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SL Xpress

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Everything posted by SL Xpress

  1. Texas/Wisconsin is probably the biggest premier matchup you could draw up in terms of television ratings that doesn't involve Nebraska. And Nebraska would dwarf that matchup in numbers even if the roles were reversed and Texas/Wisconsin was on ABC with Nebraska on ESPN. The television ratings they pull are astronomical. I believe every person living in Nebraska, everyone who has ever lived in Nebraska, and every person whose parents or grandparents went to Nebraska shifted their identity at some point from the moribund football program to volleyball. Which still only equals about a million people, but they all turn on the TV set when the Cornhuskers play. It appears it's pretty certain we're playing them next year. I'm curious what the venue ends up being.
  2. They're a complete team. About the only weakness is that their right side isn't dominant. But they have the best middle blocking, most diverse attack, two good to great pins, a really good back row defense, an outstanding setter, and they're one of the best serving teams in the country.
  3. Yeah, I wasn't arguing about the call. My bad I didn't make that clear. I was just clarifying the rule change.
  4. Or when Nebraska visited Rec Hall in Happy Valley. Frankly, this is how Nebraska has treated almost everyone. They look so much better than everyone else. Morrison is going to have to bring out a measuring tape and help the Aggie players figure out the dimensions of the court and the height of the net.
  5. Nebraska is 88-0-1 against Kansas volleyball. The Jayhawks have literally never beaten them. 25-12, 25-11. The Cornhuskers are cornholing KUs.
  6. The only time a double contact costs a point is if it's on the contact that sends it over the net. The idea being there's no advantage if the double contact is on the first or second hit on the attacking team's side of the net.
  7. I don't know exactly how to compare, but I think it would be worse to have a family member on a team that the fan base thinks isn't performing up to their standard. I'll always remember in the 90s on the GoBig12 board John Mackovic's son posted regularly. He attended UT of course, so there was an affiliation beyond his Dad being the head coach, but obviously that's where his loyalties were. I told him pretty early on I wasn't sure that was the best place for him to participate. When things got ugly and he was constantly trying to defend his Dad, it was extraordinarily awkward. But yeah, I wouldn't want to read about all the sexual activities an anonymous person would like to carry out with a family member. Especially a daughter. Nieces, too. On some level, I don't even like them having boyfriends. I'm constantly wondering at what point am I going to have to murder them for not treating my daughter/niece right.
  8. Second to last time in Gregory, assuming we beat Indiana. I'll miss her as much as any player we've had in volleyball. Among any player we've had at UT. She's been such a joy. I don't know if everyone saw the senior day recordings Texas posted, but Emma's dad couldn't have been more complimentary and more grateful for the experience his daughter had. You could just clip his comments and send it to the parents of every recruit and we might not miss on another recruiting battle. Not that we miss on all that many as it is.
  9. I said someone who knows something about volleyball. Kidding! Kidding!
  10. Press conference prior to the Indiana match. I have to say other than Elliott putting the NCAA on blast for their decisions regarding the replay cameras and the news that there's a soft expectation for 2029 for the new volleyball arena, this was an awful press conference. Thomas Jones, bless his heart, asked every question. No one there knew anything about the Indiana team. Torrey Stafford wasn't asked a question, really. You'd never know she's a leading candidate for National Player of the Year based on that press conference. The media coverage this program receives is such a disappointment. Someday I hope we get someone who actually knows something about volleyball who regularly covers the team. Texas Volleyball NCAA Regional Semifinal Press Conference | Dec. 11, 2025
  11. I don't think the SEC was particularly impressive outside of the top 3 teams. In some ways it was downright awful. But I'm so glad we're not in the Big 12 any more. ASU was their flag bearer, and they might as well have been playing in a mid major conference. Fitting they lost to Creighton - who is a solid team, for sure. That match against Kentucky in the SEC championship game might have been the best volleyball match I've seen all year. I know we lost, but we were challenged, and I feel like we came out better for it. Same with Kentucky.
  12. To me it's a don't hate the playa, hate the game. We're like Chik-fil-a. We didn't invent the portal process. We invented winning national championships with it.
  13. I know it's already been said, but it's worth repeating. Yes, this is the craziest coaching carousel of all time.
  14. What's crazy to me is how high and mighty Nebraska fans get about not relying on the portal. Not only do they have Landfair, who they swooped in at the last minute to outbid Wisconsin, but they also have Baylor's Sczech, who they brought in to be a potential starter on the right side but is a luxury coming off the bench for the Cornhuskers. Also, like Texas, Nebraska tends to have their first pick among high school players, so they don't have to rely on the portal the way programs like SMU and ASU do. I've posted it before, but Texas is about to have a former player be a 1st team All American for the fourth year in a row. Two years with Fields, one year with Parra, and now Carlson. The truth is every top program other than Stanford relies on the portal to some degree. You'd be idiotic in running a program if you didn't.
  15. I think it's more than that. One of the best documentaries on any subject I've ever watched is Heart of the Game (2005). It follows the single season of an elite high school girls basketball program and all their highs and lows. I can't recommend it enough, regardless of your interest in women's basketball. It's just great storytelling. In there, the head coach talks about how women are naturally averse to physical contact. Boys grow up naturally roughhousing. They thrive on physical contact for the most part. But for girls it's not generally in their nature. So the first practices he literally just has them back to back, physically contacting each other to get more accustomed to it. I think that's part of the huge draw for volleyball over other team sports for women. It still demands a high degree of physicality. The same aspects that are demanded of an elite basketball player are demanded in volleyball. Height. Ability to jump. Twitchiness. The ability to move quickly across the floor. There's plenty of competitiveness. But there's not the constant need for physical contact that basketball demands. No one says this, but when these young girls play both sports and so often naturally gravitate towards volleyball as the sport they prefer, it's my opinion this is a lot of what's going on. I also feel like indoor volleyball tends to attract a higher percentage of girls more in touch with their femininity, whereas sports like basketball and softball (especially mashers) seem to attract more women who are comfortable with more masculine traits. But that's only an opinion. It also wouldn't be clear how much of that is wiring, and how much is socialization, just like all human traits. The other astounding thing to me is how strong the gay community is in volleyball. I never would have even thought about it except for my interactions on volleytalk. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems obvious to me men's volleyball is more open to the community than say, football or basketball are. All of this can get kind of touchy in ways I don't intend for it to. They're just my observations. Doesn't mean they're correct.
  16. It's HenryJames. Probably the most clever poster on this entire message board. You guys are acting like he didn't know exactly what he posted.
  17. When I think of Indiana, I think of their emphasis on aggressive serving. and the entirely unsuccessful campaign a bunch of posters on volleytalk mounted to get Steve Aird fired for being abusive to his players (allegedly). They don't even have a traditional libero, after losing Gary to Texas. Their back row defense is incredibly sus, although they do pretty well in blocks per set at 2.45. The #2 v #3 matches should be compelling. That's what I'm most excited about. I seriously doubt we see any upsets of #1 seeds in this round. Next round, sure. There's just such a big gap between about the 10th seed to the 12 through 16 spots (well, USC is knocked out, so substitute Cal Poly in there).
  18. She had like 49 aces and 122 service errors on the year. The service error police would go nutso with her on the team. And I'd almost include Elliott in that. He doesn't have the biggest appetite for errors of any kind. Not a critique of him. He's the one with the 3 national championships and umpteen Final Four banners hanging in the rafters. Just saying there are some "let it rip, never tip" type coaches out there, but Elliott is not among them. One thing I feel certain of. Texas could provide her with a better NIL package than Cal Poly. But yeah, I'm with Js1. Her only possible role would be as a DS. I mean, that's the role Kujundzic was brought in for.
  19. Need to do it again.
  20. I posted on a different board I feel like Christians had a better chance against Nero's lions. Complete failure to allow them double digits.
  21. They're 14-16. The only reason they're in the tournament is because they won the SWAC tournament to be their automatic qualifier. There is nothing to learn from this match. This is literally the worst team - by far - Texas has played this season.
  22. Indiana sweeps Colorado 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 to advance to the Austin Regionals.
  23. A guy put up a post on volleytalk a couple of days ago that examined how different seeds have fared in the last 3 years once the selection committee shifted to seeding 1-32. Here's a link to the post: https://volleytalk.proboards.com/post/4625292/thread The top 4 seeds have gone 47-1 in the first round, with the only loss Creighton to Auburn, after Creighton lost their super setter to injury. The 1 seed has literally never failed to make it to the regional finals, going 12-0 in the regional semifinals. The 1 seed has gone 9-3 in the regional finals to make it to the Final Four. The only non #1 seed to play for the national championship was Texas in 2023. The most competitive matches have been: 1) the #4v5, with a 5-5 record and 5 of the 10 matches going 5 sets 2) the #2v3 with a 6-3 record and 4 of the 9 going 5 sets. 3) the 1v2 with a 5-3 record and 4 of the 8 going 5 sets. ___________________________________ tldr: this tournament is chalky chalkerson
  24. The SEC was really weak this year other than Texas, Kentucky, and A&M.
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