They ran a 5-1 in the 3rd set with the non-starters playing the whole set. It is good to see they at least have that in their playbook if needed.
UNC Volleyball 2026-2027
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Malone looks like she may have made a sophomore leap. Her usage has gone up.
Pearce and West seem to be the relegated to reserve roles at our super deep outside hitter rotation. They both played extensively in that 3rd set with the reserves, but not too much in sets 1 & 2 with the main rotation.
It is of course way early in the season.
Pearce and West seem to be the relegated to reserve roles at our super deep outside hitter rotation. They both played extensively in that 3rd set with the reserves, but not too much in sets 1 & 2 with the main rotation.
It is of course way early in the season.
Was surprised by this with Pearce specifically, but Malone was amazing. Didn’t look like her or Hampton will be taking much time off the court, with Thorpe and Laynie Smith still rotating. I’m partial to Cozza as setter but Behrends and Bobbitt appear to be ahead of her
Yeah Pearce was a high usage starter in the ACC before she transferred in. VT if I recall correctly. That just shows you how much high quality depth we have at that position. We may not have the OH superstars you find on a top 5 team, but we have 5, maybe 6, who would be in the rotation almost anywhere.
Pearce played the right side in set 3. I can see her challenging Smith for playing time there rather than as OH this year, with West as the 3d option at OH.
I like Cozza too, and wish she would get more time. She is quicker than either of the other 2, and covers the court better on defense.
Yeah I was grouping OH and OPP together as outside hitters collectively, but poor terminology usage by me. collectively, Hampton/Malone & Thorpe/Smith are getting the rotational PT right now it seems, which puts Pearce & West as only spot usage. I could not recall if Pearce or Smith were playing that 3rd string OH vs OPP position in the mop-up minutes, so thanks for the clarification.
I agree that Smith and Pearce historically have little separation in performance. So unless anything has changed, that does seem like the most competitive rotational spot right now.
I don’t want to be harsh but never really seen it with Behrends personally. Caveat is i basically just started following volleyball last year
I do like our OOC schedule this year. This weekend was def an appetizer. We step up each week IMO.
JMU on Thursday will be better than UNCW and Davidson. They are solid and well coached.
CSU has been a team in the top 25 or near it more so than not the past few years and are a very good team that took a set off SMU and only lost two of the sets 23-25, 25-27. They will be an early challenge and RPI boost if we win (which we should)
JMU on Thursday will be better than UNCW and Davidson. They are solid and well coached.
CSU has been a team in the top 25 or near it more so than not the past few years and are a very good team that took a set off SMU and only lost two of the sets 23-25, 25-27. They will be an early challenge and RPI boost if we win (which we should)
I mentioned this on last seasons board that we owed it to our big arms to find a solid setter from the portal.
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Missed most of the 3rd set putting the kid to bed, saw Cozza came in and heard Taylor has 5 kills so passing must have improved
Cozza is by far the better setter, in my opinion (passes the eye test from the couch).
JMU is good as someone had stated. This was a good test for our team. We won and that is all that matters. Colorado State is supposed to be good too. This will be another good test before will play the big dogs in volleyball.
JMU is veteran and a team with a lot of height. We got punched in the first set and that will help us with dealing with adversity when we face the Kentucky and Nebraska teams of the country.
Middles were a lot better on offense as match went and as Laynie was way better when Cozza went in. As someone said, Cozza is our most pure setter.
Impressed with Malone's back row attacking and passing/defense growth.
Chelsea/Laynie/Jackie offense is going to help Safi not have to do as much.
Little worried that our libero only had 6 digs while our OHS/setters had more....part of that is she is a freshman who is learning, possibly our defensive scheme. You can see her potential and motor, she just needs more game reps.
On to CSU
Middles were a lot better on offense as match went and as Laynie was way better when Cozza went in. As someone said, Cozza is our most pure setter.
Impressed with Malone's back row attacking and passing/defense growth.
Chelsea/Laynie/Jackie offense is going to help Safi not have to do as much.
Little worried that our libero only had 6 digs while our OHS/setters had more....part of that is she is a freshman who is learning, possibly our defensive scheme. You can see her potential and motor, she just needs more game reps.
On to CSU
Mike Schall is getting absolutely out coached by Emily Kohan. The issues are obvious and have been there all match and he’s not making any adjustments.
Ugh! come on Schall. Were are the assistant coaches? They have to chime in and tell him, help him make the adjustments. The assistant coaches just cannot sit back and say nothing, Sometimes as a HC you have so many things going on in your mind while your team is playing that you might miss seeing things. This is why you hire assistant coaches. One of them must step up and say something.
Wow gusty win! 16-14 in the 5th (really didn’t deserve that one)
I agree totally. A good win. Colorado State is very good like someone had said. This was a very good test for our team. They showed some resiliency which should hopefully helped them during big games that are down the road.
Huge measuring stick match tonight at Kentucky
On SEC network at 6
On SEC network at 6
We must come out strong. This will help our tremendously whether we win or lose. This game is going to show us our strengths and weaknesses which can only makes us better as a team. Also, anybody can get beat on any given day. We must believe, have confidence, and do what we do best. Go Heels!
Well the worrisome signs from the first 4 games came back to roost in that first. Absolutely dominated 25-11
Kentucky is ranked number 3 in the country for a reason. Bottom line, they have better talent at the libero and setter positions and we are playing them at their place. As of today, who is a best players at those two positions? I am thinking that Carly Markham is one of them but she is just a freshman. Although the program is continuing on the rise, our coaching staff will need to bring in better talent at these two positions. For those of you that are interested, here are the commitments for the 2027 and 2028 classes so far.
prepdig.com
The coaching staff might have to bring in one or two players from the portal to help address these areas of need.
UNC-Chapel Hill Volleyball Commits | Prep Dig
Click here to view the recorded commits for the UNC-Chapel Hill soccer programs.
prepdig.com
I was talking about Morgan Gaerte, it was just a joke, think when i sent that she had 14 kills through 1.75 sets. She also killed us last year when she played for Notre Dame
Why is Mike Schall not playing Addison West, she was the Gatorade player of the year out of Nebraska. We know that is a hot bed for top level volleyball players. Why is he not playing H. Pearce? Is she hurt. I do not understand why he is not playing these two. Does he want Addison to leave at the end of the season. She can go back and play for Nebraska. She was highly ranked coming out of high school. Is she in the doghouse or something? Can someone please explain this to me because it does not make any sense to have a player of that Caliber not playing. I know Kentucky out matched us in some key player positions but man, we could not win a set. Hopefully, they can watch film, make the adjustments on their serves, and make adjustments with the line up moving forward. The errors on the serves killed us. I still believe in this team. Go Heels!
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