These thoughts are in no particular order.
1. This is an elite volleyball team. That is what we have come to expect. I have watched a fair amount of nonconference volleyball so far and the only other team that I would put in Pitt's league would be Nebraska. There are really no weaknesses. The defense has been marvelous. Klika has been outstanding. Sometimes the best player on the floor. And that is saying a lot. The biggest weakness is that sometimes they let other teams go on runs.
2. The key to this team is still Fairbanks. That is no revelation. She just sees the court so well and knows where to set the ball. In system, teams are often getting only a single blocker up. That's Pitt's style, fast.
3. There is a big drop off to Nisa. That is no surprise. She is clearly still getting the timing down with the other players and still needs more game action to do that. Fish is going to be putting her in whenever Pitt is playing a weak opponent and that makes sense to both preserve Rachel and get Nisa the playing time she needs. Will there still be a drop off? You bet! If she were at her best, there would still be a significant drop off. That's how good Rachel is.
4. Torrey has had a fantastic nonconference season. She is such a good technical hitter and really athletic on top of that. She tools well, hits high hands and really often can hit over blocks. Her service return has really improved a lot. I see she has done some setting in a couple of the rotations against Marquette. Is she the emergency 3rd setter if needed?
5 Olivia is a super athletic outside but she still needs to work on the other aspects of being a good PIN. Tooling, High hands etc. I think this has improved over last year but I think there is room for more improvement. Her service can be pretty streaky.
6. I think we have 2 of the top 10 PINS in the country to be honest.
7. I know there is a lot of debate about why they still start VVG over Blaire Bayless. But Valeria does all of the other things so well, I don't see that changing.
8. Our middles are solid. Ryla has played very well for a freshman. Poised. Very capable. Bre will continue to get better too . As they become a bigger offensive force, that will take some pressure off of the PINs.
9. I worry about our depth at setter and also at middle. To me it looks like a big drop off to the back ups in both those areas.
10 In conference, I think our biggest challenge will come from Stanford. Louisville is always dangerous, but I just don't see them as dangerous as usual. Even though the ACC is significantly stronger than in the past with the addition of SMU and Stanford and improvement in other teams like FSU, I still see Pitt losing maybe 2 matches.
I welcome any other thoughts or comments
Exciting time to be a Panther volleyball fan!
1. This is an elite volleyball team. That is what we have come to expect. I have watched a fair amount of nonconference volleyball so far and the only other team that I would put in Pitt's league would be Nebraska. There are really no weaknesses. The defense has been marvelous. Klika has been outstanding. Sometimes the best player on the floor. And that is saying a lot. The biggest weakness is that sometimes they let other teams go on runs.
2. The key to this team is still Fairbanks. That is no revelation. She just sees the court so well and knows where to set the ball. In system, teams are often getting only a single blocker up. That's Pitt's style, fast.
3. There is a big drop off to Nisa. That is no surprise. She is clearly still getting the timing down with the other players and still needs more game action to do that. Fish is going to be putting her in whenever Pitt is playing a weak opponent and that makes sense to both preserve Rachel and get Nisa the playing time she needs. Will there still be a drop off? You bet! If she were at her best, there would still be a significant drop off. That's how good Rachel is.
4. Torrey has had a fantastic nonconference season. She is such a good technical hitter and really athletic on top of that. She tools well, hits high hands and really often can hit over blocks. Her service return has really improved a lot. I see she has done some setting in a couple of the rotations against Marquette. Is she the emergency 3rd setter if needed?
5 Olivia is a super athletic outside but she still needs to work on the other aspects of being a good PIN. Tooling, High hands etc. I think this has improved over last year but I think there is room for more improvement. Her service can be pretty streaky.
6. I think we have 2 of the top 10 PINS in the country to be honest.
7. I know there is a lot of debate about why they still start VVG over Blaire Bayless. But Valeria does all of the other things so well, I don't see that changing.
8. Our middles are solid. Ryla has played very well for a freshman. Poised. Very capable. Bre will continue to get better too . As they become a bigger offensive force, that will take some pressure off of the PINs.
9. I worry about our depth at setter and also at middle. To me it looks like a big drop off to the back ups in both those areas.
10 In conference, I think our biggest challenge will come from Stanford. Louisville is always dangerous, but I just don't see them as dangerous as usual. Even though the ACC is significantly stronger than in the past with the addition of SMU and Stanford and improvement in other teams like FSU, I still see Pitt losing maybe 2 matches.
I welcome any other thoughts or comments
Exciting time to be a Panther volleyball fan!
