THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Last week UD finished 1-2 at a loaded tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Flyers started against Nebraska, then Illinois and then Western Michigan. Illinois would be the third straight top 10 team UD had faced.

Against Nebraska

Against Nebraska the Flyers fell behind early in set number one but outscored Nebraska 10-2 to tie the set at 23. The Flyers went on to win that first set 26-24. But the Flyers lost the next three sets in a row and lost the match 3-1. In the final three sets UD was held to a hitting percentage of .105 which is not good enough to beat an elite team.

Against Illinois

The Flyers were eliminated in the tournament by Illinois last season. Illinois went into Texas earlier this season and beat Texas three straight in their building. Even though Illinois was without their star outside hitter DeBruler they still have a loaded lineup and deserved their #2/#3 ranking.
UD played very well in set one outhitting Illinois .366 to .333 but lost in set one 26-24. UD was held to .098 and .111 hitting percentages in sets 2 and 3 losing both sets.

Against Western Michigan

The Flyers needed to win convincingly against Western Michigan to keep their #20 ranking and they did not disappoint. The Flyers controlled the match from start to finish and won in three straight sets 25-16, 25-21 and 25-16. The flyers had 11.5 blocks and held Western Michigan to a hitting percentage of .040, a great job against a good team.

Overall Thoughts on the past two weeks

As Kelly pointed out on his post game interview the Flyers improved in the past two weeks. Fans in attendance said that the communication between the setter and hitters improved tremendously from the Minnesota tournament to the Nebraska tournament. Jessica was named to the all tournament team in the nebraska tournament, a major compliment to her and the hitters with that level of competition.

I spoke with Jessica this week and she said that she is just beginning to learn the nuances of each hitter in the lineup. Even though Jessica is a tremendous setter who has been on three different NCAA teams she has never played with the UD hitters. There are things that you cannot simulate in practice that occur during a match and she is learning the preferences of each hitter.

Things are rounding into shape as UD plays in a tournament at Notre Dame this weekend featuring Santa Clara, Delaware and Notre Dame. None of these teams happen to be ranked in the top 50.

Thoughts from the players

I spoke with Tiffany and Jessica this week to get their thoughts on the past two weeks.

“It was what we expected” said Tiffany Gaerke when asked what it was like playing three straight top 10 teams. Tiffany said “we are focusing on consistency” and trying to eliminate lulls.

The team realizes that when you are playing elite competition that there cannot be any letdowns. Whether you win a point or lose a point you must be prepared to execute at 100% on the next point.

When I mentioned to Jessica that the team was winning a phenomenal percentage of points when she set the first ball she said that she was learning the hitters now and what type of set they want in certain situations. It was then that I realized the disadvantage that Jessica has been under for the first few weeks.

If you are with a team the previous year you learn a lot about each hitter by watching. But, since Jessica showed up when practice was starting she knew nothing about each hitter. So the improvements seen each week between Jessica and the hitters would be expected. Most of the kinks should be worked out when the Flyers start the A10 season against St Louis.

That is it for this week. I plan on having quite a bit more info on what the Flyers are focusing on in my next article. It would have been great to win one of the matches against a top 10 team. But the key is being ready to win that match during the NCAA tournament and that is what the team is working towards. The ability is their but they will need to execute well in all phases of the game.

I’ll see you at the Frericks Center in two weeks.