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Setter Scott Fifer guided the offense to a .333 attack percentage and added two aces to help the No. 4 seed Lewis defeat the No. 5 seed Grand Canyon in four games on Friday in the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals.
Check out Off the Block’s postmatch interview with coach Dan Friend as Lewis advanced to the conference tournament semifinals for the ninth straight season.
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Vinnie…..
Just want to say thank you for the service you – and OTB team – provide to Volleyball lovers. I played a little as a kid and as an adult – under the old rules not rally points – and the game has changed dramatically since then.
For men I can see a change coming – as I suggested in my long piece earlier – and these changes will benefit the sport as a spectacle. In Australia we have ‘mind-numbing’ national selection committee that still believes in height not skill. But Poland and Japan are more the contemporary type of Volleyball teams.
It will be great to watch the men’s game evolve over the next 5 – 10 years. A few rule changes are needed but the game needs to become a better balance of defence and attack – then it will be a world class TV sport.
Much as I love individual players in the current US team – Aron R, Micha C (best player in the world for me right now), Thomas J (a future super-star), and Taylor S (great impact player), etc- because I have watched so much Collegiate Men’s Volleyball over the past 4 years. I do not think that US will win the gold medal this year.
I was in Florence last year – with my son, Gerrard – to support the Aussies at the final of The World League and spoke to John Speraw and clearly he has great Volleyball I Q but the game is moving past the US prototypes. The current US team is still not a good first pass or ball control team. They bring heat from the service line and that allows them the luxury to block well. In this Olympics the key will be defence – first pass, digs, block touches not necessarily kills, etc. They will struggle against the European and South American sides.
The game is changing – I am confident that the future will be better than the past. The role of OTB is to showcase the best of the sport and that you do well BUT you will do it so much better in the future – I am sure.
Good luck to you all. Like my son I am moving on now…. We both have graduated from the US scene. It has been great fun these past 4 years and we – both – have learnt a lot but it is time now to go learn from the ‘big boys’ who play in Europe.
Gerrard still has a lot to learn. He has to become consistent at the top level – he has to be able to turn a match when the other five on his side of the net are not doing well. In 10 years time he just might be a good international volleyball player. His coach and mentor – a legend of the game back home in Aussie – told me 4 years ago that G has the potential to be a good player in 10 years time. I only now appreciate what he was saying to me. Mind you – next to me – he is Gerrard’s greatest fan. He calls him his super star. There is so much to learn and so much hard work to do to reach the levels that a determined kid like G aspired to when he was just 11 years old.
Vinnie – thanks.
Richard Lipscombe
(Home again after a great trip to Phoenix)
Prague, Czech Republic
16th April 2016