Huskers vs. Kansas State in Grand Island - April 25

[Mavric]

[Mavric]

[Mavric]

[Mavric]

Huskers sweep in dominating fashion

[knapplc]

Huskers sweep in dominating fashion

 

I was surprised about that. K-State had played several Spring matches prior to this matchup, and this was our only match.

 

Maybe the Sand Season helped get the girls in game mode?

 

 

 

Here's the OWH writeup about the match.

 

 

I had no idea Amber was practicing at Middle.

 

 

Rolfzen had been training in the middle for just a few weeks during Nebraska’s spring practice, but you couldn’t convince the Wildcats she was a novice after Rolfzen came up with nine blocks as the Huskers earned a 25-13, 25-11, 25-23 sweep Saturday at the Heartland Events Center.

 

It was part of a big night across the board for Nebraska’s front line: NU racked up 16 blocks and held the Wildcats to .036 hitting.

 

Nebraska showed off its versatility before a sellout crowd of 6,006. NU coach John Cook started a lineup with All-Big Ten outside hitters Kadie Rolfzen and Kelsey Fien on the left and senior Alicia Ostrander at opposite hitter with Amber Rolfzen and Cecilia Hall in the middle.

 

In the third set, Kadie Rolfzen and Ostrander flipped positions, and both finished with double-digit kills to lead the Husker attack. Kadie Rolfzen had 12 kills and hit .381, while Ostrander chipped in 10 kills and Fien added nine with only one hitting error.

 

 

[Mavric]

Yeah, I hadn't seen that about Amer either. Interesting to see how that plays out.

 

I was expecting more from KState as well. But we completely dominated them. The third set only looks close because we gave up about five straight points after being ahead 24-18 or something like that.

[GM_Tood]

Maybe the Sand Season helped get the girls in game mode?

Also, the up tempo offense we can now run with Hunter...and her connection with the Middles.

[Mavric]

 

Maybe the Sand Season helped get the girls in game mode?

Also, the up tempo offense we can now run with Hunter...and her connection with the Middles.

 

 

So I'm not a lot more than a casual VB fan. I follow the Huskers pretty closely but don't really get the intricacies. Can you fill me in on this because it doesn't make sense to me. What's the difference and why would we be able to use it with one setter and not another?

[Huskball]

 

 

Maybe the Sand Season helped get the girls in game mode?

Also, the up tempo offense we can now run with Hunter...and her connection with the Middles.

 

 

So I'm not a lot more than a casual VB fan. I follow the Huskers pretty closely but don't really get the intricacies. Can you fill me in on this because it doesn't make sense to me. What's the difference and why would we be able to use it with one setter and not another?

 

 

It's basically the speed the ball comes out of the setter's hands. Middle hitters usually benefit from a faster tempo/set because the block doesn't have time to setup. It is very much like a quarterback's throwing speed. Some quarterbacks just have the knack to throw with more speed and still maintain accuracy. Pollmiller did improve her set speed, but just has a naturally slower release. Just like anything, sometimes you sacriface accuracy for speed, but Hunter (so far) seems to have both.

[knapplc]

And with that slower release, blockers are able to key quicker on the set, figuring out if it's a 1, 3, 5, shoot, etc. Here's a rough diagram - noting that this all varies based on system and even from team to team:

 

 

EIL5: slower set speed = more time for the block to understand where the set is going. It may be fractions of a second, but when a hit is traveling at 80+ mph (in women's volleyball - faster in men's), those fractions of a second mean the difference between a roof block and a tool off the block out of bounds. Blocker hand/arm positioning is a split-second move, and separates good blockers from great blockers.

 

So you'll see the team set up for serve receive, in a cup formation with the strongest passers featured, and the setter up near the net putting up signals. She'll either face the opponent (if she's front row) or she'll be sideways to move on serve to her spot. In the seconds before the serve she's communicating to her hitters what set she's going to send them using hand signals, either behind her back...

 

 

...or off to her side. Her body will hide the signal from the opponent, and if necessary she'll pull on her jersey to block the opponent from seeing. One finger for a quick middle, two for a lob middle, three for mid-net, four for shoot, five for a back slide, six for an outside set with a high arc, either to her left- or right-side hitters. She'll make a signal to each hitter, including back-row hitters out of the pipe, so everyone knows what to expect and the play happens in the blink of an eye.

 

On a broken play each hitter has the skill to just go hit the ball, but on serve receive where you have your best passers feeding the ball to the setter, you're supposed to be in-system and running the play the setter calls. On a good pass, no matter the serve, that setter will get to her spot and barely move an inch before making her set, and the hitters will all know what they're getting because of the signal.

 

 

 

At the same time this is happening, the front row of the serving team is signalling to their back row where they're going to block, one finger for line, two for angle, a balled fist for no block, etc. That's maybe more important in two-man sand, but it comes into play on the court as well. Here, the blocker is telling the defense he'll be in the middle of the net taking out either angle shot, so the back-row defender knows to set up on a line...

 

 

... knowing this before the serve, the defender (especially in two-man sand) will serve a corner or deep middle to a specific person, knowing the pass-set-hit sequence forces (typically) the passer to be the hitter, and the server will attempt to force the set to a spot they can dig (if they're the back-court specialist) or be in position to block (if they're the bigger player with net responsibilities).

[Mavric]

That makes more sense on the release speed. I figured it was a timing/speed issue but was thinking more about how long the ball was in the air, not so much about the release. Thanks!

[knapplc]

And to get back a smidge into what Tood alluded to with Hunter & the Middles, the longer the set (more time it's in the air) the easier it is to hit. As a hitter you've got time to size everything up, time your jump, etc. Those Middles... those are BANGBANG plays, crucial timing that requires the hitter to jump and sometimes start to swing before the ball even touches the setter's hand. The faster the release means better harmony between launch and swing for the hitter.

 

 

 

 

I'll admit I started watching women's volleyball as an 18-year-old kid because of the butt-hugger shorts. But it didn't take long to realize how amazing the sport is. Women's ball is way better than men's because there's so much more nuance to the game, more strategy, the players are more technical. Women's volleyball is the pinnacle of the sport, while men's is just serve-set-BOOM! and a sideout. Men's VB is boring to me. Women's VB is like watching chess. Well... chess with huge kills that occasionally shake the floor.

[Mavric]

I'll see your huge kills that occasionally shake the floor and raise you kills that occasionally ricochet into the balcony at the Coliseum.

 

I went to basically every home game my sophomore year. Could get general admission seats for $1, show up 40 minutes before first serve and sit in the second row at mid court. The next year they got rid of the floor-level general admission. I got mad and never went back. That wasn't a great decision - should have kept with it to see more great volleyball.