undVBfan

I think it's safe to say that all of the above (No Champions club passes, no free student passes, hockey and probably to a lesser degree HS state volleyball) contributed to the poor attendance. Which is frustrating, because I know the athletic department is working VERY hard to make sure that everything in the tournament is first class. Let's hope for better attendance tonight.

Anyone remember when UND played in the mini-gym upstairs in the Hyslop. We've come a long ways... I seem to recall the first game over 1000 was against NJIT, back when UND was in the Great West, I think Steve B called them the New Jersey Institute of Trucking, or something like that. Very cool that Prior referenced Hardee, he did a lot of good for the program. Regardless of his unfortunate exit, he left the program WAY, WAY better than when he arrived. Coaches talk about "bettering the ball," he definitely bettered the program.

If they keep playing the way they have been they're in great shape for a trip to the NCAA's. They'll have to win, it'll take an RPI in the 40's for an at-large bid and UND is currently 137, although it's guaranteed to go up, NAU was 97 and NAU was 118. If UND wins they are likely to get the Gophers in the first round, but having played them earlier in the season might be enough to avoid a first round match up. The NCAA is big on avoiding flights in the first two rounds, if at all possible . And I see that U of M is already anticipating hosing the first two rounds. Which means a bus trip to the cities.

I've seen the various scenarios and ISU wasn't listed as a possibility. UND basically has to win out. At the very least they need to win Thursday - if that happens AND UNC loses Thursday (against SUU?) I don't believe Saturday's match matters - UND hosts. Other possibilities (I hope I got this right): SAC hosts if they win both and UND loses Thursday and Saturday. NAU hosts if they win both and UND wins Saturday, with a few other unlikely scenarios. UNC hosts if they win both and UND wins Thursday.

You're probably thinking of Pioske (left 2 years ago) and Place (left after last year). I don't really know much about either player other than they both look to be playing within an hour of home. Maybe there is something to that, or maybe not. I'm hoping they are both happier where they are. I wouldn't worry about it, it happens. They might have been on the court this year (especially Place), or not, but we've seem to have reloaded just fine. When lots of upper class players who have seen lots of playing time leave then we have a problem.

I can't speak to him being a hard ass (although I do suspect he's not a push-over :-), but it's the way it works in athletics. Everywhere. In every sport. Lots of players come into a program and not all stick around until graduation. It's a D1 program, every player on the team was recruited, and probably by lots of other schools. When you think about the size of the roster and the number of players on the floor, almost half won't find much playing time. Some are OK with that and will stick it out, some will want to find a school where they can play or if they're not going to play they'll find a school closer to home. Nebraska is a prime example, they seem to VERY recruit well every year yet a few leave each year (such as Kira Larson from Fargo North) because they don't see much playing time. When lots of players seeing seeing lots of playing time are consistently leaving a program then it's something to talk about. And that happens, and more than you might think. And it's usually follow by a coach looking for a new job. BTW, Kira landed on her feet. I believe she's likely to be an All American at Missouri this year. :-)

So far it's been completely about the passing/defense. The stats you would want to see (but you and I never will) are the internal passing stats. I guarantee they're no where were they were last year. Hart and Clarke were GOOD. When you pass well good things happen, and often. Right now UND has a lot of new faces. I suspect they'll figure it out, and the last two days are a good sign. When you can't pass you are predictable, and the defense almost always wins when the offense is predictable. You may see good, hittable sets off of so-so passes, but if the defense has too much time to get set and read the hitter the offense is in trouble. Regarding moving Dooley and others around, that's actually a good idea if the passing isn't pretty. Middles don't get set when the passing is off. This creates opportunities. Right now it looks like Prior has 3 middles he wants in the game, even when the passing comes around. We know what to expect from Dooley and Moser, and Vail is starting to show glimpses of why she's on the floor. With 3 middles in the rotation someone has to move left or right. 3 middles offenses aren't common, but isn't not the first time I've seen it done. It also can give a bigger block at the pins. And I think Dooley is surviving on pure athleticism right now, once she figures out the position (and lets the ball cross her body) she could be VERY scary hitting at the pin.

Nebraska had an interesting schedule. Basically it was 10 or so days - two consecutive weekends, I suspect (hope) surrounding their Spring Break. They basically had a trip to Hawaii, played four days, flew to California, played 3 days and ended the season. I'm not sure that Nebraska used those three scholarships. Right now players with a beach scholarship cannot play on the indoor team. Indoor players can play beach. So it looks like they are taking steps to ensure that it doesn't turn out to be 3 more unofficial indoor scholarships. I'm sure some schools are figuring out how to work the system to gain scholarships, maybe it could be a nice place to put a indoor red-shirt for a year, but it seems like it shouldn't directly effect the indoor team roster too much. And in Nebraska's case, a very quick glance only showed only one beach player that wasn't on the indoor team, and she graduated from high school at Christmas and is a first semester freshman this spring. So I suppose this would be a good opportunity to give a scholarship away to one of next years players this spring and summer. Don't get the wrong impression, the beach rides would be nice, if the U had the money. And I love the beach game. Any time spent touching the ball will help, and the beach is all about ball control. However, even if they could find the money, I'm not sure the climate would be right on campus to add a sport. It's a nice idea, but I don't think they can justify the expense (what would it cost to truck 225 tons of good sand into a new facility?).

I wouldn't go into panic mode quite yet. They had 8 freshman on the team last season. Does anyone really expect all of them to stick around all 4 years? That would have left just 4 scholarships left for the next three years (assuming they were all on scholarship). They're kids; some are looking for the right school, or more playing time, or to be closer to the boyfriend/family, or whatever else is important to them. And since they presumably came here to play volleyball, it that's not an option why would they stick around, especially after only one year at UND? Place saw a lot of playing time, based upon the past year I'd say she's the biggest lost. While the others *might* have turned out to be great players for the program, based upon last years playing time, and the new players coming into the program, I wouldn't worry too much about the transfers. I think it'll be a net gain for the program.

Sprengler rarely saw the court, and probably not at all once the preseason tourneys were done. I seem to recall Harnett had some quality floor time early, but rarely saw the floor in last month or two of the season. I liked her fire, but she's undersized for D1, even in the BigSky. With Fraase playing next year, and two more recruits coming in at 6'1" or taller it seems likely that future playing time (or lack of) may have had an influence on her decision. I don't know why, but keeping Canadian players in the US is an issue everywhere, for both the men and women. If anyone has any insight on that I'd love to hear it. Or maybe there are non-volleyball reasons for her leaving. They really are, or need to be, STUDENT-athletes. If she's not getting what she needs here I wish her the best wherever she ends up. Losing Place hurts. Every team needs a big stick on the outside, the player that puts it away when everyone in the gym knows she's going to get set. She wasn't there yet, but had a pretty good start. There looks to be quality players to fill the slot, but that year of experience, especially for a freshman with three years left, will be hard to replace.

I LOVE beach volleyball (the official title, even if you don't have a beach). However, I really don't see UND adding it anytime soon. They would have to have an indoor facility for year around practice, and likely an outdoor facility for matches. It's also likely another coach, probably part-time sand and part-time indoors, would need to be hired. And the courts are expensive. We're not talking about Bringewatt Park. Expensive sand, and lots of it. Nets, standards, barriers, fencing, sand volleyballs; there is a lot to it and I believe the specific requirements are mandated by the NCAA. Add in travel; no one currently playing beach is close, and we don't drive anywhere now (other than NDSU every other year). At higher levels the skills are pretty different as well. There's no offense to speak of in 2's, the serving team decides the hitter and the setter. Beach is AWESOME for all-around basic skills, but won't help a lot addressing specific needs of the indoor players. Just for starters, hitting timing is different, hitters get really good at shooting the ball (rolling, knuckling the ball) and not always attacking, blocking timing is different, goals of the block are different, what's considered a good pass is different, setters don't worry about deception, match-ups and who's hot - the serving team picks the passer/hitter and the other player is the setter. Just for starers... Again, I'd LOVE to see beach volleyball at UND, but I don't think it's the magic bullet that will make all the difference. FCOA was mentioned. It's an interesting idea, kind of like nuclear proliferation. You have it so we need it or vice-versa. It becomes a wash for the financial haves and a wash for the financial have-nots. The haves just want to create a little more space between them and the have-nots in a way that they can't seem to do with non-financial means.

You're absolutely right, UND wants to keep the sets low, both in the middle and to the outside. The less time the blockers have to move the better. But that comes with a risk, the higher the set the more chance the hitter can adjust. The lower the set the more the hitter just has to deal with what they are given. Outside sets have a margin for error regarding preferred height, with the middles the set has got to be right, and having two very different middles makes the setters life interesting. Keep in mind the sets may be great but the block may ends up in the right (wrong?) place. If the block is to the hitters right and the set dies a little inside (right where the blocker is) tipping is much preferred to getting blocked.The tempo might be right on some sets but the location is off. And again, I don't know if this is a setter issue, attacker issue or a little of both. I strongly suspect this is a "with a lot of practice it will get better" issue.

I'm not sure Dooley has gone into tip mode on purpose. I think it's a timing issue and she's just not finding the ball in her wheelhouse. I've seen left-handed tips that fell this year, which is both a height and location issue. I'm not at practice, so I don't know how it's suppose to work with them, but the connection is not there like it should be. I don't know if the sets are off or the hitter is off, or a combination of both. The two middles are very different, so the setter has to instinctively deal with that. And given the timing required for middles to be successful, that's not easy for the setter. I think Moser likes a slightly higher ball (relative to her height and jump), which helps a little with timing issues. I also think she is the M2 (one more rotation with 3 hitters in the front row), so she gets a little less attention, and is more likely to hit the slide, so it should be a little easier for her to adjust to the set if needed. If I see this, assuming I'm right , coach sees it as well. I know they're working on it.

No worries, I never thought you we're trying to be difficult, I just thought you wanted to hear others ideas of why or why not things work as they do. I've learned a lot from different forums over the years. I've also heard a lot of crap, so be careful.

Ok, let's take this one at this time. I haven't looked at any stats, talked to the coaches, or even payed that much attention to the lineups (which he is still playing with), so I'm just throwing out things to think about. I suspect Dooley isn't in the back row because the gains from having someone else pass are way bigger than the gain from having her hit in the back row. If the team doesn't get a pass is likely doesn't matter who's hitting. Yes, she can probably hit a nice D or out of the pipe, but I suspect the team is better off overall by having someone else pass/dig. Middles also jump ALOT in the front row, so the extra reps in the back row could take their toll over the course of a long match. Blocking is so much more than height. Yes, that helps, but mostly only if teams are hitting over the block. I have no idea what the answer is, but there are a lot of moving pieces to figure out. Serving tough helps out blocking; teams out-of-system are predictable, and tend to have higher sets giving the block more time to get set. A good pass means the middles have less time to get into position, meaning less blocks. Ever been close enough to hear players yell "Hole"? They're referring to the middle that hasn't yet closed the block. When UND's middle has to stay home in case their middle gets set, it causes problems for her to get outside. Maybe serving is down, or other teams are just passing better. For the younger players the game is fast. Learning to get into the right position, and then read the hitter is challenging. Getting their hands into the right position and then getting the right timing, given that everyone hits high, can be challenging. There are quite a few new players that I'm sure are still adjusting to the speed of the college game. The coaches will help get them there. The middle and the outsides (left and/or right) have to work together for both to get the block assist numbers. This can contribute to lower numbers for a middle. Another thing to remember is blocks aren't everything. The blockers, in addition to blocking the ball, also contribute to digs and the other teams' hitting errors. In basketball the best shot blockers average less than 2 block a game. That's nothing. It's the influenced shots that don't end up in stats that make a shot blocker great. I suspect our middles influence a lot of attempts, even if the balls are not blocked. There are also controlled blocks, where the blockers team is getting free balls, or at least an easier ball to dig. Things like that don't end up in (public) stats, but are important to a team. If balls are going between players, or between the hands of the blocker, then it's something the coaches need to address, otherwise the block is likely doing it's job. I'm sure there are l lot of things that the coaches are addressing, and blocking is critical, but I suspect that' just one of the many areas where Prior is looking for immediate improvement.

I don't think the beach scholarships (NCAA has officially named it beach volleyball) would make as much of a difference as you might think. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see beach volleyball as a sport at UND, but the cost-benefit ratio would be astronomical. Beach would help some of the skill sets, but wouldn't do much for others. Any time spent touching a ball and competing is beneficial, but I'm not sure that beach would help that much, if at all, with recruiting. Especially in North Dakota.

She was a little raw last year, but she was also probably 14 years old. She looks to have a huge upside, and one of the few I've seen that takes a legitimate next-level approach when attacking the ball. She seems to have a high volleyball IQ, which is often under-appreciated. Her dad and uncle played pro beach for a while and were two of the best adult players in the area for a long time. It might be a challenge to get her to UND. Her uncle is coach at Jamestown, which shouldn't be a big problem (UJ vs UND). However, I seem to recall her dad was a DB/LB at NDSU during their D2 glory years of the late 80's or early 90's. I'm not sure how strong the ties are to NDSU.

I wouldn't read too much into players having ice on their shoulders. It seems rare not to find players walking around post-match with ice on their shoulders and/or knees. Guess it's an occupational hazard of jumping and reaching high (listen to coach when the outsides are getting set - it's REAL common to hear him yelling "reach"). Regrading Pioske against EWU, I wouldn't put too much into that match as well. Everyone has a bad match once in a while. Fortuately UND had someone that could step up and carry the load. And that night is was Fontes. And it was a very nice surprise from the local kid - if she wasn't a little under sized we'd probably see a lot more of her. She definitely needs the ball a little more off the net that Pioske, but did well when the team was in-system.

Good point; written like someone who's played on the grass as well as the sand and hardcourt.

Actually there is a ton of difference between indoor 6's and outdoor 2's. Maybe not the way it's played here :-), but it's comparing apples and oranges. And if anyone wants to doubt the validity of the sport feel free to join a 2 person league, you'll figure out the differences and how tough it is. Passing, setting, blocking, hitting, strategy (both offense and defense) are VERY different. Regarding the outfits; the more fabric, the more places for sand to get stuck (not trying to be crude). I've been told the women, as a rule, would rather wear 2-pieces than a 1 piece swimsuit; I believe 1 piece outfits are legal in the AVP but no one wears them. And anyone watching just for the outfits is the type of person that would watch auto racing just for the wrecks. Neither sport needs those types of fans.

I think I'd be happier if our main recruiter wasn't the recruiter for a team that went 5-26 overall and 0-fer in their conference last year. Of course, we won't be playing Nebraska or Texas twice a year, which is nice Hopefully things will work out fine, he may do an incredible job (I hope so). It's gonna take a couple of years before they can really put their stamp on the program. Do you see transfers, JUCO and otherwise, for a quick fix or the traditional high school student as the initial target of the recruiting efforts? No one has mentioned this but I think there's a new setter around campus - is last year's setter still around?

I'm hoping the new coach will be here for the spring season. Anyone know what they'll do for spring practice? I know a lot of area tournaments have gone away to do conference rules. How much court time will the new coach have with the returning players? And how far will they have to go for tournaments, if they go at all? On the side, any one hear of anyone not coming back? Just curious

Sounds like UND did well getting an experienced D1 coach/recruiter from major school. He's going to have a couple of rough years, not unlike many of our teams right now. Lets hope the administration will be supportive and give him the time and resources to bring his own people in, both coaches and players, to show what he can do. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next couple of years. Anyone know where UND is for volleyball scholarships right now (not available, just in general)? I know D1 allows 12 full, how many does UND have to offer?

Okay, maybe less than a mid-major assistant. This could work out out be a phenomenal hire but on the surface I'm not thrilled. But then again, we've gone from the possibility of being a D2 power (think football and basketball among others) to a team that shows up on the ESPN ticker where the rest of the world will say "Who the heck is UND?". Isn't D1 wonderful? I mean, other than because of the extra dollars we have to spend to be irrelevant in D1. Any idea who's on the committee to select the candidates to be interviewed?

He is a great coach but college is more about recruiting than coaching. I'm not dismissing coaching, but it's SO much easier with great players. Height really matters when everything else is equal. And everything else is rarely ever equal. I'll take shorter players over taller "projects" every time. Coaches always seem to think they can teach everything but height but it doesn't work like that very often. The players need to be good to start with, then height is a bonus. I'm not sure what a private school would pay a two-time national champ but I'm guessing it's better than what UND will pay. We're probably looking at the first assistant from a mid-major, maybe a major school. We'll probably get some interest from some area coaches but not likely to be from anyone that will be a step up. We need some one with recruiting ties. I liked Katy and Kari, personally and as coaches, but Jason would have been the way to go. He earned it with what he did with Maria. He has recruiting ties all over the country. Unfortunately for him, I think he was the wrong sex to get hired (not that anyone will admit that). Over and out.