Volleyball weekend (Sat and Sunday)

[vantheman1976]

Very nice to see these two articles which summarize the recent week's exhibition matches. The first in the PG and the second in PittNews.

3 takeaways from Pitt volleyball's spring scrimmages

Pitt volleyball had three open scrimmages this past week and showcased what they have in store for the 2025-26 season. There were a lot of question marks...

www.post-gazette.com

Pitt volleyball answered important questions over spring season

Pitt volleyball had some important questions it had to answer for Pitt volleyball fans who were a little bit more skeptical this season.

pittnews.com

 

[pittdan77]

Do you guys see Dupes as an upgrade? A clear upgrade? A significant upgrade?

Just from what I saw against PSU, she has a quicker first step to the ball than what we're used to at Pitt. She also passes out of system balls really well. That will help with a young setter. It looks like there are some communication issues to work out in serve receive but that's minor and unrelated. The stats look promising with the limited work.

One thing that probably doesn't get enough attention is that Pitt has been "okay" at middle for the past few years. It's pretty obvious that middle will be a strength the next couple of years. The better you are at blocking and getting block touches, the easier it is on the defensive players. I did see that in the scrimmage.

 

[mike412]

The hitting percentages improved dramatically against tOSU and Michigan. PSU does have an excellent backline so the lower percentage against them was not unexpected, especially in a first match. PSU’s hitting percentages against us were abysmal except for Sellman. Apparently, Jurevicious can only get kills against teams wearing red: Nebraska and Louisville.

If I read the PG article correctly, she judged the effectiveness of our serve/receive on how many aces teams had against us. I don’t think that is the way it is calculated. I watched a replay of tOSU. Still haven’t seen Michigan, but against tOSU Bayless was much better on her service receive and Dupes was very good for the second time.

I think she will be an improvement over Klika not only because of her serving, but I think she anticipates better and is in position to dig balls that Klika didn’t get to. The articles mentioned that she is more vocal, which also helps IMO. To my amateur eye, Bayless has Improved a lot since last season.

PSU lost 3 pins from last season. Right now, Sellman is all they have there. The other two who played against us had terrible matches. They seem to think they have one good replacement who didn’t play and will be joining them in August and they will get another from the Spring portal.

I think we still need one out of the portal for depth and hopefully it will be a better player than the one they get. But, their coach can sell a transfer on being a starter and I think we can only sell them on being the third pin.

One big difference between this team and last year: Middle blocker. Last year, Bre was coming back off a major injury and Ryla was a true freshman. We got two foreign players and we didn’t know much about either. This year, Bre is a returning AA, Ryla was excellent as a freshman, and Virlan looks 1000% more comfortable out there. Plus, we have the frosh, but I suspect either she or Jones will move to OH. I hope Virlan gets some court time because she is Romanian and I am Romanian on my dad’s side.

Haiti was much better against tOSU. After hardly setting middle at all against PSU, she set middle frequently and effectively against the Buckeyes. She looked much more confident with a match under her belt after coming back from a major injury. I don’t think she will fully replace Rachel but no setter in the country could. We looked pretty good in the 6-2 when we ran it and it should be even better if Mosher is as advertised.

Frankly, this team is ahead of where I Thought they would be after all of the losses.

 

[HOF Coach]

The hitting percentages improved dramatically against tOSU and Michigan. PSU does have an excellent backline so the lower percentage against them was not unexpected, especially in a first match. PSU’s hitting percentages against us were abysmal except for Sellman. Apparently, Jurevicious can only get kills against teams wearing red: Nebraska and Louisville.

If I read the PG article correctly, she judged the effectiveness of our serve/receive on how many aces teams had against us. I don’t think that is the way it is calculated. I watched a replay of tOSU. Still haven’t seen Michigan, but against tOSU Bayless was much better on her service receive and Dupes was very good for the second time.

I think she will be an improvement over Klika not only because of her serving, but I think she anticipates better and is in position to dig balls that Klika didn’t get to. The articles mentioned that she is more vocal, which also helps IMO. To my amateur eye, Bayless has Improved a lot since last season.

PSU lost 3 pins from last season. Right now, Sellman is all they have there. The other two who played against us had terrible matches. They seem to think they have one good replacement who didn’t play and will be joining them in August and they will get another from the Spring portal.

I think we still need one out of the portal for depth and hopefully it will be a better player than the one they get. But, their coach can sell a transfer on being a starter and I think we can only sell them on being the third pin.

One big difference between this team and last year: Middle blocker. Last year, Bre was coming back off a major injury and Ryla was a true freshman. We got two foreign players and we didn’t know much about either. This year, Bre is a returning AA, Ryla was excellent as a freshman, and Virlan looks 1000% more comfortable out there. Plus, we have the frosh, but I suspect either she or Jones will move to OH. I hope Virlan gets some court time because she is Romanian and I am Romanian on my dad’s side.

Haiti was much better against tOSU. After hardly setting middle at all against PSU, she set middle frequently and effectively against the Buckeyes. She looked much more confident with a match under her belt after coming back from a major injury. I don’t think she will fully replace Rachel but no setter in the country could. We looked pretty good in the 6-2 when we ran it and it should be even better if Mosher is as advertised.

Frankly, this team is ahead of where I Thought they would be after all of the losses.

Do you have a link to the OSU match?

 

[PittMBA]

The hitting percentages improved dramatically against tOSU and Michigan. PSU does have an excellent backline so the lower percentage against them was not unexpected, especially in a first match. PSU’s hitting percentages against us were abysmal except for Sellman. Apparently, Jurevicious can only get kills against teams wearing red: Nebraska and Louisville.

If I read the PG article correctly, she judged the effectiveness of our serve/receive on how many aces teams had against us. I don’t think that is the way it is calculated. I watched a replay of tOSU. Still haven’t seen Michigan, but against tOSU Bayless was much better on her service receive and Dupes was very good for the second time.

I think she will be an improvement over Klika not only because of her serving, but I think she anticipates better and is in position to dig balls that Klika didn’t get to. The articles mentioned that she is more vocal, which also helps IMO. To my amateur eye, Bayless has Improved a lot since last season.

PSU lost 3 pins from last season. Right now, Sellman is all they have there. The other two who played against us had terrible matches. They seem to think they have one good replacement who didn’t play and will be joining them in August and they will get another from the Spring portal.

I think we still need one out of the portal for depth and hopefully it will be a better player than the one they get. But, their coach can sell a transfer on being a starter and I think we can only sell them on being the third pin.

One big difference between this team and last year: Middle blocker. Last year, Bre was coming back off a major injury and Ryla was a true freshman. We got two foreign players and we didn’t know much about either. This year, Bre is a returning AA, Ryla was excellent as a freshman, and Virlan looks 1000% more comfortable out there. Plus, we have the frosh, but I suspect either she or Jones will move to OH. I hope Virlan gets some court time because she is Romanian and I am Romanian on my dad’s side.

Haiti was much better against tOSU. After hardly setting middle at all against PSU, she set middle frequently and effectively against the Buckeyes. She looked much more confident with a match under her belt after coming back from a major injury. I don’t think she will fully replace Rachel but no setter in the country could. We looked pretty good in the 6-2 when we ran it and it should be even better if Mosher is as advertised.

Frankly, this team is ahead of where I Thought they would be after all of the losses.

How did you watch the OSU match ?

 

[MartyInLawrenceville]

The hitting percentages improved dramatically against tOSU and Michigan. PSU does have an excellent backline so the lower percentage against them was not unexpected, especially in a first match. PSU’s hitting percentages against us were abysmal except for Sellman. Apparently, Jurevicious can only get kills against teams wearing red: Nebraska and Louisville.

If I read the PG article correctly, she judged the effectiveness of our serve/receive on how many aces teams had against us. I don’t think that is the way it is calculated. I watched a replay of tOSU. Still haven’t seen Michigan, but against tOSU Bayless was much better on her service receive and Dupes was very good for the second time.

I think she will be an improvement over Klika not only because of her serving, but I think she anticipates better and is in position to dig balls that Klika didn’t get to. The articles mentioned that she is more vocal, which also helps IMO. To my amateur eye, Bayless has Improved a lot since last season.

PSU lost 3 pins from last season. Right now, Sellman is all they have there. The other two who played against us had terrible matches. They seem to think they have one good replacement who didn’t play and will be joining them in August and they will get another from the Spring portal.

I think we still need one out of the portal for depth and hopefully it will be a better player than the one they get. But, their coach can sell a transfer on being a starter and I think we can only sell them on being the third pin.

One big difference between this team and last year: Middle blocker. Last year, Bre was coming back off a major injury and Ryla was a true freshman. We got two foreign players and we didn’t know much about either. This year, Bre is a returning AA, Ryla was excellent as a freshman, and Virlan looks 1000% more comfortable out there. Plus, we have the frosh, but I suspect either she or Jones will move to OH. I hope Virlan gets some court time because she is Romanian and I am Romanian on my dad’s side.

Haiti was much better against tOSU. After hardly setting middle at all against PSU, she set middle frequently and effectively against the Buckeyes. She looked much more confident with a match under her belt after coming back from a major injury. I don’t think she will fully replace Rachel but no setter in the country could. We looked pretty good in the 6-2 when we ran it and it should be even better if Mosher is as advertised.

Frankly, this team is ahead of where I Thought they would be after all of the losses.

Just from what I saw against PSU, she has a quicker first step to the ball than what we're used to at Pitt. She also passes out of system balls really well. That will help with a young setter. It looks like there are some communication issues to work out in serve receive but that's minor and unrelated. The stats look promising with the limited work.

One thing that probably doesn't get enough attention is that Pitt has been "okay" at middle for the past few years. It's pretty obvious that middle will be a strength the next couple of years. The better you are at blocking and getting block touches, the easier it is on the defensive players. I did see that in the scrimmage.

Dan and Mike, I’d say Dupes will be a significant upgrade. And I’m saying this as a huge Emmy Klika fan. Klika actually worked with Dupes when she got here in January to help integrate her into the system. I always thought Emmy was a well rounded player, but Emery brings a really nice serve, and you can hear her from anywhere in the Field House. I think she’ll be a huge help as a traffic cop out there.

 

[Chaos]

The hitting percentages improved dramatically against tOSU and Michigan. PSU does have an excellent backline so the lower percentage against them was not unexpected, especially in a first match. PSU’s hitting percentages against us were abysmal except for Sellman. Apparently, Jurevicious can only get kills against teams wearing red: Nebraska and Louisville.

If I read the PG article correctly, she judged the effectiveness of our serve/receive on how many aces teams had against us. I don’t think that is the way it is calculated. I watched a replay of tOSU. Still haven’t seen Michigan, but against tOSU Bayless was much better on her service receive and Dupes was very good for the second time.

I think she will be an improvement over Klika not only because of her serving, but I think she anticipates better and is in position to dig balls that Klika didn’t get to. The articles mentioned that she is more vocal, which also helps IMO. To my amateur eye, Bayless has Improved a lot since last season.

PSU lost 3 pins from last season. Right now, Sellman is all they have there. The other two who played against us had terrible matches. They seem to think they have one good replacement who didn’t play and will be joining them in August and they will get another from the Spring portal.

I think we still need one out of the portal for depth and hopefully it will be a better player than the one they get. But, their coach can sell a transfer on being a starter and I think we can only sell them on being the third pin.

One big difference between this team and last year: Middle blocker. Last year, Bre was coming back off a major injury and Ryla was a true freshman. We got two foreign players and we didn’t know much about either. This year, Bre is a returning AA, Ryla was excellent as a freshman, and Virlan looks 1000% more comfortable out there. Plus, we have the frosh, but I suspect either she or Jones will move to OH. I hope Virlan gets some court time because she is Romanian and I am Romanian on my dad’s side.

Haiti was much better against tOSU. After hardly setting middle at all against PSU, she set middle frequently and effectively against the Buckeyes. She looked much more confident with a match under her belt after coming back from a major injury. I don’t think she will fully replace Rachel but no setter in the country could. We looked pretty good in the 6-2 when we ran it and it should be even better if Mosher is as advertised.

Frankly, this team is ahead of where I Thought they would be after all of the losses.

Our hitting % against the nits was also greatly affected by too many out of system plays/poor serve reception. I'm glad to hear about the improvements vs OSU and Mich. H2P

 

[Fk_Pitt]

How did you watch the OSU match ?

I took it as he meant PSU, not tOSU.

 

[PittMBA]

Someone on volleytalk posted Pitt signed an international OH for this season -

 

[121rum]

Someone on volleytalk posted Pitt signed an international OH for this season -

Apparently French

 

[PittMBA]

Apparently French

Also hinting at another addition- a previous post hinted Masten might reclassify.

Mosher officially at Pitt too.

 

[HOF Coach]

Someone on volleytalk posted Pitt signed an international OH for this season -

This is what I was hoping for!

 

[PittMBA]

This is what I was hoping for!

Pitt should be bold and go all in on WVB. It’s like a market failure/ opportunity Pitt can exploit.

We are legitimately a top 4 or 5 program nationally, are able to attract the very best players, and have a growing fan base - particularly among young women.

It is surely exponentially cheaper to buy a national championship caliber volleyball roster than football or basketball .

Maybe Pitt already is based on their recruiting and transfer work - the 2026 class is outstanding - and that they extended Fisher as like the 3rd highest paid coach in the country.

It’s not a given for most schools and certainly Pitt to have a true year in and year out national championship program. I hope they double down on the opportunity they have. .

 

[pittdan77]

Pitt should be bold and go all in on WVB. It’s like a market failure/ opportunity Pitt can exploit.

We are legitimately a top 4 or 5 program nationally, are able to attract the very best players, and have a growing fan base - particularly among young women.

It is surely exponentially cheaper to buy a national championship caliber volleyball roster than football or basketball .

Maybe Pitt already is based on their recruiting and transfer work - the 2026 class is outstanding - and that they extended Fisher as like the 3rd highest paid coach in the country.

It’s not a given for most schools and certainly Pitt to have a true year in and year out national championship program. I hope they double down on the opportunity they have. .

I'm pretty sure Pitt is all-in. Fisher is paid near the top of the market. New facility is being built. Recruiting well in all of the hottest VB areas. Higher demand for big games and the school is accommodating that. Not sure what else they could be doing.

 

[PittMBA]

I'm pretty sure Pitt is all-in. Fisher is paid near the top of the market. New facility is being built. Recruiting well in all of the hottest VB areas. Higher demand for big games and the school is accommodating that. Not sure what else they could be doing.

Yeah - tried to infer that in my post - seems like we are all in so to speak.

Just voicing without knowing that I hope my perception is reality .

 

[vantheman1976]

Also hinting at another addition- a previous post hinted Masten might reclassify.

Mosher officially at Pitt too.

I am completely baffled about this rumor of Izzy Masten. Didn't she just finish her junior year.....unless she's a gifted student and finished high school a year early.

 

[vantheman1976]

This is what I was hoping for!

Yes....me too. I am 99% convinced Dinn and Griffin are on their way to the portal. If that happens the '25 roster falls to 11 athletes. In the covid year 2020 he had a roster of 14.....the fewest ever during his tenure so far. The NCAA spring portal opens on May 1st. If he's looking for 3 to 4 more athletes.....bringing in international players makes a lot of sense.

 

[PittMBA]

I am completely baffled about this rumor of Izzy Masten. Didn't she just finish her junior year.....unless she's a gifted student and finished high school a year early.

Yeah - idk - it’s literally one mention in volleytalk.

 

[HOF Coach]

Also hinting at another addition- a previous post hinted Masten might reclassify.

Mosher officially at Pitt too.

 

[pittdan77]

I am completely baffled about this rumor of Izzy Masten. Didn't she just finish her junior year.....unless she's a gifted student and finished high school a year early.

I really don't see it happening. Especially with the way Dupes has played. Maybe she comes on campus early in the spring but she's coming in to play Libero.

 

[pittdan77]

Yeah - tried to infer that in my post - seems like we are all in so to speak.

Just voicing without knowing that I hope my perception is reality .

Didn't mean to suggest otherwise but there are some folks here that like to downplay the program's success and the impact it has on the school.

 

[pittdan77]

View embedded media

With Mosher's arrival, it's going to be really interesting to see what happens with the setters. I can't see Pitt running a 6-2 but wouldn't it be something if you had two setters that were good enough to do that?