trojansc
Legend
All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (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: 28,131
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Post by trojansc on Apr 9, 2024 20:19:22 GMT -5
Great, but difficult, question. It's sort of apples and oranges as volleyball is more reliant on a team game and it doesn't have the exposure that WBB has. To me I look at which recent players were the most dominant and exciting to watch. Three come to mind...Skylar Fields, Dana Rettke, and, Morgan Hentz. I considered Plummer, but while she was certainly dominant I didn't consider her to be as a exciting as the other three. The 2023 tournament Madi Skinner also comes close and I could be talked into it if she has a similar 2024. I might be in an unpopular opinion here, but, Rettke doesn't immediately come to mind as someone very exciting to watch... (Edit: to expand more, I mean in the truly exciting like Caitlin Clark way. Even Fields has some great offense but still I don't think it was anything other worldly to watch. But Hentz, I agree, she makes sense. Inky and Foluke were really, really fun middles to watch. Igiede also really fun to watch at Hawaii for a more recent name.) I guess pin hitter might be the best position to capture attention, but another setter/hitter like Misty May would be fun to see personally. I also just don't think our game will ever have a 6-ro middle at like a very high level team. If there was, that could also be someone that gets a lot of attention if they put up ridiculous numbers all around.
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 9, 2024 20:28:53 GMT -5
Great, but difficult, question. It's sort of apples and oranges as volleyball is more reliant on a team game and it doesn't have the exposure that WBB has. To me I look at which recent players were the most dominant and exciting to watch. Three come to mind...Skylar Fields, Dana Rettke, and, Morgan Hentz. I considered Plummer, but while she was certainly dominant I didn't consider her to be as a exciting as the other three. The 2023 tournament Madi Skinner also comes close and I could be talked into it if she has a similar 2024. I might be in an unpopular opinion here, but, Rettke doesn't immediately come to mind as someone very exciting to watch... I enjoyed watching Rettke, but that's kind of beside the point. For there to be a "volleyball Caitlin Clark," it's not about who diehard volleyball fans find exciting to watch. It has to be someone who resonates with a much larger audience and gets people to tune in who wouldn't otherwise. Think Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Woods or, well, Caitlin Clark. And I just don't think there's anyone like that right now in volleyball. I do wonder if there were players in the past who could have had that impact if they were playing now. Maybe Misty May or Megan Hodge could move the needle if they played now.
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trojansc
Legend
All-VolleyTalk 1st Team (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: 28,131
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Post by trojansc on Apr 9, 2024 20:35:28 GMT -5
I might be in an unpopular opinion here, but, Rettke doesn't immediately come to mind as someone very exciting to watch... I enjoyed watching Rettke, but that's kind of beside the point. For there to be a "volleyball Caitlin Clark," it's not about who diehard volleyball fans find exciting to watch. It has to be someone who resonates with a much larger audience and gets people to tune in who wouldn't otherwise. Think Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Woods or, well, Caitlin Clark. And I just don't think there's anyone like that right now in volleyball. I do wonder if there were players in the past who could have had that impact if they were playing now. Maybe Misty May or Megan Hodge could move the needle if they played now. As Hodge and Hooker have been mentioned, I think the 2009 National Championship for Volleyball may have been the closest we've come in terms of pure volleyball entertainment. Hooker was so fun to watch, Hodge and Penn State definitely as well. That was an overall epic match.
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Post by ironhammer on Apr 9, 2024 21:43:57 GMT -5
Fascinating answers I have to say, keep them coming.
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Post by eyeroll2021 on Apr 9, 2024 22:48:40 GMT -5
My pick is probably Misty May. In terms of creating an explosion in viewership and growing a sport, she and Kerri Walsh basically did that for women's beach volleyball in the US. Before them I feel like beach VB was very limited to Hawaii and California.
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Post by memorybankrupt on Apr 9, 2024 22:50:42 GMT -5
I might be in an unpopular opinion here, but, Rettke doesn't immediately come to mind as someone very exciting to watch... I enjoyed watching Rettke, but that's kind of beside the point. For there to be a "volleyball Caitlin Clark," it's not about who diehard volleyball fans find exciting to watch. It has to be someone who resonates with a much larger audience and gets people to tune in who wouldn't otherwise. Think Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Woods or, well, Caitlin Clark. And I just don't think there's anyone like that right now in volleyball. I do wonder if there were players in the past who could have had that impact if they were playing now. Maybe Misty May or Megan Hodge could move the needle if they played now. Misty May could move the needle. We haven't seen a setter like her in the US. I love Hodge but I suspect she would not be able to pass against the current college servers.
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 9, 2024 22:57:24 GMT -5
I enjoyed watching Rettke, but that's kind of beside the point. For there to be a "volleyball Caitlin Clark," it's not about who diehard volleyball fans find exciting to watch. It has to be someone who resonates with a much larger audience and gets people to tune in who wouldn't otherwise. Think Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky or Tiger Woods or, well, Caitlin Clark. And I just don't think there's anyone like that right now in volleyball. I do wonder if there were players in the past who could have had that impact if they were playing now. Maybe Misty May or Megan Hodge could move the needle if they played now. Misty May could move the needle. We haven't seen a setter like her in the US. I love Hodge but I suspect she would not be able to pass against the current college servers. I mean, with Hodge, I'm assuming the same level of dominance and the Penn State undefeated streak/threepeat that came with it. Just that it would be in this era when volleyball is more popular as a spectator sport than it was 15 years ago when she actually played. It's just a hypothetical.
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 9, 2024 23:24:34 GMT -5
Great, but difficult, question. It's sort of apples and oranges as volleyball is more reliant on a team game and it doesn't have the exposure that WBB has. To me I look at which recent players were the most dominant and exciting to watch. Three come to mind...Skylar Fields, Dana Rettke, and, Morgan Hentz. I considered Plummer, but while she was certainly dominant I didn't consider her to be as a exciting as the other three. The 2023 tournament Madi Skinner also comes close and I could be talked into it if she has a similar 2024. I might be in an unpopular opinion here, but, Rettke doesn't immediately come to mind as someone very exciting to watch... (Edit: to expand more, I mean in the truly exciting like Caitlin Clark way. Even Fields has some great offense but still I don't think it was anything other worldly to watch. But Hentz, I agree, she makes sense. Inky and Foluke were really, really fun middles to watch. Igiede also really fun to watch at Hawaii for a more recent name.) I guess pin hitter might be the best position to capture attention, but another setter/hitter like Misty May would be fun to see personally. I also just don't think our game will ever have a 6-ro middle at like a very high level team. If there was, that could also be someone that gets a lot of attention if they put up ridiculous numbers all around. I don't think Hentz or really any libero would be able to get a ton of casual fans to tune in. I think a Misty May clone would be the best option, since she was an elite setter and an elite hitter at the same time, and I think that combination would be so rare that it would have the chance to transcend the sport. If this athlete also had a very charismatic personality (e.g. MJ), that would help, though it's not an absolute requirement (e.g. Tiger).
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Post by hanmertime on Apr 10, 2024 0:29:42 GMT -5
Misty May And yes, a lot of her impact came after college, on the beach, but kids wanted to see her and be her and it raised the profile of the sport in a smaller but similar way. Agree. Misty was a star and everyone followed her. A great outside hitter who goes to college and dominates as a setter. Pure volleyball legend.
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Post by nellynel on Apr 10, 2024 7:48:55 GMT -5
In terms of career.
Played at a non-perennial power.
Took a decent but not great supporting cast to the Final 4 but came up short. Was the first, second and third option that year.
I grinded my teeth as she started every jump vs Texas.
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Post by uofaGRAD on Apr 10, 2024 8:18:27 GMT -5
In terms of career. Played at a non-perineal power. Took a decent but not great supporting cast to the Final 4 but came up short. Was the first, second and third option that year. I grinded my teeth as she started every jump vs Texas. there’s an alternate timeline where she never stopped playing and became our opposite for Paris
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Post by eotexas5 on Apr 10, 2024 9:18:46 GMT -5
In terms of career. Played at a non-perineal power. Took a decent but not great supporting cast to the Final 4 but came up short. Was the first, second and third option that year. I grinded my teeth as she started every jump vs Texas. I do wonder what was the missing piece(s) for that Baylor team. Better setter? Better second OH? The middles were pretty stacked and they had pretty good back row defending/passing.
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Post by bbg95 on Apr 10, 2024 9:21:42 GMT -5
In terms of career. Played at a non-perineal power. Took a decent but not great supporting cast to the Final 4 but came up short. Was the first, second and third option that year. I grinded my teeth as she started every jump vs Texas. I do wonder what was the missing piece(s) for that Baylor team. Better setter? Better second OH? The middles were pretty stacked and they had pretty good back row defending/passing. Even if they got by Wisconsin, they weren't beating Stanford that year.
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Post by ballvolley on Apr 10, 2024 9:25:26 GMT -5
There have been some amazing players since, but Misty May in 1998 was a phenomenon and IMO the closest to Caitlin in terms of draw and awe. Young girls wore their hair like her and she was a phenom, leading LBSU to an undefeated season (first time in the NCAA) and winning her second consecutive NPOY award. She did things no setter had ever done, and we she got set (the rule if she played the first ball, front or back row) she could totally thump. She also had a killer jump serve.
Ogonna was another fun one to watch. Her athleticism and jump were amazing, but he in court personality was electric.
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Post by eyeroll2021 on Apr 10, 2024 10:41:20 GMT -5
In terms of career. Played at a non-perineal power. Took a decent but not great supporting cast to the Final 4 but came up short. Was the first, second and third option that year. I grinded my teeth as she started every jump vs Texas. I do wonder what was the missing piece(s) for that Baylor team. Better setter? Better second OH? The middles were pretty stacked and they had pretty good back row defending/passing. Another banging pin. I had to look up who played as second OH and OPP.
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