Our choices of who to watch and what to watch are greatly reduced watching on TV, but as much as possible, my eyes will be on:
- MELANI SHAFFMASTER Our freshman setter will presumably playing her first match, of presumably a 4 or even 5 -year career (since this pandemic-season doesn’t count) as the “quarterback” of our squad. Like most of us, I’ve never seen Shaffmaster play, but given that she was a top-10 nationally rated recruit. I’m assuming that she has “the hands” for the job, and at 6 – 3, Shaffmaster is far and away the tallest setter the Gophers have ever had, so she could be the best blocking setter we’ve ever had. And she has played in some pretty high-level age-group teams, so I would not expect her to be intimidated. But I do have questions: At 6 – 3, is she really quick enough to cover the entire court in the manner we were accustomed to seeing Seliger-Swenson cover? And does she have the natural “court-sense” and vision that a really star “quarterback” needs?
WHO’S ON THE FLOOR Coach HUGH MCCUTCHEON will almost certainly employ a 6-1 with a libero and defensive specialist system, meaning that he will use 8, and only 8, players per set. And once McCutcheon is satisfied, and barring injuries, these will be the same 8 players set after set, even though he has at least a dozen very talented athletes to choose from. It might take a few matches for McCutcheon to be satisfied, but who he starts the first match seems a clue to his thinking. Here’s what I’m thinking:
- Locks 4 Players seem like locks to me: #10, Senior All American right-side hitter (opposite) STEPHANIE SAMEDY, #21, Senior, All American middle REGAN PITTMAN, #7, Junior libero CC MCGRAW, and #5, Freshman setter MELANI SHAFFMASTER.
- Likelies 4 players seem likely to me to fill out the lineup: #20, Junior left-side hitter ADANNA ROLLINS , #23, Junior (transfer) middle KATIE MYERS, #6, Sophomore defensive specialist RACHEL KILKELLY, and #12, Freshman left-side hitter TAYLOR LANDFAIR.
- Could-bes But this talented roster includes at least 3 more players who could be just too good not to be in the line-up: #2, Freshman left-side hitter, JENNA WENAAS, #9, Freshman middle SHEA RUBRIGHT, and # 8, Senior and last year’s super-sub AIRI MIYABE. I’m excited to see who it will be.
RUSTY? Given that it has been over 13 months since the Gophers last match, and given that the line-up will almost certainly include newcomers at key positions, you couldn’t blame the Gophers if it takes a couple sets to shake off the rust.
But I doubt it. I expect this talented squad to come out blasting, like the Final Four Team they are destined to be.