Gopher Volleybal’s “Spring Season” is kind of a new thing, at least to me. Youth-club volleyball had long been a winter-spring sport, but until recently, to my knowledge, “Spring Season” Gopher Volleyball consisted of low-key practices and inter-squad games; competitive Volleyball was strictly a Fall activity. But since covid pushed the 2020 season to the Spring of ’21, Spring Exhibition matches have become standard.
Last year, the Gophers played a 4-match Spring Season, mostly against 2nd-tier D1 teams, 1 match at the Pav, 2 others in MN high schools (I attended all 3), and a 4th match, vs Kansas, at a H.S. south of Des Moines.
This year, the Gophers will play a pair of matches against the University of Hawaii’s Rainbow Wahine, on Tuesday, March 7 and Wednesday, March 8, in Honolulu, both matches at 7 p.m. local time. The press release notes that this is 11 p.m. Mpls time, but there is no mention of these matches being televised or even streamed (I very much doubt that they will be), so what does Mpls time matter? Also not mentioned in the press release are additional matches back here in the frozen North; I’m hoping there will be a match or two, but maybe not.
I actually have a very good friend (not a VBaller) who was born and raised in Hawaii, and is herself a Rainbow Wahine alum; and Maureen and I have spent time with her in her hometown of Hilo. But I won’t be there this year. IF ANY GOPHERVBALLROCKS READER IS PLANNING TO BE IN HAWAAI IN EARLY MARCH (a lot of Minnesotans do), PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
COACHING STAFF SET In the meantime, new Gopher Head Coach Keegan Cook has rounded out his coaching staff with:
- Associate Head Coach Kristen Kelsay. After playing VBall for Michigan State, serving as a team captain for three years, Kelsay was an assistant coach for four years with Michigan State (2015-18) and three more with Northwestern (2019-21), where she helped sign a 2022 recruiting class ranked top-15.
- Assistant Coach Eric Barber. Barber played collegiately at UC San Diego, then spent three seasons on UCLA’s volleyball staff. “Eric Barber was one of the best kept coaching secrets on the west coast,” said Cook.
- And Volunteer Coach Kylin Muñoz. Munoz played for Cook at Washington, where she also led the team to four NCAA appearances, including one trip to the Final Four. After graduating, Muñoz spent time with the Women’s U.S. National Team, played professionally in Germany, and has coached for several years, most recently at Loyola Marymount.
SEND $ ?
When I started this blog 3 years ago, I said it was entirely non-commercial. It is and will continue to be; there are no ads or fees. My season tickets went up for next fall, as did the cost of BTN+, but I would purchase both whether I’m blogging about it or not.
A blog, however, requires a “blog host,” and there are fees for that. My initial contract expired, and I recently renewed with BlueHost and WordPress, for $300/yr. (No doubt someone will direct me to a cheaper site, but I’d have to learn a new system, and I already renewed.) So, if regular readers of GopherVBallRocks would care to send a modest contribution toward this expense, my address is John Trepp at 1610 E. Minnehaha Pkwy, Mpls, 55407.
Also, I have previously mentioned my interest in upgrading the graphic design of GopherVBallRocks. I believe that the tools needed come with my blog-host are adequate, so there is no additional expense involved for this. But as many of you have noticed, my tech skills are minimal; and granddaughter Peaches has not stepped up as hoped. Anyone else want to give it a shot?
READERS WRITE:
Reader R.A, writes: “I’m concerned about a Middle, but Gray as DS may be more concerning (for a reason, only 2 SETS all season!) if that leaves us too often out of system. Murr will help with that, but remember, Landfair was targeted all season in the back row (also for a reason). My hope is that Keegan has another rabbit in his hat for DS, perhaps even before Middle.”