WVB vs Cal (WIN 3-0) - Printable Version

WVB vs Cal (WIN 3-0) - Printable Version

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WVB vs Cal (WIN 3-0) - Softball Fan - 02-13-2021

Stanford plays Cal Sunday February 14 at 5:00 pm PT in the second and final Big Spike of the season.

This is probably the one and only time I will make a thread for a WVB match because the sport is not closely followed on this forum. Stanford lost to Cal on Friday and as I expected looked pretty bad at times. Any evaluation of Stanford in the previous Cal match has to take into consideration Cal is arguably the weakest team in the PAC-12. If Cal doesn’t finish in the conference cellar it will probably be because the spot is occupied by Stanford; an unimaginable scenario prior to this season.

Positives in comparison to Arizona matches:

MBs Annabelle Smith and Vicini had much improved positioning and timing in their blocking. Hitting was better. Smith actually looked good on her slide shots.

Libero Elena Oglivie looked very good at times passing and digging although her serving was way off.

Setter Selina Xu had good location on many of her sets and was a surprisingly strong blocker.

Negatives:

OHs Berty and Baird are extremely bad at passing and digging. Berty is so bad I don’t have the words to describe it. Berty should be nowhere close to the court but Hambly has no choice other than to work with what is available.

While Kipp is a strong hitter, she makes way too many unforced errors.

Kipp is terrible at covering the tip. I counted eight tips that dropped to the floor in front of Kipp. She should have been able to handle all of them.

The under-performance of this team is perplexing to me. The 2019 class was ranked the #1 class in the nation. The collective prep ranking of the Stanford players on the court is the best in the PAC-12. It’s understandable they are not up to full potential with the lack of practice but IMO they should be doing much better even with limited practice.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - oldalum - 02-13-2021

I'm not surprised at the start, for two reasons in addition to the lack of almost any reasonable practice (one week total of on-court practice before the first match?): there is no substitute for game experience, and the current lineup has precious little; and because we are missing our two best and most experienced players (one apparently is out for the season). Prep accolades are not necessarily predictive of immediate freshman productivity: I remember reading from self-styled experts before last season that Kendall Kipp was going to be a stellar outside hitter for us immediately, but it turned out not so much. I suspect this team will have a steep learning curve over the course of the season. It was going to be a rebuilding year anyway, after losing so many starters from last year.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - BobK - 02-13-2021

Kipp was not going to beat out McClure and Plummer. That was silly to think

Palo Alto there are a number of Wvb season ticket holders on this board and more interested. We are following the team

Campbell acl and L Smith probably the same. In Any case out until August

To make the game last night worse because of the pandemic Cal’s best returning player choose Beach. She teamed with Plummer in HS. Smoot a very good transfer from Arizona hasn’t played

Berty 14 digs third best last night

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - BosCard - 02-13-2021

(02-13-2021, 09:37 AM)oldalum Wrote: I'm not surprised at the start, for two reasons in addition to the lack of almost any reasonable practice (one week total of on-court practice before the first match?): there is no substitute for game experience, and the current lineup has precious little; and because we are missing our two best and most experienced players (one apparently is out for the season). Prep accolades are not necessarily predictive of immediate freshman productivity: I remember reading from self-styled experts before last season that Kendall Kipp was going to be a stellar outside hitter for us immediately, but it turned out not so much. I suspect this team will have a steep learning curve over the course of the season. It was going to be a rebuilding year anyway, after losing so many starters from last year.

The team has talent but they are struggling with poor passing and unforced errors. Berty and Baird really struggle to pass and they are 2/3's of the passing of the current team. They likely pass more than 2/3's of the opponent's serve since they are targeted. Hopefully this will change soon when McClure (a very good passer) and Lougeay (presumably a good passer since she is a DL/Libero) come back and then we will have 5/6 good passers and 1/6 passing from Baird.

The bigger problem comes next year when McClure graduates. Then we are left with a Libero and probably Baird and Kipp passing. And remember as much as Berty and Baird are struggling passing, they are still ahead of Kipp. So possibly our current situation of Berty and Baird passing will actually get worse next year when it is Kipp and Baird passing. Since passing is so critical, I predict that they will convert Ogilve back to an OH2 next year because they need 6 rotations of her passing along with 6 rotations from Lougeay or the '21 DS/Libero. Then you DS Baird for the back row and you have 5/6 good passers and you can keep Kipp on the court at all times for her back row hitting.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - oldalum - 02-13-2021

(02-13-2021, 10:30 AM)BobK Wrote: Kipp was not going to beat out McClure and Plummer. That was silly to think

well not Plummer, but Hambly tried starting Kipp over McClure in the front row for a few matches last year before he realized the error of his ways!

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - Softball Fan - 02-13-2021

When McClure and Lougeay come back I would try a strategy of never having Baird receive serve. In a rotation where it is not feasible to have McClure, Lougeay, and Oglivie receiving serve, I would go to a two-person serve receive. It's rarely done in DI volleyball. However, this is an unusual circumstance.

I never heard a good explanation/reason why Formico left the team. Having her on the team would help a lot this season.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - pefloresjr - 02-13-2021

I vote thumbs up on the WVB posts and am also a season ticket holder. I didn't know about the injuries to Campbell and Smith. Really tough to lose them in this year when COVID can cause us to lose players for multiple weekends. I'm going to stick with my viewing this season, for us, as a spring training season where the only thing that matters is getting experience and improvement for players and the team. I think it can pay off in the long run. I still really want us to Beat Cal on Sunday. Watched all of yesterday's match and if we didn't hurt ourselves, we would have won. Still happy with the attitude and effort of the team and coaches.

Cheers,
Pete F.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - mbdude - 02-13-2021

I watched a portion of #4 Minnesota vs #8 Penn St today - both teams are scary good - we may be able to compete with them next year.

Minn has a big 6"3 freshman setter - very good

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - Softball Fan - 02-13-2021

I also watched some of the Minnesota/Penn State match. I would not want to play either of those teams. That would be asymmetric volleyball. I've resigned myself to this being a spring season to work on improving the players available and forget about Ws and Ls. I'm going to try hard to not get frustrated while watching games.

RE: WVB vs Cal Sunday 5:00 pm on PAC-12 Networks - martyup - 02-13-2021

(02-13-2021, 10:08 PM)paloalto Wrote: I also watched some of the Minnesota/Penn State match. I would not want to play either of those teams. That would be asymmetric volleyball. I've resigned myself to this being a spring season to work on improving the players available and forget about Ws and Ls. I'm going to try hard to not get frustrated while watching games.

Nothing more relaxing to a fan than low expectations for their team. If they can't win matches, then celebrate winning points and sets. Just enjoy and hope for better years.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - martyup - 02-14-2021

McClure is back!

We're up 15-8 in the first. Having McClure back is really helping this team.

And we take the first set 25-15. Looking much better tonight.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - BobK - 02-14-2021

22-20 second set. Stanford up

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - martyup - 02-14-2021

And we take the second set 25-21. Up 2-0 in sets. Lovely.

We have 31 kills to their 17. We are hitting .328 to their .061. Kipp has 10 kills and is hitting .500.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - Farm93 - 02-14-2021

COVID19 has created so many unprecedented situations. Playing with only 8 was crazy.

With the full team things are closer to normal. Got to keep low-ish expectations but still hope they get into the NCAA tournament. Hate to miss it for the first time because of COVID protocol challenges.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - martyup - 02-14-2021

Xu with 35 assists!

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - BobK - 02-14-2021

Kipp has been awesome tonight.
We are missing our two middles for the season. We have 11 healthy but that includes Fidalak who I didn’t see when they showed the team during a timeout.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - martyup - 02-14-2021

And we finish them off 25-13. Straight sets win. Progress.

RE: WVB vs Cal (ON NOW PAC-12 NETWORKS) - mbdude - 02-14-2021

Fidalak there, not dressed out. Kipp hits 571. Team hits 378

RE: WVB vs Cal (WIN 3-0) - BobK - 02-14-2021

Kipp was awesome. I counted 12 didn’t see Fidalak but ??
This is great.

RE: WVB vs Cal (WIN 3-0) - mbdude - 02-14-2021

Thought I saw her end of match in group on court