I don't think you're reaching at all, 100%. This program is not what it was when the current coach took over. I'll be very interested to see how the new AD views the program's future.
I end up at most home volleyball games, and have been going since Theis was here. I'd never claim to be an expert on the sport, but I don't see a huge difference in the talent level of the team now vs then. I left the Green and White scrimmage thinking there's a lot of talent on the floor. It feels a little more (to me) like the rest of the conference has caught up more than we have regressed. But, there's no arguing that the win numbers have dwindled lately.
I expect good things this year, so hopefully the past couple of years' trends won't continue.
I certainly hope for good things too.
With an exception here and there, Webb is not bringing in the talent that Theis and Carlston did. In Webb's first year, if I recall correctly, we defeated Carlston's Buckeyes on a neutral court and went 14-0 in the MAC. That was done almost exclusively with ladies recruited by the previous regime. As Webb's players moved in, the record began to suffer. The nadir, for me anyway, was watching us put on a simply dreadful performance against TOSU at St. John arena a year ago. And that was against a lousy TOSU team that won something like 4 conference games.
Where Ohio used to recruit mainly from cities, getting the Indianapolis player of the year under Theis for example, it appears we're more likely to recruit kids from Gallipolis and Federal Hocking with little pedigree. Up until this year with the Margolies girls, I can't remember the last time we got a kid from Columbus, and there are some great programs here, like Dublin Coffman just up the road from me. Sometimes I wonder if the staff knows they exist. Webb needs to take a trip up here with Bob Bolden, who recruits the heck out of Ohio in general and Cbus in particular.
From everything I hear, Webb is a great gentleman and the ladies enjoy playing for him. But until he starts bringing in better talent, or coaching up the talent he has, I am not very optimistic about the future.