GT Vollebees

[78pike]

What I saw this weekend is we have an excellent defense. Better blocking than last year with our increased height and everyone in the back half dives for everything. There were a number of points that looked like we were out of it and then Pimentel, Bertolino or Otene would make an amazing save allowing us to come back and win the point. I think I read Otene had 18 digs! I think we are exhibiting addition by subtraction. Our offense is much more diverse than last year. Can't really blame D'Amico for that as Bergman was a rare talent. But now the other team has no idea where to send their block whereas last year Bergman was often triple teamed.

Otene is back playing her natural left side pin where she is more comfortable and Mendes looks to be our next Brazilian star. I think we will also see Soares shine next year after D'Amico graduates as she is very talented as well. Finally, Mogridge gives us a dominating middle with excellent blocking skills along with being a powerful offensive presence.

 

[forensicbuzz]

What I saw this weekend is we have an excellent defense. Better blocking than last year with our increased height and everyone in the back half dives for everything. There were a number of points that looked like we were out of it and then Pimentel, Bertolino or Otene would make an amazing save allowing us to come back and win the point. I think I read Otene had 18 digs! I think we are exhibiting addition by subtraction. Our offense is much more diverse than last year. Can't really blame D'Amico for that as Bergman was a rare talent. But now the other team has no idea where to send their block whereas last year Bergman was often triple teamed.

Otene is back playing her natural left side pin where she is more comfortable and Mendes looks to be our next Brazilian star. I think we will also see Soares shine next year after D'Amico graduates as she is very talented as well. Finally, Mogridge gives us a dominating middle with excellent blocking skills along with being a powerful offensive presence.

reminds me of 2004 after we lost a certain future NBA HoF player after his freshman sojourn.

 

[Buzzbomb]

Taylor Trammell : https://bvmsports.com/2023/08/26/no...-in-road-2-tampa-bay-volleyball-invitational/

Kennedy Martin and Anna Dixon were named to the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational All-Tournament Team. https://www.secsports.com/article/38268163/martin-27-kills-pace-no-11-florida-vs-south-florida

For their efforts through both contests in the tournament, Mogridge and Mendes were both named to the Road 2 Tampa Bay Invitational’s all-tournament team. https://ramblinwreck.com/no-20-tech-upends-no-8-penn-state/

RPI #8 Sunday, August 27:
https://masseyratings.com/cvol/ncaa-d1/ratings
#20 last week, should vault lower this week:
https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/volleyball-women/d1/avca-rankings

 

[Home Park Jacket]

Also when did Bertolino pick up that wicked jump serve? (Kaiser anyone?)

Wicked, for sure. Very nice addition to her game. Reminiscent of Kaiser, but even better. All 4 returners made obvious improvements.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Wicked, for sure. Very nice addition to her game. Reminiscent of Kaiser, but even better. All 4 returners made obvious improvements.

She had it last year. She just didn't use it much. Seems she's worked on that in the off-season. It is much more accurate and will give some teams fits.

 

[forensicbuzz]

So, we have 2 games with tOSU (ranking 14) and a home match with San Diego (ranked 13). I anticipate both teams will move up in the rankings. Texas should fall out of the rankings (at least for a week or two since they lost to Long Beach State) and several others should fall precipitously. However, this is the NCAA, so I assume Texas will remain in the Top10, even with a loss. That's the bias of having people vote for the Top25 instead of using metrics alone.

I hate preseason polls. I think they do everyone not ranked a disservice.

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

What I saw this weekend is we have an excellent defense. Better blocking than last year with our increased height and everyone in the back half dives for everything. There were a number of points that looked like we were out of it and then Pimentel, Bertolino or Otene would make an amazing save allowing us to come back and win the point. I think I read Otene had 18 digs! I think we are exhibiting addition by subtraction. Our offense is much more diverse than last year. Can't really blame D'Amico for that as Bergman was a rare talent. But now the other team has no idea where to send their block whereas last year Bergman was often triple teamed.

Otene is back playing her natural left side pin where she is more comfortable and Mendes looks to be our next Brazilian star. I think we will also see Soares shine next year after D'Amico graduates as she is very talented as well. Finally, Mogridge gives us a dominating middle with excellent blocking skills along with being a powerful offensive presence.

This is the most in-depth volleyball analysis I've ever read. Thanks. Looking forward to taking my daughter to some matches this season

 

[laoh]

I really like this season's offense. It's so diverse and the returning players have appreciably stepped up their game from last season. I like that we're not relying solely on Mari or Julia and have so man weapons to go to now (Mogridge, Otene, Mendes, Bertolini, and even Pierce when she rotates in). For the Brazilian U18 national players like Mendes and Soares, we've obviously become the go-to school for them and that's pretty incredible... I've been watching this team for quite some time now but it's been a fun ride seeing this program first hand continue to climb to national prominence since 2019.

So I have a question. Whatever happened to 24/Mikayla White? She wasn't present in Tampa.

 

[Buzzbomb]

I really like this season's offense. It's so diverse and the returning players have appreciably stepped up their game from last season. I like that we're not relying solely on Mari or Julia and have so man weapons to go to now (Mogridge, Otene, Mendes, Bertolini, and even Pierce when she rotates in). For the Brazilian U18 national players like Mendes and Soares, we've obviously become the go-to school for them and that's pretty incredible... I've been watching this team for quite some time now but it's been a fun ride seeing this program first hand continue to climb to national prominence since 2019.

So I have a question. Whatever happened to 24/Mikayla White? She wasn't present in Tampa.

Victoria Demidova, OH (Moscow, Russia/Moscow International School): turned pro.
Not sure about White.

 

[laoh]

So, we have 2 games with tOSU (ranking 14) and a home match with San Diego (ranked 13). I anticipate both teams will move up in the rankings. Texas should fall out of the rankings (at least for a week or two since they lost to Long Beach State) and several others should fall precipitously. However, this is the NCAA, so I assume Texas will remain in the Top10, even with a loss. That's the bias of having people vote for the Top25 instead of using metrics alone.

I hate preseason polls. I think they do everyone not ranked a disservice.

Texas will likely stay in the top 5, b/c you know, Texas.
As much as people rag on polls, as questionable as they can be, I have to admit, I like it. I think human beings just like seeing competition put down on paper where you feel like you're being recognized or being one up from each other.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Texas will likely stay in the top 5, b/c you know, Texas.
As much as people rag on polls, as questionable as they can be, I have to admit, I like it. I think human beings just like seeing competition put down on paper where you feel like you're being recognized or being one up from each other.

wait until they've played 10 matches. Then rank the entire field. Everyone starts from a level playing field.

The way it is now, there's a bias towards preseason picks. It's the same in every sport.

 

[Home Park Jacket]

Up to #11

DI Women's Volleyball Rankings - AVCA Rankings | NCAA.com

Get updated NCAA Women's Volleyball DI rankings from every source, including coaches and national polls.

www.ncaa.com

 

[forensicbuzz]

Up to #11

DI Women's Volleyball Rankings - AVCA Rankings | NCAA.com

Get updated NCAA Women's Volleyball DI rankings from every source, including coaches and national polls.

www.ncaa.com

Ridiculous!! 0-2 Penn State still in Top15? Texas only falls to 7? 1-2 Purdue stays in Top25? Stupid.

These teams should fall out of the Top25 and have to work their way back in. Looks like we hopped over tOSU. Play 2 there on Friday/Saturday.

I'm driving my daughter to school in Baltimore on Friday and headed back Saturday. Maybe I'll stop and watch the 2nd game in Columbus on the way home. That'd be a good breaking point if I'm going to stop.

 

[78pike]

I read an interesting tidbit about Ohio State's roster today. Apparently this year the scholarship limits return back to where they were pre Covid. Ohio State had brought in a number of recruits this year that would put them over the limit if they allowed all the returning seniors to come back for a 5th year. So they were left with a choice, according to the article, of either asking players on the current roster as well as incoming freshmen to lose their scholarship and walk on or not allowing the returning seniors to come back for the 5th year. They opted to letting the returning seniors go and honoring the scholarships of the incoming freshmen. They called it playing the long game. So they lost 5 returning starters to the transfer portal including the setter we saw playing for Penn State this weekend. Not sure if this action would galvanize the chemistry of the team or cause a rift inside the team as they watched loyal teammates have to find another place to play. It certainly creates opportunities for a lot of players that may not have seen playing time had the starters been allowed to return. So maybe that's a good thing. Then again, maybe the coach should have determined the likelihood of the seniors returning before she started recruiting their replacements.

With regard to the earlier poster asking about White, I noticed she was on the bench for the scrimmage against Auburn. So perhaps she was ill or was absent for some other reason.

 

[laoh]

Found a nice YT channel

 

[laoh]

I read an interesting tidbit about Ohio State's roster today. Apparently this year the scholarship limits return back to where they were pre Covid. Ohio State had brought in a number of recruits this year that would put them over the limit if they allowed all the returning seniors to come back for a 5th year. So they were left with a choice, according to the article, of either asking players on the current roster as well as incoming freshmen to lose their scholarship and walk on or not allowing the returning seniors to come back for the 5th year. They opted to letting the returning seniors go and honoring the scholarships of the incoming freshmen. They called it playing the long game. So they lost 5 returning starters to the transfer portal including the setter we saw playing for Penn State this weekend. Not sure if this action would galvanize the chemistry of the team or cause a rift inside the team as they watched loyal teammates have to find another place to play. It certainly creates opportunities for a lot of players that may not have seen playing time had the starters been allowed to return. So maybe that's a good thing. Then again, maybe the coach should have determined the likelihood of the seniors returning before she started recruiting their replacements.

With regard to the earlier poster asking about White, I noticed she was on the bench for the scrimmage against Auburn. So perhaps she was ill or was absent for some other reason.

Interesting. Is this lack of planning from coaching staff? I wonder how many other teams across the nation ended up in this predicament. It's not a simple matter of "oops". You'd figure the staff would have early talks with the players whether they're using that Covid year. We knew from early on Mari wasn't using hers (and I thought our team didn't offer the extra Covid year at all last year, no?) so that didn't take up a scholarship. Horrible situation to put on the players. It's not their fault.

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[TampaBuzz]

Did he say that Georgia Tech is a force to be trifled with? Did I mishear?

 

[forensicbuzz]

Did he say that Georgia Tech is a force to be trifled with? Did I mishear?

He was drooling all over Penn State all game. He did say some nice stuff about Tech, especially Mendes. She’s going to be a star. She showed she’s going to be a force to be reconned with the next 4 years. Bertolino has taken ownership of the team as a Junior.

If Tech splits or sweeps tOSU this weekend, watch out.

 

[78pike]

Did he say that Georgia Tech is a force to be trifled with? Did I mishear?

Yes he did. I wasn't sure I heard it right either. He made several mistakes throughout the match calling people by the wrong names. It seemed he didn't do any homework for the match and was reading names based on a roster and for whatever reason he was calling our players names that were on the Penn State roster. Plus it irked me when the two of them called this a "huge upset". We were both ranked teams. Ranked teams beat each other all the time. Maybe he was just a Big10 homer.