UTVballfan
100+ Posts
Sooo. This post starts out unhappily but the ending is good!
We'll start with Friday night. The match against #5 Illinois was pretty rocky. The short version is our passing and ball control sorta stunk the place up, Bevo-style. Let’s just say, the post-match clean-up crew required, in this order: shovels, then mops, followed by scrub brushes, a handi-wipe touch up, and, finally, a whole lot of Febreeze.
Turning the page to Saturday, the faithful crowd knew the Horns would take it up a few levels and would be fighting hard against the Beach. Even Spiderman showed up and hung in the Perpetual Standing O section. Who knew he was a Horns fan? The crowd and the team were primed for a great match.
In the first set, the Horns were maybe shaking off the butterflies. Maybe the Beach came out more relaxed, but in any case, they got a little separation. But then our new setter Hannah served off a bevy of points, including two aces, one against the Beach’s big cheese, Ledoux. Hannah dished it all around, first assisting Amber and then went back and forth between Sha’Dare and Rachael a couple times.
Gimmillaro opted for damage control with a TO; we were up 8-4, and the crowd was like, yes, that’s Longhorns volleyball.
But the match turned out to be much more of an epic battle than that, as we moved in and out of system, sometimes for quite some stretches. When we started up with the shanked passes and service errors, Elliott was reaching for the Tums. Then some dinks dropped, and finally we got husband-and-wifed, and Coach was about to go full-on mental. He turned to Coach Rockwell and says “ Didn’t I tell them about that?” and she goes, “Yes, Coach Elliott, you did.”
Exodus 20:17 says “Thou shalt not covet,” but frankly, I was jealous of the Beach’s passing.
The Horns were gripped in two simultaneous struggles: one with the Beach, and one with their own mind-set; their mental fortitude and toughness. I loved how they pulled themselves together for those mini-huddles even without a time-out, and, at least once, they did so while ignoring the whistle of the down referee. Sorry, ump, we’ve got business to discuss.
These two concurrent battles came to a fever pitch after the Horns dropped the 3rd and the 4th, and the Beach got a lead to start the 5th.
How did the Horns handle it? With total awesomeness! Amber, Jen and Juliann were all getting kills, and overall the ball control was sound. The Horns grabbed the lead by the throat, and didn’t let up afterwards, rolling to a 15-11 win.
It was Gimmillaro’s turn to go nuts. Like Elliott, though, he couldn’t pull his hair out, just for different reasons. Whereas Elliott’s is kinda sparse, Gimmillaro has something up there, I’m just not sure what it is. Is that hair? If so, human hair? A toupee? Rug? Weave? A hair hat, ala George Costanzo? Anyhow, he’d didn’t dare tug on it.
But, to get back on track. The team came though big time. It seems like to me, when we pass well, we execute a good percentage of the time. Sha’Dare, Amber and Rachael are all playing well, and complementing the team leaders, Juliann and Jen. Sarah Palmer started in black for the apparently sick and MIA Sydney Yogi, and passed and defended well. (The serve errors, though, oh my, including two in the fifth set?)
Our new setter continues to impress. Against the Beach she had 11 digs, 3 aces, and 4 kills. Won a nice joust, and blocks well. Quick as all get out. She’s gutsy, too. She’ll just go after a loose ball with the same fearless competitiveness of Ashley Engle and Heather Kisner.
Next week, #3 Stanford, and then either No. 1 Penn State or No. 6 Florida. Sure would be nice to bump Stanford, our nemesis in the 2008 semi-finals, and then sure would be nice to knock Russ-round-mound-of-Rose and Penn State off their #1 pedestal, since they were the ones who, arrghh, took us down in the finals last year.
Can’t wait – especially since our team has shown they are ready for epic battles!
We'll start with Friday night. The match against #5 Illinois was pretty rocky. The short version is our passing and ball control sorta stunk the place up, Bevo-style. Let’s just say, the post-match clean-up crew required, in this order: shovels, then mops, followed by scrub brushes, a handi-wipe touch up, and, finally, a whole lot of Febreeze.
Turning the page to Saturday, the faithful crowd knew the Horns would take it up a few levels and would be fighting hard against the Beach. Even Spiderman showed up and hung in the Perpetual Standing O section. Who knew he was a Horns fan? The crowd and the team were primed for a great match.
In the first set, the Horns were maybe shaking off the butterflies. Maybe the Beach came out more relaxed, but in any case, they got a little separation. But then our new setter Hannah served off a bevy of points, including two aces, one against the Beach’s big cheese, Ledoux. Hannah dished it all around, first assisting Amber and then went back and forth between Sha’Dare and Rachael a couple times.
Gimmillaro opted for damage control with a TO; we were up 8-4, and the crowd was like, yes, that’s Longhorns volleyball.
But the match turned out to be much more of an epic battle than that, as we moved in and out of system, sometimes for quite some stretches. When we started up with the shanked passes and service errors, Elliott was reaching for the Tums. Then some dinks dropped, and finally we got husband-and-wifed, and Coach was about to go full-on mental. He turned to Coach Rockwell and says “ Didn’t I tell them about that?” and she goes, “Yes, Coach Elliott, you did.”
Exodus 20:17 says “Thou shalt not covet,” but frankly, I was jealous of the Beach’s passing.
The Horns were gripped in two simultaneous struggles: one with the Beach, and one with their own mind-set; their mental fortitude and toughness. I loved how they pulled themselves together for those mini-huddles even without a time-out, and, at least once, they did so while ignoring the whistle of the down referee. Sorry, ump, we’ve got business to discuss.
These two concurrent battles came to a fever pitch after the Horns dropped the 3rd and the 4th, and the Beach got a lead to start the 5th.
How did the Horns handle it? With total awesomeness! Amber, Jen and Juliann were all getting kills, and overall the ball control was sound. The Horns grabbed the lead by the throat, and didn’t let up afterwards, rolling to a 15-11 win.
It was Gimmillaro’s turn to go nuts. Like Elliott, though, he couldn’t pull his hair out, just for different reasons. Whereas Elliott’s is kinda sparse, Gimmillaro has something up there, I’m just not sure what it is. Is that hair? If so, human hair? A toupee? Rug? Weave? A hair hat, ala George Costanzo? Anyhow, he’d didn’t dare tug on it.
But, to get back on track. The team came though big time. It seems like to me, when we pass well, we execute a good percentage of the time. Sha’Dare, Amber and Rachael are all playing well, and complementing the team leaders, Juliann and Jen. Sarah Palmer started in black for the apparently sick and MIA Sydney Yogi, and passed and defended well. (The serve errors, though, oh my, including two in the fifth set?)
Our new setter continues to impress. Against the Beach she had 11 digs, 3 aces, and 4 kills. Won a nice joust, and blocks well. Quick as all get out. She’s gutsy, too. She’ll just go after a loose ball with the same fearless competitiveness of Ashley Engle and Heather Kisner.
Next week, #3 Stanford, and then either No. 1 Penn State or No. 6 Florida. Sure would be nice to bump Stanford, our nemesis in the 2008 semi-finals, and then sure would be nice to knock Russ-round-mound-of-Rose and Penn State off their #1 pedestal, since they were the ones who, arrghh, took us down in the finals last year.
Can’t wait – especially since our team has shown they are ready for epic battles!
