Because of the men's baseball game tonight, they didn't show the game on LHN. I was there and luckily they played 4 full sets (up to 25). Texas won: 25-16, 25-16, 25-18, 25-ummmm, low number (it started blurring). Let's start with the newbies: Brionne Butler was with the starting 6 as MB. She is very tall, but more important she has long arms. She is pretty raw. The good news that her arms are up and she's ready for the block (something Orie Agbaji had problems with as a freshman). The bad news is that she's still learning what to do with her arms as the ball hits them. I saw several plays, besides the coaches, during timeouts or breaks between sets give her coaching. They would be talking to her and have their arms out and showing some mechanics she needed to be aware of. At one point Chiaka had Brionne's arms flexed out and was taking Brionne's wrists and flexing them to show how she should handle her hands. About a 1/3 of the time, she got the block correctly. The other 2/3 the ball would hit her arms and get tangled in her hands, or fall down and get tangled around her elbow - point lost. Well, she graduated early and she's a freshman. So hey, things can only look up. One last thing, she doesn't have a hammer for an arm. Those on the team I consider having an hammer are Ebony, Yazzie, and maybe Micaya. Another early graduate is Olivia Zelon from Cali. I thought she was one of those typical last minute add-ons that Jerrit sometimes takes a flier on. She wasn't even ranked in the recruiting services and comes in listed as a libero. Well, I thought she was pretty amazing. She's definitely a born libero. She impressive thing about her was that she was in the right position to take a tough attack and sometimes it would hit her so hard that you could her the SPLAT and the crowd would go "Ooooooooh". And even better, she returned it correctly forward towards the net and with control. I could see her taking Cat's place next year. She's not as "beefy" as Cat McCoy, but she's as short and really impressed me. Somehow in my mind I think she must have played beach volleyball because she seemed to know where to be when she needed. i.e. she had to think ahead. All players played except Blair Westerlund, Chiaka Ogbogu, and Natalie Gilbert. Westerlund was there in street clothes still recovering from her surgery so that's understandable. Gilbert was dressed, but didn't play. Chiaka was dressed, warmed up in practice, but was never put in (even Mirta played the whole 4th set). I started wondering about that and my totally unverified guess is that Spring of 2017 is still considered part of her 2016-2017 redshirt year? She can practice with the team, but she can't play any official games. But....is UNT in Spring an official game? Don't know. Let's see what else. Riley Fisbeck played the entire game at setter. I was surprised and then thought, "Oh duh. We need a setter until the #6 recruit in the country (Ashley Shook) shows up in the summer. And Chloe is play pro somewhere." Fisbeck set surprisingly well. In fact, I started wondering as I saw her lined up at the net to block with someone, "Oh, she's taller than Chloe and yeah looks like a blocker. Oh yeah, she's setting." Anyway, in some ways she's not scrambling all over the court like Chloe. In another way, she doesn't set very awkward balls where our OH have to tap over the net at the last minute because they can't make the swing due to ball placement. Interesting. In the 4th set, Autumn Rounsaville put on the black jersey, Cat switched to white, and Autumn played libero the fourth set. Ummm, I saw about 12 or more long service faults from UNT. It's gonna be a long, long season for them unless they clean that up. Finally, unusual sighting: Ebony and Brionne served and played in the back during that rotation. Final, final oddity. During the Eyes of Texas, there was a tall white girl wearing a pink TAV club shirt on the court with her arms around two of our players. A 2018 commit? Anyone in the "know" know?
Great review of the spring match Racer. Unnecessary "beefy" comment to say the least and wish you would go back and edit that out for it being completely irrelevant but otherwise enjoyed your review. Good to hear they are working so much on Brionne. I think if she is still raw come fall it wouldnt hurt for her to redshirt and let Morgan and Chi run the middle. How did Yaz look playing OH? Really hoping she finds a way onto the court this season!
Thanks, Racer. The set scores were actually 25-13, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. Texas hit .398 while holding UNT to .128, but that was to be expected. TX had 10 aces and 8 service errors. They outblocked UNT 16-5. Oddly, UNT did not have a libero - nor is one even on the roster. That was the first time I had seen that. The "beefy" comment is relevant. A player's build can affect their speed and reflexes. Olivia is noticeably faster than Cat. She was in the right spots at the right times and had good control on her passing. Control has been the area in which the Horns have the most room for improvement. She also brings a lot of energy to the floor. She was the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me. Riley is still raw and needs work on her technique and decision making, but has time. She's very deliberate and telegraphs the quick set to the middle. She also tried going over on 2 too many times (5) and was only successful once. It looked like she had made the decision to do so before seeing where the defensive players were. She's not as fast as Chloe was and doesn't improve bad passes as well, but then again, she will only be the 2nd or 3rd setter. I don't know if Shook can play back row, but Claire or Riley could be the second setter in a modified 6-2. Jerritt likes to experiment with a 6-2 for the first part of the season and this might be the year we see it all season. With Brionne, Chiaka, Morgan, Mirta, and Orie in the middle and Micaya, Ebony, Yazzie, and Lexi at OH, I'd like to see as many of them on the court as possible. On the other hand, TX now has size at setter, so the 5-1 also makes sense on paper. Decisions like that are why Jerritt gets paid the big bucks. Yazzie looked impressive. She had 10 kills on 24 attempts, with only 3 errors. She hit .292. She also had 4 digs and 3 block assists. When she got a good set, her power was lethal. She appears to have slimmed down and looks more athletic. If she is the 4th option at OH off the bench, offense will not be an issue this year. As I see it, the setter position is the only thing still up in the air. On paper the Horns look as good as anybody in the country, however the game is not played on paper. August can't come soon enough!
Great review! I also attended the Spring game and feel that as long as we can stay away from the injuries, this team can be special and has a great shot to get back and finish the deal.
Based on her play the last two seasons I am confident Yazzie will find a way to make it impossible for Jerritt to keep her on the bench. A huge heart and the right attitude. I like that.
Interview with Jerrit. Confirmed that Chiaka couldn't play in Spring as it would affect her eligibility in the Fall. www.flovolleyball.tv/article/55884-talk-volley-to-me-episode-18-with-texas-head-coach-jerritt-elliott
