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SL Xpress

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Everything posted by SL Xpress

  1. It is, but Minnesota has serious injury issues. Starting middle blocker Calissa Minatee is out for the season. Starting libero Zeynep Palabiyik is gone for the year because of an ACL. Starting outside hitter McKenna Wucherer has an undisclosed injury and has been out since September 1.
  2. They're not going to be regional hosts, but they'll likely host the first two rounds. No one else in the SEC is going to do that. They beat Minnesota before the Gophers went through a rash of injuries. Volleyball doesn't have a great depth of teams. No one is going to win the national championship outside of the top 8. And even outside the top 4 it can be unusual. The top 16 host the first two rounds, but the bottom 8 have a rough time in the regional. For many programs it's a big deal to make the tournament, but if you're not in the top 16 then you hope to get a high enough seed to head to the first two rounds against the top 13-16 seeds, because your season is pretty much guaranteed to end if you don't. So A&M being somewhere around the 10th to 16th best team is a big deal for them. But that can happen and you'd still be correct. I'm just saying, in the SEC it's a big drop off from Texas/Kentucky --> then A&M ---------> then everyone else.
  3. Yeah, I'm not worried in the slightest. I do look forward to a return to the program having a dominating block, but it's not an end all be all. Our middles are being effective. That doesn't have to result in a direct point. If they're altering shots enough to set up a terminal transition game, that's still winning volleyball, if not quite as spectacular. Georgia's tip defense was woeful. They're just not that great of a team overall. They're not terrible, but they're going to struggle to make the tournament. Outside of A&M and Kentucky I'm not sure how good the conference is, to be honest. I know we'll get some other teams in the tournament, but those are the only candidates to host the first two rounds, IMO. Florida falling off a cliff is a bit of a bummer from that perspective, although I can't say I'm all that invested in it. I was looking forward to having them as a fellow volleyball powerhouse, but they have work to do.
  4. I honestly doubt if either one of them have watched a single Longhorn volleyball match this season. They knew nothing about this Texas team that wasn't spoon fed to them pre game.
  5. I do a little bit. I really liked the LHN volleyball coverage. I especially enjoyed all the non Longhorn fans complaining about it when there was a match being played they wanted to see.
  6. They're obvious homers. It's going to be amateur hour for most of these SECN+ broadcasts. I feel like they pulled the play by play guy out of the communications school and the color commentator was some former player looking to make a little cash. Might as well have been saying boom goes the dynamite the entire broadcast.
  7. Georgia with 10 blocks to Texas 5. And Texas still sweeps. BTW, I really like Miller as the serving sub over Kujundzic. I hope that continues. She served for 2 points before the service error. It's a high risk high reward top spin serve, so you're going to get some errors.
  8. Maybe. I guess to me I'm resigned to our block being closer to above average than elite, and the fact we've played so many matches where we've been out blocked, my expectation is that we're going to get out blocked again. The point of the game isn't to out block the opponent, so again, I'm not terribly concerned. I will say our block has looked fine if we were a normal team. But to be a team from Texas with these blocking numbers is not usual. But if the team serves tough to get the opponent out of system, terminates at a high rate, and has great backcourt defense, it's not something to complain a lot about unless you're someone just looking to complain.
  9. Another strong blocking team. 6th in the nation at 3 blocks per set, led by 6'6 middle blocker Kendal Kemp at 1.5 blocks per set. Texas leads in almost every other category, though. Not terribly concerned about the match, but that's probably true for most of the teams in the SEC outside of Kentucky and A&M right now. I could change my mind. We faced them in the tournament a couple of years ago in Gregory. I can't tell how they compare to that Georgia team.
  10. It's down to Nebraska and Texas as the only undefeateds. Both of them have looked vulnerable at times, but both of them overall have looked like the best teams so far. I feel like we have our own version of freshman Martin in Spears.
  11. You say that like it's a bad thing.
  12. Singletary averaged more blocks per set in that match than our whole team does on average. It's so bizarre seeing a team go from winning the national championship to falling off a cliff. I mean, it's obvious what the explanation is, but it's still strange to me. I'm shocked Purdue is still able to be competitive after losing so many players from last year's team. You could field a really good team simply from the players that have transferred from Texas and are now starting on other teams. Setter alone you have Carlson, Crownover, and Cabello. I'm not complaining. I really enjoy our team. I don't know how far they go but this season is going to be a lot easier on me than last year.
  13. I just watched Olivia Babcock get 13 kills in a single set against SMU and Pitt still lost the set. Up 2-1 currently, though. Both of these teams serve very aggressively.
  14. What in USC's history makes you think USC doesn't fire a coach unless they have an upgrade in place?
  15. UNC's appetite for keeping completely ineffective football coaches should not be underestimated.
  16. I'm not sure I agree. This looks like classic Aggie roller coaster shit to me. Sometimes the best thing in the world is a happy Aggie, because you know what's coming while they act like a character meant to die a horrific stupid death in a horror movie.
  17. I keep thinking they're going to show a replay and it's some kind of ticky tacky foul, that the refs are calling the game too tight. And maybe there's some of that. But like on that last hold against Auburn, it was just blatant. It makes this game a complete grind to watch. My only highlight is all the Aggie fans throwing the Horns down as soon as they figure out they're on camera. Well, and watching mouth breather Mike Elko on the sidelines looking completely confused.
  18. Florida looks in free fall. The more compassionate side of me feels bad for Alexis Stucky. The Texas-centric side of me cares a little less. But she came on as such a phenom her true freshman season but her career has felt a little cursed, between injuries, Mary Wise's retirement, her most talented teammates transferring. She should try to transfer to Penn State where Kennedy Martin landed. They could sure use an experienced setter.
  19. I don't know what the numbers will say, but I felt like Stafford had her worst performance in backcourt defense since Stanford. I don't feel like I'm really criticizing her, because she has exceeded my expectations, but I will say how she played in receiving and defense was more along the lines of what I expect our outside hitters to do. I'll also say Missouri's middles were way more productive. This was the most lopsided blocking number to date, 12 to 4. 15 to 12 in kills, as well. It's not an anomaly. Against higher ranked foes it's highly likely our middles are going to get outplayed in some respects. My hope is for continued development. I like the future of Harvey a lot. I'm going to be a broken record here, but I do miss Singletary. I like seeing Crownover experience so much success. And Jhenna Gabriel, too. Dawn Sullivan has really impressed me. They recruit the state of Texas hard, with four girls from the state. That's more than anywhere else, including Missouri (3). They play taller than they are. Haith and Ariail, the middle blockers, are listed at 6'2 and 6'1 respectively. Alexander, who gave us so much trouble as the OH, is 6'. This team feels ridiculously clutch in late game situations. I wish we weren't so seemingly attracted to late set drama, but better that than a poor result overall. Abby Gaido looks smoking hot.
  20. It's so strange not going to a timeout commercial on the broadcast.
  21. I can't agree with your main point enough, which is the digs in the backcourt have gone up considerably. The data proves it, but it passes the eye test for me, too. And I agree with your conclusion that it's Stafford's presence that is making the biggest impact. To me it's important to note the evolutions those teams went through, too. In the 2022 tournament the blocking numbers were: Fairleigh Dickinson 2.5 bps Georgia 2.7 bps Marquette 3.75 bps OSU 4 bps San Diego 3 bps Louisville 3 bps I didn't go back and look it up, but I clearly remember being somewhat concerned early on, even while we were going undefeated. Especially since I didn't understand why the blocking numbers were so low. Then somewhere in the middle of conference season they started picking up significantly. I picked out the tournament numbers to limit my effort, but also because I remember the blocking numbers were really good. We all know what that 2023 season was like. It was a different team at the end of the year. Skinner in particular started becoming unhittable out of the back row. She hit over .400 on the season on the BIC that year, which is absurd. I'll never forget her killing a ball over the triple block Nebraska put on her in the championship game. She was playing next level volleyball at the end of the year. And then of course the serving. I remember in both postseasons for 2002 and 2023 feeling like the teams' overall serving was on a different level. Everyone who went up there was an extremely effective server both years. We all remember what happened to Nebraska in 2023, but in both years come tournament time Texas was dominating opponents in a way they hadn't been early in the season. I will say I've liked our serves overall on this team so far. On a personal level, I don't really get Kujundzic out there as a serving sub. I'd rather see Kendra Miller or if Lauenstein is healthy, see what she can do. I know neither one are defensive specialists, but I'd really like to see a more effective serve out of that rotation. I've liked Kahahawai's serves better than Kujundzic's, as well. But Elliott sees more than I do. I'm just watching the matches. To me she stands out as a weak link so far in terms of our serves. I'll also say Vander Wal doesn't frustrate me the way Wenaas always did. I feel like Vander Wal has so much upside. I'm excited to see where her career goes from here. Wenaas always felt like what you see is what you get. And what we got frustrated me to no end, from the time she announced her commitment to Texas out of the portal to the last match against Creighton, with a brief respite during the 2023 tournament.
  22. Absolutely. One of the biggest ways to quantify it is by the final score, but that's not ultimately very satisfying. For several years Nebraska wasn't known for their blocking. Part of their overall philosophy was to integrate the blocking scheme with the backcourt, so the libero and DSes could have advantageous positioning to respond when the ball came over, whereas Texas tended to be much more aggressive, encouraging the blockers at the net to put up as intimidating and forceful of a block as possible, then require the backcourt players to read the play accordingly. One system produced more blocks/points. The other produced better backcourt defensive stats. Texas has also been going against several outstanding blocking teams, statistically speaking, so when we're getting out blocked, it's against opponents who feature that as part of their team identity. There's a problem in the official stat sheet in that the only time a block is credited to a player is when it scores. Compare that to basketball, where a block is credited to the defender whether it results in a change of possession or not. There's also no official statistic when a defender puts up an ineffective block that leads to a score. Getting a block touch, or altering the shot of the opposition so their hit is not as effective, is way better than having the shot hit off their hands and go out of bounds, or have it go directly to the floor. But those things aren't measured in the official stat sheets. If our players are doing a good job of not only presenting a block, but presenting a block that's not getting scored on, that has value that's not properly accounted for. It's funny. Our hitting percentage is pretty high nationally, but not all that high by Texas standards. Our block numbers are good, but not super impressive, and certainly not up to the standard of past Texas teams. Watching the team play, I don't get the feeling our block is as effective or intimidating as either past Texas teams, or as good as other teams I watch this year. But overall this Texas team is playing the best in the country, in my opinion, along with Nebraska. I find them very terminal, especially when Spears is effective on the D-ball. Our floor defense with Halter/Gary is outstanding. Our serving is giving teams trouble in getting into their offense. Stafford is one of the best overall players in the country. Vander Wal has looked impressive at times, and I think she's going to continue to improve at a high rate. Plus, they're just so fun to watch. As an eye test I do not believe this middle blocker unit is as oppressive as other middle blocker tandems Texas has fielded, but since I think Texas is arguably the number one program in the country when it comes to its middle blocker units under Elliott, that's not the criticism it might otherwise be. I like the players we have there. I do miss Singletary a bit, but her absence has allowed Harvey to come on, and that delights me. I feel like we can win a national championship with this group, even if they only average around 2.3 blocks per set as a team. And that's what's important.
  23. The funny thing is, that was our best blocking performance, with 15 over 5 sets. Creighton, Stanford, Arizona State, TCU, and Baylor also out blocked us, although admittedly it was close in all of those matches. Arizona State was even competing without their star middle blocker.
  24. When you say the way we started off are you specifically referring to the 1st set? Because for the Creighton match as a whole Creighton outblocked us. Which is sort of a meme so far this season. But no one is getting extra credit for winning the blocking battle. Which is good, because we're invariably losing them against most of our opponents.
  25. It seems clear to me Bunton started the season as the #2 middle blocker but now the #2 middle blocker is Harvey. It also looks to me like Harvey could potentially become the #1 middle blocker, at least in terms of performance. She has a different level of twitchiness than Ames or Bunton. She simply explodes off the floor and stays up there for a while. And her lateral quickness is on a different level, too. She just needs reps, but it's not like Ames or Bunton have years of experience on her. There's a feature I saw somewhere where Elliott talks about needing to play all 3 middle blockers, so I'm sure we'll see a lot of combinations druing conference play including all 3 players. He specifically mentioned the importance of depth for the new SEC tournament. I'll also say I don't think this is going to be one of Texas' better blocking teams. I don't think we're going to be bad, per se, but the bar is pretty high at Texas. I remember the national championship season in 2022 when it felt like it took forever for the block to get going. But by the time the tournament rolled around Texas was blocking as well as anyone in the country. 2023 the season didn't start off great, but I felt like the block was in pretty good shape and stayed that way. Last year I don't like to talk about a whole lot. The strengths of this team are going to be being so terminal, and the backcourt defense. I don't think the block is going to be as critical for this team to do well in the post season. It's interesting to me that we went years redshirting every middle blocker that came through the program, and now it's two years in a row with Ames and Harvey playing significant minutes. I think even if Singletary had stuck around Harvey might have found her way on the court. She looks special out there.
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