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2024 Volleyball: SEC, here comes Daddy

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31699

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41 minutes ago, Pogo said:

Something or someone seems to have become a cancer in this locker room.  Don't know who or what it is, but this team is not getting better in the next few weeks.

Devin and Ella will put their names in the portal on day 1, and I can't blame them.

@Slick16 is right on about the setter position.  There's a reason JE stopped recruiting short setters.  Then he takes one out of the portal and benches Ella.  If Carlson were setting better, that's one thing, but she's not.  Then she just got abused blocking the pin yesterday.  I don't get it.

Why did we even need Carlson?  It almost seems like JE is distracted by shiny objects in the portal.  Taking Wenaas inhibited Devin's playing time and probably development, and sent Parra away, who lit it up at TCU.  

And, we have seen from time to time that players' psyches can be delicate (don't think this is a women's issue, they're just more likely to talk about it).  The "mercenary" nature of transfers is one thing, but some of them may be borderline burnouts hoping that a change of scenery may fix it.

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19 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Why did we even need Carlson?  It almost seems like JE is distracted by shiny objects in the portal.  Taking Wenaas inhibited Devin's playing time and probably development, and sent Parra away, who lit it up at TCU.  

And, we have seen from time to time that players' psyches can be delicate (don't think this is a women's issue, they're just more likely to talk about it).  The "mercenary" nature of transfers is one thing, but some of them may be borderline burnouts hoping that a change of scenery may fix it.

FIRST - Parra entered the portal before Wenaas did.  We may lured her in, but we did not do it in a way that made it seem like we valued her over Parra.  Parra decided to leave us first. 

SECONDLY - I also never understood why we went after Carlson either.  We had a tall setter (JE's favorite) who set us to a national title as a freshman and suddenly he just had to have Carlson and force us into a setter battle.  
Edit: And in hindsight, we should have just kept Crownover.  She already had 2 years in our system and if Ella needed to recover in the spring from her foot injury, Crownover could have just as easily stepped in to practice/spring matches. 

Wenaas also didn't really inhibit Devin's playing time - taking Rutherford did.  Devin is a much more natural RS hitter and we took a pure RS hitter in Rutherford.  

Both the Carlson and Rutherford spots should have been used for a DS and a middle blocker so Ames could redshirt.  

OH - Skinner
OH - Wenaas
MB - Singletary (RS FR)
MB - transfer
OPP - Devin
S - Swindle
L - Halter
DS - Akana
DS - transfer

And there were options!  Elise Goetzinger and Leyla Blackwell (who is just sitting on the bench at Nebraska behind Jackson and Allick) and MB and libero Mackenzie Morris from KSU, who ended up going to Oregon just to be a DS 

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TwiceHorn

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1 hour ago, Js1 said:

FIRST - Parra entered the portal before Wenaas did.  We may lured her in, but we did not do it in a way that made it seem like we valued her over Parra.  Parra decided to leave us first. 

SECONDLY - I also never understood why we went after Carlson either.  We had a tall setter (JE's favorite) who set us to a national title as a freshman and suddenly he just had to have Carlson and force us into a setter battle.  
Edit: And in hindsight, we should have just kept Crownover.  She already had 2 years in our system and if Ella needed to recover in the spring from her foot injury, Crownover could have just as easily stepped in to practice/spring matches. 

Wenaas also didn't really inhibit Devin's playing time - taking Rutherford did.  Devin is a much more natural RS hitter and we took a pure RS hitter in Rutherford.  

Both the Carlson and Rutherford spots should have been used for a DS and a middle blocker so Ames could redshirt.  

OH - Skinner
OH - Wenaas
MB - Singletary (RS FR)
MB - transfer
OPP - Devin
S - Swindle
L - Halter
DS - Akana
DS - transfer

And there were options!  Elise Goetzinger and Leyla Blackwell (who is just sitting on the bench at Nebraska behind Jackson and Allick) and MB and libero Mackenzie Morris from KSU, who ended up going to Oregon just to be a DS 

I couldn't remember all the moves.  Thanks for the corrections.

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Js1

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Looks like we’ve just given up on the 6-2 and will just deal with Averi’s height in the front row. Binney was back as a DS/serving sub

Jenna wasn’t great last night, but she had 17 digs, which was more than Halter 

Madi, Mari, Ayden and RR hit very efficiently in the 5-1. 

If we stick with the 5-1, I’m guessing Swindle is gone in December. Not sure if Devin sticks around again, but with RR graduating, she *should* be the primary OPP in a 5-1 next year unless Elliot slides Whitney over to open up those 2 OH spots for the top 2 OH recruits in the nation coming in 

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Js1

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4 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said:

I think Madi had something like 28 kills!

25-5-49 (.408)

Ames 8-0-17 (.471)

RR 9-2-19 (.368)

Mari 6-0-12 (.500)

Jenna 8-3-34 (.208) 

Devin 2-1-5 (.200)

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Pogo

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7 hours ago, Js1 said:

If we stick with the 5-1, I’m guessing Swindle is gone in December. Not sure if Devin sticks around again, but with RR graduating, she *should* be the primary OPP in a 5-1 next year unless Elliot slides Whitney over to open up those 2 OH spots for the top 2 OH recruits in the nation coming in

Agree that Swindle is gone.  As someone up thread said, Devin *should* have been the primary OPP this year and we should have taken an experienced MB from the portal in order to redshirt Ames.  Wouldn't shock me if Devin leaves as well.  I thought she would leave after last season.

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Js1

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18 hours ago, Pogo said:

Agree that Swindle is gone.  As someone up thread said, Devin *should* have been the primary OPP this year and we should have taken an experienced MB from the portal in order to redshirt Ames.  Wouldn't shock me if Devin leaves as well.  I thought she would leave after last season.

If Devin leaves, I have no idea what we would be doing on the pins.  It would basically be Whitney, Byrd and 3 freshmen, unless we hit the portal.

But then you're asking one of Vander Wal or Spears to stand back for a year or two, depending on how many years a transfer OH has.  Whitney has 2 years to play (played 21/22 at Nebraska, pink shirt in 23, likely will be a redshirt in 24 since she has only played 2 matches) 

Elliot has to sell Devin on coming back as the primary OPP, Whitney is your OH1 and then one of Vander Wal or Spears is your OH2. 

I am guessing Harvey is going to redshirt - at least Mari will be a RS JR and Ames will be a SO next year.  More experienced than this year at that position. 

Harris doesn't come in until 2026, so if Swindle is gone, you have to go find a setter to backup Carlson, unless that's going to be Binney. 

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wood

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On 11/7/2024 at 8:48 AM, Js1 said:

Looks like we’ve just given up on the 6-2 and will just deal with Averi’s height in the front row. Binney was back as a DS/serving sub

Jenna wasn’t great last night, but she had 17 digs, which was more than Halter 

Madi, Mari, Ayden and RR hit very efficiently in the 5-1. 

If we stick with the 5-1, I’m guessing Swindle is gone in December. Not sure if Devin sticks around again, but with RR graduating, she *should* be the primary OPP in a 5-1 next year unless Elliot slides Whitney over to open up those 2 OH spots for the top 2 OH recruits in the nation coming in 

Yeah I just don't get it. Out of the 3 options (6-2 ... 5-1 w/Ella ... 5-1 w/Carlson) it seems like 5-1 with Carlson should be the least attractive option. Ella gives you a much better block in the 5-1. What am I missing here? Is Ella setting the ball that poorly compared to Avery? If not, I struggle to see why Ella would be relegated to the bench. Someone help me make sense of this, please!

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TexasDPT

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7 hours ago, wood said:

Yeah I just don't get it. Out of the 3 options (6-2 ... 5-1 w/Ella ... 5-1 w/Carlson) it seems like 5-1 with Carlson should be the least attractive option. Ella gives you a much better block in the 5-1. What am I missing here? Is Ella setting the ball that poorly compared to Avery? If not, I struggle to see why Ella would be relegated to the bench. Someone help me make sense of this, please!

Location, location, location… for whatever reason, Ella doesn’t have it. When she set flat-footed during the tournament run last year, her location was the best it was all season. Since she’s returned to jump setting, her set location has been terrible. 
 

Besides Madi, Ella struggles to find consistent rhythm and location with any of the other hitters. And even Madi was having a hard time adjusting to her sets, let alone the new middles and opposite. If you watch closely, the hitters are unable to take full swings on their approaches because Ella’s sets have been so inconsistent. 
 

A lot of it also has to do with the passing and backrow ball control. We just don’t have it this year. We’ve had 3 elite back row defenders for the past 2 years and now we are having to rely on Wenaas this year, who just isn’t at the level of an elite DS. Blame JE for not prioritizing a ‘little’ in the transfer portal last year but instead loading up on hitters with no ball control. 
 

This just makes Ella more ineffective because she’s unable to set on the run and her secondary bump setting is a weak part of her game. 
 

But yes, we do miss her front row blocking and ability to attack in the front row.  But without good ball control, the latter can’t be utilized. 
 

So now, we’re having to give up blocking for 3 rotations in the front row with Carlson but who can set the ball more consistently to ALL the hitters.

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wood

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4 hours ago, TexasDPT said:

Location, location, location… for whatever reason, Ella doesn’t have it. When she set flat-footed during the tournament run last year, her location was the best it was all season. Since she’s returned to jump setting, her set location has been terrible. 
 

Besides Madi, Ella struggles to find consistent rhythm and location with any of the other hitters. And even Madi was having a hard time adjusting to her sets, let alone the new middles and opposite. If you watch closely, the hitters are unable to take full swings on their approaches because Ella’s sets have been so inconsistent. 
 

A lot of it also has to do with the passing and backrow ball control. We just don’t have it this year. We’ve had 3 elite back row defenders for the past 2 years and now we are having to rely on Wenaas this year, who just isn’t at the level of an elite DS. Blame JE for not prioritizing a ‘little’ in the transfer portal last year but instead loading up on hitters with no ball control. 
 

This just makes Ella more ineffective because she’s unable to set on the run and her secondary bump setting is a weak part of her game. 
 

But yes, we do miss her front row blocking and ability to attack in the front row.  But without good ball control, the latter can’t be utilized. 
 

So now, we’re having to give up blocking for 3 rotations in the front row with Carlson but who can set the ball more consistently to ALL the hitters.

Yeah this makes sense with what I've been seeing with the poor passing. I just didn't know how much of the setting inaccuracy to attribute to the poor passes, and I haven't seen enough action and stats with each setter to know how much better or worse the offense was running with either of them. I do see Avery making her fair share of poorly located sets, often too tight with hitters really reaching or just having to tip, but that's been happening with both setters. She also seems to struggle with consistency setting the middle.

4 hours ago, Js1 said:

Good summary. Whoever made the call for her to go back to jump setting should be in some hot water. Bc she was a phenomenal flat footed setter 

Yeah it's hard for me to get my head around winning a NC with a freshman setter who's playing hurt, and then demoting her for a smaller setter who puts you in a bind on the block half the time. If the offense worked well enough to win it all with an injured Ella setting from the ground, then let her set from the ground all the time. Hell, Avery's jumpsets probably aren't coming from a much higher point than Ella's flatfooted sets anyway. If we lose Ella and Devin over this shit, that will not be cool.

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Js1

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25 minutes ago, wood said:

Yeah this makes sense with what I've been seeing with the poor passing. I just didn't know how much of the setting inaccuracy to attribute to the poor passes, and I haven't seen enough action and stats with each setter to know how much better or worse the offense was running with either of them. I do see Avery making her fair share of poorly located sets, often too tight with hitters really reaching or just having to tip, but that's been happening with both setters. She also seems to struggle with consistency setting the middle.

Yeah it's hard for me to get my head around winning a NC with a freshman setter who's playing hurt, and then demoting her for a smaller setter who puts you in a bind on the block half the time. If the offense worked well enough to win it all with an injured Ella setting from the ground, then let her set from the ground all the time. Hell, Avery's jumpsets probably aren't coming from a much higher point than Ella's flatfooted sets anyway. If we lose Ella and Devin over this shit, that will not be cool.

The big difference is the ball control from last year isn’t there this year. And again, that’s on JE for prioritizing a second OPP, another setter and an OH who isn’t playing instead of another little and a MB

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Cairn Horn88

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2 hours ago, perfectchaos007 said:

First ever sell out crowd at Alabama today. 

Guess they want to see what real volleyball is suppose to look like…

Texas wins 25-15   25-23    25-16

Taking care of business.  Rolled Tide!

 

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Js1

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Looking ahead to 2025 - 

Current roster - 20
Graduating - Skinner, Rutherford, Akana, Wenaas, Franklin
Incoming - Krueger, Vander Wal, Gaido, Spears, Harvey

I would expect attrition from the group that includes non players/barely played in Helmers/Byrd/Bunton/Tomkinson + the unknowns of Swindle and Devin losing their spots mid-season. 

Next year's biggest question marks -

Setter - does Swindle leave and who is the backup until 2026, when Harris arrives? 
OH - Skinner and Wenaas are gone; we bring in the top 2 OH prospects in Vander Wal and Spears - does one of them redshirt/backup with Whitney getting a starting OH spot and the winner between the two get the other spot? 
OPP - does Devin stick around and let Gaido redshirt/back her up for Devin's last year eligibility or does Whitney move to OPP, opening up the floor for both Vander Wal and Spears to start at OH
DS - Akana is gone, 2 6-ro players are gone (Skinner/Wenaas).  Is Krueger ready to DS full-time as a freshman? What about Ramirez, Binney or Emereck? 

I am assuming we redshirting Harvey. 

Perhaps 2025 will be a slightly more experienced version of 2023 Nebraska - Murray was a freshman starting OH (Spears/Vander Wal) paired with a more experienced OH (Batenhorst/Whitney), a very experienced libero (Rodriguez/Halter), a very experienced OPP (Beason/Devin), a freshman DS (Choboy/Krueger(?)), and their MB tandem was quite young (SO Allick and FR Jackson / RS JR Singletary and SO Ames)

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