Take our lumps now to prepare and to shine in SEC play.
*** Game Thread: #12 Texas A&M vs #21 Indiana - Big Ten - SEC Challenge ***
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Last: 29 days ago by JFABNRGR
0-4 vs top 25 teams now. That was a bad trip to Indiana.
Stanford, Wisconsin, and Creighton remain in the non-conference.
We are digging a nice hole.
And the SEC doesn't have but a few potential good wins, but plenty of pitfalls as not good losses.
Put me down as getting concerned.
Stanford, Wisconsin, and Creighton remain in the non-conference.
We are digging a nice hole.
And the SEC doesn't have but a few potential good wins, but plenty of pitfalls as not good losses.
Put me down as getting concerned.
Would love to see Durdja or Lufe out there some more!
The timing of the service errors is the real killer. You can't put half your serves out when you're down 4 or 5 points. It's impossible to come back like that.
We've been brutally painful to watch so far this year. We need some huge adjustments. Even then, we should probably taper our expectations.
I feel bad, because it has been painful to watch very early in the season but fear that we will lose the large fan support they've worked so hard to build might dissipate
MROD92 said:
I feel bad, because it has been painful to watch very early in the season but fear that we will lose the large fan support they've worked so hard to build might dissipate
I doubt it. It's going to be packed at Reed next Friday!
Gig ‘Em Baby!
LB12MEEN said:MROD92 said:
I feel bad, because it has been painful to watch very early in the season but fear that we will lose the large fan support they've worked so hard to build might dissipate
I doubt it. It's going to be packed at Reed next Friday!
Good,
I really hope so
TexasAGGIEinAR said:
We've been brutally painful to watch so far this year. We need some huge adjustments. Even then, we should probably taper our expectations.
Every one of these matches, and sets, is super tight and these are really good teams we're playing against. We obviously have to get a lot better, but we are not far from being able to compete with the absolute best.
Clearly, coach is still trying to figure out who his best combination of players is.
MROD92 said:
I feel bad, because it has been painful to watch very early in the season but fear that we will lose the large fan support they've worked so hard to build might dissipate
As you allude to, we sold over 1,000 more season tickets than last year. The atmosphere at our home matches is entertaining and fun. I think we will be fine if the team plays hard and shows grit.
Ready to PACK REED all season 👍
— Texas A&M Volleyball (@AggieVolleyball) August 27, 2026
We’re thrilled to announce a new program record for season tickets sold ahead of our home opener 🎟️ pic.twitter.com/KXOZ61Y3Iq
FluAggie said:TexasAGGIEinAR said:
We've been brutally painful to watch so far this year. We need some huge adjustments. Even then, we should probably taper our expectations.
Every one of these matches, and sets, is super tight and these are really good teams we're playing against. We obviously have to get a lot better, but we are not far from being able to compete with the absolute best.
Clearly, coach is still trying to figure out who his best combination of players is.
He's gotta start with putting olayers on the floor that can get the ball over the net consistently on serve and that minimize mental mistakes…
Watching set 5 of Georgia - Purdue. Where are all the Purdue fans tonight?
Just finished watching the game.
What was up with our service receive? Can't get into any flow without good receiving. I hope it was an anomaly as we have been fairly good at it this year before this game.
Blocking was better at times tonight but a lot of the blocks came when we were putting heavy pressure some from serving causing an easy read for the middle to set up. Overall still slow so the hands are in no position to direct a block down and in. Saw Stanojevic out there towards the end. Not sure if she got a block but a few close ups show she was in a good position.
Stowers was unstoppable until the end. Not sure if she got tired with 63 swings. That's a big load she isn't accustomed to yet. Unfortunately, no one could pick it up after Stowers started getting blocked.
I liked coach using Ring at times for her serve even though she was pulled early. I think we still go with Ring as starter but continue to use.
Defense was pretty terrible tonight. Miscommunications and not too many "wow I can't believe she got that up" moments unlike Indiana who picked up a ton of terrific Aggie hits. We can't cleanly cover tips and out of system bump sets were terrible. We don't really have any OOS hitters outside of Stowers and the bad sets are making it even more difficult.
The skill players are there but the team is not. On the 2nd set nailbiter win, didn't Indiana hit basically 0.000 yet almost won? I think that says more about our team than theirs.
I'm still enjoying playing this tough schedule as I like watching other good teams but I'd enjoy it even more with some wins.
What was up with our service receive? Can't get into any flow without good receiving. I hope it was an anomaly as we have been fairly good at it this year before this game.
Blocking was better at times tonight but a lot of the blocks came when we were putting heavy pressure some from serving causing an easy read for the middle to set up. Overall still slow so the hands are in no position to direct a block down and in. Saw Stanojevic out there towards the end. Not sure if she got a block but a few close ups show she was in a good position.
Stowers was unstoppable until the end. Not sure if she got tired with 63 swings. That's a big load she isn't accustomed to yet. Unfortunately, no one could pick it up after Stowers started getting blocked.
I liked coach using Ring at times for her serve even though she was pulled early. I think we still go with Ring as starter but continue to use.
Defense was pretty terrible tonight. Miscommunications and not too many "wow I can't believe she got that up" moments unlike Indiana who picked up a ton of terrific Aggie hits. We can't cleanly cover tips and out of system bump sets were terrible. We don't really have any OOS hitters outside of Stowers and the bad sets are making it even more difficult.
The skill players are there but the team is not. On the 2nd set nailbiter win, didn't Indiana hit basically 0.000 yet almost won? I think that says more about our team than theirs.
I'm still enjoying playing this tough schedule as I like watching other good teams but I'd enjoy it even more with some wins.
Astroag said:FluAggie said:TexasAGGIEinAR said:
We've been brutally painful to watch so far this year. We need some huge adjustments. Even then, we should probably taper our expectations.
Every one of these matches, and sets, is super tight and these are really good teams we're playing against. We obviously have to get a lot better, but we are not far from being able to compete with the absolute best.
Clearly, coach is still trying to figure out who his best combination of players is.
He's gotta start with putting olayers on the floor that can get the ball over the net consistently on serve and that minimize mental mistakes…
I hear you! The thing is that all of these girls can get the ball over the net every time on the serve but if you don't make it challenging then you are giving your opponent a chance to receive a perfect pass, be in system, and absolutely hammer the volleyball at us. That's why they want them to be so aggressive with their serves but I'd rather take my changes with a block or dig than just conceding the point on a missed serve...and we have conceded A LOT of them down the stretch in these close sets.
The mental mistakes were a problem last night...mainly on defense.
FluAggie said:Astroag said:FluAggie said:TexasAGGIEinAR said:
We've been brutally painful to watch so far this year. We need some huge adjustments. Even then, we should probably taper our expectations.
Every one of these matches, and sets, is super tight and these are really good teams we're playing against. We obviously have to get a lot better, but we are not far from being able to compete with the absolute best.
Clearly, coach is still trying to figure out who his best combination of players is.
He's gotta start with putting olayers on the floor that can get the ball over the net consistently on serve and that minimize mental mistakes…
I hear you! The thing is that all of these girls can get the ball over the net every time on the serve but if you don't make it challenging then you are giving your opponent a chance to receive a perfect pass, be in system, and absolutely hammer the volleyball at us. That's why they want them to be so aggressive with their serves but I'd rather take my changes with a block or dig than just conceding the point on a missed serve...and we have conceded A LOT of them down the stretch in these close sets.
The mental mistakes were a problem last night...mainly on defense.
Yep….like thriwing strikes vs walking batters
TulaneAg said:
The timing of the service errors is the real killer. You can't put half your serves out when you're down 4 or 5 points. It's impossible to come back like that.
Statistically speaking you cannot come back from that deficit at the end of a set anyway and have no choice but to serve very aggressively attempting to ace or put the receiving team out of system. Get an ace and put them out of system 2-3x you have a chance but to do this the margin of error is high and serve errors happen.
A top 20 team is expected Side Out 60-65%. Meaning the team receiving serves is going to win the rally 60-65% of time while a top 20 team while serving is expected to win the point only about 45% of the time and is called Point Scoring %.
The key is not to get that far behind in the first place and we need to get improvements in our passing and second touch off a dig as others have mentioned.
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
This whole 5-2 that he's running is painful to watch. Both setters don't run the same offensive tempo. So I feel like when they make the switch, it's a whole new adjustment. We've competed harder in a 5-1
While I understand the statistics favoring an aggressive serve, what kind of "aggressive" are they trying? No one does a true top spin jump serve (we haven't had one since Hollan Hans). Only Ring, Manning and Stowers bring the heat on serves.
I think this is why people complain because we don't appear to be serving aggressively, yet we put it in the net way more than you'd think.
I think the majority of our serves are spot serves. Indiana did a nice job of targeting soft spots to keep us unbalanced. We did it well at times. Gabi is really good at this. Seldom does the other team get a 3-pass off her serve. Unfortunate she had an error to end the game though it was doubtful we could ring up 5-6 points in a row at that point.
I think 10 service errors (last night) is ok in a 5 set match but some came at very inopportune time. It cost us set 1. It also cost us set 1 vs Purdue.
I think this is why people complain because we don't appear to be serving aggressively, yet we put it in the net way more than you'd think.
I think the majority of our serves are spot serves. Indiana did a nice job of targeting soft spots to keep us unbalanced. We did it well at times. Gabi is really good at this. Seldom does the other team get a 3-pass off her serve. Unfortunate she had an error to end the game though it was doubtful we could ring up 5-6 points in a row at that point.
I think 10 service errors (last night) is ok in a 5 set match but some came at very inopportune time. It cost us set 1. It also cost us set 1 vs Purdue.
Ag4eva95 said:
This whole 5-2 that he's running is painful to watch. Both setters don't run the same offensive tempo. So I feel like when they make the switch, it's a whole new adjustment. We've competed harder in a 5-1
Def feel like he's overthinking it or trying to be too multiple for lack of a better word
Ag4eva95 said:
This whole 5-2 that he's running is painful to watch. Both setters don't run the same offensive tempo. So I feel like when they make the switch, it's a whole new adjustment. We've competed harder in a 5-1
I thought we switched back to 5-2 due to the worst volleyball I've seen in a LONG time 1st set.
I think we've been running the 5-2 the majority of the year
I agree. I think with this team we just need to simplify it. Too
Many cooks in the kitchen. I would also love to see someone come in for Kaia and give a different look there. Not sure she's the answer. MB2 is definitely a weak spot for us.
Many cooks in the kitchen. I would also love to see someone come in for Kaia and give a different look there. Not sure she's the answer. MB2 is definitely a weak spot for us.
Astroag said:
I think we've been running the 5-2 the majority of the year
We've only recently moved to a 5-1 but because of the disastrous start to the first set, Morrison pushed the nuclear button. Switched back to 5-2 and subbed in Fitch.
We definitely need to run a 5-1 but it's unclear who is the better pure setter right now. Nicholson isn't that short and we had Waak playing front row last year.
Per suspended diet coke on VolleyTalk, here are the passing stats for the match:
"Indiana-A&M
Indiana 2.19 | Jager 1.93/40% (40), Jackson 2.50/70% (23), Snowbarger 2.2/60% (20), Leftridge 2.47/73% (15)
A&M 1.96 | Stowers 2.05/48% (31), Applegate 1.68/32% (25), Fitch 2.20/52% (23), Rodriguez 1.90/55% (20)"
"Indiana-A&M
Indiana 2.19 | Jager 1.93/40% (40), Jackson 2.50/70% (23), Snowbarger 2.2/60% (20), Leftridge 2.47/73% (15)
A&M 1.96 | Stowers 2.05/48% (31), Applegate 1.68/32% (25), Fitch 2.20/52% (23), Rodriguez 1.90/55% (20)"
No surprise there. We haven't passed that poorly in like never...
With all the new players, I figured we might struggle early. But "O" or AVCA First serve and :"O" for SEC/Big Ten Challenge....ouch.
Stowers getting injuried, and then Stowers returning, probably impeded the team jelling with all its new members and roles. Hopefully there will now be an extended period of stability with no major injuries, knock on wood
I'm pretty sure the 4th set (The only set in which we did) we did a pretty good job with our serve receive and we dominated that set.
Gig ‘Em Baby!
haydayenthusiast said:
Per suspended diet coke on VolleyTalk, here are the passing stats for the match:
"Indiana-A&M
Indiana 2.19 | Jager 1.93/40% (40), Jackson 2.50/70% (23), Snowbarger 2.2/60% (20), Leftridge 2.47/73% (15)
A&M 1.96 | Stowers 2.05/48% (31), Applegate 1.68/32% (25), Fitch 2.20/52% (23), Rodriguez 1.90/55% (20)"
Wow surprised to see Fitch that high and Applegate that low. A 2.2+ is Libero level.
Certainly an area for improvement allowing #25 a lot more opportunities to crush it.
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
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