12-21-2019, 09:41 PM
That was fun. Wish I was there.
For Wisconsin everything was going to plan and they were still getting crushed. Tough serves with the expected error rate from that approach rather than lollipops was definitely going to happen since Wisconsin utilized that approach all season in the mighty BigTen conference. Though I know that particularly strategy confuses some on this board, there is no doubt that Wisconsin thought serving tougher than Stanford would keep it competitive. Adding a focus on Plummer receiving the majority of the serves was likely the element they hoped would get them the win.
You could almost hear the Wisconsin coach's thoughts in the coach interview at the break. (This was our plan. This is all we got.)
I was waiting for someone, anyone, from ESPN to note that Stanford's toughest challenge in the tournament came from a Pac-12 opponent and that the Pac-12 had the better overall RPI, but that didn't happen. Kiraly, as Pac-10/12 alum, should have had a bit more conference pride, but I realize as the USA coach he didn't want to appear biased.
It was an amazing night, but rather sad time. Recruiting classes that strong and cohesive don't show up every year. I just hope everyone will allow the 2020 team to play without constant comparisons to this group. It is highly unlikely that Stanford will win 3 of the next 4 titles, and that's OK.
29 NCAA team titles in this calendar decade
8 NCAA team titles in this calendar year of 2019 (wow!)
For Wisconsin everything was going to plan and they were still getting crushed. Tough serves with the expected error rate from that approach rather than lollipops was definitely going to happen since Wisconsin utilized that approach all season in the mighty BigTen conference. Though I know that particularly strategy confuses some on this board, there is no doubt that Wisconsin thought serving tougher than Stanford would keep it competitive. Adding a focus on Plummer receiving the majority of the serves was likely the element they hoped would get them the win.
You could almost hear the Wisconsin coach's thoughts in the coach interview at the break. (This was our plan. This is all we got.)
I was waiting for someone, anyone, from ESPN to note that Stanford's toughest challenge in the tournament came from a Pac-12 opponent and that the Pac-12 had the better overall RPI, but that didn't happen. Kiraly, as Pac-10/12 alum, should have had a bit more conference pride, but I realize as the USA coach he didn't want to appear biased.
It was an amazing night, but rather sad time. Recruiting classes that strong and cohesive don't show up every year. I just hope everyone will allow the 2020 team to play without constant comparisons to this group. It is highly unlikely that Stanford will win 3 of the next 4 titles, and that's OK.
29 NCAA team titles in this calendar decade
8 NCAA team titles in this calendar year of 2019 (wow!)