Shockers at Shocker Volleyball Classic

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers open their home season this weekend, hosting South Dakota on Friday night at 7 pm, Wyoming on Saturday morning at 10 am, and #17 Creighton on Saturday night at 7 pm. The Website article is up.

[1972Shocker]

I had this pegged as the toughest tournament of the 4 (make that 3 now) for the Shockers prior to opening AAC play. This should give us decent measuring stick for where we stand heading into AAC play but who knows how much havoc Covid will play throughout the season.

[flyingMoose]

I had this pegged as the toughest tournament of the 4 (make that 3 now) for the Shockers prior to opening AAC play.

Will anyone take a set off Creighton?

[1972Shocker]

Will anyone take a set off Creighton?

Not expecting that in this tournament. Creighton destroyed SMU in the first 2 sets last week but SMU did make the 3rd set competitive at 22-25.

However, the Shocks don't need to take a set from Creighton to show some progress. I think I would be satisfied if the Shocks can score 60 points in a 3-set loss to Creighton. However, the Shocks could easily fall far short of that.

Not sure what to think of South Dakota and Wyoming. I am expecting them to be at least as good as the best teams we have played so for with the exception of Kansas.

[flyingMoose]

However, the Shocks don't need to take a set from Creighton to show some progress.

Agreed.

[flyingMoose]

A Total Aside.

Our daughter was in Madison last weekend visiting friends and got to see #8 Kentucky play #2 Wisconsin. Not fair, just not fair, I say. 3-1 Badgers with an attendance of 7540. The last two sets were 26-28, 26-24.

[WuDrWu]

Excellent analysis gentlemen.

I hope we can show progress, have a full team and be competitive vs a team that could very well host a regional (2 regionals in Omaha?) Wins over Kentucky, Illinois and USC have to matter, and it's very possible they are going to run the table here on out. Only Marquette and St John's pose any real threat.

Looking forward to seeing the ladies battle this weekend.

[flyingMoose]

Creighton 3-0 Wyoming
19, 10, 19

.174 v .016 - low numbers

[WuDrWu]

I guess we were all busy (or at the match last night).

Last night was one of those nights that I wish more people could have attended. I don't know how you could watch the match and not be entertained.

That being said, seeing them in person really painted the picture of how thin and frankly not that talented we still are.

Best as I could tell, McMahon and Weber weren't there (I'm assuming Covid but have no idea). Poor Natalie was absolutely gassed in the 4th and little more than a body in the 5th.

As the match went on, South Dakota kept everything off the floor and we couldn't get a kill. Both team's littles made a ton of plays. I was really impressed with Coyote libero Lolo Weideman who was incredible all match. For us, Lily was really good and Lara also dug some real bullets and managed to pass successfully most of the time.

I'm really proud of the girls for fighting and finding a way to win in the end (even though South Dakota HANDED us the victory with a service error and return error after the 5th was tied at 13). And I am cognizant of the fact we're young and playing a lot of freshmen with almost no seniors, while SD played 7 players that were 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th year players, and that includes every important position.

I'm not trying to be overly critical of our ladies....they played hard and honestly pretty well for the most part. WAY too many service errors in the 2nd, a set we should have won as easily as the first (which probably makes the match much simpler), threw a monkey in the wrench for the evening. We're in trouble today. Those kids are going to be spent. Long match, get something to eat and hit the hay then up and when I am writing this, probably eating and getting ready to loosen up for the 10 am start today, and some of those girls are not going to be at 100% and Goliath is waiting for them at 7 tonight.

Yes it was Juniors and Seniors against Freshman and Sophomores but the disparity, especially in athleticism, seemed stark. If all you watched was set 4 and 5, you would have NO doubt who was the best team, 9 times out of 10.

And.....for all that I thought about South Dakota being a solid team, and I did, they are still a team that's now 3-4 and had their doors blown off by Louisville and lost to Missouri & Northern Kentucky while beating Bradley, Milwaukee and Central Arkansas.

Hats off to the South Dakota fans who traveled and represented themselves and their team exceptionally well. We should all be that good and pleasant to be around. Well done!


Would love to hear from someone else that was at the match or watched.

[WuDrWu]

At times Morgan Stout was super and I (and anyone that watches will also) LOVE her passion and fight.

The linesman on the up ref side of the floor struggled big time. Kayce did about everything for us but I felt like her decision making left a lot to be desired and she didn't connect very well with the middles most of the match (middles should never have 13 errors). Yes, they made mistakes but Kayce put them in tough spots too often.

We better be more efficient today or it will be a very long one for sure. Man I'd hate to think where we'd be without Kailin. Other than being on the floor almost all night, her 9 kills and 18 digs were a big part of why were we able to win late. Welcome to Wichita young lady!

[flyingMoose]

Herding a grandson and had to leave after the third set. :(

The thing I remember most is how the Shockers won serve/receive big time in the first set.

Our hitting percentage was way low. No hitter was above .200. Poor passing? Poor setting? Poor swings? Good defense? I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to know.

[WuDrWu]

Herding a grandson and had to leave after the third set. :(

The thing I remember most is how the Shockers won serve/receive big time in the first set.

Our hitting percentage was way low. No hitter was above .200. Poor passing? Poor setting? Poor swings? Good defense? I am not nearly knowledgeable enough to know.

WAY too many bad decisions. Setting the wrong person at times and poor sets. But more execution...I couldn't count how many right side swings went wide across the court when it was open. Just too many mistakes and both teams were guilty of them.

No doubt our girls were locked in and sharp in set 1 at least until it got a little sloppy late (should have been a blowout) in the set. Shocks hit .211 in the first, .313 in the 2nd (somehow lost but SEs were awful) and .276 in the 3rd. Not great, but should be good enough against a team like SD to win.

[1972Shocker]

I agree with WuDrWu that SDS was probably the better team and that the Shocks were very fortunate to come away with the win.

Not enamored with the play of our littles. Our best back row defensive player and passer by far in this match was Kailin. Unfortunately, our setter is 2nd best.

Good to have Brylee back butswhe is a bit of a liability when she is in a serve recieve position and you can pretty much count on the opponents targeting her on their serve in those situations.

I'm going to give Kayce a bit of a break because I think our inconsistent passing (an nice way of saying poor passing) makes our setter's job more difficult.

On the positive side I was really impressed with Morgan Stout and for the first time had a chance to see the ahtletiism the coaching staff raves about.

I think we are pretty solid in the middle. Sure could have used Big Mac last night.

I have not been all that impressed with Sophia this year but perhaps that is because she has a target on her back. But she is producing far below expectations. Perhaps she has been a bit over-hyped.

[B&Gpassion]

Worst Shocker volleyball I’ve ever seen….so far. Wake up girls.

[1972Shocker]

Off to a really bad start against Wyoming down 7-17 in Set 1. Littles continue to struggle but have plenty of company so far.