SAN ANTONIO—No conference has
had as much volleyball success as the Pac-12. But the last time a Pac-12 team won
the national title was 2005 … right here in San Antonio … when Washington
rolled over favored Nebraska. Since then, Washington, Stanford, Cal, USC and
UCLA have all reached the Final Four, but Nebraska won in 2006, and Penn State
gave the Big Ten bragging rights the last four years in a row.
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USC's Kendall Bateman signals while Illinois' Michelle Bartsch looks through the net
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann] |
Illinois would like to repeat
that feat, but they’ll have to get by the Bruins. Thursday night, UCLA
thoroughly outplayed Florida State, a team which might have a hard time
finishing higher than seventh in the Pac-12 (note to the NCAA Selection
Committee: here’s further proof that the 16 teams you seeded included a lot of
teams that you overrated—including Florida State.) If Washington hadn’t stumbled
at Minnesota, it would not seem much of a stretch to see them beating both Iowa
State and Florida State and making it a three-Pac-12 final.
UCLA’s strength was its speed.
Outside hitter Rachael Kidder has the quickest arm of any player among the four
teams in San Antonio; she often hits around the block instead of trying to tool
blockers. Even when sets were poor—particularly when they were too far outside,
Kidder found ways to direct sharp-angled kills rather than toss across free
balls. On the right side, Kelly Reeves hit line with confidence throughout the
first set, forcing FSU’s middle blockers to cover more ground than they could
handle. Tabi Love is simply a pounder—she does best when setter Lauren Van
Orden receives a perfect pass, and everyone in the building knows Love is
simply going to cock her arm and smash. Unlike the other Bruins, Love is not
terribly agile, and UCLA can sometimes get stuck in a bad rotation if Love has
to hit out of transition, rather than getting time to retreat to her full
approach.
Kidder’s quickness allows UCLA
to launch faster, lower sets. Illinois, on the other hand, sends up soaring
sets, and allows its powerful senior outside hitters Colleen Ward and Michelle
Bartsch to swing away. The best way to slow that strategy is to serve tough and
keep the Illini on their heels. USC kept it close throughout the match, largely
on the strength of libero Natalie Hagglund’s defense and setter Kendall Bateman’s
distribution. But it took a long time for All-American outside hitter Alex Jupiter
to get into a groove; in the end, her poor passing, erratic serving and spotty defense
gave Illinois too many free ball opportunities. Like any great team, the Illini
never stopped hitting as hard as they could for as long as they could, which
usually spells victory in a clash between two top teams.
Illinois is impressive. But
given that their two most dominant players—Ward and Bartsch—are both seniors,
those of us who follow the Pac-12 have to wonder: where was this team the past
couple of years? With hitters that strong and confident, how did they manage to
avoid the Final Four so long?
Saturday’s championship match
will likely come down to that most basic of skills: serving and serve-receive.
Whichever setter gets the most in-system opportunities will allow her team to
prevail.
