Fun match. Hawaii’s volleyball fan following is so admirable. Nayeli looking like a freshman tonight
***2023 NCAA Volleyball Tournament Thread***
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
Really struggling since set 1. I think Lily being out is being felt. Against the ropes and have to pull out set 4 since we shine in set 5.
I do wish NCAA would require floor “coverings” like it does for basketball. Seems like an unfair home court advantage to have trees everywhere.
If I had to describe each team in one word: ISU - hope. Hawaii- confidence.
Missed both Wachholz and Stonestreet, although I thought Paula K played well at libero.
We really couldn't get anything going for extended stretches with the OHs after the first set. Brandt was out of sync at times with them and other times the OHs simply couldn't terminate good sets.
It was a another successful season but would really like to see the program get out the extended rut of not getting to the Sweet 16 and becoming more competitive relative to conference titles.
KU, Baylor & Texas won so we were the only Big 12 School to lose today.
Just my opinion, but the thing about those teams is, their best players show up and perform in big matches. We have a problem, in that our best players can disappear in big matches.
Is it hard to play without those two players? Sure. But, I feel like we had the athletes to win that match.
My word(s) after the first set would be: ISU- Playing not to lose, Hawaii- House money.
Just so frustrating because we dominated sets 1 and 2 but tossed set to away relatively easily. Morgan Brandt was phenomenal in those sets. I watched it and I kept thinking how do you manage to implode. Hawaii did serve way tougher in end of set 2 that continued. I have not had time to see who is coming in and since my daughter aged out of club. I have zero idea of who is even a good recruit anymore because we don't see them every weekend like we used to. Good nucleus of players coming back though. Only two names via volleytalk
Last edited:
The differential between the OH attack %s and MB %s was IMO the primary reason why ISU lost.
Englebrecht and Hopp were at .478 and .353. Gonzalez, Duckworth and Hatch were at .026, .167 and .188 for the OHs. Combination of things IMO contributed to that differential including Brandt not setting to MBs as much as she should have, Brandt being a bit out of sync with the OHs and the OHs not terminating good sets. Also, Gonzalez struggled with too many service errors (4) including match point. And Wachholz being out was a factor.
Based on the current projected roster, it would appear that Pearson may need to be an immediate contributor at MB if Perry doesn't improve offensively there over what she displayed in 2022. Should be good to go at setter, libero, DS and OH especially if Wachholz continues to improve. And I am going to assume that other top programs will attempt to poach Gonzalez this off-season.
So disappointed at the result. Granted it was Hawaii home crowd but thought girls would fare better! Hopefully this is a bitter pill they use to motivate for 2024!
High profile VB transfers in recent seasons have been primarily grad transfers but the number of high profile undergrad transfers is increasing, in part, due to NIL funding from some top programs.
