Black and Yellow Scrimmage

[flyingMoose]

Just back from watching the first three sets of this scrimmage. I assume they will play five sets - with the last being to 15?

Black was the team with experience. All had been in the gym before with two R-FR. McKayla was their setter and Lily was the libero.

Yellow had all of the true freshmen with the addition of Kayce as the setter and Sina. Their libero, Bryn Stansberry, is a juco transfer from Iowa Western. Sina and Morgan Weber (Dike, IA) were the six-position players. They played a 6-2 in the third set with Lauren Phillips (Stillwater) being the other setter. Natalie Foster (Mattawan, MI) did a nice job as a MB.

I sat at the Yellow end of the court and was more interested in the newcomers, so I can't really say much about Black. Sophia did some nice things, maybe Nicole also. Megan did not play that much? Like I said, I was not paying that much attention to that end of the court.

Black took two of the three sets I saw: 25-19, 21-25, 29-27.

[WuDrWu]

Black won in 5 after yellow came from way back to get set 4. You could tell yellow was a little nervous early. There's some talent among the youngsters. I also thought Natalie did a nice job in the middle. I thought Sofia was really solid on the right for Black.

Pretty clear that's Emma Wright's last match. Really impressive young lady and she will be missed.

Marriah Buss was really good in the 4th set. I thought McKayla was substantially better than Kayce, but then I also thought black did a better job passing than yellow.


It's just so hard to believe how we've missed so much at the setter position. I do not believe MW or KL are the answer. Hailey looked good in very limited action, to me at least. She'll probably redshirt, but it seems to me you have to look really hard at giving her a shot at some point.

It's hard to win at a high level without a high quality or elite setter.

[flyingMoose]

Pretty clear that's Emma Wright's last match. Really impressive young lady and she will be missed.

We got there just as they were doing the "senior sunflower bouquet" thing for Emma. I wondered if she was graduating at the semester.

And then unexpectedly, a match article is present with a boxscore even. Emma does graduate at the semester with a degree in biology.

Glad to hear that Mariah got it going. She did not do much in the sets I saw.

EDIT: There was also this RH article as a lead-in to the scrimmage.

[newshok]

Stout and Foster looked strong and aggressive at middle and Kayce looks more comfortable setting the middles. With the departure of Emma the Freshman middles are a fresh sight. Both Marriah and Morgan looked good at times but Kelly had the look of leader last night at OH. Coaches have a full toolbox of of pin hitters. It will be fun to watch them whenever the season starts

[boyshocker]

Agree with you Wu, setting looks to be a concern. Looks like we have enough attackers to run a 5-1. The freshman are very athletic and hope they continue to improve. With some good setting this team could be very good, I believe a definite step up from last year.

[WuDrWu]

Great podcast from Paul with Sean Carter. He's pleased with the improvement of the setting position, Brylee getting in the weight room, competition for libero and the freshmen.

Didn't realize freshman Morgan Weber is the younger sister of UNI standout Bri Weber. Man if she's even close to her sister we're in tall cotton there.

https://wichitastate.tv/podcast/wichita-state-volleyball-with-associate-head-coach-sean-carter/