I was just wondering if anyone in the Houston area had a chance to see the volleyball team on Saturday in Richmond, Texas. I was going to go but it did not work out. Any reports?
I was there all day. They won all 4 matches. Didn't think anyone there really challenged them that much. JF was there and hitting great, as always. Both setters did a good job too. AB, back from her last season injury, was a beast. RA, was incredible as middle, and the two newer middles just got better and better as the day wore on. SP as libero was really great. Overall, they all did a great job. Even nice to see BW warming up. Enjoyed the day tremendously and am looking forward to the April tournaments. Can't wait to see KB and the full, and hopefully, healthy line up this fall!!
Horns1VB, thanks for the report. By the two newer middles, do you mean Haley Cameron and Madelyn Hutson? Was also wondering if the other injured players like Sydney Yogi were back? And were Amber and Sha'Dare playing? Sorry for all the questions, it's a long off-season with no news for us fans. ..
Yes Haley & Madelyn both played. Madelyn played middle mostly and Haley played mostly Opposite. Sydney was back and played libero for one set and subbed in as defensive specialist one set. Amber was dressed out but did not play or warmup. Sha'Dare played. It was indeed nice to see Ashley Bannister healthy and playing all the way around.
Good to hear that Bannister was playing all the way around! Was she a primary receiver on serve/receive? How was her attacking? Was she hitting any from the backrow? I'm assuming that Sha'dare and Sarah were the primary receivers. We will need another person to step up. I'm assuming it will go to either Bannister, Bell, or Eckerman. I heard that Amber just had surgery in Feb. and Bailey's reps are being limited on the court so neither may be at 100% when the season starts. Who looked better in the middle? Haley or Madelyn? At least Haley is getting quality reps at Opp in case Bailey's recovery takes longer than expected. My very early 6-2 starting line-up looks like this: Setters - Kocher/Allison Libero - Palmer MB - Adams, Cameron LS - Bannister, Bell RS - McNeal, Webster Anything less than a Final Four appearance will be disappointing!
This is the lineup played last weekend: Setters - Allison/Kocher (subbing for MBs) Libero - Palmer MB - Adams/Hutson LS - Bannister, Faucette RS - McNeal, Cameron Palmer did not play six rotations she subbed in for Cameron in the back row and then when McNeal was in the backrow she subbed in a couple rotations for Faucette. When Faucette and Cameron were both in the front row she subbed out. It was different than having your libero sub in for the same position. Bannister was handling serve/receive in a couple rotations, not all. They were using 3 man serve/receive and I think they only used the two man serve/receive a few times. I really don't remember Bannister having a service reception error all day. She attacked like she did against Florida . She did attack a couple times out of the backrow. The timing wasn't there on the backrow attacks, but she did get one off that was Demetria Sance-like. Hutson played more true middle than Cameron. Although with McNeal, Adams, Huston and Cameron you have 4 middle blockers so depending on who attacked or the rotation, all four were playing middle/rs. Hutson imposes a very physical block but she has to get up to speed literally, she was late a lot in setting up the block. It was interesting against Tulsa they had an OH that was going off on us in the first set. He switched Cameron to MB and Hutson to RS. I think he also rotated the lineup because then Rachael and the RS were able to get several blocks on the OH and basically shut her down. I thought Cameron looked good at RS, there was a point in the Wichita State match when she strung together a block and an attack. I like to see a player takeover the match. It will be very interesting to see how Bell & Eckerman fit into this lineup as well as a healthy Roberson & Webster. In warmups Saturday, Webster was only attacking from the middle. I was surprised by that, she took no swings from the right or left. It seems we've found a passer to replace Juliann. Assuming Roberson gets healthy our OH positions should be fine. It will be interesting to see what happens in the MB2 and RS2 spots. I think Cameron is making a strong push to be the second RS. The only thing that might unseat her is if someone is able to play RS and pass.
I know the team won every match at Texas State this weekend but can anyone report on how each player performed? How was ball control on serve-receive? Any middles with a wicked slide attack (besides Sha'dare)? Blocking? Floor defense? Any significant defensive improvements made since Erik has been coaching? And who played OH since Faucette didn't play this time around? Obviously, Bannister but Roberson and Webster are still recovering from injury...
I only saw the first match against Texas State. Palmer replaced Juliann on the outside and Yogi played libero. Although in this lineup libero is really only a defensive specialist because I think Yogi only went in for Cameron (playing RS) in the back row. Rachael was a beast! I thought our defense was suspect and our serve-receive was not great. I'm not sure if it's a credit to Texas State's serving or if it was our poor serve-receive. A lot of short serves caught us flat footed and fell into the court. Texas State kept it close in both sets. I understand in the other two matches they moved Madelyn Hutson to RS.
I know it's only spring games but I don't like hearing that our defense and serve-receive were suspect against teams like Texas State. Sha'dare and Sarah were the primary passers last season so they should be passing more consistently. Granted Sarah was playing OH and Yogi was the designated Libero, but with the way the line-up is being played, the Libero isn't playing all six rotations in the backrow. I'm really hoping Bannister, Bell, or Eckerman will be working on their passing over the summer. I don't know if I can stomach seeing another match where we get served off the court like the we did against PSU in the semifinals.... still hurts thinking about it.
I really dont think in the spring you can work on how your passing will go next season. Its too many players missing from the team, that will be passing.
Lone Star Classic College Showcase For those of you in the Dallas area, the volleyball team has a couple spring matches on Saturday.
DD and I watched most of the games in Dallas. Play was not really intense, but the Horns won all their matches. It was interesting to see a basketball player mixed into the lineup. RA was super as always. Nice day to see them and peek over at LSQ to see some friends and their DD's play in the same convention center. Chloe C and her team won 1st in 17 open. Her sets were like butter! DD was up there not to play but to try out for HP. But we visited some family, saw friends and most of all: got to see the Lady Longhorns! We can't wait until the fall season!
