well that was quite the run. Even if we had pulled it out, not sure we'd have had the energy for two more sets.
thoughts on game tonight
- Thread starter Brickhouse
- Start date
Would have been nice to finish it though. That was a crazy good run that hopefully pays off later on.
Well, I doubt there is a player on Marquette that CJL would offer a scholarship to. We have tons of talent, almost everyone back.
Fatigue. ...please all the teams played the same number of games......no reason to be swept by marquette at home....I want to hear the story on this one
we played less than three hours apart. With a top player out and another at less than 100%. If you had watched the post-conference you could have heard CJL's remarks.
That's the point....she is not comfortable with a 6-2.....her hand is force because neither setter can block well enough to run a 5-1...if she commits to a 5-1 she burns the redshirt on remi.....tricky spot to be in
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Capezio didn't play. Conaway played sparingly. Kuhrt didn't play in the third set.
CJL completely changed the lineup and rotation in set 3. The starting lineup was Horner, West, Vondrak, Knuth, Bailey, Schaben, and Nolan. Lazard saw a lot of time in set 3, also. CJL has been quoted several times already this season as stating that she's going to keep tinkering with lineups until she's satisfied.
Not a whole lot of reason to freak out, but that won't stop some people.
Im not freaking out I'm just saying don't use the fatigue excuse. ..we are still a top 25 team that lost 1 player from last year. ...and we got swept....it's not like we got beat in 5......I just expect more from a team with this much experience
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I know what you mean, but not really. We finished the last season unranked and obviously are not a top 25 team now. And as you said, we have lots of players who are used to playing with each other. How can we not score points against Marquette?
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I asked something like this in an earlier thread when there were comments about so many options -- and so few decisions. Is this normal for great volleyball teams? Obviously, the big-time programs typically have lots of depth. By when have they sifted through that depth to solidify the team? Isn't camp before the season starts supposed to resolve that to a significant extent? I'm not familiar at all with volleyball practices. There must be ways to methodically go through and answer lineup questions. The engine parts can be spread across the driveway at the beginning of camp, but shouldn't they be back in the car when the season starts? Maybe some tinkering or tuning with this or that part, but the car is ready to drive.
CJL is a great coach, but are delayed decisions sometimes worse than making a potential sub-optimal decision? I don't think there's an outright wrong decision. There's too much talent for that. It sounds like she wants to figure out the optimal or perfect lineup. It also seems like she wants to stick with certain players based on past performance/potential, and these players are weak spots in the lineup (or at least appeared to be in this weekend's matches).
A volleyball team is like an orchestra. This team often played like an orchestra sounds warming up. If the team and program wants to reach its goals, it has to make some decisions (like which music to play, who's in the first chairs) so it can go forward with practices that lead to great harmony.
CJL is a great coach, but are delayed decisions sometimes worse than making a potential sub-optimal decision? I don't think there's an outright wrong decision. There's too much talent for that. It sounds like she wants to figure out the optimal or perfect lineup. It also seems like she wants to stick with certain players based on past performance/potential, and these players are weak spots in the lineup (or at least appeared to be in this weekend's matches).
A volleyball team is like an orchestra. This team often played like an orchestra sounds warming up. If the team and program wants to reach its goals, it has to make some decisions (like which music to play, who's in the first chairs) so it can go forward with practices that lead to great harmony.
Marquette had opportunities to scout us in earlier games and see first hand various weaknesses. They jumped on those weaknesses. Plus they seemingly came into the game with lots of confidence -- whether seeing the weaknesses or simply hearing our team talk so much about still figuring things out. They played in system a lot, and we did not. They consistently served to ISU players who did not make good passes. They consistently made good passes to their setter, even with some tough serving on our part. They also hit to the gaps where we weren't or couldn't get to for digs. In short, we have weaknesses and they exploited them all over the place. It appeared we were reacting all night, rather than being able to play an offensive game against them.
Basically they played like a team with a plan, and we didn't.
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CJL admitted to this in her post-game presser and didn't mention fatigue at all. She has some tough personnel decisions to make in order to get a set line-up going forward. My guess is that Bigbee and Vondrak will be nudged out of the rotation and Horner as well if CJL decides to go 5-1.
The tough decisions need to be made. While Vondrak has been a fan favorite and not always recognized for her talent, she had an excellent weekend overall. Let me add I have no ties whatsoever to her, but was impressed. She seems to have stepped up her game, whereas a couple others have not. She is stronger, she hits harder. She appears to be a leader on the floor. She stays vocal. Her enthusiasm has a dramatic effect especially with the number of quiet type players on this team. And during the last game, she is one of the players who fueled the rally. She played back row and not only got but controlled several huge digs. She also served really well. She may not have it every game, but I'd bet on her more often than not. The tough decisions need to start factoring in who makes an impact on the floor, not just who is supposed to have the talent.
After the dust has settled some today, it's still kind of shocking to at least not win one set in that final match at home against an unranked opponent. We did get smoked at Hilton last year by Stanford and FSU but they were ranked. It's been 10 years since we lost 0-3 at home in non-conference to an unranked opponent..
Did listen to Coaches post-game this morning and she pretty much reiterated much of what others have noted here. Offense is a mess and no real team rhythm at this point. She even mentioned not being sure about the 6-2.
We won't be ranked after this but expectations are going to stay high. We are picked in the pre-season poll at #2 in the conference so it's not like our fan expectations are all Cyclone Kool-Aid fueled.
Did listen to Coaches post-game this morning and she pretty much reiterated much of what others have noted here. Offense is a mess and no real team rhythm at this point. She even mentioned not being sure about the 6-2.
We won't be ranked after this but expectations are going to stay high. We are picked in the pre-season poll at #2 in the conference so it's not like our fan expectations are all Cyclone Kool-Aid fueled.
