The actual 2021 Women's Volleyball Thread

[MarqHusker]

You have to serve tough in order to get the opponent out of system (minimize the options for the setter to get the ball to the attacker of their choosing). 

It's not as simple as looking only at service errors vs aces.    Coaches will accept service errors,  provided they are also yielding results as a result of serving tough with Aces or lousy serve receive.

I find at times announcers read into the total errors too much.    Like obsessing over 3rd down conversion rates. 

Texas' Melanie Parra was exceptional serving in that match, and it wasn't about the aces and she had errors.    If you lollipop a serve all day to Minnesota.  Stephanie Sameday would have 45 kills.  Minnesota had a rough night,in particular CC Mcgraw.

Btw a penn st fan's 2004-2015 study of service ace and error correlation yielded no firm conclusion .  Need more context, and include other stats  (opp hit percentage, receive pass scores)

[utee94]

You have to serve tough in order to get the opponent out of system (minimize the options for the setter to get the ball to the attacker of their choosing). 

It's not as simple as looking only at service errors vs aces.    Coaches will accept service errors,  provided they are also yielding results as a result of serving tough with Aces or lousy serve receive.

I find at times announcers read into the total errors too much.    Like obsessing over 3rd down conversion rates. 

Texas' Melanie Parra was exceptional serving in that match, and it wasn't about the aces and she had errors.    If you lollipop a serve all day to Minnesota.  Stephanie Sameday would have 45 kills.  Minnesota had a rough night,in particular CC Mcgraw.

Btw a penn st fan's 2004-2015 study of service ace and error correlation yielded no firm conclusion .  Need more context, and include other stats  (opp hit percentage, receive pass scores)

Yeah just saw GR's comment and you beat me to it.  20-30 years ago I think the errors vs. out-of-system wasn't understood as well as it is today. 

In many sports, you have to push to the ragged edge and accept some failures, in order to optimize your chances of success.  Serving is very much like that in today's version of volleyball.

[MarqHusker]

Very true.  In rally scoring era, a team's side out % is in that 60% range, typically.  If you want to minimize that, as the serving team you have to serve tough.

Next time you watch volleyball,  focus only on the serve receive and the quality of that first contact to the setter.   That will be a better indicator than anything else, of how good the  serving team is at serving among other things.  USA women, we're supremely elite at serve receive at the Olympics,  thanks to two Huskers of course..   

Naturally you can't tolerate unusually high service error rates.  That killed the US Men's team in Tokyo.
 

[GopherRock]

Thanks for the info, guys.

I know Texas is the #1 team in the country, and they certainly looked the part going on a tear at the end of the first set. If the Horns could have cleaned up their service (and receipt), they could have made that match a lot shorter than it was.

[MarqHusker]

Very perceptive.   I won't rag on the Horns, but if you want to poke or criticize UT over the years, their biggest problem has been serve receive and passing.

[utee94]

Very perceptive.  I won't rag on the Horns, but if you want to poke or criticize UT over the years, their biggest problem has been serve receive and passing.

Absolutely.  Serve receive and the critical first pass, are arguably what has cost Texas the most in its recent trips to the final 4 and championship game.

[MarqHusker]

Nebraska at Creighton Wednesday night on FS1.  630ct.  Should be crowd of 14k easy Giddy up.

Creighton wiped the floor with Kentucky last Saturday in Lexington. 

[FearlessF]

unfortunately, I'll be on the golf course

[utee94]

Yeah that sounds like a horrible way to have to spend your time.

[MarqHusker]

So Nebraska hit .170 last night (which isn't very good) yet basically served/passed/dug Creighton off the court.   Basically, the back row won the match themselves.    Clinical passing/defense and serving.   

[FearlessF]

defense wins championships

[ELA]

MSU hosting UNC and Duke this weekend.  Big names, no clue what they are like as volleyball programs.

[MarqHusker]

Unc has probably been underachieving of late.  Fringe ranked team, 30ish.   Duke a little bit behind that.    

Either would be a good win for MSU, I think their RPI future is in the 80s.  This feels like the lowest I can remember MSU's volleyball standing. Perhaps I've overlooked a low period between late 90s and now.  Kind of fell off a cliff here quickly. 

However, COVID has led to the cancelation of the matches.  MSU really snakebitten again with CV. 

[ELA]

Yeah, we lost like a month of the season last year