Huskers In China Day 15: Taking on the Best

Day two in Tianjin meant two more matches versus the champion Tianjin Pro team.

Nebraska fell to Tianjin two sets to one in this morning's action.  The Huskers lost the first set 25-18 and won the second 25-17, holding on after jumping to a 19-4 lead.  Tianjin played all its starters in set #1 and rested some of them in sets #2 and #3 so that they would be ready for the afternoon match.  The Huskers had a match point in the third, but ultimately lost 27-25.  The Big Red hit just .100 as a team, but held Tianjin to just a .175 attack percentage.  NU won the blocking battle 13-8 and served much better than yesterday, recording 6 aces and only 2 service errors.

Allison McNeal has arrived.  During one six-point run in the second set, Nebraska's middle blocker, whose parents now live in Clarinda, Iowa, had four blocks and a kill. 

The Huskers then headed for lunch and rest at the hotel before bussing to a nearby arena for the afternoon match at 2:30 p.m.  Tianjin swept the first three sets 25-16, 25-19, and 25-17, playing its starters almost exclusively.  The Huskers hit .198, while Tianjin's passing led to a .309 Tianjin attack percentage.  McNeal threw down six kills and hit .500 in three sets.  Hannah Werth struggled in the first three sets, recording just one kill.  Tara Mueller led the Huskers in the first three sets with eight kills, a .263 hitting percentage and two aces (the Huskers as a team had only two aces in 5 sets yesterday versus Tianjin).

The two teams then played two more sets - won by Nebraska 25-19 and 15-8. The overall stats for the Big Red for the five full sets looked better: .237, 7 aces, 10 blocks. Those blocking numbers will increase against NCAA teams with less skilled passers and slower offences than Tianjin's.

Tianjin showed how rarely teams will serve to libero Kayla Banwarth.  She passed only 2 out of every 7 Tianjin serves in the morning (18 out of 63), and even fewer in the afternoon match, 17 of 89 (Hannah passed 36 of 89 in the afternoon). The Husker libero passes in each rotation, and the two outsides are always Nebraska's other two passers.  Plus, the libero is in the back right on serve receive for each setter's 3^rd rotation in the 2-setter offence.  Thus, Kayla will be in the middle for four rotations and more able to step in and handle more serves, but on those two rotations when back right, the serve will likely be passed by either of the outside hitters.  The good news is that three attackers in the front row at all times make it less critical for the pass to be perfect (see the video blog from day 13): if the pass is imperfect, Nebraska's setter should still have 2 front row options, as well as the back row outside hitter, making the Huskers difficult to defend.  Expect opponents to try to serve Nebraska's front row outside hitter (passing back-left), force an imperfect pass, and then double-block NU's right-side hitter, where they'll then expect the set to go.

Twelve is the number of substitutions allowed in each game.  If the Huskers use the 2-setter offense, they will probably run out of substitutions subbing 2 players in every 3 rotations if the game is close and lengthy.  Thus, Coach Cook will be limited in his ability to ever sub a passing specialist in for an outside hitter - remember how the 1999 Huskers struggled passing in their 2-setter offense, yet Coach Pettit could rarely use Nikki Henk because of substitution limitations.  The one-setter offense puts a lot of pressure on the outside hitters to pass perfectly, yet allows defensive specialists to substitute in when needed. The two-setter offence allows a higher margin for error, but still places considerable responsibility on the outside hitters to pass - with little chance for a breather if they struggle.

Tianjin, like all pro volleyball teams here, practices 7 hours a day, five-and-a-half days a week, eleven-and-a-half months a year.  We did not play them in 2000 and 2006, instead playing the less formidable Beijing Pro Team.  However, Beijing canceled on us this year because four of its players recently were called up to the Chinese National Team, forcing us to make the 3-hour drive to Tianjin for two days and three matches of competition.

For those of you wanting more volleyball coverage and less Chinese cultural commentary, this blog was for you.  Nebraska is now 5-4 on the trip: 2-3 versus pro teams and 3-1 versus university teams.  Our final match is this afternoon against the Chinese Army Pro Team, our last full day in China.  We fly home tomorrow.