Volleyball Headlines for January 2, 2010

As the teams were heading into the locker room after the second set with Penn State down 0-2 for the first time in forever, announcers Karch Kiraly and Beth Mowins pulled Rose aside and asked him what was going wrong.

It was all pretty standard stuff until Karch said, "Coach...it seems your outside blockers aren't helping very much when Destinee Hooker is coming out of the middle back area. Are you going to try to correct that a little?"

Rose answered that when they did help out she would tip for the point. It was true, Destinee was killing them. That could not have been a surprise to Rose, a veteran coach and wise tactician.

But sometime in the next couple of games, the Penn State blockers found their way over to block Hooker's back row attempts and the game changed. They slowed her down a bit and won the next three sets.

It struck me as odd because I have never heard a commentator dole out such specific advice like that. Did it change the game? I doubt it. Like I said, Russ is a smart coach and probably would have figured it out on his own. Was it strange? You betcha.

Karch's Mid-game Coaching Tip originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 14:13:24.

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On the beach, the players of the year were April Ross and Phil Dalhausser with Ross and Kessy named the Team of the Year. On the hardwood, Nancy Metcalf and Sean Rooney took the honor of Player of the Year.

The U.S. Sitting Volleyball Players of the Year are Katie Holloway and Eric Duda. For more on these players and their outstanding seasons, check out the full article on USAV's website.

USA Volleyball's Best of 2009 originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 19:17:04.

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What this team accomplished was so improbable that we may never see the likes of it again. And that is not an overstatement. Even more unlikely is the manner in which they achieved it. Two straight undefeated seasons. 102 straight wins. Say what you like, but Penn State must be given its proper acclaim. This was a tremendous feat.

We also have to give it up for Texas though. The Longhorns put up quite a fight. They made the match one of the most exciting I've seen in a long time. To come out so fast and get Penn State on the ropes with an 0-2 deficit was a surprise. But a team with the experience of Penn State was not going to go out like that. Even though their senior stars struggled, the youngsters stepped up and they played through it like true champions.

Unfortunately for Texas, history will only remember the unprecedented accomplishments of this mighty Penn State team. It will never adequately reflect how close the Longhorns were to taking it all away. That's a shame because truth be told, a few points here or there and the outcome might have been different.

For those on the losing side of a game that big and that tight, it's the stuff nightmares are made of. But Texas played hard and well and can take pride in the performance they put together on Saturday night.

So a great season of college volleyball has come to an end and Penn State keeps the crown for yet another year. Congratulations to both teams for an amazing final match.

Three Straight originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 17:37:07.

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Surprisingly, there was a lot to choose from this year considering that it was the year after the Olympics. I expected sort of a let down after the build-up and excitement of the Beijing Games, but 2009 did not disappoint. There were major upsets, unbelievable streaks and brand new records this year to keep things interesting.

Over the next two weeks I will be counting down the top five moments starting with #5 as we remember the year that was.

Top Volleyball Moments 2009 originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 01:00:35.

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Up for consideration are the two senior OH stars -- Penn State's Megan Hodge and Texas's Destinee Hooker. Hodge earned National Player of the Year honors with Hooker as a close second, just as the two teams were in the national rankings all season long.

Before the match, Karch predicted that the two great hitters would cancel each other out. That was not the case. Here is how it broke down for the two hitters:

Megan Hodge, Penn State

Set 1: 1 kill, 3 errors, 8 attack attempts, -.250 hitting percentage

Set 2: 4 kills, 0 errors, 12 attack attempts, .333 hitting percentage

Set 3: 6 kills, 4 errors, 21 attack attempts, .095 hitting percentage

Set 4: 7 kills, 2 errors, 24 attack attempts, .208 hitting percentage

Set 5: 3 kills, 2 errors, 8 attack attempts, .125 hitting percentage

Destinee Hooker, Texas

Set 1: 5 kills, 1 error, 12 attack attempts, .333 hitting percentage

Set 2: 11 kills, 3 errors, 17 attack attempts, .471 hitting percentage

Set 3: 7 kills, 2 errors, 18 attack attempts, .278 hitting percentage

Set 4: 6 kills, 2 errors, 22 attack attempts, .182 hitting percentage

Set 5: 5 kills, 2 errors, 7 attack attempts, .429 hitting percentage

Both had slow starts in Set 1, both hitting below .200 for the first half of the set. Destinee pulled it together, coming to life and staying hot long enough for Texas to take the first two sets. She was elevating, bombing, mixing up her shots, getting kills from the front and back row and basically making mincemeat out of Penn State's block and defense.

Read more...

Hooker vs. Hodge originally appeared on About.com Volleyball on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 09:56:06.

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