StrangeVol
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First, Kentucky is likely the best Volleyball team in the SEC. They happen to be ranked #3 nationally but that is mostly because the PAC12 and Big10 are not playing in the early part of the season. Given that those two conferences are the traditional home of the top teams in Volleyball, if they were playing the top 10 would look much different and Kentucky, as good as they may prove to be, likely wouldn't be in it. Still, it is what it is, they are the #3 ranked team of those playing at this time.
Second, I wanted to take a look at some basic stats after we've played two road games against very good competition and start to get a feel for this year's team.
The best thing there is to report is that our serving was excellent with 7 aces and only 9 errors on serve. Kentucky also had 7 aces but a whopping 19 errors. Also on the very good side of the ledger was our blocking. It was very much a tale of two matches. In the first match, we were terrible at blocking. Kentucky just teed off on us and beat us soundly. The second match was MUCH better resulting in us collecting 12 blocks to Kentucky's 15.5. Imagine what we might have done if we had blocked at all in the first match. Kudos to Rocky Perinar who had 8 blocks in her first start (in her Volleyball life) as a middle blocker.
The worst thing was our attack errors. We had 41 attack errors (shots hit out of bounds, in the net, etc.) to Kentucky's 25. If you believe, as I do, that you need to avoid doing things to beat yourself, it's apparent our girls didn't take that axiom to heart in these matches. The attack errors for both teams lead directing to our hitting percentage of .134, which is not very good, to Kentucky's .348, which is outstanding. If it helps to understand the meaning of hitting percentages, think of them as baseball batting averages.
The other thing that needs work is our setting. Kentucky averaged almost 15 assists/sets per set while we averaged 10 assists/sets per set. Our setting is also often too near the net or in a location that is awkward for our hitters to get a good swing at the ball. It's really odd that our setting is so uncertain as both Eve and Gavin were setters in college, I believe. This is an area that can be improved with better technique and lots of practice.
So that's what I saw when I went over the combined stats for the two matches. Your mileage may vary.
Got a different perspective? Post it here, por favor'.
Second, I wanted to take a look at some basic stats after we've played two road games against very good competition and start to get a feel for this year's team.
The best thing there is to report is that our serving was excellent with 7 aces and only 9 errors on serve. Kentucky also had 7 aces but a whopping 19 errors. Also on the very good side of the ledger was our blocking. It was very much a tale of two matches. In the first match, we were terrible at blocking. Kentucky just teed off on us and beat us soundly. The second match was MUCH better resulting in us collecting 12 blocks to Kentucky's 15.5. Imagine what we might have done if we had blocked at all in the first match. Kudos to Rocky Perinar who had 8 blocks in her first start (in her Volleyball life) as a middle blocker.
The worst thing was our attack errors. We had 41 attack errors (shots hit out of bounds, in the net, etc.) to Kentucky's 25. If you believe, as I do, that you need to avoid doing things to beat yourself, it's apparent our girls didn't take that axiom to heart in these matches. The attack errors for both teams lead directing to our hitting percentage of .134, which is not very good, to Kentucky's .348, which is outstanding. If it helps to understand the meaning of hitting percentages, think of them as baseball batting averages.
The other thing that needs work is our setting. Kentucky averaged almost 15 assists/sets per set while we averaged 10 assists/sets per set. Our setting is also often too near the net or in a location that is awkward for our hitters to get a good swing at the ball. It's really odd that our setting is so uncertain as both Eve and Gavin were setters in college, I believe. This is an area that can be improved with better technique and lots of practice.
So that's what I saw when I went over the combined stats for the two matches. Your mileage may vary.
Got a different perspective? Post it here, por favor'.
