Most of you posters who follow volleyball are aware of this to varying degrees but I thought I'd get more detailed with the topic and put some numbers to it.
Cpt Obvious tells us that when the passing breaks down that the offense isn't as effective. They're out of system more often, Hames isn't able to set all zones which makes the offense predictable and her sets generally aren't well timed or in the optimal location for her hitters.
Conversely, when the passing is good, they're in system, sets are well timed and in the proper location and Hames is able to distribute to all zones which keeps the attack balanced and less predictable. Far less often are the attackers hitting into a well formed block.
One of the easiest ways to tell if a Husker squad is passing poorly and/or out of system frequently is in the distribution numbers. Like most squads in most offenses, the OH's on the left side (opposite) are the easiest for the setter to set off a bad pass (whether it's a hand pass or a platform pass). Some teams intentionally set opposite at a high % simply because their best/most productive attacker fills that role so they lean heavily on them (Jacqueline Quade from Illinois or the Pressley girl from Baylor are good, current examples of this).
In Cook's system, he generally covets a balanced attack over riding his star(s) which is why you see recent AA players like Kelsey Robinson, Kadie Rolfzen or Mikaela Foecke have not total near the swing attempts throughout a season as players like Quade or Pressley mentioned above.
So when things are going well and passing is on point, which generally leads to quick, efficient wins, you can clearly see the Huskers implementing a balanced offensive attack. For example:
In the eleven conference wins where the Huskers were able to end the match in only 3 or 4 sets, the five primary attackers (Sun, Kubik, Sweet, Stivrins and Schwartzenbach) took a combined 1089 swings. Of those, the opposites (Sun and Kubik) combined to take 556 swings (51% of the total) and the remaining three combined to take 533 swings (49% of the total).
That's pretty well balanced when your two middles and right side are combining to take almost the exact number of swings as your OH's on the left side. You can't do this with your offense if your setter isn't getting the passes to set all zones.
So if you look at the remaining seven conference games where NU either lost or the match went 5 sets, the five attackers combined to take 1005 total swings. Of those, the opposites accounted for 555 (55.2%) and the remaining three attackers took 450 swings (44.8%).
In these seven matches, Sun and Kubik took over 100 more swings than Stivrins, Sweet and Callie combined. That's out of balance for how Cook wants his offense run.
And to drill down one more level to show what Wisconsin was able to do to the Huskers this season, let's look at the distribution for just these two losses (0-3 sweeps). In these matches, the five attackers combined to take 200 swings. Of those, the opposites combined to take 120 swings (60%) and the remaining three took 80 swings combined (40%).
That's way out of balance for what they'd like to do and it really shows just how poorly the Huskers passed and how Hames wasn't able to balance the load.
All things considered, both Sun and Kubik hit pretty well in these matches and they still terminated at a decent clip (Kubik leaked a little oil in this most recent match). But they were both regularly hitting in predictable situations and generally against a big block. That's tough on any attacker regardless their level of play.
Ultimately, the Huskers are only going to go as far as their serve and serve receive can take them. Those are two of the three core principles to Cook's system. So far this year, against the better teams, NU hasn't shown themselves to be up to the task with a level of consistency and play that would make you think they're destined for a deep tournament run. They face a team who has a good night from the service line and they could get sent home early.
Purdue served NU tough in both matches this year and gave NU fits (and a loss). Stanford served tough (loss). The second Iowa match a few nights ago, they totally served out of their minds and that went 5 sets.
Not sure what to really expect in the way of improvement over this next couple of weeks. Sun has historically been streaky passing out of the back row and the other two primary targets are true freshmen (Kubik and Knuckles). They've both had tough stretches lately and you've got to wonder about their overall confidence level going into the tournament.
Let's hope they're able to play above their age level (similar to how Foecke elevated in the post season of her freshman year).
All I know is that Hames is going to end this year in pretty good cardio shape cause they're running her WAY off her spot in too many matches lately.
Tough way to make a living against the better teams in the nation.
GBR!
Cpt Obvious tells us that when the passing breaks down that the offense isn't as effective. They're out of system more often, Hames isn't able to set all zones which makes the offense predictable and her sets generally aren't well timed or in the optimal location for her hitters.
Conversely, when the passing is good, they're in system, sets are well timed and in the proper location and Hames is able to distribute to all zones which keeps the attack balanced and less predictable. Far less often are the attackers hitting into a well formed block.
One of the easiest ways to tell if a Husker squad is passing poorly and/or out of system frequently is in the distribution numbers. Like most squads in most offenses, the OH's on the left side (opposite) are the easiest for the setter to set off a bad pass (whether it's a hand pass or a platform pass). Some teams intentionally set opposite at a high % simply because their best/most productive attacker fills that role so they lean heavily on them (Jacqueline Quade from Illinois or the Pressley girl from Baylor are good, current examples of this).
In Cook's system, he generally covets a balanced attack over riding his star(s) which is why you see recent AA players like Kelsey Robinson, Kadie Rolfzen or Mikaela Foecke have not total near the swing attempts throughout a season as players like Quade or Pressley mentioned above.
So when things are going well and passing is on point, which generally leads to quick, efficient wins, you can clearly see the Huskers implementing a balanced offensive attack. For example:
In the eleven conference wins where the Huskers were able to end the match in only 3 or 4 sets, the five primary attackers (Sun, Kubik, Sweet, Stivrins and Schwartzenbach) took a combined 1089 swings. Of those, the opposites (Sun and Kubik) combined to take 556 swings (51% of the total) and the remaining three combined to take 533 swings (49% of the total).
That's pretty well balanced when your two middles and right side are combining to take almost the exact number of swings as your OH's on the left side. You can't do this with your offense if your setter isn't getting the passes to set all zones.
So if you look at the remaining seven conference games where NU either lost or the match went 5 sets, the five attackers combined to take 1005 total swings. Of those, the opposites accounted for 555 (55.2%) and the remaining three attackers took 450 swings (44.8%).
In these seven matches, Sun and Kubik took over 100 more swings than Stivrins, Sweet and Callie combined. That's out of balance for how Cook wants his offense run.
And to drill down one more level to show what Wisconsin was able to do to the Huskers this season, let's look at the distribution for just these two losses (0-3 sweeps). In these matches, the five attackers combined to take 200 swings. Of those, the opposites combined to take 120 swings (60%) and the remaining three took 80 swings combined (40%).
That's way out of balance for what they'd like to do and it really shows just how poorly the Huskers passed and how Hames wasn't able to balance the load.
All things considered, both Sun and Kubik hit pretty well in these matches and they still terminated at a decent clip (Kubik leaked a little oil in this most recent match). But they were both regularly hitting in predictable situations and generally against a big block. That's tough on any attacker regardless their level of play.
Ultimately, the Huskers are only going to go as far as their serve and serve receive can take them. Those are two of the three core principles to Cook's system. So far this year, against the better teams, NU hasn't shown themselves to be up to the task with a level of consistency and play that would make you think they're destined for a deep tournament run. They face a team who has a good night from the service line and they could get sent home early.
Purdue served NU tough in both matches this year and gave NU fits (and a loss). Stanford served tough (loss). The second Iowa match a few nights ago, they totally served out of their minds and that went 5 sets.
Not sure what to really expect in the way of improvement over this next couple of weeks. Sun has historically been streaky passing out of the back row and the other two primary targets are true freshmen (Kubik and Knuckles). They've both had tough stretches lately and you've got to wonder about their overall confidence level going into the tournament.
Let's hope they're able to play above their age level (similar to how Foecke elevated in the post season of her freshman year).
All I know is that Hames is going to end this year in pretty good cardio shape cause they're running her WAY off her spot in too many matches lately.
Tough way to make a living against the better teams in the nation.
GBR!
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