#20 VB just lost to Arkansas for the first time ever. Also first time Arkansas has beaten a ranked team this year.. Sure glad we get to keep these coaches for another five years.

Bad loss tonight. Arkansas could do no wrong in the 2nd and 3rd sets. They had some incredible saves and it seemed like every long rally went their way. Stile, in the 3rd set we are serving 20-21 and hit the serve long. 2 points later we are serving 21-23 and hit the serve long. This means almost certainly we will not get at least a #16 seed and will have to go to Austin again for the NCAA tournament. #11 for Arkansas was amazing; their plan was to it to her and dare us to stop her kills.

That was definitely disappointing- pulling the disappearing act in the tail end of both games 3 and 4. As in every other year, seems the question will be-

a) do we make the tourney....Y
b) do we win the 1st round.... prob Y
c) do we win the 2nd round.... you have to ask?

I have not followed the team but did watch last night. From what I saw we have way too many dinks from our OHs. They seem to be waiting for the perfect set before they will try a kill shot. If the set is less than perfect, they dink, which is the same as a free ball in my book. I have never seen a team win consistently with this approach.

Rule #1 of Volleyball - attack, attack, attack

I find it odd that we have a 5'-9 OH that is a walk on playing alot of minutes. Our DS are horrible from what I have seen. I haven't seen all the matches but from what I have seen, our passing needs work. We have no backrow attacks. And when we do, I have only seen one player being used and that is Reasor. This was a bad loss. Just like UTSA. We are young but I am not going to use that as an excuse. Just stating a fact.

I watched the Kentucky game a while back and our girls are really good. Don't let Arkansas get you down! BTHO South Carolina!

I agree with Chapa. I did look at the roster last night while watching the game and we are a very young team and should grow into something special. I just hope we become more aggressive as we grow.

When we pass and are in system we can compete with anyone youth and all. When we can't pass we can't run middle which is by far our strength. Their is not a strong libero passing player on our team right now and while Hardesty has done well we no longer have a back row attack option from middle back like arkansas did and opponents are staying away from serving to Hardesry thus she would IMO be better for us at outside and our primary passer. I would seriously consider moving Wilhelm or Nettles to libero.

The other thing I am puzzled about is the two person serve receive used countless times when one of the two is not good consistently. Makes it easier to pick on one half the court and stay away from the best passer especially if whoever is passing well has limited range horizontally.
The one constant we have had from this season from last is consistency from Sullivan on the slide with a new setter. I really like Aiple but she at this point in time is a facilitator which is what she is supposed to be but want to see more attack on second ball options while on front row. Being a lefty like Sawatsky really helps in that regard

Wahoo82, in reference to the "dinks" by the OHs, I think Laurie has so totally gotten into their heads, that they're afraid of making an error and they try to go over the block or around it and the swing therefore is not as forceful. I've seen times when an OH has made an error and then immediately was pulled. It looks like they're playing scared because of what they think Laurie may do to them. I may be totally off-base in my thinking, but that's what it looks like to me.

So, let's see which sports in the last ten years have been ranked in the top 10 at some point:

Football: Yes
Baseball: Yes
Softball: Yes
M BBall: Yes
W BBall: Yes
MTennis: Yes
WTennis: Yes
MGolf: Yes
WGolf: Yes
WSwimming: Yes
MSwimming: Yes (I think)
M Track: Yes
W Track: Yes
Soccer: Yes
Volleyball: No

Hmmmmm.... Why is the bar set so low for Volleyball? Does Corbelli have naked pics of Ms.Reveille or something?

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That was definitely disappointing- pulling the disappearing act in the tail end of both games 3 and 4. As in every other year, seems the question will be-

a) do we make the tourney....Y
b) do we win the 1st round.... prob Y
c) do we win the 2nd round.... you have to ask?

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Making the tourney is all that matters. LC has been stealing her salary for years. It might be different if anyone in the AD gave a **** about volleyball.

Clutch comeback win over USC today. Down 2-1 and came back. Still have service errors. In the 5th set tied at 8, we served long.

Movement of lineup with Hardesty back to outside hitter from libero. Eliminate the service errors due to concentration and we win in four. I have no problem with service errors when being aggressive. It is on the players to make sure when in a non aggressive mode to make a good solid serve that may not cause out of system receiving issues and the coaching staff to decide what is acceptable errors and what is not. Today in watching match i saw too many unacceptable errors i would say 12 of 17 didnt fit the catagory of acceptable. That said we passed a bit better and hit well from the middle once again. Aiple set really well and as the commentator said Sullivan on the slide was very effective. We dont have many hitters who fit the catagory of a heavy ball hitter except McGee and maybe occasionally Lowak. However Sullivan is able to find the hole soooo many times and various angles and paces of attack.

Our defense needs a bit of work and not fond of the middle middle defense where middle back comes up toward the net a but more. The key is too place your defenders where more often the attack will go to based upon the blocking scheme. However i think we are a bit too close in middle back and are getting beat deep and we tend to not react as well if playing up causing angles for digging platform that are not ideal.

That said we came back against a much improved South Carolina team on the road and worked thru issues of serve to get a win after dropping a match Wednesday at home to Arkansas. Take care of business froday against a young Georgia team, work out kinks serving, hit a balanced attack, and determine a rotation for effective back row and we will be ready for a big match against Kentucky on Sunday

Good win tonight to hold off Georgia. I didn't watch the first 3 sets, then watched the 4th set and then turned the video off and we won the 5th.

Great win for the team. They played inspired and looked emotionally prepared and intensity level much better than against Georgia. Against Georgia they looked flat, Kentucky they looked like something lit a fire under them.

The Kentucky match...I have always been a coach that says a bad call does not affect a match and this still holds true but we went into the break up 2-0 and should have been 1-1 on a touch that wasn't called. That said the set didn't end and Kentucky had an opportunity to still win the set and the Aggies didn't let them. Those first two sets were times in which previously in season we might have lost both sets but came out and won.

Ashlie Reasor and the new libero Amy Nettles likely played there best matches of the season based on the level of opponent. Balanced scoring led by setter Stephanie Aiple and very good blocking is what we are looking for and got in this match. What I have come to expect from back row defense was a late reacting flail type effort to dig a ball. That was not the case at all this past match and IMO was the difference. Digs were actual digs not slaps, that is because of proper positioning behind the block. Serve receive broke down a couple of times but we stayed in system enough to establish the middles and thus open up the pins.
We still don't hit out of middle back when out of system and Kentucky showed how it can be an offensive weapon (along with Merideth Hays form Arkansas in our loss a couple of weeks ago) We went away from this option with the loss of Kelsey Black and move to libero playing middle back last year and some this year but I would like to see a few attempts from middle back instead of to the outside where we take a little off our hits.
Serving errors were not near as bad with 7 but a few were easy serves. We did a better job with flatter serves over the net and Aiple has worked on a short serve to make the middle or front row outside to take serve in not get as good of transition.

Without seeing the matches in California this was by far our best outing of the year and if we play like that for the remainder of the conference season we should have at most only one more loss. If we play like we did against South Carolina (serving, defense) and Georgia (uninspired) wee could lose 3 or 4 more.

Great effort and quality win

Our rpi is #18 this week so a Top 16 rpi is back wiithin reach. That would mean we might get picked to host first 2 rounds of NCAA tournament and avoid going to Austin again. I thought the Arkansas lost killed our chances but it looks like this young team has recovered and is getting better.

I really enjoy reading each of yalls recaps and details of the game. Are you all vball coaches or have you all played the game before?

Our RPI will dip a significant amount after the next three matches are concluded. We have arknasas alabama and lsu twice and the rest of our matches are against teams that will hurt our RPI. Lsu is playing solid vb after a slow start. I would expect that if we win out which is entirely possible if we play like we did against Kentucky we will in the hunt for a seed. The problem i can see is no other Texas teams except us and UTSA are likely in the tourney and Texas will host. Could put us back there for a third straight year. The adjusted RPI has us losing 6 conference matches which is three more than we currently have but we are favored likely in all but one or two.

Ton y, no, I am an Aggie that knows nothing about VB. But I am pissed that we can't field a strong VB team.

Nice come from behind win on the road today against Missouri.

Top 25 not good enough for elitists?

I think most people who follow SEC volleyball can assume that the top 6 teams in conference are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, and TAMU in alphabetical order. I did a quick scan to see how these teams do when facing each other and one thing that popped out was the unbalanced schedule had the following:

Arkansas playing 9 matches against the top 6 (meaning everyone twice except one)
TAMU playing 8
LSU and Kentucky 7 matches
Florida and Alabama playing 6 matches

I am curious as to what the standings will be against the top 6... I see Florida being 6-0, and Kentucky having 3 losses out of 7 with that Florida win. TAMU would have to win Thursday at home and Arkansas on road to hit .500 . Alabama will likely be 3-3 also. LSU currently 3-3 with last top 6 matchup this Thursday. Arkansas is currently 1-5 against top 6 in conference with still 3 matches to go against TAMU, Florida and Kentucky

The committee looks at RPI and weighs it heavily along with last 10 matches and if the Aggies can run the table which is entirely possible if we get a big win Thursday at home with a streaking LSU team then dependent upon how other teams fair down the stretch we could be in the running for the final seed which has us avoid Texas. Passing has to improve which was the downfall of set one against Mizzouri and that allows us to get a one on one on the outside as the middles have to commit block against our middles.
Thursday night is huge
Edit: Looked over Arkansas schedule and if they lose to Kentucky and Florida as expected and win there other matches besides us they are 15-15 for the season. So the Aggie matches in Fayetteville will be huge as you must have a .500 or better record to be considered for an at large selection. So we will likely have a huge fight up there unless they lose to someone unexpected and then they may be deflated a bit with Florida and Kentucky still remaining

Huge match tonight against a streaking LSU The winner could get a seed in the tourney with a couple of losses by teams over the past couple of days. Those #15 and #16 seeds are up for grabs for the last few weeks of the season but a loss could hurt the Aggie chances Come out tonight and then drink at northgate after , unless you are Kenny Hill.

LC CANNOT take women's volleyball where we need to be. She has been taking a salary with nothing to show for it for a VERY long time. TOO LONG.

Nowhere ?? LOL we have been a top 25 program for most of the year and are rpi could put us in line for a seed if we win out even with a five set loss to a good LSU team. We played horrid for two back to back sets because of passing. I may disagree sometimes with the changes but people need to get a grip when you lose every once and a while.

I agree with Mark. Change needs to happen.

So let me see. Our lineup consists of three freshman, two sophomores and two juniors with a sophomore DS coming in. We have been a top 25 team most of the year losing to number 2 FSU twice alabama and LSU in five who are receiving votes and likely in top 25 next week and have an RPI in the high teens. But we need a change?? What exactly are your expectations ?? Who would you get to replace ??

The entire starting line up returns next year along with the number 23 recruit in the nation. solidify passing and we are a top 25 easily.

I don't blindly follow and agree with everything done but I don't fall off the deep end with a loss either. McGee hits a heavy ball off the bench but her defense and serve receive are severely lacking. Her transition to hit outside needs some work but she can be a nice outside third option this year. Wilhelm could as well however I would have her come in for Lowak and McGee for Hardesty because they compliment each other as back ups better. I think Corbelli went with Wilhelm in set two for Hardesty and then when Lowak struggled a bit she wasn't available. This was corrected in the next set I believe.

Other than a change is needed what is your solution. ??

LC's words, taken from the game story on the TexAgs home page (excerpts for the tl;dr crowd)

"... we lost the match in sets 2 and 3. We literally quit playing."On what changed in 2nd and 3rd sets"Our team took a turn of a change of personality; they looked like they were afraid of going and getting the win, so we started to back off. We turned into zombies.On being behind in the 4th set but tying up the match at 2-2They tried to give it us, but we just didn't want to take it badly enough. I don't have a lot of answers. We lost the match, and it was on our side of the net."

In recent history, her teams have elevated inconsistency and failed effort to an art form. She routinely throws the players under the bus, and takes no personal coaching responsibility for the losses (see her words, above). If anyone in the AD gave a **** about VB, she would have been fired long ago. Her meal ticket has and will likely continue to be making the NCAA tourney. Contending for championships is beyond LC's capabilities.

Did you go to the match?? They did quit playing especially in set four she subbed everyone in and out that have played this season with exception of Graff and Arenas to try to jump start them. She didn't name names at all. Passing failed. End of story. What could you do but move the alignments (done) sub players (done) and call time outs (done) and act like a angry yelling idiot on sidelines to hopefully motivate them ( not done, but not her style) . We had nine service aces against us and most of those would be set two and three. That is during a match entirely on the players. Now how much passing work they do in practice could be a by product of that but I have no knowledge of the practice plans daily but knowing passing has been below average I am sure it is a heavy portion of the practice either in direct passing drills or 6 on 6 play.

If making the NCAA tourney and going on average to the second round facing a top three national program on their home court is complete failure then expect that for most all of our athletic programs.

I don't always agree with the decisions but I respect the fact they know thier team better than I do and I at least grasp their coaching philosophy.

As for the comment about giving up and quiting if that gets you fired then Sumlin might as well move now, in year three after taking us to the toughest conference on the planet and winning at a better than expected rate than most people would have ever thought. We have had struggles in all of our programs. You don't call for coaches heads without a plan in place to rectify the problem.

We need a change, we needed a change years ago. LC cannot take our women to where they deserve to be. The youth excuse does not hold water. Every team plays with freshmen. The problem that faces Texas A & M is the top league players are not looking at us. That is a fact. LC's philosophy does not appeal to the state's top players. Period.

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They did quit playing especially in set four she subbed everyone in and out that have played this season with exception of Graff and Arenas to try to jump start them. Passing failed. End of story. What could you do but move the alignments (done) sub players (done) and call time outs (done) and act like a angry yelling idiot on sidelines to hopefully motivate them...

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(Edited to focus on salient points.)

Your commentary is a testament to the product on the floor reflecting the quality of the coaching on the bench. The apparent absence of motivation, inept technical proficiency and chaotic coaching moves have a root cause, and it is LC.

I disagree on the players not all wanting to come here. Texas will get first pick of the litter and other top 10 programs will get a lot also but we have had some good recruits. First Texas A&M is not for everyone (should be but not) however we got two UA High School AA this past season and Sullivan was a top prospect albeit Corbelli's niece. The #23 player in the nation committed for next season. The philosophy has changed over the past few seasons and the contract extension will give some stability that wasn't there three years ago.

That said, I have never completely agreed with everything, I would love to be more aggressive on first contact serve. To me Reasor should be serving even if she has service faults because the times she does get a good serve we can keep them out of system to which our block can be prepared which is a good strength for us when the block is set. I thought a libero change should have been made weeks ago, never thought it would be Hardesty however. As much as we don't have consistent termination from the outside, if they can get solid swings when we are in system they should have holes in the block.

I am just not sure what people's expectations are...a few years ago we had a run of not making the NCAA tourney (one year of those we should have and most volleyball people agree we got shafted) and she didn't get let go. Now that we are in NCAAs and getting to second round and losing to a final four team we need a change in a non revenue sport? I just don't get that thought process. Provided we are not in Texas sub regional we could dependant upon match ups get in the Sweet 16 and should host next season with a seed assuming passing improves.

Very interesting. We didn't get a single vote in the Coaches Poll, but we moved up to #15 in the RPI. Am I reading that right?

RPI will drop a little at the end of the season with a couple of matches Tennessee at home and MIss State on the road. However projected RPI has us around 17 with one more loss. They are not predicting which loss just the likelihood of us running the table. I could see an Arkansas team at Fayetteville which will badly need this win or Ole Miss at their place but I think we can run the table and should be interesting even if we don't get a seed whether a RPI of say 17-19 would move us away from Austin for a sub regional with the travel rules that the NCAA has.

Big match tonight on the SEC network against Arkansas at Fayetteville. Arkansas has very little chance of making the tourney and a loss against us would near certainity make that not an option with a under .500 record. We need this win as the rest of the matches will hurt our RPI regardless of a win or not (however a loss might severely hurt any chances of a seed but may also cost us a bid. LSU playing good sound volleyball lost in 5 to Mississippi State and now is in danger of not getting in based upon a loss to a sub 200 RPI team. We have to control Hays on the outside and Clark Bibbs in the middle who has put up really good numbers over the second half of the season. Liz Fortado has come back from injury and had statistically an excellent match last time they took the court.

If we pass well (serve receive errors were down against Tennessee, but they are one of the weaker serving teams) and continue to have a balanced attack from the middle/right side of the court we should open holes for our outsides to hit. If Aiple is back from injury then we have a distinct advantage in the setting department in my opinion.

6:00pm SEC Network tonight