texfan11

Agree!! Iosia has looked good in serve receive and defense, O’Brien has been freaking awesome (hoping we can figure out how to get her to stay with COVID extra year), and as hard as I have been on Peterson - her serve receive has really improved. Plus, Eggleston really isn’t too much of a noticeable weak spot anymore. I think this is the most positive I have felt about our back row in a very long time.

I’m glad a Stiverins didn’t get the better of us two years in a row (still surprised Amber transferred from Louisville to Georgia). Also, I hope Lauren Stiverins isn’t seriously hurt, but I’m glad she played today so Nebraska couldn’t use it as an excuse. I wonder if seniors Sweets, Sun, Stiverins, or Densberger decide to return with the COVID extra year.

Do y’all agree with the decision to play Phillips - is it for height or for her offense? I wasn’t able to watch the full PSU match

It was tight, she probably thought it was going to be a tip, so she pulled off the net instead of getting it thrown off her hands and out of bounds

Does anyone else feel like the commentators are acting like Skylar playing well is surprising? I mean she was FOY

Tbh, Meghan McClure had me feeling upset for her after I read this interview. I didn’t realize Stanford had so many obstacles this season: players deciding not to play, having to practice outside, and of course injuries + COVID. But props to Meghan for making the tough decision to move on and not come back next year.

Okay, I have some random ramblings about the first of the season: (1) I am liking the quicker offense sets to the outsides - I have always thought that we have relied too much on the talent/athleticism of our big hitters to hit around or over the block, but it also gave the blockers so much more time to get over and get set (especially the huge Stanford block). I think Gabriel is still working on connections, and some of the sets seemed to come off her hands kinda funky... hopefully it will get there. (2) Defense/serve receive so far seems to be a positive improvement. L O'Brien has been so good at not trying to be fancy, but consistently digging quality balls in the middle of the court, giving the Gabriel more setting options. I also think Iosia has been fairly solid, and I thought she has been better in serve receive than Peterson. (3) Do we have any more info about Capri Davis? Elliott said she was week to week for undisclosed reasons, but there hasnt been anything else mentioned that I can find (source https://www.hookem.com/story/20200923/focusing-just-big-12-now-texas-readies-long-awaited-return-volleyball/). I know she had an injury last year, and other off court issues. Interesting that with Davis not playing, Elliott is worried about depth: “My biggest concern is just depth,” Elliott said. “Right now, we have five attackers. If anyone goes down, we’re going to have to probably lean on a setter to be a hitter.” Which is something that Shook transfering probably makes it even more worrisome. (4) I am liking the new jerseys, and I personally find the Frank Erwin court more visually appealing than the black outline at Gregory. I am looking forward to seeing how the weird season plays out, and hopefully we can get some spring games. I also hope everyone stays healthy - injury and illness wise

Just a reminder, there currently is a severe blood supply shortage and donors for plasma and blood are urgently needed. Donation centers are still open and have implimented measures to keep the staff and donors safe during the process. I am making an appointment to donate blood this week, and I hope others think about doing the same (maybe on the way back from a trip to the grocery store since you will be out already) Also, if you or anyone you know has tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered, hospitals and donation centers are seeking donations of plasma to use to treat other ill patients. A lot of organizations and hopitals in Texas are now able to take COVID-19 related plasma donations, and the easiest way to find out how is to google "[city] COVID-19 plasma donate" or call your local American Red Cross.

I was looking at the comments under the Capri Davis announcement tweet....apparently when she took her indefinite medical leave of absence in October, rumors started that she was pregnant with Adrian Martinez's child. It got so bad that she even had to address it on Twitter 😬 Wondering if that was a factor in her deciding to leave Nebraska, or maybe how the coaching staff handled the injury? Wishing her a full recovery and all the success on the 40 Acres!

I think I’m the most upset at the fact that the loss happened in Gregory 😐 so who is everyone rooting to win now? I hate Baylor, but I guess it looks good if a Big 12 team wins. I don’t want Nebraska to win because of Lexi Sun... ugh

Yes, I also think Cook is an a**hole. But IMO, (only based off what I observed in person at games or watching games on TV) Elliott is a hothead that either ignores or berates his players that are performing poorly, instead of trying to build them up- I may be totally wrong, but this is just the impression I get. The biggest a**hole experience I had regarding Elliott was shagging balls for a match. UT pays the “balls people” for each match. For the match I was working, UT was having a closed practice that ran too long. Me and the other balls people arrived at Gregory at the time we were given to get briefed by the officials. Elliott saw us and freaked out. He stopped their (too long) practice, chewed us out in front of all the players/staff, and then refused to pay us our money even though we worked the game. (I am biased and was very embarrassed, so this story may not be actual evidence of Elliott’s a**hole behavior)

Idk... I think the social media accounts cannot really be tied to the team’s beliefs directly. I loosely follow many big, successful college volleyball twitter accounts, and they are about the same in “arrogance”. I’m pretty sure that those graphic creators are other UT students or interns trying to showcase their creativity and abilities in order to help them book future jobs. Claire is an advertising major, and is also using her volleyball blog to gain followers.

TBH most of Elliot’s offensive philosophy mirrors the majority of successful programs - Stanford, Penn State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the US Olympic team, etc - all run low speed, high set offenses on the outsides because their hitters are so athletic and talented, they can usually hit over/around the block + at least one strong slide middle. Where we differ is the lack of focus on quality back row players. We brag about how we carry a short roster, but we really only have depth at MB and S. This philosophy gets us through the Big 12 and allows our players to win prestigious awards, but somehow other teams are able to recruit awesome DS players or other total package players. Also, I have always thought Elliot was an a**hole on the sideline and in the 3 interactions I had with him while I was at UT. So, maybe his coaching style/attitude is lacking compared to other successful coaches. Overall, I wish Micaya, Autumn, and Claire the best, and I hope that Asjia recovers well from her injury.🤘🤘

From the broadcast comments, I think it was for a delay in substitution... idk I think that’s BS if so. First there should be a a warning, and since it’s at the refs discretion, confusion after an injury is usually allowed a little more leeway before a penalty

Wait, so did we get a yellow card?

Didn’t know Stivrins Slide had a sister at Louisville We seem to never adjust much when a team scouts well and blocks us multiple times. But that’s a tale as old as time for Texas - set a slow, high outside and hope we can hit over/around the block.

It has been about 4 days since the match, and because neither the Big 12 or the NCAA has publicly addressed it, I’m thinking the VolleyTalk “NCAA is bringing the hammer down on Texas” is hopefully (probably?) wrong. Texas was probably advised to CYA and self report a possible rule violation, and the NCAA has likely privately addressed it with Texas and maybe clarified the rule with the remaining 16 teams. It is obviously not the same situation/sport, but if a Baylor football coach dressed as a Tulsa coach on the sideline against Oklahoma-a clear violation of the rules- only gets a Big 12 public reprimand and suspension for half a game, then hopefully there is not a severe penalty in this case. (lol at VolleyTalk thinking we should have to forfeit games/sets/matches)

I would have made Hahn libero, but I’m guessing they want her to keep her setting with the blocking sub. Idk what you do if it goes bad...I guess we don’t have enough depth to keep Sidney in the black jersey on the sideline.

🤘 so nice to be #1 Man, I know Stanford has had an extremely challenging schedule and Pitt’s strength of schedule is lacking; but IMO Pitt deserves a top 4 seed at this point in time. Currently, Pitt is #2 in the coaches poll and #4 in the RPI (both higher than tree), but Stanford is ranked above them for the tournament despite past reliance on RPI. Idk, if I was a Pitt fan, I would not be happy. I think Baylor is embarrassed and will be out for revenge, so I’m anticipating a closer match in Waco.

Agreed. I truly think Lexi (and her dad) were dead set on "6 rotation player or bust". I have watched quite a few Nebraska matches this year, and she is probably the weakest in defense and serve receive. The other teams are specifically targeting her, and at times Nebraska has ended up "hiding" her in serve receive. Im honestly quite surprised she hasnt been subbed out, but she has pretty good serve and maybe Coach Cook doesnt want to upset Lexi or her dad. Definitely worked out...Imagining having to choose between Logan, Skylar, Micaya, and Lexi - we likely would have lost one to lack of playing time anyways. Good win today (and only 4 service errors!) Hopefully the team gets some good practices in before Wednesday

Always find it interesting that our best serving rotation is with Hahn at the line because, even if she has a tough serve, that rotation is with Gabriel at the net blocking and only 2 hitters - which I would say is where we are weaker. I agree that serving aggressively is important, especially against the tougher teams to keep them out of system. I am also okay with "good miss" service errors that accompany an agressive serving game plan; however, it seems that there is no plan B when a server is missing a lot of serves - especially in close matches. IMO, It is slightly surprising that Eggleston, White, and even O'Neal go back to the service line and continue to attempt their aggressive serve when they have been off all night and it is a close match. Sometimes you have to just get it in, play defense, and hope the other team makes a mistake. Looking forward to Baylor - both teams have played 44 sets - Baylor has 92 service errors and 46 aces all season (average 1.0 aces per set). Texas has 139 service errors and 58 aces all season (average 1.3 aces per set). Texas has only had 2 matches where errors were under 10 (both had 9 SE), and Baylor has only had 2 matches where errors were 10 or over (one had 13 and one had 10). Side note: I am glad Agbaji got some playing time in front of her home state crowd!

I was honestly wondering if fatigue was a factor. Not an excuse, but with 4 away matches in a row, they have likely been out of Austin for 8-10 days out of the past two weeks when their classes are probably picking up the intensity as well. Gabriel, O'Neal, Fields, and Phillips have not yet had the experience of constantly trying to keep up with school, practice, and playing multiple high caliber matches in a row. (I know Gabriel played in the post season last year, but I think school is more intense work-wise at the beginning of a semester and sitting the bench is less stressful). On the other hand, several schools have played more matches than we have (i.e. Rice and Pitt). Did not watch the game so I am going off stats/comments, but it seems everything kinda broke down - passing, setting, hitting, and serving. Because of that, I am more leaning toward concluding it was a baaaaaad day all around that hopefully we can overcome. Since I havent been active in this thread yet this season, here are some of my overall observations/thoughts so far: Blocking: with 2 freshman middles + 1 freshman and 1 undersized as opposites, blocking has not been our strength as in years past. I think it will improve as the season goes on with the freshman getting better at reading setters and adjusting to quicker sets (fingers crossed Butler is able to get healthy and bring some experience to the front line) Passing: overall, until the Rice match, receiving and defense had seemed not to be as big a liability as in years past. Peterson and Hahn seem to have improved. I thought Eggleston passed very well against Stanford and BYU, and most the time I would almost rather her stay on over Rounsaville. (TBH I would feel more comfortable if we had more depth in the DS position, but that has been discussed here before). Setting: As others have pointed out, Gabriel needs to spread the sets out more, but I think that is something that will get better during the season. I think we are currently too predicable for the blockers. Its not going to happen, but I wish we would run a cross play with the MB going for a slide and Fields going for quickish middle (with a backrow pipe option as well). Hosting: I agree that the loss to Rice definitely hurt our chances at hosting, and we have to take care of business in conference play (+A&M). I am worried about Baylor, but glad we have them at home first. Looking at the schedule of the teams that could end up in top 4 ranking: (1) Nebraska, (4) Penn State, (7) Minnesota, and (9) Wisconsin all have at least one loss and all wont make it through conference play without another. Penn State also plays (6) Pitt two times. (10) Washington plays Wisconsin twice and Standford and Oregon in conference play. (5) Baylor plays undefeated (13) Hawai'i before conference play. So IMO the host sites may still be open with a few losses even though our loss was to a low ranked opponent. Anyone else watch the Stanford v. Nebraska match...have any thoughts?

Nebraksa’s assistant coach in charge of defense is the libero who helped lead Team USA to win a World Championship and a bronze medal in Rio. I think this is only her second season, so I’m interested to see how she develops defensive players (but I mean aNational Championship your first year isn’t too shabby)

They have shut down Yazzie pretty effectively, I think if she can get going we may have a chance

Her jump float was pretty bad at the first of the season too...she really should not jump serve