After losing to both Rice and No. 17 Creighton this weekend, we finish the non-conference at 9-4. It's a pisser because we had a good chance at a quality win vs. Rice and blew a 2-0 lead. The passing continues to break down at various points in most of our matches and, when that happens, we lose the ability to use our middles most of the time and they've been the most efficient - by far - this year.
It's been a weird year - Carter has essentially been benched and hasn't played regularly for the last 2-3 weeks (and, to be fair to Fritz, Carter's numbers this year have been pretty bad in most matches). The frosh from Nebraska is hitting at a much, much better clip as Carter's replacement, but we are getting zero from the opposite hitters. When the passing breaks down, we're back to the OHs sending shots over that, most of the time, have no chance to land as kills.
Still, to be at 9-4 at this point given that our best player has regressed badly and we're playing a libero at setter is actually somewhat impressive. If Fritz can play .500 level ball in the Big 12, we should have a decent chance at an NCAA berth (though, as of now, we don't really have any high quality wins).
We're home against fringe top 25 KU on Saturday - will be insightful as to where we're likely headed the rest of the year.
