Georgia Tech beat Lipscomb in 4 sets last night, advancing them to tonight’s 2nd round versus our Gophers, 6:00 on ESPN 3. (If you’re busy at 6:00, you can watch it later because it’s “streamed.”) I watched last night’s match so that I can provide a little better analysis than appeared in this morning’s Strib. I didn’t know if I got ESPN 3, but it turns out I do. (Maybe I get ESPN 7?) It’s “streamed,” but I got it through my regular Comcast connection without paying extra – not sure how that works.
Back to Georgia Tech: The ‘Rambling Wreck is led by two Brazilian outside hitters, one who looks like my idea of a Brazilian (I haven’t been there) named Brambilla, the other a redhead named Bergman (go figure???). Both seem to take most of their swings from the back-row. In all my playing, coaching, and Gopher-watching history, I can’t remember seeing a team that relied so heavily on back-row attacks.
[We were in Orlando one time, to watch Ethan play in the 16 & Under Nationals, and we got to watch the 18 & Under championship match. This was pre-rally-scoring, and though the match was 2 out of 3, it lasted over 2 hours because both teams had one unstoppable hitter, who was fed every set, regardless of position, and it went serve, bump, set, and kill; sometimes a full six rotations between either team scoring a point. But that’s different.]
The advantage of back-row attacks is that there’s more margin-of-error for the set, you just throw it up in the general direction and let the hitter find it. And back-row attacks are harder to block. The disadvantage, for the hitter, is that you have to be conscious of where your feet leave the floor (maybe you get used to this, but it’s an additional complication), and you have less court to aim at – basically the back 10 feet. (I have seen back-row attackers dink, but I didn’t remember these Georgia Tech hitters doing it last night.) Obviously, the Gopher coaching staff was scouting the match last night, and maybe there are tactical moves that can slow down an offense dependent on back-row attacks – but I don’t know what it is.
The Gophers finished in 2nd place in the Big Ten, and the Wreck in 4th place in the ACC. But the Gophers were 15 & 2, just barely better than the 4th place Buckeyes at 15 & 3, while the Wreck was 13 & 4, just barely behind 2nd place Notre Dame at 14 & 3. So the only reason for confidence is the assumption that the Big Ten is a stronger conference than the ACC. But how much better?
Historically, the Big Ten is a stronger VB conference. I took a quick look at the 50 teams appearing in the last 25 National Championship Games, and counted 22 Big Ten teams, 24 West Coast teams, and a couple each by Texas & Florida. No ACC teams have ever made it to the finals! And this season’s final national coaches poll had 6 Big Ten Teams in the top 12, and no ACC teams. (First place Louisville was ranked #13, with 3 more including Georgia Tech scattered between 19 & 23.) But polling suggested that the Big Ten was the nation’s strongest in men’s basketball in 2020-21, and that turned out an illusion. And 3 of the Men’s “Frozen Four” teams were from Minnesota, and none of them won it. So …
Watching last night’s Georgia Tech/Lipscomb match, I tried to visualize how either of these previously un-seen teams would match up against the Gophers or other top Big Ten Teams; lacking benchmarks, a difficult exercise. The serving, receiving/digging and setting looked about the same — strong, skilled girls that know how to play volleyball.
As mentioned above, Georgia Tech’s reliance on back-row hitting was definitely different. But if the Gophers have any obvious advantage over Georgia Tech, it would be at the net; the Gophers are very strong blockers, and Georgia Tech didn’t seem to be. Georgia Tech’s reliance on back-row hitting could neutralize the Gophers’ blocking, but I think the Wreck will have a difficult time handling the relentless power of Samedy, Pittman, Landfair and Rollins. So I like our chances.