SHOWDOWN IN THE KOCH CORRAL!

[JVShocker_old]

Congrats to the players, coaches even the fans - it was a GREAT match! :D :goshocks:

[rrshock]

Maybe every match should be 1 buck.

I really wish I could've made it, but things happen I guess.

[1972Shocker]

WSU - MSU Volleyball matches are a great value at just about any price.

The Shocks and Bears have now played 5 times over the last two years and may very well meet again in the MVC post season tournament.

The Shocks have won 3 of these matches and the Bears 2. 4 of these 5 matches have gone 5 games, with each team winning twice. The other match was earlier this year in Springfield with the Shocks winning in 4.

Now that is a rivalry.

BTW, is their any doubt in anyone's mind that BOTH of these teams DESERVE to be in the NCAA Tournamnt this year, regardless of who wins the MVC post season tournament and the automatic bid?

[1972Shocker]

The Bears seemed to be really zeroed in on Emily Stockman holder her to a -.016 hitting percentage (14-15-61). Probably Emily's poorest match of the year. Credit to the Shocks for picking up Emily with a great team effort.

I would like to give a special nod to a couple of ladies who I though gave us a nice lift off the bench -- Lindsey Eckenrode and Katie Niggemeyer.

Lindsey had 4 kills and only 1 error in 10 attempts and Katie had 5 kills with 3 errors in 11 attempts plus contributed two block assists. Neither played a whole lot, but they both played well when call upon.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[shocker22]

I don't think they were zeroed in on her I think she had a really bad match. Her timing was off on spikes, her serve was off too. Was she sick, or had an injury? For such a talented player she didn't seem right.

[1972Shocker]

I don't think they were zeroed in on her I think she had a really bad match. Her timing was off on spikes, her serve was off too. Was she sick, or had an injury? For such a talented player she didn't seem right.

Emily has been inconsistent with her jump serve all year. Sometimes she simple has to put it in her bag and go with her stationary serve.

As far as I know Emily is fine. Keep in mind that Emily was new to the league this year and a new element to MVC opponents. We are into our 2nd go around with MVC team now and they are all aware of what Emily can do and what her attacke tendencies and style is. Emily has lost the element of surprise.

:goshocks:

[1972Shocker]

I have been openly critical of the level of student support for Shocker Volleyball. Last night looked like it was pretty decent although it is very difficult exactly what it was like since they could have been spread througout the arean.

However, this is one group of students I would like to acknowledge and commend.

Their is a group of guys, usually shirtless that have consistently been at the games this year and will even exchange high fives with team members during the match.

I believe this group is the Shocker rowing team or crew team, whatever they call it(sorry guys), which I believe is a club team. I think one of the guys might of even had his little brother with him last night, sans shirt, body paint and all.

You guys are doing a great job. This group of guys are true, Black and Yellow Shocker Maniacs.

:clap:

[WuDrWu]

It seemed to me that Emily was off her game a bit (especially with her serve) but that it was mostly due to MSU locking in on her.

Sara looked hurt to me but that was the guttiest effort I have ever seen at WSU. She dug EVERYTHING, killed whatever she could get to (which wasn't all that much because you could tell she was hurting) and was without question the teams vocal leader on the court.

The defending MVP of the league showed why last night. Unfortunately she was not the best player on the floor. Katelyn dominated from start to finish and was absolutely incredible. She is a joy to watch and except for the fact that it makes the Bears about 100 times easier to beat, I am sad I will not see her again.

[boyshocker]

Have to agree with you Wu, #5 in the maroon is very, very good. That match had some incredible defense.
Great job by the crowd, sounded like a basketball game at times- amazing what the Shocker-meter can do!

[1972Shocker]

IMHO, we won because we were the best team in 3 games and the Bears were the best team in 2 games.

The service game was definitely a problem in Game 2 and even more so in Game 3. MSU had 8 of their 11 aces in these two games including 6 aces in Game 3. Not so much in the other 3 games.

For the match the Shockers had a Sideout Pct of 58.3% to 53.6% for MSU.

The Shocks served the ball 125 times. MSU won 67 of those points. (67/125 = 53.6%)

The Bears served the ball 115 times. WSU won 67 of those points. (67/115 = 58.3%)

Sideout % bygame WSU - 78% to 50% for MSU in Game 1, 46% to 53% in Game 2; 46% to 60% in Game 3, 69% to 58% in Game 4 and 60% to 40% in Game 5.

I thought the key to the Shockers come back was that they apparently made some adjustments to the service reception strategy and executed it well in Games 4 and 5. They allowed only one Service Ace in those two games after allowing 10 aces in the first 3 games.

As Lambo says the service game is not all about Service Aces, but about making it tough for the opponent to get a good pass so they can get into their offense. One of the things that makes MSU so tough is that Katelyn Panzau can take a bad pass and still make a picture perfect set.

The other area the Bears won was the Blocking game with 15 blocks to 11 for the Shocks. Although it is not uncommon for the Shocks to be outblocked as blocking is simply not one of our strong points. Emily Stockman in particular had a lot of her attacks blocked back last night.

The Shocks won because the out dug the Bears 103 to 94, including 27 by the 6'4" Sara Lungren who was slowed by sore knee, and they out hit the Bears 0.190 to 0.115 getting 9 more kills and 5 fewer attack errors on 5 fewer attempts.

In any case, it was just one highly competitive College VB match.

:posterwu: :goshocks: :posterwsu:

[tgcshock]

As someone who was at the game, the statistic that most surprised me was that we had more digs than MSU. Watching it, it seemed like we couldn't get a ball to the floor against the Bears back line. In retrospect, however, I think it was simply that MSU had more of the spectacular digs during the last two games of the match. Both teams had outstanding defensive games but the Shockers simply had a little more consistency.