Flexibility, Depth or Both?

I've been thinking this week about the meaning of a "flexible roster" versus a "deep team" as SFA travels to San Antonio to get the 2025 campaign underway.  Both phrases are common to hear in pre-season interviews with players and coaches.  You've heard it before: "I think we have a really flexible roster this year and I think it will pay dividends as we get closer to November".  Or, maybe: "We have a deep team.  I can count on my teammates to pick me up if I have an off night."

But, what do these terms really mean?  Or, are they just fun words players, coaches and fans like to throw out there to keep the conversations going?  Everybody always just nods their heads and moves on when someone starts talking about roster depth or team flexibility.

So, let's try and get into this because I think possibly our club this year may possess both characteristics.  But first, let me state that I don't think these two terms are the same.  They do sometimes get used interchangeably, but I really think we are talking about two different things here.

For instance, a team might have two athletes that are regular starters and each is fully capable of holding down either a right side or middle blocker spot.  The issue isn't whether one will play often - the issue is which will play MB and which will play RS.  This isn't a depth situation.  This only calls into focus these two players ability to be flexible across two positions that share some measure of similarity in that they require a strong blocking presence.

So, with the acceptance that the terms aren't necessarily the same, let's explore both concepts for the 2025 roster here at SFA.  Three examples of flexibility that come to mind for our squad are Molly Cravens, Kennedy Jones and Caroline Kahle.  Both at the end of last year and in the recent scrimmage, these athletes have shown fluidity between various positions.  Jones was deployed on the left side during '24, but in part because of Cravens shift to the middle, Jones now has an avenue to playing time as a right side attacker.  On the topic of Cravens, let me say that she is one of the players that jumped out to me when I first started watching a few fall practices.  She is clearly stronger and appears slightly quicker.  Her conditioning between last year and this fall clearly has paid dividends.  I like what I see from her shifting to the middle and I feel like she'll be quite at home there.  Now, concerning Kahle, we saw last year that she is flexible enough to both hold down the libero jersey if called on there or to play on the outside, albeit with more of a ball control focus than being a huge scoring threat.

While there is some additional flexibility present in some of the newcomers to the team, the primary root of flexibility comes in some shape or form through Cravens, Jones and Kahle.  So, what are the questions related to this quality?  First, will Jones settle in and play consistently as a right side?  Can she contribute both offensively and defensively and shore up the reps opposite Katherine Holtman's trips across the front row?  If yes, super.  The right side should be all six rotation strong.  If not, will that necessitate Cravens shifting back or one of the young guns stepping up into the roll?

Secondly, where will Cravens fall in the middle blocker depth?  Let's wait on that, because Molly is involved in both the flex and depth part of my breakdown.  So, third:  Will TWU transfer Luna Franca stay steady in the libero jersey?  If so, Kahle can stand ready to stabilize passing and sub for an off outside hitter when called on off the bench.  To use a basketball analogy, Kahle can comfortably be the teams' "sixth man" - able to flexibly fill multiple needs as a "first off the bench" type piece.  One thing to really like about Franca:  she's a good court communicator and aggressive in her back row approach.  It's easy to see a maturity there and so the issue should rest rather firmly with her ability to consistently pass so we can run the offense at the speed desired. Okay, that seems to cover the nucleus of the flexibility.

Alright, what about depth?  Here, we are talking about multiple players able to play the SAME role rather than changing to have differing responsibilities.  Since Cravens is in the overlap, let's state that right now the middle for SFA does look at least cleanly three deep.  Which pair of 2024 SLC 1st teamer Kyanna Creecy, Cravens and returning sophomore Jordan Henderson holds down the two starting middle spots could be interesting to watch as the season progresses.  By nature of Creecy's previous accomplishments I think she rightfully deserves the space to stay atop the depth chart, but Henderson should push for playing time and the team may encounter periods during the year where differing combinations of middles are flip-flopped and tried to see which is most efficient.  This position gets ridiculously deep again once senior Bella Ortiz is ready to go.

Setter?  Again, there seems to be three-fold depth.  Flynn is playing every night she's healthy.  But again, similar to second and third on the depth chart in the middle, sophomore Cambry Saul and transfer sophomore Zoe Gun give the team options for the second setter in our 6-2.  Saul got the nod in the scrimmage, and I expect her to get the start to open the season. Gun got a lot of reps in the spring season since she was on campus and so her connection with the majority of the hitters is also well established.  One weapon that gives Cambry an edge could be her serve.  Saul put up 21 aces last year and had some memorable runs behind the service line.  To push Saul aside, Gun would need to both run the offense well and play solid floor defense.  I don't think it unrealistic that there could be some mixing and matching at this spot during the year, especially considering how demanding it is to be a setter in this system.

Any depth to be found in left side attack would probably have to come from either Jones moving back to that spot - either by necessity or when Ty Joseph would return and earn court time again - or from newcomers.  As is sits, the left-side attack is fairly straightforward.  Senior Cam Hill and UTRGV grad transfer Illana DeAssis have the two spots covered.  We've seen Hill be productive for three years and DeAssis was stellar in the valley earning first team all conference honors last year.  More than that, DeAssis was second in the Southland in kills per set, so it would take a lot to move either off their role.  With really only Jones having experience in purple on the left, if Kennedy takes hold of the right, then the depth on the left would be tested in anything unforeseen happens to either Hill or DeAssis.  Again, behind the tandem of their experience is just newcomers that show promise but would be thrown into a pretty demanding scenario minus Cam or Illana.

There also is not much depth at libero.  It's Franca or Kahle right now.  It's a stretch - at least at this point - to see anyone else having that assignment. The team would love to see Franca seize the role and never look back. 

So, in summary for the depth concept:  At middle and setter, it appears some nice level of depth is there.  When Bella Ortiz and Ty Joseph get back the depth at middle and right side obviously increases.  The left side is for Hill and DeAssis to run with having both potential and question marks behind and libero is Franca's to get with Kahle able to stabilize.

So, do the 'Jacks have more flexibility than depth?  More depth than flex?  Or, do they have both?  Flexibility, Depth or Both?  I guess that's for you to interpret for now and all of us to discover between now and Thanksgiving.

Both opening matches this weekend from San Antonio are available here at the blog on radio.  Just hit the radio button at the of the page at 6:00 PM Friday night and 11:00 AM Saturday morning and you'll be a part of getting this 2025 season officially underway.

'Jacks Youth Represents Well

 Hammond, La. -- SFA Volleyball was bounced from the 2024 Southland Conference Tournament earlier today, but a roster that began the season as the youngest among the Division 1 ranks represented the program well.  SFA had nine primary players on the floor for each of the two contests here in Louisiana and six of them were freshman.  Of the final three, two were second year athletes and of course, the last being junior setter Jayden Flynn.  With the loss today, SFA stands at 23-8 and will have to wait late into the night on Sunday, December 1 for their NIVC fate.

If Southeastern Louisiana wins the tournament championship tomorrow, then SFA is the NIVC automatic qualifier for the Southland by way of finishing in second place in the regular season standings.  Even if Texas A&M - Corpus Christi were to win tomorrow, it is likely that SFA would be placed in the NIVC field, so the real issue is if we'll get to have bonus volleyball in Shelton Gym as one of the 8 host sites for the first two rounds.  Toward that point, SFA has hosted before in 2021 and would seem to have a least a coin flip chance at gaining that honor again.  But, we'll have one very long week before we see the NIVC bracket revealed because that does not happen until the NCAA Tournament matchups are completely set.

Personally, I felt like there were four individual performances that stood out to me over the two days effort and I'll highlight them here:

Kyanna Creecy probably played the most consistent of any Ladyjack across the two matches.  She hit .439 (22-4-41) and blocked nine balls in our nine sets.  Her kill per set tally of 2.44 was above her normal season output.  If I had a vote, she'd be our all-tournament representative for her consistency.  She and Katherine Holtman were the only two Ladyjacks with double figure kills in both games and Ky hit .600 on Friday and .346 on Saturday.

Jayden Flynn had one of the best matches I've seen her play this year on Friday during the quarterfinals against HCU.  I thought her decision making in that particular match was outstanding as she racked up 34 assists.  All together, Flynn posted 59 assists (6.46 a/s) and also tallied 27 digs equivalent to an even 3.00 digs/set.  Both the assist and dig per set numbers were above her season norms.  She also passed the 2000 career assist plateau in the win against the Huskies.

Kennedy Jones had seven blocks in the semifinal loss against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.  As far as moments where one athlete "took over", Jones gets that nod for us with three of her blocks all close together in time during a middle set against the Islanders.  All told, Kennedy tallied 23 kills (.191, 2.56 k/s) and blocked 10 balls in nine sets to lead SFA in blocks per set for the tournament.  She's been a steady contributor in her starting role the back half of 2024.

Last, but not least, what about Harley Krause?  Krause has done some great things in her limited action throughout the year, but with Camryn Hill out and Humphreys shifting Cravens to the middle, Krause filled the vacant slot like a pro here this weekend in her FIRST collegiate starts.  Her Friday match was astounding: 17 kills, hitting .412.  Combined, she got 23 total kills, hit .263 for the tournament and chipped in two aces, three blocks and 12 digs.  She had the University Center buzzing as I answered "who dat?" questions all afternoon after she burst onto the scene.

Again, I think Creecy was our most steady performer over all, but Krause's game 1 and Jones' block party in game 2 were more than memorable.  Flynn looked like an absolute ace at times in the first matchup as well.  Worth throwing in are the facts that Kathrine Holtman's 26 kills led the team despite a few more errors than normal for her and Natalie Guerrero was solid with 4.56 digs per set across the two days. Sophia Wilson served up two aces against HCU and handed out 42 assists (4.67 a/s).

Time to start our lobbying, hoping, praying, encouraging and what ever other-ing we can for an NIVC host site!  It would only seem fitting for the home crowd to get a chance to honor this super young squad a few more times in Shelton Gym before the semester ends.

As of this writing, SFA's Futures RPI rank is 80.  That will change up or down across the week as more matches are played around the country.  But, however you slice it, having an RPI among the top quarter of all NCAA Division 1 programs when you are finishing your year with an active roster consisting of only one upperclassman is quite an accomplishment.

As always, I'm proud to rep SFA Volleyball. It has only happened to me a few times, but it is ALWAYS tough to watch the coaches and team go while I stay at a conference tournament.  But, I have a job to do, and I have this opportunity because of them and because of the SFA Volleyball family.  They have represented SFA well - I can only try and follow.

Watch the final between #2 seed Texas A&M - Corpus Christi and #1 seed host Southeastern Louisiana at 3:00 PM CT on Sunday.  Tyler Thomas (SLU PxP) and yours truly will be on the headsets for the final on ESPN+.

Comments and Philosophies Regarding the Official All-SLC Lists

 It is always a wonderful day when the All-Conference teams get announced. We get to see all of the cool graphics that the creative content divisions come up with to honor athletes at their school.  My social media pages get flooded with pictures of the honorees and lists of their superlatives.  I love scrolling through and seeing all the recognition.  Through my years at SFA, I've been able to be physically present several times when our coaching staff has informed our players of their honors.  That's always a really special moment to see their faces light up and the team cheer for them in the gym or on the bus or in a meeting room.

This year the official lists were released while I was driving my super duper rental car somewhere across I-10 headed for Hammond.  Once I got to my hotel here in the host city, the first thing I did after checking in and unpacking was gaze at the official all-conference lists.

Let's dive in and compare the Official Southland Conference All- SLC lists to those that I posted yesterday morning before the official announcements.

In general there are a lot of similarities.  Indeed, the conference and I agree on 11 of the 14 players honored on the first team and 16 of 21 players honored overall.  That doesn't leave a large space of room for difference of opinions, but there are a few things worth mentioning I feel.  Some of the points being made here are philosophical on my end and they are things that I repeat pretty much every year.  There are just certain methods and philosophies that I have adopted that not all coaches and SID's will incorporate in the same way.  

That isn't to say that my way is "right" and others' ways are "wrong".  I don't think that is my place to argue anymore.  I really value statistical analysis is making my choices.  After all, my real job is in the mathematical sciences and that's what I truly do for a living.  I am literally paid to analyze data, teach people how to analyze data and solve problems with data.

So, the numbers are always going to be primary.  Not everyone is numerically driven and so that's a philosophical difference in player evaluation.  To that end, that's why I always use ALL relevant data and I firmly believe that you should use FULL season stats in making these picks.  That's my first premise:

• Data should not be omitted from analysis unless it is irrelevant.  Non-conference data is not irrelevant.  Using it can help you identify player progression and trends.  It can help you determine which players have found and lost roles.  It's information about the quality of the player and your goal should be to pick the best players.  The argument against this is strength of schedule differences across the 12 teams.  My counterargument to that is very simple:  You shouldn't vote if you aren't willing to be intentional about adjusting for such.  To simply say that we will throw a dozen matches of statistics out of our consideration for every player to make it "even" is actually the lazy way out.  Use all the data.  Make your adjustments.  Invest in reasonable ways to adjust for differing non-conference schedules.

Next, and this is a continual point that I make about these lists:  We should genuinely desire to honor outstanding athletes on teams that have poor records or did not qualify for the SLC Tournament.  Sure, the top 8 teams should populate the vast majority of the lists.  However, I have found that far too often the bottom four or five teams in the conference get completely shut out from any honor at all despite these teams often having a player worth mention.  I personally believe this happened again this year and that's unfortunate.

Third, and this is also a repeated point from year to year.  When we have athletes that are among the NATIONAL leaders in traditional statistics associated with their position, they should receive strong consideration for these lists.  Cases in point:

• India Bennett of SLU is 8th in the nation in blocks per set and 14th in total blocks.  She leads the SLC in blocks per set at 1.49.  To me, that is worthy of a 1st team honor.  Now, for full disclosure, I am guilty of the very point I am making concerning Alex Hoglund, the setter for Texas A&M - Corpus Christi.  Hoglund is 8th in the nation in assists per set.  Bennett was on the official 2nd team.  Hoglund was on my personal second team.  Now, I'll be honest, I put more stock in blocks/set as a statistic for MB's than I do assists per set for setters.  But again, I'm trying to be perfectly fair in pointing out what could have been my own oversight.

• Jade Smith, the libero for East Texas A&M, has amassed 5.40 digs per set.  East Texas A&M's team and player ranks do not populate on the NCAA D1 Volleyball website due to the program not being fully transitioned (yet) and not eligible for NCAA post-season play.  However, Smith's value would rank her 5th in the nation.  Again, I fully understand that the measure of a libero is not exclusively in one metric.  That has been pointed out to me many times.  I get it.  However, I'd argue that we make ourselves look - at a minimum out of touch - and at a maximum foolish when we ignore players completely that are on national leaderboards.  Also, please don't cite me opponent/schedule issues in this case.  East Texas A&M played all of East Carolina, TCU, UCLA, Houston and Ole Miss prior to conference play.  That's more than a respectable schedule. They played three Top 50 RPI matches which is as many as SLU and SFA did. Their strength of schedule at FigStats ranks 5th in the SLC.  Smith put up her numbers against quality teams for a full season.  It isn't right to COMPLETELY ignore her on all-conference lists.  We need to be more aware of national leaders from our conference.

Despite the above philosophical disconnects between the way that I WOULD vote and the way that the voters ACTUALLY vote, remember that there was still agreement on 16 of 21 athletes.  So finally, let me again champion the several cases where I saw things different.  

I will not argue against an actual honoree in open writing such as this.  I've done that before and I think I should admit it is not productive and possibly could undermine my intent.  Now, in conversation, I would respectfully tell anyone that would listen why I believe certain players should or should not be on lists.  After all, I'm just giving my own opinion and interpretation of player value.  No one has to agree with me.  I've been at this too long to have that hurt my feelings.  But, it is right to be respectful of the OFFICAL honored athletes.  The point is to celebrate great play.  I'm always on board with that.  That said, here's my second attempt at casting some light on a few players left off official lists:

• Alexis Logarbo of SLU is one of the top right side hitters in the conference in my opinion.  She was third among all RS's in attack percentage and led all in total blocks with 77.  If you want to argue that Logarbo gets a lot of block assists because she closes with SLU's middles, then why are we not honoring SLU's middles?  That seems like a circular argument to me.  I'll be bold enough to say that I think only SFA's Katherine Holtman has had a clearly better performance at right side across the conference.  There are some RS's that had better kill and kill per set numbers than Logarbo (e.g., De Assis, Allison [S/RS]), but those players had attack percentages and block numbers significantly worse than Logarbo.  It works both ways.

• As you might expect, I like my 2nd team more than the official lists.  I've already argued for Smith and SLU's middles and implicitly I've argued for Castro and Benjamin as being snubbed for their team rather than their numbers.  The Tillman and Zech (I'm actually a big Zech fan) picks I am OK with because they made my "just missed" list.

• For what it's worth, I was dead on with my statement in the original post about the player most likely to be included on the official lists that I left off.  Again, I just respectfully, believe that we should expect the highest honored middle BLOCKERS to have statistically significant blocking statistics.

• I believe the voters got it exactly right regarding SFA.  Of course, that's the team I know best and where my loyalty will always lie.  That said, a team that goes undefeated in conference play and wins 24 matches in a row deserves more than one player on the first team.  Especially when we are honoring 14 players on the first team.  Frankly, I think that is difficult to justify under any philosophical difference of player evaluation.  

• Last year in the WAC, the two top teams were SFA and Grand Canyon.  Each of those teams had three players among the top 16 vote getters.  I'm willing to think I should have reconsidered on Hoglund at AMCC.  Maybe I made a mistake there. Fair enough.  However, I'd have been really disappointed last season if Ielan Bradley won WAC player of the Year and she was our only first team honoree among the Top 14. If Logarbo gets on a list and one of Bennett/McKelvey slides up, then this is all more plateable.  Above, I've made my case for that being Bennett.

Still, overall, there was a lot of agreement and lots to celebrate!  We should keep the focus on that aspect of all this as we await our four first round matches on Friday!  Today is such a cool day and I can't wait to see these women get their awards.

Next up in this space... more honoring players!  I'll have a post up in the next day or so about my favorite non-SFA players around the league.  Announcers develop favorites as they watch all the opponents play their school.  So, I'll list a few of my favorite players from around the Southland Conference since I'm a fan of the entire conference too in spite of working for SFA full time during the season.