Wisconsin Badgers 2020-2021

[gwhinwi]

8:30 tonight. ESPN.

Texas is a tough team and dispatched Nebraska 3-1.

[robertearle]

Texas did everything better tonight than Wisconsin (and significantly better than they did against Penn State and Nebraska in the previous rounds).

Not a lot better - first and third sets were as close as they can be. But better. They served Wisconsin 'out of system' pretty regularly, keeping Wisconsin scrambling around and unable to set 'quality' balls to their front row hitters. And conversely, handled Wisconsin's serve well to be able to put their hitters into good position to hit. 'Serve receive' was always going to be Wisconsin's weak spot this year, and Texas did a very good job exploiting it.

VERY disappointing. And surprising to me. If Texas had played the way they did vs Penn State and Nebraska, Wisconsin wins fairly easily. But they were much better than that tonight.

[Timothy A]

Texas did everything better tonight than Wisconsin (and significantly better than they did against Penn State and Nebraska in the previous rounds).

Not a lot better - first and third sets were as close as they can be. But better. They served Wisconsin 'out of system' pretty regularly, keeping Wisconsin scrambling around and unable to set 'quality' balls to their front row hitters. And conversely, handled Wisconsin's serve well to be able to put their hitters into good position to hit. 'Serve receive' was always going to be Wisconsin's weak spot this year, and Texas did a very good job exploiting it.

VERY disappointing. And surprising to me. If Texas had played the way they did vs Penn State and Nebraska, Wisconsin wins fairly easily. But they were much better than that tonight.

I went to bed mid second set and hoped when I got up I'd see a great comeback. Really bummed out. Glad to see they fought the 3rd set to the bitter end and didn't roll over after the bad second set. I guess the outcome reminds me of the men's loss to BSU in the men's tourney. BSU did a lot right and better than UW and a lot of that was UW not playing up to their potential. Great season though, getting to the FF is just about all you can ask for; to get your self in a position to go for the Natty.

[gwhinwi]

I think their fate was sealed when they blew the 4 point lead late in the first. That definitely cost them the second set, from my way of looking at it.

[Timothy A]

I think their fate was sealed when they blew the 4 point lead late in the first. That definitely cost them the second set, from my way of looking at it.

So you think that they just couldn't overcome that? IDK much about volleyball, but there was a lot of match left at that point. From Watts Robert said, it seems to be that UW couldn't solve the challenges that UW faced. Strategically, Watts could they have done differently?

This Watts for what is almost seeping into me professional emails....To quote Kramer, "it's outta control!!!"

[gwhinwi]

So you think that they just couldn't overcome that? IDK much about volleyball, but there was a lot of match left at that point. From Watts Robert said, it seems to be that UW couldn't solve the challenges that UW faced. Strategically, Watts could they have done differently?

This Watts for what is almost seeping into me professional emails....To quote Kramer, "it's outta control!!!"

I don't think it was completely over, but they didn't play nearly as well in the second set and when you're down 2 sets to none to a great team, it makes it a nearly impossible comeback.

[robertearle]

So you think that they just couldn't overcome that? IDK much about volleyball, but there was a lot of match left at that point. From Watts Robert said, it seems to be that UW couldn't solve the challenges that UW faced. Strategically, Watts could they have done differently?

Volleyball is very much a game of momentum. Getting the first set win could very well have changed the overall mindset and outcome... or it would have delayed the outcome we got by a half-hour. Nobody knows. It certainly reduced the 'margin for error' going forward. When they fought back in the third and actually took a lead (at 22-21 ?), I still thought 'get it to two sets to one and who knows...'. Around that point in the third, former UW coach Pete Waite was doing commentary on the radio broadcast, and he said something like "Momentum can be a beautiful thing."

[robertearle]

...and when you're down 2 sets to none to a great team, it makes it a nearly impossible comeback.

Maybe it is just the painful place my mind is today, but this reminds me of the Wisconsin loss to Stanford in the NCAA 'round of eight' at the Field House in 2016; Carlini and Haleigh Nelson's final game. Ugh!

[ARM]

... this reminds me of the Wisconsin loss to Stanford in the NCAA 'round of eight' at the Field House in 2016;

That loss looks different in hindsight than it did in the moment. Instead of blowing a two-set lead versus a No. 6 seed, the Badgers lost to a dominant team that would win three of four championships.

It looked to me like Texas matched up well against UW. The Longhorns strength in the front line allowed them to hit with the Badgers better than a team like Nebraska that is weaker on the pins.

[robertearle]

That loss looks different in hindsight than it did in the moment. Instead of blowing a two-set lead versus a No. 6 seed, the Badgers lost to a dominant team that would win three of four championships.

It looked to me like Texas matched up well against UW. The Longhorns strength in the front line allowed them to hit with the Badgers better than a team like Nebraska that is weaker on the pins.

The night before, Wisconsin played the first match in front of the sellout crowd (a five set "escape" vs Ohio State) and then with much of the crowd cleared out, Stanford played Florida State. Some guy I didn't know who had been sitting a couple rows up (nobody was in their normal season ticket seats - an NCAA game, not a "Wisconsin game") came and sat with me, and we talked through the second match. I remember him telling me how everyone was saying Stanford was "next year's team" with all the freshmen playing, but he thought the only reason they were a 6 seed and not higher was some early season losses, and that they might not wait for "next year", they might well do some damage this year, etc.

I was VERY much conscious of that conversation as the second set and the rest of the match played out the next night. I don't know who he was, but he was right on the money.

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I'll be interested to see if Texas can 'reproduce' their Thursday night effort tonight (though I can't say I know all that much about Kentucky; I watched Thursday, but my mind was 'elsewhere'.)

[robertearle]

I'll be interested to see if Texas can 'reproduce' their Thursday night effort tonight (though I can't say I know all that much about Kentucky; I watched Thursday, but my mind was 'elsewhere'.)

The best way, in my mind, to beat Texas is hit over their 5 foot 8 inch setter when she is front row. The #1 thing I saw Kentucky was able to do that Wisconsin wasn't was get the ball to their left side hitters to attack that 5-8 setter. She plays taller than that, but still... Kentucky was able to stay in-system frequently enough to get their left sides - particularly Alli Stumler, obviously - the ball where they could hit effectively and efficiently over the Texas setter. Congrats to them, they did what Wisconsin didn't get done.

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(And one other note on scheduling tough opponents - before the 2020 season was cancelled, Kentucky was booked to come play in Madison last September. That would have been fun.)

[top cheese]

how bout moving your discussion to a volleyball forum...

[Steamboat]

how bout moving your discussion to a volleyball forum...

Badgers are not known for social distancing, now are they? Unfortunately we have little hockey activity to chew on, so we get the previous series of off-thread entries.

[pgb-ohio]

how bout moving your discussion to a volleyball forum...

Men's Hockey has a separate board for D-II/D-III; and yet another board --The Cafe -- for non-hockey topics. For better or worse, the Women's Hockey Board is kind of an all-in-one.

Women's Hockey fans on USCHO are small in number, but we have a loyal group of regular posters. As such, the all-in-one arrangement works well enough.

I see no transgression.

[robertearle]

how bout moving your discussion to a volleyball forum...

LOL.

Well, it's not like we're crowding out that flood of UW hockey news. But point taken. (For better of worse) the "2020 volleyball season' ended last night, anyway.

So we wait for roster news, and schedule news... that might be a while...