I’ve been watching several of their games this season, and I wanted to jot down some thoughts. First, this team plays ugly. Bad passes on serves, hitting errors, and other mistakes—this team commits too many of them. Additionally, at times their block seems non-existent. And yet, they’re 6-1. If they were a high school team, I would guess their opponents just played worse–making a lot more errors. But that’s not the impression I’m getting.
So what explains their winning? Defense–i.e., digs–seems like the biggest reason for their success. This is a really scrappy team, at times reminding me of Japanese teams. If you want to see some good digs and long rallies due to defense, this is a team to watch. On the other hand, with good defense, I would expect better passing on serves. They’re passing can get really shaky at times, even from Ikenaga or Levya. (Levya has been an impressive freshmen, and in time could be special.)
Tough serves and good play in timely moments are probably the other reasons they’ve won. For example, against Oregon State, after an almost non-existent block in the early part of their match, their block game alive. In terms of serving Levya seems like a best server. (Ikenaga has been solid as a server, too, and follows Levya in the serve rotation, creating what looks like a solid one-two punch.)
With the way they play I’m not sure how long they can keep winning. I feel like they will get destroyed by really good teams, based on the way they’ve been playing. On the other hand, this team hangs in there (They’ve had a lot of 4 or 5 set games), and they shouldn’t be too rattled when going through rough patches during a match.
One other thing I want to mention–the coaching, particularly in terms of substitutions and making adjustments. Coach Robyn will pull Kate Lang and put in Jackie Matias at surprising moments. Against Oregon State, Ah Mow-Santos took out starting middle Jacyn Bamis pretty early in the match and put in Maddie Way, a shorter (5′ 11″) freshmen, who hadn’t played much (if at all). It seemed to be a good move, as Way provided a good spark for the team.
Now, while I do think the play has been inconsistent and ugly, they do have a lot of new players (while losing really good ones). It may take times for this team to gel and clean up their game. They have shown grit and fight, though, and that makes them worth cheering for.
The Wahine played their best game of the year against LSBU. Far less mistakes/errors stood out and better passing stood out for me.
But they came back to earth against UC Davis. A news article mentioned a relatively high number of errors/mistakes, but the mistakes didn’t seem as much as some of the previous games. To me, the UC Davis block stood out, especially against Caylen Alexander. Also, Light and the lefty hitter for UC Davis were very effective.
@Cal Poly
Wahine looked good, similar to the way they played against Long Beach. Tali Hakas stood out to me, having a really good all-around game. Bamis was also very productive.
I continue to like the way Kate Lang is playing.
vs. UC, Santa Barbara
The team played well, but I thought this was one of Kate Lang’s worst games–at least in terms of errors in setting.
vs. Cal Poly
The Wahine played great in the first two sets. Hakas looks more explosive, both in terms of a her approach/jumping and arm swing. She looks more comfortable hitting on the right side as well. I thought Lang should have gone more to her on the D set. Caylen can get go through a stretch of hitting errors–that’s the one aspect she needs to clean up. (Same with Adeymi as well.) Baymis had a good game, if I recall. They need to keep her involved.
vs. LBSU and vs. UC, San Diego
Wahine played great, maybe the best all year, against these two teams, especially in terms of an all-around game. The one player that exemplifies that is Tali Hakas. I almost want to say she was like a mini-Karch Kiraly, doing everything well. (I think Kate should set her more especially on the D set. Hakas looks more explosive, both her jumping and arm swing. She’s in a groove.) Defensively she was awesome, not only on the digs and passes, where she looks like another libero, but on the blocks. (Actually, the block for the entire team came alive in these last two games.)
If they can keep sustain this level of play (which is light years from the start of the season), they should get into the tournament.
@UC Irvine
This team has been Jeckyl-and-Hyde all year. Unfortunately, the Hyde version manifested itself on the last game. Kate didn’t play well in my view. At one point, Ah Mow took Kate out down 4 in the 3rd, and put in Arquette. That left me scratching my head. Some possibilities: Kate had a mental breakdow; an injury or Kate was fatigued; or maybe disagreement with Ah Mow. (The latter seems least likely.) Weird.
Unless they win, I’m probably not watching anymore of these games.