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Volleyball 2012

Yes, the second and third sets yesterday were a real grind. The Viks had to find a rhythm out there, because a lot of their early points were coming on UND errors. However, they finally got back into it and outlasted UND 26-24 to take the 3-0 sweep.
 
Yes, UND was consistently hitting down in the low .100s - lots of errors. But I don't understand why we dropped down there too, after hitting .500 in the first set. I would guess, UND pulled themselves together after a first set on a strange court.
ISU is going to be a challenge. They haven't lost yet this season on their home court.
 
We weren't getting that many good kill shots. Either our hits were blocked up at the net, or their back line would be able to start a possession with passes that looked rather easy. The Viks weren't forcing UND to move laterally enough so that there would be a lot of miscue dig attempts.
 
For what it's worth, for the match we out-blocked them 18-12. You may be right about our not forcing them into lateral moves. Whatever it was, we'll have to play well a lot more consistently when it comes to ISU. Mendenhall is a very good setter. They don't have a super hitter; they do have three better than average OHs. Statistically we have the edge, but they have the home court which I reckon is a one set advantage.
5 sets and a toss-up.
 
Agreed. We need to finish volleys out there if we're going to beat Idaho State, because they could easily beat us if we're out of sync again.
 
We tested the Idaho court yesterday, and it was just as we thought - rough waters. They swept us 3-0, not even close. The first half of the season was building up to this, and now we know the likely; it's going to come down to the last match of the season against Idaho State , this time in our court. But first we have to put ISU behind us and take on Weber State tonight. Won't be easy. We'll be tired from the road trip, unhappy about ISU. I hope we make a statement - that 8-0 run wasn't a fluke!
 
Back on track. We swept Weber St this evening, 3-0. 14 aces! And Aubrey Mitchell led in kills again. Looks like we'll be fine next year with our hitters. .270 for the match - not bad. We've got four home matches in front of us now - we should take them all. Good coaching, great volleyball. Go Viks!
 
Watched The Debate last night - I'd rather watch football. Or volleyball. We're starting the second half of the season tomorrow night against EWU. Game time 7pm. We should easily sweep. Early in the season EWU came down with a plague of injuries - yes, it can happen in volleyball too. Something like 5 of their starters were out and have been out for some time. A lot of credit to EWU and their second stringers, who have struggled along learning the game in the middle of the season. Sac State follows Saturday. A bigger challenge there, though we did beat them on their home court earlier. We need both matches.
 
"Easy win" is right, Dusty - EWU thanks to injuries is the worst team in the conference, at 0-11. I'm not surprised we held them to a -.01 hitting percentage. All of our folks played; even Corrado got a minute or so. Aubrey Mitchell led the team with 11 kills out of 21 tries and an impressive .321 attack percent. Haataja followed with 9 kills out of 15 and a whopping .533. Our stars of the first half of the season Ellis and Wheeler came in lower in kills, respectively 8 and 4. What's a little dismaying is their hitting percentages : .172 and -077. .172 I can live with, but -.077? What's up with Wheeler? Trying too hard? Trying to hit everything everywhere? In a slump? Whatever it is, I sure hope she pulls out of it. We have 4 very good hitters, but they all have to be firing on all cylinders if we want to beat the ISUs and UNCs of the conference. ISU is going to win out; we have to do the same.
 
That's more like it! We beat Sac State tonight 3-1. Wheeler was back to her old self, with 17 kills and a .350 hitting percentage. Kudos also to Haataja; she had 13 kills at .526 PCT. Elis had the most kills at 18 along with Mitchell (10). For the evening we hit .276; Sac State ended at .112. Garyn had 52 assists! Next up is Montana and Montana State, both here. A little tougher, but not by much. We have to hold the home court.
 
Futher thoughts - That 52 sets/assists by Schlatter is a good example of a super setter in action. In basketball you'd be ravng about the point guard feeding 10-12 assists for a basket. The difference is, the point guard has at least a little time to decide who to feed the ball to. In volleyball the setter has almost no time at all to look quickly left and right to see who has the best chance for a kill. In this last match we had four - not one but four - OHs with 10 or more kills, even distribution keeping the opponent off balance. As Seeman says, this is proof of a balanced well-integrated team - one that wins. A large part of that is due to Schlatter's play.
 
We roll on, taking MSU 3-1. Horton leads the Sky with kills, but she didn't tonight. We effectively pinned her down to a .075 hitting percentage and 11 kills. They did the same with Wheeler, but she at least came out with 15 kills at .140 percent. Megin Ellis was the hero, with 20 kills at .161. As usual the more sedate Haataja came out with the highest percentage, .308 (5 kills). And also as usual, Schlatter set up an impressive 42 assists. We did have 9 serving aces, but that has to be matched against 10 serving errors. We take chances. And arguably, the aces keep the opponent off balance.
It's not surprising that MSU was something of a challenge. They're very good. The fact that we were the home team showed in the first set, when we won 25-14 at a .259 hitting percent. For whatever reason, we collapsed in the second set hitting a mere .096. Somehow we scraped out the win, 25-23, though we shouldn't have- they hit .114. MSU got an edge on us in the third set and never let up, taking it 25-21, but we settled down in the fourth set, taking it 25-21 at .191 percent.
It would be nice if we were able to play a whole match at .270. It doesn't happen as often as it should. On the other hand, we're tops in conference in holding opponents hitting percentage down. Tonight we hit .153 for the match; MSU hit .121.

Next up Montana here on Saturday. Then we're off for a VERY challenging 5 match road trip. Hope we're up for it.
 
We beat Montana last night 3-1. Mitchell hit 18 kills at a splendid .485 percent. Corrado played a little more than usual, and got a serving ace and a dig. We're coming down the home stretch now, with the next four matches away. ISU has the advantage, with three away matches, two of them WSU and EWU, the bottom of the crowd. I see them winning out - except for the last match! If we're lucky we'll win out too, or lose just one. In either case that last match will be for the whole kaboodle. Go Viks!
 
We kick off the road series tonight against SUU. If we control their one big hitter we should be fine. The challenge will be Saturday - but one game at a time. They in turn will try to shut down Wheeler, but we've proven we can always go to Ellis or Mitchell. Team play! Go Viks!
 
We stubbornly won out tonight agaist SUU, 3-2. It's getting to be a habit, losing these first sets. We played miserably to start, got behind in the beginning and stayed there to the end. Took the next two sets, gave up the fourth, and were in control in the fifth all the way. Ah, those road matches! In attack percentage we beat SUU - barely - .133 to .110. Wheeler led with 15 kills at .049 (Mailoto, SUU's leading killer, had 16 at .047). Ellis followed with 11 at .018, and Haataja 10 with an impressive .348. This doesn't bode well for Saturday's match. We will have to improve our hitting to around .250 to win. Can we do it?
 
NAU was beat by EWU (bottom of the conference) tonight. It also was a five setter. I suspect they'll be looking to prove they're a better team when they take us on Saturday. And of course, they'll want revenge for the 3 set sweep we gave them up in Portland. This will be the first real challenge of the road trip. Will we once again lose the first set??
 
What a road trip! Into the frozen north, and we came out 2-2, winning the last match against the hardest opponent 3-2 - and it was an incredibly close match against UNC, our nemesis from last year. We swept them this year. Idaho State now leads us by one in conference. Two matches to go. We play Weber State and will beat them. ISU plays EWU and will beat them. That leaves ISU and PSU playing for the last match - at PSU. If we win, ISU and PSU will be tied - ISU and PSU will split. Who wins conference? My guess would be ISU, but it's hard to figure.
 
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