crazy effort to win that 3rd set! especially with no Lednicky.

And look, Ledinecky is back as promised

Thanks for that explanation. I've seen those pairs come on and off together all season but never slowed down enough to think about who was actually subbing for who.

You got it! It can be confusing, when you get to the nitty gritty of rules. If we had a 3rd setter and just switched Nisa for the third setter, things wouldn't have probably changed.

Keep fighting Ags!

13-15 Auburn lead in the 4th

Auburn wins set 4 22-25.

Headed to the 5th.

5-9 Auburn in the 5th

5 in a row for Auburn now

8-9 now

Timeout Auburn

8-12

12-15

Auburn wins in 5

Hard match to lose. Way too many unforced mistakes in the 4th and 5th for us after a fantastic 3rd set.

Meauth had a very bad match against a strong Auburn block. We became very one dimensional with Ledinecky/Muoneke producing. We couldn't get the middles going the last two sets, which cost us. Our block once again was an issue tonight. Been struggling blocking for 5 or so matches now.

But I will say, I liked the fight! I liked the decision making of Manning, even though the execution lacked.

Tough loss. They were certainly playing with a ton of heart. I felt we would have won had the injury not happened as it made us play in a system we were uncomfortable with. Lednicky was on fire before the injury.

I'm not sure what is going on with our blocking. Cos was extremely frustrated but no one was blocking well. We win with average blocking.

I don't understand why he plays Louput instead of Brooke. Lou pout can't kill the ball and wasn't blocking well. I think we played better with Margo being the only setter.

B$Weigem said:

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I don't understand why he plays Louput instead of Brooke. Lou pout can't kill the ball and wasn't blocking well. I think we played better with Margo being the only setter.

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I've been saying this since the first match of the year! You can tell she isn't ready for this volleyball. You can also tell by her attitude on the court that she hasn't "been here done that" before. When she stares down every girl she blocks or gets a kill against, it's a lack of maturity emotionally(referencing the 7th/8th grade post prior)

But when you look at the roster, there aren't many pieces to work with when it comes to depth. I kind of doubt she gets playing time next year once this coaching staff upgrades the roster. Her and Nisa I can see losing their spots somewhat easily. Still think we will stick with a 6-2 next year(pending Manning development in the off-season).

Ag4eva95 said:

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I've been saying this since the first match of the year! You can tell she isn't ready for this volleyball. You can also tell by her attitude on the court that she hasn't "been here done that" before. When she stares down every girl she blocks or gets a kill against, it's a lack of maturity emotionally(defending the 7th/8th grade post prior)

But when you look at the roster, there aren't many pieces to work with when it comes to depth. I kind of doubt she gets playing time next year once this coaching staff upgrades the roster. Her and Nisa I can see losing their spots somewhat easily. Still think we will stick with a 6-2 next year(pending Manning development in the off-season).

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I thought you were a 5-1 fan. (Like me). Hate that Nina got hurt but thought we showed something with Manning going full time. Still need more creativity on offense. Opponents block knows what's coming. Still too predictable.

Oh I love a 5-1! I just don't know that Manning is quite ready for it. She had her moments tonight and think she is a potential star. Consistency is what she needs to figure out.

But she has a prior history to injuries, which makes me nervous for longevity for a whole season. Just as I alluded to in the preseason, we're one injury away from a shaky season. I think Morrison needs to bring in 2 setters in the off-season if we're going to make a top 16 run next season. Nisa doesn't do it for me, although she was playing the best defense she has all season!

Good stuff, always appreciate your insight!

Ag4eva95 said:

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Meauth had a very bad match against a strong Auburn block. We became very one dimensional with Ledinecky/Muoneke producing. We couldn't get the middles going the last two sets, which cost us. Our block once again was an issue tonight. Been struggling blocking for 5 or so matches now.

But I will say, I liked the fight! I liked the decision making of Manning, even though the execution lacked.

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I wonder how much of our blocking issues is other teams scheming to avoid our blocks. Seemed like Auburn had a lot of tips to avoid our blocks at times.

Could be partially that! But if you look at our pins(mainly Lupyo), she is terrible about setting the block up. It's the pins jobs to set the block for the middles. It's the middles jobs to read and communicate to close the gaps. There were numerous times today that Auburn had no block to hit against. The main suspects were Lupyo and Perkins. The announces said numerous times today that Auburn had no block present, and you could see it when they replayed points.

Our block is struggling for some reason.

BiochemAg97 said:

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I wonder how much of our blocking issues is other teams scheming to avoid our blocks. Seemed like Auburn had a lot of tips to avoid our blocks at times.

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Hard to say but they certainly had a lot of success with tips to the open middle especially early on.

Some of these comments seem interesting to me based upon what transpired

drumbeat10 said:

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Just wanted to come here and say that I thought the freshman DS Pearson looked great after getting thrown in to playing right back after Niza got injured, especially considering the DS players probably don't spend much time training at right back defense since we most likely spend most of our practice time with setters always in right back on each side of the net. She did not seem nervous or uncomfortable, passed quite well, and defended at a good level. Nice to see that as bright spot in a tough loss.

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Wasn't it Pearson's service run what got us the 3rd set win?

The things I dont get

1. Ragging on Lupoto...she may not have the best swing but of the five pins we have she is second on the team in hitting percentage behind Lednicky. She can put up a great block especially when the middle closes, she had three blocks in the limited time she played yesterday

2. Saying we played better when Nisa but yet for most of the third set after the changes were made we were out of sorts in transition and footwork patterns having a setter come from front row and not back row we got in each others way a bit too much. A great run with Pearson at the line got us the victory in set 3 and the rest of the match we unfortunately could not get a connection between Manning and Lednicky. I am sure it will get better over the next few practice of Nise is out for an indefinite period.

3. We didnt have as many blocks because Auburn used off speed shots to make our block inffective and when middle was late closing that took their opportunities

4. People said Meuth killed us but yet she had as many kills as Muoneke on fewer swings with less errors

5. Nobody hit extremely well sans the first set for Lednicky but we managed to fight to win a set when everything went down the way it did, and that is the first set in a long while i have seen this team come from behind and while the outcome wasnt what was wanted I am sure changes will be made going forward if we have to run a 5-1 for an extended period of time.

6.Perkins looks good on the slide attack during warmup and i think we can use that as a potential option. We can also have Lednicky hit some in the back row as well but yesterday was the first time i didnt see first contact really hurt us in a game and we need that going forward

Good points! I guess when it comes to Lupyto, it's not so much the attacking for me as it's the rest of volleyball. She can't play off blocker defense, which costs us when she's in(honestly no one does except Muoneke and sometimes Ledinecky). She can be a great blocker, but she can't read hitters to set up the block correctly. I think the issues blocking aren't just on the middles, it's on the pins too. Recognizing who they are hitting against.

Example. Auburn couldn't hit hard line all match. With that, Lupyto should take a giant step towards the middle and close the amount of space the middle has to travel. Underwood was having a good game, so she can dig that sharp cross, allowing middle back to have enough time to read the roll shot down the line.

That's where I come from with my comments. She is physical. I apologize if it comes off harsh, Jimbo is making the world worse setting the tone with the loss Saturday……

Ag4eva95 said:

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Good points! I guess when it comes to Lupyto, it's not so much the attacking for me as it's the rest of volleyball. She can't play off blocker defense, which costs us when she's in(honestly no one does except Muoneke and sometimes Ledinecky). She can be a great blocker, but she can't read hitters to set up the block correctly. I think the issues blocking aren't just on the middles, it's on the pins too. Recognizing who they are hitting against.

Example. Auburn couldn't hit hard line all match. With that, Lupyto should take a giant step towards the middle and close the amount of space the middle has to travel. Underwood was having a good game, so she can dig that sharp cross, allowing middle back to have enough time to read the roll shot down the line.

That's where I come from with my comments. She is physical. I apologize if it comes off harsh, Jimbo is making the world worse setting the tone with the loss Saturday……

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I agree but if Ava is digging that cross you might want to give the cross and take away line. Our RB defense hasn't been stellar and roll shots and tips we looked slower than normal in reading those Sunday.

Well if rather them block their assignment. We've had so many gaps, we've had so many splits. So area 5 and 6 have been fairly wide open, but in reality that's where the block should be covering. Part of running a read defense. Ava has had some very good improvements of late which has been promising. But those roll shots weren't amazing from Auburn were average readable shots. Those shots were free balls.

Long story short, if this team can find and stay disciplined, they can do some really good things.

It's often said, somewhat jokingly, that setters don't play defense. Well it's not a joke with our setters. Other teams have realized our setters are way too slow to react. That why Auburn was tipping over the block. They knew our setters wouldn't get to the ball. Once Nisa went out and a DS played that right back spot on defense they couldn't get away with it as easily. This lack of defense from our setters also affects the rest of the back row. The middle backs have to cheat over to help cover which then also forces Ava to have to cover more ground from her spot at left back.
As for Lapuyo, they say you can't teach height and that's the only thing she has going for her. The last staff knew she was a project but were willing to work with her. This staff has kept her out of necessity and also hoping she could develop. She's not good enough to be playing as much as she does at this level, but our other options are not tall enough to defend opposing teams best hitters on a consistent basis.

Yes she may "hit" at a high percentage, but it's because she often hits the ball poorly, which throws opposing defenses off as it's not the hard driven ball that they're expecting to see. It's not like it's intentional when she hits some of those balls like she does. She's just not a good hitter. As someone else said, she's like a 7-8th grader that grew faster than her peers and hasn't grown into her body yet. You just usually don't still see that still in college.

I dont care if she looks awkward but she gets kills at a decent rate. That may change over time eiher worse or better as she progresses but I dont see her being the top option in the future anyway. Pins are our current way to score and until passing gets better it will remain that way. And passing isnt getting much better unless we get better passers on the floor.

That said going forward if Nisa is out for a while I can see Lupoto getting only time on the floor as a blocking sub for a rotation or two and we let Underwood set during that time on the floor.

I agree Lopuyo doesn't have a traditional approach/swing and that's a problem hitting an out-of-system set (which she doesn't hit much of) or if the set is not ideal. Give her a good high set and her height allows her to pick and choose where to put down the ball, even if it isn't a hard hit. That's kind of what I see, maybe I'm wrong. But yeah, if we are running a 5-1 for the near future, she's not going to see any play time.

About 5-1, I'm worried what kind of offense we can generate when Manning is in the front row. If we can't pass well enough to feed the middle, we might have some trouble when the OH (whoever that will be) is the only option. I'd like to see if Lednicky can play backrow again to give Manning another option.

Not blaming Manning solely but the team was clearly not ready to run a 5-1. Girls running into each other. Manning transitioning from blocking to setting looked awkward but that's also because the passes weren't there either. I expect Manning to do 100% better the next game.

I'm glad people have mentioned how bad our back right defense is. I don't understand how our setters coming from presumably Open level club teams (or whatever equivalent for Nisa) can't come up with a hard dig more often. My kid's a setter but didn't play Open so she had a bit of a learning curve in college (not D1) but she's much better at it now. Hopefully we get better at this with more experience. Smart coaches are going to target this.

What're we expecting on Friday? Being forced into a system change then facing Mizzou, Tenn, and KY is a pretty tall task for a young team.

It doesn't look like we are in danger of missing the tournament based on the latest RPI futures and Bracketology predictions but we are playing for seeding. The latest iteration after the Auburn loss predicts we finish with an RPI of 30 at 18-10 and end up as a 6 seed playing in Austin. That requires we finish 3-2 in these last five matches.

have we heard anything on Nisa's injury? Last I heard was from the texags interview with Morrison and he said they didn't know at the time.

Unsure of what to expect or Nisa injury however if we do a 5-1 for a match or two if she cant go it will help the program in the future. I wondered how if we did the lineup by switching setters how we would do with Lednicky being set by Morrison. It also allows Lednicky to attack from back row, which if she is on is a great option. I dont think she has had much time working on RB defense and last year she is about where the setters are currently in terms of back row defense. It also allows to work on slide attack options and even possible late game blocking sub situation which will help tremendously is case we decide to run the 5-1 out of necessity and or as an option. The connection with Lednicky and Morrison wasnt good in the match but with practice it will get better.

As for our remaining schedule i see us losing to Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri and winning the other two. Anything more than that is gravy.
There is a massive pile of even level teams in the SEC below the top 3

Florida, Auburn, Missouri, US, and Georgia, some with a match less then others. The issue is we only have one win in those matches and none against the top 3 whereas the others have better records against the same group and most have a win against one of the top 3. We need to either get a better record against the group or a signature win. That is the next three matches. We have feasted on the lower group quite well and our schedule while NO major studs had a great RPI and good teams who can play great at any given time