Shockers v USF

[flyingMoose]

The Shockers complete their first home conference weekend with a match against the Bulls of USF at 1 pm on Sunday. USF are 0-3 in conference with losses to Cincinnati (2-3) and East Carolina (1-3) and a loss at Tulsa (1-3) on Friday. The Bulls are probably in the bottom third of the conference, but they are not to be taken lightly.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like Sophie Childs getting the start over Sophia Rohling.

Tied 15-all in the 1st set.

Shocks pull out to a 21-16 lead behind service aces by Natalie and Bryn, two stuff blocks by MorganS and a kill by Sophie.

After a USF timeout Bryn gets another ace and Morgan S gets a tip kill to make it 23-16.

The Shocks close out the 1st set on an 8-1 run for a 25-17 win.

Sophie leading the Shocker attack hitting 4-0-5 = .800 as the Shocks outhit USF .242 to .071. The Shocks had 3 aces to 4 service errors and outblocked USF 4-2.

Set 2

Shocks jump out to an 9-0 lead as they have scored 17 of the last 18 points.

USF now on a 9-4 run to close the gap to 17-12.

Shocks take set 2 by a score of 25-18. USF errors probably had more to do with this set than the Shockers level of play.

Sophie, Natalie and Morgan leading the Shocker attack combining to hit 19-3-35 = .486. However, not getting much from Brylee and MorganW

Shocks now outhitting USF for the match .300 to .097, 5 aces to 1 and blocks 7 to 2 in favor of the Shocks. Sophie, Natalie and Morgan leading the Shocker block as well.

Set 3

Shocks take a 15-9 lead behind Brylee and Natalie. Good to see Brylee getting it going.

Shocks finish off the sweep with a 25-17 3rd set win.

Really nice to break the 5 match losing streak and quite frankly a loss to USF, especially at home, would have been pretty bad.

Whatever we take away from this match should probably be tempered somewhat considering USF is not very good. But I think there were some definite positives.

The Shocks played a pretty clean match with only 11 attack errors on 87 swings for an error rate of 12.6%. My guess is that's a season best number. USF was not very good defensivley however.

Mike mentioned that one of USF's strengths was there blocking but the Shocks outblocked them 9-3.

Pretty balanced attack by the Shocks today:

Sophie Childs, who only played the final point in Friday's loss to UCF, hit 10-2-18 = .444 with a .556 kill % plus had a block solo and 3 block assists. Her only attack errors was on a solid block by USF and on ball she hit that was just barely long.

Natalie Foster hit 9-2-17 = .412 with a .529 hitting % and had 6 block assists.

Brylee Kelly came on strong in set 3 to finish the match at 9-4-23 = .217 with a .391 hitting % plus 3 block assists.

Morgan Stout was 6-1-13 = .385 and a .462 hitting % with a couple of block assists.

Morgan Weber was 6-2-1 = .308 and a .462 hitting % and lead the Shocks with 11 digs.

Overall the Shocks outhit USF .333 to .044 with only 11 attack errors to 22 attach errors for USF.

Hopefully, the Shocks gain some confidence from this weekend but keep it in perspective. They still have much they can and need to improve on.

It would seem like Sophie Childs has earned a starting role for now but can she sustain her level of play especially against stronger competition.

[flyingMoose]

Does ESPN+ show any of the video during a challenge? I thought there were two reasonably clear touches by USF - one at the net and one by the libero(?) in the back - that were not overturned. To this point in the season, I can recall only one overturn - that on a ball that was very clearly in but had been ruled out. Is the camera setup even good enough to see touches?

[flyingMoose]

I agree - the Shockers will have to play better to make some noise in the AAC because USF is not a particularly good team. But with nice play in two consecutive matches, perhaps this is a weekend for the Shockers to build on.

[1972Shocker]

Elsewhere in the AAC:

UCF 3 - Tulsa 1; 15, (27), 19, 17
ECU 3 - Memphis 0; 12, 21, 22
Houston 3 - Temple 0; 16, 24, 15
Cincinnati 3 - SMU 1; 23, 23, (24), 24 (Not much to choose between those 2 teams)

[flyingMoose]

A "crossed" post

[1972Shocker]

Does ESPN+ show any of the video during a challenge? I thought there were two reasonably clear touches by USF - one at the net and one by the libero(?) in the back - that were not overturned. To this point in the season, I can recall only one overturn - that on a ball that was very clearly in but had been ruled out. Is the camera setup even good enough to see touches?

Yes ESPN+ does show replays on challenges. I think both of those calls were close but looked like the were called correctly. Certainly could not see enough to overturn the play as called.

[flyingMoose]

Yes ESPN+ does show replays on challenges. I think both of those calls were close but looked like they were called correctly. Certainly could not see enough to overturn the play as called.

Thanks. Sometimes in the stands, you hear a sound and sometimes the angle creates an "optical illusion" of sorts. Several times the official gave an extended explanation to either coach, and his body language (shoulder shrugs) seem to say, "I couldn't see enough to overrule the call" - "the call stands" rather than "the call is confirmed" scenario.

[1972Shocker]

i guess it's not all that big of a deal in volleyball since the teams are separated by the net but not wild about both teams wearing all back uniforums.

[flyingMoose]

Kayce on the Weekly Honor Roll

[1972Shocker]

Chris Lamb Show - October 4th

Happy the way the Shocks came out on Sunday after the tough loss to UCF on Friday. Thought USF had pretty decent firepower. He thinks they will get better with experience. Similar to the Shocks.

Both UCF and USF were very good blocking and serving teams (in terms of getting service aces). Shocks did a pretty good job of nullifying that. Lambo said the blocking stats can be a bit misleading. But he has challenged some girls to be more block avoiders (he mentioned Sophia and Brylee).

Kayce's learning curve has accelerated. A lot of that is playing in a 5-1 where she gets more reps.

One of the more frustrating thing for the Coaching staff is the indecision by their young players in serve receive.

Sophia has had a little bit of an ab issue.

The decision making by the setter is extremely important. Kayce is learning that. Kayce needs to be a bit more demanding of the hitters when they screw up. She tends to take the blame for any bad set. Not her personality to push her teammates in that way.

Lauren McMahon is out for the year. Lauren can play both middle positions. Causes you to play your whole practice like you have 4 fouls. They are trying to keep Natalie and Morgan out of harms way as much as possible.

A lot went right for the Shocks vs UCF but a lot of it was that his team competed and fought for it. Between Melville and Watson it's like UCF had both the 1st and 2nd picks in the draft.

Volleyball is the 2nd tallest sport in the world. Interestingly water polo (according to Lambo) is the tallest.

Talked about Brylee snapping back from her bad weekend the previous week. Getting MorganW back was a big help to Brylee as she was probably a bit overwhelmed trying to fill the 6 rotation role against Houston with both Kailin and MorganW out. Brylee will be hard to displace as a 3-ro attacker.

Sophia has been struggling (as we all know). Maybe they were asking Sophia to do more than she was capable of. He and Sean thought maybe the expectations for her and her struggles have been weighing on her. So they went with Sophie to try to give Sophia a break. Sophie certainly responded to her opportunity but Sophia will be back in there at some point.

Lambo did not think going in that USF was a very good defensive team once you got the ball past the net and that pretty much proved to be the case and they probably scored quite a few points that would not be there against better teams.

Kailin is still not ready to go but she is ahead of schedule but still may not be ready for this next weekend.

MorganW should continue to improve after coming off a month of quarantine. MorganS and MorganW bring the most enthusiasm to the team. Says he might start calling all his players Morgan.

Memphis is a tough matchup style-wise for the Shocks. They have good balance and their setter is a gunslinger. Just a little more well oiled than the Shocks. SMU will always gets top club athletes and should always be near the top of the league.

Lambo said he is still in development mode but is liking what he is seeing.

[flyingMoose]

I think the back-end of a travel weekend is especially tough. I wish we were getting Memphis and SMU in the opposite order.

The comments about Sophia seemed to agree with some of our speculation - some mental hurdles to overcome.

[1972Shocker]

While I wasn't overly impressed with USF the Shockers were the only AAC team to sweep the Bulls in their first 4 matches. The Bulls were pretty competitive at home two weeks ago against Cincy, losing in 5 sets despite outscoring Cincy 104-100, and losing in 4 to ECU with 3 of those sets going to extra points. Tulsa also beat them in 4 sets on Friday but the 3 sets Tulsa won were by scores comparable to the Shockers 3 set victory.

[flyingMoose]

Wed 6 Oct

Cincinnati 3-0 ECU
26, 16, 10