GT Vollebees

78pike

78pike

Ramblin' Wreck
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860
I think this is the tallest team we have ever fielded. With D'Amico at setter and 6 feet tall every starter stands 6 feet or taller (with the exception of Pimentel at libero). The new middle blocker Mogridge is 6'4" and the other transfer middles are 6'3" and 6'1". Mendes the outside hitter from Brazil is 6'2" and Fischer is 6'3". While Bertolino is 6'0" she appears to have increased her vertical jump and is hitting with much more power this year. We have a very challenging schedule and while I'm not sure how we will finish this year I think we should be a an NCAA tourney team. The future looks very bright.
 
TampaBuzz

TampaBuzz

Helluva Engineer
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1,168
1st game report. Tight match. Tied 18. Both teams look a little disjointed. We put the hammer down and take next 4 points. Really impressed with Mendes. Other hitters are very inconsistent..maybe setter? Set 1 to GT!
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
775
78pike said:
I think this is the tallest team we have ever fielded. With D'Amico at setter and 6 feet tall every starter stands 6 feet or taller (with the exception of Pimentel at libero). The new middle blocker Mogridge is 6'4" and the other transfer middles are 6'3" and 6'1". Mendes the outside hitter from Brazil is 6'2" and Fischer is 6'3". While Bertolino is 6'0" she appears to have increased her vertical jump and is hitting with much more power this year. We have a very challenging schedule and while I'm not sure how we will finish this year I think we should be a an NCAA tourney team. The future looks very bright.
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I noticed the commentators saying yesterday that we're a tall team - nice to be on that side of the commentary for a change:) That said, everyone across NCAA are actually 1 or 2 inches shorter than their advertised height, but I'm not complaining;)
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
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775
Service errors and double contact plaguing Penn State. Saw a galore of service errors from them last night against Florida too.
I also heard "YELLOW" "JACKETS" coming from the stands through the TV so it must've been one of y'all from here:)
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
775
Set 2 - quality serve receive is an issue for us (was last year as well) and we aren't getting quality passes to set up a good ball to the OH/MB. Penn State blocking killing us - I think they're at 10 already? Yeah coach trying out Harper, Cukur, and Sanden late set but did not pan out. Penn State also waking up.
 
TampaBuzz

TampaBuzz

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Much better set 3 with serve receive. It is early season and looks like we are still working out the kinks. I am waiting to see which of our hitters is gonna be the "go to" killer when we absolutely need a point. Go bees!
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
775
GTNavyNuke said:
Does it help to beat the #8 team on a neutral court?
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Well they've proven over the weekend that they were over-ranked with loss to Florida and now us. Didn't Penn State lose to us a few year's ago at O'Keefe? But they'll be back strong and have a decent run in December I'm sure. I'm not sure whether sets 3 and 4 were indicative of us being dominating or Penn State just imploding and just spiraling out of control. They certainly have the talent.

I really liked what I saw today. Mendes, Mogridge, and Pierce have proved to be fantastic additions and I'm excited for the season. Also when did Bertolino pick up that wicked jump serve? (Kaiser anyone?) And D'Amico please get those sets higher!
 
GTNavyNuke

GTNavyNuke

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laoh said:
Well they've proven over the weekend that they were over-ranked with loss to Florida and now us. Didn't Penn State lose to us a few year's ago at O'Keefe? But they'll be back strong and have a decent run in December I'm sure. I'm not sure whether sets 3 and 4 were indicative of us being dominating or Penn State just imploding and just spiraling out of control. They certainly have the talent.

I really liked what I saw today. Mendes, Mogridge, and Pierce have proved to be fantastic additions and I'm excited for the season. Also when did Bertolino pick up that wicked jump serve? (Kaiser anyone?) And D'Amico please get those sets higher!
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Ok, does it hurt to beat the #8 team on a neutral court?
 
laoh

laoh

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
775
GTNavyNuke said:
Ok, does it hurt to beat the #8 team on a neutral court?
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No it helps b/c we still have 5 games on the road before finally coming home to O'Keefe. Good confidence booster. Only Ohio State (playing twice??) would be any competition in that period tho. Perfect scenario for us this weekend would've been if PSU beat UF last night, then we beat PSU.
 
forensicbuzz

forensicbuzz

21st Century Throwback Dad
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8,832
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North Shore, Chicago
We don't have a dominant go-to player like we have the past several years with Julia Bergmann, but this team is pretty damn tough. I like Pearce and Mogridge as new transfers, Otene is really blossoming as a 2nd-year transfer, and the newcomers are showing out (specifically Mendes). D'Amico is lightyears ahead of last year and there's a more supporting cast. Saw a lot of 6-2 instead of 5-1 out there this weekend. That's a good indication we'll go deeper than we have historically in the past 2-3 years. Liked what I saw from Soares and Fischer too. Pimentel is already in midseason.

And, with all this, I haven't said anything about Bertolino, who will take this team on her shoulders and will them to win. Understand this...when she plays with Argentina, she's a libero. She's that versatile of a player.

This is going to be a fun season to watch these ladies. I expect we'll be better than last year, even with the loss of Julia.
 
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