In 4, confusing sets, our Gophers beat Auburn 25-12, 21-25, 25-16 & 26-24 – to even our record in matches at 2 & 2, and in sets at 7 & 7.
I have to say I was confused watching tonight’s match. The first surprise was a new line-up: Blazkova replacing Taylor at Middle, and Crossen replacing Gilk at Opposite. And Kraft as designated server. My first thought was that Coach Cook was sending a message to Taylor and Gilk that their performance in our first three matches hasn’t been good enough.
Then, trailing 2-5 after a slow start, the Gophers went on a 23-7 to run away with Set-1 – and I thought, “Oh, I get it. Auburn isn’t any good, and Coach wants to give the bench some playing-time.” (Auburn came in 3 & 0, but hadn’t played anyone decent.)
Then in Set-2, the same Gopher lineup played worse than Auburn. We trailed 6-12 & 9-15, and even after a run to get within 20-22, we lost Set-2. And I thought, “Okay Coach, point made, let’s put the first-string back in before we lose the match.” But Coach stayed with the same lineup, we jumped out to a 10-2 lead in Set-3 – and coasted to the 25-16 win.
Then, same lineup for Set-4. We were tied 4-4 & 8-8, slipped behind 11-13 & 14-17, and were tied again at 20-20 and 23-23. And I didn’t know what to think. Losing to Arizona State and Florida hurt our record, but both were close losses to respectable teams. Losing to Auburn would be a BAD loss! A loss that could hurt us for NCAA seeding at the end of the season. Plus we’ve been losing close sets, and who knows how we would play in our first Set-5. Fortunately, we didn’t need to find out.
You can’t say watching the ‘26 Gophers isn’t exciting. We’ve played 14 sets, and 7 of them have been decided by the minimum 2 points. (We’re 3 & 4 in those nail-biters.)
The Wooker did it again, 21 kills tonight, running her total to an even 70 in 4 matches – STAR numbers. Wooker was back-row for those final 2 points of the match, adding to my apprehension, even though she had 2 more back-row kills tonight. She also had 4 aces tonight. And Hoecke had another good night, 8 kills (5 slides, 2 quicks and 1 overpass), 4 blocks and 2 aces.
The big question is how did our new starters perform?
- Blazkova, replacing Taylor at Middle, had 4 kills and 4 blocks. Slightly more kills than Taylor typically gets. And almost as many blocks as Taylor typically gets. But I didn’t feel that Blazkova had as many partial-blocks or that she changed as many hitting angles as Taylor does.
- Crossen, replacing Gilk at Opposite, had 7 kills and 3 blocks. The 7 kills matches Gilk’s best match (vs Arizona State, a better team than Auburn), but not the production we expect from Gilk.
I was expecting there would be some lineup experimentation during our non-conference schedule. And the second half of this schedule will feature solid but unranked teams (Miami of Florida, St. Thomas, South Dakota and South Dakota State), so I expect we’ll see some more. Plus Acevedo and Minatee have been dressing and warming up. I expect them to be available to play soon – and get at least some playing time before the Big 10 starts. So that will be interesting.
NEXT UP:
Miami, Friday, Sept 11, 6:00, at the PAV, on BTN+, and
St. Thomas, Sunday, Sept 13, 1:00, at the PAV, on BTN+