It's Not Just One Thing

Recent days haven’t been all that kind to Ladyjack Volleyball.  Despite last night’s five set win against Nicholls State, there is still a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the next few weeks of the Southland Conference slate.  It would be easy to talk about if there were just one thing to fix.  Problem is: our struggles of late aren’t really in one dimension.  It’s not just one thing.

Now, this isn’t a doom and gloom post.  In fact, you’ll see clearly that I’ll end with a positive.  But as long as we are being objective, let’s look at three very basic, but I claim, very defensible statements:

1) The offense is struggling.

Since SLC play began, left side attackers have had more matches where they hit under .100 than over.  Additionally, we have shifted in and out of one vs. two setter offenses almost on a match by match basis.  Serve receive – while not entirely poor, seems to have at least one set per match were it goes in the toilet.  The team as a whole is hitting just .153 over the last five matches.  The fraction of the team not named Les Jackson is hitting just .131 over that time span.  As a way of putting those two numbers in context, the best opponent hitting percentage in the league is .155.  So, as of late, we are making all of our opponents appear as though they are at the top of the defensive charts even though we know that in some cases they are not.

2) The defense is struggling.

We don’t consistently close blocks.  Teams get way to many one-on-one looks against us at the net and we routinely do not give our back row players a legitimate chance at consistently making plays.  SFA is next-to-last in the Southland Conference in opponent hitting percentage at .222.  In the last five matches, our opponents have hit a whopping .278 against us – a number that you just simply cannot overcome.  To put that number in perspective, Marquette is currently hitting .278 as a team and they are 16^th in the nation in hitting percentage.  Now, it is true that both Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts are in the Top 50 in the nation in hitting percentage.  So, you do have to give those teams their props.  Still, SFA can’t have sustained success while continuing to hover around the bottom of the league in such an important statistic as opponent hitting percentage.

3) We’ve had injuries.  Jill Ivy being the latest one.

Jill Ivy is our best offensive player.  Her timetable is a little up in the air, but at least she has begun rehabilitation and hopefully we will know next week a little more about what to expect going forward.  However, for the time being, Ivy’s offense being on the sidelines only makes the first point above more relevant.  Other girls are either coming off of old injuries or are nursing various bangs and bruises that many other teams also have to deal with across a long Fall season.

Of course, all of the above three issues are related.  Part of the reason the 5-1 vs. 6-2 offensive set is changing so much is because of Ivy’s injury.  Possibly I am someone who makes too much out of “roles” (that’s the baseball mentality in me). But it does seem like at some point the one-setter vs. two-setter switching could create undefined roles for players that wind up affecting their preparation and ultimately their on-court performance.  I asked Debbie Humphreys openly about this issue last night and she said that both Paige Holland and Shannon Connell had responded well to the changes.

Plus, anyone familiar with Humphreys’ player usage trends across the years will know that she is not someone to stand pat and watch the team struggle without tinkering.  She very much believes in changes – sometimes very quick ones – if she notices an area of weakness.  I’ve had to be open to the possibility that volleyball is a sport where such quick changes are necessary and generally productive.  However, there is still a part of me that tends to think along the lines of giving players a long rope and even suffering through starters playing themselves out of funks.  Again, that’s the “defined role” baseball mentality in me as a volleyball fan coming through. I probably need to let go of my biases a little bit on this issue.

The case of freshman is an interesting one to ponder when it comes to these things.  We all know that first year players tend to be more inconsistent than veterans on average.  Let’s look at Shannon Connell, Kaitlyn Granger and Justice Walker’s role on the club to this point.  Now, I’m not saying any changes in their court time are good or bad decisions.  I am just saying it is interesting to play the idea of “freshman tend to be inconsistent” off the idea of “knowing your role and fighting through it”.  It’s the chicken-and-the-egg all over again:

Are freshman inconsistent because their roles change a lot or are freshman having their roles switch back and forth because they can’t produce consistent results.  Which one of those comes “first” is just interesting to think about. It’s kind of circular, isn’t it?

Connell is at the mercy of the 5-1 vs. 6-2 decision. That is, except in the case that Holland is ineffective and just needs to sit for a bit.  That happened at Northwestern State, but I suspect it shouldn’t happen much more, if at all.  Walker has started every match, but will occasionally not start every set.  Take for instance, last night: Walker starts the first two sets, but after the 2^nd set doesn’t go according to script, Jamie Crowder gets the start after the half and finishes up the match in one of the MB slots.  That’s the sort of thing that Humphreys’ isn’t afraid at all to do with young players.  Again, I’m not saying it is right or wrong.  I just think it is interesting to think about.  Last night, it almost certainly worked out for good as Crowder came on and provided a spark getting six kills and two blocks to help us finish out the win.  The trick of course, is knowing when players are ready to ride out those lows and stay on the court while working things out.

Granger’s utility is the most interesting to me.  To this point, I think I’ve been neutral by just pointing out the various changes and deficiencies without being overly opinionated.  Let me get one opinion in this post, though:  If it were me, I’d just leave Granger out there to play and work it out. 

Here’s where I take a deep breath, give you my two cents and then end this article on a positive.

Those people who know me are aware that I am a firm believer in a strong left-side attack.  Bates certainly provides us one arm on the left that is capable of damage.  Not to mention, Tori is a six-rotation player.  Despite this, SFA still runs a lot of offense to the right and through the middles.  So, at times, I think our offense can get a little too bottled up on the right side of the court because we don’t get a high enough percentage of our kills from the left pin.  So, now that Jill is out, what does this mean? It means that defenses can key even more on our middles.  As mentioned, Jackson has done a fine job on the right in Jill’s spot, but even she would admit that her biggest attribute is consistency as opposed to having 15 to 20-kill per night potential.

All of that is why I think Granger should play all around and be left out there.  She gives us the best chance to have two offensive contributors on the left (her and Tori).  I really don’t care what Granger can give us on defense right now.  I’m (always) worried that we need more offense.  Besides Bates, the person I’ve got pegged as giving us the best chance for offense on the left is Kaitlyn. 

Now, to end on a positive like my Mama taught me to do:

Despite the team having to deal with issues on both sides of the ball, SFA hasn’t lost to a conference opponent that would be seen as less talented than them.  UCA and ORU were picked ahead of us in preseason polls and Northwestern State was picked ahead of us in one of those polls.  So, losing to all three of them on the road isn’t totally unexpected.  Sure, we should/could have won at Oral Roberts.  The point is, we haven’t played down to team expected to finish in the bottom half as of yet.

Just beat teams you are supposed to beat (*cough*, McNeese, tomorrow, *cough*) and get some wins here and there against other strong teams.  Then, with fingers crossed, you get Jill back and able to contribute.   Then, we are in position to exact some revenge at the end of the season when UCA, ORU and Northwestern State come to Shelton.  Actually, after next week’s tough tests on the road at Corpus Christi and HBU, the schedule is partial to us in terms of home/away scenarios.

We get Sam Houston, Lamar, UCA, ORU and Northwestern State all at home.  Our remaining road games after TAMUCC/HBU are against four teams picked in the bottom half of the league:  UIW, ACC, SELA and UNO.  It is acknowledged that if you play lazy anyone can win, but I think the remaining home/away split can work in our favor.

All in all, despite the need for improvement and health, SFA is still positioned well to do what they did last year:  Get enough wins for a reasonable seed in the SLC Tourney and then turn on the jets once we get there. 

Except this time, we’ll be expecting to play three days instead of two. 

Interview with Seniors: MB Les Jackson & DS Amanda Rister

Last Thursday at the conclusion of afternoon practice, I got a chance to chat with this years' Senior class.  Les Jackson and Amanda Rister have played all over the court during their college years but look poised to settle into more definitive roles their last year on campus. Jackson may very well see more court time in 2013 than in any of her previous years at SFA.  Currently, she projects as one of the main middle blockers for Debbie Humphreys squad.   Rister moves off the backup setter position to more of a defensive and serving specialist for 2013.

Hit the link below to hear our conversation which includes everything from Les' thoughts on being the last one standing from the 2010 recruiting class, Amanda's take on what makes a good serve, as well as a little behind the scenes info about life on the road which has at times included the making of team music video parodies.  Les also clues us in to the origin of the now semi-famous Soft Smile Saturdays.

I hope you enjoy listening to the conversation and much as I did talking with two athletes that always represent SFA Volleyball in such a positive light.  Next Up for this Thursday:  A sit down with back row standouts: Libero OJ Olson and DS Janet Hilll will be the focus of this week's interviews.

Click Here For Jackson & Rister Interview

UTA Postgame & Exhibit A

I'm sorry this post is a little late. I haven't felt too good the last couple of days - sinus infection & head cold. You can hear it a little bit in the interview below! After the match against UTA (which was AWESOME by the way), I got a brief conversation in with Katzy Randall and Leslie Jackson. You can hear their comments below.

I want to thank the many people that commented on the post from last week. I got a handful of emails and had several conversations at Shelton Gym during the week about the points that were being made. The response was overwhelmingly positive to what I was attempting to communicate. Some were concerned that I'd get a negative backlash from it. I did not - and I didn't expect to when I penned the article. People that know me well are aware of where my allegiances lie. I all but bleed SFA Volleyball at times. Constructive - and I think, relatively light - criticism is natural in sports (and in academics -my "real world"). When the balance of all my words written in these spots is evaluated, it is definitively shaded to the extreme positive. I can rest comfortably knowing the truth in that.

I heard from coaches around the league, parents (both ours and from other clubs) and yes, I discussed the post with some of our own coaches. Some of their comments really made me feel good about what I am trying to do in this space.

In case anyone is still confused as to what my motivation was... I present to you Exhibit A below.

In the interview with Randall & Jackson, you hear Les talk about Houston Baptist possibly being interested in our conference. This serves as a perfect segue to the next post which will appear in the next day or two about the upcoming conference realignment. This post about possible replacements for UTA, UTSA and Texas State will appear in lieu of SLC5 this week.

Be in Shelton Gym on Wednesday at 6:30 as we take on HBU and again on Saturday as we square off with Nicholls at 1:00.

Postgame with Katzy Randall & Leslie Jackson:




Exhibit A to go along with post of 10/9:

Pannone and Jackson: More Than Just Getting By

Attrition. Survival. Falling By the Wayside. Look to your left, look to your Right. One won't be here.

The freshman year in college -- it's not an easy stage in one's life. In all honesty, finishing my first year in college was one of the most joyous moments of my life. I remember all the detail...the release from all the stress: the last final, packing up all my junk, jumping for joy down the hall of my dorm scraping my hands on the ceiling causing my knuckles to bleed. Not caring that my hands were swelling around the steering wheel driving home at excessive speed. Seeing the decorations at my home when I came through the door. I had made it. I had survived.

Fact #1: All freshman DO NOT make it.

It's true on many levels - and its true of freshman NCAA athletes as well. For a variety of reasons, only two of the five first year players we welcomed to the pleasures of SFA Volleyball in 2010 are still with us. But these two are more than just "getting by". They are more than just surviving. These two are in line to play a major role for the club in 2011 and beyond. Sophomores Monica Pannone and Leslie Jackson lead off this years' series of veteran previews and a transcript of our online chat follows below.

But before we get to the Q & A, here are some personal observations. One thing that makes me chuckle when I watch Pannone is that when she wants the ball - she claps. I did the same thing when I played basketball when I was younger. It's a subconscious thing. My Dad used to ask me why I did that, and I didn't have an answer... I didn't even really know I was doing it. Somehow that little tendency made me identify with Pannone.

I think by the time she's all said and done at SFA, Monica is going to be a blog favorite here. I'm coming around on her. Last year, in preseason interviews with Debbie Humphreys, I kept hearing about this defensive whiz we were bringing in. But, then in practices before the season started, I couldn't figure it out. Pannone seemed blown away by the adjustment to college volleyball - at least to me she did. Her talent was evident, but she couldn't consistently shine.


She looks more confident to me and the defense that coaches raved about and was occasionally flashed in matches last year has been evident in 2011 practices so far (at least the one's I've seen). Girl can dig. Plain and simple. Plus, it's natural talent - you can tell. She's not always "textbook' in her footwork and how she takes her arms to the ball, but her reactions are stellar. I've seen her make some crazy ups here and there. The defense is in there.

One thing I wonder when I watch her play is: How much can the coaching staff ooze out of her? All players need a little work on the potters' wheel, but Pannone is someone who you watch and realize CAN be great. She has to be teachable and she has to practice what she's taught - maybe even change a bit in order to be great. But, the thing I see in her is... she CAN. It's not unrealistic that over the next three years she can blossom into a great, great player. I'm a sucker for back-row defense. It's probably my favorite part of the game. Pannone can play half way around - no doubt. I'll enjoy seeing if she gets her game to 6-rotation collegiate level.

Les Jackson: Ms. I'll Fly Under the Radar, Please. Wow. Didn't see this big of a role for her in 2011 coming at the start of last season. I watched her practice and play early on in 2010 just like all the others. I just underestimated her.

Mature. Poised. Humphreys calls her a leader. Today, near the end of practice, the entire team was in a big circle and she was the one talking. I think we've found ourselves something here. Jackson can hit from the right side as well as slide into the middle. In fact, Debbie had her changed on the roster to be listed at "MB". She's in line for a lot of court time - at least early on. If her leadership skills and play at the net step up, then she may become a staple in the lineup all the way through the 2011 campaign.

Random fact: During the Spring, the team ran obstacle courses as a training exercise and a way to do something different. Assistant Coach John Critzer asked me who I thought did the best during these sessions and the obvious correct answer was Mel Miksch. However, right after her, John was quick to point out the athletic ability shown by Jackson.

She's increasing her strength for someone so slight in build and she fits the bill of workhorse. She's not a powerful attacker and how many kills she can actually amass is an issue. But, coaches love players like her. My question: Can she fill up the stat sheet? This team doesn't have enough superstars for Jackson to just be a coaches' favorite in word only. Having all the intangibles is one thing. Putting up numbers is another. A sign that the numbers will be there? Did you know she was third on the team in blocks per set as a freshman? (Behind the incomparable Bottles and the 6'3" tower that is Sabrina Burns)

On with the interview:

SFAVolleyBlog: Les, coaches and teammates rave about your athleticism and work ethic. Who is most responsible for creating that work ethic in you as an athlete? Are there any coaches or other people in your past that you think were particularly important in your development?

Les Jackson: That's sweet of them all to say. There are so many phenomenal coaches I have had throughout my life. From YMCA, Howard Middle School, Summit High School, Legacy High School, Strength and Conditioning, TAV, and SFA, it is impossible to name them all. I carry a little bit of knowledge with me from each coach I've had throughout my life. Every time I step on the floor, in the weight room, and when I'm out with friends, whether it be a mental, physical, or life aspect, I have learned so many things from so many amazing people. One person I would have to thank above all is my Daddy. He has been my biggest supporter throughout my entire life. He compliments me when I've played well, and gives out the criticism when I've played bad. He taught me to always give it my all no matter what I'm doing. He planted a competitive seed in my head when I was a little girl, and it has only grown bigger ever since.

SFAVolleyBlog: Monica, on the subject of family, I remember meeting your parents in Houston last year while we were all at Rice and I often saw your sister at matches. Describe the importance of family support on you as an athlete.

Monica Pannone: Family support means the world to me. I honestly could not have done it without them. They come to every game that they possibly can and tell me I played great even on the days that I clearly didn't!

SFAVolleyBlog: Having gone through it for the first time last year, what’s the number one piece of advice you could each give the first year players as they go through Fall workouts?

Monica: I would tell them to make sure that they take care of their bodies!

Les: Expect to come in everyday willing to work as hard as you possibly can. There are gonna be many times your body is going to tell you you've got nothing left, but I promise you will make it through and only come out stronger than you were before.

SFAVolleyBlog: With your rookie year done, and so many new players coming in for 2011, tell me one way that you and the other veterans can make the transition easier for the freshman and other newbies? Do you guys have any “team bonding” plans for the Fall in order to build relationships?

Monica: We plan to be very welcoming and positive. We do team bonding pretty much on the weekends. For Summer II, a lot of us stayed in the same house and really got to know each other.

SFAVolleyBlog: Les, if you had to make a pick, what’s a bigger thrill… thundering down a kill on offense or rejecting an opponent attack at the net?

Les: I would say rejecting an opponents attack at the net HANDS DOWN. Nothing gets me more excited then a big block to end the rally. It's an alarming way to tell the person on the other side of the net their not getting through you and your pin blocker. If you don't think it was a big deal, the wild yelling and screaming that comes after will be evidence enough.

SFAVolleyBlog: Les, what changes do you sense will take place in 2011? How do you project the team in 2011 will be different than the team from 2010?

Les: Practices seem so much more competitive. We yell and scream at each other during competition no matter what. Even if we're lying about a call, nothing is gonna stop the drive to keep the point. It also seems like we've all bonded better. I love each one of my teammates and would do anything for any of them.

SFAVolleyBlog: Monica, you were used a lot to help out with back row defense during your freshman season. What is the number one thing that is different (or harder) about defending on the back row in college as opposed to defending in high school/club ball?

Monica: The fact that all hitters in college are smart and really know how to place the ball in the perfect spot.

SFAVolleyBlog: Monica, while talking with Coach Humphreys before the 2010 season began, she believed you had the chance to develop into a consistent six-rotation player during your time at SFA. What is one thing that you feel like you have to improve on in order to become that six-rotation presence?

Monica: In order to become a six rotation player, I think I need to really work on freezing my platform when I pass the ball and just remember to talk on every play.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A special thanks to both Monica and Les for returning all my questions. It is clear that these two more than just "got by" during their first year in purple. It's nice to know they have THREE years remaining with us. They each should pay dividends this year as well as in 2012 and 2013.

After a brief look at the conference as a whole later in the week, we'll continue these veteran previews shifting to Seniors Melissa Miksch and MC Bottles.

The team leaves for Georgia bright and early Thursday morning! Axe' Em 'Jacks!