USA-Athletes Unlimited League

    We are halfway wth the tournament. IMHO Larson may have picked Sheilla in order to have a less dominant opposite she can kill more balls. The competition is very tight. And I think it's all up to her, Bethania de la Cruz and Leah Edmond.

    Quote from QPL

    We are halfway wth the tournament. IMHO Larson may have picked Sheilla in order to have a less dominant opposite she can kill more balls. The competition is very tight. And I think it's all up to her, Bethania de la Cruz and Leah Edmond.

    I think if King can win some matches, she'll get up there... She's 4th in stat points (MVP votes is screwing her over)


    Kelly Hunter got a ton of win points... if she can go 3-0 (with 3-0 or 2-1 sets), I could see her creep into the top 4

    Quote from QPL

    Larson could pick Atkinson, which is in a far better shape than Sheilla, but she didn't. She choosed the brazilian and a solid back up for her.

    I wonder if Atkinson being picked late isn't volleyball related, but more like hard to work with, maybe an attitude problem or something??

    Quote from QPL

    We are halfway wth the tournament. IMHO Larson may have picked Sheilla in order to have a less dominant opposite she can kill more balls. The competition is very tight. And I think it's all up to her, Bethania de la Cruz and Leah Edmond.

    It's a pretty calculated move but I don't think its for that reason. She's comfortably racking up points doing just about everything else and all of the other athletes were generously voting for her as one of the MVP's every game.


    I see it more as business strategy (TV rights) and a bit of a political gamesmanship ( towards the very vocal Brazilian Stans). She's thinking longterm for AU and shes highly aware of the Chiclet meme and iffyness towards her from that base. Also Sheilla is Sheilla. When healthy, even at her age, is better than almost every Opp there.

    Quote from Sillynameplus567

    It's a pretty calculated move but I don't think its for that reason. She's comfortably racking up points doing just about everything else and all of the other athletes were generously voting for her as one of the MVP's every game.


    I see it more as business strategy (TV rights) and a bit of a political gamesmanship ( towards the very vocal Brazilian Stans). She's thinking longterm for AU and shes highly aware of the Chiclet meme and iffyness towards her from that base. Also Sheilla is Sheilla. When healthy, even at her age, is better than almost every Opp there.

    Larson knows how to play this. This is likely her last go around as a professional player. The setters may not realize how to use her versus her Brazilian days. If she can keep the league with a Brazilian tv deal, some way some how, it is a smart play. Sheilla is also about on her last pro deal. It may be more of a respect thing as these two have battled over the years. Brazil and the USA pushed each other and this game to higher heights. A repeat of the 2012 Olympic Final was what I expected in 2016, but neither team got there. China with the upset in Brazil in the quarters. Serbia in 2018 and Italy in the final there. The margins are just tight at the top right now.

    Quote from avid

    Also a note, for those who actually use the AU website (lol who does that), the USA time changes tonight/tomorrow... so our clocks will go forward an hour and make time zones even more fun

    You guys time traveling??? :wavy:

    Quote from Meatballs

    lol Taylor Bruns recommending Clark in chat as a pic, saying "with Cass and Tiff, we can hide any other OH".

    Hiding Abbott isn't working, they're targeting her even more. lol


    Did Bruns forget that you can't really hide another OH unless you have a passing OPP?