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Post by Pasquale on Sept 9, 2024 14:12:41 GMT -5
I can't believe it's been six years since we've had a POW. Good grief.
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Post by jade58 on Sept 9, 2024 14:24:27 GMT -5
I’ve read a few quotes that Illinois has depth on the bench this year, yet I still see the same players playing after 6 games (based on posted stats). If our setter is getting 10 kills and it appears the other MB’s and Pins aren’t seeing the floor, then the depth you are speaking of is DS position? What happens next year after we lose the 5 grads plus anyone entering the portal, are we going to be exposed, or is Tamas going to start building through the Portal in future. We’ve lost 2 players in the portal each of the last 2 years, so development may not be our strategy here. Thoughts? Burbage and Bingham are both injured so depth is an issue again. We have plenty of DS crew this year but with Raina & Averie playing 6 ro, it cuts down on their need. We finally have real back up at setter this year. We are still woefully thin on the pins & MB positions again. The players we lost in the portal didn't contribute. And your thoughts about development? If the players who leave are irrelevant, weren’t they Tamas recruits? Are you alluding to that Illinois is destination / recruitment issue in the past?
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Post by Chewblocka on Sept 9, 2024 14:25:31 GMT -5
Raina Terry Biggie POW - well done Raina!!
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Post by Chewblocka on Sept 9, 2024 14:34:51 GMT -5
Burbage and Bingham are both injured so depth is an issue again. We have plenty of DS crew this year but with Raina & Averie playing 6 ro, it cuts down on their need. We finally have real back up at setter this year. We are still woefully thin on the pins & MB positions again. The players we lost in the portal didn't contribute. And your thoughts about development? If the players who leave are irrelevant, weren’t they Tamas recruits? Are you alluding to that Illinois is destination / recruitment issue in the past? How many players have we picked up from the portal this year? Maybe that’s just the new reality. Someone mentioned using the portal as if it’s an equal playing field, but let’s remember we’re not in the same position as top-tier programs like Penn State, Wisconsin, or Purdue. From what I’ve heard, we struggle to attract portal players, and if that’s the strategy, it’s concerning—unless, of course, you’re already in the Top 25. Who wouldn’t want to move from a smaller program to one of those powerhouses? Has loyalty really taken such a hit now that the portal is such a big factor? I miss the old days! I just hope we can keep our current players long-term, because that’s when we’ll have a real shot at making a strong run. Lets get to developing friends, that is my vote
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Post by Chewblocka on Sept 9, 2024 14:38:36 GMT -5
And your thoughts about development? If the players who leave are irrelevant, weren’t they Tamas recruits? Are you alluding to that Illinois is destination / recruitment issue in the past? How many players have we picked up from the portal this year? Maybe that’s just the new reality. Someone mentioned using the portal as if it’s an equal playing field, but let’s remember we’re not in the same position as top-tier programs like Penn State, Wisconsin, or Purdue. From what I’ve heard, we struggle to attract portal players, and if that’s the strategy, it’s concerning—unless, of course, you’re already in the Top 25. Who wouldn’t want to move from a smaller program to one of those powerhouses? Has loyalty really taken such a hit now that the portal is such a big factor? I miss the old days! I just hope we can keep our current players long-term, because that’s when we’ll have a real shot at making a strong run. Lets get to developing friends, that is my vote Oh one more thing, I hate seeing someone call any of our current or old players “irrelevant”, that hurts the heart :(
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 9, 2024 15:00:36 GMT -5
I agree with inpaign. For better or for worse, the solution is not to take Raina off the court. Opponents have to defend against her back row attack even if we don't run it very often. She is the leader on the court, which means a lot. Avery and CMM need to take more of the court in serve receive. Unfortunately there are two receive rotations in which Avery, Caroline and Raina are our three passers and it is hard to hide Raina in those rotations. I've seen video of Laynie in serve receive for her club and she was ok, even given the fact it was recruiting highlight video. I don't know what she looks like in serve receive in practice this year, but bringing her into serve receive at times may be a partial solution.
The problem with Mosher's sets to Raina isn't that they are too fast. They are simply too low, leaving her in a situation in which she has to short arm her swing, which usually means she is going to tip or roll. Often they are too close to the net, making them easier to block and negating the advantage of a tempo offense.
Also, there have been times when Mosher seems to forget there are other hitters out there. During the Iowa State match there was a time towards the end of the third set when a coach must have had a forceful conversation with Mosher because there was a string of sets to the right side. After that occurred Raina became more effective because the Iowa State block had to play us straight up.
My final thought is I look forward to watching a match in which I don't yell at the tv "hit the #*&%@^% ball."
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Post by alt on Sept 9, 2024 15:07:46 GMT -5
Raina Terry B1G player of the week. Seems like she is still getting the job done even with the lower sets she has been getting.
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Post by uofaGRAD on Sept 9, 2024 15:14:35 GMT -5
CMM getting the libero jersey would solve so much lol. having her and Averie passing 6ro would be incredible for all involved.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 9, 2024 15:17:28 GMT -5
Burbage and Bingham are both injured so depth is an issue again. We have plenty of DS crew this year but with Raina & Averie playing 6 ro, it cuts down on their need. We finally have real back up at setter this year. We are still woefully thin on the pins & MB positions again. The players we lost in the portal didn't contribute. And your thoughts about development? If the players who leave are irrelevant, weren’t they Tamas recruits? Are you alluding to that Illinois is destination / recruitment issue in the past? We've had great recruits and not so great recruits. I stand on that Tamas was handicapped when Hambly left in the recruiting dept. We didn't have much in the pipeline so he was starting from scratch way behind the starting line. Krista coming in helped and we see Ashlyn/Laynie as a big gets. I think the whole fan base would love it if we snagged some top 20 recruits every year. ILL use to be Top 10 recruiting every year. Development can only go so far. We all know sometime the facilities work against us but the school, campus & Champaign should work in our favor.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 9, 2024 15:21:23 GMT -5
Dayton ranked #24 in the AVCA poll. Huge match this weekend to gauge our team. Let's go ILLINI
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Post by oldmanvb on Sept 9, 2024 15:27:07 GMT -5
Any chance we will be able to watch the Dayton match on Friday?
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Post by maigrey on Sept 9, 2024 15:40:05 GMT -5
wellll, Shaffmaster had a triple double this week as well, so that probably split the votes.
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Post by ilalum92 on Sept 9, 2024 19:28:42 GMT -5
wellll, Shaffmaster had a triple double this week as well, so that probably split the votes. True, but always gonna go Team ILL
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Post by exit237a on Sept 9, 2024 20:36:34 GMT -5
Congrats to Ashlyn and Brooke for their selection to the All-Tournament Team this past weekend and to Raina for being named Most Valuable Player in the tournament! Great work, Illini!
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Post by exit237a on Sept 9, 2024 22:43:45 GMT -5
In addition to the official Big Ten Conference Player of the Week honors, Raina earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week in the awards that matter the most, those awarded by the VolleyTalk Player of the Week Committee! Congrats, Raina!
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