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Post by talkbdgrvb65 on Dec 20, 2023 12:13:25 GMT -5
Jurevicious is followed by CC and Lola Schumacher on Instagram... Rutherford followed by Sarah, Devyn, & Carter... For whatever that's worth... I don’t think this means anything, they probably just kinda know each other, the highest level of any sport is a small world. Also people follow people on instagram even if it is a very loose connection I agree with that 100%
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Post by talkbdgrvb65 on Dec 20, 2023 13:28:41 GMT -5
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Post by bballnut90 on Dec 20, 2023 13:41:59 GMT -5
> Not discrediting Texas, but I think the semis and finals were flukey by all 3 teams, Texas served the best they ever have it completely broke Wisconsin/Nebraska in an unexpected way. I think this statement probably does discredit Texas more than a little but in general I agree with you. Texas' numbers on the serve were excellent all year, but to do what they did to two very good defensive teams, and an elite passing team like Nebraska, that is an outlier, no doubt. I'm excited for next season too. Flukey probably wasn't the best word--outlier is a better one. I didn't mean to take anything away from Texas, the point I was trying to make is that I still like our backrow passing crew going into next year even if they were obliterated by Texas.
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Post by volleyball90 on Dec 20, 2023 13:49:14 GMT -5
> Not discrediting Texas, but I think the semis and finals were flukey by all 3 teams, Texas served the best they ever have it completely broke Wisconsin/Nebraska in an unexpected way. I think this statement probably does discredit Texas more than a little but in general I agree with you. Texas' numbers on the serve were excellent all year, but to do what they did to two very good defensive teams, and an elite passing team like Nebraska, that is an outlier, no doubt. I'm excited for next season too. Were they excellent? I'm actually asking about stats that back that up. In terms of aces (I know, not the best stat), they looked like a good but not great serving team. I just didn't think of Texas as a team that won with its serving or struck fear in opponents with their serving, and then all of sudden they used it to dominate Wisconsin (who had survived without good passing all year) and Nebraska (a team with the best serve receive in nation). Prior to the tournament, it seemed like Texas was basically a worse version of Wisconsin, a team that scored a lot with high OOS attack efficiency. In fact, their OOS hitting was similar to Wisconsin, Wisconsin was just a stronger in system attacking team and the much stronger defensive team (before the tournament). I was pretty bummed after the match, but seeing how they dismantled Nebraska shows that it just running into a buzzsaw type moment.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2023 13:57:04 GMT -5
Jurevicious is followed by CC and Lola Schumacher on Instagram... Rutherford followed by Sarah, Devyn, & Carter... For whatever that's worth... It's possible it means something but only very astute volleyball fans that pay close attention to when these follows actually occurred would it bear much from knowing. If memory serves me correct Devyn Robinson follows Asjia Oneal but for several years now. But if you'd look at Devs current Insta follow list and multiple Longhorns were recent followers then I'd definitely be concerned.
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Post by badgerbreath on Dec 20, 2023 14:03:19 GMT -5
> Not discrediting Texas, but I think the semis and finals were flukey by all 3 teams, Texas served the best they ever have it completely broke Wisconsin/Nebraska in an unexpected way. I think this statement probably does discredit Texas more than a little but in general I agree with you. Texas' numbers on the serve were excellent all year, but to do what they did to two very good defensive teams, and an elite passing team like Nebraska, that is an outlier, no doubt. I'm excited for next season too. If Franklin had been hit by a meteor before the match, THAT would have been a fluke. I prefer to think of it like Texas just executed during those matches and the other teams did not. To what extent the execution was an outlier in either direction for each team? Would the same thing have happened if the teams played another 10 times? Who knows, and who cares. I mean, that's the sport until we decide to have multimatch championships.
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Post by volleyball90 on Dec 20, 2023 14:14:18 GMT -5
I can't remember where it comes from to try to find it and dredge it up (maybe it was in the Punzel book), but pretty sure there was a Sheffield quote about Julia to the effect of "We don't win that 2021 national championship without her." That sounds about right. I had that thought early in 2021, that she was going to be THE difference maker that would bring us a title. I still think she can be, and this year wearing the L jersey should help her passing and overall game if she goes back to OH. I remember Julia being targeted a good bit in the 2021 tourney, and having some occasional shanks, and she seems to be the one that’s getting targeted the least now. The one thing that we really lost out on in 2023 vs going with TYA was Oz’s blocking. She was pretty solid at blocking for her height, while TTA really didn’t help much there. I hope that she’s able regain that early 2021 form and take back the OH2 position, assuming the L situation gets sorted out quickly. She was targeted by both Louisville and Nebraska. I believe 38 times against Louisville and 46 times against Nebraska. She did struggle vs Louisville, which is probably why Nebraska went after her. But, why I am forever impressed by Orzol is that she responded with the poor receiving match against Louisville by passing a 2.33 against Nebraska. She rose to the challenge as a true freshman in the biggest game of her life. She didn't do anything as a hitter, but added 6 blocks and 12 digs alongside being a rock in receive. Also, in all this talk about CC's blocking. Dev got 10 blocks in that title match. We def forget that Devyn is not only a great rightside, but also an awesome middle too.
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Post by swaggyp on Dec 20, 2023 14:21:36 GMT -5
I think this statement probably does discredit Texas more than a little but in general I agree with you. Texas' numbers on the serve were excellent all year, but to do what they did to two very good defensive teams, and an elite passing team like Nebraska, that is an outlier, no doubt. I'm excited for next season too. Were they excellent? I'm actually asking about stats that back that up. In terms of aces (I know, not the best stat), they looked like a good but not great serving team. I just didn't think of Texas as a team that won with its serving[...] I had the same impression. Chad Gordon has some data on this and they were definitely better than average. But last weekend they were like when the varsity team takes on the JV squad.
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Post by mibadger on Dec 20, 2023 14:30:02 GMT -5
That sounds about right. I had that thought early in 2021, that she was going to be THE difference maker that would bring us a title. I still think she can be, and this year wearing the L jersey should help her passing and overall game if she goes back to OH. I remember Julia being targeted a good bit in the 2021 tourney, and having some occasional shanks, and she seems to be the one that’s getting targeted the least now. The one thing that we really lost out on in 2023 vs going with TYA was Oz’s blocking. She was pretty solid at blocking for her height, while TTA really didn’t help much there. I hope that she’s able regain that early 2021 form and take back the OH2 position, assuming the L situation gets sorted out quickly. She was targeted by both Louisville and Nebraska. I believe 38 times against Louisville and 46 times against Nebraska. She did struggle vs Louisville, which is probably why Nebraska went after her. But, why I am forever impressed by Orzol is that she responded with the poor receiving match against Louisville by passing a 2.33 against Nebraska. She rose to the challenge as a true freshman in the biggest game of her life. She didn't do anything as a hitter, but added 6 blocks and 12 digs alongside being a rock in receive. Also, in all this talk about CC's blocking. Dev got 10 blocks in that title match. We def forget that Devyn is not only a great rightside, but also an awesome middle too. This is right on. We all remember how great it was that the seniors all came back after Covid and won a title but they don’t win without Smrek, Robinson, Orzol , and Demps playing really really well. We have 3(hopefully) of those 4 for 1 more run at another title. Already excited for next fall.
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Post by eotexas5 on Dec 20, 2023 14:32:00 GMT -5
Question for y'all - has Smrek ever stayed in and played any backrow as an OPP?
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Post by badgerbreath on Dec 20, 2023 14:34:07 GMT -5
Question for y'all - has Smrek ever stayed in and played any backrow as an OPP? Yes. She served against OSU when we were in the 5-1 and Robinson and Hammill were out, for example. Only played BR for that half rotation.
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Post by robtearle on Dec 20, 2023 14:44:47 GMT -5
Question for y'all - has Smrek ever stayed in and played any backrow as an OPP? Yes. She served against OSU when we were in the 5-1 and Robinson and Hammill were out, for example. Only played BR for that half rotation. Three matches, actually; Rutgers, Maryland and Ohio State. She served a total of 22 balls, and UW won the point on 12 of the 22.
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Post by volleyball90 on Dec 20, 2023 14:50:54 GMT -5
I'm all for seeing 6-RO Smrek dominating with her backrow attacks.
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Post by mibadger on Dec 20, 2023 14:54:39 GMT -5
Yes. She served against OSU when we were in the 5-1 and Robinson and Hammill were out, for example. Only played BR for that half rotation. Three matches, actually; Rutgers, Maryland and Ohio State. She served a total of 22 balls, and UW won the point on 12 of the 22. No reason she shouldn’t be serving full time next year in a 5-1 with that success rate in my opinion. Obviously a pretty small sample size but I’d like to see what it looks like over the first 10 to 15 matches next year and revisit it. Sheffield said in one of his pressers that they have a really hard time with her serve in the practice gym. I think Robinson can be a plus server as well.
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Post by 25or624 on Dec 20, 2023 14:56:43 GMT -5
I'm all for seeing 6-RO Smrek dominating with her backrow attacks. Anna's serve is beyond nasty when it's in. Kelly has raved about her abilities and sees her as an international star later in her career. I'll go out in a limb and say he's going to try to have Anna on the floor as much as possible is 2024.
As for CC, how soon "we" forget. I hope CC is part of the 2024 mix.
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