Month: August 2024

[A funeral that I needed to attend popped up, causing me to miss the first set and a bit of the 2nd set. Fortunately, Readers R.A. and D.S. were both in attendance for all 5 sets, and helped me fill in the gaps. Thanks R.A. and D.S.]  That’s not the Big News. 

GOPHS RANKED 18. Our Gophers enter the season ranked #18 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. Not what we became accustomed to under McCutcheon, but about right. (But that’s not the Big News either.) 

GOPHS SQUEAK PAST CYCLONES AT THE PAV.

In this fall’s only exhibition match prior to the start of the Season next weekend, our #18 ranked Gophers squeaked out a 5-set home-court-win over #36 ranked Iowa State., 25-17, 24-26, 25-27, 25-20, 15-6. Because it was an exhibition match, neither team played their strongest line-up every set, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for struggling against ISU. (Additional note from R.A.: When the designated singer lost her voice during one stanza of Star Spangled Banner, the crowd picked it up without difficulty. Nice.)

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• Red-shirt Senior Opposite Lydia Grote looked great. She is not the second-coming of Steph Samedy, but she is a strong weapon on the right-side.
• Red-shirt Junior Opposite Lauren Crowl also looked good. We’ll be using a 5-1, which means only one Opposite will play regularly, but depth is important and Crowl looks like an adequate back-up to Grote. We’re strong at Opposite.
• Junior Left-side Hitter (our #1) McKenna Wucherer, “The Wooker,” hit well (21 kills according to R.A.) and served great. Wooker was our most aggressive server last year, but after a poor Ace-to-Error ratio in early matches last year, Coach Cook told her to back off. I hope she has the green light this season – we need to pressure our opponents’ receive, even if Wooker misses a few.  
• Red-shirt Freshman Left-side Hitter Alex Acevedo looked good. Based on this afternoon’s match, I think Acevedo will challenge Julie Hanson (who did not have a great match) for a starting role.
• Sophomore Middle Calissa Minatee (10 kills according to R.A.) and Fifth year Middle Phoebe Awoleye  (7 kills & 7 blocks according to R.A.) looked good. I feel, going into the season, that Middle is our major weakness, and I still think so. But Minatee and Awoleye held their own with ISU.
• Sophomore-Transfer (from Oregon, originally Watertown MN) D.S. Kate Thibault looked good. We played most of last season without a D,S., so even adequate will be an improvement. 

AND our overall passing was impressive. Sophomore Libero Zeynep Palabiyik got better as the season wore on last year, and she seems to be picking up where she left off. Plus we have Thibault at D.S., and we’re nor handicapped by having Taylor Landfair as part of our receive. (My prediction, Landfair will have a GREAT year hitting the perfect sets she’ll get playing for Nebraska – and they won’t allow her to touch a serve-receive.)

I think this will be a different kind of Gopher Team than what we’re used to. For at least a decade, the Gophs have been known for their Offense, with dominant hitters like Dali Santana, Sarah Wilhite, Steph Samedy and Taylor Landfair – so much so that when the score was 23-23, you knew who was getting the set. I don’t think this year’s team has that dominant hitter (I could be underestimating Wooker). But we’ve got a more balanced attack, and I think our digging will be the best in recent years. (But that’s not the Big News either.)

BIG NEWS: IT’S ALL SHAFFMASTER I was excited when the Gophs signed Stella Swenson last fall, and my excitement ramped higher when I saw her play in last spring’s exhibition season – I really believe that she is the second-coming of her step-sister Samantha Seliger-Swenson. And I’ve been wondering, for months now, how Coach Cook will play both Stella and Shaffmaster.

The answer is, he won’t. Stella and her twin sister Olivia were dressed – but neither played at all. In an exhibition match! Other deep-bench players saw action, but not the Swenson Twins. Mystifying – until D.S. reported – both will be red-shirting! 

• This makes sense in that Coach Cook wants to play a 5-1, and he can’t really play 2 setters in a 5-1, and it would be really hard to bench Shaffmaster – who has played her heart out for 4 years. And watching from the bench while Shaffmaster plays her fifth year means that red-shirt Stella will still have 4 years of eligibility left.
• This doesn’t make sense in that Stella is, in my opinion, a better setter than Shaffmaster, and Stella must have had offers from a dozen top VBall programs that wouldn’t have asked her to redshirt.
• Signing with the Gophs, knowing that she might be asked to red-shirt, makes sense in that the offer to the Swensons seems to have included full scholarships for Stella and Olivia (who may not, from what I’ve seen, be D1 material).
• But it only makes sense if Stella is fully on-board with the red-shirting. Given the power of the transfer-portal, we might never see Stella set for the Gophs if she isn’t fully on-board – or if things don’t go well this season.
• There is always, of course, the possibility that Shaffmaster suffers a major injury early in the season. We’re not playing Big Ten V-Ball with Elise McGhie as our setter; so a major injury to Shaffmaster could end Stella’s red-shirt in a hurry.
• Looks like we’ll be waiting a year, but If and when Stella becomes the Gopher Setter – you’re going to LOVE her.

OPENING THE SEASON VS THE BIG DOGS

The Gophers first two matches of the official season will be next Sunday, Sept. 1, 2:00,  vs #5-ranked Stanford, and Monday, Sept. 2 (Labor Day), 6:30,  vs #1-ranked Texas. Both matches will be played in Milwaukee, and both will be televised on FS1. It would take a miracle for the Gophers to win either match (miracles do happen), and encouraging if we can win at least one set in both matches.

(FULL SCHEDULE BELOW) The long off-season behind us, the Gopher Volleyball Season starts THIS SATURDAY, Aug., 24, at 3:00, with an exhibition (FREE ADMISSION) at the Pav vs Iowa State. Over half of the non-conference matches and ALL Big 10 matches will be televised (though many on BTN-Plus). Not counting the ISU exhibition, the schedule starts tough with back-to-back matches (in Milwaukee) vs Stanford and Texas. And after some softer non-conference opponents, the Big 10 season opens with Wisconsin at the Pav. (Glad we’re not Freshman-heavy.)

2024 GOPHER VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (10+ matches)

Sat, Aug 24, 3:00, Iowa State at The PAV (exhibition)

Sun, Sept 1, 2:00, Stanford, in Milwaukee, on FS1

Mon, Sept 2, 6:30, Texas, in Milwaukee, on FS1

Fri, Sept 6, 7:00,  at Baylor (TV?)

Sat, Sept 7, 4:00, TCU at Baylor (TV?)

Tue,, Sept 10, 7:00, St.Thomas at The PAV, B10+

Thur, Sept 12, 7:00, Long Island at the Pav, B10+

Fri, Sept 13, 6:00  Auburn at The PAV, B10+

Thur, Sept 19, 7:00, At UW-Green Bay, ESPN+

Fri,, Sept 20, 5:00, North Dakota At Green Bay  (TV?)

Sat, Sept 21, Noon, Chicago State At Green Bay (TV?)

BIG TEN SCHEDULE (20 matches)

Wed, Sep 25, 8:00, WISCONSIN at The PAV, BTN

Sat, Sep 28, 5:30, Purdue at The PAV, BTN

Fri, Oct  4, 9:00,, at UCLA, , BTN+

Sat, Oct  5, 10:00, at Southern Cal, , BTN

Fri, Oct  11, TBA, INDIANA at The PAV,  BTN+

Sat, Oct  12, TBA, MARYLAND at The PAV, , BTN

Fri, Oct  18, 6:00, at RUTGERS, , BTN+

Sun, Oct  20, TBA, at PENN STATE,  BTN+

Wed,  Oct 23, 8:00, NORTHWESTERN at The PAV, BTN

Sun, Oct  27, Noon, at OHIO STATE, BTN+

Fri, NOV 1, 5:00, at MICHIGAN STATE, BTN+

Sun, NOV 3, TBA, at MICHIGAN, BTN+

Thur, NOV 7, 7:00, WASHINGTON at The PAV, BTN+

Sat, NOV 9, TBA, OREGON at The PAV, BTN

Thur, NOV 14, TBA, at NEBRASKA, BTN

Sun, NOV 17, 2:00, MICHIGAN at The PAV, BTN+

Wed, NOV 20, TBA, at WISCONSIN, BTN

Sat, NOV 23, TBA, IOWA at The PAV, BTN+

Wed, NOV 27, 7:00, at ILLINOIS, BTN+

Fri, NOV 29, TBA, OHIO STATE at The PAV, FS1

END OF REGULAR SEASON

INSIDE SCOOP

Reader D.S. reports running into Coach Keagan Cook at a park (D.S. with his grandkids, Cook with his kids), and striking up a conversation. D.S. shared that he was a fan and quizzed Cook, who he found friendly and appreciative of D.S.’s interest in the Gophers.

D.S. did not ask (or get an answer to) the most pressing question in my mind, how will the Gophs use Melanie Shaffmaster AND Stella Swenson in the upcoming season? Will Cook stay with his 5-1? If so, who plays and who sits? Does Cook expect them to “battle it out?” Is there another position that one of them can play? Or will Cook play both using a 6-2? My idea (pretty unlikely) – the ‘24 Gophs will play the extremely rare 5-2! I assume we will see some experimentation during the non-conference schedule.

Here’s what D.S. did hear:

• The Gophers had a great experience on their European Tour. They lost every match, versus “professional” teams, but played well. Cook was encouraged.
• Recruiting is easier in Minnesota than it was in Washington because the in-state talent is so good. And because of this, the future is bright.

The U.S. Women V-Ballers got Silver (Italy-Gold and Brazil-Bronze) and our Men got Bronze (France-Gold and Poland-Silver); not bad considering the level of competition, but maybe just a little disappointing. The U.S. Women were down and up and down again, losing their first match to China, coming back to beat good Poland and good Brazil teams, and then getting smoked 0-3 by Italy in the finals. The Men looked unbeatable in pool-play and vs Brazil in the quarters , before losing a 5-set match they should have won to Poland in the Semis. (Poland started the match missing one of their starting middles, part-way through, their starting setter went down and had to be replaced, then their only Libero injured his right arm and had to play the rest of the way one-handed.)

Men’s play, generally, was dominated by aggressive serving. Every team missed a ton of serves, but aggressive serving is a risk you have to take because a soft serve results in a perfect pass, a perfect set, and an almost unstoppable spike. A block once in a while, but almost never a dig. More long volleys in the Women’s game, making it more fun to watch. A lot of dependence on the middle hitters in the Men’s game, and the U.S. pair played well.

The U.S. Women played a 5-1 roughly half the time (when I was watching), and a 6-2 the other half. I had bad-mouthed former Badger and our #2 setter Lauren Carlini, based mostly on the fact that she can’t block; but In the 6-2, your setter doesn’t block; and she is a terrific digger. Former Edina High star Jordan Thompson was our #2 Opposite. Thompson and Carlini, generally on the floor at the same time, both played roughly 25% of the time, and were okay. Former Boilermaker Annie Drews, our #1 Opposite was the best player on the team (in my opinion), but not as good as the Italian Opposite, who dominated. Libero and former Husker Justine Wong-Orantes was also very good. The other former Badger, Dana Rettke, never saw the court (that I saw), despite being the tallest player on the team, and despite the Italians overpowering us with their height (just sayin’). Coach Kiraly subbed quickly when his starters weren’t effective — maybe too quickly, vs giving his best players a chance to work through it?

OTHER STUFF:

• I didn’t follow the BeachBall, but I think it was Brazil-Gold & Canada-Silver in Women’s. 
• In Water Polo, which I did follow, it was Serbia-Gold & Croatia-Silver in Men’s and Spain-Gold & Australia-Silver in Women’s. (Tie-games now resolved with shootouts? Trying to compete with Soccer for the most boring sport?)
• Watched a ton of other stuff (you don’t get to do this when attending in person), including track (lot of exciting finishes), swimming, basketball (3 on 3 didn’t thrill me), ping pong, cycling, wrestling, etc.
• My favorite moment was Cuban 120kg Wrestler Mijaín López Núñez winning his 5th Gold Medal in this event (first athlete in history) and then retiring. (I’m a sucker for stuff like this.)
• Too much Snoop Dogg and Tom Cruz for my taste.
• See you in L.A.