Month: March 2022

Chris Voelz, one of 8 women being inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame, has strong connections to Gopher Volleyball. Yesterday’s Patrick Ruesse column about Voelz, who fought hard to promote women’s sports during her tenure as U of M Women’s Athletic Director from 1988 to 2002, notes many of Voelz’s accomplishments, including:

• The building of The Jean Freeman Aquatics Center;
• The conversion of an obsolete hockey arena into THE PAV;
• The building of Ridder Hockey Arena;
• The building of Cowles Softball Stadium.
• The creation of Women’s Varsity Hockey; And
• Firing Gopher Volleyball coach Steph Schleuder (because Voelz thought BIG), and wanted to hire Mike Hebert away from Illinois, which turned the Gophers into a volleyball powerhouse, making it possible, later, to hire Coach McCutcheon.

Voelz certainly deserves to be in the MN Sports HOF, and Ruesse is the best sports writer in the Twin Cities. (“Sports” might be an unnecessary qualifier.)  But there is a bit of hyperbole in this list.

• The Aquatics Center was under construction before Voelz became Women’s Athletic Director, and it was later named for my friend Jean Freeman after Jean’s untimely death — after Voelz had left the U. (I knew Jean when she swam for the Gophers and I was playing Water Polo; and later when Jean was the Women’s Swim Coach and I was the Men’s and Women’s Polo Coach in the Aquatics Center. Jean was a wonderful person; very deserving of having the Aquatics Center named after her.):
• THE PAV, which seats 5,700, has been a wonderful home for Gopher Volleyball, Gopher Gymnastics, and Gopher Wrestling. 5,700 is occasionally inadequate to satisfy everyone wanting a ticket for Volleyball or Wrestling — but that’s okay. But Voelz also insisted that the Gopher Women’s Basketball Team play there – until a broken pipe forced a team led by Lindsey Whalen and Janel McCarville into Williams Arena — where they drew 11,000. So much for Voelz thinking big.
• The building of His & Hers Hockey Arenas was the second stupidest facilities decision ever made by the Gopher Athletic Dept. (Number 1: TCF Stadium)
• The Gophers already had a strong Women’s Club Hockey program, and there was this Title IX thing, so going varsity was not exactly a stroke of genius.

But this is a volleyball blog, so let’s talk volleyball.  Mike Hebert had been successful at Illinois, and he had greater success with the Gophs; greater than he’d had at Illinois, and greater than Schleuder had had with the Gophers. But Voelz did not fire Schleuder so she could hire Hebert, and MN was not able to hire McCutcheon because of Hebert’s success. This is revisionist history.

Voelz fired Schleuder because Schleuder publicly criticized Voelz for lying to her regarding the raise Voelz had promised her. (And then Voelz was able to lure Hebert (a man) away from Illinois, for more money than she had been willing to pay Schleuder (a woman); — not exactly a feminist triumph. Voelz didn’t get along with her male, AD, boss, but she didn’t get along with her female coaches either.

And Coach McCutcheon, who could have had almost any job he wanted, might not have taken the Gopher job if the Gophers were a bad team in a bad conference. But he took the Gopher job because the Gophers were decent, they play in the strongest conference in the country, and McCutcheon is married to and raising kids with a Bachman Girl. (An outstanding volleyball player in her own right.) I don’t know if being one of many heirs to a florist empire makes Mrs. McCutcheon rich, but it definitely means free baby-sitting and a ton of familial support. Collegiate volleyball coaches don’t get rich coaching anywhere, not even at Nebraska or Stanford, and coaching in the home-town of his wife’s family was a decision unrelated to Voelz replacing a pretty good woman coach with an even better man coach.

TAYLOR LANDFAIR on TAYLOR LANDFAIR

This amazing athlete was the #1 overall rated recruit in the class of 2020, and while, in the Covid-Spring of ’21 Season, she experienced the normal ups & downs expected of any freshman, she also crushed “shock & awe” kills, and dominated enough sets that I suggested she might eventually surpass Steph Samedy and Samantha Seliger-Swenson as the GOAT of Gopher Volleyball.

But Landfair pulled herself from the first match of last fall’s season, came back a month later to play sparingly, then left again and spent the rest of the season leading cheers from the bench. When no real explanation was ever provided, there was plenty of speculation by readers of this blog. It was her back, it was a mental health problem, an attitude problem.

Now, the Official Gopher website has posted an essay, “TRUST THE PROCESS,” written by Landfair, explaining what happened. You can read the entire essay at https://gophersports.com/news/2022/3/22/volleyball. But if you’re pressed for time, here are the “Cliff Notes:”

It was an abdominal problem, a strain that developed during the first match of the season, turning into a tear when she tried to return to action to soon. The experience of missing a season was hard on her mental health. But she is now 100% healthy; her attitude is very positive, having “bonded” with the Gopher bench, especially freshmen Natalie Glenn and Lauren Crowl; and her “red-shirt was approved, so she has 4 more years of eligibility!

Say what? You read that right, there is now a Gopher Spring Volleyball Season, schedule as follows:

APR 2, 2:00 PM @ BLUE EARTH H.S. vs SOUTH DAKOTA

APR 9, 2:00 PM @ LAKEVILLE NORTH H.S. vs NDSU

APR 14, 7:30 PM @ The PAV vs ST. THOMAS

APR 23, 1:30 PM @ SIMPSON COLLEGE vs KANSAS STATE

Previously, Spring Practice Season concluded with an inter-squad game, originally a private affair, more recently open to the public. Originally, formal competition vs other schools was not allowed. (private “scrimmages,” maybe?) But now (as Dylan once sang, “The times, they are a changin’”), we have a 4-match “season” against other schools, open to the public.

I’m guessing these spring matches won’t count on a team’s 2022 record, but I have been unable to confirm this. What I did find, during my failed research, was that during the Spring Volleyball Season, the NCAA will be experimenting with a couple of rules changes:        1. Nationalization of the Big Ten rule allowing teams only two replay challenges (during the first four sets) – but allowing retention if the challenge is successful ;        2. Stud earrings will be allowed; And                                                                                        3. “Double-touches” on the second touch are no longer violations (double-touches on the first touch were legalized several years ago).                                                                                             These proposed changes all make sense to me.

Whether these spring games count or not, they will provide our first look at the 2022 Gophers. Despite the loss of Super-Star Steph Samedy, Super-Sub Airi Miyabe, gutsy back-up setter Bayley McMenimen, starting middle Katie Myers, and back-up middle Shea Rubright (transferred out), the 2022 Gophers will be loaded!

We start with four returning players recently named to the 2022 USA Volleyball Women’s Collegiate National Team: Left-sides Taylor Landfair and Jenna Wenaas, setter Melani Shaffmaster, and Libero CC McGraw. (The 2022 WCNT, which will train June 19-25 at the National Team Training Center in Anaheim will include 38 of the best collegiate players in the country. Our Gophs & Florida will be the only teams represented by 4 players. Ohio State will have 2, but no other Big Ten team will have more than one. The 38 will also include Adanna Rollins, listed as “college to be determined.”)

In addition to Landfair, Wenaas, Shaffmaster, and McGraw, returning Gophers will include DH Rachael Kilkelly, Middle Ellie Husemann, promising OH Natalie Glenn, and Lauren Crowl, a 6-4 red-shirt Opposite out of Eastview. On top of that, the 2022 Gophers will include a top-ten recruiting class including consensus No. 1 overall prospect McKenna Wucherer, a 6-1 OH out of Brookfield, Wis, Carter Booth, a 6-7 Middle out of Denver, and Julia Hanson, a 6-1 OH out of Prior Lake. (All 3 were Gatorade Player of the Year in their states, and all 3 are currently on campus and practicing for the spring season.)

And while we lost Rubright, the Gophs picked up two incoming transfers: Elise McGhie, a 5-10 setter transferring from Kansas (seemingly a replacement for McMenimen), and Arcia Davis a 5-11 middle transferring from Ohio State. Five-eleven seems too short to play Middle at the collegiate level, much less in the Big Ten, and yet Davis led the 2021 Buckeyes, a Sweet-Sixteen team, in blocks, including 10 matches with five-or-more blocks, and 13-kills in a five set win over. Notre Dame. Both transfers will have 3 yrs of eligibility remaining.

As we’ve learned, depth is a valuable asset. And it will be interesting to see these 8 returning players and 5 additions compete for playing time. I haven’t seen any 2022 rankings (anyone?) but I will be shocked if the Gophers are not in the Top Ten when the first poll comes out.

OTHER GOPHER NEWS

Thus is a volleyball blog, but I can’t help but mention the impressive, recent accomplishments of some other outstanding Gopher athletes:    1 Our men’s Hockey Team won the Big Ten regular season and has qualified for the Frozen Four this weekend;                                                                                                                                                2 Springboard Diver Sarah Bacon completed her illustrious Gopher career with her Fifth NCAA National Title, 3 from the 1-meter board and 2 from the 3-meter board;                         3 While failing to repeat his 2021 NCAA Championship breaststroke sweep (he took 2^nd in this year’s 200), senior Max McHugh did repeat as the 2022 NatChamp in the 100 breast. 4 The three above are wonderful accomplishments, which everyone in Gopher Nation can take pride in. But “wonderful” and “amazing,” are inadequate to describe the Maroon & Gold accomplishments of Gable Steveson. This reigning Olympic Champion and two-time NCAA Wrestler of the Year (the only heavyweight to ever win this award twice), recently closed out his Gopher career with an 85 & 2 career record, and his second National Championship. If you never watched Steveson wrestle, in person or on TV, shame on you; I have no adjectives to describe his dominance of his sport.