Volleyball Thread

[#UnleashSean]

Yeah that was a wild rally that we seemingly were in control of and ended up losing.

My extensive knowledge is very good. I went to get a beer because I thought Penn state won the set at 21.

[barfolomew]

Looks like it'll have to be the reverse sweep, then.

[wadesworld]

Would've been surprised by getting more than 50 points in the match.  Just need 15.  Let's get it!

[Billy Hoyle]

gutty comeback in the third set, down three match points and winning five straight points to send it to four. Go Marquette!

[Shaka Shart]

A game off penn st is impressive. Gutsy

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Biggest difference to me is MU making too many unforced errors and not taking advantage of opportunities PSU gives them.

[Billy Hoyle]

excellent run by the ladies and they should be incredibly proud of the performance today
and all season.

There will be some roster turnover coming. Foti off to Pepperdine, Anchante, Hamilton, Reitsma and Murphy all out of eligibility. Bray could be a grad transfer elsewhere. 

[MuggsyB]

Son of a B.  It sounds like we're below the top tier of 🏐 teams but made a solid effort.  My suggestion would be to get some athletes with a little more height, hops, and the ability to pulverize spikes.  From the little I've seen we were pretty good defensively but did not have that "thanks for playing" spiker who could throttle the ball and end points. 

[MuggsyB]

Heck of a match between Nebraska/Penn St. 

[wadesworld]

A woman head coach will win a NCAA Women's volleyball championship for the first time ever on Sunday. Crazy.

[MuggsyB]

That was well worth watching.  Incredible comeback by Penn St.  Jess Mrzeck? was tattooing the 🏐 with insane power, velocity, and placement.  That young lady deserves tremendous props. 

[MuggsyB]

Will MU get a spiker that can end points and instill fear in the future? 

[StillAWarrior]

Will MU get a spiker that can end points and instill fear in the future? 

Hopefully. I hope they also get a good bumper.

[Marquette Fan]

Heck of a match between Nebraska/Penn St. 

Wish I wasn't so tired last night - missed the last two sets.  It does sound like it was a great match.

[Marquette Fan]

A woman head coach will win a NCAA Women's volleyball championship for the first time ever on Sunday. Crazy.

Wow - didn't realize that had never happened.

[Galway Eagle]

Will MU get a spiker that can end points and instill fear in the future? 

With how many key people are graduating I'd say it just important to get anyone decent at all to help out Natalie Ring to keep the consistency going. Then maybe work on instilling fear

[MuggsyB]

Wish I wasn't so tired last night - missed the last two sets.  It does sound like it was a great match.

I am very new to women's 🏐 and was thoroughly impressed.  They are phenomenal, and I could see the sport growing to new heights.  I would like to see MU get a lights out spiker and a defensive maestro.

I haven't watched a ton, but Harper Murray looks like the best all-around player to me even though they lost.  Incredible athlete, and she can do everything on the court. 

[21Jumpstreet]

Heck of a match between Nebraska/Penn St. 

Turned it off at 2-0 Nebraska 🤦�♂️

[wadesworld]

Will MU get a spiker that can end points and instill fear in the future? 

Not like the ones like last night.  Those players don't come to the Big East very often.  When they do it's usually someone who can only play 3 rotations (like Allie Barber at Marquette a number of years ago), or they go to Creighton.

[wadesworld]

Wish I wasn't so tired last night - missed the last two sets.  It does sound like it was a great match.

Incredible comeback from down 22-16 in set 4 by Penn State.  Really fun match.  Worth a rewatch.

[wadesworld]

I am very new to women's 🏐 and was thoroughly impressed.  They are phenomenal, and I could see the sport growing to new heights.  I would like to see MU get a lights out spiker and a defensive maestro.

I haven't watched a ton, but Harper Murray looks like the best all-around player to me even though they lost.  Incredible athlete, and she can do everything on the court. 

Murray is very good but a liability in serve receive.  She didn't even make First Team All American while the MB and libero for Nebraska did.  My opinion was that the only chance someone would beat Nebraska was to target her serving, get her in her own head, and then see her make hitting errors to compound mistakes.  She actually held up pretty well last night in that area, and I thought Penn State lost the serve/pass game, which usually tells you who will win a match.

As far as best overall player, in last night's match it was definitely Mruzik.  The number of attempts she gets is insane, and to be able to do it all year and all through the 5th set and still be effective is impressive.

Overall in volleyball it was Babcock from Pitt, who I think will be named national POY tonight.  In my opinion, the second best player this year was Kennedy Martin on Florida.  Daughter of former Packer great Ruvell.  She's a monster (6'6" and built solid), plays on the right side, but they play her middle back defensively and she's very solid defensively (rare for a right side) and hits out of middle back.  She's incredible, and ran Merritt Beason out of Florida and to Nebraska when she came in to Florida's program behind Beason.

[barfolomew]

Babcock deserves POY, her back row attacking in the Louisville game was very impressive.

I was surprised Beason was so quiet - she only hit .207 for the match.
Jackson was en fuego though - .630!

I'll be rooting for Penn St. on Sunday.

[MuggsyB]

Murray is very good but a liability in serve receive.  She didn't even make First Team All American while the MB and libero for Nebraska did.  My opinion was that the only chance someone would beat Nebraska was to target her serving, get her in her own head, and then see her make hitting errors to compound mistakes.  She actually held up pretty well last night in that area, and I thought Penn State lost the serve/pass game, which usually tells you who will win a match.

As far as best overall player, in last night's match it was definitely Mruzik.  The number of attempts she gets is insane, and to be able to do it all year and all through the 5th set and still be effective is impressive.

Overall in volleyball it was Babcock from Pitt, who I think will be named national POY tonight.  In my opinion, the second best player this year was Kennedy Martin on Florida.  Daughter of former Packer great Ruvell.  She's a monster (6'6" and built solid), plays on the right side, but they play her middle back defensively and she's very solid defensively (rare for a right side) and hits out of middle back.  She's incredible, and ran Merritt Beason out of Florida and to Nebraska when she came in to Florida's program behind Beason.

I trust your take as you know more than I do and have seen far more volleyball.  Last night I thought Murray did everything with spikes, digs, blocks, serves, or what have you.  She has serious elevation and major quicks.  But Jess M clearly took over.  I think she and the Penn St. coach saw Nebraska's defensive weakness which was bludgeoning the ball to their left shoulder.  The Penn St. setter was also fantastic.  Beautiful passes, at the perfect hight, for Jess and others to unload with no regard for human life.  Nebraska seemed a bit cocky to me.....until they were introduced to darkness. 

[Billy Hoyle]

I was in the YUM Center last night, what an atmosphere. Over 21k there. I did not see any way PSU was going to come back from 2-0, especially because they had so many self-inflicted mistakes (4 service errors in set one).

The crowd will be rabidly pro-Louisville Sunday but the availability of Anna DeBeer is a major issue for Louisville. She was on first when she went down. Louisville played inspired after that and Pitt showed they were not able to come back when facing some adversity in a hostile environment.

Oh yeah, Babcock for Pitt is a monster. At one point during the third set she was hitting .500 for that match. That's ridiculous. NPOY for sure.

One interesting fact: Sunday will mark the first time a woman head coach will be the coach of the national champion. If Louisville wins they will only be the 13th school to win the title, joining Stanford, Washington, Kentucky and Bucky as the only first time champions since 1992.

[MuggsyB]

Wow.  Incredible 2nd set.