Quote from BSUBass77 on September 11, 2023, 6:54 pm

After two easy matches with ISU, our volleyball team has hit the wall. I can accept the 3-1 loss to Oklahoma.  I wish they had been able to compete better against Oregon State (Loss 3-0).

The problem comes from the next tournament in Flagstaff.  After winning the first two sets against Steven F Austin, the team lost three straight and not by a close margin.  Next we took a walloping (0-3) from Arizona State in which we really only competed on set two. Lastly, we lost in five against a pretty poor N. Arizona team.  Again we won two close sets then got clobbered in two sets, which forced a 5th set.

I haven't been able to watch these matches due to no streaming coverage.  Also, I won't be able to go to the Boise Classic tournament this weekend due to a commitment that will take me out of town.  But I have some theories. Our hitting percentage is 15.2% as a team.  Our opponents are hitting 23.3%.

The low percentage is due to the best player getting three times more kill attempts than anyone else on the team.  The problem is the other team has seen the tape of our best player and knows how to scheme blocking assignments.  The result is our best player hits 17.4% rather than 25% or better.

In my tactical background, I have a better chance of winning if I can convince my opponent that I am going one way and then bring my forces from a different direction and attack from the side (simplification for this post).  I am not observing any deception in this teams tactics as of yet.  This could turn into an advantage later on if our coach changes it up more.  Time will tell, but the results so far are not wins.

Some positive notes: I think our defense is improving when it comes to receive percentage.  Our blocks per set are down a bit from 2021.  But that will probably go up once we start conference schedule.  We have played a pretty brutal out of conference schedule with Oklahoma, Oregon St and Arizona St. so far.

I am hoping we get Jordan Miller back soon.  I am not quite as hopeful for Qairo Bentley, She went down in the first set of the season and it might be a while.  With the injuries, we are getting good experience for our young freshmen players, which could pay dividends over the next few years.