Ag4eva95 said:

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If it helps add context to what I've been alluding to regarding thinking highly of character, her little sister is at her second highschool, soon to be third(she's currently a junior). Girls at Cy Ranch didn't play volleyball because Bianna had a strict ownership of the program. Now D1 level girls are playing because the Muonekes aren't playing. That is straight from a prior teammate.

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So I wondered about that, so last year when Bianna was at Cy Ranch that was her little sister at a private school? And this year she transferred to Cy Fair? How does that work, one to Cy Ranch and one to Cy Fair? I also saw she changed clubs. I wasnt sure if that was her sister or a cousin because they never were at the same school.

Amare Hernandez just signed, so +1 OH.

https://12thman.com/news/2023/12/5/volleyball-aggies-sign-amare-hernandez-to-2024-class

"announced the addition of Amare Hernandez to the 2024 signing class"
--- did we sign someone previously?

Not sure how she contributes next year. She hits hard, but doesn't seem to move the needle. I'd be surprised if she plays significant minutes

Ag4eva95 said:

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Not sure how she contributes next year. She hits hard, but doesn't seem to move the needle. I'd be surprised if she plays significant minutes

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With Brianna and Meuth out, you have Lexi and Brooke left at Outside Hitter and now Amare.

I understand that, I don't think any of these 3 should be contributing heavily to top 25 teams. Have a strong feeling we find 2 6 rotation OHs and start setting the pipe a little more

Ag4eva95 said:

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I understand that, I don't think any of these 3 should be contributing heavily to top 25 teams. Have a strong feeling we find 2 6 rotation OHs and start setting the pipe a little more

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I think there is a long list of positions where we want to upgrade from the portal and not a whole lot of things to offer. Only 1 available ship unless we lose more to the portal. I think we are going to need to rely on development of the players we have for significant improvement next year.

Weird take to me. Relatively unknown on the club scene playing for valley venom, not even sure what level they play at.

Preferred walk on from what I hear. Seen her play a couple of times. Nothing I thought would be on our radar.

Unless they reduce scholarship amounts of current athletes to open up the door for others. This happens a lot at the end of collegiate season, when coaches have "the talk."

Jack Pearson said:

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Weird take to me. Relatively unknown on the club scene playing for valley venom, not even sure what level they play at.

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USA-level I think. My kid (USA division) played that club a lot in years past.

There are some really good kids that play in clubs that do not play Open. Maybe she has a lot of potential.

Ag4eva95 said:

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Unless they reduce scholarship amounts of current athletes to open up the door for others. This happens a lot at the end of collegiate season, when coaches have "the talk."

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Volleyball is a headcount sport (like football) so either no scholarship or full scholarship. It is not a partial scholarship sport like baseball where you can adjust what % of a scholarship the player has.

If Amare is a PWO as stated above, we likely still have 2 scholarships spots to fill. That said, while there are only 12 scholarships available, the average team has 16 players while we only had 14, so we have room for more PWOs.

Jack Pearson said:

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Weird take to me. Relatively unknown on the club scene playing for valley venom, not even sure what level they play at.

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Staff was in a tough spot recruiting for 2024. Seems like most top players are locked up their junior year. We have had our 2025 class set since mid season. Given how far behind and with a lot of young players on the team, they seem to have basically skipped 2024 recruiting and focused on 2025.

I hear you but there are a lot of solid OH 24s (plus other positons) that are taking walkon offers at other schools (or 1/3 or 2/2 offers) that would love to be a walkon at A&M. I know a few on some high level big name club teams that have competed in Open for years.

The thing I've noticed over the years of coaching club, some of the smaller programs may not compete in open. Sometimes they have a stud athlete or two, but not enough to seriously complete. Maybe she is an under developed stud(but not quite yet worth a scholarship). Guess time will tell.

I'm dumb, I was confusing the D2 and D1 rules, thanks for clarifying. Had a girl I coached have her scholarship increased since she was the starting setter running a 5-1 for a top 25 D2 team.

Jack Pearson said:

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I hear you but there are a lot of solid OH 24s (plus other positons) that are taking walkon offers at other schools (or 1/3 or 2/2 offers) that would love to be a walkon at A&M. I know a few on some high level big name club teams that have competed in Open for years.

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Not all the best players play Open. Middle for Texas a couple of years back played American when she played for Texstar and got her scholarship to Texas. Same program with Allison McNeil that played Middle for Nebraska

I understand but as a rule the players playing against open competition are the ones facing the big time prospects going to the bigger schools so its easier to see how they translate to a D1 program. The majority of the time the difference in open is size. An undersized OH can look great against lower level club teams but when faced with an open front line of 6'3 defenders like you will see in college the results are very different.

Also a catch 22 sometime when you have a shorter setter in Open they dont get picked by top programs because they are four inches shorter than some of the top setters in Open. Doesnt mean they cant play. Any setter that doesnt look like they can block enough for a top 25 program better hope they are willing to run a 6-2 or they need to look at programs outside the Top 25 even if a better pure setter. There is a reason TAMU ran a 6-2 this season. They wanted a block and they got it albetit lost a times. You can have an undersized player as various positions but at the elite level (Sweet 16 or better) that size will be exposed. a 5-10 outside up against a Wisconsin block from two years ago would stuggle mightly no matter how good they are.

I have seen the 24 girl play a couple of matches at various tourneys. She can play but I didnt think at the level TAMU needs but not my call and i Dont think a scholaship was used although I may be wrong .

Just like KY with Lilley and now Grome, Oregon with Pukkis, San Diego last year with Blossom, etc.

Yes, use the exceptions...cant wait to get the 5-9 setter and 5-10 pins and see how we do

Feels like we'd be a front runner for the natty

SEC Top 7:

KY - Grome - 5' 9"
Ark - Hogue - 5' 8"
Tenn - Kerr - 5' 11" (wearing DeSantis' boots)
Georgia - Brower 5' 9"

> 6': Mizzou, Auburn, Fla (pre-injury)

While Kentucky is good, they won't win the natty. Florida was a legit contender with Stucky. I don't see anyone from the sec contending this season.

The smaller setters have been fine in the SEC because most schools have smaller OHs(minus Kentucky). Players like Madison Skinner, Sarah Franklin, Kendall Kipp, etc will have hay days against the SEC the rest of the way.

Just making sure I have this right. In the Sweet 16:

Short setters, can't win:
Arkansas - Hogue 5' 8"
Kentucky - Grome 5' 9"
Arizona St. - Shields 5' 10"
Creighton - Wait - 5' 10"
Oregon - Pukkis - 5' 11"
Tennessee - Kerr - 5' 11"

Tall Setters, can win:
Washington St. - Ung - 6' 0" (ish)
Louisville - Glock - 6' 0" (ish)
Pitt - Fairbanks 6' 0"
Stanford - Miner - 6' 0"
Purdue - Anderson - 6' 1"
Nebraska - Reilly - 6' 1"
Penn State - Podroza - 6' 2"
Texas - Swindle - 6' 3"

Fake College Offense - doesn't count if they win:
Ga Tech - Run a 6/2
Wisconsin - Run a 6/2

You catch a team on the right day, you never know. If I'm Madison Skinner, would you rather go against a 6-2 setter or a 5-8 setter. She was already tearing apart Ledinecky(for the most part) and she's 6-3.

The last like 10 national champions have had a setter above 6 foot, with a 2 of those being 5-11. So the statistics tend to be with taller setters who can own the net

How about just find the right athlete that can play? I've seen plenty of 5'9 setters that can block good enough to make up for a plodding slow footed big setter. The OH for Arkansas seems to do just fine because she can jump higher than most girls that are taller. Size isn't an end all be all. Texas ran a 5'6" setter with Jhenna Gabriel all the way to the title game a few years ago.

So have I but that doesnt mean that isnt what the teams, many teams are looking for. It depends on your philosophy. If you run a quick offense with middles moving across the net to attack a slower setter isnt going to work even if 6'1''. That is where the setter that is 5-10 and can jump could be the perfect complment to the rest of the lineup. If you are running predictable attack lines and just trying to have the hitters either out muscle or shot selection the blocking aspect of the setter maybe something that you look for. Watching Blossom decision making last year for San Diego in our tourney and the NCAA you could tell she worked perfectly for that system and that team regardless of her height. Of the 8 teams left only one setter is truly in that short mode.. and one of the two shortest had to advance as they were playing each other.

It is the same argument as shorter outsides who can jump, they are very good players but what happens when they go up against Skinner type players and ONeal on the slide. They can get exposed. And we can say yeah but those are only a handful of teams they are getting exposed by but those are the teams you have to face year in year out at the Sweet 16 level and beyond.

Did you see the block Wisconsin put up in a large portion of the match against Penn State last night? That size can be lethal both offensively and defensively

Sargie said:

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Just making sure I have this right. In the Sweet 16:

Short setters,

Arkansas - Hogue 5' 8"
Oregon - Pukkis - 5' 11"

Tall Setters,

Louisville - Glock - 6' 0" (ish)
Pitt - Fairbanks 6' 0"
Stanford - Miner - 6' 0"
Nebraska - Reilly - 6' 1"
Texas - Swindle - 6' 3"

Fake College Offense - doesn't count if they win:

Wisconsin - Run a 6/2

That is what is left and the 5'8" Arkansas setter played against the 5-9 Kentucky setter so we were going to have one regardless. There is a premium to height but that doesnt mean the shorter setters arent good

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Seems like running a 6-2, you could get some really good setters that are shorts since you don't need them to block.

Is 6-2 more common in International Volleyball?

Are NCAA teams focused on 5-1 because of the scholarship limits?

5-1 almost exclusively in international due to sub limits.

HS and Colleges usually run a 5-1 but a 6-2 can be beneficial dependent upon your roster.

Wisconsin runs a 6-2 with an absolutely loaded offense.

For years, the top volleyball programs have put all their investment into snagging the top recruits.

Meanwhile, Arkansas recruited a 5’7 OH who had no other D1 offers and is now in the Elite 8 for the first time in program history.

Let that sink in.

— Abby Benton | @numberonevolleyball (@abby_benton1) December 8, 2023

ding ding ding

Few and far between. She's a special athlete. She's put up all American numbers since day 1. Not saying it isn't possible, but athletes like her don't happen often

Ag4eva95 said:

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Few and far between. She's a special athlete. She's put up all American numbers since day 1. Not saying it isn't possible, but athletes like her don't happen often

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She can jump over 10ft. For someone that short, she has to work 150% harder than anyone else every single time. Mentally, she is strong and also a leader from what I've seen.