VB: Building blocks to a season

[s102r18]

Good article about the lows and highs and turning points of the season.

A quibble: Juliann entered "beast mode" one match earlier than indicated, on November 6 at home against OU, with 28 kills.

 

[TempestHorn]

Actually I quibble with your quibble. Juliann entered beast mode even one match earlier, against CU. During an 11 point Texas run in the 3rd set she reeled off 5 kills and 3 solo blocks.

 

[s102r18]

Good point, TempestHorn, you are a keen observer!

It should be noted, though, that Juliann had a total of five kills through the first two games of the CU match, which is far from "Beast Mode." She added six kills in game three of that match. Eleven kills in a three-game match is not beastly, but six in one game is! Ordinarily we might just call six kills in one game a peak in the usual up and downs, but get a load of this: From that Game #3 of the CU match through the end of the regular season, Juliann's stats add up to 162 kills in 27 games...exactly 6.0 kills per game over a stretch of 7-1/3 matches. To put that in perspective, had she played at that level all season she would be ahead of Stanford's Alix Klineman (5.48 KPG) and behind only Tulsa's Tyler Henderson (6.23 KPG) on the national leader board. Obviously maintaining that pace for a full season is more impressive, but the CU match was October 30; maintaining a 6KPG pace for almost a full month, especially as the pressure is mounting late in the season, is still impressive. And don't forget that at the start of the season Juliann was working with her fourth different setter in her four years on campus. Coach has called her a "rhythm" player, and four setters in four years is not especially conducive to being in rhythm from the first match to the last match of the season!

So I'll second your quibble if you tweak it to say she entered "beast mode" during the third game of the CU match.