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2023 Texas Volleyball - Back to Back!

Js1

By Js1
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MirrOlure
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I think this says it all:

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Firemans4Horn
Firemans4Horn

The Cornhuskers left the big 12 to get away from us.      we’re here mother fuckers. 

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Js1

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1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Must be nice to be Jerritt Elliott right now. 

And we are still in it for MB Leyla Blackwell out of San Diego. She’d probably be an immediate starter alongside Mari and allow Ames to redshirt 

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1 hour ago, perfectchaos007 said:

I saw on my TikTok feed Ally Batenhorst’s announcement she’s entering the transfer portal. I didn’t realize she was from Houston. if we have room on our roster for another 6’5” OH, she could fill the void left by Molly Philips 

Yeah, her parents are Nebraska alums, and she grew up a Nebraska fan. We didn't have a shot at her coming out of high school. Not saying Elliott went hard after her, but she was very highly rated coming out of high school, and really did a number on us in that loss in Gregory in the fall of 2021. 

I have no idea what is going on with our roster. Our bench at this point resembles Doctor Who's telephone booth or Felix the Cat's magic bag of tricks. But under normal circumstances I don't think she's remotely an option. Phillips was a middle blocker moved to the right pin. The right pin is pretty much locked up by Rutherford, who is a left handed force at that position in ways Phillips never could be, even though Rutherford is 6' to Phillips 6'5. Not being critical of Phillips, who won two championships and reached another final while she was on the roster. 

Batenhorst also doesn't have the greatest vertical, nor a powerful arm swing. She'll have plenty of options available to her, but I don't see Texas as a destination unless there's finagling with NIL money. Right now we have some combination of Skinner, Wenaas, Kahahawai, Lauenstein, Helmers, Byrd, and even Kendra Miller, who I think could play for a scholarship at a place like Texas State or A&M-CC. I still believe Kahahawai will transfer in the spring, Lauenstein/Helmers are both coming off shoulder injuries (Helmers just now started being able to swing her arm). Byrd is more of a right side (or even a middle, although I'm not a fan of moving her from being a pin) because she's not good at serve receive right now. So it's potentially not THAT deep. But that's still a huge amount of OHes to be carrying on a roster right now, even if some of them are unknown quantities. 

I've jestingly suggested she go to USC. According to the Nebraska people, she wants to play both beach and indoor. I think it would be a hoot if she teamed up with Phillips on the USC beach team this spring. 

BTW, she has startling eyes. I watched her tiktok video explaining her departure (kinda not really) and her eyes are absolutely mesmerizing. 

As Js1 is saying, Blackwell is way more of a need than Batenhorst. Batenhorst would be for depth and playing beach. Blackwell would be the likely starter day 1. I feel like we'll be fine with our 3 youngins in Singletary, Bunton (also injured) and Ames, but Blackwell is one of the few middle blockers in the portal during this period who would actually improve the roster. There have been IG signs in terms of follows to indicate there's some mutual interest there. Hopefully something pans out. 

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18 hours ago, SL Xpress said:

As Js1 is saying, Blackwell is way more of a need than Batenhorst. Batenhorst would be for depth and playing beach. Blackwell would be the likely starter day 1. I feel like we'll be fine with our 3 youngins in Singletary, Bunton (also injured) and Ames, but Blackwell is one of the few middle blockers in the portal during this period who would actually improve the roster. There have been IG signs in terms of follows to indicate there's some mutual interest there. Hopefully something pans out. 

I really hope we can land her.  We need the experience at MB - her and Mari would be really good, especially with Ames being a true freshman (though she will have the spring and summer, including the Europe trip).  A lot also depends on Bunton's recovery from her injury.  Elliot would probably prefer 3 fully healthy MBs - whether that's Blackwell/Mari/Bunton (Ames redshirting) or Blackwell/Mari/Ames (Bunton still recovering).  

2023: 2.25kps, .329%, 113 blocks
Career: 1.84kps, .331%, 422 blocks

Played as a true freshman at Indiana and then 3 years at USD, including the 2022 national semifinals versus Texas (9-5-23, .174, 7 block assists).  

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1 hour ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Our only potential weakness next year is how young we are at middle. Seems like we would be the national title favorites next year with Blackwell even though Nebraska is also loaded. 

We might be #1 in any case. We were this past year. I didn't think we deserved it with all our losses and a true freshman setter, but no one contacted me to ask my opinion. In any case it's going to be Texas and Nebraska #1 and #2 in whatever order. That much is clear to me. 

Also, it's likely Nebraska is our biggest competition. There's more NIL money at Nebraska, but she has a clearer path to starting at Texas. Nebraska only has their two starting middles, Andi Jackson and Becca Allick, so they're in a somewhat desperate mode to add another one. Texas has the three, plus Byrd can be moved over, but none of them have starting experience. 

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23 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

We might be #1 in any case. We were this past year. I didn't think we deserved it with all our losses and a true freshman setter, but no one contacted me to ask my opinion. In any case it's going to be Texas and Nebraska #1 and #2 in whatever order. That much is clear to me. 

Also, it's likely Nebraska is our biggest competition. There's more NIL money at Nebraska, but she has a clearer path to starting at Texas. Nebraska only has their two starting middles, Andi Jackson and Becca Allick, so they're in a somewhat desperate mode to add another one. Texas has the three, plus Byrd can be moved over, but none of them have starting experience. 

They may be desperate to add another, but if I'm Blackwell, I'm looking at Texas/Nebraska and seeing immediate playing time at Texas. 

Our 3 MBs for next year have played in a combined 23 sets (all Mari this year).  Allick is in year 2 (205 sets played) and Andi Jackson in year 1 (118 sets).   

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23 minutes ago, Js1 said:

They may be desperate to add another, but if I'm Blackwell, I'm looking at Texas/Nebraska and seeing immediate playing time at Texas. 

Our 3 MBs for next year have played in a combined 23 sets (all Mari this year).  Allick is in year 2 (205 sets played) and Andi Jackson in year 1 (118 sets).   

Not just experience, either. They're both really good. I'd take either of them as a starter over our 3. They'll be the best middle blocker tandem in volleyball, IMO.

I don't really understand the NIL numbers for volleyball. I know Hord was the highest paid collective NIL person when she went to Nebraska, but that was with a starting job. The NIL money was a big reason she went to Nebraska in the first place over Texas.

I don't have any idea how much Landfair is getting paid, or how much we're paying any of Lauenstein, Rutherford, or Carlson. And there doesn't seem to be anyone else in volleyball that's truly competing with Texas and Nebraska on the NIL front. I don't think we're talking $100k per year. Is it $50k? More? Less? No idea. We did that banquet last year which brought in $250k. But Nebraska has a single donation for $500k per year for 10 years, plus their players make even more in endorsements year over year than Texas players do, and Texas players do pretty well outside of collective money compared to programs not named Nebraska. 

Just not a lot of transparency in NIL in any sport. 

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1 hour ago, Mittens said:

So...how many US professional VB leagues are we up to now?  3?

I think so. AAU, PVF (professional volleyball federation) and LOVB. 

I love it as a sport and think it has a lot of upside, but I'm not convinced there's enough fan support for one league, much less 3. And they're not going to have the support of a men's professional league the way the WNBA does. 

The six cities the LOVB is starting in are interesting. Austin, Omaha, and Madison have great collegiate support. Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Houston are the other 3. 

I predict a quick exit from the market and/or a merger for two of these organizations. AAU has that funky scoring system. I don't know. There are a lot of people on volleytalk who follow the professional leagues closely, but I can't bring myself to care. I don't even care about the NFL and NBA, and mostly care about baseball because the Astros have been legendarily good for the last 7 years. If the Comets couldn't make it after winning all those championships in a row, I'm not sure what hope a volleyball league has here. 

Also, the logos for the LOVB teams are hideous. 

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She’s the best

Texas' Madisen Skinner was named the Honda Sport Award winner for volleyball as announced by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 48 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics".  The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2024 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2024, at 6 PM CT, from its new home in New York City.

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7 hours ago, Js1 said:

My hope is that white doesn’t make in/out calls more difficult on replay. The black was a good contrast to the white ball

Good point !    Note Tenn has a black line.   Kentucky and Florida go with the dark blue.

 

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Js1

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Plus, if Texas is also interesting in adding women’s gymnastics, it will be able to use Mini Moody. 
But it’s all TALK right now - there’s no actual plan or designs or even funding or location. It’s just talk by CDC for now 

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