Miami Thread

BeckysTXA · #1 09-04-2018, 05:40 PM

Miami has a nice win over Cincy and a 2-3 loss to UCSB plus 4 other easy win including SLU. Not a good blocking team only averaging 1.88 per set. Our hitters should have plenty of kill opportunities against one blocker. They average 15 digs per set whereas UD averages 13, but if you aren’t stopping attacks with blocks you create more dig opportunities. So our hitters will need to attack aggressively to find the floor.

We should be able to handle this team. They are solid but we have more talent. I like our chances and I like this schedule because Charleston and Miami are the perfect challenges to help us prepare for ranked WA and Pitt. We need to come hungry, focused and determined to control this match.

ud69 · #2 09-04-2018, 05:46 PM

This is a match we need to win.

Figgie123 · #3 09-04-2018, 10:17 PM

UD wins 3-1.

Appeared that the first set was a bit of a trial in certain areas. Moore was MB1, and Kendyll started as RS. Pla was then MB2. House was in the back row again, and was pulled late in the 1st set for Jordan. Also put in Molly and Mikaylah late in the set to try and get something going. Didn't help.

Back to normal for the last 3 sets, with the 4th set going back and forth, and therefore, we ran out of substitutions, but Coach Horsmon put in the utility player Weaver as one of his last 3 subs. Weaver and Wolf buried Bruns for serve receive, and they were able to get the last few points to win it.

ud69 · #4 09-04-2018, 10:38 PM

The last three straight points of the match came off three outstanding bloop serves by Wolf that just barely cleared the net. Those are difficult serves and she is really good at it. It sealed the deal tonight.

This coming weekend will be another major challenge weekend. Currently, the other 3 teams have a combined record of 15-1 - Pitt(6-0), Washington (3-1), and Kennesaw(6-0).

BeckysTXA · #5 09-05-2018, 07:45 AM

Saw some good and some struggles last night. Pla, Brooke, Jordan and Allie showed some steps forward when we needed it. Kendyll’s blocking looked better again versus in KY when she struggled some. However, overall our block wasn’t great last night and is still a work in progress. We will need it at Pitt this weekend.

Offensively I also thought we were too predictable. Some of that has to do with no consistant backrow attack option on the court. So when we are way out of system we only have the left OH to dump the ball off to and the block is waiting for it. I’m hoping we might expand the offense at Pitt to give us that option to keep the blockers guessing. I think we will by the end of the year, so it’s a matter of when the right player is ready. That’s what we did when Peterson was a freshman. She started the season only going 3 rotations but played 6 by the end. And if she struggled in the back TH subbed a DS in. The good news is both Allie and Lauren are getting good at hitting high hands to score when the block is set on them.

Chris R · #6 09-05-2018, 11:22 PM

Big picture: we won an important match at home vs a team that has a darn good shot to contend for the MAC title. Miami is not chopped liver and should win 18-20 matches this year. Maybe more, who knows. With so many tough matches in the non-con, this was actually one of the softer ones so it was even more important to take care of business and we ultimately did that by hook or by crook.

The smaller picture: we're still not making things easy on ourselves. Getting down early again and having to crawl out of a deficit. I dont know what the stats are when losing the first set of a volleyball match, but Im guessing the chances of winning after that are less than 50%. So while we did climb back and get the job done, we're still struggling with consistency on a set by set and point by point basis.

The biggest fix I think needs "fixing" right now is our propensity to give away too many free points through little to no exertion by the opposition. Case in point in the Miami match in a span of about 5-6 points in one early sequence, we missed a complete sitter at the net on a great set that had "drill this through the playing surface" all over it and instead mis-hit it completely into the net. Then we set the middle on a quickie and completely air-mailed it over the end line. Around this time we also had two players go for the same touch on touch #2 behind the 10ft line and muffed it out of bounds because of lack of communication. There were others, but these three stood out to me as shooting ourselves in the foot for no reason.

In the sequences I mentioned, most were not involving frosh either. If we can eliminate all the careless freebie points we hand over to the opposition, we dont have to do anything else different and we're instantly better -- perhaps a lot better. Im not saying that alone will put us in a good spot to beat the likes of Washington and Pitt, but it will make those kinds of foes have to earn their pay far easier and then force those same teams to not make careless mistakes of their own and swing the pendulum in our favor.

When I watch elite teams, the thing I see that separates them the most (other than size), is their ability to not make simple mistakes. The fundamentals are always locked in. Receiving in the back line is ready for all kinds of serves, the setter knows where they want to go with the ball before the touch, and the hitters keep the ball in the court and more or less pound nails rather than try to get cute and pick specific spots or go for deflections. Maybe its the KISS principle at work. Whatever it is, if we can control the things we can control more consistently in future matches, I like our upside a lot.

You dont have to win every point, but just make sure you dont do the things that help you lose unnecessary points. Make the other side earn it the hard way and if they make a great receive, set, and kill -- tip your cap and play the next point.

One last thing: we may be able to get away with dinks in the A10 and maybe Miami, but I rarely see dinks work against Top-20 teams. They are too long and quick and athletic to get caught out of position and unable to recover. I felt like Pitt exposed us to this big-time in the NCAA tournament. Against your toughest foes, you need to be swinging the lumber.

udisit19 · #7 09-06-2018, 11:15 AM

The dinks may not find the court against the best teams, but if your option is hit into the block or tap it over the block to prevent an error, I like the dink option.

Just like you were saying, its important to limit the errors, I like the dink option because it keeps the ball in play and forces the opposing team to keep the ball of the floor. If you can dink it over and force your opponent into a bad pass or force them into a free ball over, then that's a win. And maybe a dink leads to the defense being out of position the next time. Maybe it leads to the setter needing to handle the first touch. Maybe the defense moves up and opens up the back line. Avoid errors,
and force the other team to make a play.

Figgie123 · #8 09-06-2018, 12:14 PM

Originally Posted by Chris R

The smaller picture: we're still not making things easy on ourselves. Getting down early again and having to crawl out of a deficit. I dont know what the stats are when losing the first set of a volleyball match, but Im guessing the chances of winning after that are less than 50%. So while we did climb back and get the job done, we're still struggling with consistency on a set by set and point by point basis.

Since the 2014 season, UD has had 40 games where they lost the first set. UD won 21 of them. Of the 21, 10 of those are A10 games, and 1 was an NCAA game against Villanova. (21, 24, 23, 23)

Figgie123 · #9 09-06-2018, 12:34 PM

I'll continue...

Of the 726 games this year that I have set scores for, 365 were sweeps. Roughly half. Of the remaining half, the winner of the first set won the game 222 times, while the winner of the first set lost 139 times.

So, overall, 587 out of 726 games had the winner of the first set win the entire game, or 80.85%.