bwhitmarsh said:
I don't know how you take the freshman middle out. She's a beast.
also….makes no sense that Ring gets any PT over Fitch.
I agree that Lou has impressed and I am so excited about her future. But let's tap the brakes. The sample size is too small and against much inferior competition. (Don't bring up Creighton, they are not a very good team) See the chart below:
Lou Sharp Castle
Attacks 36 176 163
Hit rate .500 .313 .307
Blocks/Set 1.1 1.51 0.93
Before the injury, Sharp was performing at an All-Conference level and more importantly both Sharp and castle were still improving since the start of the season. They has not plateaued. Sharp was top 10 in the country in blocks per set. Kills and hit rate were good too. Castle has solid numbers too.
I think we can agree that Lou should get more playing time. We are lucky to have many options at MB. She should displace Sharp or Castle at whatever point she becomes the best middle. I'm just saying she is not our best MB right now. When looking at the stats above, Lou's numbers are against Creighton, Rice and South Carolina. Those teams barely have a pulse compared to Sharp and Castle's stats came against #4 Louisville, #5 SMU, #6 Wisconsin, #10 Purdue, #13 Stanford & #15 Indiana.
I am with you on Fitch. Ring has been underwhelming based on my expectation of a 3rd team All American. We need Ring to up her game and I'm sure she would say the same thing. I am pulling for her. Meanwhile, Fitch continues to improve and, like Lou, should get more playing time.
Luckily teams like South Carolina, Bama, Miss State, Oklahoma, Arkansas etc. will allow us to play the bench for development and still win.
