dj_paige

Eve Adams, Randolph, OH, commits to play volleyball at Buffalo https://www.instagram.com/p/CwJKbJMOhd-

The UB Volleyball team defeated Colgate 3–2 yesterday, in an exhibition match at Colgate. Colgate won the Patriot League championship last year and appeared in the NCAA tournament. They finished the season with an RPI of 66, and were predicted to win the Patriot League again this year. In addition, Colgate defeated Buffalo 4–1 in an exhibition match last year at Alumni Arena. No matter how you look at it, Colgate is a quality opponent. Buffalo took the first two sets, both by scores of 25–20. Buffalo coach Scott Smith used lineups consisting of players who got regular playing time a year ago, plus grad transfer Maurine Calande. But for the third set, Smith went deeper into his bench, and used fewer established players, and Buffalo lost 25–22. Smith stuck with the deeper lineup for the fourth set, and this time Buffalo pushed Colgate into extra points, with the Red Raiders winning 27–25. And Smith continued with the deeper lineup in the fifth set. In that 5th set, Buffalo trailed 11–8, but there was no panic on the Bulls' side. After a timeout, the Bulls scored the next two points, and after a Colgate kill, the Bulls scored two more points to tie the set. At 13–13, Calande came up with a big kill, and then a stuff block by Abby Leigh finished the set and the match in Buffalo's favor. So the big picture is that Buffalo's regulars out-played Colgate, and when Smith went deeper into the bench, the rest of the lineup played roughly even against Colgate. The Buffalo players who got regular playing time a year ago are known quantities, we know what they can do, and they lived up to and went beyond expectations. A very solid job by those players. So I'm not really going to talk about them (much). Instead, I'm going to discuss the new players, and the returning players who didn't play much a year ago. Freshman setter Liv Gravatt entered the match to start the third set, and she looked nervous. Her sets early in the 3rd were way off target, and she picked up two ball handling errors. But as the third set wore on, and Gravatt continued as the setter in sets 4 and 5, her accuracy improved. Ball handling errors disappeared, and her now on-target setting was one of the reasons why Buffalo pushed Colgate to overtime in the 4th set, and one of the reasons Buffalo won the 5th set. Gravatt, who had 99 aces in her senior year at high school, did not pick up an ace, but her float serves caused Colgate a lot of problems (which also contributed to the results in sets 4 and 5). Freshman defensive specialist Chloe Brown also entered the match in the third set, and served an ace on her first play on the court. Well, sort of. Colgate was called for an out-of-rotation error on that play, which goes into the scorebook as an ace. But other than that trivial accomplishment, how did Chloe Brown do? You would not know she was a freshman from her play against Colgate. She played libero in set 5 (she was a libero in high school), and really looked comfortable at that position. Calande, an outside hitter, played well throughout the match, picking up 3 aces with her jump serve. Her jump serve isn't quite the same high velocity as teammate Katrin Trebichavská's, but still effective. She played all six rotations — most international players who play outside hitter or right side (Calande is from Belgium) have to be good at playing both front and back row because international rules are different than NCAA rules. Redshirt freshman middle blocker Tehya Shaw missed last year because of a surgery, and certainly didn't play at the same level as Buffalo's other middle blockers Abby Leigh and Courtney Okwara (but really, what freshman plays at that level?), but you can see she has great potential. It was an unfortunate day for sophomore outside hitter Lauren Otten, who played only sparingly a year ago. Otten took the court to start the 2nd set, landed awkwardly on the very first play (I didn't see what happened) and limped off the court. She did not return, and was still limping after the match. Buffalo used four liberos in the match, junior Maria Futey in sets 1 and 2, senior Julianna Lopez in set 3, senior Hayley Montoya in set 4 and Brown in set 5. Montoya was brilliant in set 4, flying all over the court to get her hands on the ball, and usually made good passes. Montoya was another reason Buffalo nearly won set 4. Montoya also gets credit for starting the Play of the Match™ in the 4th set. After a great diving dig by Montoya, Gravatt had to run to get to the ball, and on the run placed a perfect bump set in the air for senior Stacia Gollogly, whose cross court shot landed. Defense, transition, offense, teamwork. Freshman setter Liv Gravatt, left; and senior libero Hayley Montoya, right Other Stuff Freshman outside hitter Manoela Forlin was not with the team. I assume she still hasn't returned from playing in the U-19 Women's World Championships in Europe. Forlin plays for Brazil. A few years ago, when Buffalo played an exhibition match at Colgate, it was 90º in the arena, but yesterday it felt air-conditioned in the arena (because it was a cool day, not because the arena has air conditioning), much more comfortable for players, coaches and fans. Buffalo's first regular season matches are August 25th and 26th at Alabama-Birmingham. They will face the host team, plus Austin Peay and Florida A&M. The career of Colgate's 6-7 middle blocker Hristina Georgieva could not have started in a more frustrating fashion. She missed her first year on the roster because of an injury. Her second year, she played briefly in Colgate's exhibition match at Alumni Arena but had no impact, played one regular season match and then was injured and sat out the rest of that season. This year, her third season on the roster, she has a concussion and so she could not play again. Too bad for her, and I was looking forward to seeing what she can do. But she did make it onto the court (sort of) in sets 4 and 5, as injured Colgate players were used as line judges, and so she becomes (possibly) the tallest line judge ever. Q: Why can't fish play middle blocker? A: Because they are afraid of the net! Video of the final point of the match is on my Instagram and Threads account, @dj_paige on both. I probably won't use Twitter/X much any more.

Occasional live updates from Colgate today (8/19/2023) on the Bull Run discord in the Volleyball 2023 thread. Invitation: https://discord.gg/9askxAFx (its free, but you do have to create an account and user name and password)

The UB Volleyball team comes off its most successful season ever in 2022, winning the most MAC games ever, advancing to the MAC Semi-Finals for the first time ever, and earning a post-season invitation for the first time ever. And the Bulls seem ready to build on this success in 2023, returning players who accounted for nearly 85% of the team's total points. Returning this year to the Bulls lineup is the MAC leader in hitting percentage, the MAC leader in solo blocks, the MAC leader in aces, and for the first time ever, Buffalo has a setter who was named First-Team All-MAC. Let's take a look at the team that fifth year head coach Scott Smith will put on the court, position by position. Outside Hitter Senior Katrin Trebichavská led the team in scoring in 2022, and also led the MAC with 64 aces (21 aces more than anyone else in the MAC). No UB player has hit 60 aces in a season since the 1980s, when the rules were quite different. Trebichavská hits the ball extremely hard, and the velocity on her attacks is the highest in recent memory, and seeing one of those attacks or serves land is worth the price of admission. But therein lies the problem — hitting that hard is a high risk, high reward activity, and there are plenty of times when Trebichavská struggles with her accuracy. As spectacular as her 64 aces was, she had over 100 service errors. If her accuracy improves, Trebichavská could be one of the best outside hitters in the MAC. Sophomore Lauren Otten appeared in only 6 matches as a freshman, so it was hard to judge her capabilities. But in spring volleyball, she played well, with some well-placed and powerful attacks, and she should see much more playing time this season. Newcomer Maurine Calande is listed as a graduate student, she stands 5–11 and played for club teams in her native Belgium. Scott Smith said she also played libero in Belgium. And sadly, I can't tell you much else about her (yet). Last, but not least, is incoming freshman Manoela Forlín, who comes from Brazil and this summer played internationally for the Brazil Under-19 team at the U-19 Women's World Championship. Just to give some context, Brazil is one of the giants in international volleyball, winning two gold medals and one silver medal in the last four Olympics, and so making the Brazil U-19 team is a testament to her talent. Although she normally plays the opposite position (which is the position she played for Brazil), she will most likely play at outside hitter for Buffalo. In the spring, Forlín played outside hitter for UB, played all six rotations, and seemed like she had all the skills you want to see from a six rotation player. Middle Blocker Buffalo has one of the best MAC duos at the middle blocker position. Fifth year player Courtney Okwara led the MAC in hitting percentage at 0.420, the highest in UB history. She averaged 3.27 kills per set, and 0.89 blocks per set. Truly an all-around player at the middle blocker position. Another fifth year player, and another all-around player, Abby Leigh, was the team's second leading scorer last year, and she returns as the MAC leader in solo blocks. Leigh wasn't far behind Okwara in hitting percentage at 0.367, 3.25 kills per set and led the team in blocks at 1.1 per set, good for fifth in the MAC. Leigh had 7 aces in one match, one short of the school record. With those attacking numbers from Okawara and Leigh, UB fans need a new chant: “Set the middles!” Redshirt freshman Tehya Shaw will make her first appearance for the Bulls after sitting out last year because of a surgery. Shaw played well in spring matches. Right Side Senior Emma Gielas was the team's third leading scorer last year, and has been a consistent performer on offense all three years at Buffalo. Gielas has been a starter all three years as well. Gielas has shown a full variety of shots from her right-side position, cross-court, down the line and tipping. Senior Stacia Gollogly has played all three front row positions for UB. She has shown improvement every year at UB, and had a career high of 15 kills in one match. Possible front line for the Bulls: Lauren Otten (1), Courtney Okwara (12) and Stacia Gollogly (10) Defensive Specialist/Libero Junior Maria Futey switched from outside hitter to libero during the 2022 season, and in her games at libero she averaged 4.37 digs per set, the most by any Buffalo libero in nearly a decade. In fact no UB libero has even averaged 4 digs per set since 2013. Senior Julianna Lopez averaged 1.82 digs per set, and senior Hayley Montoya averaged 2.14 digs per set, both good numbers for defensive specialists. Both are transfers, playing their second year at UB. Montoya has been one of the more vocal players on the team, if you can find the video where Montoya was mic-ed up for a match, its worth watching. Freshman Chloe Brown joins the Bulls from Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she played libero and outside hitter. She earned many all-star awards in the Cleveland area. Setter Junior Mandy Leigh finished 3rd in the MAC in assists per set, earning her a First-Team All-MAC award, the first UB setter ever to be so honored. She is the all-time UB leader in assists per set. Her 2,318 career assists puts her in 9th place all-time, and if she continues at that pace, she will be UB's all-time leader in assists after four years. Watch for one her special moves, a behind-the-head no-look tip onto the opponent's floor. Mandy is Abby's younger sister. Freshman Liv Gravatt joins the team from Maryville, TN. She played one year for Vista Murieta HS in California, where she won a state championship. At Maryville, she twice won the Volleyball Player of the Year award from the Maryville Daily Times. As a junior, Gravatt had 81 aces, and as a senior she had 99 aces — how is that possible, when Trebichavská only had 64? And, get this: before Gravatt even steps on the court for UB, she is UB's all-time leader in one statistic: most Instagram followers, she has over 90,000. L to R: Abby Leigh, Katrin Trebichavská and Mandy Leigh Other Stuff Assistant coach Delaney Gallagher is in her third year with Buffalo, and starts her 2nd year as recruiting co-ordinator. Aaron Gordon begins his first year as assistant coach. Gordon was previously an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth. Cali Assaley, a starter for the Bulls last year, is now Director of Volleyball Operations. As far as I know, this is the first year where UB Volleyball has had a DOVO. Abby Leigh has also played all three front-line positions while at UB. Buffalo will take the court on Saturday, August 18 in an exhibition match at Colgate. The Bulls lost an exhibition match to Colgate 4–1 at Alumni Arena last fall. Colgate is always one of the top mid-majors in the east, and finished last season with an RPI of 66. The non-Conference schedule has been upgraded and includes five P5 conference teams. The strength of schedule for UB this year is in the 150s, while a year ago it was in the low 200s. Smith is hoping that this tougher non-conference schedule will help the Bulls compete even better in the MAC. Forlín will wear #14, the first time a player has worn that number since Monika Šimkova last played for UB. Cooking video from Gravatt: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqreJnbMqTT/

Manoela Forlín finishes the tournament with 26 kills, 2 blocks and 1 ace, plus a 47.27% attack efficiency (that's pretty good!) playing almost always as a reserve off the bench. Brazil finishes 7th, but Brazil nearly defeated eventual champion United States in 5 sets, losing the fifth set 15–11. For Brazil to play roughly even against the USA, let me add some context here: the players on the USA U-19 team have all committed to P5 programs, and not just any P5 programs, but to programs that are the cream of the crop and national powers — Oregon, Southern Cal, Texas, Wisconsin, Penn State, Nebraska. Does this mean Manoela Forlín can compete at that level? I'm not quite ready to say that yet, remember Forlín was a reserve for Brazil. We'll see how well she plays at the mid-major level in a few weeks.

Manoela Forlín has her best game of the tournament so far against Bulgaria, but Brazil loses 3–1 (first time Brazil has lost a set). Forlín has 10 point (9 kills, 1 ace), second on the team in scoring, including 6 points in the 3rd set. For the first time in the tournament, she was given a start in the 4th set, but didn't last long on the court in that set. Normally, Larissa Brandão is the starting opposite for Brazil, and she gets most of the playing time at that position, but Brandão had a weak performance, resulting in a lot more playing time for Forlín, who played very well off the bench. A side note of minor interest: Bulgaria's captain, 6-5 opposite Iva Dudova, has been playing professionally in Bulgaria's professional league since she was 14.

Against Thailand, Forlín scores 2 kills, 0 errors on 6 attacks, in brief playing time. Forlín is playing as the reserve opposite (in the NCAA that position is called "right side"), and she only comes into the games on a "double-switch" which is something coaches in international volleyball do regularly, late in a set. When the setter on a team rotates into the front row, the setter and opposite are subbed out and a new setter and opposite are subbed in, with the opposite in the front row. So that's when Forlín comes in, she plays the 3 rotations in the front row, and then comes out. This is similar to an NCAA two-setter offense, except because substitution rules are different in international volleyball, Forlín and a setter can only be subbed in once per set, while under NCAA rules, a new setter and opposite can be subbed in every 3 rotations (usually) throughout the set.

Manoela Forlín plays briefly in each of Brazil's first two matches (both 3-0 wins). In the first game, she has a kill at match point, her only attack of the match. In the second game, she gets a block, but no attacks. Also see https://ubbulls.com/news/2023/7/31/womens-volleyball-manoela-forlin-is-ready-to-represent-ub-and-brazil-at-the-u19-fivb-world-championships.aspx

Manoela Forlín to compete in the U-19 World Championships for Brazil — schedule: 8/1/2023 vs Canada, 8/2 vs Peru, 8/3 vs Thailand, 8/5 vs Bulgaria, 8/6 vs Italy, all games played in Szeged, Hungary, then playoff/medal round. Games to be streamed on VBTV ($7.99/month). Box scores and standings at https://en.volleyballworld.com/volleyball/competitions/women-u19-world-championship-2023/

Scott Smith told me that last season the strength of schedule was in the low 200s, this upcoming season it is in the 150s. The idea, of course, is that this stronger schedule will help UB compete better in the MAC.

Link to the specific part of the General channel on Discord in which I discuss the Coaches Caravan Link to the description: https://discord.com/channels/1012484831457857559/1012484832804220980/1133920873020137482

I attended the Coaches Caravan in Buffalo this week. I put a rather long description of what I learned in the Bull Run Discord (in the General channel). If you're not already a member of the Bull Run discord, please join us: INVITATION

In game 2, Lopez gets the start and leads Argentina in points (8), assists (3) and steals (3), on 4-for-15 shooting. Argentina gets blown out by Australia 85–45, so all the offensive numbers for Argentina are quite low.

Correction: she will play in the FIBA U19 World Cup

I think that should say 4 returning players, one of which did not play last season ... The 4 are Baron, Ogden, Johnson and Watson (who didn't play last season due to transfer rules). Baron of course, was a walk-on, playing only garbage time minutes, and I'm not really expecting anything different from her this year. So, if that expectation proves to be correct, that is the equivalent of 3 returning players as Baron won't contribute. She's a great story, however.

Incoming freshman Paula Lopez (uniform #12) is listed on the roster as being from Spain, but she will play for Argentina in the upcoming World Championships.

Who are these people? https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuj126MOIeX/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Speaking of letting things play out, let us not forget that Lance Leipold went 2-10 his 2nd year at UB. So a terrible 2nd year doesn't, in my mind, mean that the coach should get canned. Then there's Blair Brown Lipsitz, who coached UB volleyball to a 3-13 record in the MAC her second year, but the next two years both set program records for wins in the MAC. So while the situation with Becky Burke doesn't look good at the moment, two years from now we might all be saying what a great coach Burke is ... or maybe not. So, yes, let things play out.

I am dismayed that there will be only three players returning from last year's team: Ogden, Johnson and Watson. This is a huge amount of turnover, even in the transfer portal era. I was hoping that last year, after the roster chaos when FLJ left, that there might be some emphasis on retaining players and building for the future. But that apparently hasn't happened in year one of Becky Burke. I now hope this will happen in the upcoming year, that a solid foundation of players will be developed and retained, but I will be skeptical until I see it myself.

My gut feel is that HCSS has used last year's success (MAC Semi-finalist, WIVC invitation) to try to "upgrade" the non-conference schedule. There are three Big East teams on the schedule (Xavier, Depaul and St. Johns), and two other P5 teams (Arkansas and Missouri). I call it the FLJ-ization of the schedule. This means there is only one home tournament (which includes a Big East opponent), whereas in the past Buffalo usually hosted two home tournaments. And also notice, there are no local or even semi-local opponents on the schedule this year (unless you consider Binghamton to be semi-local, but they were 17–8 last year). I haven't computed a "strength of schedule", but it sure seems like this is a much tougher non-conference schedule than in previous years. I hope I am right about this. Remember, FLJ beat a number of P5 programs along the way to build the program, and Buffalo hosted Stanford at Alumni Arena in WBB. Hey, Kevin Hambly, after you come east to thrash Penn State, consider stopping at Buffalo. In any event, Buffalo returns almost all of their regulars from last year; we have a first team All-MAC setter in Mandy Leigh and possibly the best duo in the MAC at middle blocker, Abby Leigh and Courtney Okwara. And then there's the exciting freshman Manoela Forlin, who is currently playing for the Brazil U-19 team which will compete in the U-19 World Championships. This could be a very big year for UB.

I usually go to these, and I usually try to talk for a minute or two to each of the head coaches. I have fun, but of course, no one is revealing any big secrets or inside information.

Manoela Forlín has been selected for the Brazil Under-19 team which will compete in the FIVB U-19 World Championships in from August 1–11, 2023. The tournament will be held in Osijek, Croatia and Szegec, Hungary. Brazil will compete in Pool C, along with Italy, Thailand, Peru, Canada and Bulgaira. The top four teams in each pool will advance to the single elimination round. Right now, she is in Metz, France, where her team played an exhibition match against Holland, and Brazil won 3–1. The photo shows Manoela (red arrow) and her teammates after the win. Photo from her Instagram @manoelaforlin

If Ireland was a basketball power, I'd be excited about this recruit. But they are not (as far as I know). Which is why I am very excited about Manoela Forlín (volleyball) who played on the Brazil U-18 team, Brazil being a major power in women's volleyball, winning two gold medals and a silver medal in the last 4 Olympics. Plus, I was able to get used to players speaking with Australian accents, now you throw an Irish accent at me? Arggh!

Meanwhile, Loren Christie commits to play her 5th year of eligibility at Xavier.

Polina Prokudina completes her 2nd year as a professional with AS Argo Volou (Volos, Greece which is a port on the Aegean Sea, about 100 miles north of Athens). Photo below from her Instagram @pprokudina