Shockers Entertain SMU Feb. 26-27

[flyingMoose]

Gotcha. Morgan played well in the 5th set but I don't think she is quite as good offensively as Nicole is. Although I don't think Niclole freaking out is the main reason the Shockers lost this match.

Definitely not. Didn't pass well enough, didn't block as well. Then if I have a chance to listen to the Coach's Show, I will probably discover that I have no clue what I am talking about. :)

[1972Shocker]

Definitely not. Didn't pass well enough, didn't block as well. Then if I have a chance to listen to the Coach's Show, I will probably discover that I have no clue what I am talking about. :)

They certainly didn't play as well as they did on Friday and I think SMU made some adjustments and played better. No shame in losing to SMU in 5 sets. They have a lot of talente players.

I think the Shocks will be okay.

in his recent broadcast AHC Sean Carter did say that Nicole's success is totally dependent on how she is feeling. Does she think the coaching staff believes in her and Sean said she is a hard person to read at least for him. He said she is very intuitive and she pays attention to details and absorbs and applies the scouting reports very well. But it does sound like Nicole may strugge to maintain her self-confidence. Any athlete plays better when they have confidence in themselves vs self doubts. Lambo always says he doesn't like get into psychology sho Nicoe may be a bit of a challenge for him.

[1972Shocker]

"Freaked out on us" means she made a mistake(s) and then could not let them go. Somewhere at the end of the fourth set, there is a timeout(?) and you can see her I to herself and gesturing to herself as she heads toward the bench. Something similar happened to her earlier this year, so this is nothing new. The fact that Morgan replaced her in the fifth tells me the coaches know that once she slides down that slope, she is unlikely to come back soon. Yes, I think she is quite talented, but she has this mental block to overcome. I am confident she/they are working on it.

In summary, Nicole lets her mistakes affect her subsequent play. It is not apparent that happens with anyone else.

I am assuming you must have attended the match in person. I watched a video repaly of the match. I have gone back to the replay to see if if could find the incident you are referring to and I could not. However, I doubt it occurred in the 4th set as Nicole did not play at all in the 4th set. She was replaced by Morgan.

You can only see what the video is showing on the replay. My guess is where it may have happened was at the end of the 3rd set.

SMU has just hit a ball long to make the score 22-21 but SMU apparently requested a review saying the ball was touched. In real time it looked like Nicole may have barely ticked the ball but it was very hard to tell. They showed 3 different views of the play on the broadcast and I did not think she touched the ball. However, Mary Faragher ruled it was touched and reversed the call to make it 23-20 SMU. I don't not what Mary saw on her replays but it had to be a heck of a lot more conclusive that the replays I saw. Not sure if that set Nicole off or not. She did not seem to react to that. On the next play she made a good dig of the serve and a perfect pass but the setter did not make a good set and SMU won that point to make it 24-20. There was a bit of a delay between the next point at which time the broadcast was only showing the SMU half of the court. Apparently, during that time WSU subbed in Mariah for NIcole none of which was visible. SMU won the ensuring point and the set on a Megan attack error. I'm thinkig what you saw may have been when NIcole subbed out at 24-20.

I guess she could have been upset at being pulled or was stewing over the ref's call reversal. I did not see anything in her play that she should have been too upset over.

[flyingMoose]

I am assuming you must have attended the match in person. I watched a video repaly of the match. I have gone back to the replay to see if if could find the incident you are referring to and I could not. However, I doubt it occurred in the 4th set as Nicole did not play at all in the 4th set. She was replaced by Morgan.

Nicole played in sets 1-4. Morgan played in sets 4-5. Marriah played in set 5. The boxscore more or less confirms this.

Do you have a link to the replay? I'll see if I can find what I am referring to. I don't have a subscription to anything if that is going to be a requirement.

Oh, the second North Texas match was the other time this happened. Nicole played in the first set but not in the last three sets. In this case, Morgan and Mariah played in all four sets. Nicole had one serve-receive error in this match. She had three in the SMU match. Typically, it is serve-receive errors that set her off, but sometimes it is something like tipping the ball into the net.

[1972Shocker]

Nicole played in sets 1-4. Morgan played in sets 4-5. Marriah played in set 5. The boxscore more or less confirms this.

Do you have a link to the replay? I'll see if I can find what I am referring to. I don't have a subscription to anything if that is going to be a requirement.

Oh, the second North Texas match was the other time this happened. Nicole played in the first set but not in the last three sets. In this case, Morgan and Mariah played in all four sets. Nicole had one serve-receive error in this match. She had three in the SMU match. Typically, it is serve-receive errors that set her off, but sometimes it is something like tipping the ball into the net.

The replay is on ESPN+ and it is a subcription service.

Nicole played in sets 1,2,3 and 5. Morgarn played throughout set 4 and most of set 5. Nicole started set 5 on the left side of the back row. She played the first 3 points and SMU targeted her an all 3 serves. She misplayed the 1st into an SMU ace, Nicole put the 2nd serve into play but with a poor pass that Kayce had to run down and bump set back over her head for a back row attack by Nicole who did get the ball safely returned but with an attack that was essentially a free ball for SMU and they scored again. The 3rd serve was the toughest to dig and pass. Nicole made a low pass close to the net that Kayce was forced to bump set again. Nicole made the attack which deflected off of the SMU block and fell to the floor on the just on the Creighton side of the net to make it 2-1. Nicole rotated back to serve but Lambo subbed in Megan for her at that point. I saw Nicole leave the court and run a couple steps past Lambo before she left the frame. I saw nothing unusual to that point but something could have happened when she was out of the frame. Now at that point NIcole could have been upset about her play on those first 3 points of the 5th set. Nicole did not return to the floor for the remainder of the final set. Perhaps this is where you saw Nicole freaking out.

[1972Shocker]

..I have been rewatching the the beginning of that 5th set trying to figure out what the Shocks were doing with their rotation. Since Nicole rotated back to serve after the Shocks scored she had to be at the #2 or right front row. Brooke was at #3-middle front row, Sophia at #4 left front row. Megan at #5 left back row. Sina at #6 middle back row. Kayce #1 right back row behind Nicole.

Because the camera focuses on the setter and follows the ball over the net I could not really see how and where they were moving. Their did seem to be some confusion on Nicole's part about where she needed to be. She initially poitioned herself to the back left but Sean Carter called her over to the court to tell her somthing. The Nicole went back to start at the back left but Megan had to tell her to go the right front for her starting position to avoid an overlapping violation.

It appears that on the 1st serve Nicole broke to the back row left, Brooke moved over to her left on the front row, Kayce moved to the middle front from back right, Sophia looped counter clockwise, behind the backrow from her left front position, The result was that Nicole ended up right in front of Megan to receive the serve but was not really set. Megan looked squared up and ready to receive the serve. It looks like they were trying to end up with a Sophia on the right front and Nicole on the left front. I am not sure if the intended for NIcole to move in front of Megan on the serve recieve or not. Megan is not our best passer out of the back row. Looks like this was the same movement and result on all of the first 3 serves of set 5.

I looked for the same situation in the 5th set with Morgan starting at the left front to see how the Shocks handled it. There were 3 consecutive such points starting at 9-9.

At 9-9 Morgan broke from the right front to right back as Kayce move up from left back. Megan received the serve and Kayce set Meghan on the left side for an attack, as SMU was digging the ball Morgan move back to the front row and she and Sophia crossed over behind the middle with Sophia moving to the right side and Morgan to the left side. The Shocks dug the ensuing SMU attack and got Sophia a swing from the right side but SMU eventually won that point.

On the next point at 10-9 the Shocks used the same movement as on the first three serves of the 5th set with Nicole at the right front row position. Morgan broke from right front to back left with Kayce moving forward from the back right and Sophia looping counterclockwise behind the back row on her way to the right front. However Morgan made it further to the leff near the sideline the Nicole did and was not right in front of Megan who had moved from back left toward the middle with Sina shift from back middle to back right although she was cheating toward the middle of the court. Megan did return that serve with a nice pass but the Shocks did not get a quality swing and SMU won that point as well.

At 11-9 the Shocks used they same movement at they did on the 9-9 point as Morgan broke from the right front to right back as Kayce move up from left back. Kayce set Sophia on the left as Morgan was moving back to the front row from back right but the crossover between Morgan and Sophia was not needed this time as Sophia buried the left side attack for a Shocker side out.

Not sure if this was something new to NIcole or if she just did not execute properly or it requires more quickness than she has but there did to be some confusion on her part and perhaps that led to some frustration.

I am not sure at what point the players can start moving from their starting positions. I always thought it was when the server made contact on the serve but not sure you can accomplish the kind of movement the Shockers were doing so quickly. Maybe it is when the server begins their approach. Nicole is not the only one confused.

It intersesting to note that on all 6 of the points in the 5th set when Nicole/Morgan started at the right front postion that SMU targeted their serve to the right back position. They won 4 of those 6 points. Of the 4 points where Nicole/Morgan broke back to the right bight corner they received the serve. The teams split the 2 points where Morgan dropped to the right back row. On those points once was serve to Megan on the right backs. She made a decent pass but the Shocks lost that point. On the other SMU got the serve a little closer to the middle of the court and Sina received from the back middle position and the Shocks won that point.

Apparently, when the Shocks are in that alignment with Nicole/Morgan at the right front position SMU's scoouting report told them to serve the right back row. Now whether or not this same thing was happening in the other sets and on Friday I don't know or if SMU was targeting Megan when she was left back and having success and Lambo made an in match adjustment on this to try to get what he considered a better passer back to the back right I would have to take some time to look for that which I may or may not do. This might be an adjustment/move Lambo will be rethinking.

BTW, this is about as deep as I have ever dived into a volleyball play and it reconfirms that I am a volleyball novice. I just like to watch the ladies play. Disecting what they are doing is work

[flyingMoose]

Clearly, my recollection of the "setting" is wrong. That is not surprising since, at my age, I barely remembering anything I did two days ago.

But I still hold to my premise that she can let her mistakes get to her and affect her play. When she shanked the pass (first serve of set 5? possibly), I recall thinking "Uh oh. How is she going to react?" - the muttering to herself, the arms moving (as part of her muttering? rehearsing how she should have returned the serve? dunno). I was so focused on her and her reactions, nobody else was "in the frame." So maybe there was not a timeout with her on the way to the bench. Maybe she was just walking back to her position.

We need her on the court. She has a variety of attacking tools that others do not have. Every player has to fight through their mistakes (bad passes, bad sets, bad swings). She has to learn to do it, too.

(I need to go back and listen to Sully's RH chat with Sean.)

[1972Shocker]

The more I think about this the more I think that what I described above may have been an on-the-fly adjustment and that it was after the first 3 points of the 5th set that Nicole may have "freaked out" after she was subbed although that part is not shown on the video broadcast.

Before the 5th set started Nicole took the court at the front row right. Sean Carter said something to her from the sideline and then she walked over to the back left near Megan. She turned towards Sean turned and looked at Sean and then trotted back over to talk with Sean. Then Nicole walked back over to the left back row to the left of Megan. Sean kind of looked at her but then turned and walked back to the bench. Then Megan started talking with Nicole and then looked over at the bench. And then both Megan and Natalie (who was middle back before Sina entered in her place) pointed tor Nicole to go back to the right front to start the point (to avoid and overlapping violation). It certainly looked like Nicole was uncertain about what she was supposed to be doing at that point.

Maybe they will need to work on this one in practice or maybe they should just scrap it. The results (losing 4 of 6 points on SMU's serve) sure weren't very good.

[1972Shocker]

Clearly, my recollection of the "setting" is wrong. That is not surprising since, at my age, I barely remembering anything I did two days ago.

But I still hold to my premise that she can let her mistakes get to her and affect her play. When she shanked the pass (first serve of set 5? possibly), I recall thinking "Uh oh. How is she going to react?" - the muttering to herself, the arms moving (as part of her muttering? rehearsing how she should have returned the serve? dunno). I was so focused on her and her reactions, nobody else was "in the frame." So maybe there was not a timeout with her on the way to the bench. Maybe she was just walking back to her position.

We need her on the court. She has a variety of attacking tools that others do not have. Every player has to fight through their mistakes (bad passes, bad sets, bad swings). She has to learn to do it, too.

(I need to go back and listen to Sully's RH chat with Sean.)

She might have been freaking out on the court an not when she was subbed out and the Shocker side of the court was not in the frame when she was doing that. In any case, there is no doubt there was come confusion and perhaps a lack of understanding/confidence in what the coaches were wanting her to do which no doubt could lead to frustration. Whether it was all on Nicole or whether Lambo/Carter share some responsibility in how they communicated what they were wanting is impossible to know.

[flyingMoose]

She might have been freaking out on the court and not when she was subbed out and the Shocker side of the court was not in the frame when she was doing that.

Yes, this was very near the sideline away from the Shocker bench.

I went back and listened to Sully's podcast with AHC Sean. There are some remarks about Nicole from the 20:30 mark to 22:20. A couple of times he mentions "confidence" although not always in terms of her execution. I think Lambo made analogous remarks in an early Coach's Show (but that was many more than two days ago). I readily admit I may be predisposed to hear certain comments and place them in the "confidence" bucket.

[1972Shocker]

Yes, this was very near the sideline away from the Shocker bench.

I went back and listened to Sully's podcast with AHC Sean. There are some remarks about Nicole from the 20:30 mark to 22:20. A couple of times he mentions "confidence" although not always in terms of her execution. I think Lambo made analogous remarks in an early Coach's Show (but that was many more than two days ago). I readily admit I may be predisposed to hear certain comments and place them in the "confidence" bucket.

Okay, I bet it was after Nicole mishandled that first serve of the 5th set. After the play Sophia came over to give some encouragement to Nicole and at that poinet the camera switched back to the SMU server. Even Shane commented on the broadcast that Nicole couldn't handle what looked like otherwise a benign serve.

Lambo has also said numerous times that he doesn't like to delve into the psychology aspects of dealing with players but it sounds like he may need to with Nicole. I think Nicole is a very skilled player and she can be tough when she is on.

[flyingMoose]

Okay, I bet it was after Nicole mishandled that first serve of the 5th set. After the play Sophia came over to give some encouragement to Nicole and at that poinet the camera switched back to the SMU server. Even Shane commented on the broadcast that Nicole couldn't handle what looked like otherwise a benign serve.

Lambo has also said numerous times that he doesn't like to delve into the psychology aspects of dealing with players but it sounds like he may need to with Nicole. I think Nicole is a very skilled player and she can be tough when she is on.

In Sean's remarks, he admitted having a difficult time reading Nicole, how she was feeling, etc.

[1972Shocker]

Brooke Smith Named Defensive Player of the Week

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/3/1/volleyball-smith-named-defensive-player-of-the-week.aspx

So happy for Brooke. Couldn't have happened to a nicer young lady.