Graduate of the University of Kentucky. Sports fan. But, above all, Christ Follower. John 16:33
Joined January 2012
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Like I need this kind of stuff to ANGER Kentucky. Someone that will step up and say ‘absolutely not’ to being disrespected on the court and in your own gym. Craig should print this out and hang it in the locker room. Cats need some fire.
That’s honestly my inclination too. I love having BK and Morgan on opposing pins. Gaerte is such a good blocker, I love having her up there against other outsides. Cats just have to get more from the OH2 and their middles. That’s what it comes down to.
It's just grasping at straws IMO.
Gaerte's hitting as efficiently on the right (or more) as she would on the left (she actually IS on the left for a rotation btw), PLUS is involved in a lot more blocking situations, and has been great at that.
An elite RS should also get about as many balls as an elite OH.
To me, it would be a pointless misstep. She's doing really good on the right, we just need to get in system more (better serve receive!) and to feed her more than OH2 out of system (including in the back row) against really good blocking teams, because she is much better against a double block.
Lot of discourse about moving MG back to the left. You can try it, I would just be willing to bet the staff doesn’t want to lose what she’s giving you from a blocking standpoint against other outsides. Gonna have to have someone play on the right who can replace that.
Totally agree. They just have to start using their middles to score points beyond the blocking. Because right now at times that seems to be all they use them for. But Pitt, UL, Wisco, UF, NEB - they ALL have dynamic middles who can put the ball down and get the swings to do so.
I don’t want to take away anything from A&M either. They were TERRIFIC today. Stowers was phenomenal and their first-ball contact was near perfect. Completely earned and deserved that win. Now that they’re healthy, they’re a tough out.
VB Parity is high.
The a&M result is their worst loss on the year, but A&M is finally healthy and played their best match of the year.
I hope this match makea it obvious that we need to feed Gaerte more (including in the back row) out of system, esp against diaciplined blocking tems. Neither AT nor GW are going to terminate against a set double block with an imperfect ball.
We simply have to get better in serve receive to avoid getting put in those situations.
100%. But she’s not walking through the door for any other team either. At some point her loss can’t be an excuse. No other team has Eva on their roster and plenty find ways to generate energy for their team. Cats need somebody to step into that role.
For lack of a better word, Kentucky needs to get pissed off. They don’t play angry enough. No one is stepping up and refusing to let another team beat them. The team as a whole needs to tap back into the joy they played with last year and refuse to let this stuff happen.
To be candid, Kentucky looked complacent this week and when things got tight they hoped Brooklyn could bail them out of it. You walk into the NCAA Tournament with that strategy and you’re not making it out of the first weekend.
Again, Kentucky’s talent on paper is Final Four/Nat’l Title level. The product on the floor this week was MAYBE Sweet 16 on a good day ? Parody in volleyball is higher than ever so losses are going to happen. But this week was an inexcusable pair of results.
Kennedy and Lizzie started the match hot in the first set. They finished with only 5 and 6 kills respectively with only 11 and 14 attempts. That is not good enough. Your middles have to be more than just blockers. And far too often that’s all they are for Kentucky.
Kentucky has got to find a way to get Kennedy Washington and Lizzie Carr more attempts IN SYSTEM. That is their foundational issue right now. First ball contact is nowhere near good enough and two of your best hitters on the team are nonexistent in the offense.
There will be no revenge for the Cats, as A&M walks into Lexington and stuns No. 4 Kentucky with a 3-0 SWEEP inside Memorial for the team's first home loss in two years. Cats with a disastrous 0-2 week against ranked teams.
A&M leads 15-11 at the media timeout here in set three. Cats just can't string points together. Aggies have been in system ALL DAY and these outsides are too terminal to continue giving them looks like this.
A&M wins the second set 25-23 to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Cats did some better things in that set, but the first contact still isn't good enough and and they're not point-scoring with their serve enough. If they want this one, they're gonna have to pull off a reverse sweep.
Skinner calls for time as A&M picks up two-straight blocks to take a 17-14 lead late in set two. Cat just don't have the offense right now. Not siding out nearly consistently enough.
Aggies lead at the media timeout 15-12 after using a 5-1 run to take the lead midway through the set. Cats had been doing a better job of playing clean, but some errors have let the Aggies back in it.