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Originally posted by 1972Shocker
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Hey, I like it, although I have to admit that for a minute there I thought the Lamb might be on the board posting as 1972Shocker. :)The fact that man is master of his actions is due to his being able to deliberate about them.-- Thomas Aquinas -
Props to Kelly Broussard
The Wichita Eagle article mentions WSU libero Kelly Broussard and said "Broussard, second-team All-MVC, returns along with defensive specialist Melissa Granville to form a quick and experienced back-row tandem." In my opinion, the article does not give her enough credit. Look at Nebraska coach John Cook's statement after Nebraska & WSU played:Originally posted by 1stThings1st
Nebraska Quotes
Head Coach John Cook
Opening Statement
“I thought it was a very intense match. It was a notch up from last night. Wichita State, I thought, was one of the best defensive teams we’ve played this year. They dug a lot of balls that they kept in play and rallied. I can’t remember a time in the last three or four weeks where our team has been so winded with the rallies. At this time of the year, you’re going to play matches where teams are just relentless, and Wichita State did that all night tonight. They deserve a lot of credit for playing a great match in the Coliseum and competing really hard tonight.”
On Nebraska’s serving
“I thought Wichita State was a good passing team. Their libero is exceptional, and we were trying to keep it away from her. We’ve been stressing since last January that to win a national championship, you’re going to have to go in and serve great in this tournament. I think our players have a lot of confidence right now, and I really think they’re attacking mentally with their serve. I think you saw that tonight. We’re doing it with a variety of ways, whether it’s a big jump serve, short, sticking it in a corner somewhere.”
The Nebraska link http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.d...ATCLID=1158164 references the Madison regional but Cook's quote is on page 7 of http://volleytalk.proboards88.com/in...6527315&page=7, which also includes some favorable comments from Nebraska fans like:
I respect the Wichita State players and coaches for having this kind of attitude. There are some teams who have come in here, got drilled by NU and then complained, "why did we have to come here and play Nebraska?" They used this as a once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity play one of the best teams in the country, at one of the best venues in the country, and loved every second of their 3-0 sweep. And to their credit, they really showed what they could do and should be proud of their effort.Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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And that was only 1 of 3 articles in the Sunday Eagle re: WSU VB.Originally posted by 1stThings1st
Volleyball Season in Review
Should We Retire Sara Lungren's Jersey?
Perhaps the best and most extensive VB coverage all year. Better late than never I suppose.
Maybe the fact that our men's and women's basketball teams combined for a scintillating 5-44 on their 3-point shooting this weekend left some space to fill in Sunday's sports page.Comment
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Great news about Valeen Finney. I've been worried about her a bit and it would be great for her to do well. I would like to hear more about Katie; I think she is one of the most technically gifted players on the team.Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Drake Bulldogs
If one of the MVC bottom feeders is going to make a move, it might be the Drake Bulldogs. I don't think they are quite ready to contend for a Top 4 or 5 finish, but they the arrow does seem to be pointing up for the Bulldogs, who could be in contention for a Top 6 finish and spot in the MVC Tournament.
They lose 2 seniors. 6'0" MB/OH Samantha Nelson was one of 4 players to play in all of Drakes games in 2007 averaging 2.48 kills and 0.80 blocks per game.
5'8" Setter Sahra Schuster shared the 2007 duties with 5'11" Soph Chelsea Lauersdorf.
Returning Players: Drake had no Juniors on this year's roster and only the above 2 seniors. They had 5 sophomores and 6 freshman on the 2007 roster.
The best of these was 6'1" OH Angela Bys, a sophomore to be and a member of the 2007 MVC Freshman team who averaged 4.13 kills (3rd in the league). She had some huge matches against some of the upper division teams in 2007 although the Shocks did a good job of shutting her down in their 2 matches with Drake.
Another sophomore to be 6'3" OH Alisa DeBerg Roth was playing well at the end of 2007 and should be a mainstay next year.
Junior to be 5'10" OH Emily Madden and Sophomore to be 5'11" Mikayla Sims had solid years for Drake in 2007.
Junior to Be 5-11" Chelsea Lauersdorf who handled about half of the setting duties in 2007 will no doubt takeover full time setting duties.
I did not see any news regarding Drake's recruiting for 2008.
The Bulldogs will continue to be a young team next year with no seniors and the roster split pretty evenly between Juniors and Sophomores.
It will be interesting to see how much improvement they can make in one year, although the top half of the MVC is getting to where they seem to reload every year and moving up from the bottom half of the league will be a challenge.Comment
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Bradley Braves
The Braves (14-50, 2-16) lose their top 2 attackers 5'10" OH Nikki Pierzchala (3.05 kills/game) and 6'1" MB Jenna Harrison (2.28 kills and 0.76 blocks per game). Also graduating is backup setter Eileen Hillary.
The Braves returning seniors to be include their starting setter, 5'11" Sam Black and 6'1" MB Katrina Goncher (2.12 kills and a good 0.94 blocks per game).
Returning juniors to be include 6'2" MB Amy Reichel (2.06 kills), 5'6" Libero Lyndi Sinkpiel and 6'0" OH Kaitlyn Comiskey who only had 13 kills in 106 games she played in.
Returning sophomores to be includes their top returning attacker 5'11" OH Melissa Collins (2.11 kills), 6'3" MB Emily Austin (1.74 kills and a very good 0.90 blocks per game) and 6'1" OH/MH Caitlin Staib (1.13 kills). Also 6'0" Alex Starks played in only 19 games but did manage 40 kills (not sure if she was injured or not).
Again I did not find any info on the Braves recruiting class. However, the Braves are making a Coaching change as Scott Luster's contract was not renewed after 10 years at Bradley. Luster had a pretty solid record in his 13 season's at LSU prior to moving on to Bradley but just could not get it going at Bradley. I know Lambo thinks highly of Scott.
On paper the Braves have some decent size, but have not been very good in recent years. Whether a new Coach can breath some life into their program remains to be seen, but I don't think they had much choice but to try a new direction at this point.Comment
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Indiana State Sycamores
It does not get much worse than 0-18 in the MVC and 3-23 overall. In their 18 MVC matches the Sycs won only 6 games.
No wonder than that 5th year Head Coach Julie Krofcheck resigned at the end of the season.
Indiana State loses no one to graduation, although I'm not sure whether that is all that good of news considering their 2007 performance.
The had 3 juniors, 7 sophomores and 5 freshman on their 2007 roster.
I'm not going to go throuh them individually because no one really stood out in 2007.
You would expect another year of experience in and of itself would allow for some improvement for the Sycamores and if they can make a good hire that could also add some enthusiasm. Not sure that INS has the budget to do anything but take a chance on a young, up and coming Coach. Their average home attendance in 2007 was 131.Comment
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1972: You do know about these stories, right?
Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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I did know about Julie Krofcheck at Indiana State and I did mention that in my post about the Sycamores.Originally posted by SpanglerFan316
I had not heard the knews about Amy Farber Knowles at Drake. That news is not on their VB web site.
The quote from the Drake AD is not particularly flattering:
Maybe I am reading too much into it, but there seems to be an implication that there may have been less than the desired integrity and respect for the educational side of the equation that Drake expected.Farber Knowles, who went 19-72 in three seasons at Drake, on Tuesday was removed by Drake athletic director Sandy Hatfield Clubb.
"The vision for the volleyball program is to be competitive and to be run with respect for education, consistent with the goals and mission of Drake University," Hatfield Clubb said in a statement. "A national search will begin immediately and we will be looking for a coach with demonstrated integrity and a commitment to excellence in the total development of young women."Comment
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Originally posted by lemuel777
Also at the end of the article:Spring plans
WSU coach Chris Lamb is waiting on his spring schedule. The NCAA allows four play dates in addition to practice time, which will likely start in late February.
Two freshmen, setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper from Plano, Texas, and outside hitter Dana Loganbill from Moundridge, will join the team next semester as early high school graduates.
The only player who won't be busy this spring is middle Stephanie Tokarz. She will run and lift, but won't do much jumping in order to protect her chronically painful feet.
"I need Stephanie healthy," Lamb said.
An unknown always emerges from the long WSU bench to contribute. Next season, it might be Valeen Finney, a redshirt freshman from Clearwater.
Finney played in six games last season.
"I plan on wearing her out this spring," Lamb said. "Valeen Finney's got the talent to be one of the top outside hitters in the league. She just needs the experience."
Comment
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After reviewing all of the MVC teams, I don't really see much reason to expect much change in the teams that make up the Top 5 in the league.
Perhaps UNI and MSU lose the most of any of the Top 5, both losing 1st team All-Conference setters and two solid attackers.
Ashley Kell will no doubt replace Katelyn Panzau for MSU at setter and she may be very solid at that position. However, it is hard to believe that Kell will be anywhere close to the outstanding player that Panzau was.
A key for UNI will be how they replace Kristin Belzung.
The Shocks also lose two outstanding players in Sara and Abby. Their seems to be a lot of confidence that Mary Elizabeth Hooper will be more than capable of replacing Abby and may actually bring more athleticism to the game than could Abby who fought an aching back her last two years.
Replacing Sara's all-around game and power will be tough, but I think the Shocks are likely to do with multiple players and in some ways may be even more versatile than with Sara.
From today's Eagle article:
Creighton loses a very good MB in Kelly Goc and Illinois State loses Kari Staehlin. However, both return very good setters in 1st Teamer Korie Lebeda at Creighton and 2nd Teamer Erin Lindsey at Illinois State. Both teams return a good set of players to go with these very good and experienced setters.Lamb envisions a more versatile team next season, one that is more aggressive and faster on offense to play to Hooper's talents. Jakubov and front-row players Amanda Moore, Kim Wadsworth and Valeen Finney will train at several spots.
"These are all players who I think can do a few different things," Lamb said. "Our lefts and rights are going to be interchangeable. Our middles might be somewhat interchangeable."
Stockman, an explosive leaper with a powerful swing, will continue to be a main mover in WSU's attack.
"She's going to be just acrobatic," Lamb said. "We're going to open it up for her in the spring. You'll see her everywhere."
I think next year will prove to another competitive league race with the Top half of the MVC being pretty solid again.
No reason not to expect the Shocks to be right there again in the mix for a MVC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth again.
My initial predictions for the 2008 MVC race:
1. Wichita State
2. Creighton
3. Illinois State
4. Northern Iowa
5. Missouri State
6. Southern Illinois
7. Drake
8. Evansville
9. Bradley
10. Indiana State
The Shocks are admittedly a homer pick, but I really do think they have the talent returning and coming in to continue their reign at the top of the MVC.
:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:Comment
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1972, instead of picking your home team, be objective and pick the team that has won the Valley title in three of the last four years. ;-) :DSome posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Hopefully, I have picked the team that will win 4 out of the next 4 MVC Championships.
:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:Comment
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School: Wichita State
RichKern Poll: 30
Pablo Rankings: 33
AVCA Poll 34:
NCAA Tourney: Top 32Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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Some posts are not visible to me. :peaceful:
Don't worry too much about it. Just do all you can do and let the rough end drag.Comment
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