Florida State Thread

[UDBrian]

Wow, are we off to a bad start in this one. It was 8-0, now is 12-4. Have to get up before 2am for work and decided to wait until tomorrow for my first match of the season. Hope to see some of you there.

[Avid Flyer]

Not sure the team will be there Brian. You may have to play Michigan.

Talk about ugly, tomorrow will we even score over ten.

This team has lost its composure and confidence. Maybe a tough schedule with such a young team wasn't such a great idea.

[Chris R]

A schedule like this always has more upside. This is who we compare our program to. Playing softer competition is not going to get us where we need to go. A false sense of security with padded wins over softer competition isnt what this program is about.

We just need to win a few of these. We're young. As a coach once said, you need to stop losing before you can start winning. Basically that means clean up your own mistakes and dont beat yourself. We do those things and we'll see our chances take a turn for the better. Right now our youth and inexperience shows on a lot of points. Also, we give away too many freebie points. Against Fordham, no problem. Against FSU, a problem.

I can only hope we play this kind of schedule every season.

[UDBrian]

The team will show up tomorrow. These close losses are haunting for all of the players. Yvonne, Kray and Megan are used to being on the opposite side of these tough matches. I expect that these young players will learn to play just a little bit better when the heat is on. We lost a lot of experienced clutch players from last year, some of these bumps in the road were kind of expected. We will get better and they have shown the ability to play with vey good teams.

I agree with Chris concerning the schedule. I hope that the Flyer Classic can always be this good.

[Avid Flyer]

While I agree we should play tough competition especially in the UD classic I also believe we have to have the team ready to play.

1. It is not the coaches job to get the team fired up and ready to play. That belongs on the players themselves and the senior(s) or leaders to get them emotionally ready. Coaches main focus is on game preparation etc.

2. The team needs to come out in set one ready to face the competition which this team seems to be lacking. Sheff made note of that in his post game interview.

3. Team needs to hold the lead and finish strong. We gave more than one game away this year by not finishing strong. Sheff made note of that in his post game interview.

4. Set 5 when the match is on the line we again are not coming out strong and have to play catchup.

In Sheff's post game comments he made note that we are finding out a lot about ourselves; who wants to be in the game when the game in on the line and who want to be our go to guys.

You could tell he was very disappointed in our showing in UD's own tournament and probably embarrassed.

It was noted that in set 4 yesterday it seemed that we were just trying to get the ball over the net, not attacking. To me it looked liked UD waved the white flag and conceded defeat. Harsh, probably but the fight was not there.

Will be interesting to see who play's tonight especially during crunch time. You can have all the talent in the world but talent alone will not win at crunch time. Sheff will be looking for those players who want to be in the game at those critical times.

Like Sheff said; we will have to regroup and go after the Wolverines. If not it will be one of the ugliest matches of the year.

Facing the ladies is a 5 game losing streak and a 3 game losing streak at home, a feat not done since early 2000.

[jmitch]

Originally Posted by UDBrian Wow, are we off to a bad start in this one. It was 8-0, now is 12-4. Have to get up before 2am for work and decided to wait until tomorrow for my first match of the season. Hope to see some of you there.

Sorry you didn't make it last night. We could have used all of the help that we could get. Poor passing, lack of energy, and a bizarre 10 minute delay made it an evening to forget. See you tonite.

[UDBrian]

The one player that I think we have missed in these losses is Amanda (definitely one of my favorite players in any sport at UD). After we beat St Louis their coach said that the difference was Amanda "She willed them to victory". We now have players who have never been in that role before. But, we have good leadership and talent. We will learn to win these matches. If we were short on talent I would be much more concerned but the talent is there and the setting is there.

[Figgie123]

Argh. What an evening. The first 3 sets all went to 22 or 23 points. The last one? 13. Ouch.

My points of pain...

• Even though I think Sam has more power than Yanz did at the net, I want her to set. That's her job. Otherwise, I'm going to start calling her Samantha Staten.
• Setting in general. We have too many sets that are 5-6 feet off the net. That doesn't do us any good.
• What's up with Isolde? She's in for half as many rotations as Kray and Yvonne, but yet, gets like 2% of the attempts as those girls do. If I was an opponent, I'd almost ignore blocking her, because she won't get the ball.
• Florida State seemed to do a good job on their left side getting through our double blocks. It was often, and we couldn't catch it.
• Kray's left side cross court kills need to be adjusted. I'd say she was successful in a small percentage of those. Both Pepperdine and Florida State seemed to have someone sitting there just waiting for the return.
• Brian mentions us having Amanda out there. Our back row need to shore up on things. I think the team is all moving around not knowing what to prepare for. Last year, Amanda and Paige would split the back line for receives (usually forcing Kray into a back corner) and take care of things. Now, we have players bumping into each other trying to get to balls.
• Regarding the delay. I talked to the normal audio guy (Shane? sorry, man!) after the match and he said what happened was that #4 served for Florida State. They got a point, and then #3 went back to serve and got a point. Sheff noticed the switch, called a timeout, and then when #4 went out to serve, he informed the referees, and they had to go back and forth, and confirmed with Shane with his play-by-play that they did in fact switch. So, they lost a point, we gained a point for invalid server. As to why it took so long and why the lady referred was so non-chalant on dealing with it all is an entirely different story. I'll let jmitch handle that one!

Anyway, I'm done now. Beat Michigan!

(I'm working on my (non 5th set) set breakdowns, but currently getting to 21 points first is the 100% win point for us, and a 5 point lead is a 100% win. This is through the Pepperdine game. The Florida State game isn't uploaded to ncaa.org yet.)

And, we're down to the low 30s in RPI.

Figgie

[Avid Flyer]

Agree the talent is there. Now that the target is off their backs the can concentrate on getting back to UD vball. In the end its the A10 that really counts.

[UDBrian]

Originally Posted by Figgie123 Argh. What an evening. The first 3 sets all went to 22 or 23 points. The last one? 13. Ouch. My points of pain... Even though I think Sam has more power than Yanz did at the net, I want her to set. That's her job. Otherwise, I'm going to start calling her Samantha Staten. Setting in general. We have too many sets that are 5-6 feet off the net. That doesn't do us any good. What's up with Isolde? She's in for half as many rotations as Kray and Yvonne, but yet, gets like 2% of the attempts as those girls do. If I was an opponent, I'd almost ignore blocking her, because she won't get the ball. Florida State seemed to do a good job on their left side getting through our double blocks. It was often, and we couldn't catch it. Kray's left side cross court kills need to be adjusted. I'd say she was successful in a small percentage of those. Both Pepperdine and Florida State seemed to have someone sitting there just waiting for the return. Brian mentions us having Amanda out there. Our back row need to shore up on things. I think the team is all moving around not knowing what to prepare for. Last year, Amanda and Paige would split the back line for receives (usually forcing Kray into a back corner) and take care of things. Now, we have players bumping into each other trying to get to balls. Regarding the delay. I talked to the normal audio guy (Shane? sorry, man!) after the match and he said what happened was that #4 served for Florida State. They got a point, and then #3 went back to serve and got a point. Sheff noticed the switch, called a timeout, and then when #4 went out to serve, he informed the referees, and they had to go back and forth, and confirmed with Shane with his play-by-play that they did in fact switch. So, they lost a point, we gained a point for invalid server. As to why it took so long and why the lady referred was so non-chalant on dealing with it all is an entirely different story. I'll let jmitch handle that one! Anyway, I'm done now. Beat Michigan! (I'm working on my (non 5th set) set breakdowns, but currently getting to 21 points first is the 100% win point for us, and a 5 point lead is a 100% win. This is through the Pepperdine game. The Florida State game isn't uploaded to ncaa.org yet.) And, we're down to the low 30s in RPI. Figgie

I am ok with Sam attacking. Sheff said that she forces other teams to change their blocking schemes. This creates more one on one opportunities for the hitters. She will get better at deciding when to hit and when to set.

When the sets are 6' from the net it could be a function of the passing too. If the pass is way off the net then you have a tough hitting angle. If the set is too close the hitter is trapped and the blocker has the advantage. I am just throwing out possibilities since I wasn't at the match.

[NovaFlyer]

Expecting what we have seen for the past couple of years is not realistic at this time. We are good, the teams we are playing are good and perhaps more experienced playing together. We were stunned last night, but then again looking at all the new faces...we will get better and better...

[Avid Flyer]

Agreed except we are developing a pattern over last couple weekends.

Reading Sheff's comments I see a concern not about talent but rather who wants to be in the fire during a firestorm. Like he said we are learning about one another.

[BeckysTXA]

Figgie -- the last 6 years or so, UD has run a Middle-dominate offense because the talent and experience was at MB. Even then, you left-side hitters get most of the swings. Now we run an Outside Hitter-dominated offense because our experience at the hitting positions is Kray-Von-Hammer-Brown-Z -- in that order. Kray and Von are going to get way more swings than anyone because of their positions (Leftside 1 and Leftside2) and because they are the experienced hitters. Z is playing MB2 -- which means 2 of her 3 rotations on the court there are 2 other hitters in the front row and there are also 1-2 hitters in the back row. The number of her swings is being affected by the position she plays and our offense.

[Figgie123]

Originally Posted by BeckysTXA Figgie -- the last 6 years or so, UD has run a Middle-dominate offense because the talent and experience was at MB. Even then, you left-side hitters get most of the swings. Now we run an Outside Hitter-dominated offense because our experience at the hitting positions is Kray-Von-Hammer-Brown-Z -- in that order. Kray and Von are going to get way more swings than anyone because of their positions (Leftside 1 and Leftside2) and because they are the experienced hitters. Z is playing MB2 -- which means 2 of her 3 rotations on the court there are 2 other hitters in the front row and there are also 1-2 hitters in the back row. The number of her swings is being affected by the position she plays and our offense.

That sounds all good and fair, but doesn't that mean we are now easy to game-plan against to some degree? I may be a Dayton Flyer fan, but anyone from our opponents (who must know the game and process WAY better than me) looks at the box score, or watches game tape, and looks and sees that Isolde doesn't get set, they won't even bother pushing someone over for a triple-middle-block, and instead be able to have either the left or right pull back to help with kill-receive. No?

[UDBrian]

What you say is true Figgie. It is easier to game plan when everyone knows where the ball is probably going. I doubt Isolde is ready to be featured in the offense but I really don't know that. Good balance on where the sets are going makes it more difficult on the blockers.

[BeckysTXA]

It's like this on every team -- not just UD. And it does impact how a team game-plans to take away hitting options or to "play the odds" defensively. But it's a little more complex than simply set Z. For example, to set the MBs you have to have a really good pass. The easiest set is the high ball to the left OH. Setters can deliver that ball from just about anywhere on the court -- even if they take a bad pass. Setting the MB is a lot harder.

At the MB2 position, there is usually a right OH in the front row (2 of Z's 3 rotations), so if the defense is leaving the rightside open, the set would probably go to the right OH, not the MB on a slide. Versus Megan (Hammer) playing MB1 where on 2 of her 3 rotations there is no rightside OH on the court. On those rotations the setter is in the front right. So the setter has only 2 front row hitters and the MB1 would get the right side set on a slide.

You need to also look at the passes when Z is on the court because if the pass is off, it takes the MB hitting option out of the equation. The pass usually has to be inside the 10' and to the right of center for the setter to deliver a ball to the MB. From what I've seen, Sam is a really good setter. So when she has a good pass and has options, you then watch to see how she reads the defense and delivers a set to beat the block. Blocks usually occur when everyone knows where the ball is going because the pass is off and it limits the setter's options. Basically the hitter doesn't have a prayer. There are times when the blockers "guess right" or the hitter makes a mistake or the setter makes a mistake and the block is in place. But usually it's when everyone knows where the ball is going because the pass was bad.

All of this impacts Z's number of swings. Everyone on the court is working to get a set to our open hitter every play. It's why the first pass is so important. If it is bad, it eliminates options -- helping the defense and making it a lot tougher for use to score. So if the question is, "Why aren't we setting Z more?" The answer may have nothing to do with Z or Sam and their abilities or our desire to set her. Study the first pass when Z is on the court. I think you'll find your answer there.

[UDBrian]

Great explanation! It all starts with the first pass. Great passers don't usually receive the credit they are due, partly because when it is done perfectly it looks sooo easy. It is impossible to be a great team without great passing because it puts you at a disadvantage too often.

I ran across a great link with a ton of different volleyball drills. I have listed two of the drills below. There are others like playing six against two to develop defensive skills like reading where the hitter is going to hit the ball.

http://volleyball.lifetips.com/cat/5...lls/index.html

I am not a coach but based upon my experiences I believe that everyone should play doubles when they are in high school. You develop passing and defensive skills quickly playing doubles because of the number of touches you receive.




1-on-1 Serving-Passing Game

Here's a game that directly pits servers against passers and although it's a 1-1 game, it can involve as many as 6 players at the same time.
Have one player stand at endline with a ball (the server) and one player directly opposite on the other side of the net (the passer). A third player stands at center front, by the net (as a target for the passer).
The server must serve the ball within one step of the passer. If the serve is good, the passer must pass the ball within one step of the target. A point is given the server for a good serve. A point is awarded the passer for a perfect pass. The first player to 3 moves to the target position. (The loser stays where they are.) The target then changes position with the person who won.
It's a fun and competitive drill, improving serving and passing accuracy.




Kill The Setter Passing Drill

One setter, shared by both teams, going back and forth as ball crosses the net.
Toss one team a free ball, setter runs a play, but instead of hitting away, the 3rd player tips the ball deep, allowing a free ball for the other team.
The setter then ducks under the net and runs a play going the other way.
Keep the drill going until the ball goes out of play. This emphasizes the importance of good passes, especially in free ball situations.