Did anyone attend? How did we look?

I just saw the first two sets..Rice won 25-20 and 25-21.

We looked really good. A&M not great

McCardell and Mansfield looked good defensively. Foord will be a big factor. Darby made very few errors

Looking forward to next year!!!

(04-05-2024 11:15 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  I just saw the first two sets..Rice won 25-20 and 25-21.

We looked really good. A&M not great

McCardell and Mansfield looked good defensively. Foord will be a big factor. Darby made very few errors

Looking forward to next year!!!

Thanks. And I'm looking forward to later THIS year!

Do we have any players over 6'3" or will we be obtaining some from the portal?

For those lucky enough to get an invite to tonight's volleyball match vs. Baylor, the final exhibition on the Spring schedule (unfortunately, I couldn't make it down this weekend), would appreciate any observations on how we look. Still missing 3 key pieces for our 2024 squad (the BC OH/Pin transfer, and the two AVCA first team all-americans at setter and MB), but we've looked increasingly solid in our previous 3 exhibition matches this Spring.

I plan on attending..

My observation would be, however, that TexasOwl will still be critical since I doubt any of our players are over 6' 3" unless they had significant growth spurts in the last ten days.

(04-12-2024 09:38 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  For those lucky enough to get an invite to tonight's volleyball match vs. Baylor, the final exhibition on the Spring schedule (unfortunately, I couldn't make it down this weekend), would appreciate any observations on how we look. Still missing 3 key pieces for our 2024 squad (the BC OH/Pin transfer, and the two AVCA first team all-americans at setter and MB), but we've looked increasingly solid in our previous 3 exhibition matches this Spring.

Do you think the LSU transfer will also be in the regular rotation?

(04-12-2024 11:45 AM)dragon2owl Wrote:  

(04-12-2024 09:38 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  For those lucky enough to get an invite to tonight's volleyball match vs. Baylor, the final exhibition on the Spring schedule (unfortunately, I couldn't make it down this weekend), would appreciate any observations on how we look. Still missing 3 key pieces for our 2024 squad (the BC OH/Pin transfer, and the two AVCA first team all-americans at setter and MB), but we've looked increasingly solid in our previous 3 exhibition matches this Spring.

Do you think the LSU transfer will also be in the regular rotation?

It depends. Cindy and the BC transfer will almost certainly be the starting OHs, with Cindy being the only 6-rotation player. Lola will likely replace Cindy when she's on the backline (though I can't remember if I've ever seen Lola play on the left side). Based on her limited playing time at LSU, unless she has shown marked improvement, I suspect she's at best our #4 Oh/Pin. I also seem to remember that Genny said that the AVCA all-american MB can also play OH, so we'll see. I just don't see Johnson getting much playing time aside from her occasional role as serving specialist.

Both Lola and Taylor have looked really good this spring. I've seem them play (briefly) against UH and against A&M and both looked really competitive against strong competition (although I thought A&M looked slow and somewhat overmatched).

I think Lola will play a major role this fall. I've been pulling for Taylor to make an impact and she definitely has the talent to be a major contributor, but we'll see

Let's see how they perform tonight against Baylor.

(04-12-2024 04:23 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  Both Lola and Taylor have looked really good this spring. I've seem them play (briefly) against UH and against A&M and both looked really competitive against strong competition (although I thought A&M looked slow and somewhat overmatched).

I think Lola will play a major role this fall. I've been pulling for Taylor to make an impact and she definitely has the talent to be a major contributor, but we'll see

Let's see how they perform tonight against Baylor.

I agree on Lola. Saw her in the UH match, and she was the only one putting the ball away those first two sets. I disagree on Taylor from the admittedly limited action I've seen of her. She REALLY struggled in those first two sets against UH. I had heard that Cindy really picked it up that match after Kaia took over the setting duties, but not so much with Taylor. Hope I'm proven wrong.

Can't wait to hear feedback on the match. Gabby's mother just texted me that we split 2-2 with Baylor in 4 incredibly tight matches...

25-27 Baylor
25-23 Rice
24-26 Baylor
25-20 Rice

Not sure how much of Baylor's Sweet 16 team is returning, but they certainly gave us our toughest match so far this Spring. For those not as familiar, we lost 4 of our 8 starters from last year's squad (Kostelecky, Maruska, Courtley and Weske), including over 75% of our scoring, and are still missing 3 incoming players expected to see considerable action (the BC grad transfer and the two AVCA high school first team all-americans).

Any observations from the Baylor match?

A couple of observations from my short stay (three sets) at volleyball on Friday:

1. Baylor was much better than either UH or A&M. They are bigger and quicker than either UH or A&M. While I got the sense that Genny was substituting quite frequently in the first three sets, I don't think Baylor substituted as often, mostly playing their starting rotation through the first three sets.

2. Lola will play a larger role next year...she was efficient on the right side. (I think she only had one attempt from the left side).

3. We are going to be very good on defense. Nia looked really good and Gaby looks confident and really quick. It is a real advantage having Nia back for another year.

4. Cindy T. can be a force on the left side. Taylor had quite a few moments of contributing.

5. In the first set we led most of the set until Baylor used a serving advantage to win the set. In the third set, I believe we were ahead 24-20 when Baylor's best server basically served out the set. We are better on the service side as Lola and Cindy both looked good serving, but Baylor looked to have two elite servers and they were the difference in the two sets they won.

6. I'm not really objective, but I think Darby looked really good.

6. I think if we get some contribution from the transfers and the freshman setter can play a role, we should be very happy with next season.

Like I said, these are my opinions and I'm not the most objective observer but Baylor was an elite team last year and we were the better team on Friday.

(04-16-2024 02:26 PM)Houston Owl 2 Wrote:  A couple of observations from my short stay (three sets) at volleyball on Friday:

1. Baylor was much better than either UH or A&M. They are bigger and quicker than either UH or A&M. While I got the sense that Genny was substituting quite frequently in the first three sets, I don't think Baylor substituted as often, mostly playing their starting rotation through the first three sets.

2. Lola will play a larger role next year...she was efficient on the right side. (I think she only had one attempt from the left side).

3. We are going to be very good on defense. Nia looked really good and Gaby looks confident and really quick. It is a real advantage having Nia back for another year.

4. Cindy T. can be a force on the left side. Taylor had quite a few moments of contributing.

5. In the first set we led most of the set until Baylor used a serving advantage to win the set. In the third set, I believe we were ahead 24-20 when Baylor's best server basically served out the set. We are better on the service side as Lola and Cindy both looked good serving, but Baylor looked to have two elite servers and they were the difference in the two sets they won.

6. I'm not really objective, but I think Darby looked really good.

6. I think if we get some contribution from the transfers and the freshman setter can play a role, we should be very happy with next season.

Like I said, these are my opinions and I'm not the most objective observer but Baylor was an elite team last year and we were the better team on Friday.

Thanks at ton for the insights. Again, I agree re. Lola-- she's going to be a force. It's going to be interesting to see what Genny does with the setter role. My only issue with Darby is that she struggled mightily setting to our MBs last year, and I think Knobbe can be a real offensive threat for us if we can get her the ball. I also think that Darby is such a good defensive player that with her, Nia and Gabby on the back line we would have one of the Top 10 back line defenses in the country. We're certainly not going to rotate 3 setters, though Genny could go to a two-setter rotation (Kaia, Savannah?) as she did several years back with Martinez and Graham.

Will lack of height hurt us ?