Coach Jeff plays with an against them plenty and they use guys from the mens club team to practice with and against at times.

Any chance of another setter entering the portal to come here? I saw a post that indicated that might be a possibility.

I could see it happening! Musgrove not really playing much, Manning coming off of a season ending injury. It's probably the biggest question mark now for next year. I wouldn't mind some experience to allow us to run a 6-2 if Musgrove doesn't come in ready to play all around next year

Did you even watch Musgrove pregame?

FYI

You don't play two setters.

Ag4eva95 said:

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lol you can play 2 setters, it's called a 6-2. We ran a 5-1 with Waak this year.

FYI have coached high level Open club teams and a few years in college back in my day. Just a die hard Aggie so love this board

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We ran a 6-2 Jamie's first year (2023).

t.u. ran a 6-2 as well this year right?

Was listening to a podcast with t.u.'s ex coach and he said a lot of European players are heading back to play over there. Said financial competition in the US college ranks brought them, since the pay in Europe's was low, but that's changed. European professional clubs raising pay to compete.

Ok, yes a team could do that one but your statement implied you wanted another setter bc Musgrove did not play.

Not sure why you had to make the comment implying Musgrove wasn't any good though because she didn't play that much. As I pointed out and you ignored, she looked very solid in warmups.

Don't you think it probably had a little more to do that we had nine seniors and we're so balanced that there was no reason we needed to run two setters. Winning a NC kind of shows it was best.

Musgrove isn't proven at the collegiate level yet, my comment had more to do about experience not skill. She is an unknown when it comes to how she will come out and play next year.

Jaydoug said:

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Was listening to a podcast with t.u.'s ex coach and he said a lot of European players are heading back to play over there. Said financial competition in the US college ranks brought them, since the pay in Europe's was low, but that's changed. European professional clubs raising pay to compete.

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So I guess they really don't give a rat's ass about getting a free college education. Interesting

Fair enough

I have no concerns with Musgrove being ready to play.

If Manning shows she's fully recovered, I think we are covered. If there are concerns, we might need another.

Ag4eva95 said:

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Musgrove isn't proven at the collegiate level yet, my comment had more to do about experience not skill. She is an unknown when it comes to how she will come out and play next year.

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Any truth to the rumor of a setter with Olympic experience that might enter the portal?

Love this thread! Merry Christmas!

Already putting too much focus on one player lost. She's not the one we are losing that will be the hardest to replace from this very balanced team.

If we want to focus on who that will be, it's easily Ifenna.

We won this NC bc we had a complete team but Ifenna was at the top of the mountain.

Blocking next year won't be the same. When you have girls that play next to eachother for 3-4 years, the chemistry and timing is something of a thing of beauty. Logan and Iffenna because a thing of beauty. It's rare you see the domination they had. Rarely any gaps in the block, timing is perfect, hands always in the right place. Block comes with experience

LB12Diamond said:

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Already putting too much focus on one player lost. She's not the one we are losing that will be the hardest to replace from this very balanced team.

If we want to focus on who that will be, it's easily Ifenna.

We won this NC bc we had a complete team but Ifenna was at the top of the mountain.

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I agree it took all of those gals playing as one to get this done. Ifenna was incredible for sure, pure beast mode. What a really special group we had in 2025.

Jamie repeatedly said Maddie was the best setter in the country (in college?). Analytics showed we were one of the best passing teams in the country. I think a big part of that is Maddie being able to set from anywhere. I'm hopeful that the incoming L/DS talent improves the ball placement on the passing and that they quickly come up to speed. That may help bridge the gap at setter.

He also said Ifenna is possibly the best middle in the world. I suspect part of that for Ifenna is the growth in serving. Not a lot of middles leading their team in aces.

BiochemAg97 said:

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Jamie repeatedly said Maddie was the best setter in the country (in college?). Analytics showed we were one of the best passing teams in the country. I think a big part of that is Maddie being able to set from anywhere. I'm hopeful that the incoming L/DS talent improves the ball placement on the passing and that they quickly come up to speed. That may help bridge the gap at setter.

He also said Ifenna is possibly the best middle in the world. I suspect part of that for Ifenna is the growth in serving. Not a lot of middles leading their team in aces.

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Passing should be better then this year was last year honestly

while we lose over 75% of the points scored and i dont think we will be at the level we were this year I think there is reason to be very happy with the roster given the loss of 75% of the point points scored and the person who set most of those points

We add an outside who can pass better than Emily did which wasnt bad at all but a sigificant level below Stowers and Applegate season level with one of the best DS in HS coming in and a passing OH2

That's what is giving me hope for next year. Improvements in places that help compensate for losses in others. Also, I think we get more respect in the seeding and don't have the "hardest path to the finals".

BiochemAg97 said:

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That's what is giving me hope for next year. Improvements in places that help compensate for losses in others. Also, I think we get more respect in the seeding and don't have the "hardest path to the finals".

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We got the respect we did for the season as a totality. We just happened to play some of our best ball down the stretch

Sucked to be in Nebraska region but we lost back to back road games against quality opponents where even a splot likely puts us in a mid two seed and played a tourney at home that did nothing for RPI but hurt us...while Morrison hates RPI it is a metric used

That's fair. Jamie did say after the selection that the committee helped us but couldn't move us any higher.

Jamie's first year, he described how staff worked the RPI system by playing a bunch of teams at/near our level but would likely to dominate their conferences. Clearly worked, but that strategy is harder as we have improved.

This year, he commented about trying to get a top 10 team to come to Reed but was unsuccessful. In a recent interview, he did say we were going to have a top 10 opponent on a Friday before a home game and wants to pack Reed. Might have been an issue of getting better faster than expected. Probably needed to start working on scheduling top 10 teams a year in advance, after season 1.

Also, we have 2 years in a row where we surprised how far we went in the playoffs. Probably a sign of significantly improving throughout the season and peaking at the right time.

taylorswift13_ said:

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Jack Pearson said:

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Does anyone know what was actually wrong with Manning? Did she have surgery? Approx recovery time?

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it was for certain knee injury that required surgery, just don't know the exact injury. She got surgery in September I believe. She was standing with the rest of the bench the last few matches after sitting on the bench most of the season

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Yeah so guessing it was not a ACL injury as that would be obvious with large brace, crutches for first month etc. I dont recall ever seeing her on crutches. If there is any question about her health though, I could see taking another setter in the portal. Possibly could delay that until after the Spring when maybe that becomes more clear.

NCAA National Champion, Emily Hellmuth, Is Now A Tiger💜💛 pic.twitter.com/fOKWaRmFIb

— LSU Beach Volleyball (@LSUBeachVB) December 26, 2025

If she stays 2 years I won't be surprised if the indoor team doesn't try to use her as opposition play.

Fun fact the LSU and Texas indoor teams came to play beach at my house years ago then hang out in the pool. Custom tour busses barely ft down our road.