(VB) Gators vs MSU Sept. 24 7:00 pm SEC Network

Just lost 3rd set, this isn't a fluke.....MSU looks every bit as good as UF. Not sure what to make of it, but sure doesn't bode well for the season

 

Much better energy last half of 4th set....see if they can carry over to the 5th

 

Horrid finish, deserved to lose

 

MSU had already lost to Houston and Syracuse.
Mary can butter it up any way she wants to, but this was awful.
I watched with a critical eye tonight, we have zero athleticism in the back (which isn’t new for Mary’s teams but it’s worse than usual), our setter lollipops balls up 25 feet high that give the opponents a year to camp on the other side of the net, our serve return game is really bad, and they had zero mental toughness - all three close sets, at home, went the other way. And that’s happened all year.
And yes, if Forte was there we likely would have won, but that’s hardly the standard we should be setting. And what’s worse is we graduate a ton after this year, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this season goes south the way it’s looking, that Mary hangs it up. And I don’t say that lightly, I always felt like she was pointing to this year as her last best shot. Now they might not even make the tournament without substantial improvement.

/rant.

 

MSU made huge improvements through the portal, bringing in two grad transfers this year who have the experience to raise the play of everyone around them. Like much of the SEC, they have turned into a speed offense. This isn't MSU of old.

But I don't know enough about volleyball to know exactly where we are falling short. If this were football, I could say Emory Jones holds the ball too long, doesn't see the field, doesn't anticipate what is going to happen and stuff like that. (I hope tomorrow proves me TOTALLY WRONG).

Bit I disagree that lollipops are bad when playing MSU. At least on paper and for a game plan, we're going to win a high ball game, if we could have gotten MSU into that. We're much bigger. MSU needs to go speed, and did.

 

Wow, shocking loss.