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2 time defending National champs…
Posted on: November 4, 2024 at 12:22:16 CT
bluetiger_ MU
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Still loaded at every position.
Their welcome to the SEC had them blowing through the conference, going 7-0, winning 21 of 23 sets, and swept both Florida and Kentucky on the road 3-0.
Then they hit a wall at home and lost three straight 3-2 matches. All to likely NCAA tourney teams. 5th sets are crapshoots, they could easily be 10-0 in the SEC. But what’s happened the last 3 games seems inexplicable, considering their elite talent.
Having said that, something clearly is wrong with them. There are several long threads on VolleyTalk with Texas fans cussing and discussing what’s wrong. Elite talent is great to have but there are other factors that determine outcomes in volleyball, toughness, resilience, chemistry, schemes, etc. They blew 2-1 set leads in all three recent home losses, and anyone watching could see an unfocused, down team lacking confidence as the 4th sets slipped away.
Texas fans say their passing is abysmal; I don’t watch them enough to know. What has interested me more, due to a local angle, is a lot of turmoil over the critical setter position. Ella Swindell, 6-3 setter from Columbia Rock Bridge, helped lead them to their second straight national title last year as a true freshman. She was light out in the semis and finals and was named to the all tournament team. Then a really good setter from Baylor, Carlson, transferred to Texas this season, which seemed like a bad career move, with Swindell having 3 more years. But Carlson is the real deal, probably a better pure setter than Swindell, and Texas has been trying to play them both, going to a 5-2. They played a 5-2 in the losses to TAMU and us, then switched to a 6-1 with Carlson starting for the OU match, and still lost their third straight. People will debate the 6-1 vs 5-2 forever, but you have to have great chemistry between setters and hitters, and setters have different styles, which can cause issues when the two appear to be “competing” to an extent.
Early on in the season, if Carlson beat out Swindell, who knows, perhaps Ella might have been a transfer target and come home here. Just pure speculation on my part. Now, with the development of Crownover, who clearly has all SEC talent but would have been the #3 setter, at best, at Texas (talk about an embarrassment of riches!), I don’t care as much about that, though if the situation implodes at Texas she would be a great addition to Missouri.
Yeah it’s strange seeing Texas at just 12-6 for the season. They had a really tough non con schedule, splitting 4 matches with top 20 teams. I still think they are the likely favorites to win the SEC, but it’s great to see both us and Kentucky giving them a run for their money.
Their welcome to the SEC had them blowing through the conference, going 7-0, winning 21 of 23 sets, and swept both Florida and Kentucky on the road 3-0.
Then they hit a wall at home and lost three straight 3-2 matches. All to likely NCAA tourney teams. 5th sets are crapshoots, they could easily be 10-0 in the SEC. But what’s happened the last 3 games seems inexplicable, considering their elite talent.
Having said that, something clearly is wrong with them. There are several long threads on VolleyTalk with Texas fans cussing and discussing what’s wrong. Elite talent is great to have but there are other factors that determine outcomes in volleyball, toughness, resilience, chemistry, schemes, etc. They blew 2-1 set leads in all three recent home losses, and anyone watching could see an unfocused, down team lacking confidence as the 4th sets slipped away.
Texas fans say their passing is abysmal; I don’t watch them enough to know. What has interested me more, due to a local angle, is a lot of turmoil over the critical setter position. Ella Swindell, 6-3 setter from Columbia Rock Bridge, helped lead them to their second straight national title last year as a true freshman. She was light out in the semis and finals and was named to the all tournament team. Then a really good setter from Baylor, Carlson, transferred to Texas this season, which seemed like a bad career move, with Swindell having 3 more years. But Carlson is the real deal, probably a better pure setter than Swindell, and Texas has been trying to play them both, going to a 5-2. They played a 5-2 in the losses to TAMU and us, then switched to a 6-1 with Carlson starting for the OU match, and still lost their third straight. People will debate the 6-1 vs 5-2 forever, but you have to have great chemistry between setters and hitters, and setters have different styles, which can cause issues when the two appear to be “competing” to an extent.
Early on in the season, if Carlson beat out Swindell, who knows, perhaps Ella might have been a transfer target and come home here. Just pure speculation on my part. Now, with the development of Crownover, who clearly has all SEC talent but would have been the #3 setter, at best, at Texas (talk about an embarrassment of riches!), I don’t care as much about that, though if the situation implodes at Texas she would be a great addition to Missouri.
Yeah it’s strange seeing Texas at just 12-6 for the season. They had a really tough non con schedule, splitting 4 matches with top 20 teams. I still think they are the likely favorites to win the SEC, but it’s great to see both us and Kentucky giving them a run for their money.
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2 time defending National champs… - bluetiger_ MU - 11/4 12:22:16