(VB) Ongoing Volleyball Thread

In the last two years we saw defensive contributions from Trinity. During this season,, specifically in the SEC schedule, we seen very little of her. Does anyone know why. CMW was very high on her when she was recruited.

 

Adams has only appeared in 9 matches, none since 9/26, and has been hurt most of the season. Wouldn't she qualify for a redshirt?

 

Won in 4, they kinda took set 3 off. But woke up to make set 4 a no worry time.
I just wish they’d set the middle more with how good we are there, hate how predictable we are.
But 10 in a row now, so that’s nice.

 

I didn't see the match, but I notice that Stucky isn't mentioned in the box score. Did she not play?

 

She did not play.

 

Adams & Essix were honored on Senior Day. Maybe both will decide to move on.

 

Trinity's mother has said she loves it here and wants to stay here in some capacity.
That was earlier in this season.

 

Mary is old offensively. That’s not just me yanking. No slides, no tandems, no shoots to gap attacks. Top attackers know this. Parity has caught up with the HOF coach. When we’re introduced to Stucky last year, I envisioned a 6’2 S who could shoot a ball at net level to an attacker in the two front row gaps of attacking areas but nope. Thought we might employ some other “men’s game “ type of offense. Nope. And nope when we had Kelly Murphy. No slides is criminal imo. Recruits see this/heard this. Top players see each other in so many top tournaments before college and they talk more than “gotta BF yet?”

 

1. Earlier in the season, someone mentioned Gabby Essix would be taking a redshirt or a medical redshirt.

UF has another high-quality 6'3" freshman MB/OH coming for next season:

DeAndrea McMillian
Middle Blocker, Opposite / Right Side

UF could use Gabby's experience, leadership, and talent in the middle.

2. Lauren Harden's improvement in one match from Auburn was noticeable:

4 sets played
6 kills
0 errors
17 attacks
.353 hit %
2 blocks
1 dig
7.0 pts.

Lauren is just now starting to show flashes of why she was the #1 rated recruit in the nation coming out of high school. Get back soon AC, but the playing experience has been good for Lauren and the Gators depth moving forward.

3. Just like at Auburn, the Gators lost focus, went walkabout, in the 3rd set strikingly losing an 18-15 lead when they should have closed the match out at 3-0. This is a trend the coaches need to find a way to stop. At one point, the announcers were speculating it was maybe time to bring on Alexis Stucky as a change of pace, but the set was lost so fast going from the lead at 18-15 to losing in collapsing fashion at 25-20. There really wasn't any excuse for this plus it made me miss watching more college football than I wanted to miss.

4. Good attendance at 4,088 after UF's win over Ole Miss. If it had been a team with a winning pulse on the other side of the net, the O Dome would have likely sold out.

 

It's a good look from behind Hoyle's ace.
Great movement of the ball.

 

Totally agree on our offense being old. It is highly predictable especially when certain players are on the court. Slides are not frequent enough, we don't fully utilize back court attacks which in a 5-1 system I think is important. We never run stacks, crosses, and definitely never run fast paced shoots or a back 1. What is truly "criminal" is abandoning the 6 rotation OH. This is the true reason we are where we are, not the injuries but the types of players injured. If our roster was full strength we would still be using DS players. If Hardin was #1 OH, why is she not allowed to pass? No way the players on injury reserve would be 6 rotation players either. If we played a more dynamic system and you lose players to injury, atleast you have players that can fill in with similar talents, albeit with a decline in production. There is a reason why we have had some our best players leave recently only to go to schools that are much better and use them more appropriately, next year another one will be on that list and we will be in the same spot again, a really good team with potential but not really a threat to anyone in the top 10.

 

Correct, imo, and those 6 rotation OHs which we always had are off to other top programs. Nice observation.

 

I wish I could find the humor in this…it’s pretty sad imo

 

So do some think Mary Wise has outlived her usefulness and should be kicked to the curb? Serious question. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but if that's the case I disagree. She is still bringing in top players and has no control over the devastating injuries that have plagued the program over the last several years, even going back to Thayer Hall. 25 regular season SEC titles, including 2019 & 2022, 32 of her 34 years in the NCAA tournament, 20+ win seasons every year except 2023 when we went 19-10. Only 5 seasons in which we didn't finish either 1st or 2nd in the SEC - 3rd in 2009, 4th in 2015, 3rd in 2018, 3rd in 2021 and 5th in 2023. Women's Volleyball has grown in popularity and in quality, especially in the SEC, and who was mainly responsible for that? MARY WISE, IMO. She dominated the SEC for many years because other schools didn't priotitize it and hire high quality coaches until the last 10 years or so. And so the SEC is better and deeper now because of that. That's a good thing, IMO. This can in no way be compared to Gator soccer under Becky Burleigh necause they went from dominating the SEC to the bottom of the league and have stayed there (or near there) after she was replaced. Mary Wise still has this program in the hunt for SEC titles and ranked in the Top 25 year after year. I've read and understand most of the things some have posted about her offense, etc. Opinions are great, but this is mine. Mary Wise is an all time great, not only at UF, but in D! volleyball. She is respected and admired and I'll back her and support her until she decides to hang it up. Gooo Gators!

 

Yes, everyone has a right to speak just as I have the right to think we have 2 FOS posters on the thread who never post anything positive. We need an FOS response button for when these 2 opin about team disunity with players leaving and bad mouth and totally disrespect our great CMW.

 

UF got some help today as Mississippi State just took down Missouri 3-1 in Starkvegas.

The SEC Title is likely now down to 3, current leader by 1 1/2 matches Kentucky at 13-2 as they are closing in on a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas with Florida and Texas 1 1/2 back at 11-3.

Missouri with a 10-4 record finishes at home with Kentucky and Auburn. A Missouri win over the wildcats on Wednesday could produce a 3-way tie for first in the final SEC standings presuming Florida and Texas win out.

 

Yep. Just lending some VB insights. It’s not like I don’t know squat. Some have asked for information and opinion. Mary can coach anywhere she wants for as long as she wants, and hopefully she’s happy wherever…most likely at UF. Can’t see her coaching anywhere else. But I am a CAP coach, mentored by Cecile Raynaud from FSU lol. I’ve been a frustrated advocate for boys vb at any level, and loved coaching until my daughters moved on to college and rally scoring came to be. I think girls vb is held back mainly by female coaches. Jmho. I’ve met Mary on the USVB Juniors circuit, and she coached a personal friend of mine, Jessica Sanchez who was a great Gator. I rarely watch VB anymore but I see parts of Huskers vb because of my Husker wife. That’s me. Carry on.

 

Go tell FSU how they should run their program.

 

Miss St reversed swept Mizzou
1ST SET 2ND SET 3RD SET 4TH SET Match
UMO 25 20 22 24 1
MSU 19 25 25 26 3

 

This is such a poor take. The truth is: you see that the team is good. And you're correct; it is.

But these posters you denigrate as FOS see that the team could be much better. They aren't FOS; they are correct also. And they have a deep enough understanding of volleyball to explain why.

Yes, CMW was great. But now she's at the point that she must evolve, or the game will pass her by even further. 30+ kills per match by Kennedy Martin isn't going to lead to a deep run in the NCAA tournament, much less CMW's first national championship.