Month: August 2026

Gophs won 25-18, 25-23 & 25-12, evening their season record at 1 & 1 in matches and 3 & 3 in sets. So “even-steven,” a Seinfeld episode. Given that our #14 ranked Gophs travelled to Sioux Falls to play #12 ranked Arizona State and #13 ranked Creighton, a split was the most likely weekend outcome. If we had won on Friday, I’d have been disappointed. But given our inability to “win the close ones” on Friday, I was delighted to get the split.

The sweeps, though, were a surprise. One might expect 14/12 or 14/13 matchups to go 5 sets. Give our Gophers credit for heart, after losing the first two sets to Arizona State on Friday, we fought hard trying to extend the match – losing the 3rd set 23-25. But on Saturday, Creighton folded.

For the match, Creighton had 21 hitting errors (more than double the Gophs’ 10) and 8 service errors. Their 8 service errors were one less than the Gophs’ 9, but I feel the Gophs’ 9 service errors were spread across 3 sets, whereas the Bluejay service errors were concentrated (6 maybe) in the 2nd set, which they might have won with better serving. (I can still hear the groaning from the Creighton fans seated behind me.)

It seems worth noting that both the Gophs and Jays were playing Sat afternoon following tough Friday evening matches. The Gophs finished Friday’s match at 11pm and started Saturday’s match at 4pm. The Jays finished around 8:30 pm on Saturday, but that was a 5-set match. Then again, these are young women –who should be able to handle a short turn-around better than my 75U men’s team.

On to the details of individual performance. I’ve been writing for months that Wooker’s performance will be a key to our 2026 season, so Wooker’s 18 kill, .421 night in the loss to ASU helped ease my disappointment. Wooker again led the Gophs against Creighton, but with a more modest 10 kills (1 back-row) and .222 %. But on Friday, Wooker had been Stella’s only weapon – much better offensive balance in the sweep of Creighton.

Especially our Middles! On Friday, our Middles posted a total of 7 kills, but 3 of those were by Taylor off of ASU overpasses. So only 3 kills in 3 sets off of passes from Stella, 1 by Blazkova, who started, and 3 by Hoecke who subbed in halfway through the 2nd set. But Saturday, Hoecke played the whole match and posted 7 kills (.500), 4 off slides and 3 off quicks. And Taylor posted 4 kills (.571) 3 of which on passes from Stella. So 10 offensive Middle kills in 3 sets vs Creighton – a huge and must-needed improvement over the 3 vs ASU. Exactly the balance we need to keep the pressure off our pins.

I had predicted, pre-season, that our depth-chart at Middle went Taylor, Minatee, Hoecke, and Blazkova, so I was surprised to see us start Taylor, and Blazkova. Hoecke looked great against Creighton, so maybe I’m a lot smarter than Coach Cook. More likely, Blazkova’s start was injury related. Both nights, Hoecke warmed up with some sort of brace or wrap over her shoulder (her left shoulder, fortunately, as she is right-handed), but took it off to play. Maureen reports (I didn’t catch this) that she puts it back on when she’s not on the court – and she’s a Middle, so half the time. 

Minatee, coming back from last October’s ACL injury, did not play at all over the weekend. I watched her close during yesterday’s warmups. She looked okay, no sign of favoring a knee. (Despite my role as creator and primary contributor to GopherVBRocks, I have not been given insider access to individual player medical reports). But if Hoecke continues to play like she did against Creighton, Minatee is merely bench-strength anyway,

I am not overly worried about Taylor’s offensive production. Her defensive presence at the net will always be her major contribution, and any offensive kills are frosting on the cake. (BTW, I like frosting.) Taylor only had 2 blocks against Creighton, but she often gets pieces of balls, which are then easier to dig, and she changes the angles on other opponent hits – likely contributing to Creighton’s 21 hitting errors.

Kinney and Gilk were steady, 7 kills and 5 respectively, in 3 sets. I’d love to see those numbers even stronger, which would increase our offensive balance.

But as I said, a weekend split against equivalently ranked teams was statistically likely. And there’s a long season ahead.

NEXT UP: The Big 10/ACC Challenge offering another pair of neutral-site matchups vs strong non-conference teams:

• FLORIDA, #17 ranked, in Madison, this Tuesday, 8 p.m., BTN, and
• AUBURN, unranked, in Madison, this Wednesday, 5  p.m, FS1.

I will not be making the trip to Madison, but I’ll be glued to the tube – expecting the Gophs to win both.

Our Gophs were swept by ASU, 24-26, 17-25 & 23-25, Two of the 3 sets were 2-pointers, but good teams find a way to win the close sets – and tonight Arizona State was the better team. Arizona State is a good team, maybe better than their #12 ranking, but getting swept by a team ranked equivalently is disappointing.

There was some good news:

• Wooker is back! Adequate won’t get it; this Gopher squad needs Wooker to lead the team – and tonight she did! I had her with 18 kills, including 1 from the back row, and a .421 percentage. 18 kills in 3 sets is a very strong outing. I thought she also served well, 2 aces and 2 errors; I’ll take that every match. And her serve-receive held up; I had her with one poor receive in about a dozen attempts. The best news is that there was no indication of a back problem. Tonight’s match ended at 11pm, and tomorrow’s match starts at 4pm – I’ll be very interested to see if she can play well with such a short turn-around.
• Kinney had 10 kills, not bad for 3 sets.
• And Palabiyik is back – less of a surprise. I had her with 1 receiving error in about 20 attempts.
• Garr had 1 ace and 1 error, but I felt she served strong all night.

The most discouraging thing, besides the sweep, was the non-existent offense from our Middles. A total of 3 kills in 3 sets.

• I had Taylor with 3 additional kills, but all 3 were off of ASU overpasses – Taylor put zero balls away off about a dozen sets from Stella.
• Blazkova started, got 1 early kill, on a quick, then disappeared.
• Hoecke subbed in for Blazkova late in Set 2, and had 2 kills off quicks.
• I had predicted that Minatee would get the start, but she didn’t play at all. It’s possible that she isn’t completely healthy, but she was dressed and looked okay. And based on prior years, a healthy Minatee, though too short to block much, has been our most effective offensive Middle, so I was surprised that she didn’t play. I’ll watch her closer in today’s warmups.
• A total of 3 Middle-kills, 1 back-row kill, and zero from Stella in 2 attempts. Not enough to prevent a good ASU defense from focusing their attention on our pins.

Gilk’s performance was also disappointing, 7 kills at a .130 clip. Gilk is our only pre-season All Big 10 player, and Stella fed her a lot, especially early. We need more from Gilk.

At least for this first match, my depth-chart predictions were pretty close.

• Gilk, Wooker, and Kinney as our pins. Crossen came in to serve a couple times, but neither she nor Acevedo played otherwise.
• Palabiyik, Garr, and Thibault, in that order, at Libero. Kraft did not play. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kraft “red-shirts” this season (though under the new rules, I’m not sure “red-shirt” is still a thing.)  
• I was off on our Middles. Taylor was #1. But Blazkova got the other start, later replaced by Hoecke, who I thought would be ahead of  Blazkova. And Minatee, who I expected to start, didn’t play – maybe injured?

Hoping for a better performance vs Creighton tomorrow, but Creighton beat Purdue in the match prior to MN v ASU.

Lots of Gopher fans in attendance.

Our #14 ranked Gophers officially open their 2026 season tomorrow (Friday) with a match vs #12 Arizona State in Sioux Falls. Followed by a Saturday match vs #13 Creighton, also in Sioux Falls. Part of a 6-team “State Farm Showcase.” Friday’s match vs ASU will be on FOX9+, approximately at 8 pm, and Saturday’s match vs Creighton will be on FS1, approximately at 4 pm. But both matches follow earlier matches, so these times are approximate. Maureen and I will be attending in person.

The Gophers earlier played 2 exhibition matches, one vs #2 ranked Texas at Texas and another vs #27 ranked Iowa State at Ames. I was unable to travel to either match, and since they were “exhibitions,” there was no TV., because they were “exhibitions.” The Gophs apparently got pounded by the Longhorns in 4 sets. I haven’t seen a word about how the ISU match went. (If any readers have info about either of these exhibition matches, I’d be happy to post it. 

I assume that Coach Cook would have played every healthy player, at least a little, in these exhibition matches. This weekend’s matches are non-conference, but they count – especially for NCAA seeding in December. So I assume both sides will be playing to win, meaning fewer substitutions. I don’t imagine that Coach Cook will be locked into a permanent rotation for the entire season this early, but he should have strong ideas by now, and I am very excited to see which directions he is leaning.

Stella is our Setter; end of discussion. But there will be significant competition at the other positions:

• 6 Outside Hitters for 3 positions, Gilk, The Wooker, Kinney, Acevedo, Crossen, and Olivia
• 4 Middles for 2 positions, Taylor, Minatee, Hoecke, and Blazkova;
• 4 Liberos for 2 (maybe 3) positions, Palabiyik, Garr, Thibault, and Kraft.  

I listed them in the order I think they stand on the depth chart – but I expect to know more by Saturday Evening.