Day 1 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Tournament time is finally here and that means playing my favorite sport with my favorite people almost every weekend. This weekend was no exception and we competed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the open 17 and 18's division. We faced some pretty tough competition but overall it was a great weekend.

On Friday at 4 I left with my parents and headed to Milwaukee. 5 hours later we arrived at our hotel, which was connected to the convention center where we would be playing the next 2 days. The hotel was really nice and once we got there I unpacked and then hung out with some of teammates that were there. Some girls on my team had basketball games Friday night, so they didn't get to the hotel until 2 in the morning!

On Saturday we played at 9 so we had to be at the convention center at 7:30 to watch the teams that we would be playing compete. I was pumped to play. Our first match was against Wisconsin Juniors and we beat them in 2 sets. After that we played right away and beat New Wave in the third set. During the game against New Wave the Wisconsin head volleyball coach was standing at the end of our court. I was a little nervous, but I knew I just had to play like I always do and I wold be fine. Winning the third set of that match was awesome. We played West Power Bend in our last match of the day and beat them in 2 sets.

After we were done playing we headed back to the hotel and took ice baths, showered and changed to go watch 16 Black play. Once they won their match we headed back and then went out for dinner as a team. when we got back to the hotel we hung out until it was time for "CIA's Got Talent", It was a team bonding activity that consisted of mini competitions that each team competed in together. The first competition was who could make a paper airplane that flew the furthest, which 18 Black won. there were probably 10 competitions overall and after the last one my team was tied with the 18's. So the tie breaker was an individual dance off. We lost and we were pretty bad but it turns out we were going to get a chance at revenge against them the next day, on the court.

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Importance of Setting Middles

            In the game volleyball it is very important to set your middles for a lot of reasons. It is also one of the hardest things to do. You need to set your middles to keep the blockers on the other side honest, leave your outside and right side 1 on 1 as much as possible, keep your opponents defense off balance, and allow your setter an open tip or attack.

            Keeping the other teams’ blockers honest means making sure they are staying with their hitter (Outside with outside, middle with middle and right side with right side). For example say that I never set my middles, the middle blocker would cheat to the outside or right side and would cause them to have a double block almost every time. This is why a setter needs to run a smart offense based on the blocks. If your left and right side are facing a double block every time they swing that probably means you need to run your middles more often or mix up the offense that you are running. This is why running a fast offense is very important, the faster I can deliver the ball to my hitters the less time the other teams’ blockers will have to get in the right position to block. So mixing up my sets often and running fast plays gives my hitters a better opportunity to get a kill.

            On the other hand running quick middle offense often is one of the hardest things to do as a setter. There are many factors that determine whether I can set my middle or not. The pass is most important. If the pass is more than 10 feet off the net it is very difficult to deliver the set the way it should be. If I’m that far off the middle will hopefully call a 31. I can set a 31 if I’m off but it takes a lot of practice to figure out how far off and how fast you can push the ball so that the middle will be able to get a good swing. The other factor that goes into setting my middle is the positioning of the blockers. If I see that the middle blocker is following my middle I will push it outside or back. If the middle blocker is cheating towards the outside I can set my middle and she will have either 1 or no blocks.

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First Club Tournament

           My favorite time of the year is here, club season. That means long car rides, missing school Fridays and Mondays, ice baths, late nights, early mornings, and playing the sport you love with your best friends. This weekend was our first club tournament in Rochester, Minnesota. I was looking forward to this tournament for a long time so that I could finally play in a real match with my team. We have 4 new girls on our team this year so getting comfortable on the court and used to how they like their sets takes time, but this weekend definitely helped that a lot.

            We played 3 matches Saturday and 3 Sunday. On Saturday we played Milwaukee Sting 16’s, Northern Lights 16-1, and Fusion 17 Black. All 3 teams were very good competition. This tournament is more like a scrimmage because it doesn’t count on our record but we still kept score. We played for 50 minutes and usually got through 2 games to 25 and then a third to around 15. We did pretty well, I think our best game overall on Saturday was against Northern Lights. On Sunday we played Minnesota Select, SMV 18-1, and Crossfire 18-1. We played well, our second game was a little rough but we picked it up at the end and finished strong.

            Most importantly we figured out what we need to work on in practice, and what we did well. We need to work on serve receive, more consistent serves so we can get more runs of 3 or 4 points, different shots when the set is off the net, back row attacks, and being in the right places on defense. Personally I need to continue to work on being more of a leader, setting my middles in transition, my connection with each hitter, being stopped on defense, tipping deep in zone 5 with my left hand, not drifting on my block and a more aggressive serve.

            I think we did really well on playing as a team, never giving up, blocking, running fast plays and our hitters were aggressive and never afraid to swing. Overall I think it was a very successful tournament and we will learn from our mistakes and work on them in practice. I’m already looking forward to our next tournament in Milwaukee, WI. We are playing in the open division so it will be really good competition and experience playing in open before our qualifiers. 

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Reffing and Scoring Online Clinics

            Everyone’s least favorite thing about volleyball season is having to go through the online reffing and scoring clinics. They take a long time and when you are 17 and have been playing volleyball since you were 10, it is mostly stuff I already know. But, this year they changed some things that made it go faster.

            The past couple of years you have had to go through every section and then take a test afterwards, if you didn't get a certain amount of questions right you had to retake it. This year before you have to go through each section they give you an option to take a pre quiz, and if you get at least 90% which is missing only 1 you get to skip that whole section. This is a really option until you miss 2 questions and realize that you now have to go through 25 minutes of listening to how to ref or score. This happened to me I think 3 out of the 8 sections, because some of the questions in the pre-test are about something that rarely happens in a game like a sanction. I mean I know that you need to know how to deal with those types of situation in a match, but they shouldn't put those in the pre-test. They should make a section of commonly missed concepts during reffing and scoring that is mandatory for each player to watch.

            After going through the online course I have a few tips. Take the pre-test and make sure you are 100% sure on your answer before you submit it. If you really have no idea what the answer is and you have already missed a question, look up online the subject that the question is asking about and try to find an answer. Make sure you read the section on the topic you are having trouble with so you understand what to do if you are faced with that situation in a game. Reading a couple of paragraphs is better than listening to a 25 min video of things you already know, trust me. Good luck with your online clinics, and hope your seasons are off to a good start!

Iowa Region Reffing and Scoring Clinic: http://www.iavbreg.org/index.php/clinics/referee/

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Penn State Wins Back to Back National Championships

          2014 National Championship…. Fifth ranked Penn State Nittany Lions against the unranked Brigham Young Cougars. This is a match that no one saw coming. I filled out a bracket before the tournament started and I had picked Penn State to win it all, mostly because I have been obsessed with Micha Hancock for almost three years now but also because after watching them win it all last year I knew they could do it again. Now BYU on the other hand is a different story. I had BYU losing in the second round to Arizona. Who knew that they would make it this far?

            Saturday, December 20^th was the big day for both teams. Playing for a National Championship, something that BYU probably never thought they would experience and something that Penn State knew they could do but were going to have to upset Wisconsin and Stanford first. Both teams, not expected to make it that far were now playing for the ultimate title, something that all volleyball players dream of experiencing. Or at least I do lol. In order for Penn State to win they were going to need to stop 6’7 Jennifer Hamson from terminating every ball she got and also make sure they weren’t hitting into her hands. Penn State did a really good job of hitting high over Hamson’s block, allowing her to only have 2 blocks. They were also going to have to shut down Alexa Gray by setting up a solid block and having defenders ready to dig her multiple shots. PSU did a great job of digging Gray, allowing her only 9 kills which is low for her.

            In order for BYU to defeat the defending National Champs they had a lot of things to watch out for. Micha Hancock’s deadly left handed top spin jump serve definitely was one of them. Also Micha’s left handed setter attack which is very efficient and really cool to watch. Adding to the list, freshman Ali Frantti and sophomore Megan Courtney who are both amazing outside hitters. Courtney had 11 kills and 14 digs for her second consecutive double-double performance landing her a spot on the All-Tournament team. She was also named Most Outstanding Player. Penn State also has 2 very effective middles, Nia Grant and Aiyana Whitney. Whitney contributed 11 kills while Grant had 9. PSU has an awesome back row too, libero Dominique Gonzalez had a match high 16 digs.

            6:30 ET was game time, and it was time for someone to be named National Champs. Would it be the underdogs, BYU? Or the defending National Champs PSU? From the beginning to the end Penn State was in control. Winning the first set 25-21, the second set 26-24 and the third set 25-14. Not very often does a team win a Championship in straight sets but Penn State took care of business. Seeing the aftermath of the game, the hats, tshirts, confetti, tears, hugs, and celebration made me realize just how bad I want that to be me someday. I want to say congrats to both teams for great seasons and a huge S/O to my biggest idol Micha Hancock J

            If you want to read more in depth about the game to can follow these links.

 BYU Falls to Penn State 

Penn State Defeats BYU in 3

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NCAAVB Semi-Finals Cont.

On the other side of the bracket in the semis, #2 ranked Texas was faced with unranked BYU. On their road to the semis BYU upset #11 Arizona, #6 Florida State, and #14 Nebraska. Obviously they proved to everyone that they should have been ranked. They were way overlooked. Honestly I thought Texas would win this game in straight sets but it almost went the complete opposite of that.

            BYU has 6’7 Senior Jennifer Hamson who averages 3.83 kills per set and has a .315 kill efficiency. They also have Alexa Gray, junior outside who averages 3.66 kills per set and has a .291 kill efficiency. To see their whole teams’ stats you can follow this link.

            Texas has Iowa native 6-3 senior, Haley Eckerman who averages 3.24 kills per set and has a .258 kill efficiency. They also have a sophomore transfer, Paulina Prieto Cerame who transferred from Penn State. Here are Texas’ stats for this year. Texas Stats

            On paper Texas should have beat BYU but that didn’t happen. BYU took the first set 25-23, second set was 25-16, third they lost 17-25 and the fourth set was back and forth until the very end when BYU came out on top with the score being 26-24. This was a huge upset and now BYU had earned a spot in the National Championship, being the first unranked team to EVER make that happen. I can’t imagine the emotion they were having after beating Texas.

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NCAAVB Semi-Finals

I am a huge Penn State fan so when they upset #4 ranked Wisconsin in the Elite 8 I was really excited. In the Final Four they faced #1 ranked Stanford. In my opinion Stanford vs. Penn State should have been the championship match, but they were on the same side of the bracket. I have seen both teams play multiple times and each team has different attributes which makes this semifinal match an interesting one.

            Stanford has an outstanding middle, Inky Ajanaku who has 3.5 kills per set and a .428 hitting efficiency. They also have an incredible outside, Jordan Burgess who has 3.1 kills per set. They also have an awesome setter, Madi Bugg who averages 12.01 assists per set. All of the players on Stanford are studs and I give them props for getting to the semi-finals of the NCAA Tournament, because that is a dream for so many players. Stanford Stats

            Penn State. 2013 National Champs. Graduated 6 seniors last year. Now holds the record (7) for the most National Championships won by any team. Penn State is stacked with talent. Micha Hancock, 5-11 senior setter and my idol. She averages 11.6 assists per set, 1.16 kills per set with a .401 hitting efficiency. She also hold the record for most aces in a season ever with 125 aces, 1.01 per set. She was named the 2014 AVCA D1 Player of the Year. You can see all of her awards and accolades at this link, there are way too many to type out lol. Besides Micha Penn State has a ton of other outstanding players including some freshman. Ali Frantti, freshman outside averages 3.24 kills per set. Megan Courtney, Junior outside averages 2.41 kills per set and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAAVB All-Tournament Team. I’m probably boring you with all of these stats but they are amazing. If you want to look at the rest of Penn States stats and player profiles follow these links.

            In the regular season Stanford beat Penn State in 5 sets, so Penn State was really looking for a rematch I’m guessing. On the other hand Stanford was probably excited when they found out they would play Penn State in the semis because they knew they had already beat them once this year. Penn State won the first set easily, 25-16 but Stanford came back and won the second 25-23. Penn State won the last 2 sets, and now had a shot at winning a National Championship for the second year in a row.

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