Jam The Gym Night - Shocks vs Missouri State - Friday, 7:00 pm

[1972Shocker]

If the Shocks have any hopes of finishing higher than 4th place this match they probably are going to need to win.

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=209750406

Jam the Gym - All match tickets are Buy 1-Get 1-FREE; season-ticket holders receive 2 FREE game tickets
Youth Volleyball Night - FREE admission for youth 12 and under when they wear their uniform to the match
Volleyball Giveaway - First 1,000 fans receive FREE volleyballs courtesy of Aetna

I had already received 2 free match tickets for each of my 2 season tickets plus I had a Shocker Gift Certificate I won at the VB101 dinner for 2 more free tickets (actually those weren't free since I paid for 2 scoops in the Diamond Dig pit). In any case, I will be taking a gang of 8. Please join me.

Shocker - Bear matches always seem to be very competitive and as often as not go 5 sets. Should be fun.

:poster_shocks:

[WuDrWu]

Haha, delete my other thread. Too funny.

I have a gift certificate for 4 tickets for anyone that wants it, just let me know.

[1972Shocker]

Great minds and all. LOL

[1972Shocker]

Wichita Eagle game day report.

[Mr. Pickle]

Tied up at 1 set apiece after 2. Shocks finally got some momentum towards the end of the 2nd set heading into the break.

[Mr. Pickle]

Tied up at 1 set apiece after 2. Shocks finally got some momentum towards the end of the 2nd set heading into the break.

Shox win 3-2!

[flyingMoose]

Shockers: 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-11

Attendance was 5127!!!

[flyingMoose]

Other Friday Scores

Evansville 0-3 Drake

Indiana State 3-1 Bradley

Illinois State 3-0 Loyola

Southern Illinois 3-2 Northern Iowa
25-19, 25-27, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8

Illinois State remains undefeated in the Valley. Northern Iowa has three losses, while the Shockers and Missouri State have four losses.

[1972Shocker]

Great crowd tonight. Wished that was the norm. As usual the Shocks and MSU gave the crowd their money's worth although it may not have always been pretty.

I thought Set 1 was a matter of which team played the least poorly. Ended up being the Bears.

Set 2 was more of the same until the Shocks, trailing 16-18, seemed to come alive as they outscored the Bears 9-3 to finish off the Set and tie the match at 1-1 which prove to be very important. I was quite happy to be tied at the intermission considering how the Shocks had played to that point.

The Shocks played a 5-1 offense all the way tonight after having played mostly the 6-2 in recent matches. Perhaps that had them a little out of sync or maybe it was just the consistent inconsistency of this young Shocker team. In any case, I was hoping the Shocks had finally started to click and that the would carry over to the 3rd Set. Wrong again. Just hate it when that happens.

The Shocks came out in Set 3 and looked totally lost and discombobulated. After falling behind 13-5 Lambo, either giving up on the set or looking for a spark, removed Emily and Masher and inserted Mckenzie and Katy Dudzinkski. That did not work well at all as MSU promptly extended the lead to 18-5 at which point Lambo reinserted Emily and Masher. For some reason that did seem to wake the Shocks up as they pulled back to within 5 points at 18-23 before falling 19-25, but they had outscored MSU 14-7 to close out the set and regain so mojo.

The played well in the 4th set winning 25-19 and again in the 5th set taking a 14-7 lead. Then they all of a sudden reverted back to early 3rd set mode. They could not get a good pass to get in system and MSU closed to 14-11 before losing the set and the match on an attack error by Lynsey Wright.

Welcome to the roller coaster ride that is Shocker VB in 2014.

Individually Ashlyn continued her very strong play leading the way with 17-3-40 0.350 line.

Masher had 13 kills but also 8 errors. She seems to get blocked more than any other Shocker. She is an interesting player in that she actually seems to be more effective attacking from the back row than at the net.

Abbie had 13 kills also but with 5 errors on 30 swings for a 0.267 hitting % she was not as efficient as she normally is.

Dani Mostrom continues to play very well also.

On a very positive note both Mikaela Raudsepp and Katie Reilly played very well late after getting off to slow starts. Personally, I think we need both of these ladies in the mix and playing well to be at our best. Mikaela was 5-0-14 = 0.357 and had 2 solo blocks. Katie was 4-1-7 = 0.429 with 6 digs.

One thing I will say about this young team. They do keep their collective heads up and they keep grinding away. A lot of teams would have simply wilted after the start the Shocks got off to in Set 3.

Another fun time at Koch Arena tonight.

[1972Shocker]

Other Friday Scores

Evansville 0-3 Drake

Indiana State 3-1 Bradley

Illinois State 3-0 Loyola

Southern Illinois 3-2 Northern Iowa
25-19, 25-27, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8

Illinois State remains undefeated in the Valley. Northern Iowa has three losses, while the Shockers and Missouri State have four losses.

I'm not totally surprised by the SIU win. Saw them play the Shocks in Carbondale and they have some weapons.

[The Mad Hatter]

For all the inconsistencies of this team, the one thing that appears to be the biggest obstacle to success is consistent blocking. When our block looks decent (I'm not even talking blocks for kills, but not missing entirely or having attacks tooled off for kills), we look very good. We just go through stretches where our blocking gives us nothing. Oddly, we seem to be better on solo blocks than when we have multiple blockers (we were out blocked 8 to 11 by MSU but won the solo block total 4 to 0). We have a lot to work on as a young team, but I think that if we can get our blocking solidified we have enough assets in other areas to feel good about making a run in the MVC tourney.

[Rixtoy1]

On a very positive note both Mikaela Raudsepp and Katie Reilly played very well late after getting off to slow starts. Personally, I think we need both of these ladies in the mix and playing well to be at our best. Mikaela was 5-0-14 = 0.357 and had 2 solo blocks. Katie was 4-1-7 = 0.429 with 6 digs.

One thing I will say about this young team. They do keep their collective heads up and they keep grinding away. A lot of teams would have simply wilted after the start the Shocks got off to in Set 3.

Another fun time at Koch Arena tonight.

I happen to be a BIG Katie Reilly fan and was thrilled when she really became a factor late in the match. I thought she was perhaps injured, but recognize the bit of "slump" she has been in.
but, when she started turning it on in the 4th and 5th sets I loved it. Her play was great, but her enthusiasm is so contagious. Happy for her and the team. A fun thing to watch.

[WuDrWu]

I was really proud of these girls last night. I walked away feeling a little different than @1972Shocker: about the play. I thought much of the match was fairly high quality. I thought Missouri State was really good. Lily Johnson is the real deal and is another of a growing legion of young players in the Valley who are not only difference makers now, but should be outstanding in the coming seasons. To me, at least the Valley volleyball programs seem to be trending up.

In the 10 years or so I've been following this program, I've never seen so much uncertainty this late in the season. Who will play week to week? I will say that rotating the lineup gave us a chance last night. For the 1st time in awhile, Jenny Whitledge had a mostly off night. Enter Mikaela to provide a much different look and allow Driskill more open space. Plus we had the fresher legs late when it was decided.

I'm still not sure we have enough firepower up front to win the tourney, but I would love to see these ladies firing on all cylinders in about 3 weeks and take our chances.

[WuDrWu]

I happen to be a BIG Katie Reilly fan and was thrilled when she really became a factor late in the match. I thought she was perhaps injured, but recognize the bit of "slump" she has been in.
but, when she started turning it on in the 4th and 5th sets I loved it. Her play was great, but her enthusiasm is so contagious. Happy for her and the team. A fun thing to watch.

It's funny you mentioned Katie....I was just thinking about how her court time has diminished lately. You're right, she is a leader and her enthusiasm is infectious. I too was happy for her last night and glad she was a difference maker. I wonder how much she'll play next year? She's really good and will have a lot of experience, but we have HUGE middles redshirting and they are talented. Lehman may be all conference right now. The middle is going to be crowded in the very near future.

[1972Shocker]

Last night's attendance of 5,127 was 5th best in Shocker history.