Akron and Buffalo gave us some interesting contrasts this weekend.   Each was comparable at attacking and hitting, but not particularly good and certainly not as good as Ohio in these areas.   The major difference between the teams is that Akron could play defense and Buffalo could not.

It’s interesting because it goes to the heart of recent conversations.   While Akron could not match Ohio’s attacking or blocking we lost to Akron due to their ability to play defense and our lack of ability to play defense.   Ohio beat Buffalo because, while neither team could play defense, our attacking and blocking was substantially better than theirs.

There has been some debate about whether this team is inconsistent.   I think the exact opposite is true.   This team has displayed consistently poor ball control and defense all year.   This, in my opinion, is due to having personnel on the back line who are not capable of playing defense or passing the ball properly.   It’s not really their fault.   They are being asked to do something that does not fit their skill set.

There have been some great past players at Ohio, but they are not here anymore.   That is the nature of college sports.   College student athletes graduate (at least in volleyball).   Coaches have to adjust to the players currently on the roster.   Playing hitters in six rotations may have worked in the past because those players were capable of passing the ball and playing defense.   That is clearly not the case this year.   Not adjusting to current personnel or being stubborn to make a point is a recipe for disaster.   I find it hard to believe the team does not have personnel more capable of passing the ball and playing defense.

At some point you have to put it on the coaches.   What are they seeing and thinking?

• What do coaches think when it becomes clear that any ball lobed over the net in either the corners or in the middle consistently hits the floor?   In the majority of cases these are free balls.   You don’t have to hit at this team to win.
• What do the coaches think as the watch the ball being set from well behind the 10 foot line a vast majority of the time?   Tell me that’s not the plan!
• What do coaches think as they watch overpass after overpass from the back line?   How many games this year have ended badly due to an overpass?
• What do coaches think as they watch the setter running from one end of the court to the other in an attempt to reach errant passes?  (In most cases she gets there which is amazing.)

The teams Ohio played this weekend are not the top of the MAC.   It will get much tougher going forward.   I do think we saw a pattern emerge.   Any team that can play reasonable defense and has the ability to lob the ball over the net in play has a good chance at beating Ohio.   It’s likely that we’ll see at least one team that can play defense each weekend and therefore may see many more weekend splits.

If this team has any design on winning the MAC (regular season and tournament) and advancing to the NCAA tournament something is going to have to change.   Ball control and defense are going to have to improve.   It can’t be said enough – defense wins championships.