USA NT 2017

  • Paolini? Like Lauren? She has never been a real contedor in the NT, in fact she has never been picked up for some big tournament.. Gibbemeyer is better than her, so was Dixon before the injury.. If Tetori gets back to her pre-injury form I expect her to be a starter.. They also have fresh faces in the team, Paolini is out of the picture..


    My biggest worry is the setter position, as well as the OPP.. Lloyd ia a good player of course, but we know how much she struggled with the fast ofense, and also she was pretty bad in Italy this season.. Alisha retired, Thompson retired, Kreklow retired.. so 3 of the setters that got to play in the last 4 years, and gone now (not to mention Alisha is one of the besh worldwide and was a big big reason for that success)


    You are right I totally forget about Dixon and for some reason I assumed Gibbemeyer to be older than Akinradewo :S You are right that both of them are better than Paolini. but this link suggested that Paolini was one of the eight players have been designated as alternates for the U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team :what:
    http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Vol…es-US-Olympic-Womens-Team
    MB has never been a problem for USA anyway, there are many good MBs already playing on international levels like Jackson, Wopat, McCage etc
    It seems like either Carlini and Hancock will be the backup of Lloyd and Hancock is not close to level of Glass, Kreklow or Thompson. Maybe Carlini or even Nichol? For the opposites, Liz McMahon seems to be best option, I really don't want to see Fawcett in USA NT anymore. Not sure about Aiyana Whitney or Kadie Rolfzen?


    I'm more curious about libero, it has never been the strongest position of USA since Sykora but now it is even worse. Any promising new comers? And what do you think about the chances of Newcombe? Do you think she can also make it to Tokyo?

  • Even without Glass or a any good OPP at the moment, the US has really no reason to worry, The Americans always get to be starters on their club teams, even when playing their first season, they never bench. Carlini will play her first season and will be a starter right way, Hancock is not a good setter but she played 2 season as starter in Poland and you can expect her to be starting in Italy or Turkey for the next 4 years, which means they have 4 years to get there. Same thing goes for the OPP position.


    I think Larson and Foluke will make to Tokyo.


    I watched Newcombe in China and she was really weak, and right now at the gym Bartash is outplaying her. It will be Larson,Hill,Robinson,Bartash. But 3 years is a long way to go and things change.

  • Libero will be a battle between Amanda Benson and Justine Wong-Orantes for next 4 years.
    Benson is the better passer, Wong is better digger and has higher profile from NCAA.
    That can all change as they gain experience in pro leagues.

  • Even without Glass or a any good OPP at the moment, the US has really no reason to worry, The Americans always get to be starters on their club teams, even when playing their first season, they never bench. Carlini will play her first season and will be a starter right way, Hancock is not a good setter but she played 2 season as starter in Poland and you can expect her to be starting in Italy or Turkey for the next 4 years, which means they have 4 years to get there. Same thing goes for the OPP position.


    I think Larson and Foluke will make to Tokyo.


    I watched Newcombe in China and she was really weak, and right now at the gym Bartash is outplaying her. It will be Larson,Hill,Robinson,Bartash. But 3 years is a long way to go and things change.


    @rbdfabio I think you could not be more wrong about Newcombe. She lead Sichuan to the clubs first ever playoffs and was the only new edition to the team from the previous year. She passed with two and was one of the top receivers in the league. She also served great and had more aces than Mihajlovic. She was not asked to carry the offensive load because of Rachel Rourke. Her team also beat Beijing (Robinson/Lowe) Shanghai (Pavan/Havelkova) Henan (Murphy/Easy), and Laoning with Ding Xia and Yan Ni.


    IMHO Newcombe is the most under rated player for USA. She has also played great in Turkey, Russia, and Azer. Would love to see her greet time with USA. I also think she would be great back in China or with Fenerbahce as a receiving/defensive OH opposite Natalia :teach:

  • To be honest I had no idea who she was until this season when she played in China. As I said, based on her performance in China only. She played good, but nothing special about it, and who lead the team was Rachel Rourke that was scoring 20,30,40 points per match. And it was a team effort, in the 2 first games of the semifinal she did not play because she was sick and still they lost but only in the 5set.


    She might be a good defensively but I don`t think she`s good enough offensively for the international level. Just check her stats on the chinese page, and you will see she was very inconsistent scoring, she had one game with 20 points, but she had a bunch under 10, and against the strongest teams she did not do very well. ( you can watch replays on youtube ).


    And I don`t think Karch will use 2 players receiving only, he needs 2 OH that can pass and score. Hill, Robinson, Bartash can pass plus they can score a lot as well.


    But we will see, let`s see how she will perform in the Grand Prix, hopefully she will do well.

    @rbdfabio I think you could not be more wrong about Newcombe. She lead Sichuan to the clubs first ever playoffs and was the only new edition to the team from the previous year. She passed with two and was one of the top receivers in the league. She also served great and had more aces than Mihajlovic. She was not asked to carry the offensive load because of Rachel Rourke. Her team also beat Beijing (Robinson/Lowe) Shanghai (Pavan/Havelkova) Henan (Murphy/Easy), and Laoning with Ding Xia and Yan Ni.


    IMHO Newcombe is the most under rated player for USA. She has also played great in Turkey, Russia, and Azer. Would love to see her greet time with USA. I also think she would be great back in China or with Fenerbahce as a receiving/defensive OH opposite Natalia :teach:


  • There's like one guy who keeps asking and talking about Alisha Glass. I believe his username is tangotango! I wonder if he's on inside-volley as well. :whistle:


  • I think her lack of scoring was more because of a lack of opportunities than anything. In many matches her kill percentage was higher than Rourke's. Also the 2 years Newcombe Played in Turkey she was top 10 in the league in scoring and in 2014/15 in Turkey she was top 10 in scoring, kills, serving, passing, and she was #1 in blocking for non middles.


    I understand that maybe not so many people know about her, but I have been a fan since she went to University of Oregon. There she was the all time leading scorer. Just want to share some info about her :win:

  • I also think that Newcombe is underrated player. That's why I asked if anyone else is following her. She was superb in her seasons in Turkey. She is more balanced at defense and attack than all other American OHs with good blocking skills. I would have pick her over Hodge or Bartsch. I hope she will play in a better league next season. I would be more than happy to see her in Turkish league next season. :win:


    Where will Carlini play this season?

  • I also think that Newcombe is underrated player. That's why I asked if anyone else is following her. She was superb in her seasons in Turkey. She is more balanced at defense and attack than all other American OHs with good blocking skills. I would have pick her over Hodge or Bartsch. I hope she will play in a better league next season. I would be more than happy to see her in Turkish league next season. :win:


    Where will Carlini play this season?


    Carlini will play for Scandicci in Italy.
    I do think Newcombe can be a useful player for sure, but I don't think her place is among world's best OHs.. For a club sure, she can even play in a big one like Fener maybe, but when it come to the NT, especially USA I don't think she can make a difference against teams as Serbia, Brazil, China, Russia..

  • It seems Hagglund spent the season training with the USA team, so she will still be there fighting for a spot.


    Pity she never got real chances so far, she was the best libero ever seen in the NCAA after all.

  • glass? doping? what????

    she was on McLaren list :wavy:

    Gold medal - World League 2013 Prediction Game
    Bronze medal - World League 2012 Prediction Game

  • It seems Hagglund spent the season training with the USA team, so she will still be there fighting for a spot.


    Pity she never got real chances so far, she was the best libero ever seen in the NCAA after all.


    She had her chances with the NT. I know you like her a lot, but she is not a good passer (for libero standards) and hasn't been that great digging too.. In fact she couldn't even get the starting spot in Volero from Popovic, who is far from a great libero

  • She had her chances with the NT. I know you like her a lot, but she is not a good passer (for libero standards) and hasn't been that great digging too.. In fact she couldn't even get the starting spot in Volero from Popovic, who is far from a great libero


    I never saw her playing 2 games in a row at WGP. What chances are you talking about? Panamerican Cup?


    I like her and Wong-Orantes. Both of them shall be in NT.


  • I never saw her playing 2 games in a row at WGP. What chances are you talking about? Panamerican Cup?


    I like her and Wong-Orantes. Both of them shall be in NT.


    What I meant by chances is that she got invited, was training with the team, and if she was better she would have got more playing time..
    She played in Montreux in 2014, she was there at the World Cup.. and yes other minor tournaments.. My point is if she was as good as you say she is, she would eventually get the recognition.. but apparently she's not

  • IMHO it was Banwarth outstanding and over any expectations in the least 2 years, not Hagglund weak. In 2015 and 2016 Kayla was amazing, among the very best liberos in the world, and it was completely unexpected.

  • IMHO it was Banwarth outstanding and over any expectations in the least 2 years, not Hagglund weak. In 2015 and 2016 Kayla was amazing, among the very best liberos in the world, and it was completely unexpected.


    You can think what you want but Hagglund is not being considered. She has spent a lot of time training with the team and the verdict is that her serve receive is too weak for her to be an option.

  • Glass didn't receive suspension for doping, her name was in the files leaked by hackers with athletes who were allowed to use prohibited substances by WADA. Popovic (SRB, W) and Birarelli (ITA, M) also were in the list.


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