trojansc
Legend
All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017), All-VolleyTalk 2nd Team (2016), 2021, 2019 Fantasy League Champion, 2020 Fantasy League Runner Up, 2022 2nd Runner Up
Posts: 31,602 
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Post by trojansc on May 16, 2024 13:13:10 GMT -5
Whitney Bower was great at scoring as a setter, a great floor defender, a good server, and a decent blocker especially given her size. Her hands weren't always the cleanest, but, there's a reason why she was on the court and she was a net positive for BYU.
BYU had other issues to address before being hypercritical of Whitney Bower.
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Post by ridaxx3 on May 16, 2024 17:23:23 GMT -5
BYU added a 2025 commit: Grace Fredrick, setter, listed as 5-11, Skyline High (Utah)
I'm assuming Damuni leaving led to an available scholarship and now they really need another setter for 2025 (Thunstrom's a senior). BYU moved quickly. Could be a PWO; but either way BYU moved quickly.
Grace Fredrick is not even the best setter on her own high school team... I think this is the most interesting thing. What is the team going to do if Bower goes down (God forbid) because If this is the backup then it won't be pretty. She was recognized locally as someone that needed to go to JC for two years (she's only played VB for a couple of years) and few thought she'd land D1. Her club team has struggled all year despite having three hitters committed to the Big 12 as her pace is slow and they are hitting with four hands up pretty consistently. The other setter BYU was looking it also wasn't a highly recruited setter and still doesn't have a home. The most shocking thing to some local circles is that the two highest rated '25 setters from Utah were still uncommitted (one has committed now) when they were courting these two but they didn't even talk to them. I know people are upset about this one but I would be surprised if the team didn't grab a '26 or transfer portal setter as well. Either way, the plan is clearly Bower for four years. |
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Post by azvb on May 16, 2024 22:19:46 GMT -5
Did LHE ever go pro? She was so good. Her husband went to medical school-Seattle I think. She has a baby not long after they moved to Seattle. She really was soooo good. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 17, 2024 22:22:58 GMT -5
Debunk the bbg again - Morgan Bower didnt play a decent amount of time her first couple of seasons. That is a ridiculous statement. She was so bad that she never started a match and Heather kept her on the roster for 4 full years which kept other DS's/L's from being recruited. Whitney is on a professional team. Hasn't started or even played the setting position in a real match, yet! Eden - well I think everyone can see what has gone on with Eden over the last 2 years. They can judge for themselves. Alex is a highly rated recruit that has never played a college match. Judging how good Bower is and encouraging her competition to leave to play else where is very odd considering that Alex Bower hasn't even played .... but she has lost a number of spring matches while she is on the floor. No ax to grind, just accountability! Your perseveration might actually be clinical. Please get help. Okay, little sister of bbg! |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 17, 2024 22:49:02 GMT -5
I didn't say Morgan Bower started or that she was particularly good. I said she played a decent amount her first two years, as she played in about 20 percent of the sets. She appeared in more sets in her freshman year (23) than her junior and senior years combined (17). As for Whitney, do I really need to point out how ridiculous it is to suggest that she isn't any good because she's a rookie that hasn't started for the best team in the PVF yet? Atlanta was under no obligation to draft her, much less keep her on the roster all season. They could cut her if they didn't think she had potential. But they haven't. She was also WCC Player of the Year, WCC Setter of the Year x2 and First-Team All-Big 12. Other coaches gave her those awards. Also, lol at anyone putting a lot of stock in the results of spring matches. They are literally meaningless exhibitions. We'll see how Alex Bower does when the real season starts. bbg - the blind man can't tell us that there is a sunset ..... so there must not be one! Morgan Bower excuses are hilarious coming from you. She played in 23 sets her freshman year and can you tell us how many she started and finished? I think it was 2. The only 2 sets of her entire career where she was put in the lineup by Heather and finished the set in the same rotation. She never started a match her entire career. Her career spanned over 125 matches! Over 400 sets! It is a laughable argument from you. Everyone on this page knows she was no good. She should have been let go after her freshman campaign. It isn't like BYU was deep with passers and had plenty of depth on the back row. Just admit she didn't deserve to be on the roster after her freshman year. The roster needed more back row recruits .... instead Heather kept Bower around. I haven't said Whitney was a bad setter. I don't have a problem with her being recruited. She is a great dumper against unathletic teams like the WCC had in bunches. She was not better than Meyer. Whitney finished 9th in the Big 12 last year in assists. 9th! She was the only setter in the league to start every match of a 5 year career. I don't think she was even in the top 140 in assists nation wide. She is a pretty good setter but not a great one, or even close. Remember Heather allowed her to be flashy and do the splits in the air while setting her first 2 seasons .... until some well credentialed announcers made a mockery of it! Her accuracy was totally inconsistent. BYU would have won Sweet 16 matches with Meyer and they never won any with Bower. Eden .... I stick by my comments made before she ever came to BYU. bbg jumped me right away! She can't jump, block, serve or pass at even an average level. Alex .... we shall see .... does anyone think she is better than Whitney? Speak up if you do! If she isn't better than Whitney then I am dying to see the explanation for moving Damuni off the roster and keeping Eden and Morgan around for years ..... go ahead make your argument with the facts. bbg, you can have your blinders on and the Bower mask over your mouth, but just say that there is something weird going on here with BYU vb and the Bower clan. It is okay, you will live! It will be kind of freeing. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 17, 2024 22:51:45 GMT -5
Grace Fredrick is not even the best setter on her own high school team... Alofipo?
Why would Heather do that? She doesn't want a threat in the setter dept for Alex Bower. Fredrick isn't even a mid level D-1 setter. But she will be extremely happy to come sit the bench and just be on the team. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 17, 2024 23:16:58 GMT -5
Whitney Bower was great at scoring as a setter, a great floor defender, a good server, and a decent blocker especially given her size. Her hands weren't always the cleanest, but, there's a reason why she was on the court and she was a net positive for BYU. BYU had other issues to address before being hypercritical of Whitney Bower. I think you are missing the point. No one is being hypercritical of W Bower. I have thrown a dose of reality on her as a setter, but she is a legit D-1 setter. She had flaws, some were fatal, but most of them weren't addressed by a setting coach at BYU. Who allows a setter to do the splits in the air while setting a OH ball? You are right, there was a reason that she was on the court at BYU and that reason was Heather Olmstead. Hifo was a better setter Whitney's freshman year but Heather won't let her on the court except again USD where they beat the pants off BYU and Heather pulled W Bower off the court (the only time in her career) and put Hifo in. Hifo outperformed Bower by a long shot ..... but Heather panicked and put Bower back into the match at the beginning of the next set. Meyer should have started over Bower in Bower's soph year. Meyer was so frustrated that went to Heather let her know what she thought on the way out the door. The only hyper-critical issue I have is with Heather. She is the one common thread of horrible back row recruiting and coaching, very poor recruiting and coaching of setters, and favoritism that probably cost BYU in the final four by pulling a stowell or Meyer on the Lewis girl. Heather will have her winning percentage continue to go down in the Big12 because she can't see past the Bower cave. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 19, 2024 0:19:25 GMT -5
I don't think Eden Bower is that good either, but the fact is that Stowell or anyone else not named Livingston wasn't consistent enough last year to win the job permanently. If they were, then Eden wouldn't get more chances. It's too bad Little got hurt because I think she probably would have been able to do it if she stayed healthy. As for Whitney Bower, we can debate just how good she was, but what isn't debatable is that she was the best setter on the roster. As such, she deserved to play. Period. And what isn't debatable is that other coaches (i.e. not Olmstead) thought highly enough of her to give her those awards, draft her in the second round, and keep her on the roster. Again, the oldest Bower barely played in her last two seasons because she wasn't good enough. And Livingston was a walk-on originally, but she was good enough that she became a permanent starter and was never remotely threatened by E. Bower, lol. I also think it's bizarre to act like setting was a major issue for BYU when they've had good setters for eight straight seasons between Lyndie Haddock-Eppich (another walk-on) and Whitney Bower. Even the year where Bower got hurt, the backup played pretty well in her place. There's plenty to be critical of in recent seasons, but most of it is with the passing. It remains to be seen with Alex Bower, but that's a position BYU has a good track record with recently. Forgive me if I want to see how she actually does in real matches before engaging in tinfoil conspiracy speculation with no real evidence. And if it's true that Damuni is going on a mission (which I've seen reported here and elsewhere), then she wouldn't be available for the next two seasons anyway. Debunk the bbg nonsense - Stowell wasn't give the leash to possibly beat out Bower. It is clear to almost everyone watching that W Bower set Stowell to close to the and set Eden off it! bbg, "lol" Livingston was never ever a topic of the conversation regarding being benched in place of Eden. What planet did you read that from? Stowell, Callahan and Little (before she got hurt) were all pulled off the court with short leashes and at suspect times to insert Eden back into the lineup. The "oldest Bower barely played in her last two seasons because she wasn't good enough" is a quote from you. Let me rephrase it: Morgan Bower was never good enough to play in any of her seasons .... she didn't suddenly get worse in her last two years! Again, your spin drives your thinking. Morgan, along with many other DS's should never have been recruited by Heather. Maybe we should look at the Creighton roster ask Heather about that miss? A girl wanted to go to BYU but Heather wouldn't offer because Morgan Bower and Grace Wee ... and another girl from SLCC were the answers. Creighton considered her good enough and they were correct. But, but you know who didn't like her .... a certain club owner .... which all of you can guess. Wonder why? BYU hasn't had a good track record of setters recently. We lost 3 good ones and 2 of the 3 Heather pushed off the team would have been big time starters. I don't call that a good track record. The only reason you call it a good track record is that Whitney played for 5 consecutive years and never ranked in the top 120 setters in the country. LHE was great. She was a Shawn recruit! BYU is great at marketing Bower and they were great at putting OH's and MB's (even some Opps) into All-American status but they couldn't pass or set at elite levels as a team. BTW, bbg, remember the issue I had with Heather/BYU allowing Whitney Bower to be listed at 5'9" on the roster? She isn't that tall at all. You went ballistic that I would suggest they were listing her taller than she was. Well, I think it instructive what the Pro VB Vibe organization lists her at. 5' 7" is her listed height when you get her out of Provo. But she is really only 5'6" which most of us know. |
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Post by marnvbc2 on May 21, 2024 18:21:43 GMT -5
I also believe A Bower will develop and be very good when the season starts. The problem I think that is going on here is, as cilantro mentioned, why would a player who also has high accolades, even higher in terms of club play, and has been in the system for a year, not be given the same reps in the meaningless spring matches to prove who should really set for Fall? That is where the concern of the Bower Olmstead connection comes in. With Meyer, W Bower was older and more experienced. Although in the end Meyer has developed into an elite setter for Long Beach, who was able to beat Texas this past season. I can see W Bower being given first dibs with her being there and in the system prior to Meyer. But, A Bower and Damuni just doesn't make sense until it actually does?  ? vvv - quit making sense! Also, you will quickly be cast out by bbg. Probably better to allow him to beat up on me! |
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Post by pelagius on Jun 12, 2024 19:49:26 GMT -5
Little is going to have a monster year. Part of the collegiate team roster (apparently just a training roster and Chris McGown is the coach):
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Post by bbg95 on Jun 12, 2024 19:54:29 GMT -5
Good to see Little on the collegiate national team. Also, I don't think this was mentioned earlier, but Silina Damuni is serving a mission. She's going to Fiji.
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vvv
Sophomore
Posts: 138
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Post by vvv on Jun 13, 2024 13:07:20 GMT -5
Agreed!! Little will have an amazing year!! I can feel it too. Damuni to Fiji-thats awesome. I believe her dad is Fijian or Tongan? That is cool.
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Post by bbg95 on Jun 13, 2024 14:21:10 GMT -5
Agreed!! Little will have an amazing year!! I can feel it too. Damuni to Fiji-thats awesome. I believe her dad is Fijian or Tongan? That is cool. He is Fijian. |
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vvv
Sophomore
Posts: 138
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Post by vvv on Jun 13, 2024 18:12:12 GMT -5
Nice post- Thanks bbg. Very very cool. When does Little practice with the National Team. Is this the practice team for the team that Heather is coaching?
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Post by bbg95 on Jun 13, 2024 19:53:54 GMT -5
Nice post- Thanks bbg. Very very cool. When does Little practice with the National Team. Is this the practice team for the team that Heather is coaching? June 30-July 6 according to the press release. And no, Olmstead is coaching the U21 team. |
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