Shocks Host Loyola (Fri, Oct 24th) and Bradley (Sat, Oct 25th)

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks take on Loyola (7-1, 3-6) on Friday at 7:00pm and Bradley (0-19, 0-9) on Saturday at 7:00 pm. Loyola is a little bit dangerous with 6-1 So. OH Morgan Reardon bringing a lot of fire power to the court. The biggest danger with Bradley is it might be hard for the Shocks not to look past an 0-19 team.

I will make every effort to make both matches this weekend although a family wedding on Saturday might make that a little tricky. However, the big issue with the attendance will probably be the fact that the Shocks are going head-to-head against the Royals in the World Series. I will DVR the WS but I can't really blame anyone for staying home and watching the Royals live considering it has been 3 decades since the Royals have been in the post-season. There is a chance of showers in San Fran on Saturday although no way to know if it will be enough wash out the game.

The Valley has bifurcated into two clear sets of haves and have nots this year with the top 5 teams all at 6-3 or better in MVC play (a combined 35-10) and the bottom 5 teams at 3-6 or worse (a combined 10-35) although SIU certainly looks like a team that should be better than 3-6 after seeing them last Friday in Carbondale.

The next 3 matches Loyola, Bradley and Drake (a combined 4-23 in Valley play) may give Lambo a chance to work on and fine tune some things before a pretty tough closing closing stretch @UNI, vs MSU, vs EU, vs SIU, @INS and @ ILS.

Still not sure if Lambo is committed to going with the 6-2 the rest of the way at this point but we may not find out this weekend either if Mikaela Raudsepp is unable to play. According to Sully's article below her availability will be a match-time decision. Considering, the opponents I could see Lambo making a conservative decision and holding her out and go with the 5-1. OTOH playing it to the last minute kind of puts Loyola and Bradley in the position of having to be ready for both the 6-2 and the 5-1. And who knows, Lambo may show some of both this weekend.

Shocker match notes.

Paul Suellentrop's Friday Article.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks picked up the sweep 22, 22, and 20 although I'm not sure they played consistently well. Seemed like the just played good enough when the needed to and Loyola made too many mistakes at key points not too mention the Shocks picked up 2 very lucky points in Set 1 including set point. Would have liked to have heard Lambo's post game comments.

Mikaela Raudsepp did not suit up tonight nor did Hannah Shelton. Nevertheless Lambo went with the 6-2 attack throughout. I though Dani played well. Mash and Abbie were solid as well with Mash showing an assortment of shots and touch to lead the way with 13 kills while hitting 0.360. Abbie was her usual steady self. Ashlyn could not get going in the 1st two sets (maybe not totally her fault) but she caught fire in the 3rd set with 7 powerful kills.

It would appear Lambo is committed to making he 6-2 his offense of choice for the remainder of the year. However, he probably would like to see a little more balance between his setters. Emily had 28 assists to only 12 for McKenzie. Dani set the ball very well out of system and contributed 4 assists.

[WuDrWu]

Worried about Mikaela and the concussion. Hannah was walking with a horrible limp and I wouldn't expect to see her until next week, at the earliest.

I felt a little better about our play than @1972Shocker: I think. I felt like the 6-2 kept our hitters fresh and they were better at putting the ball on the floor. If you told me that Mikaela wasn't going to play, and we were still going to hit .300 I would have told you you're crazy.

The Mostrom sisters are amazing. The back row is in good hands for awhile.

Jenny Whitledge gets better every match. That girl can fly. Mash and Driskill were outstanding. Abbie Lehman hit over .600 yet again.

[flyingMoose]

Other Friday scores

Missouri State 3-1 Bradley - The Bears smoked Bradley in the three sets they won

Evansville 0-3 Illinois State

Southern Illinois 3-1 Indiana State - A bit of a surprise

[xazshox]

The 6-2

Lambo said the Shox lack firepower so the 6-2 concentrates 3 attackers on the front row all the time. However, it may be that with Jenny Whitledge improving with leaps and bounds that he may change his tune in that regard. Jenny is only 5-9, but any doubts anyone has about her ability to jump should be dispelled if you take a look at how high she is above the net in some of the pictures on Go Shockers.com for the game tonight. Ashlyn Driskell had zero errors tonight. On the plus side for the 6-2, McKenzie Fyfe, the 2nd setter, does indeed have the magic hands he described early this season. She made several back sets over the top of her head tonight that were really good. It will be interesting to see what formation Lambo decides to go with when Michaela Raudstepp gets healthy again.

[1972Shocker]

It will be interesting to see what formation Lambo decides to go with when Michaela Raudstepp gets healthy again.

Last weekend he went with the 6-2 against SIU with Mikaela and then switched to the 5-1 against Evansville in which Mikaela was not available.

If nothing else Lambo may be building a team with a lot of flexibility.

[Dave Stalwart]

Other Friday scores

Missouri State 3-1 Bradley - The Bears smoked Bradley in the three sets they won

Evansville 0-3 Illinois State

Southern Illinois 3-1 Indiana State - A bit of a surprise

Somebody needs to step up and knock ISUr off a time or two. Aside from them, there is a really nice battle forming in the top half.

[WuDrWu]

Was anyone paying close attention at 3-1 in the 2nd set and Mash serving....Emily dumped and scored. I'm pretty sure she was in the rotation in the back row, and it was certainly an attack and not just a flat dump. They double switched on the next rotation and she came out with Fyfe coming in.

Did anyone else catch that? Did I miss something?

[Shocker-maniac]

Was anyone paying close attention at 3-1 in the 2nd set and Mash serving....Emily dumped and scored. I'm pretty sure she was in the rotation in the back row, and it was certainly an attack and not just a flat dump. They double switched on the next rotation and she came out with Fyfe coming in.

Did anyone else catch that? Did I miss something?

Yes, I did see that. I also thought she was on the back row.

[Shocker-maniac]

I would love to see some dialogue about whether the shift to 6-2 formation will put us in the position to do some damage in the 2nd half of the conference schedule. It seems to me that this is the solution to our lack of firepower and we basically have the other components in place. As Doc said we played pretty well tonight without Micaela, but there were a few times that we misfired. My gut says yes we will be able to pull off some upsets of some of the three teams above us in the standings. I would love to see the thoughts of those more knowledgeable.

[flyingMoose]

Was anyone paying close attention at 3-1 in the 2nd set and Mash serving....Emily dumped and scored. I'm pretty sure she was in the rotation in the back row, and it was certainly an attack and not just a flat dump. They double switched on the next rotation and she came out with Fyfe coming in.

Did anyone else catch that? Did I miss something?

Yes, I thought Emily left the floor also, but the play I recall was in the third set. I quickly asked my knowledgeable source, and he explained that we were effectively running a 3.5/2.5-2 with an explanation of what that looked like. Thinking back now, that did not really answer the question I was trying to ask - most likely because I was asking the wrong question. McKenzie's dump in the same (third) set was clearly flat-footed.

But maybe we are talking about different plays.

[flyingMoose]

Somebody needs to step up and knock ISUr off a time or two. Aside from them, there is a really nice battle forming in the top half.

Of the top teams ISUr plays in the back half of the conference, only Northern Iowa is on the road. It will take a total collapse for them not to win the regular season.

[1972Shocker]

Of the top tea.ms ISUr plays in the back half of the conference, only Northern Iowa is on the road. It will take a total collapse for them not to win the regular season.

While ILS did basically collapse in the second half of last year I think that makes it even less likely they will do the same this year. I'm sure they are determined not to let that happen again. Plus I think ILS is better this year and WSU and UNI or not as good as last year.

[1972Shocker]

Was anyone paying close attention at 3-1 in the 2nd set and Mash serving....Emily dumped and scored. I'm pretty sure she was in the rotation in the back row, and it was certainly an attack and not just a flat dump. They double switched on the next rotation and she came out with Fyfe coming in.

Did anyone else catch that? Did I miss something?

I noticed that but I think it may have been as @flyingMoose: reported and the they were at times leaving Emily in for one rotation on the front line before replacing her with McKenzie. That would also help explain the disparity in the assists between Emily (28) and McKenzie (12).

[1972Shocker]

I would love to see some dialogue about whether the shift to 6-2 formation will put us in the position to do some damage in the 2nd half of the conference schedule. It seems to me that this is the solution to our lack of firepower and we basically have the other components in place. As Doc said we played pretty well tonight without Micaela, but there were a few times that we misfired. My gut says yes we will be able to pull off some upsets of some of the three teams above us in the standings. I would love to see the thoughts of those more knowledgeable.

Despite your request to hear from those more knowledgable I will throw my .000000001 cent in anyway. The 6-2 is still a work in progress, but for that matter so was our 5-1. I think that's just the nature of the beast with breaking in so many inexperienced players. Whether we are in the 5-1 or the 6-2 I think what will make the difference is the improvement we are seeing from Ashlyn, Jenny and Mash. Ashlyn and Jenny in particular have become tremendously aggressive and Jenny may already be our best back row attacker. Jenny's digging and passing are getting better and better as she gains experience as well. One of Lambo's concerns with the 6-2 was could we dig and pass adequately out of the 6-2. I'm not seeing much, if any, decline in that area between the two systems. If that is an accurate assessment then I see us sticking with the 6-2. Mikaela played very well in the 6-2 at SIU so it will be good to get her back in the lineup as well. The timing between McKennzie and our attackers should also get better the more she plays. I will now yield to anyone, and that would include about anybody, who knows more about what they are talking about than I do.