I think Akron's just better than us.

Ugh.  I can't believe I just wrote that.

The Cats has been pretty inconsistent and bad passing since the opening of this year. The strong offense has just made up for the fundamental errors of the team. Now it is at home and against a decent team (which is now a much better one) like Akron. Poor performance became more visible. Western MI lost to UA last year. Penn State lost twice this years. But good teams will find the way to come back. Sometime, the best way to learn is when we hit the rock bottom.  Stay focused. Keep working on the passing and ball controlling as well as anger management. The team will be maturing as time and will re-shine like it has been. Diamond is diamond, gals.

Yes, that's clear, but I'm not sure what exactly you want us to do about it at this point.  My bigger is beef is with the decision to put a cold player in to serve at a critical juncture of the match.  You're asking for things to go wrong.  Honestly, I don't mind the rotations much.  With the right personnel, it really sizzles.  We had that in the past.

I think, at this point, we are what we are.  We're talented but inconsistent.  We don't have the depth we managed to cultivate in previous years.  Even the coaching staff knew this was going to be a rough year (by our standards), and that's bearing out.

Really, Akron should've beaten us in four.  Jughead accused the team of not having killer instinct, but it was mental toughness that got us as far as we did.  If we can stay tenacious, we might stay in the mix for the league crown again.

It does seem that player rotations  have been different. Bender seems to try to be everywhere. Whether the rotations are causing digging and setting problems,  I just don't know, I'll leave that to others who know this game better than I. (I do enough criticizing in baseball).

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. It's nice to have an objective outside voice that is supportive.

P.S. Fortunately Saturday night was not as stressful, as OHIO swept  Buffalo. Katie Post had an impressive, powerful game.

How long?  We're pretty deep into the season now.  These matches we're playing aren't rehearsals.  Winning during the season sets you up for success come tournament time.  We need to being a sense of urgency to these matches I'm not seeing like I have in the past.  There are always new players, and hardly any of ours are actually playing.  We need to be coming together in September, not November.

Good takeaways.

I listened to Steve Shondell talk for a half hour on the Cardinal network about the strides Ball State is making.. SPells trouble for the rest of the league if, like his brothers at Purdue, he is able to get his system implemented and the girls execute it. LIke you,  I see the rest of the league finally getting off their butss and getting recruits and systems in place. Shondell talked about what a sleeping giant NIU is and how they almost stole one at Central which is a very good club. ALso acknowleged that OHIO coming in will be a true test of what they have got done. NOt a physical , big blocking team is BSU but they are all ball control freaks who dig and pass well waiting till you make a mistake.

I made it to the games saturday night and saw a pretty focused club. Did not get to see Friday so I won't share any comments. Things I am happy with are the levels of play Faith, Lexie and some of the other younger players are displaying. I am also amazed that Michelle has been rock steady for 4 years now. WOuld like to see her and Sue jump in and really get some "senioritis" and start pushing this team to excell. THey seem a little looser than in past years which is not good or bad ...just maybe not what they need right now. Impressed by what the next setter in line showed in her short appearance the other night. Killer serve, rotates up on the block really well. Meryl is trying hard, love her energy and was forwarded an article I had missed via PM on Liberos in our home county . Meryl is one of those workhorse midgets the Munciana program puts into the college ranks at Wisconsin, Purdue, Cincy, UK and so on... that said she may need to stay at home on some shots and let her teamies rise to their level of excellence.

This is a good squad with a LOT of talent. Getting them to gel is the key and that is gonna take a lot of communication and effort. THey look like they are having fun but the real fun begins with wins and tourney appearances. As soon as the younger kids get hungry they will start hunting the big game. Hope that happens soon and the defeat they have tasted will be the the pill that makes them ravenous. I still like our chances even in a much improved league.

Actually, after playing for his dad 4 years and ending his career at BSU he has had very little to do with the men immediately taking the job at Burris Labratory school where he has been for 34 years amassing a record of 1183 -95 while playing a tough schedule not only here in Delaware County where we have seen days since the inception of class sports where all 4 class champion trophies came home to Muncie, but he regularly played one of the toughest schedules in the state taking on top Chicago and Louisville area teams. He was the founder of Munciana Volleyball , a regular contender in most age groups for national Championships and a major player inthe scholarship game . he has won several mythical "National Championships" at the HS level and his 2a Burris club has never lost a State Class 2a Championship since the advent of class sport in 1997. An amazing feat on any level.

He is committed to assembling a team of recruits mostly from the area. If he is able to keep them home and continue the system they have had in place since they started playing as "Chipmunks" in grade school that will be something I have not seen in my 40+ years of watching competitive volleyball. Imagine a college team made up of kids who had been playing together or inthe same system since Grade school.