I would like to see Reagan get a 3-4 year deal. 5 is standard.
the last couple weeks have been rough, especially the Irvine and SB matches, that literally the team is 2-3 points from being 8-2 in conference. but being 2-3points from being 8-2 is meaningless right now.
IMO the receive pass got a little better, but then against SB they simply could not close out on a couple tough points, and Glenn missed two key points she had been converting earlier in the year.
they simply have not seemed to progress much in the last month aside from Maxwell and Harris develop.
most concerning is Glenn is not at the level she was, she's struggled more in her serve and simply not as crisp. I've been concerned as the season wore on she would wear a little given she plays year round. One major dissapointment is not holding her out for for the Fullerton game especially and maybe Riverside.
with all that said, I still vote for Reagan, she'll learn, she's recruited, they've done some things well.
frankly, not sure I trust Smitheran with a 'snoop around and back-channel' method of coaching selection. Ackers was a one-off. I really do not think Smitherin knows volleyball enough to gauge how some coaches might pan out. And so a new coach would be a crap-shoot. If she leaves it'll be a total re-build again.
Reagan will have to learn, she's been stubborn a bit, lol, with player rotations lately even though she would experiment with the OH early in the season. And now it seems she's boxed herself in a bit. The lack of experiment with DS/Libero just seems a bit odd.
it's a tough gig.
and now they can't afford to not lose and perhaps not even let Glenn rest a bit.
the two losses this last week were really damaging, they only play Poly & SB once, so now they will lose out on any tie-breaker to those teams for seeding or to even make the BWCT, they are very uncertain at this point to even make the BWCT, they need to beat some top teams aside from beating the lower teams which is no guaranteed. The team had a huge advantage with their home schedule after a nice start, and that's now been squandered as well
they have to find a way to dig out of hole
just seems they have not built enough on fundamentals to lean on in crunch time to heklp them in crunch time. BGs teams got continuously better.
I agree that serve receive and ball control has been the key all season. The only issue is that this was a known weakness since the end of last season and the staff did not recruit another player to shore this area up. This problem has magnified the other roster issue, no out of system terminator. Agi was the best returning out of system hitter and she is out this season. The good news is the 2025 class has a couple of really good back row players that should help immediately.
IMO the coaching staff has done a pretty good job this season and has put the players in the position to win matches. The team breaks down in key moments and that is something that they need to over come. Plenty of season left, along with the conference tournament, to make things right.
I also like the coaching staff but they need to keep the team in contention. The UCI loss was a killer and the one that I just cannot get around.
Serve receive and back row play have been our weakness all year. However the matches against Irvine and Santa Barbarba were winnable. The seniors need to step up in those clutch situations and sorry to say they failed to do so. Natalie can only coach them she can't play for them. Somebody needs to step up and be a leader for the remainder of the season.
Up until the HI match, I've thought WVB has played reasonably well and Natalie, in spite of her inexperience, has done well. The program has had some decent non-conference wins while playing a challenging schedule.
The disappoint since HI has been an inability to adjust and adapt service receipt and back row defense. Too many out of system plays. And while watching the upper Big West teams playing Long Beach really covering the court....not letting the ball drop. That and physical play. The Long Beach roster is almost entirely made up of lean players not able to match up against the physical/heavy arm play of HI, Cal Poly and UCI.
I'm not suggesting we can afford a sitting P4 coach, but I recall the school saying Tyler was amongst the 10 highest paid coaches in the sport when he was hired a few years ago. That type of compensation package should still be able to attract a quality P4 assistant or rising head coach from a mid major school. Bobby puts a lot of weight on connections with Long Beach State, but that wouldn't be my first priority. But, despite the late season tanking, I tend to agree that Reagan is worth taking a chance on for the next 3 to 5 years.
It would be silly for Bobby not to gauge interest in the job. Question remains can we afford to pay a "great" candidate. Also this candidate won't bring the networking Tyler did. It's not just missing Agi. The seniors have to take some responsibility for their failure to close out matches when they are up 2-1 or leading 13-9 in a fifth set. I wouldn't do a 5 year deal with Natalie but a 3 year deal is reasonable. Joy had a full 5 years to prove she was unable to successfully coach in D1. I wouldn't kick Natalie to the curb after 1 year.
Reagan isn't going to sign a 1 year deal and the A.D. can't extend her interim tag another year. Unfortunately, the decision is either a 3-5 year commitment to Reagan or go look for another coach. I'm sure Bobby has used back channels this year to guage interest in the job. If there's a great candidate or two in that informal search, that might be it for Reagan. Otherwise, I think she'll be given a standard 5 year deal. There have been some negatives exposed this year but she didn't recruit most (if not all) these players. She has commitments from a bunch of players next year and she can still recruit an experienced veteran from the transfer portal this off-season. Not having Agi this year was a big deal. They don't have a consistent terminator to stop opponent rallies.
our past history in very good - but - it is today and tomorrow that we should be looking forward too -- i would give her 1 more year to see what she can do with this team and the newcomers coming in next year -- time to make some player change to see what they can do -- mad max and the big O should get some playing time along with our small setter getting playing time in the back row -- giambi is doing a good job but lets also try another libero when she goes out --- also it is time for a player to step up and take control of the team on the floor -- it seems a team with low energy level -------------- GO 48ers ---- BEACH ---
My own preseason pics had us finishing 2nd behind Poly and ahead of Hawaii. Now it's 5th or 6th at best. I'm guessing they will be looking for a new coach as Natalie clearly isn't ready for coaching at this level. Unfortunately don't see anyone they could hire that would positively impact the program. Worst case scenario we have a glorious past to look back on.
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