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Summary of Shondell’s Dig City Podcast for this week

DocRon

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Dig City Season 4, Ep 11 10/26/2022

A summary of Dave Shondell’s podcast. For whatever reason I could not find his press conference on-line or on the athletic site (did he have one?)

National Outlook:
  • Many upsets this last week - Iowa State over Texas, etc. Kids cannot play at the top of their game every night
  • Louisville lost at Pitt
  • San Diego swept BYU - have not lost a set since 9/24
  • There are 7-9 teams that are ahead of the rest and then the next 20 to 25 teams beyond that are a free-for-all
  • Look at our upcoming schedule - we have all these teams that aren’t getting a ton of credit but are really good - like Michigan and Northwestern
The Last Week
  • We have reached the half way point of the season and last week was probably your roughest week of the season playing Nebraska and Minnesota
  • I thought we played really well against Minnesota - one of our best two or three matches this season - but it wasn’t good enough
  • We blew the first set - we were up 22-17 but we got in a tough rotation and then they got momentum and made plays and won it
  • In the Nebraska match - they were really good that night - probably the best team we have played this season on that night
  • And our offense was not very good. We were not that sharp in practice that week and that showed
  • This week so far we’ve been pretty good in practice
  • But every time we step on the floor from now till the end of the season we will be playing a match we can win and a match we can lose
  • I think even when we go to Nebraska at the end of the season that will be a tough match but we have the talent to win
  • We have coaches in the league who have just come in and their teams (like MSU and Iowa) don’t have good records but they are playing well. They are in the early stages of building a program and there is excitement
  • Then you have IU who has won 3 in a row including going to Michigan and beating both Michigan and MSU
  • Some years at this time some teams are starting to “drift away” but not this year. Everybody still has a pulse
  • It is easy to be critical of your own team but sometimes the other team just makes really good plays
  • VB is a momentum sport, just like basketball. When a team gets “mo” on their back they play at a higher level
Northwestern
  • We are 6-4 in the Big Ten tied for 5th place with PSU and overall 15-5. Our next match is at Northwestern (4-6 Big Ten, 15-7 overall)
  • Northwestern is trending in the right direction in the last years. They have 7 or 8 seniors or grad students led by (6’2” Temi Thomas - one of the best athletes in the game
  • Northwestern has beaten Minnesota in Minnesota, and went out and swept Maryland at their place yet are not getting any credit
  • If you have Temi Thomas-Ailara on your team you have one of the best players in the country. She was Big Ten Co-Player of the Week this last week
  • They are bolstered by 5th year players like (6’3”) Gorbachev who plays opposite position with Thomas and OH (6’2”) Lesiak. Both of their middles are good
  • Their setting situation is in a little bit of limbo as their starting setter (6’’3” Rousseau, Junior) has been out for the last two weeks or so. She may very well be back on Friday night.
  • The other setter (5’11” Noordermeer) is a freshman from California
  • And their backcourt is good - a couple of people out of Muncie Indiana - Megan Miller (5th year 5’6”) and Ellee Stinson (Sophomore, 5’2”).
  • This is a year they have been waiting for for a long time
  • We match up really well. We both have good size and both have experience. It should be a good match
  • We feel like our backs are against the wall but we are still in a better position than a lot of teams in the league
Indiana
  • On Sunday you face IU (5-5 in the B1G and 12-10 overall) at home which took you to 5 sets in your first meeting and they have not lost since
  • I need to make clear that even though we have a good record against them their teams are always competitive and you never know what is going to happen
  • We need a crowd both places - we always draw a crowd at Northwestern
Team Depth and Substitutes
  • The depth of our club this year means good players may not play much. When things start to go sideways, how hard is it to decide to sub somebody in who does not play much?
  • You see players like Emily Rastovski and Lourdes Myers, for instance, in practice and they play very well but you have a ton of players in front of them who have been on that floor a lot and it is hard to say “Let’s put them in” because that’s at least one sub and maybe two if your take them out for whatever reason
  • Lourdes came in against Nebraska and played very well and showed what she can do. But then you go to Minnesota and the other two middles are playing pretty well in that match so she didn’t get as much action as I expected her to get.
  • As a coach it’s a process of feeling more and more comfortable and for Lourdes she is nipping at the heels of our other middles and I will not hesitate to put her in as necessary in any match down the stretch
  • Ava Torrence and Emily Brown are the same way, both fighting for that last spot in the backcourt while I may start one I do not hesitate to put the other in
  • It’s the old story of how do I get experience if I can’t get in the game. But you will see more of these players in the game as the season goes on
The Northwestern game will be on BTN at 9PM Friday 10/28 and the IU game will be on BTN+ at 1PM on Sunday 10/30.
 
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Really tough match last night. NW looked every bit a dangerous NCAA tourney team. Props to them for a solid match, that hitter Temi Thomas Ailara was unstoppable. My goodness what a power hitter.
Purdue should beat IU at home, and honestly I think it’s a must-win, for momentum to finish out the season. And also to avoid like 5 straight losses. This League is tough!
 
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