Talking Turtle Says…Let’s Talk About It!
Just as we thought early on this season, what an unpredictable and pretty eventful season we are having this year! A hot start by the Oregon Ducks beating Penn State, yet only to have some very inexcusable loses at the mid point. Although many five set matches, and still getting the wins, Illinois seemed to be the true #1 ranked team in the country. Over the past two weeks however, the Fighting Ilini have clearly been in slump. The two strongest conferences at the moment seem to be the Big Ten and the Pac 12 with numerous teams ranked inside the top twenty-five. All teams continue beating each other up night in and night out, thus certainly making them tougher come tournament time. So much has taken place over the past couple of weeks – some good, some not so good, some surprising, and some just down right ugly. AVCA rankings continue being a major puzzling sense of controversy to all of us. The biggest news of all…complete gossip if you will is the recent arrest of All-American candidate, Lauren Cook of Nebraska. Such a crazy season, so let’s talk about it!
Lets start with the Michigan Wolverines! Uhmm how and why are they still ranked in the top twenty-five? How is it that you lose several matches in a row, and still be ranked? Ok, yes you have lost to ranked opponents, but eight conference losses and you are still holding onto a 20-23 ranking is beyond all of us! Not a bad team by any means, but if they want to get beyond a first or second round come tournament time, they will need to figure some things out. Unfortunately for them the remainder of the season does not get any easier with Michigan State (loss 1-3), Minnesota (loss, 2-3), and Illinois looming.
Speaking of Illinois…it was looking like their year for the majority of the season thus far, yet they have clearly hit a major bump in the road. A historic number one ranking, firing from pin to pin pretty consistently, a strong coaching staff, and a will to simply get it done. A visit to Lincoln recently sent them home with some questions, as the Nebraska Cornhuskers handed them their first loss of the season. Set one was a hard fought battle, yet Nebraska settled in and put on a strong display of offense and defense. So what would this mean for the Fighting Illini? We would find out a short week later, as they hosted Minnesota, and gave Minnesota a much needed gift. A 3-0 win versus a top five opponent – “Happy Holidays to you!” So what is going on in Champagne? Are they starting to feel some pressure, struggling to find their grove again, or have they simply plateaued? Answer is simply this: you might want to figure it out sooner than later, as your road also does not get any easier over the next few weeks. They will travel to Indiana, host Penn State, and swing over to Michigan.
Ok, so those pesky Cornhuskers were seriously just handed a couple of huge blows. After dominating Illinois, the first time they’ve beaten a number one ranked opponent since the 2007 season, they immediately fell down from grace. First, the team visited Happy Valley, and was beaten the same way they had just recently beaten Illinois. Penn State got the jump on them, and never really looked in danger. Although Nebraska took a set, the match was all the Nittany Lions! So their newly ranking of number one was very short lived. *Less than twenty-four hours later, their second defeat occurred as setter Lauren Cook committed a felony and was arrested. A few years ago both Tara Mueller and Kayla Banwarth were detained for MIPs. So what’s going on in Nebraska? Nothing to do? Find a hobby that doesn’t involve alcohol, cars, or speeding. So many people suffer because of her actions – the team, the university, red nation (Lincoln), her family, and of course, Lauren. What will her punishment be? What should it be? For me, I am VERY curious to see just how much trouble she will be in, simply because of who her father is. Hmm another interesting question. Just how much pull will the great John Cook have in getting his daughter out of trouble? One thing is for certain – none of us envy any of them!
The Big Ten has seven teams ranked in the top twenty-five in Illinois, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Michigan. Penn State is on a bit of a roll, looking as though they are improving as the season progresses. Rose is certainly a master mind at having his team ready come tournament time regardless of how young and inexperienced they might be. Their issue is consistency in passing and the ability to get production from all hitters. The offense will NEED more than just Deja kills (and generally Ariel). Purdue continues to be steady eddy, holding down the number eleven ranked spot, and with only three losses on the season. One thing is for sure, they can bet on Outside Hitter, Ariel Tuner! Minnesota at this point can indeed be hit or miss, but when they are clicking, they are incredibly dangerous. Lets remember, they did just beat down a top five ranked team on that team’s home floor. The Big Ten continues to put up a strong case for best conference in the country.
Speaking of best conferences in the country, let’s talk Pac 12! Arguably one of the best conferences in the country …consistently, the Pac 12 continues to beat each other up night after night. The best thing about this is that when the NCAA’s come around, they are always ready to represent. This conference once again has five teams in the top twenty-five, and three of them are top five. Back on top in the polls are the UCLA Bruins who dismantled the Bay Area schools this past weekend. How are they doing it? They are pretty balanced, very nice setting, and defense by Gera. Consistent play by Kidder, Love (who will need to continue to improve), and one of the best liberos in the country, Gera will definitely keep them in the top, and maybe reach a second Final Four appearance in the past five years. USC is also making their presence felt, being in the top five for the past several weeks. Their trip to the Bay Area was split, having been beaten by Stanford in three sets, yet dominating California in four. USC could also see a return to the Final Four, if they remain consistent, and maybe even speed up that traditional Mick Haley high ball offense.
Dropping a few spots this week are the California Golden Bears, who were easily handled by both UCLA and USC. If Cal wants to return to the top and reach their second consecutive Final Four, they will need to steady out their setting, passing, and balanced attack. It will also help once Gehan is back in full swing (although credit to freshman Higgins). The setting definitely makes a difference, as we have seen a bit of the old Murrey numbers return. The Stanford Cardinal have already exceeded expectations for the year IMO. Steadily in the top 2-7 spots, they are showing fantastic passing and defense. They will NEED to get more production from either Spelman/Boukhather, Bai, and/or Walker/Browne. To date its been the Williams and Wopat show. Yet when they are slightly off, the rest of the offense tends to struggle. Also we have seen another change in the libero spot, having gone back to Benjamin.
One major bright spot for the cardinal is the All-American type year Cook is having. Leading the conference in double-doubles, Cook has been stellar all season long, and doesn’t look to be stopping anytime soon. A disappointment this season for the incredible Pac 12 has been the fast decline of the Oregon Ducks. One could say “start fast and end faster” in respects to their season thus far. Incredibly talented, yet beyond inconsistent. Hopefully they will be able to get it together as they certainly could make a run come tournament time. Not to be forgotten, yet nothing to write home about are the very young Washington Huskies. They too started strong (although I am not so sure about that as they clearly had an easy preseason) with a couple of hiccups here and there. However, they IMO are on a downward spiral. Top ten team? I am not so sure about that. One thing is for sure though, is that they will be a force in the next year or so.
A nagging question all season long has been about the AVCA rankings. I say we just “forget about it” and let the ladies play. Rankings only really matter when seeding comes around. Lets be honest, the committee handling the rankings are clearly NOT actually watching these ladies play. They are banking on name and reputation alone…ok maybe a wins and losses, but not so much. So much confusion and controversy is a waste of time. Let them play, and we’ll see who are the real top ten teams when NCAA’s come up. I still say there are some teams that can make a splash over the next six weeks – Hawaii (although not playing all that great), Pepperdine, Tennessee, and of course Texas. Talk about flying under the radar currently – the Texas Longhorns are serving notice right now. With the addition of McNeal so much has happened on their side of the net. Moving Bell to the middle spot has now saw her named BIG 12 player of the week four times this season.
When you can get solid play by your Outsides, and your middles are having All-American type years, LOOK OUT! The surging of both Bell and Webster have been sensational and much needed. I can also see the Longhorns back in the Final Four if everyone remains healthy, smart coaching decisions, and their ability to pass and limit errors. Someone continuing to be least desired is once again the Florida Gators, who are also steadily dropping in the rankings. It will be such a disappoint to get a National Team caliber type athlete like Murphy, and not be able to get her to the Final Four for Coach Wise. They do not seem to be gelling at the moment as a team, also need to limit errors from the service line and hitting.
A great question I have been thinking about lately is regarding points scored versus points given up. As a hitter you are going to make errors, but when do those errors become problematic? Many Outside Hitters have been known to have a ton of kills, yet almost an equal amount of errors. Players like Rachel Williams of Stanford, Colleen Ward of Illinois, Tarah Murrey of California, Jane Croson of Hawaii, Haley Eckerman of Texas (although she is picking up her numbers as of late), Tabi Love of UCLA, and so many more. When do those errors become more of an issue that actually helping the team? Hmm…think about it. I will say that as we get closer to December, many big players will need to get smarter with their hitting. There is no reason to take 40 and 50 swings only getting 10 kills with four or five errors. When is enough ever just enough?
More to come with Talking Turtle…
(*This post was originally submitted to Volleywood on November 1st, 2011)
Disclaimer: The views and/or opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Volleywood.Net
(images: Nebraska Volleyball/ Penn State Volleyball/ Stanford Volleyball/ UCLA Volleyball/ Florida Volleyball)