Shocks at Missouri State (Sat) and at SIU (Mon)

[flyingMoose]

Set Two

Missouri State 20-25 Shockers

The Shocks went from 5-5 to a 9-5 lead and maintained the lead with the Bears getting no closer than three. The Shocks outhit the Bears in this set .244 to .152, for the match, .295 to .104. Katie and Abbie have seven kills, while Shimen has six. Katy Dudzinski has played in both sets.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks doing an outstanding job controlling Lily Johnson so far holding her to 3 kills on 22 swings with a .091 hitting percentage.

In the meantime the Shocks are playing clean, efficient volleyball and are playing very solid defense out-digging the Bears 44-32 with Dani (15 digs) and Jody (10 digs) leading the way. Abbie and Katie Reilly each have 7 kills and Shimen has 6.

Good to see Katy Dudzinski on the floor tonight.

Hopefully, the Shocks can continue this level of play and finish this off in 3. MSU started out in a 6-2 but switched back to a 5-1 late in Set 2. My guess is they will stay with the 5-1 but we will see.

[flyingMoose]

Set Three

Missouri State 21-25 Shockers

The Shockers take the match 3-0. After trailing early in this set 1-4, the Shocks went out to a 10-5 lead and then 14-8. The Bears never got closer than four until late in the set. For the match, The Shockers hit .331 to .161. Katie led the Shocks in kills with thirteen. Abbie had eleven, Shimen nine and Mikaela seven.

This is a very nice win for RPI purposes in addition to conference standings.


Post-game comments

Kudos to assistant coach Sean Carter for the plan against Lily Johnson. Mackenzie came in and stretched the lead with her setting. Both she and KatyD are getting more comfortable with more time. Also good words for Abbie and Katie who was playing the right side. (Katy was the other middle.)

[1972Shocker]

Great offensive balance by the Shocks as they really spread the attempts around with Katie (26), Abbie (25), Shimen (25), Jody (19) and Mikaela (18) all getting plenty of opportunities. OTOH hand the Shockers pretty much de-fanged the Bears holding Lily Johnson to 6-3-36 = .083 and breaking her streak of 36 consecutive matches with double digit kills.

No sign whatsoever of any chemistry issues tonight. The Shocks were very sharp.

Jody led the way with 18 digs and Dani added 17 as the Shocks didn't seem too inclined to let the ball hit the floor tonight. Jody has apparently finally found her role and is playing very well.

Now it is on to SIU on Monday where the Shocks have an opportunity to push their league lead to a full 3 games over their closest pursuers.

[flyingMoose]

No sign whatsoever of any chemistry issues tonight. The Shocks were very sharp.

In his pre-game comments, Lambo hoped the Shockers would match the intensity on the other side of the net. He has made a similar comment in the past, so I wonder if this is part of the referenced issues.

[flyingMoose]

Other Saturday Scores

Loyola 3-1 Evansville
13, (21), 18, 13

Bradley 1-3 Southern Illinois
22, (21), 16, 14

Northern Iowa 3-0 Indiana State
19, 19, 22

No surprises. Well, maybe Bradley taking a set off the Salukis on the road.

[1972Shocker]

Other Saturday Scores

Loyola 3-1 Evansville
13, (21), 18, 13

Bradley 1-3 Southern Illinois
22, (21), 16, 14

Northern Iowa 3-0 Indiana State
19, 19, 22

No surprises. Well, maybe Bradley taking a set off the Salukis on the road.

That was a little bit of a surprise although it was at home in Peoria.

[JayJ79]

That was a little bit of a surprise although it was at home in Peoria.

and I'm sure SIU spent most of the week prepping for the Loyola match (and perhaps even a bit for WSU)

[JayJ79]

Illinois State won at Drake, 25-15, 25-9, 20-25, 25-18

[Shocker-maniac]

From a Bears fan perspective they really don't care about the loss because they scored those cute little t-shirts with the really fresh saying that Wichita is NOT a State.

[flyingMoose]

That was a little bit of a surprise although it was at home in Peoria.

True. I can't read my own writing.

[flyingMoose]

Trick or treaters. World Series. Stats-Mike-ESPN3. Yeah, this is gonna work.

Illinois State won at Drake, 25-15, 25-9, 20-25, 25-18

See what I mean? I can't even count to ten (teams). Sigh.

[boyshocker]

I guess Coach knows he stuff. Said they needed to have Mikella (sp?) and Jody in the lineup and seems since they have settled in so has the rest of the team. Also from his comments on team concerns I thought he was talking about classroom stuff and taking care of business off the court. Maybe i am wrong but seems this team gels well, no big egos getting in the way. And how about them Royals!

[1972Shocker]

I guess Coach knows he stuff.

That's a fact Jack! No guessing required.

Great opportunity tonight for the Shocks to put a submission hold on the Valley regular season championship. One that would be very difficult to break. But SIU clearly will not submit easily. However, if the Shocks play as well tonight as they did against MSU I like their chances to extend their winning streak to 9 games but it wouldn't surprise me if it takes 5 sets to get the job done.

[flyingMoose]

The current RPI rankings with last week's ranking in parentheses:

34 (38) - Shockers
44 (45) - Missouri State
54 (61) - Southern Illinois
55 (58) - Northern Iowa
61 (60) - Illinois State
95 (89) - Loyola

Missouri State still has a number that is usually good for an at-large bid. This may be interesting to see how the Committee values RPI versus conference record/tournament performance.