2021 Texas Volleyball

[TwiceHorn 32079]

1 minute ago, PhillyD said:

We beat ourselves.  I feel much differently about the result last year compared to this year.  I thought we were better but was clearly wrong.  

Two words.

Morgan.

OBrien.

I had a pretty good idea we'd regress when I learned she wasn't coming back.  Tried whistling past the graveyard with Iosia, but no dice.

[Jive Turkey 13005]

Well, I’d rather lose here than have my sports heart stomped on by losing in another final. 

[texasstrong12 4668]

Yeah, O'Brien was the best defensive player we've had in a long time and that's obvious now. 

Iosia and Petersen are nowhere close to O'Brien's level. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by texasstrong12

[PhillyD 1316]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

Two words.

Morgan.

OBrien.

I had a pretty good idea we'd regress when I learned she wasn't coming back.  Tried whistling past the graveyard with Iosia, but no dice.

Funny you mentioned that.  I was worried about her not coming back and then we looked so dominant in Big 12 play I had  a false sense of how good we were.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

Just now, Jive Turkey said:

Well, I’d rather lose here than have my sports heart stomped on by losing in another final. 

As I said, having watched the other teams, they're all better rounded than we are.  Louisville has the athletes up front, Pitt has the speed.  Wisconsin is probably a better Nebraska.

[TexasDPT 338]

4 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

The defense was bad on all levels in the tournament except for Petersen last night. 

When your "defensive specialists" in Parra, Petersen, and Iosia are that bad this is the result. I'm starting to think a big part of the issue is playing in the Big 12. They need to be challenged more and they simply don't get that in the Big 12. 

 

Or Elliott can actually take the time to develop the skill like every other elite program in the country.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

Just now, PhillyD said:

Funny you mentioned that.  I was worried about her not coming back and then we looked so dominant in Big 12 play I had  a false sense of how good we were.

Big 12 is always fools gold.  Especially when you split with Baylor.

[Sal 1108]

7 minutes ago, PhillyD said:

We beat ourselves.  I feel much differently about the result last year compared to this year.  I thought we were better but was clearly wrong.  

Jerritt’s squads choke every year in the postseason

Edited December 12, 2021 by Sal

[texasstrong12 4668]

Texas definitely needs to find a libero in the transfer portal. 

You add one capable player like O'Brien last year and this team will be right there again with what's returning. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

5 minutes ago, Goodman said:

It’ll always be a problem, the problem with Elliott. 

One has to think a different assistant could produce different results.

Also, unlike just about everyone else, we pass to around the 3 meter line, while everyone else strives for two feet off the net.  I wonder if that fucks up defensive players.

[TexasDPT 338]

4 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Two words.

Morgan.

OBrien.

I had a pretty good idea we'd regress when I learned she wasn't coming back.  Tried whistling past the graveyard with Iosia, but no dice.

I said the same thing...

She kept Texas in-system more than I have ever seen.

But she was trained in the BIG, that's why she was good!

[Js1 87183]

1 minute ago, texasstrong12 said:

Texas definitely needs to find a libero in the transfer portal. 

You add one capable player like O'Brien last year and this team will be right there again with what's returning. 

Fleck or Hampton!

[texasstrong12 4668]

2 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

Or Elliott can actually take the time to develop the skill like every other elite program in the country.

I have a hard time believing Elliott doesn't recognize the issue. He knows the problem is passing and serving. 

The issue is getting it fixed. 

I think there are probably several reasons why our passing is bad but I have a hard time believing it's because we don't spend time developing it. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

1 minute ago, Bravo said:

I am not saying they don't exist but I've watched all 4 teams in the final 4 now multiple times this yr. They don't have 2 starters who look like them. It's not like if those 2 dropped weight they'd be good anyway. More of a recruiting issue. 

You'll like Zoe Fleck, if she comes.  She's a waif.

[TexasDPT 338]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

One has to think a different assistant could produce different results.

Also, unlike just about everyone else, we pass to around the 3 meter line, while everyone else strives for two feet off the net.  I wonder if that fucks up defensive players.

It just teaches them bad habits instead of actually passing the ball up to the setter.... and makes the team rely on the left pins too much.  It's not going to work against elite defensive teams.

[WBT 20979]

2 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

I said the same thing...

She kept Texas in-system more than I have ever seen.

But she was trained in the BIG, that's why she was good!

Exactly...it's not a coincidence.  We need to recruit and develop better.  CDC needs to help Elliott decide who can do it better and go get that person.  And also get NIL rolling and have pancakes for liberos and DSs and poach some transfers.

[gsoda3 3362]

One has to think a different assistant could produce different results.
Also, unlike just about everyone else, we pass to around the 3 meter line, while everyone else strives for two feet off the net.  I wonder if that fucks up defensive players.

Imo a good start would be having our receivers a step deeper than where they are.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

4 minutes ago, Sal said:

Jerritt’s squads choke every year in the postseason

They don't really choke.  They aren't championship level in floor defense. Period.

This was a particularly stark one, because Corn pretty much did it all with superior defense/setting.  Usually it's a combination of better defense/setting and equivalent or near-equivalent offense, see Kentucky last year, and Louisville the year before.

[TexasDPT 338]

16 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

I have a hard time believing Elliott doesn't recognize the issue. He knows the problem is passing and serving. 

The issue is getting it fixed. 

I think there are probably several reasons why our passing is bad but I have a hard time believing it's because we don't spend time developing it. 

Eric was the defensive coach at Nebraska before coming to Texas....you think he all of a sudden starting teaching passers to pass behind the 3 meter line?!?!

It comes up top from Elliott...

Edited December 12, 2021 by TexasDPT

[texasstrong12 4668]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

They don't really choke.  They aren't championship level in floor defense. Period.

This was a particularly stark one, because Corn pretty much did it all with superior defense/setting.  Usually it's a combination of better defense/setting and equivalent or near-equivalent offense, see Kentucky last year, and Louisville the year before.

Yeah, I don't really like the "choking" narrative at all. 

Our weaknesses get exposed once we get to the top teams. Texas didn't choke tonight. It was just the same problems we always have with passing and serving. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

3 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

It just teaches them bad habits instead of actually passing the ball up to the setter.... and makes the team rely on the left pins too much.  It's not going to work against elite defensive teams.

I mean, it's intentional, and different from everyone else.

[texasstrong12 4668]

1 minute ago, TexasDPT said:

Eric was the defensive coach at Nebraska before coming to Texas....you think he all of a sudden starting teaching passers to pass behind the 3 meter line?!?!

It comes up top from Elliott...

Is Jamie Morrison still with Texas? I haven't seen him on the sideline. 

I thought Texas was good enough passing/defensively last year to win it all when Morrison was here. Maybe that had more to do with O'Brien. I think with the right assistant Texas can improve as we saw last season with Morrison. 

IMO we lost to Kentucky last season at the service line. We made serve receive way too easy. That team was good enough defensively last season with O'Brien and Morrison. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

8 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

Eric was the defensive coach at Nebraska before coming to Texas....you think he all of a sudden starting teaching passers to pass behind the 3 meter line?!?!

It comes up top from Elliott...

Apparently so.  But it would seem the 3-meter deal is not an issue unless somehow that fucks with players that have been taught to pass closer to the net.  It's just hitting a different spot.  The hitters seem ok with it, but it might fuck with setters too.

But, at Corn, according to his bio, he worked with middles.  And, during his tenure, Corn only won one outright Big 12 Championship and Corn only made it to regionals.  There may be a reason he lasted only three years.

Edited December 12, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TexasDPT 338]

13 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Fleck or Hampton!

Hoping for either...just need to move Iosia back to DS. 

[TexasDPT 338]

1 minute ago, texasstrong12 said:

Is Jamie Morrison still with Texas? I haven't seen him on the sideline. 

I thought Texas was good enough passing/defensively last year to win it all when Morrison was here. Maybe that had more to do with O'Brien. I think with the right assistant Texas can improve as we saw last season with Morrison. 

IMO we lost to Kentucky last season at the service line. We made serve receive way too easy. That team was good enough defensively last season with O'Brien and Morrison. 

Morrison is coaching club volley in Houston.

[texasstrong12 4668]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

Apparently so.

But, at Corn, according to his bio, he worked with middles.  And, during his tenure, Corn only won one outright Big 12 Championship and Corn only made it to regionals.  There may be a reason he lasted only three years.

Is Morrison still with the team? 

I thought that was the best defensive team at Texas in some time. Now O'Brien definitely helped in that area but I think Morrison proves that there are assistants out there that can fix this thing. 

[texasstrong12 4668]

3 minutes ago, TexasDPT said:

Morrison is coaching club volley in Houston.

Yeah and I would say our regression in passing/defense had a lot to do with losing Morrison. It's not a coincidence last year's team was one of the better defensive/passing teams under Elliott. Now O'Brien definitely played a role there too. 

Point is, go get another Morrison and replace Sullivan.  

I don't buy the argument this can't get fixed because of Elliott. It can if he would go find another assistant of Morrison's caliber and replace Sullivan. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by texasstrong12

[TexasDPT 338]

4 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Yeah and I would say our regression in passing/defense had a lot to do with losing Morrison. It's not coincidence last year's team was one of the better defensive/passing teams under Elliott. Now O'Brien definitely played a role there too. 

Point is, go get another Morrison and replace Sullivan.  

I don't buy the argument this can't get fixed because of Elliott. It can if he would go find another assistant of Morrison's caliber and replace Sullivan. 

Elliott isn't going anywhere...so I am on board with that...

Edited December 12, 2021 by TexasDPT

[TwiceHorn 32079]

According to texassports.com, Morrison wasn't "hired" until January 2021. https://texassports.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/jamie-morrison/2923

[SATXHorn 90]

Fuck CORN !!!

Yep. Hate losing to them, esp in volleyball

[texasstrong12 4668]

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

According to texassports.com, Morrison wasn't "hired" until January 2021. https://texassports.com/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/coaches/jamie-morrison/2923

That was the Covid year we played both fall and spring seasons. The defense in the spring was much better. 

[SATXHorn 90]

Ouch. Bring Jamie Morrison back.

FWIW, I posted this on Thursday when down 0-2. Was surprised no one commented then.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

For a while, it seemed like DS problems were a recruiting issue.  Too many "local" types or resulting from some "club connection" or some shiz, according to VT "insiders."

Iosia was a step up from a lot of previous recruits in terms of 1st Team AA, etc.

But Shook was an all-world setter, too.

Maybe it's just bad luck, but I'm concerned about development, too.  And maybe it's really hard to develop against BIg 12 competition.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

7 minutes ago, SATXHorn said:

Yep. Hate losing to them, esp in volleyball

I bet volleytalk is a shitshow right now.

[SATXHorn 90]

I bet volleytalk is a shitshow right now.

Not going there tonight.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

[TwiceHorn 32079]

41 minutes ago, Bravo said:

She is from ucla, right? 

Yes, and she seemed pretty good when I watched them the last couple of times.

But not like Lexi Rodriguez, for example.

[texasstrong12 4668]

Nebraska fans have all moved to volleyball because they're awful at everything else. 

The irony is the Big 10 has really helped them in volleyball but screwed them in all the major sports. 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by texasstrong12

[TwiceHorn 32079]

11 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Nebraska fans have all moved to volleyball because they're awful at everything else. 

The irony is the Big 10 has really helped them in volleyball but screwed them in all the major sports. 

 

Relatable.

[texasstrong12 4668]

22 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

For a while, it seemed like DS problems were a recruiting issue.  Too many "local" types or resulting from some "club connection" or some shiz, according to VT "insiders."

Iosia was a step up from a lot of previous recruits in terms of 1st Team AA, etc.

But Shook was an all-world setter, too.

Maybe it's just bad luck, but I'm concerned about development, too.  And maybe it's really hard to develop against BIg 12 competition.

The Big 12 is a terrible volleyball conference. I think it definitely plays a role. 

You can take nights off in the Big 12 and Texas definitely does that. In the Big 10 you have to show up every night and I think that develops consistency and also helps dealing with pressure. How many times were we even challenged this year in the Big 12? Maybe 2 matches? 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

6 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

The Big 12 is a terrible volleyball conference. I think it definitely plays a role. 

You can take nights off in the Big 12 and Texas definitely does that. In the Big 10 you have to show up every night and I think that develops consistency and also helps dealing with pressure. How many times were we even challenged this year in the Big 12? Maybe 2 matches? 

I think the pressure may really show up at the service line, maybe moreso than anywhere else.

As you noted, we didn't serve tough against Kentucky,  But I might also submit that serving was still a bit of a work in progress last year.  We cut down the errors and increased the aces this year, I think substantially (without actually checking stats).  And we weren't good tonight or much of the Washington match, either.

ETA:  SA/SE 2020: 163/285 1.6/set 2021: 218/304 2.2/set.  

Also notable, we had about 100 more digs and 1 more per set with OBrien around.

Edited December 12, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[texasstrong12 4668]

2 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Relatable.

Texas hasn't been great in the major sports but I really don't understand the collapse by Nebraska. They're truly awful in football, men's basketball, and in baseball. Although they might be improving in baseball some. 

Nebraska was a consistent top 10 Director's Cup finisher from the mid 90s to early 2000s and then something happened. The collapse happened before the move to the Big 10 so I guess you can't blame it entirely on the Big 10. I dunno, it's always fascinated me because I don't understand what happened around the early 2000s. 

Volleyball has remained consistently good but that's about it. 

[sunset87 255]

Just a huge difference in the serve receive game between the two teams.   Between that and their two freshman hitters having the match of their lives…too much to overcome.

Also, and I think Salima mentioned it during the broadcast, Texas isn’t used to seeing the caliber of digs that Corn was getting. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

7 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Texas hasn't been great in the major sports but I really don't understand the collapse by Nebraska. They're truly awful in football, men's basketball, and in baseball. Although they might be improving in baseball some. 

Nebraska was a consistent top 10 Director's Cup finisher from the mid 90s to early 2000s and then something happened. The collapse happened before the move to the Big 10 so I guess you can't blame it entirely on the Big 10. I dunno, it's always fascinated me because I don't understand what happened around the early 2000s. 

Volleyball has remained consistently good but that's about it. 

I fear we may be headed in that direction in the SEC.  

[texasstrong12 4668]

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I think the pressure may really show up at the service line, maybe moreso than anywhere else.

As you noted, we didn't serve tough against Kentucky,  But I might also submit that serving was still a bit of a work in progress last year.  We cut down the errors and increased the aces this year, I think substantially (without actually checking stats).  And we weren't good tonight or much of the Washington match, either.

I haven't looked at the stats or compared them but this was the first year in some time I came away thinking we were a good serving team. But once again it collapsed in the tournament. 

I think confidence probably plays a role. When you're playing like shit it impacts other areas like serving. It's probably difficult to serve with confidence when you're shanking passes all over the court. 

[TwiceHorn 32079]

3 minutes ago, sunset87 said:

Just a huge difference in the serve receive game between the two teams.   Between that and their two freshman hitters having the match of their lives…too much to overcome.

Also, and I think Salima mentioned it during the broadcast, Texas isn’t used to seeing the caliber of digs that Corn was getting. 

Yeah, Corn was digging stuff we couldn't dream of digging AND with a decent pass off it to boot.

[TwiceHorn 32079]

Shit.  I am posting at 1AM.

What the hell.

[texasstrong12 4668]

7 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I fear we may be headed in that direction in the SEC.  

I'm interested to see how it impacts the overall athletic department. 

I don't think the average fan realizes this but aggy's overall athletic department has regressed big time since joining the SEC. They're winning fewer titles and are finishing a lot lower in the Director's Cup. I can't really explain why that happened either. 

But on face value you would think the SEC would help Texas. Better recruiting, tougher competition, etc should produce better teams. Granted, that doesn't seem to be happening with aggy. 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by texasstrong12

[TwiceHorn 32079]

11 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

I'm interested to see how it impacts the overall athletic department. 

I don't think the "lay" fan realizes this but aggy's overall athletic department has regressed big time since joining the SEC. They're winning fewer titles and are finishing a lot lower in the Director's Cup. I can't really explain why that happened either. 

But on face value you would think the SEC would help Texas. Better recruiting, tougher competition, etc should produce better teams. Granted, that doesn't seem to have happened with aggy across the entire athletic department. 

 

Yeah, you'd think basketball would be fine/better, baseball maybe, too.  And the stalwarts like swimming.  A lot of the womens sports may struggle, though, hard to evaluate.

It's a vague, inarticulate fear on my part.  I fear we'll descend further into football irrelevance and that may have unforeseen consequences.

For aggy, it may be an undue focus on football is distracting from the other things.  Seems like some SEC schools have mostly given up on football and tried to focus on the things they can win at (Vanderbilt, Kentucky).

Edited December 12, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 32079]

Also, it's going to be a crying shame if we can't get Logan Eggleston an NC.  She's the most likeable, "leader-y" player of her caliber we've had in a long time.