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2021 Texas Volleyball


TexasDPT

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15 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

True, I don't really follow volleytalk so I don't know what was said there. 

This board has been pretty respectful in regards to Gabriel. Everyone here knows that she filled a major void when Shook didn't work out but I think there are valid questions about her size. Those type discussions are kind of the nature of sports boards but I think in a respectful manner it's fine. 

Regardless, I hope Gabriel's health is fine and she finds whatever she's looking for outside of volleyball. 

 

 


Volleytalk can be a very toxic place. The Texas fans aren’t all that toxic. There’s a bit of a tribal thing going on with Team Gabriel and Team SKT/someone else. But it hasn’t been too bad for the most part. 
 

But there are a lot of Texas haters on there. I mean…A LOT! It’s easy to say Texas has the most hate of any program on there, with Nebraska a distant second. Jhenna has been target number #2 behind Elliott himself. That’s not just this year. That’s been since she became the starter. And it wasn’t about love for Shook. She got the hate before that. 
 

But I don’t know what specifically triggered Gabriel to make the VT comment, or what’s going through her head regarding this decision in the first place. Nor is it any of my business. I’m grateful and thankful for her. I hope and expect her UT experience to have been fulfilling for her, and I hope she has tremendous success in her future. 

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Volleytalk can be a very toxic place. The Texas fans aren’t all that toxic. There’s a bit of a tribal thing going on with Team Gabriel and Team SKT/someone else. But it hasn’t been too bad for the most part. 
 
But there are a lot of Texas haters on there. I mean…A LOT! It’s easy to say Texas has the most hate of any program on there, with Nebraska a distant second. Jhenna has been target number #2 behind Elliott himself. That’s not just this year. That’s been since she became the starter. And it wasn’t about love for Shook. She got the hate before that. 
 
But I don’t know what specifically triggered Gabriel to make the VT comment, or what’s going through her head regarding this decision in the first place. Nor is it any of my business. I’m grateful and thankful for her. I hope and expect her UT experience to have been fulfilling for her, and I hope she has tremendous success in her future. 


I’m pretty sure that GIF of her conversation with Elliott during the regional final (Nebraska) was on her radar.

There are a couple of Texas supporters on VT that can be pretty harsh. But yes, Texas gets a lot of hate on there and Jhenna was a target for a lot of it.

I’m really sad she’s leaving. She was a positive intangible that will be hard to replace. She deserves a ton of respect, and I wish her nothing but the best.
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2 hours ago, Gardner Barnes said:

That site is horrible. Some of the things said about my own kid and kids I know are atrocious.


Yeah, players, coaches, and their families should avoid it like the plague. It’s easily the most active forum regarding volleyball, so of course there’s almost a magnetic attraction to it. But it’s not a healthy place to be if you’re directly involved in any kind of prominent volleyball team, club or college. 
 

It’s like being a football player or friend/family member of a football player and checking out surlyhorns. 
 

The only way to curb it is draconian oversight, but if you do that you end up with a place like hornfans. And if you do that, then someone is going to set up a shaggybevo. Better to teach kids not to internalize that stuff, whether from a fan forum or social media, and avoid it altogether when possible. But that’s never going to be 100% successful, either. Rejection sucks, regardless of source or the reasoning behind it. 

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I wonder if we can find an international setter who wants a college degree.  Play behind SKT in 2022 to acclimate to the college game and then compete with Swindle in 2023.  Here's hoping Swindle decides to come in early and not in the summer - I think that was one of the big downfalls of Shook's setting career at Texas, she wanted to finish with her club and didn't come in until the summer and missed an entire spring to start gaining chemistry with her hitters. 

Otherwise, can we find another Gabriel who will walk-on as a DS/setter? 

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10 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I wonder if we can find an international setter who wants a college degree.  Play behind SKT in 2022 to acclimate to the college game and then compete with Swindle in 2023.  Here's hoping Swindle decides to come in early and not in the summer - I think that was one of the big downfalls of Shook's setting career at Texas, she wanted to finish with her club and didn't come in until the summer and missed an entire spring to start gaining chemistry with her hitters. 

Otherwise, can we find another Gabriel who will walk-on as a DS/setter? 

Whoever they get, hopefully she’ll be able to legitimately play and contribute at this level. Whenever back-up Riley Fisbeck came in as setter, she was tuuuurible.

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39 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I wonder if we can find an international setter who wants a college degree.  Play behind SKT in 2022 to acclimate to the college game and then compete with Swindle in 2023.  Here's hoping Swindle decides to come in early and not in the summer - I think that was one of the big downfalls of Shook's setting career at Texas, she wanted to finish with her club and didn't come in until the summer and missed an entire spring to start gaining chemistry with her hitters. 

Otherwise, can we find another Gabriel who will walk-on as a DS/setter? 


With Shook it was worse than that, although this may be what you meant. She didn’t even come in during the summer. She joined right before school started because she wanted to play with her club team over the summer.

I don’t begrudge a kid wanting to finish out their senior year, whatever the circumstances of our volleyball team is. But it’s a little irksome when they know they’re going to be the starter and they choose to play with their club team (in part to help those teammates earn scholarship opportunities, so it’s not like it’s a selfish act) instead of being in Austin a little early to work with their future teammates. 

It bummed me out regarding SKT for some of the same reasons, although in that case it was a matter of getting classes done over the summer so she could enroll. And that was still fubared. Also, she was not the designated starter entering the season. 

Bottom line, spring would be ideal, but even enrolling for the summer would help a lot. 

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Kaitlyn Hord announced she is transferring to Nebraska.

While Hord would have been nice to have on the team, she was more of a luxury than a need and I really think Molly will do well at MB.

At least we know that the open scholarship will be going to a setter, which we will definitely need if SKT were to be injured. 

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Both the DFW schools poached Baylor. 

Quote

Samantha "Sam" Erger has been named Head Volleyball Coach at SMU, Director of Athletics Rick Hart announced today.

Erger comes to the Hilltop after eight seasons at Baylor, where she spent the last two seasons as associate head coach. Prior to her promotion, she spent five seasons as an assistant coach and one season as director of operations in Waco.

——

In addition to her role as an assistant coach, she also served as Baylor's recruiting coordinator and setting coach. Under her guidance, her 2022 class is ranked No. 4 by PrepVolleyball.com and includes the Gatorade National Player of the Year, setter Averi Carlson. As she leaves Waco, the 2023 Bears' class is ranked No. 9 in the country.

https://smumustangs.com/news/2022/2/2/smu-names-erger-head-volleyball-coach.aspx

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  • 3 weeks later...

That solves the 2 setter problem for 2022.  Does nothing for the 2023 setter problem, as this will be her free COVID year.  But I guess we will go find another one in the portal in a year.

2018 (freshman): Pac-12 All Freshman Team, playing in a 6-2 system.  5 double doubles. 863 assists (6.9 per set), 17 aces, 251 digs
2019: 1,010 assists, 272 digs, 56 blocks, 14 double doubles
2020: 546 assists, 194 digs, 28 blocks, 24 aces, 10 double doubles
2021: 1,073 assists, 289 digs, 56 blocks, 17 aces, 11 double doubles

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  • 3 weeks later...

Figgered this would have already been posted, but here ya go. One of the world's best Opposites, Paola Egonu to the Horns.

Most of y'all probably already know about her, but her abilities were news to me. Paola is of Nigerian descent. Plays on the Italian Natl Team & pro Indoor. 23 years old. 6'4 with a freakish vertical. Touches 11'4", and 10' 6" on the block. Her youtube highlights are just ridiculous.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CbzxQcWMzia/

office-space-fuckin-a.gif

Edited by wood
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First Spring match tomorrow @ Texas State at 7.  Free admission in San Marcos, no TV/streaming

And for @Loboin case he didn't know:

April 14 versus Baylor at 8pm in Gregory - no TV I imagine because that's also our opening game versus OU in softball

April 16 versus TCU in Fort Worth at 4pm

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I saw it, but thanks for posting.  Not taking my lunatic youngins to an 8pm match, they lose their fucking minds after 6:30p as it is.  But maybe looking forward to regular season weekend matches.  Seeing how this new blend of transfers fits in. Hook 'em.

 

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15 minutes ago, Js1 said:

April 16 versus TCU in Fort Worth at 4pm

TCU beach is currently #2 in the nation, only loss to #1 USC this past Sunday. They have a match scheduled at 3:30 on the 16th, pretty impressive their two programs couldn’t get together and stagger the free indoor/outdoor events a little better. 

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We won the first 3 sets and they stopped play halfway through the 4th after a TXST player got hurt. 

I think it was 26-24, 25-17, 25-16 and 19-17 when play was suspended

Grabbed this from VT

Quote

Fleck looks great at Libero and the offense just runs more smoothly when she's in charge of the back row IMO. 

Mel's passing looks good, but she needs to improve her blocking and middle back defense. I still think she relies too much on her hard cross-court shot.

Madi on the left pin looks great hitting in-system but needs work out-of-system. Even though she can be a terminal right-pin hitter, I think she will eventually be the other starting left-side hitter.

Asjia's slide attack looks good, but both middles need to work on attacking more aggressively in front of the hitter.

Molly has always looked good in-system and when she is hitting 1-on-1 on the right pin. But I still feel like we need someone who can terminate out-of-system sets on the right-side. I think Devin will challenge for the Opposite spot, plus she should be able to help with passing if needed. 

Saige looked better as the match went on, but you can tell she is still trying to find rhythm with all the hitters. Her slide to Asjia and her Go-sets to Logan and Madi looked good. Some of her back row sets were questionable (especially to Madi) but the ones where she was in-sync with Logan were money. Also, I like the pace she is putting on her serve.

Logan is a complete player...she just needs to continue being more consistent with her passing.

Quote

Bergmark is going to be a lock for the M2 position. She is super comfortable in front of the setter and has experience scoring and blocking from the middle at a high level.

The battle between SKT and Ewert is going to be super interesting. I thought SKT looked very good on the blocking side of the game, but her tempo seemed off many times.

Parra is just cutting it from the front row. Her blocking is simply not good enough and her range of shots does not score at a consistent enough basis yet. However her serve is still lethal and her passing looked better.

Iosia looked much better in serve receive than last year, however Fleck is too smooth and consistent, and reads the game at a much higher level, she will play libero. 

Phillips looked fine from the right but nothing spectacular. I think she still has the spot, however it is very much open for Kahahawai to come take if she can hit at a consistently high mark.

Logan and Madi looked very good both ways. It is so refreshing having both of them on the court. Madis passing is better than Logan’s right now, but Logan remains superior with her wider variety of shots.

 

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College Volleyball News...

New college coach cuts entire team

A newly hired college coach has decided to cut all the players on her roster and start from scratch.

DOUG SAMUELS  6 HOURS AGO

Roster turnover is expected when a new coach takes over a program, but a Division I volleyball coach has recently taken that to the extreme.

Two months after being hired as the new women's volleyball coach at Grambling State, Chelsey Lucas has decided to cut all 18 players on the roster. She inherited a program that went 11-17 overall and .500 in conference play.

The decision came after three practices with the team.

Lucas is a former standout at Grambling who graduated in 2007, and told players that their scholarships were not being renewed during individual meetings with each and every one of them.

Grambling athletic director Trayvean Scott stood by his new hire's controversial move, and shared in a statement that “just as the transfer portal empowers student-athletes, our coaches are also empowered to make the decisions they deem necessary to advance their programs.”

Reports add that coach Lucas has 14 or 15 new players coming on board. NCAA regulations allow for up to 12 scholarships in women's volleyball.

Chances are pretty good that we aren't going to see something like this duplicated in the college football world anytime soon, but nonetheless, this is a coaching decision that has created a lot of divisiveness and has been a topic of conversation around the country all weekend. 

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I would also not take much away from the match tonight, re: Baylor's performance - Baylor is adjusting to life without Pressley (OH), Avery Skinner (OH),  Marieke Van der Mark (MB), Shanel Bramschreiber (libero) and Hannah Sedgwick (setter).  Breaking in a freshman setter and a new pin hitters.  No one has much chemistry with Avery Carlson yet and one the McGee sisters will be getting more time at MB, plus Briseno getting more opportunities at libero.

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12 hours ago, PhillyD said:

Fleck looks like she will make a huge difference for the fall.  I hope my volleyball optimism isn't just a knee jerk reaction to my baseball pessimism.

No she’s real deal. Total ball hog and backs it up like MOB 

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Nalani Iosia is officially in the transfer portal.  I guess she saw the writing on the wall with Fleck coming in and taking her spot in the Spring matches...but was it really a surprise? Iosia played just as poorly as Petersen did when she was the libero. I just wish she had made her decision earlier to give Reilly Heinrich more playing opportunities in these Spring matches. 

I'm glad we have Fleck as our starting libero and hopefully incoming Freshman Emma Halter will come in and compete with Heinrich for Petersen's spot in right back.

We also have Devin K. coming in who could possibly play in the back row if she doesn't earn playing time in the front row. 

I just really want our back row players to actually develop because the trend with developing recent past players has been piss poor (Rounsaville, Hahn, Petersen and Iosia). I was hoping Jordan Larson would help with that aspect of the program but there are rumors she continues to receive offers to play professionally and is considering going that route after her current stint in Italy ends. 

 

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3 hours ago, TexasDPT said:

Nalani Iosia is officially in the transfer portal.  I guess she saw the writing on the wall with Fleck coming in and taking her spot in the Spring matches...but was it really a surprise? Iosia played just as poorly as Petersen did when she was the libero. I just wish she had made her decision earlier to give Reilly Heinrich more playing opportunities in these Spring matches. 

I'm glad we have Fleck as our starting libero and hopefully incoming Freshman Emma Halter will come in and compete with Heinrich for Petersen's spot in right back.

We also have Devin K. coming in who could possibly play in the back row if she doesn't earn playing time in the front row. 

I just really want our back row players to actually develop because the trend with developing recent past players has been piss poor (Rounsaville, Hahn, Petersen and Iosia). I was hoping Jordan Larson would help with that aspect of the program but there are rumors she continues to receive offers to play professionally and is considering going that route after her current stint in Italy ends. 

 

 

We'll see on Larson. I believe she'll be with Texas after her Italian venture is done. Not surprised she continues to receive offers, and not surprised she's considering them. But there's just not a lot left for her to achieve professionally, and she's not going to be on the national team any more. It's tough to step into a next phase of any kind of career, especially for an athlete to make a move towards coaching. But this is good timing for her. The main reason to continue a professional career is that she got a taste of coaching and particularly recruiting and it wasn't her thing. Since I don't believe that, I believe she'll be on campus.

Not sure what Iosia's thought process behind her timing was. Maybe she hadn't fully made up her mind until recently? It's not like she waited until the last minute. 

I'm not being completely serious, but watching O'Neal in the backcourt when she serves makes me wish she could be college volleyball's first 6 rotation MB, lol. 

This has been a ridiculously active offseason. I guess having to go out and grab a different assistant would be par for the course. I would be bummed if that were to occur. 

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Plus Texas has wanted more 6 rotation players and that was always going to lead to players like Iosia and Halter getting less 2022 playing time.  You can put them in if Logan, Parra, Skinner or Devin are struggling defensively, but with having 3 legit 6 rotation hitters + 1 very talented incoming one, that really doesn't leave a lot of rotations for Iosia, because Fleck.

And on IG, Jhenna has been practicing with Devin in Hawaii.  Awesome that Jhenna, even leaving the program for her mental health, is working with one of our incoming hitters. 

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2 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Akana to Texas would be crazy. 

Would it? She’d basically be handed the black jersey in 2023 after Fleck moves on and we’d have her at libero for 2 seasons.  Take Iosia’s DS spot next year and then take the black jersey.  

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Oh, I’m not denying it could happen but just saying “crazy” more in reference to Texas getting that quality of player this late and a position of need. 

Texas has to be throwing NIL money around the way they are recruiting in the portal in women’s bball, volleyball, track and field, etc. 

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