Pitt-Kentucky match thread

[vantheman1976]

I think people got a little spoiled by beating so many decent teams as badly as we did. The teams we are playing now are a step up, in some cases a pretty big step up, from the pretty good ACC teams we played a lot this year.

You just aren't going to come out an clobber a team like Kentucky in a game like that the same way that you would against, say, NC State in a regular season game.

I think people got a little spoiled by beating so many decent teams as badly as we did.

Bingo.....Pitt volleyball has been dishing up 'steak dinners' all season long.....then all of a sudden...we get served a few 'hot dogs'.......I'm learning to be OK with that!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I think people got a little spoiled by beating so many decent teams as badly as we did.

Bingo.....Pitt volleyball has been dishing up 'steak dinners' all season long.....then all of a sudden...we get served a few 'hot dogs'.......I'm learning to be OK with that!

Nah. It’s more like Morton’s every night and then a couple Texas roadhouses mixed in. Lol.

 

[RightSaidTed]

I think people got a little spoiled by beating so many decent teams as badly as we did. The teams we are playing now are a step up, in some cases a pretty big step up, from the pretty good ACC teams we played a lot this year.

You just aren't going to come out a clobber a team like Kentucky in a game like that the same way that you would against, say, NC State in a regular season game.

It wasn’t just teams like NC State. We beat Penn State and Stanford, among many others, comfortably. Those are two of the five best teams in the country; both better than Kentucky. That said, I agree with @vantheman1976 that from mid-second set on yesterday this looked like that team again.

 

[Chaos]

It wasn’t just teams like NC State. We beat Penn State and Stanford, among many others, comfortably. Those are two of the five best teams in the country; both better than Kentucky. That said, I agree with @vantheman1976 that from mid-second set on yesterday this looked like that team again.

When Pitt is in system, they're unstoppable. I've watched every match this season, and serve reception for the past few matches hasn't been as good as it's been for most of the season. I'm not expecting Pitt to smoke anyone at this point in the season, but I'd like them to play their best to give them their best chance of winning. I give Pitt credit for persevering and finding ways to win, though, when they haven't played their best. Let's get some rest, watch some film and get mentally ready for Thursday. H2P!

 

[Tvax1]

Let's get some rest, watch some film and get mentally ready for Thursday. H2P!

do you mean us or them?



no really, I'm planning out my week rn

 

[Chairman Moe]

It wasn’t just teams like NC State. We beat Penn State and Stanford, among many others, comfortably. Those are two of the five best teams in the country; both better than Kentucky. That said, I agree with @vantheman1976 that from mid-second set on yesterday this looked like that team again.

Perhaps one barometer of what we might expect next Thursday will be the outcome of NE vs WI today. As many have said, beating a team for the third time in a season is no easy task. We beat UL @ the Pete in 5 sets; at the Yum! Center in 4. Once again, Pitt vs UL will be a huge match, and the outcome is really predicated on Pitt being the team that played the second half of yesterday's 2nd set and third set. I watched much of the Stanford/UL match and UL was dominating the middle as well as blocking the OH and Middles for Stanford. If UL brings last night's team to Thursday's match we will need to perform nearly flawlessly

 

[HOF Coach]

 

[Chaos]

do you mean us or them?



no really, I'm planning out my week rn

Yes, lol. Us and them. I'm glad we have a few days after yesterday's match to relax lol. I'm telling myself that all of the pressure is on Louisville because they want to play for the championship so badly in one of their home venues. Pitt should be loose, locked and loaded; and Louisville should be tight. I'm trying to manifest that lol. H2P

 

[Franb]

Perhaps one barometer of what we might expect next Thursday will be the outcome of NE vs WI today. As many have said, beating a team for the third time in a season is no easy task. We beat UL @ the Pete in 5 sets; at the Yum! Center in 4. Once again, Pitt vs UL will be a huge match, and the outcome is really predicated on Pitt being the team that played the second half of yesterday's 2nd set and third set. I watched much of the Stanford/UL match and UL was dominating the middle as well as blocking the OH and Middles for Stanford. If UL brings last night's team to Thursday's match we will need to perform nearly flawlessly

I watched sets 3 and 4 of the Stanford match, and 1 play stood out to me. In the 3rd set, tied 1-1 in sets, Stanford was serving for set point. They handled the Louisville return and set up an OH at the net. Instead of going for the kill, she tipped it and it did not go over the net. From then on, it was all Louisville.

 

[Tvax1]

View embedded media

that is such a great summary video.....until the last several seconds and the 4 next video links pop up to block out the fabulous finish and celebration(at least on my YouTube feed )

one thing I forgot about but stood out to me last night was that Pitt on the several occasions where a 50/50 ball came down at the net and both teams have a girl go up to push it over, we went up prepared and with strength to win the push on every single one.....Torrey and Bre and maybe someone else had a few

 

[Chaos]

So in the volleytalk game thread, a few posters said that Pitt is constantly complaining and questioning the up ref. I was fortunate enough to sit courtside for last weekend's matches, and I didn't see any of that. And I didn't see any of that on tv for this weekend's matches. Are they just being jealous and petty, or have you all seen this type of behavior?

 

[Tvax1]

So in the volleytalk game thread, a few posters said that Pitt is constantly complaining and questioning the up ref. I was fortunate enough to sit courtside for last weekend's matches, and I didn't see any of that. And I didn't see any of that on tv for this weekend's matches. Are they just being jealous and petty, or have you all seen this type of behavior?

ah, the thread where the PSU person is seemingly whining about their need to bring in a court surface that was "neutral" while Pitt(and other #1's) had theirs with home team logos and all on and around the court

am I being petty and inappropriate mentioning this? oh well


btw, what page was the complaining about Pitt and questioning the up ref? do you recall? ty

 

[Chairman Moe]

I watched sets 3 and 4 of the Stanford match, and 1 play stood out to me. In the 3rd set, tied 1-1 in sets, Stanford was serving for set point. They handled the Louisville return and set up an OH at the net. Instead of going for the kill, she tipped it and it did not go over the net. From then on, it was all Louisville.

The OH for Stanford (#13) seemed to be in a "damned-if-you-do/damned if you don't" position for most of the 3rd and 4th sets. I saw the Stanford setter feed her on almost every kill attempt, and 9 times out of 10 (it seemed) UL either blocked the kill or handled the return

Our difference will have to be Fairbanks. Her court sense to set the OH/RS or MB will be the key; that plus our ability to handle serves

Pitt needs to be loose and attack from all positions - which they've BEEN doing almost all season

 

[Chaos]

ah, the thread where the PSU person is seemingly whining about their need to bring in a court surface that was "neutral" while Pitt(and other #1's) had theirs with home team logos and all on and around the court

am I being petty and inappropriate mentioning this? oh well


btw, what page was the complaining about Pitt and questioning the up ref? do you recall? ty

I'm not sure, but it was mentioned more than once, and they also said that the players whine and complain because Fisher does. Fisher's body language definitely shows what he's feeling, lol.

 

[Chaos]

I'm not sure, but it was mentioned more than once, and they also said that the players whine and complain because Fisher does. Fisher's body language definitely shows what he's feeling, lol.

I just quickly checked and found pages 36 and 37, but there were definitely other posts about it. I'm sure Fisher talks to the down ref a lot, but I honestly don't see the players "whining and complaining"

 

[Tvax1]

I'm not sure, but it was mentioned more than once, and they also said that the players whine and complain because Fisher does. Fisher's body language definitely shows what he's feeling, lol.

well, only 69 pages to wade through

never knew about that site and already thinking it's poorly set up as when you read to the bottom of each page, you need to scroll back up to get to the next page......poor/annoying computer programming job on that

 

[pittdan77]

When Pitt is in system, they're unstoppable.

This is true about most teams. That starts with serve receive and keeping the other team out of system. Fisher made several adjustments after Oregon and it made a big difference. You didn’t see as many tough sets and even the pit of system passes were on point.

I don’t mind playing Louisville. Pitt just went at them in that last game and has owned them since last November.

 

[RightSaidTed]

I don’t mind playing Louisville. Pitt just went at them in that last game and has owned them since last November.

Agreed. And Nebraska just proved that you can actually beat a team three times in a season, if you are better than they are.

 

[Tvax1]

I just quickly checked and found pages 36 and 37, but there were definitely other posts about it. I'm sure Fisher talks to the down ref a lot, but I honestly don't see the players "whining and complaining"

well, some read War and Peace, some read cartoons and FB..........me? I just finished the 70 pages and very entertaining stuff, mostly

https://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/101884/?page=70

basically validates how I saw the first 2 sets play out with Pitt's less than expected quality of play and Kentucky handing Pitt too many unearned points, mostly named are TS, EK and serve receive and passing issues

more interesting but annoying was the mix of Pitt hate, some toward players and attitudes, VVG age shaming but mostly towards Fish and complaints about his behavior both on every point lost and whining directed toward the refs.....quite harsh and several contributors

if anyone isn't into NFL Sunday play like me who watches but no real rooting interest, the site seems to have rather seasoned volleyball watchers with an understanding of the game but mixed in novices and probably temporary short term trolls......NO, I didn't register/join or comment

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Agreed. And Nebraska just proved that you can actually beat a team three times in a season, if you are better than they are.

The reason why it's hard to beat a team three times is because normally the only way that teams play three times is if they are both good, and it's just hard to beat good teams. There isn't anything magical about a third meeting that makes it any different than the first two (other than perhaps the stakes of the game).

My guess is that if you picked the team that won the first two games to win the third one you'd be right a lot more often than you'd be wrong.

 

[Tvax1]

The reason why it's hard to beat a team three times is because normally the only way that teams play three times is if they are both good, and it's just hard to beat good teams. There isn't anything magical about a third meeting that makes it any different than the first two (other than perhaps the stakes of the game).

My guess is that if you picked the team that won the first two games to win the third one you'd be right a lot more often than you'd be wrong.

I doubt the data is out there with analysis done in NCAAWVB so found this imo reasonable comp in NCAAMBB

It Really Is Harder To Beat A Team The Third Time In Men’s College Basketball

The third time often is the charm for some teams.

fivethirtyeight.com

summary being 1 win leads to 2nd win 54% and that 2 wins by one team increases that to 57%

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I doubt the data is out there with analysis done in NCAAWVB so found this imo reasonable comp in NCAAMBB

It Really Is Harder To Beat A Team The Third Time In Men’s College Basketball

The third time often is the charm for some teams.

fivethirtyeight.com

summary being 1 win leads to 2nd win 54% and that 2 wins by one team increases that to 57%

And of course the NFL is also different, but since the merger teams playing with a chance to win a third game in a season from another team are 16-9, and since the end of WW2 they are 23-12.

Because typically the reason why one team won both of the first two is because they are the better team.

 

[pittdan77]

more interesting but annoying was the mix of Pitt hate, some toward players and attitudes, VVG age shaming but mostly towards Fish and complaints about his behavior both on every point lost and whining directed toward the refs.....quite harsh and several contributors

Some of the a-holes on that board are the same people who went after Harper Murray last year so take anything you read with a grain of salt. While some of them do know the sport, they don't really understand the game, if that makes sense.

 

[mike412]

I read VolleyTalk. There are many knowledgeable posters there and you can learn a lot of good information. There also are more than a few jerks who post incessantly about personal gripes.

For example, in the thread about 2026 recruiting I was hoping to find some info/analysis on Ayana Watson, one of our commits. I was able to find out that (1) one ranking service has her as the third best outside hitter/opposite in the class; (2) the Nebraska coach apparently was interested in only two pins in the class and she is one of them. He was not interested in either one that PrepDigs has rated ahead of her.

Another poster put up his rankings of the early commit classes and had Pitt as #1. Besides Watson, we have the consensus #2 setter in the class in Hoppe and a top 5 libero. Other posters had us in the top 4 and the consensus is those 4 classes are head and shoulders above the other schools.

There also are a lot of jerks who post there. And many people tend to answer the stupid posts. In that recruiting thread which now is 36 pages, almost half of them are devoted to a hitter from Torrey Stafford’s HS in Southern California, Mira Costa, committing to Wisconsin shortly after June 15, the first day coaches can contact 2026 recruits. One poster, a USC fan, questioned how she could commit in June when official visits don’t start until August so she hasn’t seen the school, and why she committed to Wisconsin when she had a offer from USC, which he described as an “academically comparable” school in the same conference. The responses, both disparaging and supportive, run 15 pages and are continuing.

 

[Tvax1]

I read VolleyTalk. There are many knowledgeable posters there and you can learn a lot of good information. There also are more than a few jerks who post incessantly about personal gripes.

For example, in the thread about 2026 recruiting I was hoping to find some info/analysis on Ayana Watson, one of our commits. I was able to find out that (1) one ranking service has her as the third best outside hitter/opposite in the class; (2) the Nebraska coach apparently was interested in only two pins in the class and she is one of them. He was not interested in either one that PrepDigs has rated ahead of her.

Another poster put up his rankings of the early commit classes and had Pitt as #1. Besides Watson, we have the consensus #2 setter in the class in Hoppe and a top 5 libero. Other posters had us in the top 4 and the consensus is those 4 classes are head and shoulders above the other schools.

There also are a lot of jerks who post there. And many people tend to answer the stupid posts. In that recruiting thread which now is 36 pages, almost half of them are devoted to a hitter from Torrey Stafford’s HS in Southern California, Mira Costa, committing to Wisconsin shortly after June 15, the first day coaches can contact 2026 recruits. One poster, a USC fan, questioned how she could commit in June when official visits don’t start until August so she hasn’t seen the school, and why she committed to Wisconsin when she had a offer from USC, which he described as an “academically comparable” school in the same conference. The responses, both disparaging and supportive, run 15 pages and are continuing.

good stuff

one question, what do you mean with the USC and Wisc comparison regarding academically comparable?

 

[mike412]

good stuff

one question, what do you mean with the USC and Wisc comparison regarding academically comparable?

Crazy Paco might be the best person to answer this. I didn’t say they were academically comparable. The original poster did. What the poster, a USC fan, meant is that USC is about as good academically as Wisconsin. I don’t believe that is true. USC is not as bad as UCLA grads claim: that the only admission requirements are that you have a heartbeat and your parents have $500,000 in the bank; however, I don’t believe it’s in the class of Wisconsin or Pitt, two schools which are volleyball powers which the OP mentioned in another post as academically comparable to USC (he also Louisville, which made me laugh). And, I have relatives who have gone to USC.

I certainly would not call them comparable. USC has some very good programs, like its Spielberg School for wanna be movie makers and its veterinary program. But, IMO it’s not near Wisconsin’s level. I would put Wisconsin academically as #3 in the old B10 behind Northwestern and Michigan.

In other posts about the hitter choosing Wisconsin, the same poster claims that USC’s 2025 and 2026 classes are #1 and that the OH is missing a chance to be on 4 straight national champions. If he really believes that, why does he care if she goes elsewhere?

 

[Tvax1]

Crazy Paco might be the best person to answer this. I didn’t say they were academically comparable. The original poster did. What the poster, a USC fan, meant is that USC is about as good academically as Wisconsin. I don’t believe that is true. USC is not as bad as UCLA grads claim: that the only admission requirements are that you have a heartbeat and your parents have $500,000 in the bank; however, I don’t believe it’s in the class of Wisconsin or Pitt, two schools which are volleyball powers which the OP mentioned in another post as academically comparable to USC (he also Louisville, which made me laugh). And, I have relatives who have gone to USC.

I certainly would not call them comparable. USC has some very good programs, like its Spielberg School for wanna be movie makers and its veterinary program. But, IMO it’s not near Wisconsin’s level. I would put Wisconsin academically as #3 in the old B10 behind Northwestern and Michigan.

In other posts about the hitter choosing Wisconsin, the same poster claims that USC’s 2025 and 2026 classes are #1 and that the OH is missing a chance to be on 4 straight national champions. If he really believes that, why does he care if she goes elsewhere?

all good, and not to pick I'd just say I particularly agree there's certain programs that make a USC(or many other good universities) for some the better academic choice

with the exception that some schools, PSU and Louisville(maybe others?), are inferior in every way academically