[MSG1716]

Nice to see us bounce back after being mauled by Nebraska.  (1) Oglivie perhaps had her best match at Stanford.  She made some unbelievable digs (23 in total), no serve return errors (and most were perfectly placed) and seemed to win more service points than anyone else (just my guess since we don't get to see the individual PS% stat -- I would love to see that added to the box score because that's what matters, no aces or service errors). (2) our blocking was better with 8 blocks but, more importantly, we blocked a lot of balls into the air making for an easier dig and better kill opportunities.  (3) Rubin, as usual, was our go to pin.  Although she had 9 errors (way too many), she got 21 kills (hit .273) and looked dominant in her back row attacks consistently getting around the 1 blocker.  Ruben also had 8 digs (looked superb in the back row as she was targeted a lot but did have 2 return errors).  (4) MBers looked solid again each with 7 kills (Francis had the lone error hitting .333 while Andrew hit .538).  (5) Kurt struggled throughout hitting .000 (with 6 kills, 6 errors on 28 attempts) and, in her brief stints in the back row, had 2 service errors and didn't return well.  I was surprised that Kentucky didn't serve to her every time she was in the back row, but they didn't.

I predict that we will be 5th in the rankings this week with Pitt #1, Louisvile 2 or 4 (depending on whether they beat Nebraska), Penn St (2 or 3) and Nebraska (3 or 4).  Purdue will drop down with 2 losses and we will stay ahead of the teams we beat (UT and Wisconsin).  Of course, rankings don't really matter.  Coach noted pregame that the goal is to improve throughout the season win or lose, and the most important games to win are those 6 in the NCAA tourney).

[MSG1716]

Nice to see us bounce back after being mauled by Nebraska.  (1) Oglivie perhaps had her best match at Stanford.  She made some unbelievable digs (23 in total), no serve return errors (and most were perfectly placed) and seemed to win more service points than anyone else (just my guess since we don't get to see the individual PS% stat -- I would love to see that added to the box score because that's what matters, no aces or service errors). (2) our blocking was better with 8 blocks but, more importantly, we blocked a lot of balls into the air making for an easier dig and better kill opportunities.  (3) Rubin, as usual, was our go to pin.  Although she had 9 errors (way too many), she got 21 kills (hit .273) and looked dominant in her back row attacks consistently getting around the 1 blocker.  Ruben also had 8 digs (looked superb in the back row as she was targeted a lot but did have 2 return errors).  (4) MBers looked solid again each with 7 kills (Francis had the lone error hitting .333 while Andrew hit .538).  (5) Kurt struggled throughout hitting .000 (with 6 kills, 6 errors on 28 attempts) and, in her brief stints in the back row, had 2 service errors and didn't return well.  I was surprised that Kentucky didn't serve to her every time she was in the back row, but they didn't.

I predict that we will be 5th in the rankings this week with Pitt #1, Louisvile 2 or 4 (depending on whether they beat Nebraska), Penn St (2 or 3) and Nebraska (3 or 4).  Purdue will drop down with 2 losses and we will stay ahead of the teams we beat (UT and Wisconsin).  Of course, rankings don't really matter.  Coach noted pregame that the goal is to improve throughout the season win or lose, and the most important games to win are those 6 in the NCAA tourney).