As a wrap up of the 2012 Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament, I will leave up this page for a few days linking to the seven interviews that were done during the tournament. Click the link below to listen to day by day interviews with coaches and players from around the league
CLICK HERE for 2012 SLC Tourney Interviews
In the spirit of full disclosure, which I believe is important to maintain my role and a level of integrity among the league, here is the 2012 All-Tournament Ballot that I filed at the match. I was allowed to vote for the All-Tournament Team as a member of the media:
My Ballot for All-Tourney:
(1) MVP : Jessica Hays, UCA
(2) Marissa Collins, UCA
(3) Sheina Fernandes, ORU
(4) Jill Ivy, SFA
(5) Jessica Nagy, UCA
(6) Shelbee Berringer, UCA
The announced offical all-tournament team consisted of the first five that I voted for and ORU libero Bruna Silva.
I'll add more comments about my thinking in casting my ballot later today or tomorrow.
Congrats to UCA and ORU. And again, I thought SFA represented themselves very, very well. All in all, I believe we gave the tournament champions their toughest test. More comments in a day or so...
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Southland Conference Tourney Final: #6 ORU vs. #1 UCA
As we've done the first two days of the 2012 Southland Conference Tournament, we'll fill this space with reflections and discussions of today's championship match between ORU and UCA. Check back regularly as various thoughts and musings will be posted here. Make sure you support Southland TV and check in on the match in your area on the appropriate Southland affiliate.
Sunday, 4:07 PM
UCA is your Southland representative in the NCAA Tourney.. they played a great tournament and polish off the Golden Eagles 3-1. Just a dominating performace by Jessica Hays. This team is loaded offensively and they were the #1 seed coming in and took care of thier business. I think the long rally that went their way and the yellow card situation really fired everyone up and send them on their way. Congrats to the 2012 Southland Confence Tourney champion UCA Sugar Bears!
Sunday, 4:00 PM
A great, great rally goes UCA's way as several girls for the Sugar Bears made tremendous digs. That coupled with a yellow card for arguing a bad set that wasn't call have got the UCA crowed fired up.. ORU's Sthepanie Mab obviously doubled and it didn't get called. McFatrich barely argued and up ref Richard Bleu yellow carded him.. ORU might have wished that hadn't happened.. UCA fired up now and we are tied at 18.
Sunday, 3:50 PM
ORU had an early lead, but its gone now as we are tied at 13. Hays tacking on.. she's got a shot at 30 kills!
Sunday, 3:43 PM
Random realization: You know who would absolutely destroy UCA? ORU with Jessica Hays on the left side. ORU up 6-3 early in Set 4. UCA took a TO already.. let's see if that affects things.. should point out that Fredeen is leading ORU in kills and has occasionally been able to cause issues.
Sunday, 3:38 PM
Hays with 22 kills in three sets. Pancratz and Fernandes with five blocks each for UCA who - as is typical - doesn't have anyone with more than one. ORU outblocking the Bears 11-3. Berringer - who has played a nice defensive game - especially before the half - has 18 digs to lead all. Brooks has hurt UCA on the back row. Not doing much, I wonder if they'll sub her out. No kills and only two digs. UCA needs some help for Berringer back there IMO.
Sunday, 3:34 PM
UCA not as sharp in the back half of Set 2. Dare I say, Marissa Collins is off just a bit, here? The passing hasn't been great, but Collins hasn't played a good set in my opinion. The serves for UCA also a big problem as a few errors coupled with agressive play at the net for ORU have the Golden Eages way out front, 24-15. We are going to four. A bad set for UCA.. they still enjoy the 2-1 lead however.. and need just to regroup once and they'll have it. Hays still getting kills.. well on her way to another 20 kill performance.
Sunday, 3:27 PM
Maybe this will be the set that ORU gets? ORU up 14-10 at a UCA timeout. Several attack errors by UCA and then the block has shown up in this set as Sheina Fernandes has turned it up a bit. A long, long rally went UCA's way and I thought that might turn the momentum back to the Sugar Bears, but ORU has held on and now has a four point lead. Half a set to go, however. Let's see if they can hold it and force it to four.
Sunday, 3:15 PM
Hays and Schnars with 26 kills between them at the half. That's as many as ORU has as a team! ORU not able to slow the attacking down as UCA is hitting .277. ORU with 7 blocks, but it isn't enough as it looks like Jessica Hays is on her way to MVP status as we move into Set 3. ORU needs to get a quick start and take the crowd out of it. They've had plenty to cheer for so far...
Sunday, 3:05 PM
Nagy gets retailiation though and she gets the final kill of Set 2 and UCA is now in the drivers' seat for sure, Up 2-0 at the half.. That was the tight set that I thought ORU might steal. We'll have to see if they force four, but UCA set up for the sweep and an entrance into the NCAA tournament.
Sunday, 3:03 PM
ORU not rolling over in Set 2... The Fernandes block on Nagy comes at a good time, UCA forced to take a timeout needing just a side out to win Set 2, but ORU has it back to within one. UCA 24-23.
Sunday, 2:57 PM
Jessica Nagy just about takes me out in pursuit of a ball. I think she would have won that battle. She was charging hard! ORU timeout with UCA needing just four points to take a commanding 2-0 lead in this championship game. ORU just not able to slow much down. They've played them even this match, except for several points in the middle where serve receive gave UCA the three point lead they have now. 21-18.
Sunday, 2:50 PM
The 2nd set was tight and all tied up at 12-all until ORUs serve receive took a few points off and UCA got an ace and then a shank by Rosa puts UCA up 15-12 mid way thru the 2nd. ORU still not giving Silva and others much of a chance to dig up cross court attacks hit from the left. UCA still getting a ton of good opportunities on the power side. Yesterday, ORU was at least getting good touches over there, but they can't slow Hays down today.
Sunday, 2:35 PM
Hays hit 7-0-15 in the first set and Schnars hit 7-0-12. That's 14 kills from the left and no attack errors. You don't need me - or anyone - to analyze that.
Sunday, 2:33 PM
UCA within two points, but Pancratz gets two straight kills for ORU.. one on an overpass by UCA and they got it down to three, 24-21 before McFatrich wants a UCA timeout. UCA needing just a side out to take Set 1. ORU will need to shut down the left if they are going to have a good shot at making the match even at the half.
Sunday, 2:28 PM
ORU trying to crawl back. They have it down to 21-17 after a Laura Taylor attack and kill on 2nd hit.. that's what I was talking about earlier.. she needs to draw the block.. ORU not blocking on UCA's power side all that well as Schnars continue to gets good looks.
Sunday 2:21 PM
Jessica Hays is putting on a clinic. Already taking over more against ORU than she did at any point yesterday against SFA. Both serving and hitting... just taking this first set by storm. UCA in control 18-12 as ORU takes a 2nd timeout.
Sunday, 2:14 PM
Early on, UCA going almost exlusively to Hays on the left. She has 4 kills already. The Sugar Bears also getting more on the left by Heather Schnars, who is getting the other left spot early on in favor of Brooks. Schnars got serveral kills including a nifty tip over the top of Schaffer and Pancratz. UCA leads 9-6 at the first TO by ORU
Sunday, 1:59 PM
Ready to rock and roll in the Farris Center. Here's hoping that this match is as strong and competitive as the SFA/UCA match last night.
Sunday, 1:39 PM
The X-Factors for me for ORU are OH Joana Gruber and S Laura Taylor. ORU's middles - especially Fernandes - and RS Schaffner I believe can give the UCA front line fits. But, Taylor is going to need to get the LS going and Gruber would be the go to there in my mind. Also, I think Taylor needs to be active on attacking on 2nd strike. If Taylor can keep Hammonds and Dittrich guessing by both mixing her distribution and also having to be aware of her attacking, then I think that can open up the left - and that.. along with what they got yesterday from the middle and right, might be enough offense to pair up with their usually stellar defense to pull the upset.
Sunday, 1:21 PM
Both teams going thru passing drills and as always as the championship match, you can tell there is a bit more of a buzz in the arena. More media, more people from the conference milling around. Banners up for TV purposes. I love the more "official" look to everything at the championship. Both the ORU and the UCA faithful got here early. I got in with about 50:00 on the clock and there were plenty of people that were already in their seats and ready to watch warmups.
To be on record, I think ORU has had a great tournament and I think they definitely have the talent to pull this off, but after UCA's big win last night against us, I think they'll be particularly focused. I'll take UCA in four sets with each set being tight (all in 20's). I was tempted to pick UCA in a sweep, but I think ORU will get a set 25-23 or in extras. I've kind of become a mini-fan of the ORU team during this tournament, so I'll admit that part of me would love to see them win. In the end though, I just think UCA is the better club and Collins makes them so, so good on offense.
Sunday, 4:07 PM
UCA is your Southland representative in the NCAA Tourney.. they played a great tournament and polish off the Golden Eagles 3-1. Just a dominating performace by Jessica Hays. This team is loaded offensively and they were the #1 seed coming in and took care of thier business. I think the long rally that went their way and the yellow card situation really fired everyone up and send them on their way. Congrats to the 2012 Southland Confence Tourney champion UCA Sugar Bears!
Sunday, 4:00 PM
A great, great rally goes UCA's way as several girls for the Sugar Bears made tremendous digs. That coupled with a yellow card for arguing a bad set that wasn't call have got the UCA crowed fired up.. ORU's Sthepanie Mab obviously doubled and it didn't get called. McFatrich barely argued and up ref Richard Bleu yellow carded him.. ORU might have wished that hadn't happened.. UCA fired up now and we are tied at 18.
Sunday, 3:50 PM
ORU had an early lead, but its gone now as we are tied at 13. Hays tacking on.. she's got a shot at 30 kills!
Sunday, 3:43 PM
Random realization: You know who would absolutely destroy UCA? ORU with Jessica Hays on the left side. ORU up 6-3 early in Set 4. UCA took a TO already.. let's see if that affects things.. should point out that Fredeen is leading ORU in kills and has occasionally been able to cause issues.
Sunday, 3:38 PM
Hays with 22 kills in three sets. Pancratz and Fernandes with five blocks each for UCA who - as is typical - doesn't have anyone with more than one. ORU outblocking the Bears 11-3. Berringer - who has played a nice defensive game - especially before the half - has 18 digs to lead all. Brooks has hurt UCA on the back row. Not doing much, I wonder if they'll sub her out. No kills and only two digs. UCA needs some help for Berringer back there IMO.
Sunday, 3:34 PM
UCA not as sharp in the back half of Set 2. Dare I say, Marissa Collins is off just a bit, here? The passing hasn't been great, but Collins hasn't played a good set in my opinion. The serves for UCA also a big problem as a few errors coupled with agressive play at the net for ORU have the Golden Eages way out front, 24-15. We are going to four. A bad set for UCA.. they still enjoy the 2-1 lead however.. and need just to regroup once and they'll have it. Hays still getting kills.. well on her way to another 20 kill performance.
Sunday, 3:27 PM
Maybe this will be the set that ORU gets? ORU up 14-10 at a UCA timeout. Several attack errors by UCA and then the block has shown up in this set as Sheina Fernandes has turned it up a bit. A long, long rally went UCA's way and I thought that might turn the momentum back to the Sugar Bears, but ORU has held on and now has a four point lead. Half a set to go, however. Let's see if they can hold it and force it to four.
Sunday, 3:15 PM
Hays and Schnars with 26 kills between them at the half. That's as many as ORU has as a team! ORU not able to slow the attacking down as UCA is hitting .277. ORU with 7 blocks, but it isn't enough as it looks like Jessica Hays is on her way to MVP status as we move into Set 3. ORU needs to get a quick start and take the crowd out of it. They've had plenty to cheer for so far...
Sunday, 3:05 PM
Nagy gets retailiation though and she gets the final kill of Set 2 and UCA is now in the drivers' seat for sure, Up 2-0 at the half.. That was the tight set that I thought ORU might steal. We'll have to see if they force four, but UCA set up for the sweep and an entrance into the NCAA tournament.
Sunday, 3:03 PM
ORU not rolling over in Set 2... The Fernandes block on Nagy comes at a good time, UCA forced to take a timeout needing just a side out to win Set 2, but ORU has it back to within one. UCA 24-23.
Sunday, 2:57 PM
Jessica Nagy just about takes me out in pursuit of a ball. I think she would have won that battle. She was charging hard! ORU timeout with UCA needing just four points to take a commanding 2-0 lead in this championship game. ORU just not able to slow much down. They've played them even this match, except for several points in the middle where serve receive gave UCA the three point lead they have now. 21-18.
Sunday, 2:50 PM
The 2nd set was tight and all tied up at 12-all until ORUs serve receive took a few points off and UCA got an ace and then a shank by Rosa puts UCA up 15-12 mid way thru the 2nd. ORU still not giving Silva and others much of a chance to dig up cross court attacks hit from the left. UCA still getting a ton of good opportunities on the power side. Yesterday, ORU was at least getting good touches over there, but they can't slow Hays down today.
Sunday, 2:35 PM
Hays hit 7-0-15 in the first set and Schnars hit 7-0-12. That's 14 kills from the left and no attack errors. You don't need me - or anyone - to analyze that.
Sunday, 2:33 PM
UCA within two points, but Pancratz gets two straight kills for ORU.. one on an overpass by UCA and they got it down to three, 24-21 before McFatrich wants a UCA timeout. UCA needing just a side out to take Set 1. ORU will need to shut down the left if they are going to have a good shot at making the match even at the half.
Sunday, 2:28 PM
ORU trying to crawl back. They have it down to 21-17 after a Laura Taylor attack and kill on 2nd hit.. that's what I was talking about earlier.. she needs to draw the block.. ORU not blocking on UCA's power side all that well as Schnars continue to gets good looks.
Sunday 2:21 PM
Jessica Hays is putting on a clinic. Already taking over more against ORU than she did at any point yesterday against SFA. Both serving and hitting... just taking this first set by storm. UCA in control 18-12 as ORU takes a 2nd timeout.
Sunday, 2:14 PM
Early on, UCA going almost exlusively to Hays on the left. She has 4 kills already. The Sugar Bears also getting more on the left by Heather Schnars, who is getting the other left spot early on in favor of Brooks. Schnars got serveral kills including a nifty tip over the top of Schaffer and Pancratz. UCA leads 9-6 at the first TO by ORU
Sunday, 1:59 PM
Ready to rock and roll in the Farris Center. Here's hoping that this match is as strong and competitive as the SFA/UCA match last night.
Sunday, 1:39 PM
The X-Factors for me for ORU are OH Joana Gruber and S Laura Taylor. ORU's middles - especially Fernandes - and RS Schaffner I believe can give the UCA front line fits. But, Taylor is going to need to get the LS going and Gruber would be the go to there in my mind. Also, I think Taylor needs to be active on attacking on 2nd strike. If Taylor can keep Hammonds and Dittrich guessing by both mixing her distribution and also having to be aware of her attacking, then I think that can open up the left - and that.. along with what they got yesterday from the middle and right, might be enough offense to pair up with their usually stellar defense to pull the upset.
Sunday, 1:21 PM
Both teams going thru passing drills and as always as the championship match, you can tell there is a bit more of a buzz in the arena. More media, more people from the conference milling around. Banners up for TV purposes. I love the more "official" look to everything at the championship. Both the ORU and the UCA faithful got here early. I got in with about 50:00 on the clock and there were plenty of people that were already in their seats and ready to watch warmups.
To be on record, I think ORU has had a great tournament and I think they definitely have the talent to pull this off, but after UCA's big win last night against us, I think they'll be particularly focused. I'll take UCA in four sets with each set being tight (all in 20's). I was tempted to pick UCA in a sweep, but I think ORU will get a set 25-23 or in extras. I've kind of become a mini-fan of the ORU team during this tournament, so I'll admit that part of me would love to see them win. In the end though, I just think UCA is the better club and Collins makes them so, so good on offense.
What A Great Game. Thank You, SFA & all SLC Fans
I am going to get into a short discussion about Central Arkansas here in a minute because they deserve a ton of credit, but this post is going to begin and end with discussion about Stephen F. Austin Volleyball. It's time to write about the namesake.. this is SFA (accent on the "SFA") VolleyBlog and everyone knows I love Ladyjack Volleyball with a passion.
Now that a few hours have gone by, I've had a great steak at a quaint restaurant in downtown Conway and watched my Alma mater - the unranked Baylor Bears - just destroy #1 Kansas State in football, I've had a chance to digest all the volleyball I witnessed today. The main thing I keep going over in my brain is how proud I am of the 2012 squad. We were 14-18 last year, and I wrote early in the year that I thought 18-14 was going to be about right for us. Instead, we finish 22-12 and take major strides towards moving back into the upper crust of the conference.
You see, its one thing to be a Northwestern State - a team on the rise that has historically been down. It's another thing to be an Oral Roberts - new to the conference and winding up a mid-seed that got hot. But, we are SFA. The history of Southland Volleyball traces to us. Well, us and UTA, but they left and now they stink. There is a certain pride, a certain expectation - with Ladyjack Volleyball, and the last few years didn't sit well with the SFA faithful. We weren't as relevant in the conference as we were used to. The 2012 squad pointed us back in the right direction and although we will miss Burns and Hanlan, we have a lot to look forward to. So, yeah, I am really proud of our coaches and our players.
The matches this weekend were incredible. How could you be in that gym tonight and not get caught up in what you saw? I heard fans (both UCA and SFA) talking about how intense and how even the match was. Just great volleyball and I think both teams earned another dose of respect for each other. SFA had a six week spell where we played inconsistently. It looked like that might be our destiny again until halftime against the Demons. From that point on, SFA played with resolve. We had a down set or so tonight against UCA, but for the most part, we played quality volleyball. Our defense tonight was particularly impressive - both at the net and digging up balls. Jessica Hays had 17 kills and 19 digs, so it's not like she was quiet, but at no point did she take over the match. Many of her 50 attacks were touched, blocked or incredibly dug up by either Hanlan, Olson or Bates. Burns had 10 blocks and Hanlan finished her career in the libero jersey and had a match high 19 digs. I am so proud for them and the fact that they contributed so much in their final collegiate match.
Cara Leslie had spurts where she played particularly well and I am anxious to see what she can do as a sophomore. We needed her tonight and she stepped up. Jill (the Kill) Ivy was phenomenal. She had the UCA crowd sitting behind me in awe. I actually heard a couple of them say they hadn't seen someone hit a ball that hard at their defense all year long. I thought Holland was poised and ran a good game and Tori Bates had some smashing shots that had all of us excited for what she can do the next three years.
But in the end, it was two very good teams and we came out on the short end. It is right to give Central Arkansas their due. What they have done this year in pressure situations with comebacks and winning sets that are tight, and finding ways to force and/or win fifth sets is really impressive. When it gets to be crunch time, UCA seems to always handle themselves well. They do what good teams do.. they find a way. And they've found a way twice against us in two very emotional matches. In all, they beat us three times this year and that speaks for itself.
Also, let me address Alicia Dittrich and her her contributions tonight. She was great. Tonight she showed me - and others - why she led the league in hitting percentage. How can you not be impressed by 14-1-22 (.591)? She also played tremendous defense - the thing I have harped on with her position - she had 7 blocks. When people play like she did - even though I stand by my general thoughts and assessments about middle blockers and how I rated them during the entire year - despite that.. this is not a time for me to be defensive. It's a time for me to acknowledge what I saw... a great performance by one of the many fantastic players on the UCA squad. So, to all of UCA's main crew.. and especially to Dittrich because I have singled her out for other reasons, I tip my hat. You deserve your credit and I want to be "stand up" and give it to you.
This is a slightly different UCA team than in past years. I actually don't think they are as dominant as some other teams they've fielded. I think they actually have a few flaws - and blocking, in general, is one of them. But, one thing this Sugar Bear team seems to have in bushels is the ability to "finish" and find ways to win. Because of that, what they are doing in 2012 in some ways is more impressive than the teams that Chloe Smith played on.
Let me add this in here: Again, this isn't to be defensive, it's to be explanatory: I was questioned about my "2/3 defense, 1/3 offense" assessment for middle blockers on Friday. Since that time I have asked three additional people - two coaches and one other person who you'll have to trust me when I say has a history of being around the game - about those proportions. The three answers I got were "Defense is at least half of it" and "60/40 on the defensive end" and "I think your 2/3 is about right". It depends on a teams' system, and I have a small sample, I know, but I think my limited data taken from folks in the last 48 hours reinforces the proportional mix that has been utilized in statistical analyses. Let's move on...
How about Oral Roberts, people? Man, I am SUPER impressed with them right now. One great thing about tomorrow's final is I think it matches up the league's best offense against the league's best defense. Sadie Schaffer was terrific and I believe she is someone that can cause problems for UCA. Also, I am sorry that I will only get to see Sheina Fernandes play one year. That girl is a player. She didn't make a single attack error in that match against Sam Houston. Give me Hays as my 1st round pick and Fernandes as my 2nd rounder and I'll kick all ya'lls butts in Southland Conference Fantasy Volleyball.
I'll just let this be what it is: I said I didn't like our draw in the tournament when I wrote the first round preview article. You always want to win as many games as you can and finish as strong as you can.. but, I'll always believe that if we were on the other side of the bracket as the 6-seed, then the match you saw tonight would have been the championship. Now, UCA might still have won. But, I think we did fantastic given our side of the bracket.
I am so much more optimistic on the last day of the season now than I was even last year, and certainly more so than two years ago when we sat at home while others played in Huntsville. I am eager to see Granger next year along with the dimension that Connell and Crowder could bring. I foresee Olson at libero and Granger fighting for playing time, creating competition on the left with Bates and Randall. Hopefully, Kainer will develop more and push all three of them as well. Bates and Randall are already so good in terms of defense from the left side, that between the two of them and Granger maybe we will finally have enough offense to satisfy me from that position. I also think we will be deep and competitive at setter with even more quality choices on the roster.
Maybe one of this years' freshmen will pull a "Jill Ivy". Wow. Where would we be without her? She was a whole universe better this year than she was last year and in 2011 she was darn good! I got struck with something today... last year, I picked Texas State's RS Amari Deardorff as my Player of the Year. I think Jill is going to be better than her when it is all said and done.. and she might be as good as her right now! Oh man, if we get that kind of power on the left - what if Bates improves as much as Ivy did this year? - then we are gonna have a really strong offense in the next two years.
See, I am already there for 2013.
One last thing: Thank you - to everyone - that supported me in 2012 in even the smallest way. The blog became more well known than ever before. This space is getting recognized as more and more legitimate. I am blessed for that.
I want to say thank you for this: The last two days set all-time records for page views at www.sfavolleyblog.net. My Google Stats for today showed 483 page views. 483!!. I average about 80 to 100 views a day and the best two days in terms of traffic that I have ever had are the last two days. I broke a record Friday with near 300 views and then got close to 500 today. That's 800 page views during the tournament so far. I have more twitter followers than half of the official twitter feeds for the teams in the conference .
To all the league officials, coaches, players, fans and parents: Thanks. I promise to keep promoting the sport. Thank you for your spirited opinions - even when we disagree - we are talking "volleyball" - and that's positive to me. I've learned and been humbled by all of you.
There are two articles I have just about finished that I will share during late November or early December.
Hey, I get to watch a final tomorrow between two good teams.. not as a public address announcer.. not as a blogger.... but as a fan.
Nevertheless.. I'll still be wearing SFA purple. Always.
Now that a few hours have gone by, I've had a great steak at a quaint restaurant in downtown Conway and watched my Alma mater - the unranked Baylor Bears - just destroy #1 Kansas State in football, I've had a chance to digest all the volleyball I witnessed today. The main thing I keep going over in my brain is how proud I am of the 2012 squad. We were 14-18 last year, and I wrote early in the year that I thought 18-14 was going to be about right for us. Instead, we finish 22-12 and take major strides towards moving back into the upper crust of the conference.
You see, its one thing to be a Northwestern State - a team on the rise that has historically been down. It's another thing to be an Oral Roberts - new to the conference and winding up a mid-seed that got hot. But, we are SFA. The history of Southland Volleyball traces to us. Well, us and UTA, but they left and now they stink. There is a certain pride, a certain expectation - with Ladyjack Volleyball, and the last few years didn't sit well with the SFA faithful. We weren't as relevant in the conference as we were used to. The 2012 squad pointed us back in the right direction and although we will miss Burns and Hanlan, we have a lot to look forward to. So, yeah, I am really proud of our coaches and our players.
The matches this weekend were incredible. How could you be in that gym tonight and not get caught up in what you saw? I heard fans (both UCA and SFA) talking about how intense and how even the match was. Just great volleyball and I think both teams earned another dose of respect for each other. SFA had a six week spell where we played inconsistently. It looked like that might be our destiny again until halftime against the Demons. From that point on, SFA played with resolve. We had a down set or so tonight against UCA, but for the most part, we played quality volleyball. Our defense tonight was particularly impressive - both at the net and digging up balls. Jessica Hays had 17 kills and 19 digs, so it's not like she was quiet, but at no point did she take over the match. Many of her 50 attacks were touched, blocked or incredibly dug up by either Hanlan, Olson or Bates. Burns had 10 blocks and Hanlan finished her career in the libero jersey and had a match high 19 digs. I am so proud for them and the fact that they contributed so much in their final collegiate match.
Cara Leslie had spurts where she played particularly well and I am anxious to see what she can do as a sophomore. We needed her tonight and she stepped up. Jill (the Kill) Ivy was phenomenal. She had the UCA crowd sitting behind me in awe. I actually heard a couple of them say they hadn't seen someone hit a ball that hard at their defense all year long. I thought Holland was poised and ran a good game and Tori Bates had some smashing shots that had all of us excited for what she can do the next three years.
But in the end, it was two very good teams and we came out on the short end. It is right to give Central Arkansas their due. What they have done this year in pressure situations with comebacks and winning sets that are tight, and finding ways to force and/or win fifth sets is really impressive. When it gets to be crunch time, UCA seems to always handle themselves well. They do what good teams do.. they find a way. And they've found a way twice against us in two very emotional matches. In all, they beat us three times this year and that speaks for itself.
Also, let me address Alicia Dittrich and her her contributions tonight. She was great. Tonight she showed me - and others - why she led the league in hitting percentage. How can you not be impressed by 14-1-22 (.591)? She also played tremendous defense - the thing I have harped on with her position - she had 7 blocks. When people play like she did - even though I stand by my general thoughts and assessments about middle blockers and how I rated them during the entire year - despite that.. this is not a time for me to be defensive. It's a time for me to acknowledge what I saw... a great performance by one of the many fantastic players on the UCA squad. So, to all of UCA's main crew.. and especially to Dittrich because I have singled her out for other reasons, I tip my hat. You deserve your credit and I want to be "stand up" and give it to you.
This is a slightly different UCA team than in past years. I actually don't think they are as dominant as some other teams they've fielded. I think they actually have a few flaws - and blocking, in general, is one of them. But, one thing this Sugar Bear team seems to have in bushels is the ability to "finish" and find ways to win. Because of that, what they are doing in 2012 in some ways is more impressive than the teams that Chloe Smith played on.
Let me add this in here: Again, this isn't to be defensive, it's to be explanatory: I was questioned about my "2/3 defense, 1/3 offense" assessment for middle blockers on Friday. Since that time I have asked three additional people - two coaches and one other person who you'll have to trust me when I say has a history of being around the game - about those proportions. The three answers I got were "Defense is at least half of it" and "60/40 on the defensive end" and "I think your 2/3 is about right". It depends on a teams' system, and I have a small sample, I know, but I think my limited data taken from folks in the last 48 hours reinforces the proportional mix that has been utilized in statistical analyses. Let's move on...
How about Oral Roberts, people? Man, I am SUPER impressed with them right now. One great thing about tomorrow's final is I think it matches up the league's best offense against the league's best defense. Sadie Schaffer was terrific and I believe she is someone that can cause problems for UCA. Also, I am sorry that I will only get to see Sheina Fernandes play one year. That girl is a player. She didn't make a single attack error in that match against Sam Houston. Give me Hays as my 1st round pick and Fernandes as my 2nd rounder and I'll kick all ya'lls butts in Southland Conference Fantasy Volleyball.
I'll just let this be what it is: I said I didn't like our draw in the tournament when I wrote the first round preview article. You always want to win as many games as you can and finish as strong as you can.. but, I'll always believe that if we were on the other side of the bracket as the 6-seed, then the match you saw tonight would have been the championship. Now, UCA might still have won. But, I think we did fantastic given our side of the bracket.
I am so much more optimistic on the last day of the season now than I was even last year, and certainly more so than two years ago when we sat at home while others played in Huntsville. I am eager to see Granger next year along with the dimension that Connell and Crowder could bring. I foresee Olson at libero and Granger fighting for playing time, creating competition on the left with Bates and Randall. Hopefully, Kainer will develop more and push all three of them as well. Bates and Randall are already so good in terms of defense from the left side, that between the two of them and Granger maybe we will finally have enough offense to satisfy me from that position. I also think we will be deep and competitive at setter with even more quality choices on the roster.
Maybe one of this years' freshmen will pull a "Jill Ivy". Wow. Where would we be without her? She was a whole universe better this year than she was last year and in 2011 she was darn good! I got struck with something today... last year, I picked Texas State's RS Amari Deardorff as my Player of the Year. I think Jill is going to be better than her when it is all said and done.. and she might be as good as her right now! Oh man, if we get that kind of power on the left - what if Bates improves as much as Ivy did this year? - then we are gonna have a really strong offense in the next two years.
See, I am already there for 2013.
One last thing: Thank you - to everyone - that supported me in 2012 in even the smallest way. The blog became more well known than ever before. This space is getting recognized as more and more legitimate. I am blessed for that.
I want to say thank you for this: The last two days set all-time records for page views at www.sfavolleyblog.net. My Google Stats for today showed 483 page views. 483!!. I average about 80 to 100 views a day and the best two days in terms of traffic that I have ever had are the last two days. I broke a record Friday with near 300 views and then got close to 500 today. That's 800 page views during the tournament so far. I have more twitter followers than half of the official twitter feeds for the teams in the conference .
To all the league officials, coaches, players, fans and parents: Thanks. I promise to keep promoting the sport. Thank you for your spirited opinions - even when we disagree - we are talking "volleyball" - and that's positive to me. I've learned and been humbled by all of you.
There are two articles I have just about finished that I will share during late November or early December.
Hey, I get to watch a final tomorrow between two good teams.. not as a public address announcer.. not as a blogger.... but as a fan.
Nevertheless.. I'll still be wearing SFA purple. Always.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)