Shockers at Temple

[1972Shocker]

Watched the replay this evening. Tthe Shocks were pretty bad at the beginning and end of Set 1.

In Set 2 the Shocks got of to a 5-1 lead but Temple tied it up at 7-7 with teams trading points until the Shocks scored 5 of the final 7 points to put the set away.

The Shockers were pretty good most of the 3rd set. Temple scored 4 in a row to close a 16-8 Shocker lead to 16-12 but the Shocks responded with 6 in a row to extend the lead to 22-12 but Temple scored 6 of the final 9 points in the set to make it closer than it was most of the way.

The Shockers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in Set 4 but again Temple got right back in it tying it at 5-5. At 6-6 the Shock went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 14-8. But Temple scored 6 of the next 8 after that to cut the lead to 16-14. The Shocks retook control with a 5 point run to extend the lead to 21-14 with the team pretty much trading points from there on out.

So I guess I would call it kind of a hot and cold effort by the Shocks. Really by both teams. Temple, like most AAC teams, is not without some weapons. Like the Shocks, Temple is pretty young and they were missing one of their starters, 6-2 Jr. OH Gem Grimshaw.

Natalie was pretty solid for the Shock throughout. Brylee only had 1 kill and hit .000 in the 1st set but was pretty good over the final 3 sets. Though Kailin looked good considering how much time she missed. Her passing was good for the most part and she served well. She needs to cut down on the attack errors but she definitely brings more firepower to the floor than MorganW. This a plus getting her back. Sophia constinues to be an enigma. A little surprised Sophie didn't get a chance in this match.

The team continues to win but also continues to have things that need work, but 7-3 halfway through the AAC schedule is certainly running above my expectations. Whether or not the Shocks can duplicate this effort over the 2nd half of the conference schedule remains to be seen.

[1972Shocker]

Natalie Foster’s Dominant Sunday Earns Spot on Weekly Honor Roll

https://goshockers.com/news/2021/10/...onor-roll.aspx

[flyingMoose]

Sophia continues to be an enigma. A little surprised Sophie didn't get a chance in this match.

I wondered if this was a match where Lambo thought he could afford to have a non-productive Sophia and wanted to give her a chance to work her way out of her funk.

[1972Shocker]

I wondered if this was a match where Lambo thought he could afford to have a non-productive Sophia and wanted to give her a chance to work her way out of her funk.

Who knows. Maybe. But Sophie needed just as much of a confidence reboot as did Sophia comining of her 1-0-10 performance in Tulsa, her home town. Now he has both of them coming off of poor performances heading into the final half of the AAC season. Not sure the Shocks are good enough to take matches in the AAC for granted.

Against Tulsa the Shocks ran a number of plays with Sophia coming up through the middle of the court that were quite effective. I don't recall seeing that against Temple. Perhaps that mostly had to do with how each team aligns their defenses.

It would certainly help the Shocks a lot of they could get at least one of these ladies contributing to the scoring load.

[flyingMoose]

But Sophie needed just as much of a confidence reboot ...

Reasonable point.

[1972Shocker]

The Shockers are still putting things together. A couple of the wins in this streak were a surprise to Lambo. Spoke highly of Kayce's play. But still reinventing themselves and searching for some things. The Temple win was the most frustrating of the year. It just never felt quite right. It wasn't comfortable but they did enough to win. Kayce did not practice last week as she had a family situation at home and joined the team in Philly.

If you take UCF out of the equation the rest of the AAC is a war. The teams who fight the hardest will be the most successful. Every team is dangerous.

Temple is pretty much the same team as last year when they took 2nd. But the change is at the setter and libero position. But on any given night they are an AAC upper half offensive team. USF is very similar. They just need to play cleaner.

The 2nd of back-to-back road weekends is something that coaches worry about how the team respond.

Talked about AAC realignment. There is an appeal to College Presidents that schools in a conference be somewhat homogenous. The AAC has been paralyzing for volleyball with the cost of travel sucking up the resources. The new AAC will be more similar to travel in the Valley depending on how they format the conference. Right now he AAC travel costs is suffocaring the volleyball program financially. The realigned conferenence has the potential to provide some relief in that regard. Lambo expects more realignment changes in the future. The direction the AAC is going makes more common sense but Lambo realizes football and basketball drive the bus.

The Shockers are doing just enough to win but certainly not a dominating team. Stil waiting on a match where he can say the Shocks had 4 attackers with good matches. Need to develop more consistent depth. Sophia is dominating in practice but it is not carrying over to the matches. All but said they need more than Brylee and Natalie to carry the load. Not at all confident that they will be able to repeat a 7-3 record in the 2nd half primarily because there is so little difference between most of the teams in the AAC.

Spoke very highly of what Natalie has been able to do out of the M-2 position.

Statistically USF is in the middle of the conference. The Shocks now have a bit of a target on their back.

Still thinks UCF, Houston, Cincy and SMU are still a little bit ahead the Shocks and the rest of the AAC.