Month: August 2023

Having lost their season opener to Long Beach State, the Longhorns were no longer #1 entering the Pav. But they were big enough and “bad” enough to spank the Gophers in 4 sets, 14-25, 25-23, 17-25 & 23-25. One could argue that the Gophers came close, in that Set 4 was tied at 23-23, and if the Gophs had pulled that out, who knows how Set 5 might have gone. OR, you could look at the overall score, 79 to 98 in favor of Texas, and conclude that it wasn’t close.

One could say that Texas earned the victory by hitting better, a success rate of .234 vs the Gophs .156. But I don’t think so. Keeping with that theme, maybe Texas served better, 10 aces versus 3 for the Gophs (they had the same # of service errors). But I don’t buy that either. Or you could flip that statistic and note that Texas received better, 3 errors vs 10 for the Gophs – but that’s also misleading.

Taylor Landfair committed 7 of the Gophers’ receiving errors – more than the rest of the Gophs and all of the Longhorns combined. And even that’s misleading, because the official scorer only assigns a serve-receive error for balls shanked unplayable; this stat doesn’t count Landfair’s 20 or so (I do not have an accurate count) poor receives, so poor that the Gopher hitters (including Landfair) were unable to mount an attack, essentially returning a free ball. There were a few poor receives by other players on both teams, but again, I think Landfair’s 27 failed or poor receives were probably more than the rest of the Gophs and all of the Longhorns combined. The Longhorns picked on Landfair without mercy, predominantly with short serves (I felt she did okay with long serves). Is that poor sportsmanship? No! This isn’t a church picnic, this is D1 volleyball; teams are supposed to serve at their opponents weakest passer. 

And I think Landfair’s approximately 27 failed or poor receives was the difference in the match. To my eye, the serving and setting and hitting and blocking was about equal; it was Landfair’s receiving that made the score 79 to 98 in favor of Texas.

Am I saying it was all Landfair’s fault? No, I am not. At 6-5, Landfair was the tallest person on the court; taller than our Middles, and taller than the Texas Middles. And it is hardly a secret that tall players have trouble with short serves. I was about Landfair’s height, and during my competitive (double-B) career I was often the tallest player – and my teammates wouldn’t allow me to receive serve; when I was front row, they hid me at the net, and backrow I stood behind someone. But D1 is not bar-league V-Ball; we have a coaching staff. I do not understand why our coaching staff allowed Texas to pick on Landfair all night long. TCU and Baylor did the same thing and we got away with it; but Texas was too good.

And poor passing isn’t the only problem created by Landfair’s receiving struggles. Three matches into the season, The Wooker has 44 kills and a .261 success rate, vs Landfair’s 27 kills and a .103 success rate. Is that because Wooker is a much better hitter than Landfair? I don’t think so. Landfair can’t hit when she’s lying on the floor, and she can’t get her confidence up when she knows her receiving is hurting her team.

Landfair is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, and she deserved that award. But we are asking her to do too much.

Do we not have other options? The highly regarded (reportedly the #1 U-18 Libero in Europe this summer) Zevnep Palabiyik is on the bench in street clothes – apparently related to an eligibility issue (I do not understand the details). Hopefully, The eligibility issue will get straightened out soon, and hopefully Palabiyik will take over the D.S. position, and will reduce Landfair’s serve-receive responsibilities by half.

In the meantime, we’re playing Julia Hanson in the rotation spot where a D. S. would normally play. But Hanson hides behind Landfair in the receive; we use her exclusively as a backrow hitter. She’s very good at it; she had 4 kills and a .364 success rate in tonight’s match vs Texas, which are excellent numbers for a backrow hitter (far better than Landfair or Wooker from backrow). But Hanson had zero receive attempts – because we have her hiding behind Landfair! Who was killing us. Maybe Landfair is a better receiver in practice than Hanson (this would surprise me, but I’m not there), but when an opponent is consistently serving Landfair short, we should be positioning her forward and having Hanson take the long serves.

Here’s another way to look at it. Last year, Jenna Wenaas was our best serve-receiver, even better than CC McGraw. This year Wenaas plays for Texas – and Texas doesn’t let Wenaas receive! Presumably because they have 3 better receivers on the floor in most rotations. We can’t keep letting opponents pick on Landfair.

NEXT UP: At #8 Florida, Sunday, Sept 3. ESPNU

Our Gophers swept Baylor 25-20, 25-21, 25-11. Still not knowing if the glass is half-full or half-empty, and watching the Gophs drop last night’s Set 1 to unranked TCU, I was genuinely worried about tonight’s match with #15 Baylor. (The Strib’s Jeff Day described the Gophs’ performance as “lackadaisical.” Not a term I would have used; my guess is that Day hasn’t watched enough volleyball to understand that it’s a game of momentum.)

I wouldn’t say I panicked, exactly, but giving Baylor an 0-3 lead in tonight’s Set 1 didn’t help my confidence either. But I was wrong to worry; the Gophers pulled ahead 5-4, and never trailed by more than 1 point the rest of the match. By Set 3, Baylor looked eager to get to the bus. (Wisconsin rolled over TCU as expected; not a good weekend for the Texas teams at the Pav.) “The Wooker,” with 16 kills vs TCU added 14 more vs Baylor, earning the Big 12 Challenge MVP Award. 

Other things I was wrong about:

• In my “Setting the Lineup” post from Wednesday, I told you that Crowl would be pushed by Grote, but likely emerge as our Starting Opposite. Then last night I reported that Grote took the floor for Set 1 of the season opener and dominated, with 6 kills in Set 1, and 11 for the match. (Crowl played briefly, in the 6-2, no kills.) So obviously Grote is our Starting Opposite. And Grote started tonight vs Baylor. But Grote was benched, with no kills, halfway through tonight’s Set 2, in favor of Crowl, who racked up 7 kills in a set and a half. (Grote played briefly, in the 6-2, and earned 2 kills, but this was after Baylor had thrown in the towel.) Best guess: we have two talented Opposites and, at least for now, Coach Cook will ride the hot hand.
• In my “Setting the Lineup” post from Wednesday, I told you that our Middles were weak, and last night’s match vs TCU confirmed this, 4 kills and 4 blocks combined, in 4 sets. Not good. And this story mostly continued through tonight’s first two sets. Then suddenly, in Set 3, our Middles woke up (4 kills combined, 6 for the Match), and Owoleye dominating the set with her blocking – 10 for the night, 6 in Set 3. So dominate, that #15 ranked Baylor finished the match with a Hitting % of .000. (For the uninitiated, Kills minus Errors divided by Attempts equals Hitting %; so, tormented by Awoleye, and the Gopher digging (Murr mostly, but also Wooker Shaffmaster and Landfair), Baylor had as many errors as kills.

Things I was right about: 

• Our serve-receive sucks, especially without a real D.S. (I think Palabiyik will eventually be our D.S., when her eligibility gets cleared up). Hanson has filled the D.S. position these first two matches – and played very well! But she’s not part of our serve-receive. I saw Murr becoming increasingly assertive, which is good, but both TCU and Baylor have had success serving at Landfair, and future opponents are likely to follow this strategy. It’s not that Landfair is a terrible passer, she isn’t; but when they pick on her over and over, she does make errors. And I worry that receiving errors will get in her head and affect her offense.
• In my “Half-full or Half-empty” post from a week ago, I said that “the Gophers might have the best pair of Left-Side Hitters in the country.” It is still too early to be sure, but their combined performance these first two matches have done nothing to make that analysis look bad. So far, it’s been more Wooker than Landfair, but my guess is that this will even-out over the season. And it could be that first two opponents were focussing more attention on Landfair – which will also even-out. But I will say, Landfair looks timid at times; Wooker never does.

NEXT UP: The Big, Bad, #1 Texas Longhorns, on Tuesday.

In tonight’s season opener, our #7 Gophs took care of unranked TCU in 4 sets, 20-25, 25-16, 25-15 & 25-23 (total score 95-79). In the earlier match, #3 Wisconsin defeated #15 Baylor, also in 4 sets, total score 95-76. Logically, the Gophs will have a tougher time tomorrow night vs Baylor, and Wisconsin an easier ti tomorrow afternoon vs TCU.

Quick notes re the TCU Match:

• Shaffmaster came out for warmups limping, and it got worse as the evening wore on. Halfway through Set 3, Crowl subbed in for Shaffmaster and McGhee did the setting. Neither Crowl nor McGhee did anything wonderful, but the Gophers out-scored TCU with Shaffmaster resting, and I expected to see the 6-2 used again in Set 4, especially with another, potentially tougher match 24 hrs away. But Shaffmaster limped through the close Set 4 win.
• Palabiyik, who I project as our starting D.S. was again on the bench in street clothes. The rumor is that she won’t be able to play for a few matches due to issues related to her eligibility. I hope that this gets straightened out quickly because we desperately need help with our serve-receive. (We made a ton of receiving errors.)
• Hanson repeatedly entered the match in the D.S. spot, and served well (no aces/no errors, but lots of points off her serve) and she contributed 4 back-row kills (1 per-set). But she never lined up in position to receive a serve, which is inexplicable to me, because I think Hanson is a better passer than Landfair or Wooker.
• Lastly (for tonight) my prediction of Crowl as our starting  Opposite was dead wrong. At least tonight, and likely for the remainder of the season if she plays like she did tonight, Grote is our starting Opposite. She had 11 kills for the match, including 6 in Set 1, to keep the Gophers competitive. (Land fair had 1 in Set 1.) (The freshman Schnichels continues to wear a boot.) 
• More to come tomorrow.

STRIB COVERAGE

Reader J.B. calls our attention to “Season Opener” story by Jeff Day in today’s Strib. (I don’t believe the Strib has, in the past, consistently assigned the Gopher V-Ball “beat” to a staff reporter – could that change?) Day’s article was approximately the same length as my post on Wednesday, and referenced pretty-much the same players. Day has access to coach and player quotes, but seems reluctant to point out weaknesses. Day was less Wow-She’s-Great about our new Libero, Murr, than I was; but more Gee-They’re-Good about our trio of Middles, Davis, Awoleye and Minatee than I was. At least in tonight’s match vs TCU, I was right; Murr was terrific (and will be better when our clumsy hitters learn to get out of her way), and our Middles (Davis and Awoleye) were weak. All the more painful after watching Booth dominate the earlier match.) Maybe Minatee is the answer?

Not counting last week’s “exhibition” vs Northern Iowa, our #7-ranked Gophers kick off their season with “Big 12 Challenge” (the Big 12 seems to have 13 teams for volleyball, so they are slightly better at math than the Big 10) matches vs unranked TCU on Friday at the Pav (7:00), and #15-ranked Baylor on Sat (also at 7:00)  The Baylor Match should be on BTN; not sure about the TCU match. For hard-core V-Ball fans (and Sconnies), Wisconsin will be playing 4:30 matches vs Baylor on Friday and TCU on Sat, also at the Pav.  

SETTLING ON A LINEUP

Red McCombs once described the NFL season as “the most dramatic portion of any sport season.” Then again, Red was a used car salesman at heart, given to exaggeration. What Red referred to was the drama of players battling for starting roles, and roster spots. 

The Gopher Volleyball non-conference schedule differs (from what Red was trying to promote) in two ways: the roster is set, so less drama there; but these games count! They count big-time for rankings (especially for teams playing the rugged schedule the Gophers have) and for NCAA-seeding, especially for teams that finish in the 2nd quartile of the Big Ten (i.e., 4th through 7th). But they don’t count as much, in my mind, as Big Ten Matches. There is, never the less, a bit of McCombsian drama in figuring out who our “starters” will be.

I expect the 2023 Gophers to play a 5-1 plus a Libero and a D.S. i.e., 8 starters, including: 2 Leftside Hitters, 2 Middles, 1 Opposite, 1 Setter, 1 Libero and 1 Defensive Specialist. Barring injuries (which are part of all sports), 3 players are “locks,” i.e., certain to be season-long starters — subject to health-concerns, but not to performance:

• Taylor Landfair is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year; Landfair will be one of our Leftsides;
• Kylie Murr is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year; Murr will be our Libero. (You are going to LOVE Murr); And
• Melani Shaffmaster, a 4th-year starter, and pre-season All Big 10er will be our Setter. She has gotten better each year, and has no serious challenger on this roster.

And it would be surprising if The Wooker (All Big 10 Freshman Team last year) is not our other starting Leftside. I’m not calling Wooker a “lock” because I can see a scenario in which Julia Hanson might edge Wooker out. As the name implies, hitting is a Leftside Hitter’s primary responsibility; Hanson is a very good hitter, but Wooker is better. However, in a standard 5-1, the Libero plays back-row for the Middles, and the D.S. plays back-row for the weakest passer among the 3 Outside Hitters, leaving the other 2, often the Leftsides, to play 6 rotations. (Jenna Wenaas, far-and-away our best-passer among last year’s Outside Hitters, plays for Texas now.) Frankly, none of our projected starting Outsides are great passers – but Hanson is – and Wooker might be the weakest! Landfair will play 6 rotations. If neither Wooker or Crowl (who I project as our starting Opposite) can step up their passing game, Coach Cook could decide to play Hanson in front of Wooker.  

The fifth most likely starter will be Lauren Crowl at Opposite. Crowl red-shirted, behind the All-American Samedy her first year, and played some behind Wenaas last year. My impression of Crowl, when she did get in, was that she hit the ball hard – but without great results. I also felt she lacked confidence, which can happen to 2nd-stringers. But Samedy and Wenaas are both gone, Crowl started Set 1 vs Northern Iowa, and she pounded the snot out of the ball. (Remember, Sara Wilhite, who became an All-American, rode the bench her freshman year.) Senior Transfer Opposite Lydia Grote also looked good vs Northern Iowa, and could challenge Crowl for starting Opposite. Sydney Schnichels, a highly recruited freshman from Wilmar, is also a candidate for Opposite. But she watched the exhibition vs N.I. from the bench with her foot in a boot. Given her injury, and the experience in front of her, I imagine Schnichels will red-shirt this year. My sense is that the position is Crowl’s for now.

Our starting D.S. remains a bit of a mystery, given that she has yet to play a single volley for the Gophers, but I assume it will be freshman Zevnep Palabiyik, who just joined the team after playing for her native Turkey in the U-18 European Championships – where she was considered the #1 U-18 Libero in Europe. Palabiyik was presumably recruited to be our Libero next year, and could, conceivably, red-shirt this year. Or, theoretically, she could compete with Murr for starting Libero this year – but I can’t imagine any 18 yr-old beating out Murr. Best guess, if she was really the #1 U-18 Libero in Europe, and healthy (she was on the bench in street clothes for the N.I. exhibition), Palabiyik will be our D.S. this year, and step into Libero next year.

There are other potential D.S. Candidates:

• Junior Skylar Gray from Maple Grove has “seniority,” but I have not been impressed by the small sample I’ve seen. (I’m sure Gray is a fine person and a good volleyball player, but I don’t see her as the Gophs’ starting D.S.)
• Setters often have the skills to play Libero, and the roster includes two back-up setters who might play Libero in a pinch, senior Elise McGhie, a transfer (last year) from Kansas (a strong server), and freshman Chloe Ng from Vancouver, B.C.
• But if Palabiyik isn’t as good as advertised, the most likely choice would be reserve-Leftside Hanson. (Assuming she isn’t hitting.) 

But if you’re looking for Red McCombs drama, keep your eyes on the Middles. There are only 3 of them on the roster, none bring the height I’d like to see at Middle, and none of whom have yet to demonstrate the extraordinary talent which would compensate for their lack of height. But we need 2 in the lineup for every set.

• Junior Arica Davis, the shortest at 5-11, is also the most experienced. She started for Ohio State as a freshman (making Big Ten All-Freshman) before transferring last year.  Last season, Davis was one of 4 Gopher Middles competing for playing time, with Carter Booth (now a Badger), clearly the star. In terms of season stats, Davis finished in a 3-way tie with Huseman and Gros — but most of Davis’s production came toward the end of the season, by which time she had established herself as our “other” starting Middle. She blocked surprisingly well for an undersized Middle, and she was effective on “quicks.” (Not so much on “slides.”)
• Senior Phoebe Awoleye, the tallest at 6-2, is the 2nd most experienced. Awoleye played two seasons at Georgia, making SEC All-Freshman her first year, then last year for Loyola Marymount, making First-Team All WCC. She looked okay, but not dominant, vs Northern Iowa. She seemed better at “slides” than Davis.
• Freshman Calissa Minatee, 6-1, from Kansas City, the #56-rated player in the class of 2023, is the least experienced, and got the fewest opportunities vs N.I. So she is not a starter, for now. But freshman get better as the season progresses, and it’s not like Minatee is stuck behind studs like Hanson is at Leftside. My best guess is that our 2 starting Middles will be in flux all season.

On Friday evening, our Gophs swept 4 sets from the Panthers, 25-21, 25-7, 25-20 & 25-22, before a good crowd (maybe 2500 to 3,000). The Gophs played their “starters” in Set 1, and I assume the Panthers did also. After that, there was a lot of “subbing” with every dressed player seeing action. Not sure what happened in to N.I. in Set 2. Northern Iowa should not be confused with Wisconsin or Nebraska, but they are, apparently, the favorite to win their Missouri Valley Conference.

HALF-FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

During the McCutcheon Era, we became accustomed to:

• Our Gophs being a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament;
• Our Gophs being ranked in the Top-Ten;
• Our Gophs competing for, and sometimes winning, the Big Ten.

But, for better or worse, the McCutcheon Era is over. For many of us, this was sad news. And it got sadder yet when we  learned we were also losing:

1.  Our (arguably) best best overall player and incumbent Opposite, Jenna Wenaas (to Texas, no less);
2. Our best (and only dominant) Middle, Carter Booth (to Wisconsin, no less); 
3. Our star Libero, CC McGraw (out of eligibility) and her top-rated recruit-replacment, Laney Choboy, (to Nebraska, no less) 
4. And even our starting DS, Rachel Kilkelly (despite a year of eligibility remaining). 

The fact that the teams pirating our roster were among the elite of Women’s Collegiate Volleyball is testimony to McCutcheon’s recruiting talent – but no less painful. With all this bad news, it is easy to assume that the glass is half-empty, and the Glory Days of Gopher V-Ball are behind us. And maybe they are.

And yet, the first poll of 2023 rates our Gophs as #7 in the country. Why? How is that possible? Can it be that the glass is half-full? Too early to say, but here’s why it might be true. While losing three great players, we did pick up the amazing Kylie Murr, the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (i.e., she was considered better than McGraw). I was vaguely aware of Murr and her talents these past couple of seasons, but never expecting to see her in Maroon & Gold, I wasn’t following her closely. (And she wasn’t here for Spring Volleyball.) But she was on the floor for all 4 sets against N.I.; and (based on this very small sample) I have to agree, she probably is better than McGraw. (I will always love McGraw.)

And despite the defections, Murr, the reigning BTDPY remember, joins a respectable core which includes reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Taylor Landfair. I haven’t researched this, but I doubt that many teams have ever entered a season with the Player of the Year and the Defensive Player of the Year, both from the nation’s top conference in their sport. Landfair didn’t amaze me vs N.I., she just looked like Landfair, i.e., 6 kills (3 power swings, 3 dinks) in Set 1, vs N.I.’s best.

This returning core also includes:

1.  “The Wooker,” one of the Big Ten’s top freshman, despite being injured for a significant portion of the season, and, like Landfair, the #1 overall rated player in her recruiting class. I have previously quoted an old V-Ball coach of my acquaintance that, “At the end of the day, a volleyball team is as good, no better or worse, as its Left-Side Hitters.” Another thing few teams have ever claimed was having a pair of Left-Side Hitters who were both #1 national recruits. It is quite possible that the Gophers have the best pair of Left-Side Hitters in the country. Wooker started slow against N.I. (1 kill in Set 1), but dominated Set 2. Maybe N.I.’s blockers weren’t as tough in Set 2, or maybe she just started slow.
2. And should Landfair or Wooker get injured at any point in the season, our back-up Julia Hanson, the MN 2022 High School Player of the Year is also very good. Hanson is no Landfair, but she would start for a lot, maybe most, D1 Teams.
3. And Melani Shaffmaster, back for her 4th season, is a pre-season All Big Ten selection. Shaffmaster has gotten better each year, and brings a lot of talent onto the court. Against N.I., she looked like Shaffmaster.
4. Lauren Crowl, a powerful Opposite, was recruired to fill Steph Samedy’s shoes for the 2021 Season. Then the pandemic gave Samedy an extra year of eligibility, and Crowl wasn’t needed. In an era when freshmen often walk right in to starting roles, red-shirting while healthy casts doubt on a player’s ability. Crowl is unlikely to make us forget Samedy, but she dominated N.I. 
5. And Crowl will be pushed, at opposite, by transfer (from Cal) Lydia Grote. Grote is listed as a senior, but I’m guessing she still has her covid-bonus year, so she could be here for next year (as will Crowl). Grote also looked awfully good against N.I.; the two of them racking up 14 kills in 4 sets. (Good numbers.)

It is not surprising that a team dominant Outside Hitters, an All Big Ten setter and a fantastic Libero would be rated #7 in the country.

Miscellaneous notes from the N.I. Exhibition:

• Our undersized Middles did not dominate. (Maybe the Panther Middles are really good?) Davis and Senior Transfer Awoleye played Set 1, but Freshman Minatee played a lot in sets 2-4. I wouldn’t be surprised if we once again spend the season searching for the right combination.
• I expect a Left-side Hitter who is the #1 recruit in the country to be a good passer as well as a dominate hitter. (Wenaas, a #3, was terrific.) Landfair gets picked on (understandably at 6-5), but she improved last year. I expected Wooker to be a great passer, but she wasn’t even good last year – and she was mediocre vs N.I.
• The Gopher serving was not impressive through most of the match. Wooker was serving very agressively – and had 4 errors. We need her to keep serving agressively – and make fewer errors. One bright spot: In Set 4, Landfair had 3 consecutive aces!  
• Julia Hanson played D.S. in Set 1. Freshman Zeynep Palabiyik. was present on the bench, but not dressed. The top-ranked European Libero in the class of 2023, Palabiyik should be very good (I can’t say yet), and likely our starting Libero next season. I expect her to be our D.S, this season.
• Freshman Opposite Sydney Schnichels was on the bench with her foot in a boot. Given Friday’s performance by Crowl and Grote, I expect Schnichels to red-shirt this year.

PRE-BIG TEN SCHEDULE

Aug 25, 7:00 TCU at the Pav (BTN)

(Wisconsin vs Baylor at the Pav at 4:30)

Aug 26, 7:00 #15 Baylor at the Pav (BTN)

Aug 29, 7:00 #1 Texas at the Pav (BTN)

Sept 3, 11 a.m. #11 Florida at Florida (ESPNU)

Sept 8, 6:30. #9 Oregon at Stanford (?)

Sept 9, 9:00. #3 Stanford at Stanford (?)

Sept 14, 7:00 High Point at the Pav (BTN+)

Sept 16, 4:30 #18 Creighton at the Pav (BTN+)