Welcome to Hogville!      Do Not Sell My Personal Information

VB at home vs SC, 10/13

Started by psycHOGlogist, October 14, 2017, 04:40:40 pm

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

psycHOGlogist

The Hogs picked up an impressively dominating win over the Gamecocks in Barnhill last night. It was a good and important win because the team has been off-kilter a little bit since losing the nail-biter to Florida. Losing to Auburn and LSU on the road was not too bad, honestly — LSU looks to be much improved this year, and we actually had two match points to win that one (only to lose in 5) — but losing to Bama was definitely not expected, and neither was winning in 5 over Ole Miss (a team I think we should beat more easily).

So this match was notable for both the thumping we put on SC (25-19, 25-15, 25-14) and for showing a new lineup. We have been struggling this year with the OH2 position (the Outside Hitter who plays two rotations away from the setter). Our typical lineup all season has featured Reagan Robinson in that position, with Hailey Dirrigl playing in the OPP hitter spot. Dirrigl has really been playing well, especially as of late. Last night, Coach Watson changed things up and put Dirrigl in the OH2 spot (she is more comfortable hitting on the left side and had been playing a little out of position all year) and played Fernanda Guitron in the OPP spot. This is a bit of a Hobson's choice this season. Robinson has not been consistent on the left side, though she has had a few good matches. And Guitron is limited offensively, so she is not going to be as productive as Dirrigl was over there. However, Dirrigl did a fantastic job in the OH2 slot, racking up 13 kills in 3 sets (the same number of K's as VIctoria) to tie for the team lead. Guitron did okay with a small number of sets, and more importantly she didn't make any errors.

Will be interesting to see if we stick with this lineup and let Dirrigl more swings outside. But the most exciting news is that we trucked the Gamecocks in our only match of the week. Next up is a mixed travel week with a road game at TAMU (winnable, but tough) Friday followed by a home match vs MS State (should be a W).

WPS!