Shocks vs Bradley (Friday) & UNI (Saturday)

[1972Shocker]

Some general observations from my viewpoint tonight:

The Hammer (aka Emily Stockman) had another very good match leading the way with an 18 kill (18-5-37 = 0.351), 15 dig double-double. Emily is one aggressive attacker who likes the to play hardball.

Angela Jakubov was very effiicent and showed a lot of moxy with 16 kills (16-3-29 = 0.448) and she chipped in 1 Block Solo and 6 Block assists.

I thought Lindsey Eckenrode was very good in her limited PT with 4 kills and no errors in 7 attacks (0.571).

Lambo still seemed somewhat concerned with trying to take some pressure of Sara Lungren and one of the changes he was experimenting with in Game 3 was to move her to the left side. Sara did have a career high participating in 10 blocks (3 solos, 7 assisted).

Our littles, Kelly and Melissa, both had solid matches combining for 27 digs. Melissa I thought had her best all-around match as a Shocker. I thought her serving was very effective and she recorded 5 aces with only 2 service errors. Melissa does not serve particularly hard, but she was really mixing up her serves well tonight and seemed to have Bradley off balance.

Overall the Shockers had one of their better serving games with 12 aces and only 9 service errors, although Lambo mentioned he still would like to cut down on the service errors a little more.

I'm expecting a real battle royal with UNI tomorrow night. You know they don't want to start out 0-2 in the MVC, although the MSU - WSU swing is no doubt the toughest trip in the league and will give everyone trouble.

Lambo closed his post game comments saying we really need this match tomorrow night so let's get out and do our part Shocker fans.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[1stThings1st]

Shocks were a little jet lagged tonight. Looks like Lambo is developing a very dangerous team. There are many weapons all over the court who can hurt you. Our littles are the best! Hitters are all over right, left, and middle. Like the fact we are trying to develop back-ups and give some of the horses a rest. That could take us to the second or third round of the NCAA. Might make the Valley tournament easier if we have extra depth. Get out and watch the ladies smash Northern Iowa.

[dregn]

I was very perplexed by our set up at times in game 3. Our front row at times consisted of a setter, a middle, and a right side hitter with the back row being the bale out instead of a left side hitter. Makes defense very confusing as you either need your middle to slide left to pick up that side with the setter blocking middle or need your setter to go all the way over there. Never seen Lamb run something like that before.

While Stockman put up the kills I thought Angela showed how good she could be. She did everything well tonight. That was very nice to see. Normally your left side hit gets the worse sets, but that didn't seem to bother her, Stockman, or Lindsey. Nice to see Lindsey swinging well again. She's solid as long as she's not getting blocked. She tends to start swinging harder at that point to go through people rather then around them. Definately a lot of competition for playing time on this team.

[dregn]

Sounds like our middles need to be ready to block tonight. I think that was a major weakness last year and UNI exposed it here. If we see improvement there and keep picking it up on offense it should give us a good chance to win.

[1972Shocker]

As I mentioned before we got what we wanted in Springfiled - a tough 5 game match.

MSU won by scores of 30-21, 25-30, 32-30, 19-30 and 18-16.

Therefore UNI loses the match despite winning 127 points to 124 for MSU.

I expect a very determined and focused effort from UNI tonight.

Should be another very competitive match. Shocker fans you don't want to miss this one.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[1972Shocker]

Nice description of The Hammer's dominating streak mid-way through Game 4 by Paul Suellentrop in today's Eagle:

Stockman almost single-handedly put away Bradley (1-10, 0-1) in the fourth game with a run of points notable for its power and variety.

She started from the left side with a kill that just dropped into the far corner, leaving the Braves looking at each other. She followed with a block for an 18-8 lead. She then blasted another shot into the far corner, from where it bounced into a defenseless girl sitting on the first step of the Koch Arena seats.

Stockman's smash down the line put WSU up 20-8; a gentle tip over the block made it 21-8, and a deep shot through the block added another point to the lead.

[SubGod22]

My brother went last night with his family and was impressed by Stockman. Also, his two little girls had a blast and they may go back tonight, and if they do I'll be with them.

[dregn]

Come on out anyway Sub. I'm usually in section 125 no higher then about 10 rows up unless it's packed if ya need someone to sit by.

[SubGod22]

I may take ya up on that next time. My brother is bringing the family back out and his girls want me there with them. I really do need to get to more Volleyball. I've enjoyed it since I was in HS and actually learned a bit about it.

[1972Shocker]

I ran into a couple of friends who were attending their first WSU VB match. They are big Shocker men's basketball fans. Said they absolutely loved it. Much more excitement and athleticism than they were expecting and this was the Bradley match.

I told them tonights match would be the one to be at. They already had other plans but were thinking of trying to make some changes so they could come again.

Anecdotal, but I think the Shocks are gradually gaining converts. All it takes is attendance at one match.

However, I still have a major quandry! Shocker Maniacs (perhaps a misnomer) Where Art Thou! Oh Brother, the team would love a give student turn out.

I will account for 5 in attendance tonight.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[1972Shocker]

My brother went last night with his family and was impressed by Stockman. Also, his two little girls had a blast and they may go back tonight, and if they do I'll be with them.

Had they previously attended a Shocker VB Match? Just curious.

[SubGod22]

No they hadn't. My oldest niece is playing at the YMCA for the second year and so they decided to take the girls. My sister wanted to try to get her entire team to go and watch and see what could happen if they keep at it and work hard. The little ones are hooked and I hope they'll go to a few more as well. Get 'em while they're young.

My youngest had soccer this afternoon and afterward they were planning to go to All Star or whatever to get some Shocker gear, but I directed them to J&J instead and they'll be in the proper colors tonight. Now lets just see how many times we can get them on the screen tonight....

[dregn]

"However, I still have a major quandry! Shocker Maniacs (perhaps a misnomer) Where Art Thou! Oh Brother, the team would love a give student turn out."

My suggestion to some in the marketing last year to help fix this would be to scan maniac cards at a random time during matches and games in the maniac section which would force them to stay if they show up. Last year there'd by a lot more cards scanned at volleyball games then people who showed up.

The other problem is there still isn't that many showing up and that's a whole different situation to try and change.

[SpanglerFan316]

4 soccer games last night (so I missed the VB match)
soccer practice this morning
UNI@WSU in 90 minutes
:goshocks:

[SubGod22]

I'm pretty excited about tonight. Should be a GREAT match.

If you see me say hi :D