Not familiar with volleyball. Has KU always been this good in VB? For some reason a few years ago I was thinking they were middle of the pack in the Big 12.
Much better effort tonight. Still a lot of silly errors, but the ladies seemed to play with more effort and fire. Hillegas was very solid at libero! Hopefully that continues! Harris set better....just wish she was about 6" taller!
Agree. KU is good - no way they're the #6 team in the country though. A type of team that would never get out of Hilton with a win in the old days...The effort looked lackluster at times to me, didn't move well at the net, passing was inconsistent, and way too many attacks hitting into blocks.
You are right; you are not a volleyball expert. Schaben is elite, on any team I've seen here over the past 8 years. But you are right; we miss a great setter; we'll see how things settle out at setter.Not a volleyball expert, but we don't have much for athleticism at the net. 4 and 8 for KU were all over the place blocking shots and putting down spikes. Schaben is a nice player, but she would be our 4th or 5th best on the teams from a few years ago. ISU really misses the premier Setter and Libero that they've had in the past, but more than that, they don't have the above the net hammer that they used to have.
You are right about being negative. it is very easy to be negative all the time as you prove. Totally predictable. I saw a game team out there that was outplayed, but not out-worked. Yep, service errors hurt us, and yep, passing is still an issue. Christy is short a setter and needs more help from the back row. Bur there was lots to be pleased with tonight - if you want to see it.It's hard not to be negative all the time. I don't want to be. The team is nearing 500. There are elite athletes on this team, IMO. More than KU, maybe, but about the same. We have some really basic things that keep creeping up. That's coaching and practice. It's frustrating. There's no reason the 2nd or 3rd set couldn't look like the first? It's a pattern with this team.
I didn't think Harris was on tonight. She tried to take the ball over on 2 way too many times, and at weird times. She was limited by some passing, but tried to do too much.
How many times have we given a point on serve after a timeout? It's getting bad. We had 8 service errors before our first ace. We hit into blocks again. Same stuff. This team can be better. That's my frustration. The talk coming into the season was how the team needed to play deeper in the tourney. Well, qualifying is looking harder and harder. This is going to be a hard stretch. Baylor is better, we haven't played OU. This could turn ugly. Players need to regroup and focus.
You are right; you are not a volleyball expert. Schaben is elite, on any team I've seen here over the past 8 years. But you are right; we miss a great setter; we'll see how things settle out at setter.
You are right; you are not a volleyball expert. Schaben is elite, on any team I've seen here over the past 8 years. But you are right; we miss a great setter; we'll see how things settle out at setter.
and this mention of how we needed to play deeper this season? IDK who was saying or expecting that, but I can't see that we would have expected dramatically better results from last year. Same setter situation and likely taking a hit in the back row. I've been watching since '09 and in that time, I don't recall us ever being a great blocking team. We've had glimpses of stronger blocking this year, but obviously still not where we want to be.
Schaben is absolutely a stud. However, one great piece of a puzzle is still only one piece. She can't do it all herself.
How did Hillegas look live at libero? I've only see her as a sub. It seems from the stats that we've done well with her back there.[/QUOTE, I agree, Schaben is a stud. We know what to expect with her hitting, but I was most impressed with her improvement with her passing in the back row. Also, she had a ton of serves right at her and I did not see any receive errors. Hillegas was very solid at Libero and her passing was also very good. Our offense really did have to hit at some big blockers. I saw a photo from Payne blocking and it looked like her armpits were level with the top of the net.