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Miscellaneous volleyball off-season news
- Thread starter AztecBuff
- Start date
Buffzone / Daily Camera update article (by Pat Rooney) on Buff Volleyball ahead of the 1st two spring scrimmages occurring this Saturday in Colby KS- http://www.buffzone.com/ci_29704687/cu-volleyball-jesse-mahoney-era-underway-buffs .
A few highlights for me-
1) sounds like transfer Alexa Smith's all-around game is looking to be in line with the VERY HIGH accolades she received during her high school years, as well of course more recently indicated by her getting named to the U.S. U.S. Collegiate National Team touring China this summer.
2) On setters, " Edelman, a setter who ended her career with 4,278 assists, has no obvious heir apparent, with Mahoney using the spring to experiment with one player who has never played setter before (Taylor Joachim) and another who earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference honors last fall as a right side hitter (Gabby Simpson)."
(My comment- Hopefully, we won't miss too much the inability to clone Ms. G. Simpson, as she can probably be one of if not THE the top player(s) in the Pac over the next two seasons both as a setter and right-side hitter, but obviously can't do both full-time. Assume the best case scenario (pending any unanticipated roster changes) continues to be that Ms. Joachim can continue to develop her setter skills so the Buffs can run a 6-2 and, at minimum, Ms. Simpson can still contribute as a hitter when in her front row rotations, while setting in the back row.)
3) Re the new system from the new coaching staff, sounds positive at this point; From the article- ""It's almost bittersweet because we finally have this new coaching staff, new system, where you think it would have been nice to have this in the past," Cierra Simpson said. "It's really exciting because I know now we have the tools to have a really exciting season. ..."
(Great to hear this from Ms. C. Simpson, who I assume will be one of the main team leaders as the only returning captain from last year's team.)
A few highlights for me-
1) sounds like transfer Alexa Smith's all-around game is looking to be in line with the VERY HIGH accolades she received during her high school years, as well of course more recently indicated by her getting named to the U.S. U.S. Collegiate National Team touring China this summer.
2) On setters, " Edelman, a setter who ended her career with 4,278 assists, has no obvious heir apparent, with Mahoney using the spring to experiment with one player who has never played setter before (Taylor Joachim) and another who earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 Conference honors last fall as a right side hitter (Gabby Simpson)."
(My comment- Hopefully, we won't miss too much the inability to clone Ms. G. Simpson, as she can probably be one of if not THE the top player(s) in the Pac over the next two seasons both as a setter and right-side hitter, but obviously can't do both full-time. Assume the best case scenario (pending any unanticipated roster changes) continues to be that Ms. Joachim can continue to develop her setter skills so the Buffs can run a 6-2 and, at minimum, Ms. Simpson can still contribute as a hitter when in her front row rotations, while setting in the back row.)
3) Re the new system from the new coaching staff, sounds positive at this point; From the article- ""It's almost bittersweet because we finally have this new coaching staff, new system, where you think it would have been nice to have this in the past," Cierra Simpson said. "It's really exciting because I know now we have the tools to have a really exciting season. ..."
(Great to hear this from Ms. C. Simpson, who I assume will be one of the main team leaders as the only returning captain from last year's team.)
Congrats are in order once again to Gabby Simpson.
In addition to earlier being selected to be part of a U.S. Collegiate National Training team going to Europe from ~July 6th-16th (see http://www.allbuffs.com/threads/gabby-simpson-selected-to-u-s-cnt-team-europe-tour.115594/), she has now just been named part of the Pac 12 All-star team going to China that will be together from ~June 18th-July 1st (http://pac-12.com/article/2016/04/12/pac-12-announces-2016-pac-12-volleyball-tour-china).
(I believe she will also have Buff company for at minimum part of the China trip, as I think (???) I read awhile ago the National touring team Alexa Smith is a part of is sharing some of the stops and so forth with the Pac 12 squad.)
Edit- As I was writing this, cubuffs released an article with more info (http://www.cubuffs.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210885492).
In addition to earlier being selected to be part of a U.S. Collegiate National Training team going to Europe from ~July 6th-16th (see http://www.allbuffs.com/threads/gabby-simpson-selected-to-u-s-cnt-team-europe-tour.115594/), she has now just been named part of the Pac 12 All-star team going to China that will be together from ~June 18th-July 1st (http://pac-12.com/article/2016/04/12/pac-12-announces-2016-pac-12-volleyball-tour-china).
(I believe she will also have Buff company for at minimum part of the China trip, as I think (???) I read awhile ago the National touring team Alexa Smith is a part of is sharing some of the stops and so forth with the Pac 12 squad.)
Edit- As I was writing this, cubuffs released an article with more info (http://www.cubuffs.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210885492).
Article leading up to tomorrow's only home spring scrimmage- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210901702
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BOULDER — With the spring competition schedule wrapping up, the Colorado volleyball team will play its final two contests this week, starting on Thursday, April 21.
The Buffs will host Northern Colorado at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The scrimmage will be played on the main court of the Coors Events Center and is free and open to the public.
“We’ve been on the road for our previous spring matches, so it will be fun for our players to get the opportunity to play in Coors again,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “The first half of the competition will be controlled drills with UNC and we will finish playing two true sets.”
The final contest this spring is a very exciting one as the Buffs will travel to Ogallala, Neb. to take on 2016 NCAA Champion Nebraska in front of a sell-out crowd on Saturday, April 23.
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BOULDER — With the spring competition schedule wrapping up, the Colorado volleyball team will play its final two contests this week, starting on Thursday, April 21.
The Buffs will host Northern Colorado at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The scrimmage will be played on the main court of the Coors Events Center and is free and open to the public.
“We’ve been on the road for our previous spring matches, so it will be fun for our players to get the opportunity to play in Coors again,” head coach Jesse Mahoney said. “The first half of the competition will be controlled drills with UNC and we will finish playing two true sets.”
The final contest this spring is a very exciting one as the Buffs will travel to Ogallala, Neb. to take on 2016 NCAA Champion Nebraska in front of a sell-out crowd on Saturday, April 23.
...
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Obviously unofficial, but a Penn State fan site has released a tentative schedule for their team next season (http://www.dignittanyvolleyball.com/unofficial-2016-penn-state-womens-volleyball-schedule/ ; credit to postr nyline in volleytalk for the link.). From it, looks like they'll be in Boulder playing the Buffs on Saturday, Sept. 3. If Illinois*** is the other team in the Pac 12/ Big 10 Challenge as they were last season, assume the Buffs would play the Illini Sunday, 9/4.?. (Assuming this since the schedule has PSU playing Stanford that day.)
(***Haven't seen who the other Big 10 team is, but it's typically been the same teams in the Challenge each season unless/ until they opt out, and Illinois was the 4th team last season. Also, with Illinois' star setter being from Colorado, assume all other things being equal they would welcome the chance to play here.)
With the other 3 teams being perennial powers (with all 3 still finishing in the Top 15 while having "off" years last season), and the Buffs being always dangerous at home, there should be GREAT volleyball to see at the Keg early next season!
(***Haven't seen who the other Big 10 team is, but it's typically been the same teams in the Challenge each season unless/ until they opt out, and Illinois was the 4th team last season. Also, with Illinois' star setter being from Colorado, assume all other things being equal they would welcome the chance to play here.)
With the other 3 teams being perennial powers (with all 3 still finishing in the Top 15 while having "off" years last season), and the Buffs being always dangerous at home, there should be GREAT volleyball to see at the Keg early next season!
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Looks like today's scrimmage may have a free*** audio stream available. (There may also be pre-match coverage, as the link page says the audio starts at 12:57 PM MT, while the scrimmage starts at 1:30 PM MT.)
Link to stream link- http://www.huskers.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100
***Note- looks like listening requires a registration, but look like an audio only subscription is free. (Registration is at https://www.nmnathletics.com/PremiumVideo.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=100 .)
Link to stream link- http://www.huskers.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100
***Note- looks like listening requires a registration, but look like an audio only subscription is free. (Registration is at https://www.nmnathletics.com/PremiumVideo.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=100 .)
Starters for the Buffs in this one-
S- Gabby Simpson (Announcers said she broke her finger in Thursday's scrimmage, so will be allowed to play in the back row for all 6 rotations today.)
OH (Leftside)- Alexa Smith and Stephanie Shadley (Both also played the OH most of the Thursday scrimmage, with both playing 6 rotations in that one. J. Hayes did play there also for just a couple rotations.)
RS (rightside hitter)- Looks to be undetermined. Sounds like Joslyn Hayes may start this scrimmage. In Thursday's scrimmage, both her and Katelyn Cuff got roughly equal time. (IN the non-scoring part of Thursday's scrimmage, Taylor Joachim also got some work there as they worked on her being part of a 6-2 setter/ RS formation.) When in the back-row, Gabriella Carta-Samuels came in for both Hayes and Cuff.
Middle Blockers- Ana Pfefferle played throughout, with both K. Cuff and Naghede Abu playing the other Middle. (It looked like Ms. Abu had a pretty good brace on one of her knees, so don't know if she's 100% or not right now.)
Libero- Cierra Simpson
S- Gabby Simpson (Announcers said she broke her finger in Thursday's scrimmage, so will be allowed to play in the back row for all 6 rotations today.)
OH (Leftside)- Alexa Smith and Stephanie Shadley (Both also played the OH most of the Thursday scrimmage, with both playing 6 rotations in that one. J. Hayes did play there also for just a couple rotations.)
RS (rightside hitter)- Looks to be undetermined. Sounds like Joslyn Hayes may start this scrimmage. In Thursday's scrimmage, both her and Katelyn Cuff got roughly equal time. (IN the non-scoring part of Thursday's scrimmage, Taylor Joachim also got some work there as they worked on her being part of a 6-2 setter/ RS formation.) When in the back-row, Gabriella Carta-Samuels came in for both Hayes and Cuff.
Middle Blockers- Ana Pfefferle played throughout, with both K. Cuff and Naghede Abu playing the other Middle. (It looked like Ms. Abu had a pretty good brace on one of her knees, so don't know if she's 100% or not right now.)
Libero- Cierra Simpson
Nebraska won the 3 sets by scores of 25 - 16, 25 - 20, and 25 - 21. IMO this was a reasonably respectable showing by the Buffs. Consider that Nebraska won the national championship this past season and they returned all 7 starters plus added an All-American transfer OH. As Aztec gave the Buffs lineup, they are playing with 2 new starters at OH and a new DS. Also Gabby is playing as full-time setter when she played almost all of this past season as OPP with Nicole Edelman the full time setter. So a lot of lineup changes for the Buffs as well as some changes in their offensive and defensive schemes with the new coaching staff. They are still in learning mode and certainly todays match should give them things to focus on.
I looked on Volleytalk last night. Did Gabby break a finger on Thursday?
Sounded like the Nebraska fans were a bit defensive about the score. They pointed out that this was the first and only spring match the Fuskers had played and how many CU had played. Guess they do not realize that the Buffs are no longer pushovers like they were in the Big 12. They also seem to forget that the pushovers that we were managed to beat Nebraska twice in Lincoln when they were highly rated and the Buffs were just plain bad. Guess they have forgotten about those matches!
Sounded like the Nebraska fans were a bit defensive about the score. They pointed out that this was the first and only spring match the Fuskers had played and how many CU had played. Guess they do not realize that the Buffs are no longer pushovers like they were in the Big 12. They also seem to forget that the pushovers that we were managed to beat Nebraska twice in Lincoln when they were highly rated and the Buffs were just plain bad. Guess they have forgotten about those matches!
Based on what was reported from the match yesterday, I have to say that yes she did. During the Thursday UNC match, there was one play where 3 Buffs dove trying to get a tipped ball up. Gabby was one of them and she got up from the pile holding her right hand. She went off with a trainer and came back out on court a few minutes later with two fingers taped together. She seemed to be able to play OK for the rest of Thursday and obviously played yesterday. Not surprisingly nothing official from the school.
Sorry to quote myself, but wanted to mention an Illinois fan has posted a tentative schedule for them in the Volleytalk forum, and it DOES show the Illini playing the Buffs in Boulder at 7:00 on Sept. 4th.
Also put the link to the article in the transfer thread, but thought I'd add it here also, especially since it also includes the list of all seven new Buffs now known to be joining the team this coming season- http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210991103 .
On the transfer side, great to have the 2 new setters coming in, with a goal / hope being I assume that one (or someone else on the roster) is able to earn a starting setter roll in a 6-2 system so that they are able to take advantage of Gabby Simpson's great hitting skills while in her front row rotations rather than her having to play as a setter all 6 rotations.
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On the transfer side, great to have the 2 new setters coming in, with a goal / hope being I assume that one (or someone else on the roster) is able to earn a starting setter roll in a 6-2 system so that they are able to take advantage of Gabby Simpson's great hitting skills while in her front row rotations rather than her having to play as a setter all 6 rotations.
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I think the coaches got scared big time when Gabby jammed a finger in the spring scrimmage at Coors. It was brought home just how precarious it could be having only one true setter on the team in Gabby and your back-up being a RFr who hasn't done much setting. Now they have 3 experienced setters so they could go 6-2 if they want and still have another setter available as a back-up. You don't often see a player move up from the club team.
Looks like CeCe is joining Taylor Joachim on the USA collegiate national training team that will be in Indy
Added: Article from CUBuffs:
http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210993495
Added: Article from CUBuffs:
http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=210993495
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Just wanted to send a quick congrats to the 2 (known) setter verbal commits for both being named to National Training teams for this summer (Source- http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyba...p-indoor/hp-programs-and-events/rosters/a1-ct). 2017 commit Jaden Newsome has been selected to the "2016 USA Women's Junior A1 National Training Team Program", while 2018 commit Jenna Ewert has been selected to the "2016 USA Girls' Youth A1 National Training Team Program". Hope both find the experience rewarding and fun.
Also good to see (assume it can't hurt from a recruiting perspective?) from the same source that new asst. coach/ recruiting coordinator Lee Maes is the head coach for one of the many programs (the 2016 USA Women's Junior Continental Team Program) on the page.
(Thanks, as usual, to the Volleytalk forum (this time username volleybubble in the http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/57702/usavolleyball-hp-program?page=11 thread) for providing the above link.)
Also good to see (assume it can't hurt from a recruiting perspective?) from the same source that new asst. coach/ recruiting coordinator Lee Maes is the head coach for one of the many programs (the 2016 USA Women's Junior Continental Team Program) on the page.
(Thanks, as usual, to the Volleytalk forum (this time username volleybubble in the http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/57702/usavolleyball-hp-program?page=11 thread) for providing the above link.)
The USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team on tour in China has played it's first match. USA won in a tight 5 setter with a nice contribution from Buff Alexa Smith.
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/June/24/CNT-China-Rallies-Past-Jiangsu-in-Five
http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/June/24/CNT-China-Rallies-Past-Jiangsu-in-Five
To keep up with what's happening both on and off the court with the Pac 12 team currently touring and playing in China (with Gabby Simpson being the player from the Buffs), interested folk can go to http://pac-12.com/global/china/2016-volleyball-all-stars , which has articles and videos on their trip (mainly so far the page links to articles and short videos on tours the team is taking). It looks like the trip should be a special and hopefully fun opportunity for all on the team.
The team lost their 1st match (yesterday) to the Shanghai professional team in 3 sets. The article ( http://pac-12.com/article/2016/06/23/pac-12-volleyball-falls-short-shanghai-three-sets ) doesn't give any stat details, so no idea how or how much Ms. Simpson played.
The team lost their 1st match (yesterday) to the Shanghai professional team in 3 sets. The article ( http://pac-12.com/article/2016/06/23/pac-12-volleyball-falls-short-shanghai-three-sets ) doesn't give any stat details, so no idea how or how much Ms. Simpson played.
Also, before I forget, it looks like results and even live streams may be offered for the Collegiate National Teams who are training and competing in Indianapolis the next few days, with matches being played at 5:00 each day on 6/26-6/28, with the young women being broken up into 3 teams (red, white and blue). (I can't tell for sure WHAT timezone the 5:00 is for, assume probably Eastern (Indy) time?.)
The link with more team information and links to the streams is https://www.advancedeventsystems.co...PlayResults.aspx?e=PTAwMDAwMDkxNjc90&p=-86886 .
Looks like all the matches for the Collegiate National Team will be on Court 1- Direct link to the streams for the various courts is http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/events/indoor/girls/2016-girls-jnc .
(Note that this is, I believe, part of a large junior tournament going on, so one can already see matches going on if one clicks the streaming link, but assume those are the juniors and not the Collegiate teams.)
As noted previously in this thread, 2 Buffs, senior Cierra Simpson and redshirt freshman Taylor Joachim, are part of this Collegiate National Teams program. I can NOT see where they've chosen who is on which of the 3 teams, so (obviously) don't know which team(s) the Buffs are on YET. (Hopefully the 1st link above will soon provide team info once they're selected.)
Edit- forgot to give credit to the Volleytalk thread (http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/62074/2016-national-collegiate-team-tryouts?page=5 ) for the 1st link above, as well as more info on what's happening in Indy.
The link with more team information and links to the streams is https://www.advancedeventsystems.co...PlayResults.aspx?e=PTAwMDAwMDkxNjc90&p=-86886 .
Looks like all the matches for the Collegiate National Team will be on Court 1- Direct link to the streams for the various courts is http://www.teamusa.org/usa-volleyball/events/indoor/girls/2016-girls-jnc .
(Note that this is, I believe, part of a large junior tournament going on, so one can already see matches going on if one clicks the streaming link, but assume those are the juniors and not the Collegiate teams.)
As noted previously in this thread, 2 Buffs, senior Cierra Simpson and redshirt freshman Taylor Joachim, are part of this Collegiate National Teams program. I can NOT see where they've chosen who is on which of the 3 teams, so (obviously) don't know which team(s) the Buffs are on YET. (Hopefully the 1st link above will soon provide team info once they're selected.)
Edit- forgot to give credit to the Volleytalk thread (http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/62074/2016-national-collegiate-team-tryouts?page=5 ) for the 1st link above, as well as more info on what's happening in Indy.
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Congrats to Class of 2015 Buff Alum Taylor Simpson for being named to the U.S. team that willl compete for the Pan Am Cup (Per http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2016/June/27/USAV-Names-Roster-for-Womens-Pan-Am-Cup )!
Looks like competition starts July 2nd.
Edit- tweet
Looks like competition starts July 2nd.
Edit- tweet
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