Austin is something. Never ceases to amaze me how any night of the week, you can go into any one of a bunch of clubs and hear great music: Bob Schneider, James McMurtry, Sahara Smith, Carolyn Wonderland, Patrice Pike, Cornell Hurd Band, Asleep at the Wheel, and so on. It’s the same thing with athletics here. Over the years, how about Kevin Durant, Earl Campbell, Roger Clemens, Cat Osterman, Destinee Hooker, Ashley Engle? Great feats are going on right now, too. Last night in Gregory, I saw Rachael Adams rise up, get ahold of an Allison set, and crush one into the 4-spot on the other side. The ball was so close to the net and so close to the line, so totally undiggible, that it was just ridiculous. She’s flat-out the best middle in the country. Hannah had a gem last night, too. Late in the first, she took off after a ball that was passed to the bottom of the net. Any other setter, if they could have even got to the ball, would have bump set it up high somewhere so someone, anyone, could send over a free ball. Not Hannah. She somehow got under it, turned sideways, and somehow side-set or back-set a quick to the middle. You’re kidding me. She continues to make such surprising plays. Today I saw Khat Bell launch out of the back row and fire one past a triple block off a Yogi bump set, at a ridiculous angle. I think, I can’t believe I just walk in here and see all this. Just really beautiful, athletic plays. I keep tellin’ ya, I love this team. Some more stuff I liked: * Game 1 against SMU today. The team stumbled to a 10-15 deficit, got pissed, got focused, and ran off ten straight for the win. Heck, Ray-A, Khat were all getting kills, and Sarah banged one too. Khat served 9 of those, including an ace. * Sydney and Sarah were really passing well, and when we’re in system, it’s usually lights out. * Kocher and Allison were both playing great D. Nice ups and covers by them both. Our coaches are putting our players to the test. In the third set against SMU, Erik had a pretty intense one-on-one conversation with Madelyn. Of course I couldn’t hear, but it didn’t look like a conversation about technique to me. It looked like it was about focus, or confidence, or getting your mind right. She went back in, missed a spike and then missed a block. They sent in Rachael and Maddie grabbed pine. So how about tonight’s match? Madelyn had 7 kills on 17 swings, 2 aces, 2 digs, a block and an assist. That’s heart. I know, I know, we need more consistency. But our team has so many tools. You know how football coaches say, you can’t teach speed? Well, you can’t teach how Bailey touches 11 feet, you can’t teach Hannah’s quickness or Maddie’s height, you can’t teach what Rachael, Haley E. and Khat do with angles. And then there’s their heart. Like Bob Dylan said: Shake the dust off of your feet, don’t look back Nothing now can hold you down, nothing that you lack
#1 Cal took care of Stanford handily last week (which shocked me). It's funny that they've come to Texas to grab 3 starters. Pretty wide open post season. Florida has to feel pretty good with its experience.
