Shocks vs Drake & Creighton

[1972Shocker]

Benitez, a Junior transfer from Western Nebraska CC, is definitely a nice pick-up for the Bluejays.

It's hard to believe that team is 6-7 in the Conference with the athletes they have. I would just as soon not draw the BlueJays in the MVC Tournament, especially with the Tournament being at Creighton this year.

[SpanglerFan316]

:clap: :clap: :clap: Lil' Wu :clap: :clap: :clap:

[flyingMoose]

Creighton libero Nayka Benitez.....for many, many reasons.

Yes, she seemed to be everywhere. The Creighton bios say she is from San Juan, PR, via Western Nebraska CC.

Oops, I see a bit of repetition. So be it. :)

[1972Shocker]

They need to make sure they get her back for a performance of the Anthem at one of the Men's Basketball games.

The girl that sung the anthem or Nayka Benitez?

Maybe we can get both! :lol:

[1972Shocker]

[quote="SpanglerFan316"]It was a nice match. Jackie had our only service ace and played well.
[quote]

Jackie got us off to a great start in Set 4 with a 5 point service run, only to be trumped by Katie who immediately followed that up with a 6 point service run to get us off to an 11-1 lead and pretty much seal the deal.

[flyingMoose]

Amanda Backes also gave the Shocks a nice boost off of the bench.

Stephanie T played the first set, but that grand experiment ended quickly.

[1972Shocker]

I think Stephanie's ability to play at this level has been greatly compromised by her leg/foot problems especially of late. No doubt restricting her ability to train and hurting her timing, agility and strength.

Very unfortunate for Stephanie and for the Shocks, but you have to give Stephanie credit for hanging in there, doing her best while keeping a good attitude and supporting her teammates as best she can.

Tough way for Stephaine to finish out her career, but she seems to be handling the situation very well and is doing what she can to help this team.

Fortunately, Katie has really picked it up as of late and let's hope last night was a harbinger of more good things to come from Amanda.

:goshocks:

[SpanglerFan316]

I agree about ST; her injuries limit her play a lot. Sarah McGee is also playing extremely well. As for Amanda, she makes too many errors and errors are what is killing the team this year (according to a couple people on the team.) Lindsey was very good about minimizing errors and is greatly missed this year. I think Hooper is finally starting to play well. Waldo is looking better but CU still served to her often; her service reciption still needs lot of work.

Waldo is extremely important to this team, especially in 2010. If we had a bunch of littles, I would not worry so much. However, we have four (Mel, Waldo, Church & Engle (?)) and Mel will be gone next year.

[WuDrWu]

Losing Mel isn't anywhere near what losing Kelly was. NOWHERE near.

She wasn't even close to being the best libero on the floor last night....that isn't meant to be a slap at Mel at all.

I'm just saying the gap between what we had last year vs what we have this year is about 27......what we have this year and what we should have next year is about 3.

[1972Shocker]

No doubt about it -- Kelly B's graduation was a big loss. However, there is more than one way to skin a cat as they say.

We may not have the individual standout like Kelly but I think our overall team defense has been pretty good. Especially of late. Our blocking is much improved and was really outstanding vs Creighton last night.

We have held our last 4 opponents to an average hitting % of .071 with only MSU (at .109) breaking the century mark. Bradley (yeah I know), Drake and Creighton were all around .060.

It appears we are doing some good things teamwise on the defensive side of the net. Let's hope it continues along with a solid and consistent offensive attack.

:goshocks:

[SpanglerFan316]

Losing Mel isn't anywhere near what losing Kelly was. NOWHERE near.

She wasn't even close to being the best libero on the floor last night....that isn't meant to be a slap at Mel at all.

I'm just saying the gap between what we had last year vs what we have this year is about 27......what we have this year and what we should have next year is about 3.

I hope you are right but I am afraid you might be wrong. At the moment, it seems like Jackie Church will be our Libero next year. However a true freshman might step forward like Kelly did or Sarah W. might fix her service reception problems. I hope Lamb goes on the hunt for a great "Little" this spring. Who knows?

Waldo seems to be a fan favorite. Being a fan favorite and being the best player in a particular position are not the same, however. I love her serve and her hard work and I am rooting for her to be great in 2010. As for Mel, if somebody on the team was better at her position, someone else would be libero.

PS Just to clarify, I didn't discuss any specific players (e.g. Backes) when I talked with players on the team. I don't ever recall a single critical comment by a WSU player about a teammate. In fact, they often praise teammates, even those who play in front of them. For example, if you talk to Stephanie Tokarz, you will often hear her praise Sarah McGee and her play. These players are people who would make you proud if they were your employees or your neighbors.

[flyingMoose]

I think Stephanie's ability to play at this level has been greatly compromised by her leg/foot problems especially of late. No doubt restricting her ability to train and hurting her timing, agility and strength.

Very unfortunate for Stephanie and for the Shocks, but you have to give Stephanie credit for hanging in there, doing her best while keeping a good attitude and supporting her teammates as best she can.

Tough way for Stephanie to finish out her career, but she seems to be handling the situation very well and is doing what she can to help this team.

I agree about ST; her injuries limit her play a lot.

I absolutely agree with the above. It is just that the Shocks are rarely a better team with her on the floor IMHO. I wish it wasn't so. Amanda picked up the slack on Saturday. In previous weeks, Kim was the who-is-going-to-step-up person, but she did not have a good offensive weekend. However, Katie had a lights-out weekend. As others have noted elsewhere, this is where we miss Lindsey - you always knew what you were going to get.

[WuDrWu]

No doubt about it -- Kelly B's graduation was a big loss. However, there is more than one way to skin a cat as they say.

We may not have the individual standout like Kelly but I think our overall team defense has been pretty good. Especially of late. Our blocking is much improved and was really outstanding vs Creighton last night.

We have held our last 4 opponents to an average hitting % of .071 with only MSU (at .109) breaking the century mark. Bradley (yeah I know), Drake and Creighton were all around .060.

It appears we are doing some good things teamwise on the defensive side of the net. Let's hope it continues along with a solid and consistent offensive attack.

:goshocks:

I think without question we are a better blocking team this year, but while I also believe we were a better digging team last year (at least a little) we were a MUCH better passing team....that's where I think there is the biggest discrepancy when compared to last season.

[1972Shocker]

Lowlights for me this evening:

Student section for remarks/cheer directed at Sarah Schulze (if I heard it correctly). Razzin' P'Allen is one thing guys......

Apparently, were not the only ones get a little out of hand. Actually, it sounds like OU's fans were more than a little out of hand:

http://www.cornnation.com/2009/10/6/1072212/big-12-investigating-oklahoma

Doesn't excuse the actions on the part of our students. We can certainly expect at least a modicum of sportsmanship and class from our students.

I love the enthusiam of the small cadre of students that support the Lady Shocks so I certainly don't want to dampen that enthusiam. We just need to keep it cool.

In OU's case it sounds like some of their Women basketball players were the biggest offenders. Now that is definitely not cool.