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TexasDPT

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Everything posted by TexasDPT

  1. I had enough of seeing Petersen, Rounsaville, and Hahn in the backcourt for the past several years. We definitely lucked out getting O’Brien when she was ready to give up playing and Iosia is just a Freshmen. I could do w/o Petersen on the floor tbh. We’ll see how they look next year with Melanie Parra in the line-up. Still think we may need to go all-in with setter Cabello or find an elite setter transfer (they were going after a setter that eventually chose USC)...but not sure how that would affect team dynamics with everyone returning....
  2. This was probably Texas’ best passing/ball control and serving team in several years. Jhenna is a great setter, but her height is always going to be a liability the deeper you go into the tournament. Kentucky’s hitters were abusing her block. We won several matches because we served tough...but Kentucky was passing really well...and combine that with a setter who can put the ball where all the hitters need it and you can see the results. I will also say that the MB’s had a difficult time reading the UK hitters...mostly because of the fast offense, but even when UK was OOS, they seemed to hit around, through, and over the block. For this team, if the MBs weren’t slowing down the hitters, the back row play seemed to slip back into Texas’ old ways (like in the Rice lost).
  3. Their players can go up and swing at the ball because they are in-system so much...but they are also doing it, on OOS swings...
  4. When they are passing so well, Lilley is showing what the AVCA player of the year can do....
  5. Texas looks too tentative....that one overpass, Bri should have gone up and slammed it down, instead she let it go and it lead to a UK point.
  6. Need to serve tougher and serve in to get Kentucky out of system. Floor defense needs to play better behind Jhenna’s block.
  7. Texas just needs to go up and bang the ball...they need to quit with finesse shots.
  8. I doubt Elliott will change the line-up....why change something that's not broken? Plus, Molly is going to be needed for her blocking on the right pin. The Skinner sisters are a tad bit shorter than our OHs, but they have good verticals and have live arms. Stumler is more like Eggleston... hits with power, has a lot of range, and mixes up her shots. I can see her really going after Jhenna's block. Tealer is only 5'10 but she jumps and hits well and they move her around all over the court. Lilley is a great setter with excellent location and tempo, so we will need to continue to serve tough and get them OOS. I think this is going to be a real competitive match.
  9. It’s no coincidence that Texas started playing it’s best ball when Morrison arrived to Texas from his coaching stint with USA’s inaugural Professional Volleyball League (Athletes Unlimited) that ended in March. The improvements in blocking and floor defense and overall ball control are quite significant from the Fall season. Texas may have lost to Rice, but they were still testing out a different line-up with Parra on the left, Skylar on the right, and Iosia at libero (which I think has upped her level of play as a DS). I agree that Elliot needs to whatever he can to retain Jamie on staff, whether that be throwing the bank at him or creating a role on his staff....similar to what Chris Beard has done with the Basketball staff like making Ogden “Managing Director” and Donewald “Special Assistant” - essentially adding more experienced coaches to the coaching roster.
  10. Cabel Ha...definitely Asjia’s dad.
  11. Agreed. Petersen needs to step up when she is in Logan’s passing lane.
  12. Logan needs to pass better since they are targeting her. Their block is ready for our OOS sets.
  13. Wisconsin is passing Texas’ serve really well. We need Skylar to start bombing away.
  14. Congrats to Logan and Brionne for getting 1st Team All-American Honors and Jhenna receiving 3rd Team Honors. Skylar and Asjia were robbed as they were given Honorable Mention nods. Me thinks we will see a fired up Skylar and Asjia in the next match against Wisconsin.
  15. C’mon Morgan....get your serves in!
  16. Texas will live and die with its left side hitters....that’s been Jerritt’s M.O. since he’s been here. And that’s ok as long as he puts the best hitters on the pins. With the available players this season, Butler should have been playing on the left side with Eggleston...put the biggest leaper in gym on the left side who touches 11 feet and can hit over the blocks (like Hooker and Webster). Keep Fields on the right pin and let Phillips (her most natural position) and O’Neal patrol the middle. Molly is a great blocker on the right pin, but she doesn’t have the arm to consistently terminate from that side of the net...plus she showed she can hold down the middle when Butler was out with injury last year. Elliott’s offense will never run through its middle blockers...he just needs them to be serviceable offensively but be strong blockers defensively. 🥺 If the 6’3 Opposite hitter (Malual) from Italy actually makes it to Texas next spring, that will actually help out the left side hitters because she is used to terminating high balls from the right pin.
  17. On serve-receive, Elliott coaches his players to be 'safe' with difficult serves and to just pass the ball to the 10-foot line. So the setter has limited options...usually going to the left pin. That's why he needs big hitters because the opposing defenses are just going to camp out on them either with their block or backrow D. When Texas is in their transition defense and the opposing hitters get past the Texas block, back row players are coached just to get the ball up. That's why you see the setter running all over the place...and when this happens, Texas has only one option to just set the left pin hitter. The only time Texas is in-system is if the passers get a lollipop serve on serve-receive or if the Texas block can slow down the ball enough to get a decent pass up to the setter to run an offense with other hitting options. The elite teams train their passers and backrow players to consistently dig/pass the ball in front of the 10 foot line and 3-4 feet off the net between zones 2 and 3 so the setter can run a more consistent offense. Watch UCSB's and Louisville's setters...they don't have to run around the court like Jhenna does to get to balls...that's why they can win without elite hitters on their rosters. That's why Shook can't set this offense....she isn't fast enough to get to balls and has terrible location when she is always on the run (yet she can set her club teams to National Championships where the passing was solid). Jhenna does well with what she is given (as did Chloe Collins) but they are still blocking liabilities in the front-row. So for Texas to get better, Elliott either has to change his coaching philosophies or we are going to have to wait for someone new.
  18. Jerritt focuses a lot on blocking, which is fine when the opponents have weak hitters. But when Texas faces hitters of the same caliber who can hit over the block or with teams that run fast-tempo offenses, backrow defense truly gets exposed...just like in years' past. Jerritt either needs to get: 1)Haley/Bailey-type left side hitters with strong DS's for them in the back row with a strong passing Opposite (like Ashley Engle or Sha'Dare McNeal) to run his offense or 2) start recruiting 6-rotation OH with libero-like passing skills if he wants 6 rotation hitters .... but having 2 six-rotation OHs with mediocre passing skills isn't going to work.
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