After watching Northern Iowa beat Florida State in straight sets last night, I thought the Panthers would give the Gophers more trouble than they did. The Panthers are probably just as athletic and just as skilled as the Gophs – but they’re 3 to 4 inches shorter across the front line. I’ve played and coached enough volleyball to know that the taller team doesn’t always win. But if everything else is equal (which it wasn’t because the Gophs were playing at home), 3 to 4 inches makes a big difference: 25-18, 25-16, 25-15.
To be fair, the Panthers came out fired-up for Set 1. They dug fearlessly, took a 4-6 lead and traded side-outs all the way to a 14-16 lead. But with Kilkelly serving behind a front line of Landfair, Booth and Wenaas, Gopher Power became just too much for the undersized Panthers. For the match, the Gophers out-hit the Panthers .288 to .056, and out-blocked them 16-3.
I predicted that the Gopher Middles would have fun, and they did. Booth dominated, 6 kills and officially 11 blocks (I had her with 7 blocks, the official stats are often generous). And Davis played well; I had her with 3 kills and 3 blocks.
UNI served very aggressively against Florida State, and I expected they would again tonight. They really had nothing to lose; they had little chance of stopping the Gophers when the Gophers are in-system. And they probably did; they made enough service errors to suggest aggressive serving. But the Gophers had minimal difficulty handling the Panther serves.
NEXT UP: A Sweet-sixteen rematch with Ohio State, Thursday, in Austin Texas. The Buckeyes clobbered the Gophers, at the Pav, back in October; and the Gophers returned the favor 8 days ago in Columbus. I think the Gophers are playing a lot better than they were in October.
READERS RE ESPN, WENAAS, SHAFFMASTER & BOOTH
M.C. writes: “I signed up for a monthly subscription to ESPN+, and then couldn’t get on, despite their warm welcome! ESPN is EVIL!”
JOHN: A big corporation being evil? Hard to believe. P.S., I understand that this past weekend’s games were radio-broadcast.
R.S. writes: “Thanks, John, appreciate your analysis; this was one of your best. I have felt all along that this team has the right stuff to be a championship team — if the planets align, i.e., no injuries and everyone peaking at the right time!
So proud of the Gophers; they deserve their awards. And I agree with you, Jenna Wenaas doesn’t get the credit she deserves. She has been the glue holding the team together and brings everything she has almost every night. She is my favorite all around player.”
JOHN: Wenaas rocks!
R. N. writes: “I second John’s recognition of Melani Shaffmaster’s improvement during the second half of this season. Thank you to the Gopher coaches and Melani for putting in the hard work to make this happen! The Gophers are coming together exactly at the right time. The upcoming matches will be exciting to watch!
Can Shaffmaster sustain her improvement and can she be ready to play beginning with the first point of the every set throughout the tournament? The Gopher hitters and Gopher fans are counting on you, Melani.”
JOHN Shaffmaster rocks!
R.A. writes: “Booth is the best player on the team. Wenaas’s overall play, McGraw’s digs and Shaffmaster’s sets also impressive. I was surprised again that Booth was replaced five times, for lengthy stretches, by Davis. Playing only half-time makes her stats — kills and blocks — even more impressive. I counted from the front row and only five of Landfair’s 25 attacks were hit with authority. Most were tentative.”
JOHN: Apparently GopherVBallRocks has done an inadequate job of explaining the rotation rules of volleyball, specifically that everyone (except the Libero) has to rotate on every side-out – through all 6 positions. Players can shift laterally after the serve is struck, which is why Landfair always plays left-side (when she’s front-row), but back-row players are not allowed play at the net, i.e., they cannot hit or block in front of the 10-ft line. After Booth plays 3 rotations in the front row (always shifting to Middle Front), she is required to play 3 rotations in the front row – for which she is replaced, not by Davis, but by our Libero, McGraw. Booth could stay in the game, but we’d rather have McGraw in the back-row. Davis is “the other” Middle. (Personally, I’d prefer Gros, but apparently McCutcheon prefers Davis). McGraw also plays back-row for Davis. Davis never subs in for Booth. It can appear that way because Davis is subbing in for McGraw at the exact same time that McGraw is subbing in for Booth – the net result of which is that Booth goes out and Davis comes in, and McGraw stays on the floor.