WVB Tournament Thread
- Thread starter pittdan77
- Start date
Ped State pulled a similar finish to set three as we had in set two last night. Creighton needed that one
And as predicted, the final game will be B1G vs ACCCHALK!
#1 Pitt vs #1 Louisville
#1 Nebraska vs #1 Penn State
Last time it happened in 2008 the #1 overall seed won the championship so here’s hoping that happens again!
Let’s hope the chalk continues to hold and next week at this time there will be victory lights in Oakland.CHALK!
#1 Pitt vs #1 Louisville
#1 Nebraska vs #1 Penn State
Creighton killed themselves but they also played very aggressively which is why they were in a position to play a fifth set. Also didn't help PSU that Starck was really off for a while. Freshman under pressure? PSU has struggled all year to put teams away. Will kill them if they get up on Nebraska.
Nebraska's defense was insane. Wisconsin did everything they could to press them. One noticeable problem for Wisconsin is that Anna Smrek doesn't hit the ball hard enough to force the issue. She did have a lot of kills but I think it was mostly because Nebraska wasn't ready for that twist. For being so tall, how is she not more powerful?
Thursday night will be interesting. I know this board has some folks who are finally noticing volleyball and will be dumb if Pitt loses but making it this far four years in a row is insane. It's not easy to win a championship, though. Hope Pitt has a good weekend.
Nebraska's defense was insane. Wisconsin did everything they could to press them. One noticeable problem for Wisconsin is that Anna Smrek doesn't hit the ball hard enough to force the issue. She did have a lot of kills but I think it was mostly because Nebraska wasn't ready for that twist. For being so tall, how is she not more powerful?
Thursday night will be interesting. I know this board has some folks who are finally noticing volleyball and will be dumb if Pitt loses but making it this far four years in a row is insane. It's not easy to win a championship, though. Hope Pitt has a good weekend.
Haven't seen it officially, but it will almost certainly be Courtney Lyle on PxP with Holly McPeak and Katie George on color. They did the Final Four last year and got the ABC game on Sunday.
Also going to throw out there that that Texas seems to be in disarray. A lot of rumors about an exodus from the program. I think they lacked chemistry which is important in a sport where plays aren't scripted and you're constantly relying on knowing what your teammates are going to do. Nebraska is the polar opposite of that and you don't see a lot of miscues.
Lyle....OK....announces for SEC....hopefully stays neutral
George....like her but can she remain neutral....made her name in Louisville as a player there
McPeak....announces for B1G.....she is very good
Wish it was Paul Sunderland for PxP
Honestly, they've done a good job. Much better than some of those ESPN+ games where you can tell the announcers don't have much knowledge of the game. I did think it was funny that they were trying to guess what zone Nebraska was serving to based off of the signals that Cook was giving. He was obviously disguising them which made for a funny moment when they called the serve going short to zone 3 and it sailed long over zone 5. Makes me wonder if they thought someone was stealing signals, which some parents shamelessly do at club tournaments.
@pittdan77 - I've been noticing volleyball for a while but have been more "into it" the past couple of seasons. I recall when the sport was played at the "club" level @ Pitt back in the early '70's. I dated a gal who was on that team, and the growth of the sport since then has been exponential/monumental.
as I alluded to (in a reply to someone on one of the Pitt Facebook Groups), I think that Pitt needs to win a National Championship to be taken as seriously in the Volleyball world as we Pitt fans believe they should. Yes, the commentators on the game broadcasts are mentioning Pitt; but the teams who have won NC's (Nebraska, PSU, Wisc, Stanford, TX, KY, et al) - and played in the NC Championship Game (UL) still are the elite squads. And yes, I get it that UL had tons of pressure to get to the Final Four this year as they are being held at the Yum! Center. Pitt has been to 4 straight FF's while UL has been to 3/4; very "equal" teams/programs. But the UL coach has that championship heritage having been on a NC winning team, etc. As does the PSU coach. And of course, Cook @ Nebraska.
I won't be the so-called new poster on this board to get all frantic if the Panthers should lose either on Thursday or Sunday. It is insane that the program has had the success it's had since Fish got here. I too wish the ladies and coaches all the best @ Louisville. H2P!
I understand what you're saying but Pitt is taken very seriously in the volleyball world. They're not pulling down the top recruiting classes and they're coming from a conference that hasn't traditionally had much competition. Maybe some message board dolts on volleytalk will talk down on Pitt but nobody in the broader community would see it as a failure.
Yeah, Fisher never played in a championship but he did win the NAIA as a coach and has had a lot of success internationally as a coach. He's received a ton of accolades as a coach at Pitt and there were a lot of rumors swirling that he would replace Karch for the US team. He may have even turned it down. Don't know. He made some adjustments during the season and especially this weekend that probably saved the season and people in those circles noticed.
This won't be Pitt's last trip to the final four. There is a lot of good young talent in this program and the group of commits for his next class are fantastic players. I would love for Pitt to win but frankly Nebraska is stacked and probably better than Pitt at just about every position except for Fairbanks and Babcock. I thought Pitt played too conservatively at times over the last few weeks and they seemed to snap out of that against Kentucky. They will have to be very aggressive to win it all and hopefully not be prone to a ton of errors which usually come with that style of play.
Dan, I'm sure you saw my post a couple of days ago about whether or not Nebraska has any weakness. That said, I wonder if when we play Nebraska, we can look at their games versus SMU and Penn State to see what to exploit? It seems hard to believe that they were swept by the Mustangs.
Likewise, since Nebraska has already lost to Penn State, might that be a difficult semifinal for them? I realize at this stage of the tournament anything is possible. Despite losing twice already to us, and once each to Penn State and Nebraska, Louisville has home court advantage and will likely have the biggest crowds. They are certainly as "desperate" (if that's the right word) for an NC as we are
You're correct; this won't be our last FF and hopefully not just the first NC
fixed that - there can only be one "first" but yeah
need to figure what CAN work v Neb as the bit I've watched of them, not much gets to the floor
similar to the first set last night with PSU crushing Creighton....which shocked me when it turned on a dime the 2nd set
let's get there and finish some Cards careers early, I think the girls have everything bad out of their system that could hold them back and hope to see that show up early in set #1
H2P!!!
Not calling you out. I apologize if it felt that way. Just trying to set realistic expectations. I've said before, volleyball is a weird sport. Sometimes goofy things happen and can change the flow of an entire set.
I think that if you're going to beat Nebraska, you have to come right at them. Limit your errors and not be afraid to hit into their blocks. Really have to be effective when you go out of system, which Pitt did masterfully against Kentucky. They're the only team that truly looks scary on paper but any of the final four teams can win it. If someone gets hot or someone else has a bad game, anything can happen.
Dan, I never felt that you were calling me out! ;^) No apology necessary
Yep. He is the best in the business. Been around a long time.
According to their web site, Rec Hall currently seats 6502. Their attendance for Friday was 2900, and for yesterday it was 3500.
Although I think it is fair to mention that like us getting stuck with the Thursday afternoon session had a big affect on attendance, them playing on a Sunday night at 8:30 also had to help depress attendance last night.
Agree on Smrek, she simply doesn’t put the ball DOWN…. they should left her at middle .. my opinion .. her blocking still very good mostly because she is 6’9”
Those who judge the attendance of others shall not have excuses for poor attendance 😁 H2P
I just suggest everyone enjoy this, because you never know when it will end. These are all elite teams and you can play these matches 10 different times and get 10 different results. I’m nervous as hell too and that’s part of the fun.
I just don’t know where all of this championship or the program isn’t legit stuff is coming from.
I just don’t know where all of this championship or the program isn’t legit stuff is coming from.
social media is quite revealing of diversity while not necessarily reflecting things accurately
I need reminding too
Good point.... my opinion, I don't think it's that she's too slow, although she surely is slower than many, its that on longer sets where the ball is higher and, in the air much longer, she has trouble with her timing and jumps too early or too late, and therefore hits a lot of flat balls to the back row that are easy to dig/play.... when she was in the middle its more of a quick pass and boom, timing important, but she's playing a short quick set right by the net. Again your point is valid too.
Middle is a much more difficult position to hit from. If you don't have good timing outside, you're doomed if you move to middle. I know where you're coming from but it's not easy at all. You have to arrive at the correct location at the correct time to have a play on the ball. Learning a shoot or a gap set is one of the most frustrating things I've seen volleyball players work on.
Smrek's timing issues may just be that setting her is a big changeup from everyone else. Have to set her really high so that she can fully extend her arm. If anything, it looks like that's translated to deeper sets, closer to the ten foot line. She's hitting over blocks from there but there just wasn't the power on them. Even when she looked to be timed perfectly, they weren't getting down. You'd think she'd pop off a big kill once in a while but it just never seems to happen.
Ok good point for sure - I played a lot with far younger players until I was in my late 50's, oldest on the court by 20+ years - I guess I hit better from the outside too because I have played tennis for 50 years and have good eye, arm swing and hand coordination.... but I could never hit good from the middle because I couldn't jump fast enough... LOL............. my volleyball days are over, still play a lot of tennis - doubles only, and pickleball. You are right - she just never seems to put one really DOWN! Thanks.. getting hyped for Thursday!!!
Also I'm only 6'1".... I wish I'd have been 6'9" !!!
I played very briefly in college after I was done at football. To say I was more of a defensive player is an understatement. I usually went power and hit up into the blocks to get my kills which isn't what you see most middles doing. Of course, that was the side-out era and a lot has changed.
