Month: October 2022

Earlier today, Coach McCutcheon announced that he would be leaving the program at the end of the season. He declined to explain, and said he would not be explaining until after the season. Reader G.H. writes, “This is going to cause some serious recruiting problems and use of the portal. Did you see this coming?”

JOHN: It certainly could; let’s hope not. And no, I didn’t. My first thought is that a career-shift out of volleyball seems improbable. So what, then?

• A better coaching job? He’s already been the U.S. Olympic Coach; can’t see him retracing those steps? Coaching his native Australian Squad?
• There aren’t many better Women’s Collegiate Programs, and to my knowledge, the jobs at Stanford, Texas and Nebraska aren’t open.
• Does he have an offer to coach Men’s volleyball, and prefers that?
• I’ve expressed frustration with the results produced by this current talent-rich Gopher Squad; is he frustrated?  Is there conflict between McCutcheon and his team?
• Is he in conflict with the A.D.?
• Does he have a health problem? A family problem?
• He married a local woman, a Bachman, with deep roots in our community; is he having personal problems?

I don’t know what to think?

The Gophers have announced that there will be a nationwide search conducted at the end of the season, and that long-time Gopher Associate Head Coach Matt Houk will serve as the Interim Head Coach.

Houk is a logical choice for Interim if the Gophers need an Interim Head Coach – but why do we need an Interim Head Coach if McCutcheon is staying on through the end of the season? And we can’t afford to wait until the end of the season to begin a search process; the next 60 days are the most critical period of the year for recruiting the H.S. class of 2024 and the Transfer Portal class of 2023.

The other name that came to mind immediately was Laura Kasey, the other long-time Gopher Associate Head Coach – until last January. I’ve been meaning to write something about Kasey, and where she went; I assumed that she probably got a head coaching job somewhere else. But I can’t find any record of what happened to her.

READERS RESPOND (PRIOR TO TODAY’S BOMBSHELL):

Reader G.U. wrote: “C.C. McGraw being hit by a six pack is a huge understatement. Most of the geezers we play with would still be on the floor if they were nailed as she was. In my opinion, McGraw is as tough as they make ’em.”

Reader C.B was one (of several) to point out that I messed up the names of the Swenson Girls. Samantha Seliger Swenson (SSS) starred as the Gopher Setter from 2015 through 2018, becoming a First Team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year) Her sisters, who we expect to follow in her footsteps, are Wayzata juniors Stella Swenson, Olivia Swenson and Wayzata sophomore Eva Swenson. C.B. also asks why their last names are different? I have no inside info on this, but I’m guessing that mom’s marital status changed at some point.

GIRLS TOURNEY-TIME

And speaking of H.S. volleyball, H.S. Girls Tournament Time is right around the corner. The 4-Division State Tournament will be held, as usual, at the XCEL CENTER (downtown St. Paul) on Wednesday Nov 9 through Saturday Nov 12. Below is a link to the schedule:

https://www.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/2022%20VB%20Game%20Schedule%20by%20Court%20FINAL.pdf

The HS League puts on quite a spectacle each year at the Xcel. On Thursdays and Fridays, for example, there will be two matches going on simultaneously (one can easily watch both at the same time – but your neck gets sore) from 9:00 a.m. until roughly (:00 p.m. – 12 matches for a single admission. Naturally, the AAAA teams, representing the biggest schools, provide the highest overall level of volleyball, but there are plenty of highly-skilled players and highly-competitive matches, even in the Single A Division.

Illinois won the football game in Champaign, MN won volleyball at the Pav, in straight sets, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23. It felt like the Gophers were the better team, but each set was close. Much like Wednesday’s 20-25, 21-25, 22-25 loss to the Buckeyes, except the opposite. Interestingly, if you look at the current Big Ten Standings, the Buckeyes, at 6 & 1 are among the conference elite, the Gophers, not as good as the Buckeyes (at least this past Wed) sit alone in 5^th place at 5 & 3, and the Illini at 4 & 4, not as good as the Gophers (at least today) clustered with the mediocre teams. [Two oddities: the Gophers gave Wisconsin, also an elite team at 6 & 1, their only loss; and the Gophers gave Northwestern, a bad team, one of their only 2 wins.]

Illinois didn’t help their cause with 14 service errors (vs 9 aces, and vs only 2 service errors by the Gophs). Clearly, Illinois came into the match with a strategy of serving aggressively, probably figuring that this would be the only way to slow down the Gopher offense. I assume the Illini faithful didn’t like it, but I don’t blame ‘em.

The only worrisome part of today’s victory came late in Set 1 when an Illini hitter “six-packed”  C.C. McGraw – meaning she spiked a ball that caught McGraw full in the face (which feels like getting hit in the face with a six-pack). McGraw shook it off and wanted to stay in the game. But apparently the Big Ten (or maybe the NCAA) now has a rule that a six-pack automatically triggers a “concussion protocol.” McGraw was sent to the locker room and was replaced at Libero by sophomore Skylar Gray (Gray’s first action for the Gophers that I recall). For Set 2, still missing McGraw, Kilkelly became the Libero, and McKenna Wooker transitioned into a 6-rotation player. I’ve been lobbying, here, for  McKenna to play 6 rotations instead of Landfair. Surely the 6-1 McKenna has to be a better passer than the 6-5 Landfair, right? Wrong; at least today. McKenna had 2 failed receives in roughly 4 chances. Fortunately, McGraw completed her “concussion protocol” and took over back-row for McKenna late in Set 2, and was back at Libero for Set 3.

If one is inclined to worry about the loss of a Gopher starter due to injury, it is natural to think of our stars, like Landfair (another 12 kills for the match) or Wenaas (11 kills today). But the Gophers have the very talented Outside Hitter Julia Hanson waiting, on the bench, for her opportunity. If we were to lose Booth or Gros, we’ve got Husemann. But we don’t have much depth at Libero or Setter. (You may not love Shaffmaster, but you’d miss her in a hurry.) I don’t want to judge Gray on such a small sample, but the Gophs really struggled to handle the Illini serves while McGraw was out. Interestingly, their were some rotations in which the Illini employed a 2-person receive.

Freshman Carter Booth continues to provide the Middle offense the Gophers so desperately need, getting 7 kills today, including 5 “quicks.” We were even treated to one where Shaffmaster fed Booth the quick from behind the 10-ft line – something we haven’t seen before. I expect this Shaffmaster-to-Booth combo to get better and better.

NEXT UP: Iowa at Iowa, Wed., 6:00, ESPNU (If you get ESPN, you probably get ESPNU.) The Gophs managed to drop a set to the Hawkeyes at the Pav recently, but there can be no excuse for losing the rematch.

AND NEXT SAT: The Gophers get another crack at Purdue, at the Pav — a must-win match if we expect a top-16 seed in the NCAAs.

Reader R.N. writes: “John, I think Melani Shaffmaster is the Gopher setter for this and next year. I also think that her limits as setter (creative selection of hitters and delivery of the ball on-spot and on-time) limits the Gopher offense.

Shaffmaster has shown in her career as a Gopher that she wants to be an attacking setter and I have seen her make one attack this season complete with approach off a set from McGraw. What if Shaffmaster becomes an attack option every time she receives a serve or covers a tip attempt or fields a free ball conceded by the opposing team (most-likely when she is in a front row rotation position but not necessarily so)?

Typically teams target the setter with a tip or free ball attempting to get the opposing team out of system. Using Shaffmaster as a hitting option would turn the opponents’ strategy around and surprise the opposing blockers with an attack from an unexpected player.

Shaffmaster is not the quickest, most flexible, best ball-handling setter in the B1G conference and she has not consistently demonstrated the ability to deliver the sets her teammates need, even off a good first pass. And this is general knowledge among serious Gopher VB fans. But she is one of the tallest setters around.

Why not tweek the Gopher system to include the Shaffmaster attack option with the target of getting her in the four kills per set range?  I think the attack swings would resonate with Shaffmaster’s demonstrated interest in being an offensive threat. And, the Gopher players may just get behind (enthusiastic) an attack with a twist.

I still have emotional scar tissue from the career match the Oregon setter had against the Gophers in the NCAA tourney Elite Eight, so I know an offensive setter can impact the result of a match.  And, as I recall, that Oregon player morphed during that same season from an outside hitter to the starting setter for Oregon.

Again, I can’t imagine a Gopher lineup in this or next season that does not include Shaffmaster and I don’t believe she will ever develop the agility, cleverness, touch and timing that we’d like her to have, so lets accept her limits and capitalize on her size and offensive potential.

Even if her attempts at offense take a while to develop, as a fan it would be interesting to see changes implemented by the Gophers to avoid a performance like we watched during the first two sets of the match versus Ohio State.”

John: Thanks R.N., interesting idea. You mention that we have Shaffmaster for this year and next , which fits her status as a junior. But keep in mind that she played her first season during covid, so she has a bonus year of eligibility available. It is not unlikely that the Gopher roster in 2024 could include Stella Seliger and Melani Shaffmaster.

Reader R.A. writes: “I fundamentally agree with all you said, though I’ll add one observation.  OSU’s kill shots were strong and well-targeted, plus their dinks almost always fell between our unsuspecting players. In sharp contrast, ours were more like “wound shots,” half-hearted, little power, thus easy for OSU to handle.  For example, Carter Booth, our best player last night, got three kills off the side of her hand, which accidently went where OSU blockers didn’t anticipate. Glad for the points, but definite mistiming with Shaffmaster. And our dinks — most were handled midair because they were telegraphed, unlike OSU’s, which caught us off guard. The guy behind me observed early how Landfair became tentative in her shots.  She made 2-3 good ones at first, then backed off after several fails, thus her .027 hitting. Overall, Gophs had no answers how to respond to an obviously superior team.”

John: We haven’t had a consistent middle-attack since Pittman declined her “bonus” year of eligibility. But 7 of Booth’s 8 kills were off quick-sets (interestingly, almost all of Gros’s kills come off of slide, let’s hope future opponents don’t figure that out); you won’t hear me complaining about half of them being miss-hits. I consider quicks to be the most difficult attack in volleyball, requiring perfect coordination between setter & hitter. Booth is a raw freshman; the coordination between Shaffmaster and Booth should get even better.

And yes, the Buckeye Team that swept the Gophers in 3 sets last night were the superior team — last night. But all 3 sets were close; I’m not wiling to concede that the Buckeyes will be the superior team at the end of the season.

Reader J.S. writes: “Great analysis, very insightful. That match was hard to watch. The Gophers, on paper, are top drawer but they can’t seem to play consistently, even vs mediocre teams – Northwestern being a prime example. Yet, when they get their blood up, they take out Wisconsin which tells me they can play with the best, when they want to. The stats show their weakness in that given set, but we don’t seem to be seeing the “gotta-wanna” that it takes to be top tier. They aren’t adapting mid-match, or more importantly, mid-set. It seems to me that on-court leadership is an issue, as well as a sense of urgency. Ohio State has it, the Gophers don’t. Maybe some time with a sports psychologist would be beneficial.

And finally, it’s time to up the quality of the refs again. Haven’t seen it that bad for a very long time now. I’m not saying that just about the calls against the Gophers, but also for the calls against Ohio State. Double contacts calls were far too lax at this level of play and the missing four hit calls on “never went” right in front of the head ref were stunning. At this level of D1 play, refs should be crisp and strict on correct hitting, basic calls, and that should be consistent right up and through the championship match. Without that, as play progresses to NCAA tourney play, then ref calls can become a factor in key matches if players suddenly have to adapt to a tighter-called game.

Really appreciated the upstream look at the Seligers. ” 

John: I agree that this team is under-performing. Call it “intensity,” call it “killer instinct,” call it “gotta-wanna,” call it “leadership.” Whatever you call it, it needs to there if this team is to realize its potential.

I agree that the ref missed the “never went” call – and it came at a critical time in the 3 point, 3^rd set. But balls hitting the tape into a block is a tough, bang-bang, call. As a front-row player, I always thought that “play-on” should be the default call unless the ref was 100% certain that it “never went.”

L.S. notes that, last night, both the Gophers and the Buckeyes (and even the ball-girls) wore green hair ribbons in honor of Mental Health Awareness.

John: Thanks for that, L.S., Mental Health Awareness is an important issue.

Ohio State is a very good team, maybe a Final Four Team even, and each set was close, 20-25, 21-25, 22-25. But I did not expect the Gophers to lose 4 matches at the Pav all season, much less be 5 & 4 at home at this point in the season, or get swept at the Pav.

The blocking was pretty even, 16 for the Gophs vs 18 for the Buckeyes, but for the match, the Gophs got outhit .097 to .284. Landfair was a big part of that, hitting .027 officially, with 9 attack errors vs 10 kills (I had her with 11 kills).

We got decent production from our Middles, Booth with 8 kills and a block, and Gros with 4 kills and 7 blocks, vs a combined 8 kills and 6 blocks for the Buckeye Middles. If you had told me that the Gophers would get swept in a match where our Middles had better numbers than the opposition, I wouldn’t have believed it.

SO HOW DID WE LOSE?

Too many hitting errors; twice as many as the Buckeyes.

Ohio State won the serve-receive game. The Buckeyes had 8 service errors against 1 ace, while the Gophs had 3 service errors against 2 aces. So we served better, right? Wrong, Ohio State disproved the “just-get-it-over” theory, by serving aggressively all night, taking the Gophers out of their offense. Meanwhile, we were serving lollipops, allowing the Buckeyes to tee it up.

Ohio State had (has) a better setter. Melani Shaffmaster is a good D1 setter. The Buckeyes Mac Podraza is outstanding. Better passing and a more skillful setter equals better hitting opportunities for the Buckeye hitters, thus the 097 to .284 stat.

Little things make the difference in close sets.

• Ohio State had a ton of great “saves.” This is not an official stat, but the Gophs had 2 or 3 great saves, vs 9 or 10 by the Buckeyes.
• As usual, the Gophers were out-dinked. Landfair (our only effective dinker) got 3 dink-kills, & Wooker 1. I wasn’t counting the Buckeyes dink-kills, but it felt like a dozen.
• Playing from behind all night. Each set included long strings of sideout-sideout-sideout trading BUT: The Buckeyes had a run to start Set 1; the Gophers played them even the rest of the way without ever pulling square. At 11-11 in Set 2, the Buckeyes had a run to 12-16, and the Gophers never answered. The Gophs trailed 3-10 in Set 3, ran 4 to 7-10, fell back to 14-20, surged again to 20-22, but once again, the Buckeyes made big plays when they needed to.

Are the “saves,” the “dinks,” and big plays when you need them a measure of “intensity?” You tell me. Last year, the Gophs would have sets where they absolutely stunk, couldn’t do anything right – and would still win the match.

There is still a lot of season left, and maybe the Gophs get their act together from Thanksgiving into December. But with a 4 & 3 start, the Gophers chance of competing for the Big Ten Championship are fading fast.

Gophers sweep, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14. The Gophs trailed only at 0-1 in Set 2, and took leads of 9-3 in Set 1, 13-6 in Set 2, and 12-3 in Set 3. There might have been a slight loss of intensity by Gophs when they got ahead, but the most noticeable loss of intensity was by the young Spartans after losing the first two sets.

I mentioned earlier today that the Spartans were “rebuilding.” I was not, at that time, aware of this stat: the Spartans are the 4^th youngest team in D1 V-ball. Nor did I mention that this would be grad-transfer Naya Gros’ homecoming, having been a Spartan star for 4 years. These two facts are presumably related; maybe MSU is young because veterans like Gros left via transfer, or maybe Gros transferred because she saw the youth movement coming. Either way, Gros had a big day vs her former team, with 7 kills and 5 blocks.

Besides Gros, Booth got 6 kills and 3 blocks, adding up to the Middle-Production we’ve been looking for. Landfair led with 12 kills and Wenaas had 11. We got dink-kills from Landfair, Wenaas and Wooker today – don’t remember seeing that before. Wooker didn’t get the numbers today, but I’m not the least bit worried about Wooker.

And we didn’t have much trouble with the Spartan’s aggressive serving. Booth had a serve-receive error, but why in the world are the Gophs allowing Booth to attempt a service receive? Of course opposing teams are going to serve at a 6-7 freshman Middle – every chance they get. But why are we giving them that opportunity?

I also want to credit Shaffmaster for a strong match. I think she had 3 kills on 4 attempts, but she also got an assist on a quick-set from the 10 ft line. This is an advanced skill that Shaffmaster has rarely attempted during her Gopher career. I don’t think I’ve seen this play made since SSS was our setter. And speaking of SSS —

THOSE SELIGER GIRLS

This morning’s Strib had a nice front-page (sports) story about the Seligers. Most of us remember setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson (Triple S) who was a 4-time All American and one time Big10 Player of the Year for the Gophs. Samantha, now Samantha Loeppky is a new-mom sitting out this season, but will presumably return to pro volleyball next year. But we aren’t finished with Seligers.

I got my first look at Stella Seliger, now a 6-2 junior setter for Wayzata (odds-on favorites to repeat as State Champs) at last year’s State H.S. Tournament. I went in cold, knowing nothing about Samantha (then a sophomore) or the Trojans. But # 10 in blue & white caught my immediate attention as the best player in the tournament (out of 24 teams). I borrowed a program from a big-spender and thought, “Wow, she’s a sophomore?” and “Wow, she’s a Seliger.”

Fraternal twin Olivia, also now a junior, is a 6-4 outside hitter for the Trojans. Olivia missed most of last fall’s H.S. season due to injury, but, unless I’m imagining this, did play in the State Tournament. I noticed her (6-4 girls stand out in H.S. V-ball) and thought she was “good.” But it seems that she was just back after missing most of the season, and is probably better than “good.”

Younger sister Eva Seliger, a freshman, gets some playing time with the Wayzata Varsity, and sets for the JV.

Coach McCutcheon would certainly have been recruiting Samantha’s sisters well before I was aware of them. Stella and Olivia have both “committed” to the U of M. (My understanding is that these are verbal commitments, as current rules prevent them from signing written commitments until after the conclusion of this year’s H.S. Tournament – 5 weeks away.) I doubt that Eva has committed yet.

Samantha was the starting, only, and star setter for the Gophers from her first game as a freshman. Based on my limited observation, and Stella is every bit as good. Stella is a Wayzata Junior, and Melani Shaffmaster is a Gopher Junior, so that should line up. Except that Shaffmaster has a potential covid-bonus year of eligibility – and could still be on the Gopher roster two years from now, creating an interesting “problem” for McCutcheon. And Eva might find her path to being the Gopher Setter blocked by Stella.

Michigan State must be in a “rebuilding year.” They are 10 & 6 overall, 1 & 4 in the Big10, and have yet to beat anyone good. (Let’s hope that continues today.) The one thing that worries me is their serving. They have served 102 aces (vs 68 for the Gophs) and have four servers with at least 15 (vs 1, Shaffmaster, for the Gophs). And we know that serve-receive is the Gophers Achilles Heel. Watch out for servers 1,2,6 & 17.

But the Gophs are a better hitting team (.257 for the season vs .212), so we should win any set in which MSU aces, and Gopher service-errors total less than 6.

This afternoon’s game is on BTN+. I am a subscriber and will be able to watch the match live on my laptop. And I should be able to get it on my TV – but so far not. The consolation is that I will be able to watch my favorite team (on the laptop) and my 2^nd favorite team, vs the Bears (on TV) simultaneously.

Tip from reader R.A.: When I can’t watch matches, I get live play-by-play breakdowns on the UofM/vball page under Statistics.  It’s better than reading about it later.  There are also continuously updated individual stats.  I assume you know where it is, or I can post a link.  I’ve been using it for years, and even more often for softball, which is more irregularly broadcast.

Michigan is a good team, at #24, seemingly better than unranked Northwestern and playing at home, so I was nervous. But the Gophs dominated the Wolverines 25-12, 25-22, 25-13. The Gophs outhit the Wolverines .378 to .053, and out-blocked them 13-2. I think the Gophers have more talent than Michigan (almost anyone, really), but they don’t always exploit it the way they did tonight.

I couldn’t watch Set 1, or the first few points of Set 2 (see BTN doubleheader), but piecing together the announcers’ comments, the stats available on the official Gopher website (not everything I’d like), and the 1.8 sets I got to watch, the story was Landfair, Landfair, and more Landfair – hitting front row, hitting back row, and serving. She only had 1 ace, but she apparently had a long service-run in Set 1 (behind a front row of Wooker, Booth, and Shaffmaster) to set the tone for the match.

And our Middle duo of Gros & Booth, in only their second start together, put up a combined 12 kills and 11 blocks. As I said following their Middle-inspired win over Iowa, effective Middles are exactly what the Gophers need to realize their potential.

And while I’m repeating earlier thoughts, I wanted to mention again how good Shaffmaster is at contesting her own team’s overpasses. Serve-receive is the Gophers Achilles’ Heel, and far too many of our receives come down on the wrong side (our opponents’ side) of the net, i.e., an “overpass.” Generally, an overpass is an easy point for the other team, as it is very difficult to transition from thinking offense to playing defense, but Shaffmaster is so good at transitioning from setter to blocker (not an easy play) that she often gets at least a piece of a block, keeping the point alive.

So the Gophs are 3 & 2 in the Big Ten,with a chance to go 4 & 2 if we take care of business in East Lansing on Sunday afternoon. Pretty important to do that; the Gophs cannot keeping playing .500 ball and expect to compete for the Big Ten Title.

BTN DOUBLEHEADER

Prior to the Gopher/Michigan match, I had the chance to watch Penn St., who our Gophs play only once (at College Station), vs Ohio St, who the Gophs will play home and home. Penn St. came in with a 13 & 2 overall record and ranked #13; Ohio St.  had an overall record of 7 & 5 (same as the Gophs) and ranked #6. I thought, “I hope this doesn’t go 5 sets and keep BTN from broadcasting the Gophers first set – and of course that’s what happened. Ohio State eventually prevailed in 5 sets.

I hadn’t seen much of the Buckeyes, but I saw the Nittany Lions beat Stanford and Oregon in the BigTen/Pac 12 Challenge at the Pav. My impressions of them then: The Nittany Lions Outside Hitters were shorter than I expected, maybe a bit stockier, and incredibly powerful! I was also impressed by Penn St.’s digging and overall passing. 

Penn St.’s lack of height was less obvious on TV, but the power was there — the Lion Pins crush the ball. But the digging I saw at the Pav was missing in Sets 1 & 2, won easily by Ohio St. Penn St. serves more aggressively than Ohio St., which helped Penn St. win Sets 3 & 4. Ohio St responded by shifting from 3 receivers to 2 receivers for Set 5, which they won.

We get Ohio State at the Pav on Wednesday.

R.A. writes: I want to correct my impression of Wooker from the preseason exhibition matches, where she was running all over the court, I thought ineffectively.  She has become the brightest spot in the lineup, the player most likely to put power behind her shots.  She is predictable at times — she will learn — plus some of those shots still result in kills.  I’m disappointed to see her leave when McGhie serves.  I presume that means Wooker needs to work on serves and back-row defense, but again, she’s a freshman and will learn.  She deserves her #1 ranking.

John: “We are all re-thinking our early impressions as the season unfolds. Possibly, McCutcheon wants to ease his freshmen into the line-up, without putting too many expectations on them; or he really likes McGhie and thinks she has earned the opportunity?”

It took 4 sets to get the win, 25-19, 25-22, 24-26, 25-17.

I don’t want to be that guy who wants my team to crush every opponent, and I don’t want to disparage Iowa, though they seem a weak link in the powerful Big Ten. But losing this afternoon’s 3^rd set was a reminder of how we lost to Northwestern.

The Gophs appeared intense in Set 1, jumping out to leads of 8-5, 13-9, and 20-13 before coasting to the 25-19 win. I recorded 2 “bad” serve-receive and 1 “ugly” serve-receives. (I’ve switched my categorizations of Gopher serve-receives to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.)

They looked less intense in Set 2, taking a 9-6 lead, falling behind at 13-15, tying it up at 19-19, before winning 25-22. I recorded 2 bad and 2 ugly receives.

In Set 3, they looked to me, from row 14, like a team thinking, “We are so much better than this opponent that we can’t lose.” Our Gophs promptly fell behind 4-9, & 8-13. We pulled ahead at 17-14, and then fell apart to lose 24-26. I recorded 7 bad receives, and 2 uglies. Obviously, not every point surrender is due to insufficient intensity; other teams make good plays and other teams get lucky. (Like the Vikings did in London this morning.) But it is my perception that the Gophers are susceptible to over-confidence.

In Set 4, perhaps shaken up by losing a set to what appears to be the worst team in the Big Ten, the Gophs came out blazing, taking leads of 8-2, 14-8, and 20-9, before coasting home. I recorded 4 bad receives and 1 ugly.

Reader D.S. reports that Coach McCutcheon has publicly said that he expects his teams to develop internal leadership, rather than to depend on the coaching staff. Okay, seems plausible – but they’d better develop some soon.

BACK TO SERVE RECEIVE: It is not at all unusual for the tallest player in a volleyball team’s serve-receive, to be weak link in said serv-receive (I have been), and Taylor Landfair, at 6-5, towers over our other serve-recievers. The Gophs typically employ a 3-person receive, always including McGraw and Wennas, plus either Landfair or Kilkelly. Don’t get me wrong, Landfair is a superb, all-around volleyball player, and a decent passer; but when the choice is Landfair, McGraw or Wennas, Landfair is clearly the weak link. And besides being the weak link, opposing teams want to wear Landfair out by making her dig, so they target her as much as possible.

One reason McCutcheon wants to keep Landfair on the court during her back-row rotations is that she is our only credible back-row attacker. We are now into the third season of feeding back-row sets to Wenaas, and I doubt that her back-row hitting percentage is a plus-number.

One option is to keep everything the same, hoping that Landfair’s passing will improve from good to great, and that Wenaas will become effective on her back-row attacks. But I see another option. I haven’t seen enough of Wooker recieving to feel certain that she is a strong receiver; I don’t see her every in practice like the coaching staff does. But she is clearly a very talented all-around player; and it seems likely that Wooker, 4 inches shorter than Landfair, would be a stronger receiver.

Playing Wooker back-row instead of Landfair would likely take away one of the Gophs offensive weapons (Landfair hitting back-row). But Landfair hitting back-row would become less important if we could start counting on offense from our Middles and our Opposite, And that’s exactly what is developing.

• In the Gophs first ten matches, we got significant offensive productivity from the Right-side only once, Julie Hanson’s 14-kills against Texas (a match not televised in this market). We got next to nothing from Hanson, Crowl or Wenaas in the other nine.
• But in our last 2 matches (admittedly, against Northwestern and Iowa), Wenaas has become an offensive threat. She had 12 kills against Northwestern (I think 10 from the Right-side), and 10 this afternoon against Iowa (9 Right-side). Exactly what the Gophers need.
• And the Gophers suddenly, today, discovered the “slide-attack,” which Regan Pittman and the Tapp Sisters excelled at, but which had gone missing so far this season.
• By my count, The Gopher Middles combined scored 2 “slide-kills” in 4 sets vs Wash St., 2 in 3 sets vs Purdue, 1 in 3 sets vs Wisconsin, and 2 in 5 sets vs Northwestern; in other words, a total of 7 “slide-kills” spread over our last 15 sets.
• But  this afternoon, Booth and Gros combined for 11 “slide-kills” in 4 sets. Sure, it was Iowa, but it’s like being in a gun-fight and discovering another gun in your pocket that you didn’t know you had. Again, exactly what the Gophers need.

And yes, I said Gros, as in Naya Gros, who started and tallied a total of 12 kills and 5 blocks – looking like she belonged in the starting line-up, and Carter Booth (5 kills & 9 blocks). Ellie Husemann, who had consistently been one of our starting Middles through the first 11 matches, was on the bench, not displaying any obvious injuries.

Last season, the Gopher carried 4 Middles (for 2 spots on the court), and by the end of the season Husemann established herself as a “starter,” along with Katie Myers. But, honestly, it was more a lack of productivity by the other 2, than spectacular productivity by Husemann. And that had sort of been true to start this season: Booth and Gros had both been erratic (Davis less than that) vs the steady but unspectacular Husemann. But Gros and Booth were both productive. today. I’m guessing they will get the starts on Friday at Ann Arbor, and will continue to start ahead of Husemann as long as they produce.

BTW: Landfair, while struggling a bit with her serve-receives, racked up 25 kills. I had her with 19 Left-side power kills, 3 back-row power kills, and 3 dink-kills. Landfair remains the only remotely effective dinker on the team; Wenaas keeps trying, as do Wooker and Shaffmaster, but all with rare success. Of course Landfair’s dinking success has less to do with her dinking-touch than with the fear she puts into the hearts of the opposing team when she gets a good set.

Landfair remains mostly reluctant to attack an imperfect set. (Wooker will, occasionally with success.) I can’t read Landfair’s mind of course, but it’s almost as if she’s thinking, “I’ll just keep this one in play — and crush the next one.” That worked against Iowa, but “the next one” might not come along against better teams. Landfair does have 35% of the team’s season kills, and an impressive 4.57 kills per set avg.

NEXT UP:

• At Michigan (12 & 2 overall, 3 & 1 Big Ten, they beat Northwestern but nobody good) on Friday, and
• At Michigan State (10 & 5 overall, 1 & 3 Big Ten, including a loss to Rutgers) on Sunday afternoon.