[ca245]

Seems to me that reaching any conclusion about Hambly is premature. One drawback to having a bolus of 5 (and 6 the final year) superstars in one year is that younger players do not get playing time to develop. One would expect a couple years of rebuilding after the star class leaves. The first was the Covid year which was almost worthless developing players because of very limited-time and inadequate-numbers practices, and fewer games. Remember there is only one player on the current team that had practiced and played a full season before this year. We also have zero depth, so missing just one starter has a significant effect that is enough for us to lose close matches that we might otherwise have won. There also may have been an effect of the superstar class on recruiting. Yes we are clearly underperforming expectations for this year, which is not even over yet. Next year will be more telling.

Agree it is too early to draw any conclusions. 
Last year was a nonentity -- not only did we lose the regular season, but with the regular season move to spring, we lost the spring off-season for working with the players returning next year. 
This year there were losses linkable to injuries and illnesses without depth to compensate. So it was one step forward and one (or two steps) backward: Yay, Sami is playing and we are about to sweep UCLA; wait, Elena is out with a concussion and we lost? Yay, we went 3-1 against Utah, Colorado, WSU, and UW (latter an expected loss) and are building momentum; wait, 3 starters are out and we lose 3 in a row including 2 against teams we should beat or sweep?
Next year will be more telling whether Hambly, having proven he can drive a Ferrari, knows how to build one. Things I especially will be looking for:
(1) Will serve receive improve?
(2) Will service errors go down?
(3) How will Elia Rubin be used? 
(4) More diversified attack, especially use of MBs?
(3) Who will replace Holly Campbell: A. Smith? L. Smith? Move S. Francis to MB?

[ca245]

Seems to me that reaching any conclusion about Hambly is premature. One drawback to having a bolus of 5 (and 6 the final year) superstars in one year is that younger players do not get playing time to develop. One would expect a couple years of rebuilding after the star class leaves. The first was the Covid year which was almost worthless developing players because of very limited-time and inadequate-numbers practices, and fewer games. Remember there is only one player on the current team that had practiced and played a full season before this year. We also have zero depth, so missing just one starter has a significant effect that is enough for us to lose close matches that we might otherwise have won. There also may have been an effect of the superstar class on recruiting. Yes we are clearly underperforming expectations for this year, which is not even over yet. Next year will be more telling.

Agree it is too early to draw any conclusions. 
Last year was a nonentity -- not only did we lose the regular season, but with the regular season move to spring, we lost the spring off-season for working with the players returning next year. 
This year there were losses linkable to injuries and illnesses without depth to compensate. So it was one step forward and one (or two steps) backward: Yay, Sami is playing and we are about to sweep UCLA; wait, Elena is out with a concussion and we lost? Yay, we went 3-1 against Utah, Colorado, WSU, and UW (latter an expected loss) and are building momentum; wait, 3 starters are out and we lose 3 in a row including 2 against teams we should beat or sweep?
Next year will be more telling whether Hambly, having proven he can drive a Ferrari, knows how to build one. Things I especially will be looking for:
(1) Will serve receive improve?
(2) Will service errors go down?
(3) How will Elia Rubin be used? 
(4) More diversified attack, especially use of MBs?
(3) Who will replace Holly Campbell: A. Smith? L. Smith? Move S. Francis to MB?