Month: March 2021

GOPHERS RATED #3 IN THE COUNTRY 

National rankings are always mysterious and unreliable, and never as much as during a pandemic. The pandemic has affected rankings is two ways: 1) Most teams in most sports have been limited to conference-only competition, making it difficult to compare across conferences (example A, the Big Ten was supposed to be the strongest conference in the country in Men’s Basketball – until they fell on their faces in the NCAA tournament); 2) In addition to the usual injuries, we’ve seen players and teams miss matches due to covid rules. It’s great to see the Gophers rated so high, and maybe it will help with their seeding for the NCAAs, but it means less than ever this year.

I can’t begrudge Wisconsin their #1 rating; they have everyone back from last season’s (2019) team that made it to the National Championship Match, and they’re unbeaten, so they deserve their ranking. But they haven’t played hardly anyone; their only significant challenge being their one-match victory over the Gophers without our setter or libero. (To be fair, Wisconsin didn’t have their setter for that match either.)

But the latest ratings are curious: The Gophers (13 & 2) moved up from #4 to #3 based on our sweep of a not-very-good Northwestern, Nebraska (14 & 2, including a split with the Gophs) moved up from #5 to #4 based on their sweep of a not-very-good Michigan, and Kentucky (19 & 1) moved up from #3 to #2, based on their sweep of a not-very-good Alabama, all at the expense of Texas (21 & 1) who slipped to #5 based on beating 9^th ranked Baylor at Baylor, but losing at home, in 5 sets, to 24^th ranked Rice. Probably tough for Longhorn fans to swallow.

The Gophs finish their scheduled matches at home this weekend vs a not-very-good Iowa, Friday @ 5:00 on BTN+ & FSN+ (a broadcast station for those without cable), and Saturday @ 3:00 on ESPNU (I ‘ll not be able to watch this one.) The most interesting match-up of the weekend will be Penn State, who needs at least one win to get “off the bubble,” at Nebraska for a pair.

Then the NCAA pairings will be announced on Sunday. If the Pairings follow the current rankings, the Gophers could be in a position to reach the NCAA Championship Match without playing other Big Ten Teams.

As of now, this year’s tournament will include only 48 teams, 32 conference winners and 16 at-large teams. Lately, some, including Nebraska Coach John Cook and Wisconsin Coach Kelly Sheffield, have publicly complained about this, drawing comparisons to the men’s & women’s basketball tournaments, which started last weekend with the standard 64 teams.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t expect complaining to change anything, but the NCAA responded quickly to bad pub regarding inequality between the men’s & women’s basketball facilities, so who knows?

Reader M.C. writes, “Not enjoying the video quality on BTN+.  But like no commercials!” Ditto here; also miss the replays.

Also not enjoying the play-by-play on BTN or BTN+. They seem locked in to a weird system using highly annoying male play-by-play guys who have limited or no knowledge of volleyball, accompanied by female analysts who do know volleyball but grow tired of correcting their male partners. I personally know men who understand volleyball, and I assume that there are women capable of play-by-play; so WTH?!!!

After a 3 set sweep on Friday, the Gophers defeated Northwestern again on Saturday, this time in 4 sets. The Gophers lost tonight’s first set 21 -25. Hard to say if this was the Gophers coming out over-confident, or the Wildcats playing inspired on Senior Night, but the best team won this first set.

The Gophers roared back to dominate the 2^nd and 3^rd sets, wining each 25 -15. Northwestern came out strong in the 4^th set, taking an early lead, but the Gophers resumed control and finished the match with a 25 – 20 (I think) win. For the weekend, the Gophers dominated 4 of 7 sets, won two competitive sets, and lost one.

The sweep of Northwestern brings the Gopher season/Big 10 record to 15 & 2, with a pair of matches at home vs Iowa (not a top team) to finish the season. (Assuming no make-up matches, which at this point seem unlikely.) The Gophers are currently ranked #4 in the country, and if they can avoid a loss to Iowa are likely to stay at #4 going into the seedings for the NCAAs.

After a rugged schedule featuring pairs of matches at Purdue, home vs Penn State, at Nebraska, home vs Michigan, Illinois and a single match vs Wisconsin, the Gophers get to finish their scheduled season at Northwestern and home vs Iowa, both lower-rated teams. With an almost healthy squad, missing only McGraw, the Gophs started these final 4 matches with a sweep of Northwestern.

The Gophs struggled a bit in the 2^nd set (25-21) and trailed early in the 3^rd set, but hit .358 for the match compared to the Wildcats .113. Kilkelly filled in ably for McGraw, and Wenaas for Kilkelly, and the rest of the line-up played well, especially Rubright, with 9 blocks in a 3-set match. Northwestern served at Landfair every chance they had, and Taylor struggled a bit with her receives, but she made up for it with 7 kills, 4 blocks and 3 aces.

REMATCH TONIGHT, AT 6:00 ON BTN+.

The other news last night was the “postponement” of the Wisconsin at PennState matches scheduled for this weekend. They say “postponement,” but with the Badgers scheduled to play Michigan next weekend, April 3 & 4, and the NCAA Tournament Field announced on April 4, I think “cancelled” is a more accurate term. Assuming that the Badgers beat Michigan in Madison, Wisconsin will finish unbeaten – without playing Nebraska, Penn State or Ohio State, and having beaten the Gophers once, on a match where neither team had their starting setter! Talk about a record with an asterisk!

Tonight’s BTN line-up features a volleyball triple header:

4:00 Minnesota at Northwestern (rematch Sat @ 6 on BTN+)

6:00 Nebraska at Michigan (Huskers in 4 sets last night)

8:00 Wisconsin at Penn State. (rematch @ 6 on BTN)

MN @ NW: No news on the health of the Gopher squad. but Northwestern’s record does not suggest that the Gophers should have much trouble at Evanston.

NEB @ MICH: Michigan dominated the first set last night, raising hopes for an upset. But the Huskers dominated the rest of the match.  (Interesting comment from legendary Nebraska Coach John Cook during a BTN interview: Asked about his recent 600^th match victory as the Neb coach, Cook said that it should have been his 601^st, going on to speak with regret regarding his 13 & 2 Huskers recent split with Ohio State; saying nothing about his teams split with the Gophers. My take, purely speculation, of course, Cook did not feel bad about splitting with the Gophs, who he considers Nebraska’s equal, but thinks the Buckeyes are over-rated???)

WIS @ P-ST: This is a huge match for both teams, and also for the Gophers and other contenders such as Neb & O-St.

The Badgers are unbeaten and ranked #1 in the country – but have not been fully tested. Their toughest tests so far were last week’s win over the Gophers, a match played without either team’s starting setter, and an opening week sweep of the 11 & 5 Boilermakers, who were missing their best hitter.

And Penn State, at 9 & 5, is at risk of not being invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time … since volleyball was invented, almost literally. The NCAA has held 39 National Tournaments, and Coach Russ Rose’s Nittany Lions have participated in all 39, winning 7 National Championships! But this year’s field, 64 teams in recent years, will be limited to 48 teams due to covid, and half of those “automatic qualifiers,” so only 16 “at large teams.” A double loss to Wisconsin would drop the 6^th place Nittany Lions even further from the Big Ten leaders, and possibly out of the Top-25, putting them “on the bubble” for the NCAAs.

A double win by Penn State, on the other hand, combined with a very possible Ohio State split with Purdue, would leave Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Nebraska (assuming they beat Michigan again) all with 2 losses – a virtual 4-way tie.

I had intended, but forgot (it was late) to mention that last night’s match was the Gophers’ first where both teams were masked. Given that every player on both teams wore masks, I assume that this was agreed upon in advance.

If you haven’t played volleyball wearing a mask, you might think it a bigger deal than it really is. My geezer volleyball group has worn masks since our season started in late September. I thought it would be terrible, and a few guys groused about it at first, but we’ve gotten used to it. It’s worse if you wear glasses, because they tend to fog up, but none of the Gopher or Badger players were wearing contacts. Probably some wear contacts, as I do for volleyball, but my mask does not affect my contacts.

My mask does jiggle out of place at times, requiring me to adjust it between points, and sometimes even during a live-ball situation, which can be distracting. But I’ve gotten used to that also. And the masks worn by the Gophers and Badgers last night  seemed more sophisticated than the generic surgical mask I’m wearing, so maybe even less problematic.

We were looking forward to a pair of matches between two of the very best teams in the country, and the BTN announcer kept insisting that’s what we were watching, but that wasn’t quite what we saw, with both teams missing their starting setters, the Gophs’ Shaffmaster & the Badgers Hilley.

We saw a competitive match between two pretty good teams, but anyone who has ever played competitive volleyball knows that your setter is the most important player on the team – and the hardest to replace. The Gophers were also missing starting libero McGraw, and middle Katie Myers who shares one starting middle position with Rubright (who did play), so, in a sense, our Gophs were missing 2.5 starters.

My first thought was that the Gophers might have a slight edge in a starting-setterless match, in that I think Hilley, a proven star, is probably better than our freshman Shaffmaster, at least at this point in time. And also because the Gophers played with Bailey McMenimen at setter for much of last season (2019), and the Badgers’s setter was less experienced.

But this was offset by the fact that McMenimen, a gutsy player playing her heart out, is too short to block, forcing the Gophers into a 6-2 scheme with McMenimen sharing the setting with grad-student transfer Hunter Atherton, seeing almost her first action in Maroon & Gold. Whereas the Badgers were able to stay with the 5-1 system their team is accustomed to. Also, we’ve won previously with Kilkelly filling in for McGraw and Wenaas back-filling for Kilkelly.

1^st SET: Wisconsin’s advantages were obvious in the opening set. The Gophers, with unfamiliar players and unfamiliar serve-receive positions, allowed 5 Wisconsin aces, and the serves they did dig up were rarely passed where our setters wanted them. And as a result the Gophers hitting percentage was pathetic. Wisconsin led 5-2, 10-4, 11-7, and 17-10 before winning 25-14. With 1 kill, Samedy was almost invisible, and I don’t remember Rubright even touching the ball.

2^nd SET: And when the Badgers opened an 8-3 lead in the 2^nd, I had visions of a 3-set sweep. But led by left side hitters Landfair and Rollins (easier for McMenimen and Atherton to find), and 3 consecutive aces by Kilkelly, the Gophers came back to take a 12-10 lead. Landfair stayed hot, McMenimen served the Gophs’ 4^th ace of the set, and the Gophs enjoyed leads of 18-14 & 22-18. The Badgers closed the deficit to 24-22 on spectacular play by libero Lauren Barnes (a former Gopher) but the Gophers hung on to win 25-22.

3^rd SET: The pattern of dominance by the better serving team continued, but with the advantage swinging back to Wisconsin. There was one particularly ugly sequence in which the Badgers were dropping short, soft serves that the Gophers couldn’t handle. I felt McMenimen set a little better than in the first set, but she seemed to be positioned too deep to cover dinks, accounting for multiple easy Badger points. Wisconsin led 7-3, 12-5, & 20-8 before winning 25-15.

4^th SET: The best set of the night. The Gophers came out with Wenaas at libero and Kilkelly back at her familiar D.S. role, and gave us hope by taking leads of 6-3 & 11-8, much of it on Landfair’s shoulders, with help from Pittman. Wisconsin came back to lead 17-14, but the Gophers tied it at 19-19. The Badgers led 23-20, but again the Gophs tied it again at 23-23. But a service error by Rollins and a Badger kill gave Wisconsin the match.

ENCOURAGING SIGNS: Down 2.5 starters, the Gophers were competitive vs the #1 team in the country, winning one set and coming within a couple of points of winning two sets. Pittman went toe-to-toe with the best middle in college v-ball, and held her own. And Landfair served notice that any team that focuses on shutting down Samedy will pay the price.

A win by the Gophers would have propelled them into first place in the Big Ten, and possible a #1 national ranking. And I would have thought re-scheduling the re-match at Wisconsin not so important. But with tonight’s loss, I’m really hoping this match can be rescheduled before the end of the regular season. Be great to see these two teams at full strength, and a great tune-up for both teams heading into the NCAAs.

UP NEXT

The Gophers travel to Northwestern (who we should beat) for matches on Friday at 4:00, on BTN, and Saturday at 6:00, on BTN+.  And, interestingly, Wisconsin travels to Penn State. Penn State is having an off year, by Penn State standards, and Wisconsin seems the better team. But Penn State is always tough at home, and if Hilley is not back in the line-up, Wisconsin could have their hands full. (The Badgers also have two matches to make up against Nebraska.)

It appears, as of 9:50 a.m. this morning, that the Gophers’ season will resume tonight, vs the unbeaten and #1 ranked Badgers, at the PAV, 7:00 on BTN. And if so, you don’t want to miss it! I assume that the Badgers would have travelled yesterday, and wouldn’t have done that without assurances that the match is on.

Lots of DRAMA, lots of QUESTIONS:                                                                                * Can the Gophs handle the Badgers? Our Gophs have legitimate National Championship aspirations, and the Badgers are one of a small handful in their way. The Badgers deserve their #1 ranking in the sense that they finished 2^nd  to Stanford last year (2019), having that team back (Stanford lost most of their team to graduation), and are unbeaten.                         

• But are the Badgers really that good? They haven’t played any of the top teams (MN, NEB, O-STATE, P-STATE). They swept a decent Purdue team, at Madison, in the first match of the year,  but Purdue was missing their best player.                                            
• And how rusty will the Badgers be? They haven’t played anyone in 4 weeks due to covid. Practice helps, but it’s never the same.         
• Who will be in uniform for the Gophers? Star Middle Regan Pittman played brilliantly last weekend vs Illinois, but the other middle position (you need two) was filled by super-sub Miyabe, who, at 6ft, is not really a middle. Our other 3 Middles, Myers, Rubright and Husemann were not dressed vs Illinois. (No explanation available.) Wisconsin’s best player is their 6-8 senior middle hitter Dana Rettke; Pittman struggles to hold her own with Rettke, and Myers or Rubright will too; but Miyabe, good as she is, has no chance.                                                                                                                                                    
• Will Thursday’s match get rescheduled? The Gophers were scheduled to play at Madison last Thursday. A split of this home-and-home series would have left the Badgers, now 10 & 0, at 11 & 1, still ahead of the Gophers, now 11 & 1, at 12 & 2. But the match at Madison was “postponed” by the Gophers, because, due to covid, the Gophs “didn’t have enough healthy players at the right positions,” i.e., Middles.  
• How loudly will the Badgers to scream “foul” if we beat them tonight? A win tonight at the PAV would put the Gophers at 12 & 1, ahead the Badgers at 10 & 1. And unless some of the cancelled matches get made-up, the Gophers (who should win the rest of their scheduled matches) could easily maintain this advantage through the end of the season and into the seeding for the NCAAs

Tonight’s long-awaited, much-anticipated, match at Madison, between the Gophers and Badgers, two of the top 5 teams in the country, has been “postponed” due to ongoing covid-quarantines for the Gophers, leaving them too thin to compete. As of now, Sunday evening’s match between these same two teams, scheduled at the PAV, is still on.

I’ve put quotation marks around postponed because this is the 5^th match of the season postponed for the Gophers (even more for the Badgers), and there’s no chance that all of these missed matches will be made up. It does seem, to me, that if any of the missed matches are rescheduled, the Gopher-Badger match (or matches) would be a priority, from a competitive standpoint. And maybe easier due to the proximity. The postponed home-and-home matches between Penn State & Ohio State have been made up.

Maybe it is unseemly to talk about who tonight’s cancellation “favors,” but I will. I think it cuts several ways, depending on what happens with the match scheduled for Sunday.                                                                                                                                                                                    * Unbeaten Wisconsin is alone atop the Big Ten standings, and ranked #1 nationally; our 11 & 1 Gophers in 3^rd place and ranked 5^th.  And even without fans in the stands, teams play better at home. IF Sunday’s match at the PAV gets played, and IF the Gophers win (and tonight’s match never rescheduled) this would edge the Gophers ahead of the Badgers in the Big Ten standings, and presumably in both the polls and the seeding for the NCAAs (assuming that gets played) – without having to play, short-handed (missing 3 of our 4 Middles) as we would have been, at Madison. Advantage Gophers.                                 * But in a sense, the Badgers need Sunday’s game more than we do. If Sunday’s game gets postponed and none of the “postponed” games ever rescheduled, Wisconsin will finish their season as the unbeaten Big Ten Champs, and the #1 seed for the NCAAs, without playing any of the top teams. (Their matches vs Nebraska also got “postponed,” and they were never scheduled to play Ohio State (currently 2^nd in the Big Ten). Advantage Badgers; an easy-peasy championship. But this would be the 4^th weekend in a row that the Badgers’ matches have been cancelled, and it would not be to the Badgers advantage to enter the NCAAs without playing any tough matches.

Mixed feelings: Should we be frustrated and worried, or grateful and excited, about the Gophers’ performance against Illinois over the weekend?

Case for frustration and worry:

• How and why could our Gophers, 11 & 1, 5^th-ranked nationally, 3^rd place in the Big 10 (but maybe 1^st in the Big 6) struggle to beat lowly Illinois (2 & 10, tied for 12^th in Big 10), a team now on a 10-match losing streak?
•  And struggle they did. In Friday night’s match (which I didn’t see), the Gophs were apparently pathetic in the 2^nd set, and unable to win a close 3^rd set, so trailed 1 set to 2 sets going into the 4^th set. And after winning the 4^th set, were tied at 8-8, and led only 12-11 before winning the match on unforced errors by the Illini. And even in Saturday’s 3-0 sweep, the 1^st set , in which Illinois committed 5 service errors, was 19-19, before the Gophs pulled away. And the Gophs trailed 22-20 in the 2^nd set. I’d call that a struggle.

• The Gophers are 33 & 13 in sets-played, while Wisconsin, next week’s opponent, who the Gophers aspire to compete with, is 30 & 3 in sets-played. We were 6 & 4 against Purdue; the Badgers 6 & 0 against Purdue.
• And following back-to-back weekends of matches cancelled/postponed due to covid, we seemed to have lost 3 of our 4 Middle-Hitters. Super-sub Miyabe filled in ably against Illinois, but she’s not really a Middle. Myers, Rubright and Husemann were unavailable; the Gopher web-site provides no information on this and the Strib probably didn’t notice, but none of these 3 were in uniform last night. Two of the 3 (I think Rubright and Husemann, it’s BTN+) were with the team in the bench area, wearing hoodies, but I never caught a glimpse of a third (presumably Myers). This is particularly worrisome going into Thursday/Sunday matches against Wisconsin, who happen to have the best pair of Middles in the country.  

Case for gratitude and excitement:

• Despite their struggles, the Gophers are 11 & 1 in the country’s strongest conference, and 5 & 1 vs the top teams (MN, WIS, O-ST, NEB, P-ST & PURD); impressive compared to WIS (2 & 0), O-ST (3 & 1), and NEB (2 & 2). Even a split against Wisconsin next week would almost guarantee the Gophs a top-4 seed in the NCAAs.
• The Gophers, 4 & 0 in 5-set matches, and very tough when both teams have 20+ points, seem to have an “extra gear when they need it the most. (Except for that Sunday morning match at Lincoln, let’s not do that again.) Seniors Samedy and Pittman tend to “disappear” at times, but dominate in these clutch situations. And this experience in tight sets and tight matches should be an asset in the NCAAs.
• And, as noted early by reader D.S., this team has great depth, persevering when freshmen Landfair and Shaffmaster were struggling, in the absence of libero McGraw (again, in last night’s 3^rd set) and this past weekend, missing 3 of our 4 Middles.

YESTERDAY’S DETAILS

The big story was the Pittman’s 13 blocks, a Gopher record for blocks in three-set match. Pittman recently had 14 in the Gophs’ 4-set win over Nebraska. Pittman started the season slow, not getting the sets she need from her freshman setter, and not blocking especially well. But she’s really coming on, and demonstrating the leadership expected from a 4^th-year starter. This coming week against Wisconsin will be her toughest test of the season.

The 1^st set was ragged; the Gophers led most of the way, but not by much, in a 25-21 win. Samedy was quiet, but Rollins’ 4 kills & 1 block, and Pittman’s 2 kills & 3 blocks, together accounted for 10 points, and the Illini had 5 service errors!

The Gophers had early leads of 4-1, 7-3, and 12-6 in the 2nd set, but at 16-14, the Illini ran 4 pts to take an 18-16 lead, and stayed ahead of the Gophs at 22-20.  Illinois committed 4 more service errors during the 2nd set, but they offset this with 4 aces. And they were dinking the Gophers to death, taking advantage of Shafmaster’s lack of quickness. But trailing 20-22, Samedy (as usual) took over the set with 4 clutch kills in the last 6 points, for a 25-23 win.

Whether it was Illinois’ 10-match losing streak, Friday night’s loss after leading 2 sets to 1, their collapse (at Samedy’s powerful arm) in Saturday’s 2^nd set, Pittman’s incredible blocking throughout the match, or an understandable combination of all 4, the air went out of the Illini balloon. From a 10-10 tie, the Gophers went on to a 25-13 win. Shaffmaster redeemed herself with a great dig, of a dink similar to a couple she didn’t get in the 2^nd set.

UP NEXT

Though this year’s Big 10 schedule is mostly back-to-back weekend matches in the same building, the schedule-makers gave each team one home-and-home vs a geographic neighbor, and this week sends the Gophers to Madison for a 7:00 game on Thursday, and the Badgers here at the Pav at 7:00 on Sunday. Both games on BTN. More later re this critical Gopher-Badger match-up.