2019 Texas Volleyball

[texfan11 90]

10 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I'm usually more outraged at this annual event.  I guess now I'm at the acceptance stage.

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 

[LTtxfan 49144]

13 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I'm usually more outraged at this annual event.  I guess now I'm at the acceptance stage. 

I'm running out of football substitutes.

It does seem a bit odd that Elliott can continue to recruit high-profile players so successfully, including some non-hitters.  I rely on js1 for this information, but we apparently do have some hot shit coming on.  Everyone seems to have the "book" on him.

I kind of also wonder if the embarrassment of riches in the front row doesn't cause some problems in one way or the other.  Seems like some of the non-mainstay players have trouble getting into a groove, for example.

Losing to Rice and the tough match against UCSB lowered my expectations for NCAA Tourney. Too many fundamental issues and a lack of floor leadership with this current team...  DAMN

[TwiceHorn 31438]

37 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Losing to Rice and the tough match against UCSB lowered my expectations for NCAA Tourney. Too many fundamental issues and a lack of floor leadership with this current team...  DAMN

I was bipolar, just like the team. We had some extended doldrums shortly after the Rice game, and one or two high-level games, Baylor at home, for example.

The regular season/conference is so useless for evaluating how good we are or can be.  It's only good for evaluating how often or badly we play down to the competition.

I take some solace in the fact that Elliott is bringing in a high-level setter and libero.  But then, other than Petersen, I think we're fresh out of DS.  I guess we'll have some JAGs to fill out the floor.  Hopefully no one else aspires to be a six-rotation player.

Ashley is the only junior on the team.  I guess Brionne was in her class.  How does that happen??

Edited December 14, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Hard Times 302]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Well, Micaya's had a nice career, but I somehow think we will be better off without her. /unpopular opinion

I happen to agree. Her service errors kill momentum and keep the opponent in the game and her free balls give the other team easy attacks. Unfortunately she never learned you must attack even if its a poor set. I don't understand why average players from other teams still get in a decent attack on a bad set, yet Micaya and others on the Texas team just do a push over, and barely over at that.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

6 minutes ago, Hard Times said:

I happen to agree. Her service errors kill momentum and keep the opponent in the game and her free balls give the other team easy attacks. Unfortunately she never learned you must attack even if its a poor set. I don't understand why average players from other teams still get in a decent attack on a bad set, yet Micaya and others on the Texas team just do a push over, and barely over at that.

In her defense, I think she was coached to tip or hit softly on occasion as part of being a smart player.  Commentators have said as much.

I think to some extent, she took that as license to tip just about any suboptimal set, of which there are many.

As for the serving, that irritated me quite a bit.  However, Logan was almost as bad and almost everyone is guilty of a momentum destroying SE.

But, yeah, something intangible kind of rubbed me the wrong way about her from the outset.

The constant tipping and service errors made it hard for me to turn my initial impression around, but I accept that she's just who she is and a very talented player, if not much of a leader.

Edited December 14, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Goodman 3273]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

So long underachieves 

Agreed but Elliott's weaknesses are usually not exposed until the round of 8/4. Guessing with the lack of other sports success on campus, Elliott will leave when he wants. 

Edited December 14, 2019 by Goodman

[torre 1285]

Don't know anything about volleyball,  but this is always a great thread,  many insightful comments.

Would like to make this comment. From the first serve,  Louisville looked like the home team -   very relaxed, energetic,  not at all intimidated.   Perhaps because they were an at large team playing with house money.    Congrats to their team and coaching staff.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

7 minutes ago, torre said:

Don't know anything about volleyball,  but this is always a great thread,  many insightful comments.

Would like to make this comment. From the first serve,  Louisville looked like the home team -   very relaxed, energetic,  not at all intimidated.   Perhaps because they were an at large team playing with house money.    Congrats to their team and coaching staff.

They are a very young team also.  They lost their senior leader.  But yeah, I think nothing to lose is valid.  Their coach is also an up and comer, former Nebraska player and assistant.  They adjusted pretty well to whatever we did that worked.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

As for whom to root for, I have trouble giving a fuck.  The remaining teams are mostly the usual suspects and rivals.  There's enough parity that any team not in the top 10 can lose to any other team, but there's a pretty big gulf between the top 4-8 seeds and the rest, unless you're Texas.

It will probably come down to whoever is playing Nebraska.

[WBT 20561]

Utah takes the first set from Stanford.

Utah's libero is smoking

https://www.lakeflash.com/post/pool-photo-shoot-with-brianna-doehrmann

[perfectchaos007 6625]

Elliot after the loss echoed the lack of leadership some alluded to on here.

Quote

 

Q. You had a young team. What lessons do you take into the off-season and what was your biggest regret?

HEAD COACH JERRITT ELLIOTT: My biggest regret is I'm going to take full responsibility. I thought we did everything right. I thought they were in the right mindset going in. I thought they did everything and they were performing at a high level, but just for me, we have to find some leadership. We have got to be able to make sure that some people can take control of the court at a higher level.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by perfectchaos007

[Pancho 44709]

I follow the team on twitter, and I just don’t know that there’s any evidence of types of twitter posts = poor play.  

But my question to the board is this—why so many service errors?

[TwiceHorn 31438]

1 hour ago, Pancho said:

I follow the team on twitter, and I just don’t know that there’s any evidence of types of twitter posts = poor play.  

But my question to the board is this—why so many service errors?

Apparently, at some point last season, "we" decided to be more aggressive with serves.  A few pages back, someone dug up some stats comparing us to hard-serving teams and our stats weren't all that out of line, iirc.

Without checking our stats, Micaya was the worst offender, followed by Logan, who seemed to get a bit more under control as the season progressed.  So the "problem" may be taking care of itself.

Edited December 14, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

And your elite eight is:

UW

Tree

PSU

Baylor

Minny

Corn

WIscy

L'ville.

Sooo, gooo whoever's playing Nebraska and Stanford.🙄

[Sandlot 2]

That’s it, Fire Coach Elliott.  

[TwiceHorn 31438]

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Apparently, at some point last season, "we" decided to be more aggressive with serves.  A few pages back, someone dug up some stats comparing us to hard-serving teams and our stats weren't all that out of line, iirc.

Without checking our stats, Micaya was the worst offender, followed by Logan, who seemed to get a bit more under control as the season progressed.  So the "problem" may be taking care of itself.

It should probably be noted that you can serve aggressively and smartly without high-risk jump float and similar serves.  Claire Hahn had a pretty challenging serve and seemed to use it intelligently (don't serve the libero, pls).  Other teams seem to do this more effectively than we do, but that's also a function of the holes in the back row.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

18 hours ago, TexasDPT said:

On serve-receive, Elliott coaches his players to be 'safe' with difficult serves and to just pass the ball to the 10-foot line. So the setter has limited options...usually going to the left pin.  That's why he needs big hitters because the opposing defenses are just going to camp out on them either with their block or backrow D.

When Texas is in their transition defense and the opposing hitters get past the Texas block, back row players are coached just to get the ball up.  That's why you see the setter running all over the place...and when this happens, Texas has only one option to just set the left pin hitter. 

The only time Texas is in-system is if the passers get a lollipop serve on serve-receive or if the Texas block can slow down the ball enough to get a decent pass up to the setter to run an offense with other hitting options. 

The elite teams train their passers and backrow players to consistently dig/pass the ball in front of the 10 foot line and 3-4 feet off the net between zones 2 and 3 so the setter can run a more consistent offense.  Watch UCSB's and Louisville's setters...they don't have to run around the court like Jhenna does to get to balls...that's why they can win without elite hitters on their rosters.  

That's why Shook can't set this offense....she isn't fast enough to get to balls and has terrible location when she is always on the run (yet she can set her club teams to National Championships where the passing was solid).  Jhenna does well with what she is given (as did Chloe Collins) but they are still blocking liabilities in the front-row.

So for Texas to get better, Elliott either has to change his coaching philosophies or we are going to have to wait for someone new.

 

I accept your analysis and observation sure seems to bear it out.  But does this assume a certain level of talent (or lack thereof) in the back row?

It seems if a back row player is capable of routinely digging/passing closer to the net, she would do so without penalty from Elliott?  Or maybe that skill rarely translates from high school to college and it never gets developed under Elliott?

[Sandlot 2]

35 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I accept your analysis and observation sure seems to bear it out.  But does this assume a certain level of talent (or lack thereof) in the back row?

It seems if a back row player is capable of routinely digging/passing closer to the net, she would do so without penalty from Elliott?  Or maybe that skill rarely translates from high school to college and it never gets developed under Elliott?

Simple solution. Recruit better back row players.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Seems so. So what's the hold up? 

[perfectchaos007 6625]

Baylor takes the first set against Washington. 25-20

[Js1 85275]

Oh yeah there’s still volleyball going on  

[perfectchaos007 6625]

Baylor up 2-1

[perfectchaos007 6625]

Baylor wins 3-1. I'm having a sad realization that lil ol Baylor is currently better than us in almost every sport except swimming and maybe golf. Get to work CDC

[TwiceHorn 31438]

3 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Baylor wins 3-1. I'm having a sad realization that lil ol Baylor is currently better than us in almost every sport except swimming and maybe golf. Get to work CDC

Gross.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Wiscy up 2-0 over Corn.  

Yay.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Havent watched corn any this year, but Lexi looks almost like a DS.  Very little work at the net.

 

Guess that's just these games, because she's their leading scorer.  And now she's swinging.

 

Goddam John Cook is one salty-looking bastard.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Ok, watching Corn go down without ficky-fick makes me happy.

Also, we knew this, but I will trade Lexi for Logan all day every day.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Corn swept.  Fuck em Bucky.

Dana Rettke is a monster.  I think we need to find a way to put Molly Phillips in the lineup as often as possible.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Lousville playing Minny pretty tough, but down 1-0.  I hate watching other teams play in Gregory.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Louisville mostly blown out in the second -14.  Probably gonna get swept.

Pretty similar playing styles, fast offense, really solid D.  Kind of polar opposites to us.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Minny with 12.5 blocks through 2.8 sets.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Minnesota sweeps and the last two were pretty much blowouts -14 and -16.

Ours was a shameful loss.

[perfectchaos007 6625]

This years team had a habit of playing down to the level of the competition and it ultimately bit us in the ass. Tonight Minny showed everyone why Louisville is unseeded. They didn’t play down to Louisville’s level 

Edited December 15, 2019 by perfectchaos007

[Js1 85275]

LOL @ “this year’s team.” Honey, that’s a JE special. 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Yeah, it's been the same damn story since 2012.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Fucking pedo state with a five point lead at 22 coughs it all up.

And loses set 1.

I hope Stanford goes in the shitter for a while after Plummer, Hentz, and Fitzmorris graduate.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

Pedo state getting molested in the second.

Loses -12. 

This one's over.  Slapping noises in the shower.

Edited December 15, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[TwiceHorn 31438]

This is brutal.  Stanford is what Texas could/should be.

I'm guessing Baylor and tree in the final and another NC for tree.

[Pato del Muerto 52485]

On 12/13/2019 at 4:39 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

Now watch them get destroyed tomorrow 

And there it is. Evidence that it wasn’t UL playing up, it was texas playing down. 

[torre 1285]

Saw this in the AAS for all you VB aficionados.  😊      Leave of absence was medical per Omaha World Herald.

 

Former Nebraska outside hitter Capri Davis will transfer to Texas, the Longhorns said on Monday.     

“She’s an explosive athlete from the state of Texas that we are thrilled to get into our gym,” UT coach Jerritt Elliott said in a press release announcing Davis’ signing. “We are very excited to welcome her to our family.”

Davis joins a 2020 recruiting class that signed outside hitter Madison Williams, libero Nalani Iosia, setter Naomi Cabello and defensive specialist Reilly Heinrich in November. Davis and Williams both attended Mansfield Lake Ridge High

After spending the 2018 and 2019 seasons at Nebraska, Davis has two years of eligibility remaining. Davis appeared in 26 matches as a freshman. This season, she played nine times before taking a leave of absence from the Huskers.

The 6-1 Davis, who will enroll at Texas this spring, averaged 1.2 kills per set at Nebraska.

• Attended Lake Ridge High School in Mansfield, Texas
• Was named an Under Armour first-team All-American
• Ranked the No. 21 overall prospect by PrepVolleyball.com
• As a senior, averaged 4.6 kills per set and 3.1 digs per set with a .308 hitting percentage, and served 55 aces and had 85 blocks in 107 sets played
• Led the Eagles to the Texas 5A regional quarterfinals with a 35-10 overall record
• In her high school career, totaled 1,371 kills and 512 blocks with 136 aces
• Played both middle blocker and outside hitter in high school
• Played club volleyball for Texas Image and Drive Nation

https://www.hookem.com/2019/12/16/nebraskas-capri-davis-to-transfer-to-texas-for-2020-volleyball-season/

Edited December 17, 2019 by torre

[perfectchaos007 6625]

Well I guess that completes the Lexi Sun trade we made with corn

[Js1 85275]

Perfect pickup with White graduating 

[TwiceHorn 31438]

10 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Perfect pickup with White graduating 

I wonder if this impacts that unsigned but committed gal whose name you'll have to remind me of?

[Js1 85275]

Parra 

[Goodman 3273]

On 12/14/2019 at 10:22 PM, TwiceHorn said:

This is brutal.  Stanford is what Texas could/should be.

I'm guessing Baylor and tree in the final and another NC for tree.

Coaching matters. Our recruiting class is legit, if JE can manage the locker room perhaps we get lucky in the next few years.

[TwiceHorn 31438]

28 minutes ago, Goodman said:

Coaching matters. Our recruiting class is legit, if JE can manage the locker room perhaps we get lucky in the next few years.

The locker room or the court?  Both?

It's the first class I can remember that portends real balance, i.e. some touted defensive players.  We have internally touted some defenders in the past, but I don't think they were big recruits.

Lets hope the setter candidate isn't foiled by the system like Shook.

Edited December 17, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Js1 85275]

Capri does not play 6 rotations. So I see where the new libero coming in will get a lot of playing time as a DS for Davis while Logan plays 6 rotations. 

[AnTiM 1666]

Two things that stood out to me during the season, especially in the final match.  The number of times our opponents are driving spikes to the floor from 15 feet behind the net, and the number of times we block spikes out of bounds while our opponents are blocking them into our backcourt.  Seems like we should be doing some things different from what we are now.

[Js1 85275]

White first team AA

Logan 2nd team AA

Fields did not got FOY

[TwiceHorn 31438]

7 minutes ago, Js1 said:

White first team AA

Logan 2nd team AA

Fields did not got FOY

I suppose first team is something of a lifetime achievement award for Micaya.  Not sure their stats deviate enough to merit first/second team distinction.

And I'm sure our less-than-elite finish hurt everyone.