I love the impact Bird and her leadership team are having on our kids. They are believing in themselves and that makes all the difference. Such a tremendous run right now. It's awesome to see.

Cracked the top 25 (at #25).

It is so exciting to see this team crack the top 25! Even after a few early losses that could have gone our way, we have crawled our way back into the spotlight!. Hans continues to lead the team offensively, while dealing with the pressure of being the only outside hitter consistently contributing. Kuhn has experimented with Lauren Davis for 11 SEC matches on the outside, and I have to believe that she can now see what everyone else does - Davis is a huge detriment to the team in playing OH in the SEC. In looking back at the matches, the 6'4" OH hitter was able to build up her stats early against lower level teams, but has been largely been non factor in the SEC.

Davis CANNOT play defense, serve, or score points when the ball is out of system, and is hitting .130 in SEC matches. This only further illustrates how great Hans has been for this team in making up for her counterpart. Davis needs to quickly transition to another position before the post season begins. The speed of the games in the SEC is beyond her athleticism. She seems like a great cheer leader for the team, but we need players to perform at a high level to win in the post season. Interestingly, an A&M friend that lives in Florida and has a daughter that plays high school volleyball in Orlando, emailed me to say that Lauren Davis did not end up starting on her own high school team last year?!! After she returned from the IL, she was displaced by a teammate, and was never able to crack the starting lineup again. Further, she said she was only seldom on the floor on her club team last year?! I know height is a premium, but athletes always prevail in the long run. Hans and Davis can no longer be fairly compared to one another, because Lauren is not the kind of athlete that Hans was, or is. I have watched a lot of girls much shorter (think Hans at 6'1") that can jump and are naturally athletic perform at a high level, without the height. Mostly because explosive athletes like Hans that are 3 inches shorter than Davis, jump 18" higher. That seems like really easy math to me?

I hope this team keeps quietly sneaking up and winning matches as the underdog. But Khun and her staff have to see that we need another athlete on the court to take pressure off Hans when we start playing the stronger teams in the post season. I still believe in Kuhn and her staff to make the hard and right decisions for this team to go to the next level! But a 6'4" OH that is hitting .130 in the SEC, while not serving, playing defense or being able to move around to make athletic plays has to move to another position immediately; or, just be a great teammate and continue cheering on Aggies from the sidelines until she is ready to contribute to the team in a real manner.

This team is going to surprise some people if Hans, Gomez and Camille can keep doing what they do so well!

Who on the roster do you replace her with ??
And whoever said that about her club season is not telling the truth at all. She blew up where most people thought she would be a top 50 prepvolleyball senior ace and she was still top 100 in the nation.
You compare her to Hans. Hans only played her freshman year when Hardesty was injured and or either outside was off in her game that day. And look at Hans now.
While I agree with her not being able to play back row and she doesn't serve we don't need her to do that this season with Voss passing and playing back row

galpalvball said:

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It is so exciting to see this team crack the top 25! Even after a few early losses that could have gone our way, we have crawled our way back into the spotlight!. Hans continues to lead the team offensively, while dealing with the pressure of being the only outside hitter consistently contributing. Kuhn has experimented with Lauren Davis for 11 SEC matches on the outside, and I have to believe that she can now see what everyone else does - Davis is a huge detriment to the team in playing OH in the SEC. In looking back at the matches, the 6'4" OH hitter was able to build up her stats early against lower level teams, but has been largely been non factor in the SEC.

Davis CANNOT play defense, serve, or score points when the ball is out of system, and is hitting .130 in SEC matches. This only further illustrates how great Hans has been for this team in making up for her counterpart. Davis needs to quickly transition to another position before the post season begins. The speed of the games in the SEC is beyond her athleticism. She seems like a great cheer leader for the team, but we need players to perform at a high level to win in the post season. Interestingly, an A&M friend that lives in Florida and has a daughter that plays high school volleyball in Orlando, emailed me to say that Lauren Davis did not end up starting on her own high school team last year?!! After she returned from the IL, she was displaced by a teammate, and was never able to crack the starting lineup again. Further, she said she was only seldom on the floor on her club team last year?! I know height is a premium, but athletes always prevail in the long run. Hans and Davis can no longer be fairly compared to one another, because Lauren is not the kind of athlete that Hans was, or is. I have watched a lot of girls much shorter (think Hans at 6'1") that can jump and are naturally athletic perform at a high level, without the height. Mostly because explosive athletes like Hans that are 3 inches shorter than Davis, jump 18" higher. That seems like really easy math to me?

I hope this team keeps quietly sneaking up and winning matches as the underdog. But Khun and her staff have to see that we need another athlete on the court to take pressure off Hans when we start playing the stronger teams in the post season. I still believe in Kuhn and her staff to make the hard and right decisions for this team to go to the next level! But a 6'4" OH that is hitting .130 in the SEC, while not serving, playing defense or being able to move around to make athletic plays has to move to another position immediately; or, just be a great teammate and continue cheering on Aggies from the sidelines until she is ready to contribute to the team in a real manner.

This team is going to surprise some people if Hans, Gomez and Camille can keep doing what they do so well!

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You sure go out of your way to take shots at a true freshman playing quality minutes. Did Lauren take yours or your kids scholarship or spot on the team? You have two total posts on this site and both include you taking shots at Lauren. As Wiked said, who are you going to replace her with on our roster right now? Is she the long-term answer? Who knows, but to bash a kid and make up things about her club/school play from last year is a bit uncalled for unless you have a personal grudge against the girl.

I agree. Seems a bit like a hit piece for whatever reason.

Watching Davis and Rush has been interesting so far this season. Rush is coming into her own. Good blocking, smart plays. Davis hasn't shown the same growth but with Hans having her best season ever, Davis has a chance to grow at her own pace. It's so early in her career and her time will come when she will have to show what she's got.

Everyone on the roster played with the exception of Madison Browser who I believe is being planned to redshirt this season, at least I was lead to believe that.

MaKenna Patterson was dominating at the net and from the middle attack and perfect in her assist chances gaining three assists in three attempts. Sanders got some playing time both on the RS and OH and did well going 4 kills in four attempts.

Hans had a solid game but didn't need to be the star for the win tonight.
Rush looked great on the RS and Morgan Davis got a couple of kills playing RS when we ran a 6-2 with Slocum setting for her.

it was a dominating performance but the opponent quality is not what we have seen in years past from Arkansas and this may be the biggest beatdown in conference matches this season

We are clicking and should host at the rate we are playing these past few games and will if we win out until Florda match on road which could be for the SEC championship if everything falls into place

On the road Sunday to LSU who is an up and down team but has the pieces to compete with the top teams in conference but also be flat and lose to the bottom teams as well

The 41 points Arkansas scored was the fewest by an opponent this season. We outscored them 150 to 94 in the 6 sets we played against them. Sure wish we had that 5th set back against Florida.

Shaky first set. LSU takes it 25-19.

A&M falls apart at 22-22 and drops set 2.

That's more like it. Aggies take the third set 25-17.

7-0 LSU run after A&M had a comfortable 19-15 lead in the 4th.

Horrible! LSU goes on a 10-3 run to win. They hadnt beaten a top 25 team since 2014.

Ags fall 3-1. Gave up a career high 20 kills to the freshman Hill. Thought for sure we were sending this to 5. Collapsed late in the 4th.

You can't have 36 hitting errors in a four set match. While not a really bad loss it should have been a win they way each team was playing going into the match. We reverted back to the team that couldn't close and to give up a seven point run at this late stage in the season really hurts. Minimal production levels from every position. While Hans got her kills she had 10 errors and Rush and the second outside barely hit positive.
It hurts our last ten matches and we can't afford another loss until Florida on the road and still expect to host. And we have SC away and Ole Miss at home that should be challenges going into Florida.

Edit. We had a good shot at a conference championship at least a tie with a win against Florida at end of season and Florida also losing to Kentucky. I don't think that is possible and now we are tied with GEORGIA SOUTH CAROLINA and Missouri for the most part for third.
We have two very easy winnable games in Auburn and Miss State. And three very tough ones with SC and Florida on the road and Ole Miss at home although Ole Miss looks like they have packed it in for the season

Are there pro-A&M announcers for our home games on the SEC Network?

Danny from Miami said:

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Are there pro-A&M announcers for our home games on the SEC Network?

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SEC network games are usually brought in and typically non favoritism. SEC network plus usually has the same announcers for all home games and will know more about the home team

Look for us to fall in the RPI this week after beating #174 Arkansas and losing to #81 LSU. My concern is today's loss could send us to Waco or Austin for the NCAA Tournament,, and the only way to avoid that is to stay in the top 16 in the RPI.

Hard to watch. Too many errors. We seem to kill into their strengths. LSU appeared to know our strategy and blocked very often.

10th in the RPI. problem is we still have auburn and Miss state on schedule which even wins will push us further down. To host or be in the discussion to host we can't lose anymore matches except Florida at Florida. Ole Miss at home and SC on road are the two that will be critical

I don't get to watch a lot of the matches living in Arizona but I was so frustrated with the loss to LSU. It seemed that we weren't making any adjustments. Hill kept tooling the block by hitting high off our player's fingertips and we just kept at it. I would bet that at least 10-15 of those 20 kills would have sailed long if they had just faked the block. Another frustrating thing was LSU blocking back row hits. About the only way that happens is if you hit straight down the middle, which we kept doing!

The team is doing great this season and will bounce back I'm sure, but they can't just play their game and never adjust to what the other team is doing.

RPI Futures has us at 13. Another loss puts us out of the picture I would think besides the Florida game

One thing I'll tell you--if you spend a little time with these kids you'll be sold on supporting them. They are gracious and positive and good-hearted, while also being dedicated to getting better. It's simply a great group of student-athletes.

It of course depends on what happens in the rest of the season, but I suspect that what we've seen is what happens to a team who is learning to win. They hit on the formula, got on a winning streak playing very well, then got beat on the road by a decent team who played well while we didn't.

So what now? I think the next step in learning to expect to win is to recover when you hit a speed bump and end a winning streak. We have a strange but favorable schedule in that our next two games are both at home and against the two teams that are at the bottom of the league today. The strange thing is that they are nine days apart! We then play Ole Miss at home, and finish with two road games against SC and UF. IMO, those last three games will determine how we move into post season play.

They were hitting on all cylinders and were playing SEC games like they were in winning the conference in 2015. The LSU lost was a step back in terms of confidence level and about to close out sets. From the 9-3 in set five loss to the meltdown at 19-15 in set four at LSU we have been in control pretty much the entire time and always looked the better team. We have to get that back before going on the road for final away series against S.C. and Florida.
Love the chemistry in the team in recent matches that had been getting better each time. Hans can take over a game and as long as one other pin does well along with solid play from middles we should be good. We didn't hit for a high percentage from any position against LSU
Take care of business Wednesday and try to limit the number of jumps for Hans and give her a huge rest until next Friday the 22nd before the final four matches.

Someone who usually nails the NCAA bracket has made in first round of predictions.

SEC (Champion: Florida) At-Large: Kentucky, Texas A&M, Missouri, Georgia


LAST 4 IN: Villanova, Pepperdine, Southern Methodist, Illinois
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FIRST 4 OUT: South Carolina, Tulane, Ohio State, Coastal Carolina
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NEXT 4 OUT: Virginia Commonwealth, Ole Miss, Northern Kentucky, Georgia Tech







Part II - Top 16 Seeds

1 Texas- 16 Rice
8 Nebraska - 9 Florida

4 Pittsburgh - 13 Kentucky
5 Wisconsin - 12 Marquette

-------------------------------

3 Stanford- 14 Texas A&M
6 Minnesota - 11 Hawaii

2 Baylor- 15 Penn State
7 Washington - 10 Utah



Next in line:
17 Creighton
18 BYU
19 Western Kentucky
20 Cincinati
21 Colorado State
22 Missouri
23 Southern California

SEC - Florida and Kentucky are near locks to get a seed. If Florida wins out, there is a chance they could get a Top 4 seed, but it would require multiple losses to other top seed contenders, and I don't see it likely that a scenario plays out for Florida to find their way in. Texas A&M hurt itself with a loss to LSU but still has a decent chance to get a seed. I am particularly wondering how the committee is going to view Rice vs. Texas A&M if it comes down to one of those two for a last-spot seed. I think it is very likely that one of them is sent to the other should one of the two not get a seed. Missouri could also find its way in on a seed if they win out. If they don't, I don't see it happening. Georgia is in a comfortable position to make the tournament. After that, nothing is clear. South Carolina has the best RPI, but who have they beaten? Right now, South Carolina does not have a T50 victory. Ole Miss has chances against Kentucky, Missouri, A&M, and Georgia. They'll have to win at least one of those to have any chance at an at-large bid, including beating Arkansas. I think Ole Miss will end up on the wrong side of the bubble. Tennessee's RPI puts them in striking distance, but they have to win out to have any chance. Even winning out might not be good enough, so I think Tennessee will also be out. South Carolina is definitely my biggest ? for this conference right now.




So the games against SC and Ole Miss are big for them to make the tourney as SC is a last four in but if we lose then we likely dont host first and second rounds

Any news on the volleyball recruiting front? Seeing a ton of tweets on commitments from our club's top 18s teams.

Beat Auburn at home . 3-0!

The Ags returned to their winning ways with a 3 - 0 victory over SEC winless Auburn. The first two set were 25 - 17 and 25 - 20. The last set was neck and neck with the Aggies winning 25 - 22.

I will be interested in other's more expert opinion, but I suspect that Coach Kuhn will not think this was the ladies best night. They seemed to get blocked a lot one-on-one which was disturbing. IMO, we were also more dependent on Hans than I suspect you'd like in a match against the cellar team.

However, it's better to complain about a win than trying to reconcile a loss. The ladies now have until Friday next week and rest and sharpen their game for the stretch run.

VB has ever really published signings for some reason

Definitely did not play as well as they should. There was a point not long ago where they didn't let the cellar teams hang around as much as Auburn did.

Last game, the Aggies had nothing going for them. I felt this game, back row defense was better, serving was better, Hans had a much better night. Patterson had a good offensive game.

We had serve receive issues the first half of the match and at one point late in the game, we had zero blocks which is unusual for a good blocking team. (just checked, zero blocks the entire game) As coloradoag69 said, we got blocked a lot 1-on-1. Rush had a bad night. Conner made some attack errors that were uncharacteristic.

I don't know if this is true at this level of ball, but I know when my daughter plays an inferior team in juniors, the rhythm of the game is very uneven and they look bad. When they play a tough opponent, all of a sudden, everything is clicking.

Auburn was 0-12 in conference going into that match with a set record of 3-36. Worst team in conference by far. They have decent middles but can't or don't get the attacks funneled to them.

I didn't think we played that great honestly. We looked very good against Arkansas the second to worst team in conference. Last night we were going thru the motions it seemed. We will be able to play like that maybe against Miss State at home and win but if we play that way in any other match for rest of conference season we would likely lose. Patterson played well in the middle and Hans did her usual and production statistically came from everyone minus Rush who was subbed out for Morgan Davis after having an off night.

We served well and while no official blocks we played decent defense. It just didn't look fluid to me. We also I think need to not do the serving sub for Patterson until later in a set. We waste four subs doing it for the possibility of better back row defense for one rotation because Patterson serves pretty well. The best thing is that it was a win and they will get valuable rest. However if we had played like we did two weeks ago I think Hans could have taken a set off and rested and give valuable court time to get other outsides going.

What were frat boys

doing dressed as Auburn supporters ?