Game Preview
Oh how sweet it is. Texas A&M Volleyball is back into the sweet sixteen in back to back years. After a dramatic 4th set defeat over TCU, Texas A&M moves to the next round and is set to travel to the University of Nebraska to take on the Louisville Cardinals Friday at 6pm.
This is the exact spot we were working to get back to. Last season in the sweet sixteen we suffered a heartbreaking 5 set defeat to Wisconsin. Tied at 6 a piece in the last set, Wisconsin went on a big run. We battled back and brought it within one and made it 13-12. We ultimately fell 15-13. The tears fell. But 11 players, 9 seniors, from that team returned. They went through a 22 win regular season, finished second in the SEC, earned a 3 seed, won their first two rounds, and now are back in the sweet sixteen to seek revenge.
This time it's another volleyball powerhouse. Louisville has been in two championships in the last 4 years and 3 final fours. They were so close to a national championship last year before an injury to their star hitter Anna DeDeer. They did lose All American libero Elena Scott, All American Debeer, along with starters, Charitie Luper, Sofia Maldonado Diaz, and Phekran Kong. So they had a lot to replace, but returned some key pieces in Nayelis Cabello, their setter, Cara Cresse, their elite 6'6 middle blocker, another 6'3 middle blocker in Hannah Sherman, and a libero in Kamden Schrand. They also added one of the biggest portal pieces in outside hitter Chloe Chicoine from Purdue.
They run a lot of their offense through Chicoine. At 5'10 she is explosive and has a huge swing. They also have many other options and a lot of SIZE. Their two middles Sherman and Cresse are world class. Their setter is 6'0 and their opposite is 6'5. So they'll have a huge huge block going at Stowers and Hellmuth. So I think are primary game plan would be to lean on Lednicky. I'm talking crazy, about 10-15 swings a set. We'll also need to get the middles involved and set them quickly. We're going to need crazy fast tempo this match. We'll need to took the block, we'll need some sharp angles, and we'll need to heavily mix in some tips. Their back row play is strong, but can be vulnerable. If we can get through or around their block we can get some kills.
Defensively, we're going to need a much much better performance than we had against TCU. Louisville does play at a lot slower tempo. Their setter Cabello is sharp and they prioritize a high well placed set and rely on them out hitting you. They are relentless. Aside from Chicoine, they have some middles who can score too. At 6'6 Cresse can give us problems like Lizzie Carr did for Kentucky. They love to run a slide with her. At opposite they have the ACC freshman of the year in Kalyssa Blackshear who has a huge arm and crazy height. We'll need a strong block, but we'll need our back row defenders to be strong.
We're going to need to serve tough, we're gonna need to be okay with some service errors. If we can get a couple aces per set we will be in business. Louisville has some solid servers, but nothing extremely lethal like they've had in the past. Although they don't commit many service errors. With their elite block, we'll need to handle their serves and give Waak an opportunity to make some quick nice sets.
Like I mentioned, this is where we're going to need Lednicky, now more than ever. We'll need our middles set at least 10 times a set. We'll need Stowers and Hellmuth at their sharpest. Their block is great so it's up to these girls to top their block or hit off some hands. We'll need our littles alert to up some blocked shots. With their slow tempo our block will have a chance to do much better, but it needs to formed perfectly to slow these girls down.
This match should be as advertised. A beautiful and filthy back and forth affair between two elite teams. There's no hiding in the sweet sixteen. Everyone is elite, all conference and all Americans are everywhere. This will be peak volleyball. It's going to have runs, it's going to be frustrating, it's going to be an absolute battle between two giants!
Getting here was a goal, but it wasn't the goal. After last season ended, we knew what this team could be. They've delivered to this point. In the presser Jamie said, last year we had to prove to ourselves we belong, but now we know we belong. 9 seniors on this team, all with their Aggie rings, all set to graduate next week or in May. The possibility of only a handful of sets with each other is not what we want. It's time we get what we want. College Volleyball is a unique sport, it has been and always will be run by the blue bloods of the sport. To most, we're still an outsider or "not a volleyball school", "Texas A&M isn't supposed to be here," "why is Texas A&M here." Well too damn bad. We're here and we're not just happy to be here, we mean business. It's time. Friday night in the Devaney Center, we're going to BEAT THE EVER LIVING HELL OUTTA louisville!!!!!
