Taylor Agost, #4 making her case for rookie of the year.
Oregon Ducks, PAC 12 all league, All American 2nd team
320 attack measurement per NCAA
She actually could also play OH as she did for part of the season last year or maybe a receiving OP.
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_agost/
Is there any team deeper then Imoco. Easy, Sylla, Hill, Tirozzi, Then Danesi, Robin, Foli. My favorites for CL and Italy.
For Oregon Duck fans, Ladies-in-Black Aachen featuring Taylor Agost #4, another blond beauty, at OP.
Link to view: https://sporttotal.tv/spiele/s…-0-spieltag-10112018-1800
Is Woloz to the point in her game yet where she will be seen as the top setter in the world right now?
Hill's role is so different on this team compared to the USNT. Back row defense, blocking, receiving and serving come first and she is generally only the third or fourth choice on attack. Well suited to her personality. Plus it makes her attack numbers better. Nice come back as Imoco settles in.
What's the current number of foreigners that can be on the floor at one time this year in Italy
Gio is waving the white flag now but future matches should be intense. Can't wait to see these two against Novara and Imoco in CL and who's to say Vargas and Bricio might cause some upsets with Fener.
If this match swings on the play of the OH2's then Larson clearly outplaying Krob.
Time to give Jamie Morrison some credit. He just put his resume in for the next USA NT coach by driving this silver stake into Karch's heart and probably insuring that Karch's contract is not renewed for Paris24.
Knock, Knock, Knocking on Karch’s Door, or Through the Looking Glass
Karch’s Fast System Causes Melt Down but backs into the Round of 6 Anyway, WC 2018.
Italy going for the win tomorrow to guarantee that they do not end up in the same pool with Serbia in the final 6. 1st place teams are automatically in the opposite bracket..
Women’s World Championship 2018 – 2nd Round – Pool F Preview
In a most somnambulist manner Coach Kiraly has stumbled upon his best starting 7 in a fashion that goes against everything he has done before. He grabbed Kelsey Robinson from her OH position and inserted her mid game for a struggling JWO. Previously Kim Hill only got that kind of treatment. Then when the Hill/MBH combination didn’t click and he got better success from Larson/MBH he benched Hill, his 2014 WC gold MVP.
But when his Murphy, MBH, and Larson combo struggled in the gold medal VNL match against Turkey he moved MBH to OP and brought back Hill to join with Larson and that team pulled out the match in impressive closing fashion.
With the big summer friendly being a four match week in Brazil will Karch play coy and go back to trying different Hill/Larson/MBH combinations using his traditional lefty Opposites? Or will he go all in with MBH at OP and then try to quickly burn-in a new third OH.
Madi Kingdon has the inside track. She played well last year on the B-team but couldn’t quite grab a spot on the A-team. Sarah Wilhite was just given a long look at #3 but just didn’t grab the opportunity. The dark horse here is Megan Courtney and whether she has recovered enough from her ACL tear to compete this year.
In 2015, the wake Karch, got caught up in experimenting with his players and never could quite settle on his group and in doing so lost the magic from the 2014 WC gold medal. This fed right into his last-minute decisions on who would go to Rio and a frustrating Bronze medal.
Hopefully now we have a sleeping/woke coach who has slipped on the Ring and will let it guide him to another WC gold.
I think the FIVB would really like to raise the profile of the VNL to take the prestige factor up a notch from what the Grand Prix was. They hired one of the leading US sports management company to consult with and it shows minus the stats. If they get 3 really competitive years out of four I think they will have done well. Plus rotating it through the countries is genius. One year the US will host and it won't be in Nebraska but Las Vegas, LA, or Miami. The need to grow the fan base in the US and China seem obvious.
There can never be enough volleyball between the top teams either Club or National and the improving ability to watch it on demand is great.
Taylor Agost, a recent University of Oregon grad, has indicated that she will be playing in Europe next season. She is 6'2' with athleticism similar to Bricio and beauty like the Tapp sisters. She played both MB and OH for Oregon but her future is clearly as an OH. She was named an NCAA all-American honorable mention.
She came late to volleyball so she has a huge upside for growth. I think she would be well suited to the French or German leagues. Early rumors had her headed to Le Cannet. Here's hoping that another Oregon gal can make the big time and eventually play her way on to the USNT.
Her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_agost/
Bricio was solid in all phases during the Scudetto playoffs and through the later part of the CL right up to the semi's against VAkif when Imoco was still only one great play by Zhu from what would have ended up winning the CL gold. Bricio's biggest problem is consistency. She can vary dramatically between bad and sensational. I think she is going to have a stellar season in Turkey. She's a good combination of size and athleticism and was the best NCAA player her senior year.
Big week coming up for the USA with Russia, Brazil, and China. With the US not in the "develop the pipe line mode" they will want to win all three of these matches but especially Brazil which is playing its A team. Hill and Larson will probably start two out of the three matches. At OP we will see if Drews takes over the #1 spot from Murphy. Foluke remains the #1 MB'er but the #2 spot seems up for grabs between the other three with Gibby being the blocking leader. Expect no change with Robinson and Lloyd and I'm sure Karch will continue with the double sub.
The one thing that I will be curious to see is if the US gets in trouble playing their current OP's whether Karch will really shake things up and put Bartsch over at OP. I think that would be their strongest lineup.
Bricio with about 20 errors if you count the 5 balls she let go through for aces....
Coongrats Vakif, Zhu is #1 no question...
