Jerritt Elliot

I do remember a couple of weeks ago Jerritt mentioned that he thought one of the recruits would be signing a financial assistance letter. I don't know if that has something to do with this situation. You can have a 2 sport athlete who has their scholarship with the other sport, ie: Destiny. Don't quote me on this but I believe her scholarship was with track. However, I don't know if we have any players that are 2 sports next year.
 
No need to stress about scholarship limits; the coaches know what they are doing. Keep in mind that not every player is given the same type of "agreement". Some players might be told they have a scholarship for 4 years, some are told that have a scholarship for 1 year. Plus, a scholarship has to be "renewed" every year, which basically amounts to both player and coach agreeing to extend things for another year.

As in any sport, attrition occurs. Some players transfer, or decide to move on for different reasons. Inuries, as unfortunate as they are, also somietimes have an effect on careers.

As for the tourney, the current RPI has Texas at #13. While several posters believe we'll be a #2 national seed, I'm just hoping we are no worse than a #3 seed. We still have two matches to play, and really need to finish strong to secure the best seed possible; we don't want to give the committee any reason to drop us from where we are currently. We learned last year that the committee has no "logic" when creating the bracket. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if Nebraska got placed in the Austin regional. Realistically, I'm thinking Florida, Cal, or Stanford will be the #1 seed in Austin.
 
the reason i figured we would be a #2 seed for sure (assuming we win out of course) is because we have finished so strong. with two more wins we would have gone 18-1 to finish the season including 15 straight victories. this will have included wins over then #2 nebraska and #9 iowa state. and during our current run of 13 straight victories we haven't been taken to 5 sets by anyone. of course we have to take care of business and win these last two in the same fashion.
 
I do know that in the past some female soccer players were given Rowing scholarships.

Remember the number of mens scholarships and womens have to be equal.

I also think they give out half scholarships in baseball, might this be true in Volleyball?
 
There is a hierarchy in the NCAA sports that basically says if you're a two sport player your scholarship counts towards the more marquee sport. IIRC the rule was created so that football coaches could not circumvent scholarship limitations by handing out track scholarships (football being the marquee sport). I am pretty sure volleyball is #2 behind basketball so the only way to get relief here is to have a volleyball player also play basketball.
 
Congrats to Kathterine Bell who stood out at the high school AVCA 2010 Under Armour All-Star game this past weekend in Kansas City.

The Link

Madelyn Hutson was also on the roster:

The Link

Hutson was all recognized for the state of Tennessee as Gatorade State Player of the Year:

The Link

Not sure how this happened, but Bell was left off the Texas All-State team:

The Link

Not sure how accurate this is, but I read on a message board the Colorado's GPOY, 6'2 junior OH Nicole Dalton, has committed to Texas for 2102; will followup if/when it is confirmed.
 
i just noticed the best setter in the under armour match was from iowa; this must be who won the gaterade award instead of eckerman although i have no idea what her recruit ranking is.
 
Gatorade Player awards also take into account academic achievements and extra-curricular activities...so maybe that may have affected the selection process for Bell and Eckerman.

I'm also reading that 2010 Colorado Gatorade Player of the Year Nicole Dalton has verbally committed to the Horns for 2012. She is a 6'2 OH who also has the ability to set. She and Molly McCage were selected for the original 2010 USA Youth Olympic Team (but an entirely different team had to be selected due to age restrictions.)

Her presence fills the need of a second setter on the squad as Kocher graduates in 2012. But with her hitting and setting abilities, I can see her playing a similar role as Ashley Engle, hitting in the front row and setting from the back in a 6-2 system.

The 2012 Class should be complete with:

6'4 MB Molly McCage
5'10 L/DS Amy Neal
6'2 OH/S Nicole Dalton
 
Did anyone catch the High School All- American Volleyball Game on TV today. And will they replay that game again.
Hookem'
 
Caught the game tonite, and my focus was to make sure I paid attention to our recruits! I still would like to know, who is suppose to be the No.1 recruit in the nation.Because it look like its K.Bell OMG To be able to play all 5 positions except for setting. I could not believe sum of the digs she made.And she brings all of the energy that D.Hooker use to bring,if not more.She just so much more advanced, just to be at the high school level. It would not surprise me,to see her start next year at Texas. Hookem' I am so happy we got her! I like what the commentors said in between the game. She was a 21st Century player that is long and lang, that can play the backrow.
 
Agree with you Dino! Khat Bell played all over the court, pounding away kills in the front AND back rows, gets her hands way over the net in blocking, came up with some hard digs, passed the ball on serve-receive, and showed off a decent jump serve (minus the serve where she hit the back of Tiffany Baker's head
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). I thought she showed up and outplayed the #1 recruit Krista Vansant.

From what I saw today, barring any injury, she is going to be a starter next year.

We're going to have an embarrassment of riches of QUALITY players on the squad next season.

I've always felt that serve-receive and backrow defense have been Elliott's achilles heel in winning a championship. If they can learn to pass nails on serve-receive, stay in-system, and play consistent tough defense a la PSU/UCLA/Purdue, the 2011 team can find its way back to the Final Four in San Antonio and finally take the crown!
 
I saw the Under Armour All-American High School match.

Agree with everything that has been said about Kat Bell. Very physical and talented, and to me at least really stood out in the match.

I loved her enthusiasm. Reminded me of some of my favorite UT players, including Destinee and Juliann.

She was very polite, poised, and confident in the post-game interview.

I think she is going to be a huge addition to UT's team and legacy.

Madelyn Hutson seemed to be searching for some rhythm. Due to rotation happenstance, she seemed to be stuck in the back row a lot. I'm sure she feels more at home up front. In any case, I am delighted that she's on the roster as well. She'll give us some options to help counter the Katie Slay's and Ariel Scott's at PSU.

As noted elsewhere, Haley Eckerman was not there, although she is supposed to be very, very good.

Interesting side bar: Hannah Allison played with all three of the new recruits in 2009 as part of the U.S. Girls' Youth National Team, that went to Thailand.

If these new players are the same type of quality individual that Hannah appears to be, we'll have a lot to be proud of the next few years.
 
H.Eckerman am very confused on that talented player not making the All-American Game. She is Outstanding! J.E will have his hands full next year, picking the starting lineup.
Hookem'
 
I foresee us definitely running a 6-2 next year with all these tall Amazons on the roster. There are certainly a lot of possibilities, but my early starting line-up is:

Setters: Kocher and Allison, of course.

Libero: Palmer who will sub in the backrow for the MBs. She now has a full season underneath her belt and has all spring/summer to train full-time at this position. I want to see her get stronger and put more heat on her jump serve!

RS1: Webster should be back and will add a strong blocking presence on the right-side.

RS2: Sha'dare showed that she can be a force on the right-side and her passing and attacking will improve. I hope she also works on her backrow attacks as she will be one of the 6-rotation players.

MB1: Rachael Adams, no explanation needed. I can see our returning All-American having another monster year. I enjoy watching her aggressive blocking but she needs to work on avoiding those net violations!

MB2: I see Kat Bell starting off here, even though she could play OH as well. Haley Cameron will have the benefit of training at this position for a full year but I don't think she has the explosiveness and blocking presence like Kat. Madelyn will be coming in the spring and she will be a huge blocking presence, but Kat's lateral quickness, vertical jump, and fast armswing will win her this position.

LS1- Roberson was playing at a very high clip prior to her injury. She needs to get on the Jen Doris work out program to add more muscle to her frame. She really improved her shot selection and showed that she can be a very good backrow threat as well. Her blocking and passing need to improve, but I can see her being the other 6-rotation player opposite McNeal.

LS2- I'm going to say Ashley Bannister at this point. She injured her ankle in the preseason, came back, and then re-injured herself. But towards the end of the season, she was scrimmaging with the squad. In the little playing time she did have, I thought she showed good hitting ability and court awareness. I think she will be one to benefit greatly with spring/summer training.

If they run the 6-2 they ran last spring, the setters will come in for Webster/Bannister when they rotate to the backrow, while Roberson/McNeal play all the way around. And if I remember the rotations correctly, when Roberson/Bannister are in the front row, they will each play 2 rotations on the left/1 on the right and McNeal/Webster will play 1 rotation on the left/2 on the right. Passing in serve-receive will always be handled by Palmer/McNeal/Roberson (again which should improve considering this was the first season any of them played back there). And assuming we are passing in-system, this 6-2 will allow us to have 3 attacking options in the front row and 1 in the backrow and will always give us a huge blocking presence in the frontrow regardless of rotation.

I didn't mention Eckerman only b/c I've yet to see her play but if she is as good as advertised like Bell, she will be able to find playing time. But really, the girls who show consistency in hitting and passing the ball, who block aggressively, and play smart floor defense will be in the starting line-up.

Two more things I'd like to see by next season: tougher serving and hitting the ball more aggressively on broken plays instead of just bumping/setting it over to keep it in play. Good defenses, like Penn State, will easily transition it to a point...like they did over and over again.
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And I really hope the volleyball gods are kind next season and keep the injury bug away from the squad! The amount of injuries sustained in this one season should qualify for at least 3 years of injury-free players.
 
Eckerman was not part of the Under Armour match b/c of the following reasons: "in order for an athlete to get chosen for this team their coach needs to be an avca member and their stats needs to be entered on maxpreps, that's why there are some deserving players left off of this team"

Both Eckerman and Bell are very strong recruits coming in and should get plenty of playing time as true freshmen.
 
So this being the VB offseason, do we have a countdown till next season?

The big question for next year with all of our youngsters, how will we match up to the premier teams or should I just say Penn State who is quite young.
 
We should match up with anyone in the country next year very favorably. Stanford & Penn State both lose 3 very important players to them. Penn State will be without their RS (Brown), their middle blocker and their libero. They also lose a ds that played for one of their outsides. Stanford loses Lichtman (setter) Klineman (OH) and Ailes (Libero). As we can attest losing your libero is a big deal. I wouldn't be surprised to see a USC/Texas national championship as USC returns everyone from a final four team.

It will be very interesting to see what lineup Elliott chooses to use. We really need a 3rd passer to supplement McNeal and Palmer. Whether that's Bell or a DS or if Roberson can step up her senior year this will be crucial. Bannister and Webster are the wild cards on the front line in my opinion. Both of them need to be healthy.

My guess on lineup is
Setters: Kocher and Allison
OHs: Roberson and Webster (setters and OH to sub)
MBs: Adams and Cameron/Knutson
Libero: Palmer
RS: McNeal and Bell
This lineup assumes Bell can be a 6 rotation player.
I'm really wanting to see a front line block of Webster/Adams/Bell! That trio should match the Hooker/Paolini/Engle amazon front line.
 
Something to consider when running the 6-2, the MB must be a consistent threat attacking in front of the setter for the system to be effective.

Adams is the perfect example. Although she is capable of running slides behind the setter, her bread and butter is attacking from the middle of the court. She was usually left one-on-one with the opposing MB because the pin hitters on the other team were camping out on our pin hitters. And because she was such an offensive threat, the opposing MB was usually late or never there to close the block when the ball was set out to our pin hitters.

That's why I think Kat Bell will be most effective as the other MB. She's already known to be a good blocker but it's her attacking ability that puts her ahead of Cameron and Hutson. It will be like having two Rachael Adams on the floor!

Of course, none of this matters if we don't have consistent passing and backrow defense. Like Tempest said, we need a 3rd consistent passer to step up (which will need to come from one of the OH since we're running a double substitution 6-2 or we'll run out of substitutions if a DS is put in). So someone out of Roberson, Bannister, Eckerman, and Webster needs to man up.
 
Lots of talent for 2011, that's for sure. It is good that Madelyn Hutson is enrolling for the Spring semester; that will be beneficial and allow Elliott to see exactly how Madelyn may be able to contribute in the immediate future.

Both Webster and McNeal have experience playing on the right side in college. McNeal can also play MB. I'm assuming Webster can play OH, too. I'd be interested to know what Elliott's plans were for Webster prior to her injury last August; was she slated for OH or RS? I'm assuming RS since that is where she played her freshman season, and we had Faucette, Roberson, and Bannister as OHs.

I know that Bell has played MB and OH in high school and club, but not sure how she's done on the right side. But, like McNeal, her versatility is a great luxury to have. I see her as the MB2 behind Rachael Adams, but I expect Bell to serve and play in the back row at least one rotation; she led the DFW in aces, I believe, and her jump serve is impressive.

I am crossing my fingers for Bannister to heal and have a healthy 2011 year. She was very impressive in an early match at Florida last season, and had wrestled the starting OH2 position away from Roberson early in Big 12 play, before re-injuring her ankle.

Since the 6-2 offense seems like a pretty sure thing for 2011, the substitution pattern chose will be of high interest. In 2009, I believe Elliott ran a "modified" 6-2, so I'm anxious to see what he comes up with for 2011. He said that the 6-2 was supposed to be the offense of choice for 2010 (and we did use that in the match at Florida),. but the constant injuries put that to bed for the rest of the season.

My guess for some of the starting lineup would be:

Setter 1 / Setter 2 - Allison / Kocher
MB1 / MB2 - Adams / Bell
RS1 / RS2 (completely unsure) - McNeal / Webster
OH1 / OH2 (again unsure) - Bannister / Roberson (although Haley Eckerman could make her presenece felt)

Who subs in for who and when is out of my realm is I am not the x's and o's expert by any means.

In the end, the cream will rise to the top. Competition among our own squad members has been great over the last few years, and will so again in 2011.
 
A small preview of our 2011 commits.

Video

I can't wait to see Khat Bell in burnt orange.
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We are going to be loaded with lots of talent and should make another run to the Final Four (which is in San Antonio this year)!
 
If Erik can fix the team's passing and back row defense issues, we might soon be able to start talking about a volleyball dynasty!
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