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Post by pointillinois on Sept 5, 2024 10:25:00 GMT -5
Pasquale - WBB just landed another 5* recruit from Whitney Young, I wouldn't count on any volleyball coverage this weekend. #ducksforcover
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Post by Pasquale on Sept 5, 2024 11:25:41 GMT -5
Pasquale - WBB just landed another 5* recruit from Whitney Young, I wouldn't count on any volleyball coverage this weekend. #ducksforcover Thanks for the heads up. I support the Women's BB program and am pleased to hear about the new recruit (and that they are receiving attention). It looks like the N-G finally published a piece this morning about the v'ball tournament this weekend.
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Post by Chewblocka on Sept 5, 2024 13:04:31 GMT -5
Pros: Philpot: looked really good on the slide. CMM: defense better than last year's Hernandez: looked good for the most part but did disappear in set 2 (like much of the squad) Hustle: Effort was there on defense most of the night. Didn't get to every ball or get them up well, but moved better than in last years. Cons: Brooke: just a bad night all around. Setting was erratic, couldn't get the jump-serve in at all. Tamas subbed Campbell in to serve for Brooke in the 4th set. That's how off it was. Barnes: as others note, would love to see CMM as libero this weekend. Barnes hustles like no other, but the level of passing we need just isn't there. New Huff set-up: they moved the students to the bleachers where the pep band sat, the ADA seating is where the students were and the heads of the spike squad are where the ADA seating used to be. The students are too far off the court and the length of the court separates the key spike squad members from the other students. They seem content to replace the student caused havoc with an obnoxiously loud PA sound effect system. Mystery Raina: just looks a bit off. Although, did get the serve going as the match progressed. Believe it was 3 aces in the 4th set. Overall: Long way to go. Not sure I see a tournament team at this moment. I really like your analysis of the game your points are bang on and you are still seeing the bright side of things. Keep posting I like reading your feedback!
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Post by exit237a on Sept 5, 2024 13:05:42 GMT -5
Cons: New Huff set-up: they moved the students to the bleachers where the pep band sat, the ADA seating is where the students were and the heads of the spike squad are where the ADA seating used to be. The students are too far off the court and the length of the court separates the key spike squad members from the other students. They seem content to replace the student caused havoc with an obnoxiously loud PA sound effect system. I think you'll be glad (as I was) to hear that for the remainder of the regular season they will be adding actual bleachers for the students where the old ADA seating was at the north end of the court. Here's that excerpt from the recent article on the main Illini Vball website, Illini Volleyball Announces Match Day Updates:
The student section will reside on the north side of Huff Hall, with bleachers available for Big Ten play.
I've gotta imagine the pep band will also be back once conference play starts, one of my favorite Huff Hall crowd elements : )
EDIT: I'm less thrilled about this other change but will set my own feelings aside if it ends up bringing more people to home games:
Alcohol will now be served at Huff Hall. Fans can purchase domestic beers, local craft beers and canned cocktails during the match with the limit of two beverages per ID.
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 5, 2024 13:37:40 GMT -5
I couldn’t find any ncaa rules regarding the distance between the serving endline and bleachers. The bleachers at the south end could be closer without interfering with play.
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