I'm hoping someone that knows volleyball much better than me can provide some insights on a couple of questions I've been thinking about.

1) I think I understand we have one and possibly two setters on the current roster to try and fill Maddie W. shoes next year, not sure if they have the same potential upside as Maddie. But my question is how long should we expect it to take for the setters to get on the same page as the incoming hitters from the portal since there has to be a lot of trust between them as those decisions made by the setter happen so quickly. Seems like the long history Maddie had playing with Logan, Perkins, etc. was a huge benefit.

2) This is just a trivial question, but I never saw Ava serve in the tournament and Thomas subbed in for her. Does that mean Ava is not a good server, or was there another reason?

Zigzig said:

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I'm hoping someone that knows volleyball much better than me can provide some insights on a couple of questions I've been thinking about.

1) I think I understand we have one and possibly two setters on the current roster to try and fill Maddie W. shoes next year, not sure if they have the same potential upside as Maddie. But my question is how long should we expect it to take for the setters to get on the same page as the incoming hitters from the portal since there has to be a lot of trust between them as those decisions made by the setter happen so quickly. Seems like the long history Maddie had playing with Logan, Perkins, etc. was a huge benefit.

2) This is just a trivial question, but I never saw Ava serve in the tournament and Thomas subbed in for her. Does that mean Ava is not a good server, or was there another reason?

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1) your setter is like a football team's QB. just like a college QB spends all spring learning his receivers (and then the good ones lead summer drills doing the same), the more practice your setter has with her teammates the more familiar she becomes with where to expect them to be, etc. our back-up setters worked all year with our players - starters and back-ups - so some familiarity is there already. the longer they work together the better they will become. they may reach elite levels this year or it may take them longer. we shall see

2) Ava is good - Thomas may be slightly better. when you are deep in the NCAA tournament you always go better when it is available. it is also possible that a particular person does a better job hitting a particular spot on the floor. You may have noticed that with one team (PITT maybe?) we deliberately went after their libero (which is highly unusual). most of the time if there is a stud OH you can hit with that serve you do so in an effort to try to take them out of the play
sometimes you are simply resting a player for a particular rotation - you may recall Megan subbing in for Logan on multiple occasions

I don't think Ava served at all this year. She has been wearing that hip brace for a few years and I saw her treating her shoulder on occasion this year. I've wondered if it was as simple as reducing the strain on her shoulder.

both Ava and Thomas are libero, yes.? saves a substitution and keeps a defensive specialist on the floor.

Going through the forums and saw your question about Ava serving…

Last year she was awful behind the service line. I remember my daughter and I (and several around us) having our hands in the air with fingers crossed every time she went back to serve. Swapping Tatum in for her was an offensive move. It brought in a player who could serve the ball over the net, while allowing a libero-libero exchange that didn't cause a substitution.

Thx for responses! She may not have been a great server but the rest of her game was incredible during the championship run.

I think Musgrove is several inches taller than Waak and Manning which is a plus when it comes to blocking on the front row. Of course it would be a moot point if we run a 6-2 next year.