Shockers v Temple

[flyingMoose]

The "weekend" continues with a match against Temple on Friday at 7 pm. The Owls are 1-13 in the AAC, their lone win being at home versus USF. The Shockers defeated Temple 3-1 in Philadelphia.

Of some interest is that USF has a better Pablo number than Temple with Temple's being the lowest in the Conference.

[1972Shocker]

This is a season I don't take any AAC match for granted. Yes, the Shocks are the clear favorite in this one but there is a reason they play the matches. It's not like Temple is totally defenseless/offenseless.

[flyingMoose]

This is a season I don't take any AAC match for granted. Yes, the Shocks are the clear favorite in this one but there is a reason they play the matches. It's not like Temple is totally defenseless/offenseless.

I definitely was not suggesting we start the JV lineup. I was just saying that by a metric or two (Temple has won 13 sets in their conference matches and USF has won 16 sets), USF may have the better team. But it is not like the Shocks have steamrolled anybody in the AAC for a complete match. Well, USF both times I guess.

[1972Shocker]

Set 1

Shock up 15-10 at the media timeout. Shocks hitting .240 to .000 lead by Brylee, Natalie and Sophia so far.

Shocks cruise to a 25-15 win in Set 1 although I think it was more due to Temple's poor play as it was good play by the Shocks. I actually thought the Shocks passing was pretty poor.

Shocks outhit Temple .200 to -.068. Temple was 7-10-44 while the Shocks were 14-6-40.

Brylee, Natalie and Sophia with 12 of the Shockers' 14 kills.

I would expect Temple's level of play with improve. They were pretty bad in set 1.

[1972Shocker]

Set 2

Man this down ref is slow as molasses with her replay reviews. These lengthy reviews I think are hard on both teams. Makes for a pretty disjointed flow of play.

Shocks up 15-11 at the media timeout. Not that they are playing that well. 3 service aces this set, 2 by Kayce and 1 by Brylee, the difference so far.

Shocks go up 2-0 with a 25-19 win in Set 2.

Shocks hit .273 to .159 for Temple in the set. Shocks not playing well other than Brylee who is playing very well. Shocker passing continues to be sub-par IMO.

Temple has 19 kills in 88 attacks for a paltry 21.6% kill rate.

Would like to see the Shocks finish this off in 3 but would also like them to finish with better effort than they showed in the first 2 sets witht he exception of Brylee.

[1972Shocker]

Set 3

Despite outhitting Temple .500 to .240 in the set the Shocks are only leading 15-12 at the media timeout.

Brylee rotates out and Temple closes to 16-17 but a nice kill by Kayce on a Lily overpass and two Temple hitting errors give the Shocks a 20-16 lead and Temple calls a timeout.

Temple scores 4 in a row out of the timeout to tie it at 20-all and Lambo calls a timeout.

Temple makes it 6 in a row to go up 22-20.

Temple seemingly scored set point but were called for a net violation which was upheld on review. Set tied at 24-24.

Shocks serving for the set at 26-25. Brylee with a ball called a serice error but Shocks are challenging. It was close, looked in to me on the one replay run on the video stream gut it wasn't the best angle. On review the call was reversed and Brylee's service ace closes out the set at 27-25 and completes the sweep. Appropriate ending as Brylee pretty much carried the Shocks in this one. Natalie was pretty good tonight as well.

Brylee hit 18-2-39 = .410 and had 2 of the Shocker's 5 service aces. Natalie quietly hit 11-3-21 = .381 and had 3 block assists. Sophie came off the bench late in the 3rd set and contributed 2 kills on 5 attacks with no errors. Those 3 accountded for 31 of the Shockers 48 kills and hit a combined .400. The rest of the Shockers hit 17-9-61 = .082.

I thought both Morgans played poorly tonight. W did hit 6-1-20 = .250 but had some fortunate bounces in there and I thought Morgan's floor game was not very good. S hit 4-4-18 = .000 but she did have 5 block assists. Kailin must really be in Lambo's doghouse not to be given much of a chance with the way W is playing. Sophia was only 4-3-13 = .077.

I don't know if the Shocks were drained by the tough, roller-coaster match with Tulsa or if they just took Temple for granted. Fortunately for the Shocks the Owls did not play well at all tonight and the Shocks had some good fortune in that 3rd set.

Just as not entertaining of a match to watch from my perspective and the super long reviews on challenges just torpedoed the flow of the match.

Hopefully, the Shocks got this one out of their system as they reverted back to a two-player show with Brylee and Natalie carrying the laod. No where near the balance scoring they had against Tulsa. I don't think they can beat SMU and Cincinnati playing like they did tonight. ECU and Memphis maybe or maybe not.

[1972Shocker]

Thursday result in the AAC:

SMU 3 @ South Florida 1 by scores of 19, 20, (20), 20

Memphis 0 @ USF 3 by scores of 18, 19, 14


Other Friday results in the AAC:

ECU 0 @ Houston 3 by scores of 20,14,21

Cincinnati 3 @ Tulane 1 by scores of 24, 23, (23), 20


Shocks are done for the week. Currently are in 3rd one-half game in front of SMU and Cincinnati.

SMU is at UCF on Saturday and Cincinnati is at Houston on Sunday.

[flyingMoose]

Set 3
I don't think they can beat SMU and Cincinnati playing like they did tonight. USF and Memphis maybe or maybe not.

... ECU and Memphis ...

[flyingMoose]

Thursday Matches

Memphis 0-3 UCF
18, 19, 14

SMU 3-1 USF
19, 29, (20), 20


Other Friday Matches

ECU 0-3 Houston
20, 14, 21

Cincinnati 3-1 Tulane
24, 23, (23), 20


No surprises in those matches. Cincinnati at Houston on Sunday is the one to look forward to. Maybe SMU can make it interesting at UCF on Saturday.

[1972Shocker]

... ECU and Memphis ...

Corrected. That's what I get trying to go by memory.

[ShockTalk]

Not only were the reviews long, there was a lot of them. Did not want this match to go to a 4th set.

[1972Shocker]

Not only were the reviews long, there was a lot of them. Did not want this match to go to a 4th set.

Usually a 3 set match will take about 1.5 hours, maybe a little less. This one took just about 2 hours.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Seems like most of the reviews were favorable for the Shocks.

[flyingMoose]

From VT-

Houston/Cincinnati are both just outside the tournament - RPI's #53 and #56. They play each other this weekend and Houston won the first matchup and has the better at-large chance. For the AAC to get multi-bids, they would prefer a Houston win.

[flyingMoose]

Saturday Matches

SMU 0-3 UCF
16, 21, 20

Memphis 1-3 USF Woot! The first conference win for the Bulls.
25, 17, (23), 23

[1972Shocker]

Sunday AAC Matches

Cincinnati 0 @ Houston 3
17, 16, 23

Temple 0 @ Tulsa 3
23, 23, 17

ECU 1 @ Tulane 3
19, 27, (21), 23

Houston's win over Cincinnati puts the Shocks in sole possession of 3rd place at 11-5, one game ahead of Cincinnati and SMU who are both 10-6. The Shocks are 2 games up on 9-7 Tulane and 3 games up on 8-8 Tulsa.

The Shocks are on the road next week at Cincinnati on Friday and at ECU on Sunday. I expect both to be challenging matches and the Shocks need to play better than they did in the final 3 sets vs Tulsa and in their sweep of Temple.

The Shocks finish up the following week hosting SMU on Wednesday the 24th and hosting Memphis on Friday the 26th.