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Post by PAmedic on Oct 24, 2005 22:57:09 GMT -5
are we considering .500 a morale victory for this young team? I would think that it would be pretty good, but I don't what sort of expectations they really had. The next 3 years oughta be really exciting!
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grm
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Post by grm on Oct 25, 2005 7:42:49 GMT -5
Great stuff (no pun intended) on the VB team. Sounds like they are coming around, and will be a factor next year.... Coach... Nichols, and all the rest Go get em!
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Post by ATrain on Oct 25, 2005 18:40:24 GMT -5
Well VCU just beat us, 3-0, so .500 is a little out of the question right now w/ the match at Winthrop still looming...I'm more worried that this will really hurt the girls' confidence heading into the match against High Point on Friday.
GO LADY FLAMES
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Post by PAmedic on Oct 27, 2005 6:53:39 GMT -5
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Post by ATrain on Oct 28, 2005 23:37:45 GMT -5
Lost 3-1 to High Point tonight (I made the roadie down...High Point's not that far, only 2 a little over 2 hours, a bit less if there's no traffic and I'm driving). So in all likelihood we won't be getting 4th and will probably face High Point in the first round. Coach Pinder feels confident we can take High Point, we just need to clean up our side of the net.
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Post by ATrain on Nov 1, 2005 22:04:38 GMT -5
Charlotte beat us 3-1, but the match was a lot closer 26-30, 28-30, 30-28, 26-30, and we were also without Kendall Nichols as she's currently sick. We hung in there with an A-10 team, and that just shows the potential this team has...all thats needed is a little cleanup on our side of the net and then next year, watch out Winthrop and Coastal, for LU is rising again.
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 3, 2005 8:04:59 GMT -5
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 3, 2005 8:08:57 GMT -5
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Post by thesportscritic on Nov 4, 2005 23:39:02 GMT -5
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Post by ATrain on Nov 6, 2005 17:49:10 GMT -5
We still have UNC Greensboro and Radford, we'll see what happens...hopefully we can at least make it past the first round of the tourney.
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ATooLazytoLogInTrain
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Post by ATooLazytoLogInTrain on Nov 8, 2005 9:33:11 GMT -5
3-0 loss to UNCAsheville on Sunday...hopefully we can end things on a good note and beat UNCGreensboro and Radford.
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grm
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Post by grm on Nov 8, 2005 16:18:10 GMT -5
Let's hope for a turn around in the tournament.
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Post by thesportscritic on Nov 8, 2005 20:44:38 GMT -5
We were up 2 games to none and choked tonight against UNCG. We lost in 5 games. UNCG won only 4 games overall and 2 in their conference coming into today. It looks like we will give Radford their only conference win on Friday. Radford has not won a conference game at all this year. Overall I think they won only 3 games. We won against them in 5 at their place but the team's confidence is completely shattered and broken. Looks like we will be the 7th seed and lose in the first round to Coastal Carolina at CCU.
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 9, 2005 8:38:52 GMT -5
that's a tad pessamistic, but it's tough to regain confidence for such a young team. They have shown promise for next year(s) though!
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 9, 2005 9:08:43 GMT -5
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Post by ATrain on Nov 9, 2005 10:58:28 GMT -5
We WILL NOT lose to Radford, thats all I gotta say
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Post by thesportscritic on Nov 9, 2005 11:31:24 GMT -5
We WILL NOT lose to Radford, thats all I gotta say I will believe it when I see it!!!! We lost to a team who only won 4 games last night.
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Post by ATrain on Nov 9, 2005 13:15:22 GMT -5
yes, but we were also without Kendall Nichols...I think she'll be better by the time to play Radford comes around
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Post by bigsmooth on Nov 9, 2005 17:39:01 GMT -5
atrain is our official volleyball apologist! is it just youth, or is it injuries, or is it coaching??? put on your objective hat and clue me in. i only saw them play winthrop at homecoming so one match tells me nothing. let me know. BTW....did you make a choice yet on one of those beautiful ladies???
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grm
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Post by grm on Nov 9, 2005 18:06:26 GMT -5
I'm awaiting ATrain's reply on this one, and it should be good. I vote for injuries and inexperience at this level. I'm not saying I'm knowledgeable, but I am a registered voter.
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Post by ATrain on Nov 9, 2005 19:41:48 GMT -5
Ok, here is my official reply, its inexperience. Here's the whole background on volleyball: In 2004, assistant coach Shane Pinder took over a team that had spent the past several years at an apex of competing for Big South titles, with the last regular season championship coming in 2003 before being upset in the tournament semifinals by either UNCA or Winthrop (and Winthrop won that tourney). The coach before Pinder really didn't recruit much, so Shane basically had some leftovers of a great team and not much else. Last year, the team started out cold but got red hot towards the end, and had a chance at upsetting Winthrop in the semi-finals (1 point away). That year, the bulk of the team's leadership (Jennifer Belk, Kristin Colson, Becky Rudnick) graduated but coach Pinder was expecting to have 4 seniors on this year's squad. Well, Rachel Van Hofwagen got married, and there was a situation with Tiffany Thorson that she's not playing this year either, leaving Pinder with just two seniors: Allie Hallock and Janell Migeot. So far this season, its been the younger players carrying the bulk of the weight...
Setter Lara Bartolomeo is a sophomore, and even though she is the shortest person on the team, doesn't even make it up to my shoulder, she can jump higher than I can. Last year she played libero while Allie was a middle blocker/outside hitter and the now graduated Colson was the setter. Jessica Nelson and Kendall Nichols, who both perform really well offensively and defensively, is a sophomore and freshman, respectively, and Kendall is currently sick with something, which explains why she hasn't played since the team was at Winthrop. Others, like sophomore Mary Alice Pike (aka MAP) and juniors Rachel Denton and Autum Poorman (who both played as backups for the past two years to the likes of Belk, Rudnick, Colson, and Erin McKeown), are also very good, but their inexperience shows b/c while they may reach double figures on kills, they're not far behind in errors either.
Last year's redshirt freshman Allyson Sanders has a huge swing, but her inexperience also makes her prone to errors.
So you're looking at a team with 2 seniors, 2 juniors, and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. The talent is there for them to take out Winthrop, but the inexperience makes them very prone to errors and they're currently lacking in confidence as well...or they'll get overconfident and relax their game, another typical mistake of a young team. Coach Pinder is a good coach, he knows the game, but he also knows that we're one of the physically smallest teams in the conference this year along with being one of the most inexperienced, and I say give him a couple more years and see where we're at then before we pass judgment on him. I for one believe that next year or the year after that we may be dominate in the conference like Winthrop is right now.
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Post by RADical on Nov 10, 2005 1:42:08 GMT -5
The coach before Pinder really didn't recruit much WHAT? They had a ton of talent while she was there. I'm sure there were issues (you don't fire a coach that has won that many championships unless there is a problem) but it wasn't a lack of recruiting.
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Post by ATrain on Nov 10, 2005 8:21:55 GMT -5
It was towards the latter years of her career when recruiting dropped off, right before coach Pinder took over. I'm not sure what happened with the previous coach entirely, though...that was before my time.
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Post by WinthropEagleFan on Nov 10, 2005 8:36:35 GMT -5
So you're looking at a team with 2 seniors, 2 juniors, and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. The talent is there for them to take out Winthrop, but the inexperience makes them very prone to errors and they're currently lacking in confidence as well...or they'll get overconfident and relax their game, another typical mistake of a young team. Coach Pinder is a good coach, he knows the game, but he also knows that we're one of the physically smallest teams in the conference this year along with being one of the most inexperienced, and I say give him a couple more years and see where we're at then before we pass judgment on him. I for one believe that next year or the year after that we may be dominate in the conference like Winthrop is right now. I'm not saying that LU can't improve and get up to Winthrop's level, but I don't see Winthrop going anywhere, especially as long as McCartney is still at the helm. The talent level on Winthrop seems to get better each year, so not only is LU going to have to catch up, but also keep up.
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Post by Stevev on Nov 10, 2005 10:39:03 GMT -5
All that I know about former coach Phillips is that she was the senior administrator for womens sports at LU for 1 year then she was hired by Gardner Webb to take over as coach for volleyball there. Chuck Burch (former athletic director at LU now at GW) probably recruited her to go there. The problems with the team might be coach related. With last years talent they should have done much better last year especially early. This years young team is getting progressively worse and could end up in the BSC basement before it is all said and done. I guess we need to give Pinder at least 2 more years to right the sinking ship.
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Post by ATrain on Nov 11, 2005 21:20:34 GMT -5
3-2 WIN OVER RADFORD...AND RADFORD FANS ARE THE MOST ANNOYING EVER!!! "NICE RUN LADIES"-after Radford wins 1 point. "A double hit is allowed on the first ball over"-after we called it when it was clearly the SECOND person doing the double hit, he was just trying to be a smartalleck. And then there was the guy who took off his shirt so we could all see "I <3 RU VBall" in red and white on his midsection.
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 12, 2005 8:50:59 GMT -5
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Post by ATrain on Nov 12, 2005 14:06:47 GMT -5
Yes...they be me ladies...I'll also be in Asheville on Tuesday at the glorified high school gym that is the Justice Center at UNCA for the first round of the tourney, trip is compliments of LU. I hope they win, b/c I would love nothing more than an all-expenses paid beach vacation with a bunch of ladies during a school week
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Post by thesportscritic on Nov 12, 2005 14:24:32 GMT -5
They (volleyball) almost choked against Radford but thankfully they woke up and smelled the coffee before it was too late.
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Post by PAmedic on Nov 14, 2005 6:26:24 GMT -5
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