Shocker VB vs Memphis & SMU

[1972Shocker]

Poor padding continues, especially MorganW. SMU starting to target her with their serves.

SMU up 15-8 in set 3 at the media timeout.

SMU 21-10. Shocker timeout.

Sweep complete. SMU 21, 21, 12

Fitting it ended on a Shocker overpass smashed back by SMU.

SMU outhit the Shock 371 to .202.

Thought the Shockc played pretty hard but their passing turned south with them leading 20-18 in the 32ndset and SMU outscored them 32-15 the rest of the way.

[flyingMoose]

In Set Three, the Shockers passed badly early and often. SMU 25-12.

Brylee and Natalie each had 13 kills for the match.

I'm sorry, but MorganW is a six-position back-row player. But nobody has demonstrated they are an option either. With Sophia out, the rest of the season could get long.

EDIT: Oops, I missed the summary by 1972Shocker in the layout of the pages. I apparently am not smart to find the Next button or something.

[flyingMoose]

Other Sunday Matches

UCF 3-0 Tulane
22, 22, 20

USF 1-3 Houston
13, 13, (23), 12

Memphis 3-1 Tulsa
21, 18, (21), 21

Cincinnati 2-3 East Carolina
(23), 25, (19), 21, 13

[RoyalShock]

Probably the only match I will see this year, but it was pretty clear SMU was a little better in each phase of the game. I didn't realize we were without our best back row player, which would explain the poor passing and setting.

We did see Ava Jones at the game. She and Morgan Stout are both from Nickerson and surely friends. She was getting up and down the steps decently well, which was good to see.

[WuDrWu]

SMU showed off not one but two grad transfers. London Austin-Roark is a 6-4 (stunningly gorgeous) 23 year old 5th year grad transfer from Texas A&M where she was an all conference freshman but was limited for the next 3 years. They also added Marieke Van der Mark, a 6’6” super senior grad transfer from Baylor where she played 4 seasons after redshirting in 17-18. She started every match in 19-20 when Baylor spent much of the season in the top 5. There’s just not much you can do against that especially when your one player that can best match up again those two monsters, Sophia, is done .

SMU absolutely murdered us in serve/receive although I don’t think the stats reflect how one sided it was. It’s hard to believe they aren’t playing Rachel Woulfe.

[NCAABound]

Yeah that was ugly. Shox started well the first 2 sets but couldn't maintain. The errors just catch up with them. The 3rd set was just an obliteration. I counted at least 3-4 bad passes that were just sent back COD from the SMU front line...possibly more.

[Critter's Pa]

Thought the Shockc played pretty hard but their passing turned south with them leading 20-18 in the 32ndset and SMU outscored them 32-15 the rest of the way.

It seemed like the passing was especially bad on the few free balls and slower serves. I thought we got too cutesy with them and Kayce had to get low to get under the ball. When that happens, the timing gets off for the front row hitters. I think that is why Foster pretty much disappeared half way through the match. It's too bad that Rohling and Uyar were both out. I hope we get them back soon. It looked like Lara had something on her elbow while she was shagging balls during warm-ups.

[1972Shocker]

Not having Sophia was a big blow. While she would have helped not sure the outcome would have been much different. Not having Lara was not that big of a deal IMO and Lara is certainly not our best back row player. We have been a poor serve and pass team all year and that is hard to overcome. Just watch how little the opposing setters are scrambling all over the court compared to Kayce. At this point I think the team just is what it is. The top 3 teams in the AAC are just beyond the Shocks abilities I think. They can compete against the rest of the AAC although that task has gotten a bit more difficult without Sophia. Wednesday's match with Tulsa should tell us a lot about that.

[Critter's Pa]

I totally agree with you about Sophia. I thought that coach would have moved Frosty to opposite with her out of the lineup since she is a better blocker than SophiE. I kinda thought he would have played Foster at opposite when Sophia was subbed out when we played UCF to try to slow down Melville. Will be interesting to see how Emerson Wilford progresses, might see a bit more of her with Sophia out of the lineup.

I hope that Kate Galligan's passing improves quickly this year. She only has 2 serve/receive errors this year, out of 108 attempts, so she has that going for her.

I should be at the Tulsa game Wednesday. Hope we bounce back with smooth play and a decisive win.