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2018 Texas Volleyball


texasstrong12

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6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, Shook had a few low, quick sets to the middle that Brionne/MoJo slammed that looked pretty nifty.  Then I realized Brionne in particular was short-arming them.  They need to be higher.  The slide seems almost non-existent.

Yeah, I don't understand why we set so low out of the middle but I'm no volleyball expert. Put it in the air and let Butler out athlete other teams. You can scheme all you want but teams can't stop this. 

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1 minute ago, texasstrong12 said:

Yeah, I don't understand why we set so low out of the middle but I'm no volleyball expert. Put it in the air and let Butler out athlete other teams. You can scheme all you want but teams can't stop this. 

Yeah, but I remember a few years back, when everything in our offense relied on a "moon ball" set, which often gave the block time to set up (memory fails, we probably won the NC with that),  That was no bueno, either.  So I like the idea of "just right" sets, but with our hitter athleticism, just right is gonna be closer to a moon ball.

 

I remain optimistic that Shook will improve.  Her body language and facial expression seems more comfortable this year, so maybe that gives her the "freedom" to improve.

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6 minutes ago, WJC88 said:

What the hell happened after 5-9? I was at work and had to step away at that point. When i returned it was 13-10.

Great win today!

Only a select few seem to know because the corn stream switched to pregaming their game with UO at 6pm.  I have heard that Brionne went beast mode in the block and Micaya had some nice hits.

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13 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

The 20 blocks is why we need to keep the ball in play. We can win matches with our block. 

When we struggle from the service line and commit a bunch of hitting errors we deserve to lose. 

 

Yes! It's so frustrating when they don't get the serve in. Especially late in a close set. Get it over the net and inbounds and give the block a chance.

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Just now, Sandlot said:

Interesting, considering that was an area that some on here felt they needed to improve from the match against Oregon. 

It wasn't in effect or effective in the first couple of sets.  Came on toward the end.  Was a bit mystifying, considering MoJo was already effective and Brionne shouldn't have needed much prompting.

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Someone also needs to tweet CDC about how awful our SIDs are.  This is part of the recap from the win over Florida.  Literally an incomplete paragraph.

Quote

Senior Morgan Johnson recorded a career-high mark with her match-high 11 blocks, also adding eight kills (.333), and one ace, while freshman Brionne Butler posted nine kills on 14 swings (.500), and nine blocks. Freshman Logan Eggleston

Nothing about being down 5-9 in the 5th and going on a 10-1 run to win the match.  No quotes.

CDC needs to outsource match recaps to The Daily Texan writers.  Or at least give each sport a dedicated SID because if I recall, volleyball may share with soccer.  Soccer's Friday match got a legit write-up and recap. 

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On 8/25/2018 at 7:11 PM, texasstrong12 said:

Yeah, I don't understand why we set so low out of the middle but I'm no volleyball expert. Put it in the air and let Butler out athlete other teams. You can scheme all you want but teams can't stop this. 

I think the timing for setting the middles is the most difficult.  They're trying to play fast, so the set needs to be hit on the way up or at it's peak to beat the block, unlike most outside sets. And every middle hitter jumps differently so the timing is just tougher to get down. They should get better as the season goes on, and hopefully they will develop a slide attack. Going to need that to keep the block honest.

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9 hours ago, kingkoopa6 said:

Night before fball game vs USC..

ill be in town, any secret to get tickets for vball match?

General admission tickets are still available on-line at Texassports.com.  There will probably also be ticket scalpers outside the gym.

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I'll be surprised if Agbaji is still on the roster next year. With Butler, O'Neal and Phillips not sure she's ever going to see the court. 

Is the plan to redshirt O'Neal this year? I don't remember seeing her play this past weekend. They may just play Agbaji in mop up time and save O'Neal. 

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2 hours ago, TexasDPT said:

Skylar Field is ranked the #1 player in the country for the class of 2019.

Logan would have probably benn ranked #1 if she didn't reclassify.  

Molly Phillips came in at #16, but most believe she is the best MB in the class. 

Molly Phillips was dominant with the U20 team this summer. I don't follow volleyball recruiting closely but I have a hard time believing she's only the #16 ranked recruit. 

Like you said, a lot of people think she's the best middle in this class. 

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2 hours ago, TexasDPT said:

Skylar Field is ranked the #1 player in the country for the class of 2019.

Logan would have probably benn ranked #1 if she didn't reclassify.  

Molly Phillips came in at #16, but most believe she is the best MB in the class. 

The run Coach Elliott has been on at UT has been a joy to watch. Especially the period since Destinee and Ashley arrived on campus. The talent level, the Final Fours, the 2012 title have been amazing. I don't take the success for granted.

But i have to admit that between now and the end of the 2021 season if their is not another NCAA title i will feel some disappointment. 

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We've had some talented rosters but I don't think anything compares to what we could have next year. 

SR: White (#4 ranked recruit), Agbaji (was a top 5 recruit)

JR: Shook (#6 ranked recruit)

So: Eggleston (not sure where she ended up in the '18 rankings but would have been the top recruit in '19), Butler (#2 ranked recruit), O'Neal (#2 ranked recruit/under the assumption she doesn't RS), Luketic (international player but is obviously talented after watching her this past weekend). 

FR: Fields (#1 ranked recruit), Phillips (#16 ranked recruit and she's undervalued there). 

We are absolutely stacked at the pins/middles. For the next 2 or 3 years we're going to be playing almost entirely top 5 recruits at the pins/middle. Toughest job for Elliott next year is going to be figuring out rotations when you have Luketic, White, Eggleston and Fields. 

 

 

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Saw this article on Lexi which may be of interest.    Did not know if it was reported she is injured.

 

It was a little awkward, but not overly so.

Lexi Sun, now a sophomore at Nebraska, caught bits and pieces of Texas’ four-set win against then-No. 18 Oregon last Friday at the VERT Challenge in Lincoln, Neb. It was the Longhorns’ first match since Sun transferred away from the program, becoming the first starter in coach Jerritt Elliott’s 18 seasons to leave Texas before graduation.

Sun made it clear she was happy that her old team won.

“We ended on good terms,” Sun said. “I’m still good friends with a lot of the girls.”

Sun, sporting a red “N” T-shirt, was a little less clear on why she decided to leave Austin after her freshman season. Playing time certainly wasn’t the reason; in 2017, Sun — an all-Big 12 first-teamer — played in 103 of Texas’ 106 sets. She was second on the team in kills-per-set (3.27), and was good enough on the service line and the back row to play all six spots on the court.

The decision to transfer, she said, came after the season.

“I talked with a lot of my mentors, and I knew (transferring) was the best thing for me,” Sun said. “There’s nothing wrong with the Texas program. They’re a great program and will continue to be.”

Sun didn’t visit Nebraska, which won the 2017 national championship, on a recruiting visit coming out of high school, but did talk then to Huskers coach John Cook. On her second bite of the apple, she visited USC and Wisconsin before deciding that Nebraska was “where I could grow the most.”

Elliott was at ease talking about Sun after Saturday’s win against then-No. 7 Florida.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work,” he said with a shoulder shrug.

He confirmed that there is no animus between he and Sun.

“She sent me a very nice card (after transferring) and I texted her back,” Elliott said. “Lexi’s a very talented player, and she can be great. We’ve obviously been able to, luckily, find some recruits to replace her. We wish her good luck.”

Texas and Nebraska, which battled for many a Big 12 championship in past years, did not play each other in this year’s tournament, but even if the teams had, the obvious storyline wouldn’t have come into play. Sun didn’t play in either of Nebraska’s matches — a loss to Florida and a sweep of Oregon — because of an unspecified injury.

“I’ve been using the wrong muscles; I’m working on strengthening them,” Sun said.

Despite the delayed re-start to her career, Sun is “super happy” to be in Lincoln, and she’s hopeful she can get on the court before a sellout home crowd like the ones she saw last weekend.

“We had 8,000 for our scrimmage as well, which is crazy,” Sun said.

Cook has also been mum on specifically what ails Sun. This isn’t the first time Cook has been cagey about an injured player. At last season’s VERT Challenge, Nebraska was without All-American setter Kelly Hunter, but no one within the program elaborated on what was wrong with her.

“There’s no set plan,” Sun said. “Whenever it happens, it happens.

https://www.hookem.com/story/nebraskas-lexi-sun-leaving-texas-volleyball-ended-good-terms/

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9 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

We've had some talented rosters but I don't think anything compares to what we could have next year. 

SR: White (#4 ranked recruit), Agbaji (was a top 5 recruit)

JR: Shook (#6 ranked recruit)

So: Eggleston (not sure where she ended up in the '18 rankings but would have been the top recruit in '19), Butler (#2 ranked recruit), O'Neal (#2 ranked recruit/under the assumption she doesn't RS), Luketic (international player but is obviously talented after watching her this past weekend). 

FR: Fields (#1 ranked recruit), Phillips (#16 ranked recruit and she's undervalued there). 

We are absolutely stacked at the pins/middles. For the next 2 or 3 years we're going to be playing almost entirely top 5 recruits at the pins/middle. Toughest job for Elliott next year is going to be figuring out rotations when you have Luketic, White, Eggleston and Fields. 

 

 

Would both Fields and Phillips be willing to red-shirt next season? 

Micaya, Logan, and Kat are going to be lethal at the pins next season with another year of experience under their belts.

But would the #1 recruit want to ride the pine? I think maybe if Elliott can convince her to focus an entire year on her passing (which is her weakest skill).

And I presume Molly would RS as well, but may not see any meaningful playing time until her Jr year when Butler will have graduated .

 

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I'm glad everyone can say they're ok with everything, but it's a strange deal and I think reflective of some pretty bad chemistry last year.

I suspect that someone (Dad?) got in her ear about being a better six-rotation player and how Elliott maybe wasn't the best coach for that.  But then that should have been somewhat obvious long before she set foot on the 40.

I don't wish her any ill, but reserve the right to be a shithead on occasion.

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