09-26-2019, 10:58 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-26-2019, 11:42 PM by Viking_Guy.)
A much-improved Cal team, with some great connection to their middles. The third-highest ranked team in the Pac-12. Berkeley going all out to try to get people to the match, and a much better atmosphere as a result.
Why didn't I enjoy watching us beat them more?
The announcer, Kevin Barnett.
Don't get me wrong, he was knowledgeable, as he should be, as a former Olympian and men's player at Pepperdine. Dropped into lingo a bit often, but I might have been hypersensitive to it.
Because he spent pretty much the entire match talking about Cal. He would compliment Stanford when they did well, but all of his interludes were Cal-related. If Cal did something well, his voice rose with excitement. If Stanford did, it was pretty much a monotone.
It was just weird. And off-putting, for a Stanford fan.
In any case, Stanford came out REALLY flat, in the face of the energy in the building. Plummer hit .000 for the opening set. They had 4 or 5 net violations and 3 service errors. Gray's connection to pretty much everybody looked off - she had a free ball perfectly passed by Hentz, set the middle, and missed by a good foot. All in all, a blah effort, coupled with getting caught in our worst rotation during a big Cal run at the end of set.
Barnett might have needed to dry off the microphone, he was so excited.
In the second, Stanford played a much more composed set, and Cal self-destructed a bit with hitting and passing issues. Their middles were still great, when they got a good set in system; Preslie Anderson hit over .450 on the match. But their pin hitters and passing were not that solid, and Stanford walked away with the set 25-17.
Set 3 was decisive. Back and forth, no team leading by more than 2 points the entire set. Stanford got some Plummer magic, and finally got its block going, closing out the third on a Fitzmorris/Gates stuff of Mirkovic.
And that right there was what I'm concerned about. Right now, Stanford's block is not nearly the force it could be. There's not much they could've done about Cal's middles going off - they were mostly hitting against a solo block. But there were a lot of plays that looked like they had a Cal hitter trapped outside, and left a seam. Or didn't get over and pike, leading to balls off "high hands" spraying around the court, and negating Stanford's defensive alignment.
Set 4, the block got going. And the game turned. A great run of serving by Gray opened up a tight set (Stanford mostly with 1-3 point leads) and got the Cardinal out to a 20-15 lead. They sided out home.
No question Cal is a much better team than they have been in the recent past - the aforementioned middles, good defense, and a belief in themselves - heck, they were undefeated, if not against a particularly difficult schedule.
But Barnett was so oblivious to Stanford that he didn't notice Vicini had replaced Campbell, and had a couple of nice block assists, from when she entered midway through the third set until the middle of the fourth. Campbell, who was having a tough match, didn't return, and Vicini closed the match out.
I don't know, maybe others had a different reaction. But I didn't expect the 75-25 division of coverage I think we got in that match.
In any case, a solid win on the road against a good team. Now for the second ranking team in the Pac-12 this weekend.
VG
Why didn't I enjoy watching us beat them more?
The announcer, Kevin Barnett.
Don't get me wrong, he was knowledgeable, as he should be, as a former Olympian and men's player at Pepperdine. Dropped into lingo a bit often, but I might have been hypersensitive to it.
Because he spent pretty much the entire match talking about Cal. He would compliment Stanford when they did well, but all of his interludes were Cal-related. If Cal did something well, his voice rose with excitement. If Stanford did, it was pretty much a monotone.
It was just weird. And off-putting, for a Stanford fan.
In any case, Stanford came out REALLY flat, in the face of the energy in the building. Plummer hit .000 for the opening set. They had 4 or 5 net violations and 3 service errors. Gray's connection to pretty much everybody looked off - she had a free ball perfectly passed by Hentz, set the middle, and missed by a good foot. All in all, a blah effort, coupled with getting caught in our worst rotation during a big Cal run at the end of set.
Barnett might have needed to dry off the microphone, he was so excited.
In the second, Stanford played a much more composed set, and Cal self-destructed a bit with hitting and passing issues. Their middles were still great, when they got a good set in system; Preslie Anderson hit over .450 on the match. But their pin hitters and passing were not that solid, and Stanford walked away with the set 25-17.
Set 3 was decisive. Back and forth, no team leading by more than 2 points the entire set. Stanford got some Plummer magic, and finally got its block going, closing out the third on a Fitzmorris/Gates stuff of Mirkovic.
And that right there was what I'm concerned about. Right now, Stanford's block is not nearly the force it could be. There's not much they could've done about Cal's middles going off - they were mostly hitting against a solo block. But there were a lot of plays that looked like they had a Cal hitter trapped outside, and left a seam. Or didn't get over and pike, leading to balls off "high hands" spraying around the court, and negating Stanford's defensive alignment.
Set 4, the block got going. And the game turned. A great run of serving by Gray opened up a tight set (Stanford mostly with 1-3 point leads) and got the Cardinal out to a 20-15 lead. They sided out home.
No question Cal is a much better team than they have been in the recent past - the aforementioned middles, good defense, and a belief in themselves - heck, they were undefeated, if not against a particularly difficult schedule.
But Barnett was so oblivious to Stanford that he didn't notice Vicini had replaced Campbell, and had a couple of nice block assists, from when she entered midway through the third set until the middle of the fourth. Campbell, who was having a tough match, didn't return, and Vicini closed the match out.
I don't know, maybe others had a different reaction. But I didn't expect the 75-25 division of coverage I think we got in that match.
In any case, a solid win on the road against a good team. Now for the second ranking team in the Pac-12 this weekend.
VG
