Great win by the Pitt ladies today, observations and thoughts from being at the game:
Love that Fish stuck with the 5-1 that worked late at Duke. Having either Stafford or Babcock available out of the back row at most all times gives them so many weapons to use. And at one point when Pitt was struggling on a Fairbanks front line rotation, Fish went to the 6-2 for two spots and it was perfect with a quick middle set then went to Bayless on the right side. I like the 6-2 in spots like that but think spending the majority of the games in 5-1 is the more successful lineup.
If Babcock and Stafford play all 4 years at Pitt, they will shatter every hitting record we have. They have that much talent. Especially adding in hitting out of the back row the way they do. And i don’t know which will end up with more kills because they’re both that good.
VVG did a fantastic job hitting today on out of sync plays. She was incredibly efficient hitting and did it mostly on non-set plays. I think she tends to hit better when she isn’t the focal point of the offense and it showed today, .750 hitting for an OH is an absurdly good hitting percentage
Emmy Klika has gotten so much better. Her coverage was fantastic today. Finally feels like Pitt has a top notch Libero which has been a gap for us in previous years.
Blocking started slow today then came alive in the second set. That was the biggest difference between the two teams was Pitt’s block, it really crushed the UNC offense in sets 2 and 3.
Finally, I sat behind a staff member’s mother at the game and learned a lot from her. A couple of things:
Fairbanks still isn’t fully healthy, dealing with an abdominal injury that keeps her from swinging. She maybe looks a step slow but she’s so talented to be playing at this level while banged up.
Bre Kelley is likely done for the year unfortunately. Maybe we get lucky and get her back late but doesn’t sound good.
Maybe my favorite thing i learned from her is how good the culture is on our team. She said the players are all great people, super nice and mature. And they love Fish, who is apparently very happy in Pittsburgh (and very well compensated according to her). The future is bright for the team!
Love that Fish stuck with the 5-1 that worked late at Duke. Having either Stafford or Babcock available out of the back row at most all times gives them so many weapons to use. And at one point when Pitt was struggling on a Fairbanks front line rotation, Fish went to the 6-2 for two spots and it was perfect with a quick middle set then went to Bayless on the right side. I like the 6-2 in spots like that but think spending the majority of the games in 5-1 is the more successful lineup.
If Babcock and Stafford play all 4 years at Pitt, they will shatter every hitting record we have. They have that much talent. Especially adding in hitting out of the back row the way they do. And i don’t know which will end up with more kills because they’re both that good.
VVG did a fantastic job hitting today on out of sync plays. She was incredibly efficient hitting and did it mostly on non-set plays. I think she tends to hit better when she isn’t the focal point of the offense and it showed today, .750 hitting for an OH is an absurdly good hitting percentage
Emmy Klika has gotten so much better. Her coverage was fantastic today. Finally feels like Pitt has a top notch Libero which has been a gap for us in previous years.
Blocking started slow today then came alive in the second set. That was the biggest difference between the two teams was Pitt’s block, it really crushed the UNC offense in sets 2 and 3.
Finally, I sat behind a staff member’s mother at the game and learned a lot from her. A couple of things:
Fairbanks still isn’t fully healthy, dealing with an abdominal injury that keeps her from swinging. She maybe looks a step slow but she’s so talented to be playing at this level while banged up.
Bre Kelley is likely done for the year unfortunately. Maybe we get lucky and get her back late but doesn’t sound good.
Maybe my favorite thing i learned from her is how good the culture is on our team. She said the players are all great people, super nice and mature. And they love Fish, who is apparently very happy in Pittsburgh (and very well compensated according to her). The future is bright for the team!
