2016 Volleyball season

[The Sicatoka]

What happened Saturday is exactly what I feared: Spend tons of energy in the afternoon session and come up just short. That was the set-up to lose the night session. 

If they'd have been blown out and saved energy early Saturday I see them bouncing back late. If they'd have spent the energy and won early Saturday I'd have seen momentum to a sweep on the day. Instead, read the first line. 

[southpaw]

Cue Darrel's "I'm just moving coach discussions into one spot" Fire Pryor thread.

[RiverAlum]

Very disappointed in Pryor this season. Why he would move two high-caliber middles to different roles this season when they were on the fast-track to run the league from the middle is beyond my comprehension. What this amounts to is blatant favoritism to his alma matter and incessant need to prove that his recruits from Texas are better than our home-grown talent. If he is really preaching a "lunch pail" mentality than he really needs to evaluate whether or not the girl from Baylor is producing the numbers we need. 9 attempts in a 5-set match is not doing much for us. It's frustrating to see us FINALLY have someone who swings from the right side as hard as she does and a strong outside. I understand that we should spread our offense but our problem last year was that we had our two middles and one outside hitter that were effective. This year we have plenty of talent to allow our middles more freedom to take swings since they would have other hitters to help spread the offense. Last night's loss was absolutely embarrassing especially when you start pulling players to try out new things or give up like he did. This is damaging to our recruiting efforts in the area which were once strong. I hope someone takes a good long look at his commitment to this program and the talented individuals we have on our roster. Perhaps playing Minnesota will be the rude awakening we need to see that this isn't going to carry us long-term unless something changes.

[nodak651]

4 hours ago, RiverAlum said:

Very disappointed in Pryor this season. Why he would move two high-caliber middles to different roles this season when they were on the fast-track to run the league from the middle is beyond my comprehension. What this amounts to is blatant favoritism to his alma matter and incessant need to prove that his recruits from Texas are better than our home-grown talent. If he is really preaching a "lunch pail" mentality than he really needs to evaluate whether or not the girl from Baylor is producing the numbers we need. 9 attempts in a 5-set match is not doing much for us. It's frustrating to see us FINALLY have someone who swings from the right side as hard as she does and a strong outside. I understand that we should spread our offense but our problem last year was that we had our two middles and one outside hitter that were effective. This year we have plenty of talent to allow our middles more freedom to take swings since they would have other hitters to help spread the offense. Last night's loss was absolutely embarrassing especially when you start pulling players to try out new things or give up like he did. This is damaging to our recruiting efforts in the area which were once strong. I hope someone takes a good long look at his commitment to this program and the talented individuals we have on our roster. Perhaps playing Minnesota will be the rude awakening we need to see that this isn't going to carry us long-term unless something changes.

I'm not a volleyball mind, and without looking at stats, it seems to me that the team's problem this year is more on the defensive end.  I have seen more miscommunication, empty spaces in the back row, and more receiving errors than I ever remember.  Do you agree?  If so, I wonder if it is coaching, or if Hart and Clarke were just that much better than any of the defensive specialists that we currently have.  Thoughts? 

[SiouxVolley]

Know that BWW had a promotion last week, but the followup crowd against Davis was still good.  The video boards seemed to stir interest in the crowd, especially the students, as the video showed the crowd often looking up.

[SiouxVolley]

In spite of UND not looking that sharp, they beat UTEP 3-0.  UTEP has not won a match yet.

Texas Tech might not be the strongest team either, as they struggled to get over NDSU, 3-2.  NDSU has not had a win to date.

[Dustin]

1 hour ago, SiouxVolley said:

In spite of UND not looking that sharp, they beat UTEP 3-0.  UTEP has not won a match yet.

Texas Tech might not be the strongest team either, as they struggled to get over NDSU, 3-2.  NDSU has not had a win to date.

UND was much better than the last two outings, however, even if they weren't great. UTEP didn't give us any fits, really, though, so how much was coaching adjustments vs opponent's style play may still need to be determined. 

[Cratter]

After just barely beating NDSU, Texas Tech dominated UND winning 3-0.

[UND Fan]

The ladies may be getting it together.  They won their third straight - a 25-22, 22-25, 25-14 & 25-17 victory over Clemson.  Clemson was 3-3 coming into the game.

[dmksioux]

3 minutes ago, UND Fan said:

The ladies may be getting it together.  They won their third straight - a 25-22, 22-25, 25-14 & 25-17 victory over Clemson.  Clemson was 3-3 coming into the game.

Nice to get a victory over an ACC school but not sure how good Clemson is.  They were 6-26 on the season last year.

[undVBfan]

On 8/31/2016 at 4:48 PM, nodak651 said:

I'm not a volleyball mind, and without looking at stats, it seems to me that the team's problem this year is more on the defensive end.  I have seen more miscommunication, empty spaces in the back row, and more receiving errors than I ever remember.  Do you agree?  If so, I wonder if it is coaching, or if Hart and Clarke were just that much better than any of the defensive specialists that we currently have.  Thoughts? 

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.

[SIOUXFAN97]

i still want to meet those people that think sinking 1.5 million into womens hockey instead of putting that 1.5 directly into the womens volleyball program is a good roi?  nice win over clemson!!

[dakotadan]

9 hours ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

i still want to meet those people that think sinking 1.5 million into womens hockey instead of putting that 1.5 directly into the womens volleyball program is a good roi? 

Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Dan. 

[SIOUXFAN97]

8 hours ago, dakotadan said:

Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Dan. 

why?

[SiouxVolley]

UND just beat East Tenn St in five sets.  East Tenn St had been unbeaten until this tournament.

But UND lost to Tulane in five sets this morning.  Tulane looks like it will win the tournament.

So UND goes 4-1 on this Atlanta area trip.

[dakotadan]

Haha. Good way to look at it coach. 

[SiouxVolley]

UND tied with SDSU after two, 1-1.  SDSU should be a pushover with their 1-10 record, but so far UND has struggled against them.

[Smoggy]

Wow is it not cheap to sign up to view SDSU athletics.  Really makes a person appreciate the Big Sky and being able to watch every members home matches for free.

UND took third set 25-15.

[SiouxVolley]

UND wins the 4th set rather handily too, like the 3rd, and win 3-1.

[Smoggy]

We had 16 blocks on the night.  Dooley with 10 of them.  Wow.

[SiouxVolley]

UND got shellacked by the Gophers in set 1, 25-12.

But came back to win set 2, 25-21.

[SiouxVolley]

UND leading in the 3rd set, 7-5.  Minnesota is 3rd ranked in the country, so this is a surprise.

Moser and Vail having big sets scoring.  Dooley not so much

[SIOUXFAN97]

if und beats um tonight anyone else okay with women's hockey being dropped and all its money going to the vball program???? I am.

[SiouxVolley]

Gophers pulling away in the 3rd set, 23-20 right now.  Gophers win 25-20.

Moser with a huge match so far, as she's hitting over .600.

[SiouxVolley]

Gophers win 4th set 25-18.  UND did better than I thought against a highly ranked team.

They will hopefully beat Toledo and Green Bay tommorrow.