September 27Sep 27 About as tough a match as you'll see for a sweep. Love how multiple ladies are making big plays when they must. And that dig by Emma...just wow.
September 27Sep 27 I don't know what the numbers will say, but I felt like Stafford had her worst performance in backcourt defense since Stanford. I don't feel like I'm really criticizing her, because she has exceeded my expectations, but I will say how she played in receiving and defense was more along the lines of what I expect our outside hitters to do. I'll also say Missouri's middles were way more productive. This was the most lopsided blocking number to date, 12 to 4. 15 to 12 in kills, as well. It's not an anomaly. Against higher ranked foes it's highly likely our middles are going to get outplayed in some respects. My hope is for continued development. I like the future of Harvey a lot. I'm going to be a broken record here, but I do miss Singletary. I like seeing Crownover experience so much success. And Jhenna Gabriel, too. Dawn Sullivan has really impressed me. They recruit the state of Texas hard, with four girls from the state. That's more than anywhere else, including Missouri (3). They play taller than they are. Haith and Ariail, the middle blockers, are listed at 6'2 and 6'1 respectively. Alexander, who gave us so much trouble as the OH, is 6'. This team feels ridiculously clutch in late game situations. I wish we weren't so seemingly attracted to late set drama, but better that than a poor result overall. Abby Gaido looks smoking hot.
September 27Sep 27 Author Yeah their middle attack was really hard to stop. I felt like we adjusted a little in the third set and then Alexander had a huge set to keep Missouri toe to toe with us Backcourt defense was not impressive. Little slow but Missouri runs a fast offense. 5 straight home sweeps, including 4 ranked teams Now on the road for 2 - Georgia and MSST, who beat Florida 3-2 last night
September 27Sep 27 40 minutes ago, Js1 said: Yeah their middle attack was really hard to stop. I felt like we adjusted a little in the third set and then Alexander had a huge set to keep Missouri toe to toe with us Backcourt defense was not impressive. Little slow but Missouri runs a fast offense. 5 straight home sweeps, including 4 ranked teams Now on the road for 2 - Georgia and MSST, who beat Florida 3-2 last night Florida looks in free fall. The more compassionate side of me feels bad for Alexis Stucky. The Texas-centric side of me cares a little less. But she came on as such a phenom her true freshman season but her career has felt a little cursed, between injuries, Mary Wise's retirement, her most talented teammates transferring. She should try to transfer to Penn State where Kennedy Martin landed. They could sure use an experienced setter.
September 28Sep 28 I just watched Olivia Babcock get 13 kills in a single set against SMU and Pitt still lost the set. Up 2-1 currently, though. Both of these teams serve very aggressively.
September 28Sep 28 Author Pitt won 3-1 over SMU 10 Purdue lost to Illinois (11-7-32 and 5 blocks for Auburn Tomkinson) 15 PSU lost to UCLA (5-1-16 and 7 blocks for Mari)
September 28Sep 28 1 hour ago, Js1 said: Pitt won 3-1 over SMU 10 Purdue lost to Illinois (11-7-32 and 5 blocks for Auburn Tomkinson) 15 PSU lost to UCLA (5-1-16 and 7 blocks for Mari) Singletary averaged more blocks per set in that match than our whole team does on average. It's so bizarre seeing a team go from winning the national championship to falling off a cliff. I mean, it's obvious what the explanation is, but it's still strange to me. I'm shocked Purdue is still able to be competitive after losing so many players from last year's team. You could field a really good team simply from the players that have transferred from Texas and are now starting on other teams. Setter alone you have Carlson, Crownover, and Cabello. I'm not complaining. I really enjoy our team. I don't know how far they go but this season is going to be a lot easier on me than last year.
September 29Sep 29 Author 23 minutes ago, SL Xpress said: It's so bizarre seeing a team go from winning the national championship to falling off a cliff. I mean, it's obvious what the explanation is, but it's still strange to me. Martin had 34 kills on 67 swings. In a 4 set match I do think she convinces Stuckey to transfer to State College. I know you have said the same thing- FL is a mess and PSU needs a setter Auburn also swept MSST today to hand them their first loss
September 29Sep 29 9 hours ago, Js1 said: Martin had 34 kills on 67 swings. In a 4 set match I do think she convinces Stuckey to transfer to State College. I know you have said the same thing- FL is a mess and PSU needs a setter Auburn also swept MSST today to hand them their first loss It's down to Nebraska and Texas as the only undefeateds. Both of them have looked vulnerable at times, but both of them overall have looked like the best teams so far. I feel like we have our own version of freshman Martin in Spears.
September 29Sep 29 When will the 1st RPI ranking come out? NCAA site still showing last year's final numbers.
September 29Sep 29 Author As we head into week 2 of SEC play, Texas sits at 2-0, along with Auburn, Kentucky, Tennessee and aggy. Auburn - @ Florida, @ Ole Miss Kentucky - @ Ole Miss (no 2nd match) Tennessee - @ LSU (no 2nd match) Texas - @ Georgia, @ MSST aggy - @South Carolina, @ Alabama Out of the 16 SEC teams, only Alabama and Georgia have split weeks (1 road, 1 home contest). 13 teams have 2 at home or 2 on the road and Kentucky and Tennessee each only have 1 match, on the road. Edited September 29Sep 29 by Js1
September 29Sep 29 Author #1 Nebraska (57) #2 Texas (4) #3 Kentucky #4 Stanford #5 Pittsburgh Kentucky and Stanford are 7 points apart, they were tied for 3rd last week #7 Wisconsin #8 Arizona State #9 Texas A&M (they jumped 4 spots for a 3-1 win over Missouri?) #11 SMU #12 TCU #14 Creighton #15 Baylor (5 spot jump for beating TCU) #20 Tennessee #21 Missouri (no change, despite losing in Texas 6-1 in sets and literally losing a set, 25-8) #23 Florida RV Auburn
September 29Sep 29 I just saw that Marcus Spears Jr. is the 2027 #1 PF basketball recruit. Insane how athletic that family is. Hopefully he follows in his sister’s footsteps and comes to the 40. Edited September 29Sep 29 by TonyTexas
October 1Oct 1 32 minutes ago, Cairn Horn88 said: Texas Ladies @ Georgia today 6:00 pm SECN. Another strong blocking team. 6th in the nation at 3 blocks per set, led by 6'6 middle blocker Kendal Kemp at 1.5 blocks per set. Texas leads in almost every other category, though. Not terribly concerned about the match, but that's probably true for most of the teams in the SEC outside of Kentucky and A&M right now. I could change my mind. We faced them in the tournament a couple of years ago in Gregory. I can't tell how they compare to that Georgia team.
October 1Oct 1 Author 8-4 overall, 0-2 in the SEC Our block would probably look good if we played that non-conference schedule. One good team (3-2 over in state rival GT) and they got swept by Tennessee and Kentucky
October 1Oct 1 4 hours ago, Js1 said: 8-4 overall, 0-2 in the SEC Our block would probably look good if we played that non-conference schedule. One good team (3-2 over in state rival GT) and they got swept by Tennessee and Kentucky Maybe. I guess to me I'm resigned to our block being closer to above average than elite, and the fact we've played so many matches where we've been out blocked, my expectation is that we're going to get out blocked again. The point of the game isn't to out block the opponent, so again, I'm not terribly concerned. I will say our block has looked fine if we were a normal team. But to be a team from Texas with these blocking numbers is not usual. But if the team serves tough to get the opponent out of system, terminates at a high rate, and has great backcourt defense, it's not something to complain a lot about unless you're someone just looking to complain.
October 1Oct 1 Author I don’t disagree. We aren’t a strong blocking team overall, but if we played 4-5 matches against Rice-level competition instead of 5 top 10 teams, our block numbers wouldn’t look as bad. But not elite either
October 1Oct 1 The announcer suggesting Texas and all other SEC teams are "pretty beatable" suggests "by teams much better than UGA."
October 1Oct 1 Author The girl doing commentary should take some broadcast speaking courses. She’s terrible
October 1Oct 1 3 minutes ago, Js1 said: The girl doing commentary should take some broadcast speaking courses. She’s terrible Speaking of which, I thought Zoe was really good. Very articulate (figure I can toss that at a white chick without penalty). But more seriously, pretty even-handed, insightful, and yes articulate for such a youngun. Edited October 1Oct 1 by TwiceHorn
October 2Oct 2 Georgia with 10 blocks to Texas 5. And Texas still sweeps. BTW, I really like Miller as the serving sub over Kujundzic. I hope that continues. She served for 2 points before the service error. It's a high risk high reward top spin serve, so you're going to get some errors.
October 2Oct 2 UGA was never really in the match and appeared to know it, though the ratchet-jawed "analyst" tried to convince everyone otherwise. Edited October 2Oct 2 by Gut Wagon
October 2Oct 2 Author 1 minute ago, Gut Wagon said: UGA was never really in the match and appeared to know it, though the ratchet-jawed "analyst" tried to convince everyone otherwise. He really seriously claimed the moral victory
October 2Oct 2 Author 27 minutes ago, Mr. Drummond said: 25-20 South Carolina over Aggie 1-1 Just flipped over. Who is doing color commentary? It sounds like Logan Eggleston Edited October 2Oct 2 by Js1
October 2Oct 2 They're obvious homers. It's going to be amateur hour for most of these SECN+ broadcasts. I feel like they pulled the play by play guy out of the communications school and the color commentator was some former player looking to make a little cash. Might as well have been saying boom goes the dynamite the entire broadcast.
October 2Oct 2 Author 1 minute ago, SL Xpress said: They're obvious homers. It's going to be amateur hour for most of these SECN+ broadcasts. I feel like they pulled the play by play guy out of the communications school and the color commentator was some former player looking to make a little cash. Might as well have been saying boom goes the dynamite the entire broadcast. You don’t miss Nell Fortner screaming BOOM SHAKALAKA on LHN?
October 2Oct 2 2 minutes ago, Js1 said: You don’t miss Nell Fortner screaming BOOM SHAKALAKA on LHN? I do a little bit. I really liked the LHN volleyball coverage. I especially enjoyed all the non Longhorn fans complaining about it when there was a match being played they wanted to see.
October 2Oct 2 4 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said: If Texas is so beatable, why hasn’t anyone beaten them yet? I honestly doubt if either one of them have watched a single Longhorn volleyball match this season. They knew nothing about this Texas team that wasn't spoon fed to them pre game.
October 2Oct 2 Author 12 minutes ago, SL Xpress said: Georgia with 10 blocks to Texas 5. And Texas still sweeps. I think our youth works both ways. We are running 3 freshmen and a SO on the front row most of the time, so a) they aren’t experienced blockers yet and b) they have a propensity to just hit into the block OOS Thought AVW was more crafty tonight with the power tips. Georgia had zero tip defense all night But we do seem to get pretty good block touches for our back row to get the ball up that leads to a kill Edited October 2Oct 2 by Js1
October 2Oct 2 Just now, Js1 said: I think our youth works both ways. We are running 3 freshmen and a SO on the front row most of the time, so a) they aren’t experienced blocked and b) they have a propensity to just hit into the block Thought AVW was more crafty tonight with the power tips. Georgia had zero tip defense all night But we do seem to get pretty good block touches for our back row to get the ball up that leads to a kill Yeah, I'm not worried in the slightest. I do look forward to a return to the program having a dominating block, but it's not an end all be all. Our middles are being effective. That doesn't have to result in a direct point. If they're altering shots enough to set up a terminal transition game, that's still winning volleyball, if not quite as spectacular. Georgia's tip defense was woeful. They're just not that great of a team overall. They're not terrible, but they're going to struggle to make the tournament. Outside of A&M and Kentucky I'm not sure how good the conference is, to be honest. I know we'll get some other teams in the tournament, but those are the only candidates to host the first two rounds, IMO. Florida falling off a cliff is a bit of a bummer from that perspective, although I can't say I'm all that invested in it. I was looking forward to having them as a fellow volleyball powerhouse, but they have work to do.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.