Reader R.A. was in the first row, in a perfect position behind Opposite Crowl to be impressed by the power of her hits. He also had a good view of the blocking by Crowl, Husemann, Booth, and Shaffmaster. Booth reminded him of Pittman, pounding shots straight down, well inside 8 ft. Hope to see more of that this season.
Hanson was impressive also. Glenn’s hits were more nuanced than last year, not always going for power over accuracy. Landfair was a bit tentative in her first shots, going for dinks, but quickly found terrific power. And Davis was solid, especially on defense.
NDSU was overmatched vs the Gophers first team, but so many Gopher hits were no-doubters that would have scored on anyone. The Gophers also made solid saves when the Bisons had good hits, but Shaffmaster was still chasing around the court too often. This is a solid starting 7, with some decent backups.
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