Volleyball tonight versus LSU!

[StrangeVol]

In the first match of a three-game homestand, our girls take on the crew from LSU. TBA needs to be rockin' tonight as this match will be a watershed for one of the teams which both sport identical 8-6 overall records and 2-2 records in SEC play. It's a great chance to build some momentum going into a pretty challenging part of our schedule. The team tweeted last night urging fans to fill the stands and make LOTS of NOISE at the match. It sounds like a great idea to me!

On paper, this will be about as evenly matched pair of teams as you will find going head to head. Just as we have Tessa Grubbs (4.13 kills per set) who is our dominate offensive threat they have a very good multi-talented star in Taylor Bannister who has a team-high 3.76 kills per set while being second on the team in aces and blocks. I watched an LSU match last week and believe me, Banister is VERY good. This should be a great match!

One final thing, Sedona Hansen gets a well-deserved shout out for being only the 4th player in our history to reach the 3,000 assist and 1,000 digs plateau. Think about that for a moment and it becomes crystal clear that Sedona has been and remains a critical piece of our success during her career. I wonder how many bruises and floor burns she's picked up with those 1,000 digs? Got to be a lot!

 

[RollerVol]

good stuff SV...thanks...should be good, fo' sho'...

PS. hopefully this will be the second Lady Vols win in two days...and,

GO LADY VOLS!

 

[sccshortstop]

We lead 1-0 but tried to give it away! 2nd set 19-20 them

 

[VolBalls33]

Lady Vols take Set 2 26 24!

 

[sccshortstop]

Won set two after again trying to give it away. As Strange said two pretty evenly matched teams. Where would we be without our Lily the last several matches?

 

[sccshortstop]

whipped us 25-22 third set!

 

[sccshortstop]

11-15 them and we have slacked off way too much!

 

[sccshortstop]

whipped us again 20-25. Our worse set of the match. Girls look sluggish! Bad to give them two fairly easy sets and end up and lose!!

 

[sccshortstop]

11-15 lost match!11 Ladies must be spending too much time with the football team because they seemed to me to quit doing what they did in the first two set. Grubbs must have got lost at halftime!

 

[lvocd]

Ugh. That was painful.

 

[StrangeVol]

I'm going to limit my comments because I'm still angry.

We should have never lost that match. Never. Credit to LSU for playing their hearts out but we should never have lost that match.

Apparently, somebody told our front line players that we are no longer allowed to block at the net. It's the only explanation I can come up with for us to just let LSU take target practice in sets 4 and 5.

One of the problems with freshmen is that they sometimes revert back to their high school days and play like it. I won't name the person I'm thinking of but she was a liability most of the night.

There was another Rocky Perinar sighting, actually a couple. I really don't understand our line ups and rotations at times.

Lily played her ass off but to no avail. Also, Lily is much more effective on quick sets. High sets give the other team time to double up on her and with her height, she's often easy to block.

Tessa did not seem herself tonight. No idea what was going on.

In summation, we NEVER should have LOST THAT MATCH!!! That is all.

 

[sccshortstop]

I'm going to limit my comments because I'm still angry.

We should have never lost that match. Never. Credit to LSU for playing their hearts out but we should never have lost that match.

Apparently, somebody told our front line players that we are no longer allowed to block at the net. It's the only explanation I can come up with for us to just let LSU take target practice in sets 4 and 5.

One of the problems with freshmen is that they sometimes revert back to their high school days and play like it. I won't name the person I'm thinking of but she was a liability most of the night.

There was another Rocky Perinar sighting, actually a couple. I really don't understand our line ups and rotations at times.

Lily played her ass off but to no avail. Also, Lily is much more effective on quick sets. High sets give the other team time to double up on her and with her height, she's often easy to block.

Tessa did not seem herself tonight. No idea what was going on.

In summation, we NEVER should have LOST THAT MATCH!!! That is all.

Yep I do not know what happened to Addie in the match either. Rocky looked kind of pitiful as well. Serving was weak and the sub pattern stunned me big time. I really saw no fire from most of the players and the coaching staff as well. This match was made for us and we sucked like a big orange in the last 3 sets. I guess I have come to expect more from the volleyball team and for that matter soccer as well than what is happening. JMHO as always! SS

 

[Putbacks]

We just aren’t very good defensively right now—not at the net, nor in the back row. Other teams look superior to us on defense. They seem to fairly consistently build a wall at the net as well as close the gaps and cover space better than we do.

We rarely get anything off our serve (when it makes it over the net or stays inbound). Our sets were off tonight. We were telegraphed repeatedly. We are just an easy scout right now. Other teams are making necessary adjustments, and we aren’t.

I agree with your assessment of our rotations/substitution patterns, too. It seemed desperate at times (futile?), and created unevenness and confusion. This team needs to attend to details better—especially on defense.

 

[lvocd]

I honestly felt like they looked better — certainly more confident — in the first two matches of the season against Illinois than they did tonight.

What all has changed since then? It really is puzzling to me.

 

[VolBalls33]

You go up 2 sets to 0 at home and lose? Just so maddening to watch the first 2 sets have somewhere to for the night and come home buzzed and reading about another 3-2 loss. It just feels like this happens no matter the UT sport right now.

 

[Rixxx]

Conditioning, physically and mentally???

 

[sccshortstop]

Conditioning, physically and mentally???

Since I am not a doctor It seems to me to be more mental. We are young which most teams can say but our senior starters have seemed to be one click behind especially recently. Rotation subs seem to constantly stop any momentum we have. Saying this to say coaches know the players better than I do but : JMHO as always! SS

 

[StrangeVol]

Okay...having a minute to get over my "mad spell" I want to mention a couple of things that have bothered me all season and still bother me when I think about it.

First, why was Lily not in the full rotation until recently. She somehow got relegated to backline only and I thought then and I think now that that was a crime. Now, Lily may have been ailing in some way that made the change advisable and if so that was the right thing to do, but otherwise I just think that was a very bad idea.

Second, why do we not "press" our blocks. Hanging behind the net most often results in an easy kill for the other side. We seem as if we are afraid to go over the net if we press forward at all.

Third, why are we bringing in a "serve specialist" at critical moments when the specialist hasn't impressed me at all with the serves I have seen and she appears to be pretty much helpless on defense?

Finally, I am going to offer an insight that I think may explain why our team looks so fractured at times (with apologies to Coach Rackham and staff). I know from my own coaching experience that young coaches think they have to change the way players play and how the team competes in order to make things better. Sometimes changes must be made, but too often it turns out to be change for change's sake and it very often has a negative effect. I'm not saying that is what has happened but it is clear to me that the team is not playing up to its potential this season.

Okay, hopefully, that makes some sense to you guys and gals but in any event, I feel much better now.

 

[sccshortstop]

Okay...having a minute to get over my "mad spell" I want to mention a couple of things that have bothered me all season and still bother me when I think about it.

First, why was Lily not in the full rotation until recently. She somehow got relegated to backline only and I thought then and I think now that that was a crime. Now, Lily may have been ailing in some way that made the change advisable and if so that was the right thing to do, but otherwise I just think that was a very bad idea.

Second, why do we not "press" our blocks. Hanging behind the net most often results in an easy kill for the other side. We seem as if we are afraid to go over the net if we press forward at all.

Third, why are we bringing in a "serve specialist" at critical moments when the specialist hasn't impressed me at all with the serves I have seen and she appears to be pretty much helpless on defense?

Finally, I am going to offer an insight that I think may explain why our team looks so fractured at times (with apologies to Coach Rackham and staff). I know from my own coaching experience that young coaches think they have to change the way players play and how the team competes in order to make things better. Sometimes changes must be made, but too often it turns out to be change for change's sake and it very often has a negative effect. I'm not saying that is what has happened but it is clear to me that the team is not playing up to its potential this season.

Okay, hopefully, that makes some sense to you guys and gals but in any event, I feel much better now.

For newcomers who did not watch Lily Felts last year should know she was a great freshman player. Strange like myself did not understand her disappearance this year at the beginning. I agree with everything he said about her.
Truth is I agree with the complete post!