Auburn Volleyball

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Not this time:

 

 

[all4AU 379]

Dropping the match to State is tough. 

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Back on track:

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by I_M4_AU

[slot canyon 1,335]

Pretty much dominated the match (3sets) with set margins of victory of 13, 11 and 2 points.  Of course the domination also revealed by the stats: kills 41-27, blocks 12.5 -7, errors 10-23.  Credit to LSU for not folding and making good effort to fight to the end in the final set.  In that final set, Anderson had 8 kills of her total 14.  Next up Alabama who have not won a conference match this year and would love to do so this Wednesday in Auburn.  They appear to be improving but have won only 5 sets in 16 conference matches to date.  Then on Friday our final conference match vs the excellent Arkansas razorbacks.  Watched a portion of their game yesterday vs Florida; both very good teams.  Arkansas won in 5 sets.  I believe their speed and quickness is one thing that separates them from Auburn and a lot of other opponents.  Gillen, #10 , their outside hitter is outstanding.  Listed at 5'7", she leads the team in kills with 370. They steamrolled us earlier this season in 3 sets.  

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Another beat down of Bama:

 

 

[slot canyon 1,335]

AU defeated BAMA in straight sets with score margins of 11-5-7.  It was a fun match to watch, not just because of the AU win, but both teams showed great hustle and effort.  Very good crowd.  Barrett continued to do excellent at her setter position.  Morton had 19 digs.  Bodies were all over the floor for the entire match. 

We play #9 Arkansas Friday @ 3pm.  They defeated us soundly in 3 sets earlier this year.  Selection Sunday this weekend.

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Going to a 5th set with Arky:

 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Close but wasn’t to be:

 

 

[slot canyon 1,335]

Maybe with the exception of the Florida game, I thought this was the best we played vs a highly ranked team.  Good to see this late in the season.  

[AUBwins 10,075]

So close yet again.  Gonna make a run in tourney and be dangerous imo

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Backs against the wall with Western Michigan:

 

 

[I_M4_AU 7,858]

Not this year, still a great season.

 

 

 

[augolf1716 21,211]

Well crap 

[Grumps 3,704]

That is disappointing. Congrats on a great season!

[slot canyon 1,335]

Straight set losses by 6,7 and 8 points.  Western Michigan was another team that appeared to have a lot of quickness.  Their serve-return game was superior.  Always seemed to be in the right spot to make digs.  They were very efficient, knew our weaknesses and took advantage.  Hopefully this will make us better going forward.  

[VolleyMike 45]

Didn’t seem like we made any meaningful adjustments the entire match. Clearly had a few players that were off, but didn’t pull them out to give anyone else a shot. Don’t we have a super deep bench of talent?

[AUBwins 10,075]

Didn't expect that result.  Not in the first round match.  Good season.  We are still building a culture with this program but thought we would make a better showing.  

[slot canyon 1,335]

Does size matter?  Western Michigan has 1 player listed at 6'3" and two players at 6'2".  Auburn has 7 players (in playing rotation) listed at 6'2 or greater.  I used to think it would be an advantage but after watching some of these teams with "shorter" players with quickness and jumping ability, I have had to rethink that opinion.  Something that seemed to stand out was their ability to get the ball to the net quickly in position for a good set for their hitters.  Their setter (Case, 5'8") had 44 assist.  Their serve game accounted for 11 aces (6 by one player) compared to 3 for AU.....right there an 8 point differential.  They also had 11 more kills; in spite of being mere dwarfs.  I am by no means an expert regarding volleyball, but it seems that AU is more of a power team and Western Michigan is more of a finesse team.   It will be interesting to see how they fare going forward.  

[VolleyMike 45]

On 12/1/2023 at 7:59 AM, slot canyon said:

Does size matter?  Western Michigan has 1 player listed at 6'3" and two players at 6'2".  Auburn has 7 players (in playing rotation) listed at 6'2 or greater.  I used to think it would be an advantage but after watching some of these teams with "shorter" players with quickness and jumping ability, I have had to rethink that opinion.  Something that seemed to stand out was their ability to get the ball to the net quickly in position for a good set for their hitters.  Their setter (Case, 5'8") had 44 assist.  Their serve game accounted for 11 aces (6 by one player) compared to 3 for AU.....right there an 8 point differential.  They also had 11 more kills; in spite of being mere dwarfs.  I am by no means an expert regarding volleyball, but it seems that AU is more of a power team and Western Michigan is more of a finesse team.   It will be interesting to see how they fare going forward.  

Height definitely matters, but not at the expense of quickness and athleticism. If you’re going up to block and the ball is already past you, it doesn’t matter how tall you are, you are not going to affect that play. We saw A LOT of this all season with teams that ran faster offenses. Especially with our middles. When a kill goes cross court it is typically because there was an opening in the middle somewhere. Middles have a very hard job, but we seemed to struggle more than most.

To me the bigger problem was the lack of adjustments by the coaching staff.  Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Western Michigan, and others were all games that we struggled in and yet we kept running the same lineup and game plan out on the court set after set to see if it would somehow get better.  When a player is struggling, sometimes the best thing you can do for them is to pull them out to let them regroup and get their confidence back. The worst thing you can do is to leave them in and let them implode in front of everyone. The second worst thing you can do is to put a backup in and pull the backup out right away if they make a mistake. Now you have two players with low confidence.  I’m not saying we should use kid gloves with our players, but sometimes great players have B or C games and coaches need to recognize that and not be afraid to make changes.

[blakem 296]

Sarah Morton posted that she is transferring. She seemed to struggle a lot this season.

[VolleyMike 45]

On 12/5/2023 at 12:27 PM, blakem said:

Sarah Morton posted that she is transferring. She seemed to struggle a lot this season.

Sad to see her go. She was an early signee in last years class and made a huge impact in last years back row. I think she was battling an injury most of this season.  Surprised to see her removed from the roster on the website already. Cassidy Tanton was also not on there anymore. 

[slot canyon 1,335]

Not directly related to AU VB but I watched the final two sets of the Texas - Wisconsin VB playoff game last night.  Texas won the match 3-1.  The point margin in the last two sets were 12 and 9 in favor to Texas.  In the third set, Texas had an amazing 11-0 run (included 3 aces) to go up 15 - 3.  For the night Texas had 11 aces with 6 by Skinner.  They had a 10 - 1 run in the final set on the way to a 25 - 16 win.  They targeted one player with 52 of the serves with the Texas coach stating it was an attempt to "wear her down".  The Texas libro (Halter, a 5'5" freshman) was fantastic.  They play Nebraska at 2 PM CT on ABC.  Hard to imagine reaching the level of play I saw last night; the chasm is wide and deep.    

[blakem 296]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1KssP3O-Db/?igsh=MTdlMjRlYjZlMQ==
 

defensive specialist with 2 years left to play. Former top 5 recruit.