Brief observations, as my better half is waiting patiently for me. Italy came back from losing the first set 25-20 to winning the next 3 20-25, 21-25, 24-26.
observations:
* 2nd OH is definitely a liability. Salmon wasn't necessarily a go-to guy, but you never felt like he was killing your team the way I felt watching Jablonsky struggle tonight against Italy. Couldn't block, most kills were tools that could have gone either way, backrow was par at best. Touzinsky was put back in the game late in the 3rd, but the momentum had shifted by that point. I really hope that Anderson/Rooney stay healthy/motivated, because I just don't feel comfortable with anyone else from the newer generation of National Team pipeliners.
* What I'm surprised no one touched on is the 2nd middle. Kudos to the setter that came in for Italy late in the 1st set (#5) for running a FAST offense. Middles were unstoppable, and were getting solos all day for the pin hitters. Savani (#11) was a monster for Italy, and the lefty opp (#7) was a workhorse as well, going over triple blocks a time or two. The pace of the sets were near unstoppable, and by the 4th set the U.S had no answer. Hein/Smith both show a lot of potential, and Hein seems to already be there on the offensive end. However, until they can close a block on the regular basis, it won't matter how much height we have on the sides.
* Stanley looks TIRED. I feel like Priddy mentioned previously that he was worried about Clay not taking a break, and my thoughts are the same. His serves were all over the place, he was hitting into blocks, and just never seemed to hit his stride. Patak is one of the brightest prospects we have, why not give him more time? Billings also has a ton of experience from the 04 games.
* Rooney has grown A LOT as a player since last year. Very impressed with his confidence compared to last year when they played Bulgaria. His bic's were unstoppable, and I look forward to watching him continue to progress. However...One of the things that stuck out about last year's team (perhaps even moreso now after watching tonight's match) was the mental toughness and poise they showed. No matter how bad of a run they were on, they came to the middle. Every player. Every time. This year? Rooney shows some fire when things go well (Had a FANTASTIC pancake, sprung up, and fired a cross-court bomb to the corner), but when things went wrong, he was always going away from the team, obviously pissed off, even kicking the side panel once in frustration. I understand the age, and I realize he'll get better with time, but if he wants to be a go-to player NOW, then he's gotta grow up a bit faster, because it seemed like the overall camaraderie wasn't there.
* Crucial play that I'd like others' opinion on: 21-23, 3rd set, Patak bombs a shot to my corner (I was in reserved seating) that I'm pretty sure went in. Line judge called it in, but up ref over-ruled it. No replay on the jumbotron. Am I crazy or was that an ace? HUGE momentum shift from being down only 1 coming off an ace compared to missing a serve giving the other team set point.
* Hansen seemed to set well, although his block is a liability. I realize people on the board were never fans of Ball's blocking, but Hansen looked lost on there for some stretches (He did have some great solos from time to time). I liked his leadership, I think if he continues to develop his game he could definitely become something special. Suxho came in late in game 4, had a great serving run to get them back in the game, but I felt his sets had no tempo (granted, it's hard to warm up in that type of scenario).
* Lee looked great. It's nice to know we have one staple in the middle. If Hein continues to work on his defense we could have a nice 1-2 combo, with Holt ready to jump in as well.
* Anyone have any insight to Anderson's absense from the roster? I hadn't checked their final roster and didn't know until watching warm-ups he wasn't there, what a huge disappointment. Hopefully it's for strategic purposes only.
* Italy's offense/serve receive looked fantastic. #11 (Savani) was a monster, the lefty opp was consistent, and 15 and 17 were great in the middle (15's back 1 was killer). The times USA were doing well always seemed to be in sync with getting them out of sync regarding serve receive. If they want to get the split, we'll need to take their passing out of system so they can't continue to create solo blocks.
That's it for now. Looking forward to match 2!
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