[Mick]

I watched the 3rd and 4th sets. The team showed great resilience in coming back from a heavy deficit relatively late in the 3rd set. At first I thought it was nice to generate some momentum for the 4th set, but no way they'll be able to come all the way back. Then I thought, they're going to get close and hopefully losing won't be tough to rebound from in the 4th. Then they took the lead and I knew they were going to win the match. UCI was pretty shook by that come back. 

Jasper is fun to watch, and not just because he can't jump through the roof. I loved his emotion and affection for his teammates. At one point he bear hugged our libero and lifted him off his feet. At the end of the match, he was hugging many teammates. He looks like a guy with no guile or inhibitions about showing that he likes his teammates.

After watching the match, I came to three conclusions:

1.  Stanford's setter, Paul Bischoff, was better than Chakravorti in all aspects of the game.

2.  My sense is that Stanford is somewhat younger and has a higher upside than Irvine.  Irvine actually made fewer errors (38-48), but Stanford's athleticism and power allowed Stanford to come back.

3.  Volleyball is the ultimate team game in that you're really only as good as your weakest players.  Not to point anyone out, but two of Irvine's players were the weakest on the floor.

4.  Jasper, while fun to watch, had the lowest hitting percentage on the team.

[Mick]

I watched the 3rd and 4th sets. The team showed great resilience in coming back from a heavy deficit relatively late in the 3rd set. At first I thought it was nice to generate some momentum for the 4th set, but no way they'll be able to come all the way back. Then I thought, they're going to get close and hopefully losing won't be tough to rebound from in the 4th. Then they took the lead and I knew they were going to win the match. UCI was pretty shook by that come back. 

Jasper is fun to watch, and not just because he can't jump through the roof. I loved his emotion and affection for his teammates. At one point he bear hugged our libero and lifted him off his feet. At the end of the match, he was hugging many teammates. He looks like a guy with no guile or inhibitions about showing that he likes his teammates.

After watching the match, I came to three conclusions:

1.  Stanford's setter, Paul Bischoff, was better than Chakravorti in all aspects of the game.

2.  My sense is that Stanford is somewhat younger and has a higher upside than Irvine.  Irvine actually made fewer errors (38-48), but Stanford's athleticism and power allowed Stanford to come back.

3.  Volleyball is the ultimate team game in that you're really only as good as your weakest players.  Not to point anyone out, but two of Irvine's players were the weakest on the floor.

4.  Jasper, while fun to watch, had the lowest hitting percentage on the team.