[Hieronymus]

Parks has struggled with her set locations throughout the season. Oftentimes, her sets are too close to the net, leaving her hitters with very few options. Most of the time, it's a soft tip or a trap set. As a freshman setter, I expected Parks to have some struggles, but her location has been an issue. At the beginning of the season, Kevin Hambly said that Yu would be the setter if they were running 5-1. I guess her minor injury in Texas changed that. I like the substitution that Kevin Hambly made last night. I think Yu stabilized the team a little. 

I think the biggest issue with this team is passing. Besides Rubin and Etzler, they don't have a 3rd reliable passer. As we saw last night, even Rubin had an off night passing the ball. Louisville went on runs when Stanford couldn't pass. If they are not passing well, the setter cannot set the middles, which they were unstoppable last night, especially Andrew. Since Blyashov, Kurt, and Harvey are not reliable hitters (yet), this team needs to run the middles in order to be successful. I don't know their stats, but I think Blyashov is a better passer than Kurt. I also wish Hambly would give Cawa or Kirsch a chance, especially when Pringle struggles. 

I am not sure what happened to Kurt, she was playing so well last year. She was known for her high fingertips hits. She seems to have lost her mojo, maybe because of Blyashov. If Blyashov learns to hit high fingertips, then I think she will secure the second OH spot. She has the power shots, whether it's cross-court or line shot; she just needs to diversify her attacks instead of trying to challenge the block all the time. Maybe Hambly just needs to commit to whoever the 2nd OH is and only bring in the other OH if the 2nd OH is struggling. Stop alternating the 2nd OH starter.

This team also needs to run more back-row attacks, whether it's a pipe set, a bic, or a D set. 

Obviously, Hambly is a great coach, and I trust he knows what he is doing. I will trust the process.

I saw one match where Hambly started off with Kirsch as the main DS instead of Pringle, and Cawa taking  Kirsch's usual role as serving sub. It didn't go so well with either (just my impression, I don't have stats), and he went back to Pringle/Kirsch. Sigh.

None of the options have played well. I would try whichever of Yu or Parks isn’t setting as a defensive specialist at this point and not just as a spot server. UL was intentionally serving at Pringle in the last match, and it worked in sets 2 and 3.

There is no doubt Kurt’s reception hurt her hitting percentage vs. UL. I remember 2 big runs where it was mostly a serve to Kurt, weak pass to Parks, resulting in a tough set that almost had to go back to Kurt who then couldn’t finish the play.

[Hieronymus]

Parks has struggled with her set locations throughout the season. Oftentimes, her sets are too close to the net, leaving her hitters with very few options. Most of the time, it's a soft tip or a trap set. As a freshman setter, I expected Parks to have some struggles, but her location has been an issue. At the beginning of the season, Kevin Hambly said that Yu would be the setter if they were running 5-1. I guess her minor injury in Texas changed that. I like the substitution that Kevin Hambly made last night. I think Yu stabilized the team a little. 

I think the biggest issue with this team is passing. Besides Rubin and Etzler, they don't have a 3rd reliable passer. As we saw last night, even Rubin had an off night passing the ball. Louisville went on runs when Stanford couldn't pass. If they are not passing well, the setter cannot set the middles, which they were unstoppable last night, especially Andrew. Since Blyashov, Kurt, and Harvey are not reliable hitters (yet), this team needs to run the middles in order to be successful. I don't know their stats, but I think Blyashov is a better passer than Kurt. I also wish Hambly would give Cawa or Kirsch a chance, especially when Pringle struggles. 

I am not sure what happened to Kurt, she was playing so well last year. She was known for her high fingertips hits. She seems to have lost her mojo, maybe because of Blyashov. If Blyashov learns to hit high fingertips, then I think she will secure the second OH spot. She has the power shots, whether it's cross-court or line shot; she just needs to diversify her attacks instead of trying to challenge the block all the time. Maybe Hambly just needs to commit to whoever the 2nd OH is and only bring in the other OH if the 2nd OH is struggling. Stop alternating the 2nd OH starter.

This team also needs to run more back-row attacks, whether it's a pipe set, a bic, or a D set. 

Obviously, Hambly is a great coach, and I trust he knows what he is doing. I will trust the process.

I saw one match where Hambly started off with Kirsch as the main DS instead of Pringle, and Cawa taking  Kirsch's usual role as serving sub. It didn't go so well with either (just my impression, I don't have stats), and he went back to Pringle/Kirsch. Sigh.

None of the options have played well. I would try whichever of Yu or Parks isn’t setting as a defensive specialist at this point and not just as a spot server. UL was intentionally serving at Pringle in the last match, and it worked in sets 2 and 3.

There is no doubt Kurt’s reception hurt her hitting percentage vs. UL. I remember 2 big runs where it was mostly a serve to Kurt, weak pass to Parks, resulting in a tough set that almost had to go back to Kurt who then couldn’t finish the play.