[Hieronymus]

1697419726[/url]']

1697406132[/url]']
Something wrong with my Sling connection so wasn't able to watch
but found out that Stanford beat UCLA after losing 1st set, 25-27,
and finally annihilating the Bruins in Set 4, 25-10.
As usual, they started slow and struggled in 1st set like in their match 
vs USC, but once they found their stride, kicked into high gear
and there was no turning back....

Nice theory, but reality was messier.
Stanford was up 18-14 in the first set.  After that it was 7-13.
Stanford was up 19-12 in the second set.  Then it was 5-11 before Stanford scored the final point.
Stanford was up 19-13 in the third set.  Then it was 5-7 before Stanford scored the final point.

I kinda felt Stanford was trying to aim shots too much after they got the big leads in those sets.  But I'm no VB expert.

I am seeing 2 things right now with this team.

1. Inconsistent serve reception
2. Sluggish rallying some sets

As a result they are really vulnerable to big runs right now in rotations 4-6 when Miner is in the front row. Too much junk falls on whichever outside is in the front row per thing 1 - the passes aren’t good enough to get Kipp from the back and the MB involved. They also then don’t get enough cheap points per thing 2 to get out of the bad rotations. My sense says it’s worse with Baird in the front vs. Rubin but I haven’t watched closely enough. I also assume Baird is H1 and she would then be up front alone twice as much.

[Hieronymus]

1697419726[/url]']

1697406132[/url]']
Something wrong with my Sling connection so wasn't able to watch
but found out that Stanford beat UCLA after losing 1st set, 25-27,
and finally annihilating the Bruins in Set 4, 25-10.
As usual, they started slow and struggled in 1st set like in their match 
vs USC, but once they found their stride, kicked into high gear
and there was no turning back....

Nice theory, but reality was messier.
Stanford was up 18-14 in the first set.  After that it was 7-13.
Stanford was up 19-12 in the second set.  Then it was 5-11 before Stanford scored the final point.
Stanford was up 19-13 in the third set.  Then it was 5-7 before Stanford scored the final point.

I kinda felt Stanford was trying to aim shots too much after they got the big leads in those sets.  But I'm no VB expert.

I am seeing 2 things right now with this team.

1. Inconsistent serve reception
2. Sluggish rallying some sets

As a result they are really vulnerable to big runs right now in rotations 4-6 when Miner is in the front row. Too much junk falls on whichever outside is in the front row per thing 1 - the passes aren’t good enough to get Kipp from the back and the MB involved. They also then don’t get enough cheap points per thing 2 to get out of the bad rotations. My sense says it’s worse with Baird in the front vs. Rubin but I haven’t watched closely enough. I also assume Baird is H1 and she would then be up front alone twice as much.