09-27-2019, 02:05 PM
A couple of more thoughts, now that I'm not hearing, "Cal looking for the upset, and they just might pull it off..." by Barnett in my head.
On the commentator: unbalanced, and had me wondering if he was a Cal alum, yes. But as others have mentioned, he did have a great interview with Gates post-match, and he did bring more technical knowledge (talking about the Bears not adjusting to Plummer's backrow attacks, etc.) than is sometimes the norm.
The Vicini-Campbell switch: I think Vicini is a better (or at least quicker) blocker at this point, and it feels like the block is what needs shoring up. Cal's tempo was opening up a lot of hitting angles, and Hentz can't cover the 70% of the court that was available. Early on, they were definitely aiming at Plummer, but her passing and defense improved as the game went along.
The MBs - need to be hitting a higher percentage. They're not the ones getting OOS sets like Plummer and Kipp, so hitting .300 should not be an unrealistic goal. More especially, last night saw an awful lot of soft balls from the MBs, leading to fairly easy digs for Cal. Which brings me to my last thought.
Gray. Not sure what it is, but her connection with the hitters not named Kathryn is not there right now. On any backset, slide or otherwise, she seems to be setting pretty low and sometimes tight (the trap set I talk about.) Fitzmorris and Kipp seem to do better with a higher ball (given they're 6'5" or so.) I do wonder if this is trying to speed up the tempo a bit, but a low tight set on the slide (with only two hitters front row) is a recipe for a lot of blocks. So for the MBs, the slide or backset is not going well. In front of the setter, the "dead middle" ball seems to be an issue because of slightly off timing. Wondering if we'll see more of the gap set to Gates and hopefully Campbell (a set that worked really well for Cal last night.)
In any case, it got better as the match went along. Now if we can come out in a match not quite so flat in the first set...
VG
On the commentator: unbalanced, and had me wondering if he was a Cal alum, yes. But as others have mentioned, he did have a great interview with Gates post-match, and he did bring more technical knowledge (talking about the Bears not adjusting to Plummer's backrow attacks, etc.) than is sometimes the norm.
The Vicini-Campbell switch: I think Vicini is a better (or at least quicker) blocker at this point, and it feels like the block is what needs shoring up. Cal's tempo was opening up a lot of hitting angles, and Hentz can't cover the 70% of the court that was available. Early on, they were definitely aiming at Plummer, but her passing and defense improved as the game went along.
The MBs - need to be hitting a higher percentage. They're not the ones getting OOS sets like Plummer and Kipp, so hitting .300 should not be an unrealistic goal. More especially, last night saw an awful lot of soft balls from the MBs, leading to fairly easy digs for Cal. Which brings me to my last thought.
Gray. Not sure what it is, but her connection with the hitters not named Kathryn is not there right now. On any backset, slide or otherwise, she seems to be setting pretty low and sometimes tight (the trap set I talk about.) Fitzmorris and Kipp seem to do better with a higher ball (given they're 6'5" or so.) I do wonder if this is trying to speed up the tempo a bit, but a low tight set on the slide (with only two hitters front row) is a recipe for a lot of blocks. So for the MBs, the slide or backset is not going well. In front of the setter, the "dead middle" ball seems to be an issue because of slightly off timing. Wondering if we'll see more of the gap set to Gates and hopefully Campbell (a set that worked really well for Cal last night.)
In any case, it got better as the match went along. Now if we can come out in a match not quite so flat in the first set...
VG