2023 Texas Volleyball - Back to Back!

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

10 minutes ago, ClubWhatever said:

Explain why someone who plays a lot would do this  

They aren't beach players and the new beach coach probably wants his own players. 

[Js1 83388]

6 minutes ago, Assman said:

44 minutes ago, Chicken fried bacon said:

JE just posted BOOM

Posted what and where? Nothing on his Twitter or IG

It was posted on his IG

Whitney to Texas

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1DuxgQs0ez/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Js1 83388]

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

Is Whitney's serve supposed to be nasty too? 

Looks like we are really starting to prioritize that. Sucks for Devin but I think this is a good move for us.

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

Meanwhile, we have to see Nebraska and Texas in the NCAA tournament next year. 

That shit will be a bloodbath. 

[Js1 83388]

2 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Is Whitney's serve supposed to be nasty too? 

Looks like we are really starting to prioritize that. Sucks for Devin but I think this is a good move for us.

Apparently her serve is good too. Shes also high error, so like the opposite of Molly. Will be interesting to see how she’s reined in 

She has 2 years left 

[Js1 83388]

Oh god, these former Nebraska girls who came to Texas really fucking hate Cook/Nebraska

[Assman 1830]

Apparently her serve is good too. Shes also high error, so like the opposite of Molly. Will be interesting to see how she’s reined in 
She has 2 years left 

Led the team in aces. Is she a 6 rotation player?

[TexEx15 17267]

 

[TwiceHorn 30850]

On 12/18/2023 at 12:34 AM, Rickylovesweed said:

You can just feel the hurt from Nebraska fans and their coach. 

But let me sum up why they feel that way. They only have 1 good sport at Nebraska and it's volleyball. Texas steals two of their top players from the portal (Akana/Caffey) and then wins the national title. Texas then follows that up by embarrassing Nebraska in the national title match the next season. 

Volleyball is the only enjoyment Nebraska fans have and they're having to watch their volleyball "rival" absolutely own them. It's glorious. I can fully understand their hurt. 

Probably worthwhile to note that Caffey was a xfer to Corn from Mizzou.

[Pancho 42871]

I think @Js1 has given an explanation on this before but why hasn’t volleyball had a FF in Texas? Next year is in Louisville and then Kansas City. 
 

Feels like this is a sport that would do well having a FF in Texas or even LA.

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

I also wonder if Devin checked out because she knew this was happening. Feels like this has been in the works for some time. 

[Js1 83388]

11 minutes ago, Pancho said:

I think @Js1 has given an explanation on this before but why hasn’t volleyball had a FF in Texas? Next year is in Louisville and then Kansas City. 
 

Feels like this is a sport that would do well having a FF in Texas or even LA.

San Antonio had 2011

[TwiceHorn 30850]

I had my suspicions that JE was a pretty good guy (you kind of never know with coaches, see, e.g. Brown, Wm. Mack), but it is becoming apparent with all the Madi love and related team love that seems to be reciprocated by Elliott, that he seems to run a really "humane," for lack of a better term, program.

[troph 24024]

On 12/15/2023 at 1:56 PM, torre said:

Player quotes from Statesman.    Note Sheffield's complimentary comments and Elliott's toward Wisconsin.

 

Sophomore libero Emma Halter led the way

Halter finished with 19 digs, two off her season best. And it wasn’t just the number of digs, it was who she was stopping, the types of shots she was stopping and then what Texas did in a number of instances after her stops.

Numerous spike attempts by 6-foot-9 Anna Smrek, 6-foot-4 Sarah Franklin — Wisconsin's second- and first-team All-Americans, respectively — that would normally hit the floor, didn’t get there. And in several instances Halter’s plays extended rallies that ended with Texas scoring.

Asked if she was “in the zone,” Halter replied: “Oh, I would definitely say it was one of those moments for me and for this team. We train so hard for these moments and this is the time to trust your training. ... And yes, I do think I was in the zone today.”

She credited advance work by associate head coach Erik Sullivan for giving her an edge in knowing where Wisconsin players were likely to send the ball in certain situations.

Madisen Skinner's night at the service line, not the net

Skinner, the Big 12 player of the year, is best known for her often spectacular hitting kills. And she certainly had some of those among her match-high 18 kills. But her serving was the engine for an 11-0 run in the third set that made the score 15-3 and for a 6-0 spurt in the fourth set that made it 11-4. In the latter, Skinner had three aces in a five-serve span.

 

For the match she was credited with six aces. That was double her previous career best. Last year, she had 10 for the entire season. She entered Thursday night’s match with 25.

“We had scouted them pretty well and we kind of knew kind of their weaknesses and individual players we wanted to serve,” Skinner said. “And then just changing up (how deep into Wisconsin’s side of the court to put the ball) and working on my pace of the ball … That was that.”

Said Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield: “With some players, when they start getting two and three serves, their serves get better. … And once (Skinner) starts getting her mojo and confidence back there and a little bit of rhythm, it just makes it tough for everybody.”

Texas took advantage of several Wisconsin errors

The Badgers didn’t come into this match with a 30-3 record by accident. But they didn’t play like a 30-3 team. They made hitting errors. They made serving errors. They made errors receiving serves. They even erred in deciding when to challenge officiating calls, using their allotment of two losing video reviews in a little more than two sets.

Errors gave Texas five of their first 14 points in the first set. It the third set, it was five of Texas’ first 10 points and seven of their first 18.

“We didn't play our best volleyball — that's not a secret,” Sheffield said. “But I would say most of it had to do with how (the Longhorns) were playing. I thought we were prepared to play. You know, it was — it was their night.”

Elliot's comments from KXAN.

“First of all, congratulations to Wisconsin,” Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “They are a tremendous team and have so much size and present so many problems to what you do offensively. It was a battle out there. I’m just so proud of the way that our team has been sticking together and finding ways to pull this out and executing at a really high level right now.”

“You can see the confidence that they have with one another and the way they’re playing for each other,” Elliott said. “It’s been such a fun transformation to see from where we started to where we are right now.”

Halter’s third set versus Wisconsin was spectacular. Underrated turning point as Texas went on a 5 straight set run to capture the title. 

[SL Xpress 7492]

Just to give a head's up, the boom wasn't for Lauenstein. I don't think he does booms for portal players. I haven't noticed it, anyway. 

[SL Xpress 7492]

1 hour ago, Pancho said:

I think @Js1 has given an explanation on this before but why hasn’t volleyball had a FF in Texas? Next year is in Louisville and then Kansas City. 
 

Feels like this is a sport that would do well having a FF in Texas or even LA.

 

The big problem with the Final Four in Texas is the absurd amount of extra elements involved.

The AVCA has their big convention the weekend of the Final Four. They want a city with the hotel space to accommodate their convention. They want the convention to be within walking distance of the arena where the Final Four is being held. They want the rates to be reasonable. 

Also, the NBA isn't excited about scheduling around the volleyball Final Four, so cities where the event would be held in an NBA arena don't bid any more. 

To me it's kind of crazy they never go out to the West Coast any more, since that's where so much of the sport's foundations for future success were laid. At least send it to Las Vegas, which is going bonkers about all the NCAA championships they're putting bids in for these days. 

Houston has been putting in tons of bids for the NCAA men's basketball tournament and now the college playoff. But they can't be bothered with the volleyball Final Four so far. 

But with the way the sport has been growing, I'd love to see a return to San Antonio, or any of the other Texas cities. 

[BurntOrange&White 38878]

 

[SL Xpress 7492]

3 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

That's hilarious.

The problem is, she's not very good. She played against Texas and looked completely overmatched. Even more so than Batenhorst, who she replaced, who also looked overmatched (Batenhorst destroyed us two years ago in that loss in Gregory, however).

The other Nebraska player in the portal, Caroline Jurevicius, was the #6 rated player in the country, a former u19 national player, with a long time pro NFL dad. She has a rocket for an arm, is 6'2, and will end up being a great pick up for someone. She redshirted as a freshman, so she'll still have 4 years of eligibility left. I actually wanted her more than Lauenstein, but heck, I had questions about Wenaas when got her, through most of the season felt vindicated by it, then we go on and win a national championship. At this point I just figure we'll win another one next year regardless what the roster looks like. 

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

Yeah, no shot we want Kubik but it is funny. 

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

It seems like with the portal Elliott has really embraced the "we are winning now" mentality. He's not about playing a bunch of young players. 

My bet is we are definitely going to add a defensive specialist and probably a middle from the portal. He's not wasting Skinner's final year. 

 

 

[SL Xpress 7492]

1 hour ago, Assman said:

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Apparently her serve is good too. Shes also high error, so like the opposite of Molly. Will be interesting to see how she’s reined in 
She has 2 years left 

Led the team in aces. Is she a 6 rotation player?

 

She was at Nebraska, but I don't think she'd be one at Texas. Elliott seems to like to go with one back row attacker at a time, and that will obviously be Skinner. 

Wenaas was a 6 rotation player at Minnesota with decent defensive stats, and we never saw her back there. Heck, Skinner played 6 rotations at Kentucky, but when she came to Texas - in part with the promise she'd at least get trained as a 6 rotation OH - Eggleston was the 6 rotation player for most of the year except for a couple of weeks when Elliott put Skinner in that role instead until the tournament came around. 

I've really enjoyed the 3 littles lineups with Fleck/Halter/Akana and Halter/Barnes/Akana. I hope we can get a good replacement for Barnes. She was shaky for a good portion of the season, but really pulled through late in the year and especially the tournament. 

[SL Xpress 7492]

On 12/18/2023 at 1:07 PM, BurntOrange&White said:

I think it would be absolutely hilarious to get a player from Nebraska to transfer to Texas that we need.

I think this post is absolutely hilarious. Prophetic, even. 

[Rickylovesweed 14087]

All these transfers from Nebraska aren't really surprising given the context.

If you're an elite player who is trying to win a national title there are only a few programs you should join. Texas, Wisconsin, and maybe Stanford. The problem is Nebraska has a bunch of elite players and all of them aren't going to be happy. Texas is the logical choice for those types of players. 

There are some Nebraska fans that think it's Texas being "spiteful" but it's really just how the market works right now. 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Rickylovesweed

[Gut Wagon 8037]

On 12/16/2023 at 6:51 PM, Assman said:

Fuck it. Just pulled the trigger on 6 tickets for me and the fam. Getting the kids up at 4:30 for the flight won't be fun but at least we'll be in the building.

This aged so well. Especially with your kids getting pics with the team afterwards. Nice work, dad. 

[BurntOrange&White 38878]

8 hours ago, TexEx15 said:

 

 

7 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

It seems like with the portal Elliott has really embraced the "we are winning now" mentality. He's not about playing a bunch of young players. 

My bet is we are definitely going to add a defensive specialist and probably a middle from the portal. He's not wasting Skinner's final year. 

 

 

I was thinking about this announcement with the baby and her significant other and thinking what could make it better. 

 

100% would be great if Hayes Fawcett did an edit and overly saturated the baby so @texifornia loses his shit.

[Js1 83388]

Also a reminder that Elliot has experience managing a player who has a kid - Haley Eckerman. 

[Js1 83388]

11 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Meanwhile, we have to see Nebraska and Texas in the NCAA tournament next year. 

That shit will be a bloodbath. 

Of course we will match up with them somehow.  It's no different than how much they kept placing aggy in Texas' postseason path since 2013 (VB, softball, baseball, basketball). 

I know there's so much bad blood between Elliot and Cook, but for the good of the sport, we need a yearly rivalry match outside of the tournament.  It is probably the only opponent we could sell out Moody for a volleyball match. 10k ain't much compared to the record setting crowd Nebraska got for an outdoor match, but it's virtually impossible to schedule a non-conf with Nebraska at DKR due to the heat in August/September, and unless a lot of Huskers travel, it wouldn't sell out. But Moody would. 

Have a rotating home/road at Pinnacle Bank and Moody.

Or bring back the VERT challenge - Texas, Nebraska, Stanford, Florida.  But replace Stanford with Wisconsin.  Every 4 years, you play at Pinnacle Bank, Moody, Fiserv, and the O'Dome. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Js1

[TwiceHorn 30850]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

 

I know there's so much bad blood between Elliot and Cook

Is there?  

JE's relations with other top coaches like Sheffield, seem more congenial, but is there active bad blood?

[Js1 83388]

Just now, TwiceHorn said:

 Is there?  

JE's relations with other top coaches like Sheffield, seem more congenial, but is there active bad blood?

Sure seems to be quite a lot.  There's no love lost between Nebraska and Texas fans, that's for sure, but Cook enjoys taking shots at Elliot's coaching and recruiting style. I think you're seeing two programs that have played against each a lot, in some big matches in the postseason since the breakup, go in different directions. 

Elliot will continue to use the portal to supplement his recruiting, which is always high level, with 2-3 recruits that fill a need (which, a ha, is recruiting and roster management, aka, his job), while Cook will ride with his top recruits and 1 impactful transfer at a time. 

Since Nebraska won their last title in 2017, Texas has won 2 and played for 1 more. 

[BurntOrange&White 38878]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Is there?  

JE's relations with other top coaches like Sheffield, seem more congenial, but is there active bad blood?

Yes they almost came to fisticuffs at a coaching convention.

[Js1 83388]

Since Nebraska left the Big 12:

• Texas - 3 titles, 3 runner up finishes and 12 of the 13 Big 12 titles since Nebraska left
• Nebraska - 2 titles, 3 runner up finishes and 4 B1G titles in 13 seasons

[Js1 83388]

Also this was from 2012 - John Cook seems like a dick, period. (NCAA tournament match between Nebraska and Washington) 

[SL Xpress 7492]

1 minute ago, Js1 said:

Also this was from 2012 - John Cook seems like a dick, period. (NCAA tournament match between Nebraska and Washington) 

That's UT assistant coach Erik Sullivan directly behind and between the two head coaches. He was an assistant for Cook when this photo was taken. 

[TwiceHorn 30850]

Ok, I may have been being too soft on Cook.  I've always thought he was a smug, imperious prick, but I'm biased and feared my bias was making me think he's worse than he is.

[troph 24024]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Also a reminder that Elliot has experience managing a player who has a kid - Haley Eckerman. 

I would think easier than managing a partier. tbqh but I grew up young so what the fuck do I know.

[troph 24024]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Sure seems to be quite a lot.  There's no love lost between Nebraska and Texas fans, that's for sure, but Cook enjoys taking shots at Elliot's coaching and recruiting style. I think you're seeing two programs that have played against each a lot, in some big matches in the postseason since the breakup, go in different directions. 

Elliot will continue to use the portal to supplement his recruiting, which is always high level, with 2-3 recruits that fill a need (which, a ha, is recruiting and roster management, aka, his job), while Cook will ride with his top recruits and 1 impactful transfer at a time. 

Since Nebraska won their last title in 2017, Texas has won 2 and played for 1 more. 

shit changes, either you maximize your program or you don't. no reason to be sour about it. both have merit but if you play the long game, your roster will always be a net exit and you'll train players that leave before you can utilize them. it's how it works now. I don't like it, but it is. maybe we end up with player contracts to slow that down but that most likely will require some sort of pay.

[closetojumping 62010]

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Ok, I may have been being too soft on Cook.  I've always thought he was a smug, imperious prick, but I'm biased and feared my bias was making me think he's worse than he is.

You just don't say the kind of shit that he says about Texas without there being bad blood. He seems deliberate with his comments. It's gratifying when it all works against him. I find him to be an easy villain as an opposing fan.

[Js1 83388]

The true culture Elliot has built:

I also note that not only did Caffey go to the team hotel send off in her burnt orange, Shook was seen at the arena in burnt orange. Culture 

[JesusSweatDuck 17779]

4 hours ago, Js1 said:

Sure seems to be quite a lot.  There's no love lost between Nebraska and Texas fans, that's for sure, but Cook enjoys taking shots at Elliot's coaching and recruiting style. I think you're seeing two programs that have played against each a lot, in some big matches in the postseason since the breakup, go in different directions. 

Elliot will continue to use the portal to supplement his recruiting, which is always high level, with 2-3 recruits that fill a need (which, a ha, is recruiting and roster management, aka, his job), while Cook will ride with his top recruits and 1 impactful transfer at a time. 

Since Nebraska won their last title in 2017, Texas has won 2 and played for 1 more. 

What's interesting is Stein is on record in wanting to beat Nebraska at beach.  The weird thing about Nebraska beach is that they don't have dedicated beach players.  I'm down for playing them regularly in the pre-conference slate similar to how we play Stanford regularly.

[Catpfish 618]

I'll be the first to say that I'm not a volleyball expert, hell, not even a journeyman (have watched Texas volleyball ever since the advent of the LHN), but is Akana really a plus defensive specialist?  It seems her serve win rate is lower than most the team (seems to have a higher percentage of errors to wins).  To my mind, when a defensive specialist comes in, that should be a person that is intentionally served away from, but the moment she touches the court, she is the target.  It was so bad at the Final Four that Halter was pinching right  to cover about 1.5 "areas" and pushing Akana to cover only about 8-10 feet in the deep right corner.  

I guess what I'm really looking for is someone to fill in the gaps in my understanding.  I could very well be suffering from confirmation bias and am missing the forest for the trees. 

[Js1 83388]

She’s more of a serving specialist that plays some defense. But as I recall, she passed really really well against Nebraska. A 2.36 which led all serve receivers on both teams 

[Catpfish 618]

1 minute ago, Js1 said:

She’s more of a serving specialist that plays some defense. But as I recall, she passed really really well against Nebraska. A 2.36 which led all serve receivers on both teams 

Interesting, like I said, confirmation bias.  I only remember her coming in for the first sub and shanking a pass.  The lineup for the next serve was her pinched into the corner with Halter covering.  

[Js1 83388]

3 minutes ago, Catpfish said:

Interesting, like I said, confirmation bias.  I only remember her coming in for the first sub and shanking a pass.  The lineup for the next serve was her pinched into the corner with Halter covering.  

Well she only passed 7 balls. To be fair, as a team, we barely had to pass many balls bc of how dominant our win was. But she’s more of a serving specialist and she does that job well. 

[someguy 1467]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

The true culture Elliot has built:

I also note that not only did Caffey go to the team hotel send off in her burnt orange, Shook was seen at the arena in burnt orange. Culture 

thank you for posting that

[Js1 83388]

Gonna miss you, Molly Green Giant! Go tear up the sand court 

 

[shadow_operative2.0 15735]

Damn, that's awesome for her. Will likely be another ring. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by shadow_operative2.0
*for

[Js1 83388]

WV hired the Washington St coach. She’s good. But WSU is a team without a home next year. If she’s good at WV, she can parlay that into a much better B1G or SEC job down the line 

[BadgerHorn 147]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Gonna miss you, Molly Green Giant! Go tear up the sand court 

 

Thanks for posting. Props to Molly for taking on that level of competition. I think USC has four players with at least AVP main draw experience, not to mention the string of national championships.

Looking forward to the beach schedule release. 

[Post Oak 20112]