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Post by chipNdink on Oct 6, 2005 18:28:14 GMT -5
Most of their starting lineup will be gone next season. Perhaps Colleymore and Mussie (is she redshirting?) will be very good in the lineup next season, but the talent that's gone won't be easily replaced, if that's possible. Top 10......maybe. The middle and OH positions can be replaced. Washington has always had and will continue to have good hitters and blockers. Who they will miss most are Lee and Danicic for defense and passing. Washington has NEVER had as good a passing and defensive team. Actually I would go so far as to say Washington has never had a good passing and defensive team period prior to the arrival of Lee and Danicic. I trust however that UW will continue to recruit and develop good defensive players in the future, but I'm worried. The younger and future middle and OH hitters have already seen some playing time, especially in 3rd games when UW has been blowing teams away. Unfortunately, I've yet to see any significant playing time for future defensive players other than Aratani coming in for mainly serving duties now and then.
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Post by BearClause on Oct 6, 2005 18:46:07 GMT -5
Most of their starting lineup will be gone next season. Perhaps Colleymore and Mussie (is she redshirting?) will be very good in the lineup next season, but the talent that's gone won't be easily replaced, if that's possible. Top 10......maybe. The middle and OH positions can be replaced. Washington has always had and will continue to have good hitters and blockers. Who they will miss most are Lee and Danicic for defense and passing. Washington has NEVER had as good a passing and defensive team. Actually I would go so far as to say Washington has never had a good passing and defensive team period prior to the arrival of Lee and Danicic. I trust however that UW will continue to recruit and develop good defensive players in the future, but I'm worried. The younger and future middle and OH hitters have already seen some playing time, especially in 3rd games when UW has been blowing teams away. Unfortunately, I've yet to see any significant playing time for future defensive players other than Aratani coming in for mainly serving duties now and then. I wasn't hinting that UW's replacements for their lost players would be total stiffs. However - I doubt they can make up for the sheer amount of talent AND experience lost. With Thompson and Morrison returning, they'll be very good. However - right now they're just dominant at every starting position. I don't see UW as a top 3 team next season unless they have a killer incoming class. Is Hodge still considering UW?
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Post by Gorf on Oct 6, 2005 18:47:04 GMT -5
I know Washington is a very good team but I'm not convinced that they're better this year than they were last year before their injuries. This year with Hawaii not playing up to expectations, and Arizona still being Arizona the Huskies still haven't played any true top level pponents. If the Washington does to Stanford and Cal what they've done to all of their other opponents I'll be more inclined to think they're better this year than last year. Well, actually Cal and Stanford did NOT play Washington last year until AFTER Tomasevic was injured. Then Morrison was injured before and during the Final Four. So that ALONE makes Washington a better team than Cal and Stanford faced last year. However, there's more: Alesha Deesing has come into her own as a force in the middle for Washington. Last year, Jessica Veris played middle for Washington; and although she played very well, she's not a true middle, but a converted OH who played middle out of necessity. This year's team also has Sanja at RS, rather than OH; which means she's now often blocking opponent's strong side hitters. That certainly has helped keep opponent's hitting percentage to such low levels--besides the vastly improved serving and defense of Danka Danicic, who often does not get enough credit outside the limelight of Candace Lee. Danicic's defense has improved to such an extent that it's literally like having two liberos out on the court simultaneously most of the time. She could easily be the starting libero on most other teams. Did I say anything about Cal or Stanford playing Washington last year before Washington's injuries? I said I'm not yet convinced that Washington is better this year because they've yet to face any truly top level competition. Opponent hitting percentages and most other stats don't really mean a lot at this point when they've only faced 2 ranked teams this season. The matches against Stanford and Cal will give more of an indication of how good they really are this year.
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Post by gobigred on Oct 6, 2005 19:24:02 GMT -5
From a Husker's fan perspective...
I haven't been able to see Washington yet (on TV), but I have seen Stanford (in person and on TV against UCLA), so maybe my opinion gets influenced by this fact. With that said, I think Stanford is going to win this match. When you looked at the NACWAA Tourney in Omaha, very little difference between the Huskers and Cardinal was seen. Even though the Huskers swept, all 3 games, esp. the last 2, were very close.
Stanford has shown this year (with victories over Penn State, St. Mary's, UCLA, and USC), that they belong right up there with Nebraska, Washington and a few others for the National Championship discussion. This is being playing at Stanford and Washington has yet to face one of the top-caliber teams, (sorry Hawaii, you're not in that bunch).
This is no knock to the Huskies, they are certainly capable of picking up the win, and I wouldn't be surprised, but for this match, I'm gonna give Stanford their due and pick them to win at home.
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Post by gobigred on Oct 6, 2005 19:25:33 GMT -5
Here's my 100th post!
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Post by chipNdink on Oct 6, 2005 21:41:52 GMT -5
From a Husker's fan perspective... I haven't been able to see Washington yet (on TV), but I have seen Stanford (in person and on TV against UCLA), so maybe my opinion gets influenced by this fact. With that said, I think Stanford is going to win this match. When you looked at the NACWAA Tourney in Omaha, very little difference between the Huskers and Cardinal was seen. Even though the Huskers swept, all 3 games, esp. the last 2, were very close. (rest of stuff deleted) You mean the Stanford team that had a difficult match against UCSB (at home even)?? And Stanford is close to Washington because Stanford played well against Nebraska--the same Nebraska that had a difficult match against Oklahoma?? By the way, the UCSB team that gave Stanford a difficult time has an assistant coach named Rick McLaughlin and a freshman hitter named Lauren McLaughlin. Does that name sound familiar?? Gee, I wonder if Coach McLaughlin at Washington was able to obtain any "insights" from how UCSB played Stanford?? Hmmmm..
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Post by bigfan on Oct 6, 2005 22:02:28 GMT -5
Washington in 4.
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Post by Pirate VB Fan on Oct 6, 2005 22:42:10 GMT -5
Most of their starting lineup will be gone next season. Perhaps Colleymore and Mussie (is she redshirting?) will be very good in the lineup next season, but the talent that's gone won't be easily replaced, if that's possible. Top 10......maybe. We do certainly lose a lot after this year. Sanja, Brie, Candace, Danka plus Darla and Jessica Veris. That is a top 10 team all by itself, and that is with no one to set . However, I think we will be OK, not as good this as this year, at least at first, but this year's team is something special. We will still have the best setter in the country (Court) and one of the best OHs (Christal). Dees is really coming into her own (little things like hitting 8 out of 9 with no errors against ASU, that is something like .889) and I think Jessica Swarbrick is getting some good playing time and figuring things out quicker than Dees did last year. Jill Colleymore is adjusting to the college game this year and should be ready to start next year. Stevie Mussie is redshirting this year, but should be recovered from her knee surgery and up to 100% by spring. I expect Tom Tom (Tamari Miashiro - setter from Hawai'i, redshirting this year) will probably be the libero as she waits to take over setting duty from Court. She may even do some games as setter. Court has played every game since she came to Montlake, so Jim may have to be forceful with her on that . Lindsey Thiery, another redshirt this year, was an excellent DS is Club (OH in HS) and should take Danka's role. Maybe some dropoff there from Danka of this year, but that would be hard not to occur. Between Courtney, Christal, Stevie, Jill and Lindsey we will have five players from the same club team (KJ). The new recruits we already have look very good, and we have one or two more we can sign. Megan Hodge would look REALLY good in Purple and Gold.
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Post by Huskyfan on Oct 6, 2005 22:52:03 GMT -5
Read it here first: Becky Perry, Washington's recruit from Texas will surprise
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Post by BearClause on Oct 6, 2005 23:05:12 GMT -5
Read it here first: Becky Perry, Washington's recruit from Texas will surprise Tawa has her ranked #15 on Prepvolleyball's Senior Aces list, so I imagine her doing well wouldn't really surprise anyone.
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Post by prosem on Oct 6, 2005 23:19:33 GMT -5
For Bowie's Perry, a new school, new team, new life Volleyball star's transfer has Lady Bulldogs aiming for a state championship. Amber Novak/FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN (enlarge photo)
Becky Perry, who is committed to play volleyball for the University of Washington, makes the move from Leander to Bowie this season.
By Alan Trubow
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Once, she was irrational, jumping out of a second-story window because someone said her bedroom wasn't clean.
Once, she was unstable, crying because she couldn't tie her shoes and refusing any help.
At one time, Becky Perry was up, down and out of control.
Diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was in the sixth grade, the 16-year-old Bowie High School senior spent three years struggling to cope with constant mood swings, depression and the uneasiness of being a teenager. She visited psychiatrists and psychologists. She took medications. She received plenty of support from her family.
Nothing worked.
Then, Perry made a conscious decision. She turned to sports.
"Volleyball saved her life," said Cathy Perry, Perry's mother. "It wasn't until volleyball came along and took over her life that she really got through that stage. Once she grasped volleyball, all the negativity in her life seemed to vanish."
And Perry has definitely grasped volleyball.
The 6-foot-2-inch outside hitter — verbally committed to the University of Washington — has become one of the state's biggest offensive threats in Texas. And her transfer from Leander to Bowie, instigated by her parents' divorce, gives the Lady Bulldogs (ranked No. 2 in Class 5A) a quartet of star players and legitimate hopes at district and state championships.
"Offensively she's just a phenomenal volleyball player, one of the best outsides I've ever coached," said Bowie Coach Jason Landers. "She's physically gifted. She plays the game at a higher level, elevates higher than others and hits the ball with more velocity. She looks like a guy out there playing with a bunch of girls.
"I knew we already were solid coming off of last year. She's national-team good. She's play-in-the-Olympics-someday good. She makes us noticeably better."
Before Perry's transfer made Bowie better, volleyball helped Perry get better.
After years of erratic mood swings that had no catalyst, no reason and no apparent solution, she found peace at a volleyball camp the summer before her sophomore year.
Between three training sessions a day and meals, Perry's mind had little time to wander. She ate. She slept. She played volleyball. And she forgot to take her medication.
"It was right when she got serious about volleyball. In a nutshell, she just decided that she wasn't going to take her medication anymore," Cathy Perry said. "Before that, all we had done is kept increasing the dose (of medication).
"But that summer, she had breakfast, played volleyball, had lunch, played volleyball, had dinner and played volleyball. She called and told me she had stopped taking her medication. We called the psychiatrist and he said it was fine as long as we kept a close watch on her. That's why I literally think volleyball is her saviour."
Now, every spike, every kill, every second on the court, pounds Perry's instability further into the past.
"The feeling I get when I'm playing, it's like it's healing you," Perry said. "When you have a love for something so much, when you have something that you're always looking forward to, all your problems, all your thoughts, all your stresses just disappear. When I can just focus on what's going on on the court, it's the most therapeutic thing.
"I love my family. I love my friends. But I don't think anything can make me feel the way volleyball does. It makes me smile just talking about it."
Just how far has Perry come?
The hard-hitting, terminal spiker who can strike fear into opponents with one swing of her arm believes the strongest part of her game is mental — the one thing she couldn't control before.
"I never get too high or too low," Perry said. "My biggest strength is remaining calm during tense situations."
She's needed that quality this year as she has had to adjust to her new school, new teammates and new expectations.
"The team is great. School is great. Honestly, the hardest thing about the move (from Leander to Bowie) is that people don't understand," Perry said. "I've gotten rude remarks from other players and coaches from other teams because they think I moved to play on a better volleyball team. I've gone to say 'good games' after a match and I've heard coaches say to other people, 'If anybody wants to move to make us better, feel free.' People judge too quickly. It hurts."
Yes, Perry is happy at Bowie, but she didn't want to move. She still makes the 45-minute drive to Leander most weekends to visit her old friends, and they still come to watch her play volleyball.
Circumstances have made Perry a Lady Dawg. And she is focused on helping Bowie (4-0) end Westlake's nine-year district title run. She's got help in the form of 6-0 middle blocker Becky Stehling, a four-year starter and two-time all-district player, who combines with Perry to form a one-two punch.
If that's not enough, there's all-district setter Mickel Picco, along with Alexander Louis and Melissa Mitch, both of whom received all-district accolades in 2004.
"The girls have high expectations," Landers said. "I think people at the school have high expectations. My expectations are just to get better daily. We can't look at anything besides that."
Perry knows she won't.
During therapy, she doesn't look ahead, she doesn't look behind — she just keeps her mind on the game.
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Post by Wolfgang on Oct 7, 2005 0:02:52 GMT -5
Bipolar disorder. Yikes! Good luck to Becky Perry. I know this can be a scary thing for everyone concerned. Honestly. Wish her the best at Seattle.
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Post by BearClause on Oct 7, 2005 0:41:05 GMT -5
They're scheduled to show the Stanford-Washington match later in the season at UW, so I guess they didn't feel it was "fair" to the other schools of the Pac-10 to show this match as well. What I don't understand is why FSN isn't willing to show more than 1 match per week, which they then run repeats of later in the week. Why can't they just show the other matches instead of repeating the same one?? Fox Sports Net only televises the non-revenue sports because it's in the Pac-10's contract with Fox. They probably have higher advertising revenue from televised poker tournaments than indoor volleyball. As it is, they want to show men's BB and football, and have to broadcast some VB, baseball, soccer, etc as part of their deal with the Pac-10. It serves as filler, but I doubt they're going to put up a low-budget production done by the schools. Of course the Pac-10 is going to seek some balance in the scheduling, although it does seem to favor USC, UCLA, and Stanford (scheduled 3 times). Televised matches can be considered a recruiting tool, so loading up on only the top teams to the detriment of the bottom teams seems unfair. Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State are only scheduled once. BTW - the Pac-10 schedule says that Holly McPeak is going to do the ASU at Cal match on 11/11. Seems a bit interesting given how she left Cal.....
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Post by holidayhusker on Oct 7, 2005 9:41:24 GMT -5
Sorry Everyone...need your help... in a hurry and can't research... can anyone tell me what network will carry this match. Times, etc... thanks
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Post by BearClause on Oct 7, 2005 10:56:36 GMT -5
Sorry Everyone...need your help... in a hurry and can't research... can anyone tell me what network will carry this match. Times, etc... thanks None. The Pac-10 VB match of the week will be Arizona at Arizona State. It's going to be shown on Fox Sports Net channels at different times around the country.
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