2023 PostSeaston
- Thread starter LTK5H
- Start date
franslasttwinkie
Active member
As I said a win over Marshall (USM) then a huge upset against JMU should be enough to punch our ticket. Make it to the championship game and committee would have a really hard time keeping us out of an at large bid w/RPI. If we had swept CCU last weekend would we have been playing on other side of bracket with USA instead of JMU?
I'm 99% sure the answer is no, because the tournament is set up E vs W. The look of the bracket would have flipped top/bottom, but the games would have been the same. We would still be W1 and JMU would still be E2.
franslasttwinkie
Active member
Feel like I asked that same ass question last year. So basically no real tournament advantage to have been the SBC overall #1 seed by winning regular season.
TXST (19-8/12-4) vs Marshall (13-18/5-12)
7:00 start Friday*, ESPN+ here: link, Livestats here: link
*subject to previous matches
Not going to go into much detail here, just based on the records. This is a team we should handle, full stop. Marshall had 1 player on the All SBC Team - 2nd team MB Essence Clerkley, who is 2nd on the Herd w/ 300.5 points, so the matchup inside vs Jade and Bailey will be a good one to watch. Seem to be a fairly well balanced offense overall, with 5 players scoring between 240 and 350 points. Looks like they run a 6/2, based on stats so look for #6 to both set and swing - don't usually see that out of a 5'7" player. Not a particularly tall side: 6'1", 6', 5'7" (S), 6'1", 5'8", 6', 6', 6'1
7:00 start Friday*, ESPN+ here: link, Livestats here: link
*subject to previous matches
Not going to go into much detail here, just based on the records. This is a team we should handle, full stop. Marshall had 1 player on the All SBC Team - 2nd team MB Essence Clerkley, who is 2nd on the Herd w/ 300.5 points, so the matchup inside vs Jade and Bailey will be a good one to watch. Seem to be a fairly well balanced offense overall, with 5 players scoring between 240 and 350 points. Looks like they run a 6/2, based on stats so look for #6 to both set and swing - don't usually see that out of a 5'7" player. Not a particularly tall side: 6'1", 6', 5'7" (S), 6'1", 5'8", 6', 6', 6'1
TXST (20-8/12-4) vs James Madison (20-8/12-4)
5:00 start Saturday*, ESPN+ here: link, Livestats here: link
*subject to previous matches
From the regular season:
The Dukes placed only 2 players on the All-SBC Team, but they were both 1st Teamers, and they are responsible for 47% their scoring. That's #s 10 (at the pin) and 15 (inside). IMO, how we defend those two will determine how the match goes. I love our girls in the middle for this mathup - we lead the conference in blocks as a team, with Jade and Bailey coming in at 4th and 5th individually. Conversely, we get blocked more than anyone else in the conference, and Davis (#15) is 2nd individually.
Not in our favor: JMU leads the conference in Service Aces and no one gets aced more than TXST. How we fare in serve receive will dictate play overall - keep an eye on that rotation when Maggie comes in and how quickly we can get out of it and back to our strength w/ KJ, Bailey and Sam up front. Need the littles to be big today!
JMU hasn't been sharp lately. In their last 4 matches, they dropped a set to Marshall, then got swept by USA, and Troy took them to 5 yesterday. Let's hope they're a little tired and we're sharp after what was essentially a scrimmage.
This is SUCH a big match for our program, not just for this year, but in how our girls see themselves vs the top of the conference going into next season and beyond. They know they can beat Coastal, but JMU has 3 straight on us going back to the title match last season. Need to win and (re)establish that pecking order going forward.
5:00 start Saturday*, ESPN+ here: link, Livestats here: link
*subject to previous matches
From the regular season:
JMU swept us in Harrisonburg, and that was easily the low point in our conference slate, and it may have been a turning point as well - we are 11-2 since.
The Dukes placed only 2 players on the All-SBC Team, but they were both 1st Teamers, and they are responsible for 47% their scoring. That's #s 10 (at the pin) and 15 (inside). IMO, how we defend those two will determine how the match goes. I love our girls in the middle for this mathup - we lead the conference in blocks as a team, with Jade and Bailey coming in at 4th and 5th individually. Conversely, we get blocked more than anyone else in the conference, and Davis (#15) is 2nd individually.
Not in our favor: JMU leads the conference in Service Aces and no one gets aced more than TXST. How we fare in serve receive will dictate play overall - keep an eye on that rotation when Maggie comes in and how quickly we can get out of it and back to our strength w/ KJ, Bailey and Sam up front. Need the littles to be big today!
JMU hasn't been sharp lately. In their last 4 matches, they dropped a set to Marshall, then got swept by USA, and Troy took them to 5 yesterday. Let's hope they're a little tired and we're sharp after what was essentially a scrimmage.
This is SUCH a big match for our program, not just for this year, but in how our girls see themselves vs the top of the conference going into next season and beyond. They know they can beat Coastal, but JMU has 3 straight on us going back to the title match last season. Need to win and (re)establish that pecking order going forward.
franslasttwinkie
Active member
Maybe this is the year when we weren’t supposed to do what we are doing now that our women’s VB and SB board engagement grows from 5 to several dozen.