And lose the 3rd 25-22. We were in every one but couldn't get any runs going long enough to close one out.
Volleyball on a 4-match winning streak, 7-2 in the B1G.
https://twitter.com/IlliniVBall
[youtube]9YSIMXf69ko[/youtube]
I fully expect the ladies to finish blowing their 2-0 lead to Michigan and complete another dismal Illinois sports weekend.
You know something amazing I noticed while looking at the stats from yesterday's match? Michigan actually has more players on their roster from Illinois than the University of Illinois does.
Three of Michigan's starters yesterday are from Illinois, while UofI only has two Illinois natives on their entire roster. That just demonstrates how terrible of a job Hambly did recruiting Illinois - especially toward the end of his tenure.
Here are other B1G volleyball teams with as many of more Illinois players than the Illini:
Wisconsin: 6
Northwestern: 5
Iowa: 3
Indiana: 3
Minnesota: 2
Michigan State: 2
Penn State: 2
The only team in the B1G that doesn't have at least one player from Illinois is Ohio State, I believe.
Good dig. Those numbers are telling. Am not suggesting we should feature an all from Illinois roster or anything remotely close, but 2 is ridiculous. Especially, for being a rich volleyball preps state. Hambly really messed up there.
You know something amazing I noticed while looking at the stats from yesterday's match? Michigan actually has more players on their roster from Illinois than the University of Illinois does.
Three of Michigan's starters yesterday are from Illinois, while UofI only has two Illinois natives on their entire roster. That just demonstrates how terrible of a job Hambly did recruiting Illinois - especially toward the end of his tenure.
Here are other B1G volleyball teams with as many of more Illinois players than the Illini:
Wisconsin: 6
Northwestern: 5
Iowa: 3
Indiana: 3
Minnesota: 2
Michigan State: 2
Penn State: 2
The only team in the B1G that doesn't have at least one player from Illinois is Ohio State, I believe.
Really high on this team long term. When you consider they have been starting 4 freshmen recently, a new head coach, and they've found themselves just out of the top 25 for most of the season, you've got to feel like we've got an opportunity to build towards something really big here over the next couple of seasons. Their performance last night was uneven, but for the stretches when they were on, they definitely looked like a legit ranked team.
The program had definitely been on a long downswing under Hambly, but I agree that things are looking up again. Tamas seems to be the right man for the job and the current team is very young and improving.
It's also nice to know that they have one of the top setters in the nation (Diana Brown) waiting to step in when Poulter graduates.
I don't follow volleyball that close but long downswing... wasn't there a national championship appearance pretty recently...
I don't follow volleyball that close but long downswing... wasn't there a national championship appearance pretty recently...