Watched an LMU match and they are good. They don't have the overall height of Nebraska, but Kari Geissberger is a 6'5 OH and she is quite good. Their setter Isabella Bareford is talented, and she is from Long Beach. Phoebe Awoleye a 6'2 transfer MB from Georgia is very athletic. Rose Booth a 6'1 OH has a good all around game. Don't think they will wear us down like Nebraska did, but it's going to be a huge challenge. A split would be a good result for us.
Friday @ LMU Gerstan
Saturday @ the Pyramid
great bellweather match. LMU has played the #6 SOS, including also got swept at NEbraska.
they beat UCLA last week, decisively
probably pretty close to Pepperdine,
this is along the lines of an at-large tourney match, winning one is key, winning both would be a huge resume booster
gonna be close intense matches
Big looming question with the approach Tyler is going with.
will he again continue with this Kennedy experiment?
her hitting hasn't come close to last year, she doesn't get the high ball sets that she had last year, she's struggling to mount a decent attack.
at the same time Glenn is struggling to put away balls in the front-row, especially control of hits down the line
the blocking has been great
it's just seems to be a fascinating/interesting approach
why is Tyler stuck on not using Kennedy as an opp, with using Glenn only in back-row?. It would not seem to sacrifice (in fact should make even better) the blocking. it would sacrifice a bit of floor defense (but would think not much since it's with Glenn in the front row anyway).
Kennedy is very mobile for a MB, which I'm sure is some of the attraction, but at the same time 3 weeks of the type of sets she gets is just not in her wheel-house, it's pretty apparent. She has not got many high-ball sets she used to get as a pin/opp which she was all over last year.
in time Glenn I'm sure will develop into a Morgan Chacon type capable OH, but so far it's only resulting in poor efficiency from both Glenn & Kennedy
Chacon needs help, O'Sullivan is showing her terminating skill, but this 2nd OH/Opp attack is the missing piece. Opposing teams are going to know what is coming, and the team needs better front row pin attacks.
it'll be interesting if Tyler does try to make an adjustment, he's got this rotation that keeps Glenn on the floor in the front-row, just is a head-scratcher in why keeping proven Kennedy & O'Sullivan as the front-row high ball attackers hasn't even been tried once this year.
it's like the choice available is only between O'Sullivan, Bacon, Kennedy, vs. why not using all of Glenn, O'Sullivan, Bacon, & Kennedy? Appears, he wants Chacon/Glenn on the court all the time, no matter what.
of course, in the words of Bobby Knight, I"m sure he's forgotten more VB than I'll ever know. that pin hitting offense is the missing piece of the puzzle, so we'll see. Maybe it's the fear of adjusting the rotation will muck with the defense, even though it's one front-row rotation without Glenn that would seem to be not much of a sacrifice to get more proven pin (and MB with Bacon) attack capability in there instead.
we shall see
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