Scouting Juniata/La Verne

Every once in a while, I have a really good idea. This website, when you break it down, consists of a few good ideas just repeated over and over with enough volume that you forget that you may have read something like this in the past. It’s a rare moment when something new gets implemented but that’s what’s happening now. Thus begins the creation of a new idea that will be repeated over and over for years to come but you’ll always think it’s clever.

Immediately following the Regional Finals, I reached out to a number of coaches whose teams played one or more of the Elite 8 in order to get their scouting reports. My (good) idea was to get their expert input on what went well and what went wrong when playing these teams. I also invited them to add anything they wanted that might be interesting about these teams. It’s important to note that I offered anonymity to each coach and that none of the Elite 8 coaches were contacted. (You can imagine what that exchange would have looked like, “Heather, how is Juniata going to attack La Verne on Thursday and what exactly are your weaknesses?”)  What begins here is a four-part series that will cover each of the first four quarterfinal matches. Today we start with Juniata/La Verne and will move on to Johns Hopkins/Oshkosh, Emory/Whitewater and then Hope/Washington & Lee.

Juniata

Elite 8 Results

Juniata is 4-0 against these Elite 8 teams beating Johns Hopkins, Hope, Oshkosh and Washington & Lee. They did manage to drop a set to those first three teams. Hope and Oshkosh probably played them the best of the four teams. It’s interesting to note that the 3-sets dropped against the Elite 8 teams were the only sets Juniata dropped all season.

From the Coaches

As you can imagine, the opposing coaches were very compilatory. The first coach to respond on Juniata said, “Juniata doesn’t have a weakness. They just don’t. Their serve and pass game is elite. They have the best setter, middle, libero, and 6-rotation outside in the country.” Another coach came back with, “Good luck.” Well, this could be a short write-up. Don’t worry, it got better, “I would be surprised if anyone takes a set off of them.” Yikes! Another coach chimed in that their “only hope was to serve as tough as possible.” This team prepared the week prior to their match by playing a specific drill that emphasized getting Juniata out of system. This team was willing to sacrifice a certain number of missed serves in order to get a couple of aces and hopefully Juniata in a number of longer rallies. In the end, Juniata’s ball-control was too good. They ended their write-up with “Coley is unstoppable.” Another coach agreed with the approach, “I think you have to serve the holy bleep out of the ball to have a chance. They eat easy serving for dinner.” Yet another coach said, “You have to play clean against them and serve as hard as you can. Your middle back defender needs to be good against them as they hit a lot of balls within the middle back range.” One coach talked about trying to take advantage of their smaller setter (Olivia Foley) when she’s on the front row. This approach for them, however, was not successful. “They play elite defense around her. They don’t block a lot of balls, but they funnel you towards their best defenders.” A coach mentioned that “their first contact skills are insane” and that if you get out-of-system you have to “challenge them with big swings”. To make matters worse, a coach praised their serving and another with how challenging it is to stay in-system against their serves. To top everything off, a coach mentioned that “the unnerving thing about Juniata is that they look and act bored when playing you”. “Their business-like demeanor can be impenetrable.” If anything remotely negative was said it was, “The libero (Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez) is up and down in service receive but is stellar on defense.” This same coach also said, “I genuinely don’t think we’ve seen them at their highest potential.” Yikes, again! Last word goes to another coach (I had a lot of Juniata input), “Juniata will repeat in my opinion. They are too good at every position and have so much experience playing with each other.”

My Take

What you didn’t see in those observations was a way to beat Juniata. It’s been 2 ½ seasons since that’s been done. Bottom line, and this is from me, Juniata has to be an active participate if they are going to lose. They have to make mistakes and do things that they haven’t done against some of the best teams in the nation this season. The one thing that stands out to me is their focus. It’s easy to get distracted or bored with a lesser opponent but it doesn’t happen with this team. They will not come into this championship overlooking any of these teams. Based on what the coaches have said and from what I’ve seen, you have to serve tough, play great defense and minimize your mistakes. You have to swing big in all cases and continue to put as much pressure as you can against them. You have to hope they help you with errors. And, then…if you get all of that…hope that the entire team ate the clam chowder at the banquet and are still recovering from food poisoning.

La Verne

Elite 8 Results

La Verne is 0-1 against these Elite 8 teams losing to UW-Whitewater in three-sets. They were beaten 22, 24 and 17 so they were in the battle. Mya Ray hit negative in this match, but it should be pointed out that Whitewater has the best block in the nation.

From the Coaches

When anyone thinks of La Verne, you almost immediately think of Mya Ray; their first team All-American 6-rotation outside. One coach put it, “Mya Ray is the real deal…She is a DI-level athlete playing at DIII.” They talked about how they had done a good job containing Ray until she just went off and dominated the set. In addition to Ray, this coach said, “La Verne has super athletic pin hitters that fly around and can cause trouble on offense….They work really hard on defense and have an outstanding libero.” This coach likened La Verne to a “school yard bully that tries to muscle you with their offense, but they do not like it when you throw punches back.” Very few teams were good enough this year to throw very effective punches back. With La Verne playing two 6-rotation outsides, one coach talked about how you have to serve at them to make them work as much as possible. Another coach mentioned that the natural reaction is to serve at Ray but in their match, she handled this well and they had to find other targets. The other outside is Lauren Gott and it was noted that she struggled a bit this year but really turned it on in their regionals. (She finished the sweep of MIT with 12 kills and 15 digs.) Ray will hit from the backrow, “Back row attack is strong”, and the middles are very strong blockers with Zacky Coaston being singled out. Although one coach mentioned, “Middles will bite if you set against the flow.” Another coach mentioned that the team will let “Mya Ray take over when she needs to.” There were surprised, however, that this wasn’t done more as “she has the ability to dominate a match when she chooses to”. Another coach mentioned that you really have to win your points when Mya is on the backrow and don’t beat yourself. La Verne will rely, at times, on other teams making errors. This same coach was concerned about La Verne’s service receive, “I think their service receive could get exposed with the serving of Juniata.” Finally, watch for how Juniata uses the block to funnel Mya’s attacks. Is she hitting a lot at the libero? If so, La Verne will be in trouble.

My Take

La Verne is truly the Cinderella squad of this Elite 8 as the only non #1 seed to make it this far. I think they will pose some problems for Juniata with an excellent block and defense. Mya’s height and length may also give Juniata looks that they haven’t seen this season. There is no doubt in my mind that Mya will have to have a great match for the Leopards to have a chance but so will Gott, the opposites, the setters, the libero and the mascot. The water boy better be ready, too. I think La Verne can sometimes be complacent when Mya gets going realizing that she’s taking over but can struggle when the ball is set their way. The Leopards will need to stay focused and ready when their number is called and take advantage of any single blocker opportunities. Juniata doesn’t have the height that Whitewater does so I think the pins can have success but the Juniata defense just doesn’t let balls hit the floor. Not getting frustrated for this team playing in their first Elite 8 (with this group) against the best team in the nation will also be key. Remember, everyone outside of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania is probably pulling for you.  

I do want to thank all of the coaches that responded to my urgent plea for help on this series. Next up is JHU/UWO.