I don’t normally write traditional game recaps for our
volleyball matches. In fact, I don’t
usually write in a “traditional” sense about anything. Recaps fall under the jurisdiction of the
sports information wing of the athletics staff and those articles are always
posted at sfajacks.com. However, with
last night’s action being of the scrimmage variety, a review here won’t
duplicate any other story associated with SFA Volleyball. In fact, it will probably be the only story
printed that looks back on SFA Purple vs. SFA Black on Friday. First things first, you read that right.. SFA
Black. The 2013 squad donned new jerseys
highlighted by black tops coupled with a purple version in the same style. The jerseys have sharp looking white lines
below the neck and down the shoulders.
All in all, I think they are some of the best looking duds we’ve played
in over the years, although I would have preferred a university identifier
included in some prominent way. The
jerseys don’t actually have “SFA” or “Jacks” anywhere obvious on them and with
other teams that use purple and black in our conference as base colors, I saw
that aspect of the new uniforms as a slight negative.
Of course, what we care more about is the product on the
court than the fashion statement, so let’s move the discussion that
direction. I’ll say this: I was more impressed than I thought I would
be. Now, I say that in the most complimentary
way that I can. I don’t mean that I had
low expectations. I just didn’t expect to
see so many bright spots this early on.
Of all the things imprinted on my memory, the collective
play of middle blockers Allen, Walker and Jackson is clearly at the top of the
list. Before we get into details – if
you weren’t there – this was basically an “A” team vs. “B” team format with the
team in black being a rotation of players that would tentatively be labeled
starters. The “B” (purple) team consisted almost entirely of
backups. Well, Les Jackson would have
something to say about that because if you were giving away a game MVP trophy,
it would be hers. I spent a good ten or
fifteen minutes debriefing with Debbie Humphreys after the match and she is most
definitely intrigued by finding ways to integrate all three girls into official
game action next weekend.
Jackson was stellar.
In three sets (Black won 3-0, but
barely in the third set), Jackson killed 14 balls against one error while
swinging .464. She was the main go to
for the purple squad and was able to do her damage against what figures to be
the other portion of our starting front line.
Jackson tallied four blocks which also posted as match high. The purple team used sophomores Keely Kainer
and transfer Madison Martin on the outside.
Both had bursts of production that could translate to nice support
pieces for the team in 2013. Kainer
looked more relaxed – and at times even stronger in her attack posture – than
what I recall from last year. She had
some legitimate strong swings despite only registering five knock downs. Don’t forget, Kainer was the L1 in first
tournament action this time last year as a freshman before giving way to others
by the time the conference slate rolled around.
Martin is probably going to struggle to score, but her
ball control and passing will create opportunities for her to contribute –
possibly in three rotation format as the season goes along. I think Martin could be a nice dual piece for
an OH that is more suited to front row responsibilities – like freshman Kaitlyn
Granger. Martin registered 13 digs in
three sets. Passing isn’t flashy like
kills and blocks, but Martin caught my eye a few times with her accuracy and
steady play in serve receive. Amanda
Rister held down the libero role for the purple and came away with 17
digs. Laiken Britt played a DS role and
I liked her feisty play. She’s aggressive and doesn’t hesitate to go
after balls, so I can see some promise if Humphreys needed to turn to her in
the case that Janet Hill or Rister struggled in back row support.
I didn’t come away with a definitive impression either
way concerning freshman setter Shannon Connell and freshman MB Jamie
Crowder. There were a few kills Crowder
put down that I made a mental checkmark by, but actually, I think I’ve seen
both girls play stronger in practice than what they did last night. Connell defensively chose to play a few balls
I thought she should have let go – and a few of them were at key moments in
sets. I’m nitpicking so let me state
positively that overall the freshman – Connell and Crowder certainly included –
did not look out of place. I was glad to
see all of the freshman appear confident and well integrated into the
match. None of them appeared
overwhelmed. Patience is always required
with first year players. They have a ton
to acclimate to and they all are certain to have their inconsistencies and
otherwise just plain off-nights. That
being said, I think the 2013 freshman class is poised to contribute in a very
strong way.
That brings us to Justice Walker. Wow.
At this point, I’ve seen four afternoon
practices and a scrimmage. During
the first two practices what I saw from Walker was athleticism. What I saw last night and at various times
during the last couple of practices was a volleyball player. If you go back and listen to Les Jackson
talking about Walker during the interview posted below, you’ll hear her state
that Walker has made some of the biggest strides during Fall camp. Last night, it showed. Big time.
I’m going to be perfectly honest (as always)- and long time readers will
recognize my tone here: The freshman I
focused on was Granger. I always watch warm-ups
– usually quite intently. I watched
Granger a lot during pre-game and told some of the media table staff that I was
hoping to see a fair amount of offense out of Granger in the scrimmage. I go from year-to-year with my fingers
crossed that we’ll bring in a left side presence. Some of the sharpest conversation I’ve had
with Debbie Humphreys have been about whether or not SFA needs more offense
from the left pin to consistently win.
Readers know that I have been in the camp that votes a definitive “yes”
and Debbie has cautioned me there are plenty of other ways to achieve offensive
success and balance.
So naturally, what do I do? I focus on the left pin attack of the main
“Black” squad. Since I already know
sophomore Tori Bates is a stud, that meant that Granger got more of my attention. So here’s what happened: With Granger playing three rotations (Janet
Hill the other three on the back), Black wins set one fairly convincingly
without Granger getting a single kill.
Bates got a few of course, but let’s just go ahead and state the
obvious: Head Coach 1, Blogger 0. Let me not leave Granger before making my key
point in the next paragraph. She’s going
to be fine. No one is asking her to
carry a heavy load. I think she’ll get
her share of balls knocked down and be someone people learn they have to defend
soon enough.
But, last night was a fantastic example of why Humphreys
was right and I was wrong (at least for now).
All-everything right side Jill Ivy got her share of kills (12), but
didn’t dominate. Her 11 attack errors
were almost as many as the entire purple squad (13). So, on a night where Ivy wasn’t off – but
wasn’t dominant either – we still got so much offensive firepower from middle
blockers Jacque Allen (9-3-14, .429) and Justice Walker (10-4-26, .231) that Granger’s
contributions were rendered a moot point.
The starting squad’s attack distribution was more than
enough to qualify as efficiently spread:
Bates and Granger combined for 17 kills on the left. Almost all of that was Bates, but then again,
she plays all the way around. Allen and
Walker combined for 19 kills and Ivy got 12.
That’s a nice distribution and one that contradicts my theory of needing
big output from the person in Granger’s spot.
Now, just imagine if Humphreys had been able to blend in Jackson amidst
the Black squad and Granger had been killing it? Holy smokes.
Now, we’re talking. You know who
also deserves credit? Holland. Because provided adequate passing, the offensive
attack distribution is the setter’s responsibility. Paige has to be able to adapt during the
match by realizing what distribution of balls will keep the defense
honest. On a night where Jill was
hitting close to .000, Holland was able to do a good job by getting the middle
blockers the ball often enough to pick up some of the slack.
All of the above in place, the person I got the most
questions and comments about after the match was Walker. It was so good to see her play that
well. It will be a blessing if it carries
over into tournament action the next few weeks.
Finally, the back row play of libero OJ Olson and DS Janet Hill was spot
on. Humphreys raved about both of them after
the match and I absolutely have to chime in.
Those two are going to be rocks back there.
That makes for a great segue as I had an absolute blast
taping an interview with both Olson and Hill before the scrimmage. Originally, I thought that chat would be
today’s post, but I wanted to get my scrimmage thoughts on paper before they waned.
Readers from past seasons know that my favorite part of volleyball is back row
defense, so I had a bunch of things I wanted OJ and Janet to talk about in the
interview. As it went on, I felt like
the three of us were talking about “volleyball theory” in a sort of academic
sense and I completely loved it. I
absolutely crave “shop talk” when it comes to this game.
I probably could have asked Hill and Olson questions for
an hour, because the roles they play are those that I have great interest
in. They both provided really insightful
comments and the interview is one of best I think I’ve been a part of in recent
years. I can’t wait for you to hear it
and it will come your way on Monday.
As a preview of things to come, I’ll be focusing more on
the concept of “offensive balance” during this year, with some data from 2012
forming the nucleus of a few posts on attack distribution. Also, I’ve begun surveying the landscape of
the conference and I will weigh in next week on the preseason polls that were
released by the conference. SFA was
picked tied for third in the coaches poll and tied for 5th by the
Sports Information Directors. Finally,
interviews with players will continue.
I’ll aim to sit down with Allen and Ivy before the team heads to
Mississippi.
Last night made a lot of people eager to see what the
team looks like when it is all on one side of the net. As far as SFA Volleyball’s STRONGEST
presence on the net? Well, you’re here. That’s www.sfavolleyblog.net
and you can count on me to keep SFA focused volleyball news spiked at you all
the way along the road to Corpus Christi and beyond.
Axe’s Up!