Author: jktrpp

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+)

Golden Gopher  Single-game tickets will be available for (Football, Soccer, and) Volleyball next week: 9 AM on Tuesday, July 18 for Season Ticket Holders, and 9 AM on Thursday, July 20 for the General Public.

Reader R.A. (a different R.A., than our most prolific R.A.) calls our attention to the fact that the MN State H.S. League has finally approved Boys Volleyball as an official H.S. sport. (see ‘CCO story at https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/video/mshsl-approves-boys-volleyball-as-official-sport/

As a guy with 4 grandsons, ages 12, 9, 9, & 1, I can’t wait to watch their varsity careers. The older 3 are into soccer right now, but c’mon? And how much longer before the Gophers add Men’s V-Ball as a varsity sport? (They currently have a Club Team.)

NOTE: In my last post, I mentioned the upcoming exhibition match with Kansas St. on April 22, in Indianola. I assume that this match took place, but I couldn’t get there, no hint of any of our readers getting there, no broadcast or even streaming, and no coverage in the media or even on the Gopher V-ball website. So who knows? Frustrating!

OTHER NEWS:

• Coach Cook is the Head Coach of the USA U-19 team currently competing in a PanAm Tournament in Puerto Rico.
• And incoming freshman Middle Calissa Minatee is part of this U-19 squad.
• And “The Wooker” will be part of the USA U-21 team which will compete in a PanAm Tournament in Mexico later this month.

Last evening, our Gopher volleyball team hosted a squad of professional volleyball players, all former collegiate stars, representing Athletes Unlimited; this same squad scheduled to play the Badgers in Madison this evening. For a $7 admission, I was expecting to see talented athletes playing high level volleyball – and that’s what I, and roughly 3,000 other area volleyball fans, saw. No complaints, there. I was also expecting to see our undermanned Gopher get beat – and hardly any shame to that. But I didn’t. Nor was I particularly entertained.

“Spring Volleyball” matches, at least the women’s collegiate version, to my knowledge an entirely post-pandemic phenomena, are “exhibitions.” The NDSU match ten days ago, and the three I saw last spring, in a variety of venues, had all the characteristics of exhibition matches:

• Two college teams;
• Both trying to win, if substituting freely;
• In front of a free-admission audience;
• Keeping score – but without recorded stats; and
• The winner obvious, if unofficial.

But what we saw last night was more of a “scrimmage,” a chance to see some of our favorite athletes in action – but not a competitive or contested “match.” Perhaps a competitive, contested match was impossible, given that our Gophers only had one Middle, Arica Davis, available. Calissa Minatee, who played reasonably well against the height-challenged Bison last week, was present, and in uniform, but never stepped on the court despite the very-free lineup juggling. She was either injured or “in the dog-house” for some reason. I was looking forward to seeing how our height-challenged pair of Middles would fare against full-sized professionals. Instead:

• Set 1  (Gophs, 25-23) was contested with Davis and 6-3 Illinois-Grad Ali Bastianelli playing Middle for the Gophs, and former Gopher favorite Taylor (Morgan) Reid playing Middle for A.U.
• In Set 2 (A.U. 25-27), Taylor played for the Gophs and Bastianelli  for the Gophs, Also in Set 2, the Gophs played a 6-2, with Eilse McGhei and Julia Hanson sharing time with starters Melani Shaffmaster and Lauren Crowl. Notable in the Set 2 loss, was the Gophers total ineptitude at covering A,U. dinks to our middle-of-the-court “doughnut.”
• In Set 3 (technically won by the Gophers, but which Gophers?), A.U. provided both “Gopher” Middles, while McGhei, Wooker and Crowl played for A.U.
• And more mix-&-match in Set 4.

Though a very different experience than I had expected, it was, never-the-less, possible to observe the performance of individual Gophers:

• Left-side hitters Taylor Landfair and “The Wooker” were not outplayed by the professionals. If anything, they seemed to out-perform the A.U. Left-side hitters. As I’ve previously said, the ’23 Gophers should have the best pair of Left-side hitters in collegiate volleyball.
• I had Wooker with 2 service- aces against 5 errors; not exactly the ace/error ratio we want, but she served very aggressively throughout the match, which was nice to see. And
• One of the A.U. receivers Wooker was serving to was former Stanford Star Libero Morgan Hentz – who DOMINATED! Best one-match performance by a Libero I’ve ever seen. If Buckeye-transfer Kylie Murr, not yet arrived (finishing her degree, maybe?), is anywhere near as good, this team with Murr is going to be much better than the team we fielded last night.
• Meanwhile, our Gophs were making do with Skylar Gray at Libero. Gray is presumably the heir-apparent at D.S., but unless this 3^rd-yr player from Maple Grove improves dramatically between now and September, we need other options. (McGei, maybe? An incoming walk-on freshman?)
• One of our “starting-lineup” serve-receive rotations featured Crowl hitting left-side, Wooker hitting right-side (i.e., both out of position), and a 3-person receive of Landfair, Wooker and Gray. Remember last season, when our receiving was often problematic? Landfair was our weakest receiver, who opponents picked on, and Wooker and Gray weren’t considered good enough to help.
• Frankly, I expected Melani Shaffmaster to be out-played by former Badger Star Sidney Hilley, but the difference in their setting wasn’t obvious. (Hilley definitely saved more errant passes.)
• Crowl continued to look good. She’s no Sammedy, and not the 6-rotation player Wenaas was. But Crowl might prove as effective a Right-side hitter as Wenaas was.
• Davis looked good (as good as a 5-11 Middle is likely to look) and Julia Hanson played much better than she had vs NDSU.

NEXT UP: Kansas St, 1:00 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at Simpson College (1/2 hr south of Des Moines)

ALSO: Congratulations to the Gopher Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams making the Final Four; let’s hope the Men have better luck.

Our Gophers entertained NDSU this evening in their first Spring Match of 2023 played in what we used to call the “Lower 48.” And swept 4 sets, 25-15, 25-19, 25-16, 25-17, from the vertically-challenged Bison.

As one would expect, Taylor “Shock & Awe” Landfair, the #1 national recruit in the Class of 2020, and McKenna “The Wooker” Wucherer, the #1 national recruit in the Class of 2022, scored almost at will against the Packer-colored Bison. I had (there are no official stats for these Spring Matches) Landfair with 12 kills (including 3 dinks and 2 back-row kills), and Wooker with 16 kills (including 2 right-side attacks and 1 from the back-row): both in the 3 sets they played. Wooker played all 6-rotations (which she never did last year) and served strong. And I thought Shaffmaster played well.

The positive surprises included:

• Lauren Crowl looked very good hitting right-side, with 10 kills in 3 sets (including 1 from the back-row and 1 from the left-side. (There is one serve-receive position where Crowl hits left-side and Wooker hits right-side because it is too difficult to switch during the receive.) Crowl has potential competition from sophomore Julia Hanson and freshman Sydney Schnichels, but Crowl looked like the starter to me.
• Back-up setter Elise McGhie, who earned playing time as a designated server last year. McGhie continued her strong serving, and looked decent as “the other” setter in a 6-2 used in sets 3 & 4.
• Freshman Middle Calissa Minatee, who I had with 6 kills (mostly on “quicks”) and 6 blocks.
• And returning Middle Arica Davis, last years portal acquisition, who I had with 6 kills and a couple of blocks.

(Worth remembering, of course, that NDSU was under-sized, as are Minatee and Davis.)

The disappointments included:

• Sophomore Hanson and freshman Schnichels, neither of whom showed me much when on the court, and
• Skylar Gray, who handled the Libero duties.

In-Transfers not in attendance included:

• Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Libero Kylie Murr.
• Middle Phoebe Awoleye
• Opposite Lydia Grote

Maybe they aren’t allowed to participate in Spring Matches – or maybe they are still taking classes at their previous schools?

Murr will definitely be our starting Libero when she’s eligible. That drops Gray to D.S. – where she should get competition from McGhie or Hanson.

NEXT UP:  ATHLETES UNLIMITED,* April 4, 7:00 (not free)

* Athletes Unlimited is a professional team made up of former collegiate players, and Olympic candidates. The name that jumps out at me is former Champlain Park and Wis Badger setter Sydney Hilley.

With time to think about it, I could probably think of several reasons why living in Minneapolis is better than living in Fargo — but here’s one:

Tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., the Gopher volleyball team takes on NDSU in a free-admission Spring Match at the Pav. The Gophs first two Spring Matches, vs the Rainbow Wahini, in Honolulu, both went 5 sets, but tomorrow’s match should be over in time to slip to a nearby bar where, for the price of a cold beverage, one can watch the 3rd period of the Gopher men’s hockey team (also starting at 5:00 p.m., but in Fargo) vs St Cloud State. A Fargo resident who cared might be able to score a pricey ticket for the hockey game, but the volleyball match will not be televised. Count on reading about it here.

Happy to report a second, nail biting. five-set win over the very solid Rainbow Wahinis.

Gopher serving was the best I’ve seen, especially the 6 aces by Wooker and 3 by Davis. And Hanson, who contributed minimally in the front row (.061 on 33 attempts), but sealed the win in Set 5 with a match-point kill, also had 3 aces, including 2 in the decisive final set. I hate service errors, so this was pure pleasure.

Hard to confirm from stats alone, but it seemed that:

• Wooker was effective (.432 with 19 kills);
• Landfair, not so much (.188);
• Davis and Minatee were effective at Middle;
• Gray struggled again at Libero;
• And the Gophs struggled when Shaffmaster was not on the floor. (Coach Cook testing other options, perhaps.)

I’m looking forward to seeing our Gophs back at the Pav. Already got my senior ticket for Athletes Unlimited.

R.A. also reports that the

• March 25 match vs North Dakota State is at 5:00; and
• April 4 match vs Athletes Unlimited is at 7:00.

I suppose the Hawaii Trip is fun for the team (they’re missing out on our Hockey Tournament Blizzard), and maybe good for recruiting, but it’s disappointing for fans who wanted to watch — no broadcast, or even a match summary on the official website. But fortunately for GOPHERVBALLROCKS readers, Special Correspondent R.A. stayed up for the 11:00 p.m. start of the live stream of last night’s match.

R.A.’s report: The Rainbow Wahini are perennially strong, making this a good win, especially as the Gophers fought back from 1-2 after a bad Set 3 loss.  It’s not like Hawaii could claim jet lag. While only seeing live stats isn’t ideal, several things interested me about last night’s match vs Hawaii. It gradually occurred to me Coach Cook was experimenting with his personnel:

• Junior Skylar Gray (Maple Grove) played Libero, and seemed to struggle. (Reigning Big Ten Defensive Kylie Murr did not play.)
• Julia Hansen started the last three sets, got 7 kills, and seemed to get a trial as the designated server.
• Landfair only played three sets, presumably to leave court time to others, and didn’t do much with her 30 chances (.167).
• Wooker didn’t find her footing in three sets (hitting errors, serving errors, receiving errors, but came alive, to combine with Crowl, to turn things around in sets 4 & 5, and led with 15 kills.  Whew!
• Crowl was solid in limited time, with 9 kills and a .381. 
• As was Davis, 5 kills, 4 blocks, and .571.  As much as I miss Booth, it was good to see solid middle play.

Another match at 11 tonight for those willing to stay up.

ADDITIONAL SPRING MATCHES ANNOUNCED

• March 25 (time?) North Dakota State at the Pav (free)
• April 4 (presumably evening) Athletes Unlimited at the Pav (not free).
• April 22 Kansas State at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

ANOTHER MIDDLE IN THE MIX

I had previously pleaded for the Gophs to find another Middle in the Portal, especially one with a little more height, and it looks like they did, slightly. I didn’t notice the announcement, but the roster now includes 6-2 Senior Phoebe Awoleye

Awoleye played her freshman and sophomore seasons for the University of Georgia, and her junior year at Loyola Marymount. (But counting the covid-bonus, she ought to have 2 years of eligibility left.)

• Awoleye made the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2020.
• In her 2^nd season, she racked up 171 kills, (with a .309 hitting percentage), and 122 total blocks, fifth in total blocks in the SEC.
• At LMU, her 221 kills (.379) and 114.5 blocks earned her First Team All-WCC honors. 

DAUGHTER TESSA OUT-COACHED

This isn’t V-ball related, but it’s a cute story. Tessa and son Ethan both coach their 8 yr-old sons on rival Park Board basketball teams. Naturally. both claim to be the better coach. But last Saturday, though winning, Tessa was definitely out-classed. The opposing coach was Cheryl Reeve; Tessa has yet to win a single WNBA title.