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I had the opportunity to watch the women's volleyball team in a titanic struggle against Butler today and here are a few of my thoughts of things that stood out:
Before the match I saw Sierra in a boot. I thought that most of the team looks to be in good shape. Olivia hit the ball better during warmups than I remember seeing last year.
I watched Butler warmup their two setters. One of them had great hands but seemed to be much shorter than the other one. Butler started playing a 6/2 (two setters) but I felt they were a better team with #4 the shorter setter playing
In set 1 the lineup was
22 15 10
21 4 12
UD won set 1 25 -19
During set 1 Jamie crushed a ball from the back row and a couple of jump serves.
Margo served really well and made a great diving dig
Ran a nice slide which was often missing from the UD attack last season
Overall UD played pretty well in all phases. Jamie struggled in serve receive as would be expected, she is getting used to the responsibility
22 15 10
4 21 8
Brooke started this set at setter. I watched Brooke in warmups and her hand contact with the ball is so much better than last year. You could see her improving last year as the season went on but she has taken another big step although she might not play any setter this year.
Jamie and others struggled with their passing and it seemed that the liberos and ds's had more setting opportunities than Brooke did in this set. Brooke did make some good sets and some not perfect ones in this set.
Jamie hit some big serves in this set which weren't topspin. If a player can mix back and forth between topspin and floater it can make things really tough for returners.
Brooke had a great stuff block on an overpass and she also had a really nice push/spike on a pass really tight to the net.
Jess had some great swings in this set, one in particular was a low set to the back which she crushed.
The passing struggles kept this set close
Ud wins 25 - 23
Nobody knew how many sets would be played but they started a third set
8 16 22 (8 and 22 switched on serve)
9 3 12
Jordan had one great up on defense and also showed a nice cut shot. I thought Jordan hit the ball so much harder than her limited appearances last year. She honestly did not look a really good future player to me last year but I definitely saw today why she was considered a top 100 recruit.
Jane had her second stuff block on an overpass today, very nice plays in not giving up
Toward the end of this set Maggie had a really great up and Jordan had one nearly that good shortly after.
UD won this set 25-18
Many people stood up and started to leave but it soon became obvious that they wanted to play another set.
8 2 12
4 21 10
In the 4th set Jordan played well hitting the ball with power
Brooke played extremely well, it is obvious why she was so highly regarded in high school. She has great court feel and can hit all the shots. Very impressive
Jamie crushed 5-6 serves in a row which they were almost totally overpowered by
UD won this set fairly easily but I failed to write down the score
Even the players thought they were done at this point and gathered in a circle to celebrate when someone yelled that coach wanted them to play another
8 15 10
4 21 12
Brooke played extremely well in this set and also does a great job of covering blocks at the net.
Jess had a GREAT serve that dropped like a rock and landed three feet in front of the returner. Then Margo had one almost as good
Margo served very well in this set and really the entire match
The score in this set was about 15 - 8, didn't write that one down either, lol
Overall I was impressed as always with improvement.
Jamie struggled with serve receive but she is already a back row hitter than she was last year and she is starting to really crank on the serve. You knew she wasn't hitting it at full strength last year.
Jess is hitting every ball at full strength with good timing and looks better on serve receive
Jane served the ball well and set the ball well.
Margo played great defense, serve receive and serving as you would expect.
Maggie played really well and played libero for set 3.
I think Brooke can be a star at whatever position she decides on, setter, left side or right side. Great awareness of the entire court
Olivia received quite a bit of playing time and had some kills, not sure if she had any blocks. I thought she hit the ball far better when warming up than she did last season.
Bruns was efficient and energetic as you would expect. She played left and right side and did a nice job at both positions.
I didn't write anything down regarding Lauren H but when you are playing back row that is usually a good thing
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