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In my previous post, I had expressed ignorance whether former Edina High & Northern Lights star Jordan Thompson was the team’s starting opposite, or the back-up opposite. Turns out, at least in the U.S.’ first match, against Argentina (a 3-0 win), Thompson is not just the starter, she is the STAR! Thompson led the U.S. team with 18 kills on 23 swings.

The post below, referencing former Edina H.S. star and now Olympic Team Jordan Thompson, went up Wednesday evening, and by noon on Thursday, several readers** had noticed the story by Jim Paulsen* in Thursday morning’s StarTribune. Paulsen writes that Thompson is one of the most-feared hitters in this year’s Olympics, which suggests that she is the starting opposite. We’ll see soon enough.

Paulsen also writes that Thompson chose Cincinnati because she “wanted to play right away” (but doesn’t say how many top Big Ten Teams recruited her). And Paulsen notes that Thompson is the niece of former Vikings Star Chris Doleman. (Though Paulsen did not note, Tori Dixon, on the 6-player “reserve squad,” is the daughter of former Vikings Star Dave Dixon.)

• I am not familiar with Paulsen’s work. I also don’t know if this story means that Paulsen will be covering Olympic V-ball for the Strib. Let’s hope so. The Strib has sent sportswriter Rachel Blount and columnist Jim Souhan to Tokyo, but neither knows anything about V-ball.

You are no doubt aware that the Olympics are about to begin in Tokyo, including men’s and women’s, 6-player indoor, and 2-player outdoor. (Also para-olympics.) I don’t follow the sand game, but I love the indoor game. In 2012, in London, Maureen and I attended (in-person) every match, men’s and women’s, from the quarterfinals through the Gold Medal Games. I’ll be seeing a lot less of it this year, due to a family rafting trip.

Both men’s and women’s competition involves round-robin play in each of two 6-team pools, with the top 4 teams in each pool advancing to the quarterfinals. The U.S. women are in a pool with Italy, Russia, Turkey, China & Argentina. I haven’t kept up with recent international play (if any reader has, and wants to share their knowledge with the rest of us, please do), but the U.S. women are ranked #1 in the world. And our women typically have an easier path through pool-play than the men do, in that large numbers of girls are playing volleyball at a young age only in the U.S. and Brazil. Countries like Russia, China, Serbia, etc recruit tall 16 yr-olds and teach them volleyball; their girls weren’t going to 14 & under national tournaments like our girls do.

The U.S. men, who are also generally medal contenders, will face France, Russia, Tunisia, Brazil & Argentina in pool-play. Russia is always tough, as is, Brazil, Poland, Italy,* Croatia & Serbia. * In the 2016 Olympics, which I watched on T.V., the most exciting player in the world was a middle-hitter on the Italian men’s team. This guy was only 6-4, which is short for a men’s middle, but this guys was built like a linebacker – and he could hit with power with either hand! Tough to block a guy who hits with either hand.

Former Gophers Tori Dixon, Hannah Tapp and Sarah Wilhite are all on 6-woman “reserve roster,” along with former Badger setter Lauren Carlini, and former Stanford left-side hitter Kathryn Plummer*.                                                                                             * If Plummer didn’t make the team, this has got to be a strong team.

No former Gophers were named to the 12-woman Olympic Roster, but former Edina H.S. and Northern Lights star Jordan Thompson is on the squad. Her bio from her Cincinnati Bobcat page (where she clearly was a star) lists her as having been a star for Edina and Northern Lights, but I never heard of her. Most top MN volleyballers end up at Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Stanford, etc; not Cincinnati. My guess is, she was a late-bloomer, which is more common than you think. These days, athletes are often recruited at age 14; and excellent athletes that bloom late can slip under the radar.

Anyway, congratulations to Thompson, who will be representing Minnesota (our state, not our Gophers) in this year’s Olympics. She is an “opposite,” i.e., a right-side hitter (the position that Steph Samedy plays for the Gophers). I assume that the U.S. team will be playing a 5 – 1, with a libero and a D.S. (including one opposite), i.e., 8 players. The other 4 women on the 12-woman squad will be back-ups, used sparingly – except in the case of injury.

Given Thompson’s relative international experience, I am inclined to guess that she is the back-up opposite. But former Purdue star Annie Drews, the only other opposite on the roster is also a first-time Olympian (Drews does have more international experience), I don’t know which is the starting opposite.

Good luck to our men’s and women’s teams!

Big Ten Player of the Year Steph Samedy announced that she will use her “bonus year” of collegiate eligibility to play for the Gophers again this fall. Super Sub Airi Miyabe will also. No word, to my knowledge, regarding Regan Pittman.*                                      * For what it’s worth, I’ve been thinking that Pittman would be more likely to return than Samedy. We shall see.

Samedy, Miyabe and Pittman were all “seniors” in terms of eligibility this past season (all in graduate school). But the NCAA announced last fall that competing during the 2020-2021 Pandemic Season would not count against anyone’s eligibility, giving these 3 and thousands of other athletes nation-wide, in all sports, a “bonus year.”

I think it is true that there were zero transfer restrictions, so athletes can play anywhere they choose. Those of you that follow men’s basketball probably know that, at least partially due to a coaching change, the Gophers lost 11 of last season’s12-man roster to transfers, and have filled their roster for the coming season with replacement transfers.

I love Miyabe and am glad to see her return, but Samedy is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year. Not a Big Ten Player of the Year, but THE Big Ten Player of the Year! The Gophers should have been strong this fall without Samedy; the return of Samedy makes them one of the top teams in the country.

We’ll find out how good early. The Gophers open their season vs

• Baylor (8/27 at Madison)
• TCU (8/28 at Madison)
• Texas (9/1 at the Pav)
• Florida (9/5 at Florida)
• Stanford (9/10 at Eugene) &
• Oregon (9/11 at Eugene)

These are practically the top 6 teams in the country outside the Big Ten!

NO!

29 “Regional Representatives” voted in favor of Boy’s Volleyball being sanctioned by the State H.S. League, vs 18 voting against it; but apparently, it requires a two-thirds majority, so the measure fell 3 votes short (32 – 15 would have passed).

The State H.S. League did approve Girl’s Wrestling. According to today’s Strib, there were 57 schools and 1400 boys playing volleyball, un-sanctioned by the State H.S. League, prior to the pandemic, compared to 153 girls signed up for wrestling. Reasons offered for voting against Boy’s Volleyball included “budgetary concerns,” “timing” related to the pandemic, and “maybe next year.” But clearly, the real reason is Title IX; and Title IX isn’t going away, so I don’t get how “next year” is going to be any easier.

I coached Women’s Softball for 10 years, Girls Volleyball for 8 years and Gopher Women’s Water Polo for 6 years. I am a big fan of the Lynx and Gopher Women’s Basketball. (I have no opinion one way or the other about Girl’s Wrestling.) And you know how I feel about Gopher Women’s Volleyball. So I’m not exactly anti-Girl’s & Women’s sports, or anti- Title IX. But I think not expanding to include Boy’s Volleyball was stupid. Someone with a functioning brain needs to figure this out!

P.S. One would think it makes sense for the State H.S. League to support life-long sports. There are 40 over-65 guys in my BAJ volleyball league, I know of two similar leagues in the South Metro alone, I hear there are others leagues North and East Metro, and I assume there are over-65 Women’s Volleyball Leagues (does anyone know?). So clearly volleyball is a life-long sport. I wonder is there are any over-65 Women’s Wrestling Leagues?

P.S. #2 An entirely different take: Is the State H.S. League even relevant in our post-pandemic world?

D-1 College Coaches don’t spend much time scouting high school games in most sports (football might be the exception), because the talent is spread too thin. The real action in volleyball, basketball, swimming, etcetera, is at the club level; and at “camps.” And more and more, we’re seeing kids (especially hockey players) skip their senior year of H.S. hockey altogether, in favor of club hockey.

I mentioned above my personal experience coaching Women’s Softball, Girls Volleyball and Women’s Water Polo, but I also coached boy’s and men’s Water Polo and senior men’s volleyball. And all of this, some 40+ years of coaching, was entirely club sports. (My W-Polo teams often competed against varsity programs, but we never were.) I got paid less, but I was never in it for the money; I had a “day job.” And never did I coach an athlete who was there for the wrong reasons, as can happen with varsity and scholarship sports; every athlete I coached was there because they loved the sport.

And high schools barely exist anyway. They were closed most of the past year, and even now “virtual-school” rivals “in-person” schools. Maybe high schools should focus on academics and get out of sports all together. Like the Europeans.

Losing to Stanford in the National Semis last year (2019) was disappointing, but only slightly. The 2019 Gophers had over-achieved just to reach the Final Four, and Stanford was loaded. Losing to Oregon at the Pav in the 2018 Sweet 16 was more painful, as the #2 seeded Gophers had legitimate championship aspirations. But that loss came after an epic 3^rd set which the Gophers thought they had won 40-38, only to have set point reversed on a challenge leading to a 41-39 loss, which the Gophs didn’t recover from. This year’s loss to Pittsburgh, again by a team that appeared to have legitimate championship aspirations, was more painful yet.

Samedy was quoted in the Strib, “We gave it our best. Pitt just ended up being the better team.” I guess. It wasn’t bad officiating and there are no “bad bounces” in volleyball, so the team that wins was obviously the best team on the court that day. But I didn’t think Pittsburgh was that good. I was surprised that the Panthers seemed more relaxed in the 5^th set than the Gophers who had been 5 for 5 in 5-set matches.

McCutcheon in the Strib, “It seemed like we were letting them dictate things more in the fourth set than earlier in the match. We were struggling to get any kind of rhythm.” I think Coach’s “Letting them dictate things” is a reference to the Gophers poor serve-receive. (The ESPN commentator working the National semis referred to this as “ball control,” but I’m unconvinced that this term works better than “passing.”) In the end, this game requires all 5 skills, just being strong at the net isn’t enough.

WAS THE BIG TEN OVERRATED?

It appears so, maybe not as much in volleyball as in men’s basketball, but yes. Gopher men’s hockey dropped their traditional affiliation with the WCHA for the Big Ten because the Big Ten commands a bigger market – more people watching means more $ and more hype. And we fall for it.

If you judge by representation in the Final Four over the last decade, the Big Ten really is the strongest and deepest conference, with annually half-a-dozen teams with the potential for a tournament run. But if you saw Texas plow through Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin in rounds 3,4, & 5, leaving the Big Ten out of the Championship Game, it is clear that there are other strong programs around the country.

The impact of the pandemic was interesting. The powerful Big Ten, the almost as powerful PAC, and the vast majority of less- powerful conferences, deferred their entire volleyball seasons to the Spring. But the SEC and the Big 12, both representing portions of the country that trend “red,” taking a more casual approach to the pandemic, chose a different path for volleyball, playing half of their conference season in the Fall and half in the Spring. Kentucky and Texas won their split-season conferences, and now face each other in the Championship Game. I couldn’t say for certain that the split-season worked to their advantage, but it didn’t hurt them any.

ROLLINS TO TRANSFER

As we await an announcement of whether seniors Steph Samedy, Regan Pittman and Airi Myabe will return for a “pandemic-bonus-year” of eligibility, we were surprised to hear that junior Adanna Rollins will be transferring. I haven’t heard where or why.

I grew up in an era in which D-1 Varsity* athletes were ineligible their freshmen year, then competed during 3-consecutive years of  eligibility, almost always for one school. But now freshmen can compete, “red-shirt” years are common, transferring is common and no longer requires an excuse, and a pandemic has given everyone a bonus year of eligibility. (The roster of the pandemic-year Gopher women’s basketball team even included a high school girl.) It’s a new world.                                                                          (* “Club sports,” like the water polo I played and coached for the Gophers, and men’s volleyball, have long had different eligibility rules.)

I don’t have any inside knowledge of where Rollins will be transferring to, or why, but this is a fan-blog, so let’s speculate:

• She’s already in graduate school, in business. Maybe “Carlson” doesn’t fit her needs.
• She’s probably played high-level volleyball for at least 6 years, maybe she’s looking for a lower-pressure situation.
• She’s a Texas girl, maybe she’s tired of cold weather.
• Maybe she’s homesick and will be transferring to someplace closer to home.
• Maybe she has a boyfriend (or girlfriend) at another school.
• Other schools are prohibited from “recruiting” her before she enters the “transfer portal,” but maybe she’s been offered a “better opportunity.”
• Or maybe she’s unhappy.
• She’s never been much of a smiler, maybe she’s always been unhappy.
• Maybe, after playing second-fiddle to Alexis Hart, she expected to become the “star” left-side hitter, and is jealous that Taylor Landfair got more attention.
• Maybe she doesn’t feel secure about starting next year (I think she probably would), with Landfair a more powerful hitter, Wenaas a better passer, and another crop of talented freshmen on the way.
• Maybe another accomplished left-side hitter is transferring in (we haven’t heard about it, but) and she is miffed about needing to compete for playing time.
• Maybe she’s had a falling-out with the coaching staff.

Whatever, we wish her well. Rollins has never been the “star,” but she’s been a steady, reliable, starter, and we saw how much the team depends on her when she missed the 2^nd Nebraska match.

2021 RECRUITS

The Gophers bragged about their 2020 recruiting class, as well they might have given that it was rated the #1 recruit-class in the country. I haven’t seen similar bragging about this year’s class, but the Gophers have signed 4:

• Lauren Crowl, a 6-foot, 4-inch, left-handed, right-side hitter from Eagan (Eastview and Northern Lights). Taller than Samedy, and left-handed (an advantage for a right side hitter, though you wouldn’t know it to watch Samedy play), Crowl was obviously recruited to replace Samedy, who was supposed to be out of eligibility. She might have to wait a year if Samedy returns for a bonus year (or battle Miyabe for the position if Samedy leaves and Miyabe stays). And
• Also in the competition for right-side hitter will be Natalie Glenn, a 5-foot, 10-inch, right side hitter from Southlake, Texas, also left-handed. 5-10 sounds a little short for a Big Ten right side hitter, but she seems (as far as I can tell) slightly higher-rated than Crowl. Glenn is probably a great passer, and the Gophers sure need that.
• Anna Wolf, a 6-foot, 4-inch middle blocker from River Falls (and Minnesota Select). The Gophers had 4 middles this past season (Pittman, Rubright, Myers and Husemann), and if they all comeback and are joined by Wolf, the competition for playing time could be intense.
• Skylar Gray, 5-foot-10 out of Maple Grove, was a left-side hitter in high school, but more likely to play libero or D.S. for the Gophers.

As of game-time today (second round play plus Wisconsin’s Sweet 16 victory last night), the 6 Big Ten teams had not even lost a set. But our Gophers managed to lose 3 sets (the 2^nd, 4^th & 5^th) to a spirited but unseeded and not obviously-overpowering Pittsburgh. How disappointing!

Maybe Pittsburgh, who hasn’t lost a match since October, is better than they look; we’ll find out tomorrow. McGraw didn’t play; maybe the back-up plan of Kilkelly at libero and Wenaas at D.S. wasn’t as solid a replacement as I thought it would be. One of our two losses on the season came at Lincoln in a match that started even earlier than today’s match at noon; maybe the Gophers are just not a Morning in Nebraska team.

But the most likely explanation is the weaknesses I pointed out last week in my piece HOW GOOD ARE THE GOPHERS? I told you that the Gophers had excellent outside hitting. And while our OH-trio of Samedy, Landfair & Rollins have each had better matches, they were good today, with 23, 15, & 15 kills respectively, and you shouldn’t lose a match when your outside hitters put up 53 kills. And the blocking wasn’t bad either; I have Pittman in double figures. The blocking and outside hitting was good enough to win most matches.

But the Gophers got virtually zero offense from the middle. I don’t think Pittman and Rubright had 5 kills between the two of them. And it wasn’t their fault; they got hardly any sets. Shaffmaster is pretty good setting her middles off a perfect pass, and a quicker, more talented setter (e.g., Seliger-Swenson) might have done more with the mediocre passes Shaffmaster was getting. But a mediocre serve-receive and a big, slow setter is a bad combination.

Our serve-receivers weren’t giving up aces or shanking their receives out of bounds, but they weren’t putting them where Shaffmaster wanted them either. I wasn’t keeping track, but I would swear that Shaffmaster was making the first set underhand more often than overhand, because she had to run 15 feet to reach it. And underhand setting pretty much eliminates middle-hitting. In high-level collegiate volleyball, the receiving team wins the majority of the points because they have the advantage of the first attack; but the Gophers were returning free-balls and giving Pittsburgh the first attack, even on their serve, more often or not.

NEXT YEAR

The old reliable consolation to a season-ending loss is “Wait to next year.” In this odd, pandemic year, “next year” is only 4 months away. I’ll have more to say about “next year” after I’ve recovered emotionally.

Reader G.H. writes, “Thanks for analysis of Pittsburgh.”

Reader G.U. asks, “What’s the status on McGraw?”

John: I wish I knew. In this modern age of phony-secrecy, the U of M releases no info on the health of student athletes. I was hoping to see McGraw in action vs Georgie Tech, but she wasn’t. I think I saw her standing on the sidelines in a hoody and a knee brace, so you can draw your own conclusions from that.

I am skeptical that she will be in the lineup tomorrow vs Pittsburgh. I think we are stronger with a 100% McGraw at libero and Kilkelly at D.S., but Kilkelly at libero and Wenaas backfilling at D.S. has been decent.

Reader T.R. writes, “Good reviews as usual coach.  Gophers and ncaa tourney most fun to watch and best sports action going by far. Related to the 6-2, I see the gophers main restriction is that their hitters are mainly that—hitters— just great power hitters especially with perfect sets (natl champs if Swenson was still setting) but are not great overall players that can win it all, with required defense, quickness, etc.  6-2 good if versatile hitters can slam most any set.  But calm confidence in toughest spots gives the gophers a shot against any team. Have you applied yet for strib vb reporter job?

John: I am committed to retirement, and the Strib has Rachael Blount. Ms Blount apparently gets assigned to write about Gopher V-Ball because it’s a “chick-sport,” more than due to her knowledge of V-ball. I’m sure Ms Blount is a capable reporter, but her 3/22 story about the Gopher’s loss to Wisconsin the previous evening was shorter but almost word-for-word the same as a longer account on the Gopher website, except that Blount (probably good enough at math to recognize that 6-2 is more than 6) described the Gopher system vs the Badgers as a “4-2.” A “4-2,” of course, is the system we play at Geezer volleyball and is common to pick-up games at the Y.

It’s really hard to say. They looked pretty good sweeping 14^th seed Utah on Thursday Night, slightly more dominant than the Gophers sweep of Georgia Tech. But then how good is Utah? The PAC 10 has not been impressive in the early rounds (see below).

Pittsburgh finished 3^rd in the ACC, at 14 & 4, just a hair above the Gophers’ most recent conquest Georgia Tech (13 & 4). But two of Pittsburgh’s losses came in September, and two in October; they haven’t lost a match in 2021! They also hadn’t played anyone any good, until Utah. Pittsburgh is 1 & 1 versus this year’s Sweet 16 Teams (an October split with Louisville in Pittsburgh). The Gophers are 5 & 2.

The Panthers are led by right-side hitter Ndee (#5) and left-side hitter Lund (#23). One of their middles (#11), and their other left-side hitter (#2) looked decent.  But I didn’t see the raw power that Samedy, Pittman, Rollins & Landfair can bring.

But I was very impressed by their “floor-game,” i.e. digging and scrambling. I lost track of the number of times that Utah pounded the ball off an attempted Pittsburgh block and it looked like a Utah point – but Pittsburgh saved the it and went on to win the point. When I was coaching, I told my hitters, “Pound the ball, and if they dig it up, pound it again. And keep pounding it until they don’t dig it up.” But great digging can frustrate a hitter.

The other interesting thing about the Panthers is that they play a  6-2, apparently have all season. When Shaffmaster couldn’t play vs Wisconsin, and also last season (2019) when Miller was hurt, the Gophs were forced to play a 6-2 because our back-up setter, McMenimen, can’t block. I kind of like the 6-2, because it gives you 3 front-row hitters in every rotation, but most coaches prefer the 5-1 because it provides more consistent setting. Illinois played a 6-2 against the Gophs last month, so it isn’t something the Gophers haven’t seen.

The Panthers won’t be a pushover, but I like the Gophers’ chances, mostly because of their greater experience in tough matches and against tough teams. Sunday at noon on ESPN U.

There are 8 Sweet 16 matches on Sunday, 6 of the 8 featuring Big Ten Teams; we should know by the end of the day how strong the Big Ten really is. Here’s how the “power conferences” are doing: > The Big Ten had 6 teams in the 48 team tournament, and all 6 made it to the Sweet 16.                                                                                                                                                                                              > The PAC Ten had 5 teams in the 48 team tournament, and 2 made it to the Sweet 16.                                                                                                                                                                                               > The Big 12 had 3 teams in the 48 team tournament, and 2 made it to the Sweet 16.   (Rice was a covid no-show.)                                                                                                                                         >  The SEC had 3 teams in the 48 team tournament, and 2 made it to the Sweet 16.                                                                                                                                                                                 >  The ACC had 4 teams in the 48 team tournament, and 2 (Including Pittsburgh) made it to the Sweet 16. 

BYU & W. Kentucky are also in the Sweet 16.                                                                                                                                           

The Gophers took 3 straight sets from the Ramblin’ Wreck, but all 3 were close and the outcome undetermined until late. The first set was back and forth until the Gophs pulled away 16-12 before eventually winning 25-19. The Gopher kills were evenly distributed between Rollins, Landfair, Pittman, & Samedy, plus  Shaffmaster getting 3, including one when the Wreck was on a run. Tech led the second set 9-6 and it was tied 14-14 before the Gophers went on a run to lead 20-16, eventually winning 25-21, with Samedy & Landfair carrying the load. And Tech also led the third set 9-6 before the Gophers took a 15-12 lead, eventually winning 25-18, with Samedy & Rollins carrying the load.

NOTES:

• The Gophers wore masks, Georgia Tech did not; if that put the Gophers at a disadvantage, you couldn’t tell.
• McGraw, presumably still injured, did not play, so Killkelly played libero and Wenaas D.S.
• As expected, the Wreck was led by their Brazillian stars who seem more successful hitting from the back row than the front. (Maybe that’s a Brazillian thing.)
• I think we intended to use a triple-block against the Wreck’s back-row attacks, but Shaffmaster was consistently late getting there.
• On the other hand, Shaffmaster did a better job covering dinks than earlier in the season.
• Pittman got a kill on a “quarter-slide.” A typical slide, which the Gophs run often, involves Pittman “sliding from her middle position all the way to the right pin; but on this “quarter-slide,” Shaffmaster fed Pittman behind Shaffmaster, but just barely, a subtle variation that confuses the blockers.
• One of the Georgia Tech runs, leading to their 9-6 lead in the third set, highlighted my concern about our digging; 3 consecutive Wreck points were the result of the Gophers handing them a “free-ball,” which in turn were the result of poor-quality digs by the Gophers.
• And speaking of quality digs, Landfair and Samedy both demonstrated their awesome power when they got good sets; but the difference between Landfair and Samedy  is that the freshman needs good sets to get her kills, but the polished senior often turns poor sets into points.

ON TO OMAHA, uh, I guess we’re already in Omaha. The Gophers Sweet 16 opponent (on ESPN U) will be the winner of a Utah/Pittsburgh match later this evening. I’ll try to watch that and share my thoughts when I can.