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In 4, hard-fought, never a big lead for either team, sets, 23-25, 25-21, 21-25 & 21-25. We don’t think of Texas A & M as a marquee team in volleyball, but they opened the season ranked #9, they are a senior-dominated team led by a pair of legitimate stars, and were the better team tonight in Sioux Falls. I think the Gophers can play better, and I believe the Gophers will play better.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES: Coach Cook has some challenging decisions to make, here’s what I saw.       

• Stella looked good. No obvious signs of first-match jitters. She wasn’t really setting Hanson that well for back-row attacks (resulting in too many free-balls), but we saw better Middle-Offense than we have seen in recent years, 15 kills in 4 sets by my count. And Stella’s blocking was better than I expected
• Minatee certainly appreciated Stella’s setting with 10 kills, 7 of those on “quicks.”
• Myers added 5, 4 on “slides,” plus 1 quick and 1 on an overpass.
• Star Freshman Taylor did not play (she might have served once). Hard to criticize our Middle-offense, especially Minatee’s, but I had Minatee and Myers with 1 block each. I think we need the taller Taylor in the lineup for her defense.
• Our serve receive and overall passing was definitely better than last year, with Thibault (getting the nod at D.S.) having several great digs.
• Hanson was great, as expected. I had her with 15 kills, 13 from the leftside and 2 backrow. (No tips.) But I don’t think her hitting % was great; I think we need to see more than just power from Hanson. (Maybe Stella can help by mixing up her sets.)
• Acevedo played well, and likely cemented her role as one of our two starting Leftsides, I had her with 10 kills, including one from Rightside.
• Wooker did not dress. Reader R.A. reports (below) that Wooker is healing but not quite ready. If she was recovering from an injury in July or even June, I would find this encouraging. But it’s been almost a year since she hurt her back – sort of hard to believe that another couple of weeks will make a difference. A red-shirt-year, maybe?
• Crowl was, unfortunately, Crowl. She played 3 sets and had one kill. And more than one hitting error, so a negative hitting percentage for the match, And her one kill came directly after one of her hitting errors – I don’t think the Aggies believed that Stella would set her again. nd she tips too often. To start Set 4, Cook benched Crowl for Kinney.
• Kinney had 2 kills in limited action. If tonight is an indication, Kinney could become our starting Opposite.

Our serving was poor. I counted 11 service errors vs 3 Aces, As I’ve said before, I’d be happy with an 1 to 1 ratio, maybe even 7 to 6 or something similar. An 11 to 3 ratio can make a difference in close matches, and it did tonight.

NEXT UP: Three home matches against unranked teams:

• Friday, 6:00 vs Cal Poly
• Thursday, 5:00 vs Ball State
• Sunday, 3:00 vs St. Thomas

PRIVATE PRACTICE INSIGHTS

Last week GopherVBallRocks Reader and frequent contributor R.A. had the opportunity to attend a “Private Practice.” (I didn’t know this was a thing.) This is his report:

Stella and Julia were top notch.  Alex started shaky, but was stronger as day progressed.  Defense and S-R were still good, but maybe not as stellar as against alums.  Zeynep and Katie were good at saving balls away from and in front of them, but I felt that they both struggled with balls straight at them.  Coach spent 10+ minutes hitting hard balls straight at Katie in succession, an indication that he agrees.

Coach also worked with Stella and opposites AFTER practice to get her to set balls closer to the net.  Good stuff.  We stayed a half-hour longer than anyone before we were asked to move along.

My friend confirmed with a coach at the scorer table that Wooker is still recovering from a back injury, thus they are moving her into play gradually, expecting her to be fine for matches. I think Wooker is the Wild Card on this team.  If she can return to earlier form, this will be a much better team.

Based on how Coach used people today: Stella, Zeynep and Julia for sure.  Other probable starters: Wooker (I hope!!!), two of three from Taylor, Lourdes and Calissa (I can’t decide), and Katie (maybe Garr).

Crowl, Gilk and Kinney were all solid off the bench.  Acevedo looked good vs alums, but not right away. This is a very solid team.  Another chance to hear Coach speak to a small group on Sept 14.

The waiting is over. This Monday, at 7:30 on BTN,  our 2025, # 11 ranked Gophers will open the season with a neutral-site AVCA First Serve match in Sioux Falls, South Dakota versus the # 9 ranked Texas A & M Aggies. This is a road-trip I would love to make, but due to a medical appointment the next morning, it won’t be possible. I will be watching it on BTN and reporting, of course. (If any GopherVBallRocks reader is planning to attend, please let me know.)

The Aggies are led by senior standouts Opposite Logan Lednicky and Middle  Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, both named to the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Year Watch List, 

DEPTH CHART HEADING INTO SEASON OPENER

SETTERS: (play one)

#1 6-1 red-shirt Freshman from Wayzata, Stella Swenson . Stella is THE Gopher setter. Period. She might sit a point here or there in matches where the Gophers win the first two sets and establish a commanding lead in set 3, but barring injury (and Stella will play at 90%), it is conceivable that she will play every point in every set this season. Despite her freshman status, THIS IS STELLA’S TEAM, and in one sense, the 2025 Gophers will be as good, or great, as Stella.

 #10, 6-1 Jr Transfer (Rutgers) from Phoenix, Georgia Lee. Lee was recruited (and presumably given a full ride) to be available off the bench if, heaven forbid, Stella is injured.

 #11, 5-9 red-shirt-Jr from Vancouver, B.C. Chloe Ng. The scenario in which Ng would be on the floor for a meaningful point would be if Stella is unavailable and the Gophers shift to a 6-2 rather than putting it all on Lee. 

LIBEROS: (play three?) Note that “Defensive Specialists” are second string Liberos; the difference being court-time. Our Libero will play 11 of the 12 half-rotations, our starting DS will play 5 or 6 of the 12 half-rotations, and (new this year) our #3 Libero will play 1 or 2 of the 12 half-rotations.

#12, 5-4 Jr from Istanbul, Zeynep Palabiyik. Palabiyik improved significantly from her freshman to sophomore season to earn the Libero role, and will likely retain this lead role throughout the season. She is also the emotional leader of the team.

#6, 5-4 Jr, from Watertown, Kate Thibault. Following an up & down ‘24 season, Thibault will begin the ‘25 season as DS

#5, 5-7 Fr from Rush City, McKenna Garr. I haven’t seen enough of Garr to be certain, but it would not surprise me if she pushes Thibault for the #2 role.

LEFTSIDE HITTERS: (play two)

#22, 6-1 Sr from Savage/Prior Lake, Julia Hanson. After watching from the bench during her Fr & Soph seasons, Hanson exploded into stardom and First-Team All Big Ten Honors last season. She could be even better during her Senior season. Hanson is also the team’s only proven back-row hitter.

 #3, 6-1 Sr from Wisconsin, McKenna Wuchere, AKA, “The Wooker.”  Wooker was brilliant during her Sophomore season and began her Jr season at the same level – and then injured her back, and was never the same. If fully recovered, Wooker is capable of playing as well as Hanson. But it does not appear that she is fully recovered, and it is questionable if she can contribute.

#33, 6-2, Fr from Florida, Kelly Kinney. A true freshman, Kinney may struggle to adjust to the level of Big Ten play, and she could begin the season as the Gophers’ fourth option at Leftside. But she is an excellent server and THE BEST SERVE-RECEIVER ON THE TEAM, which could elevate Kinney to a starting 6-rotation role by mid-season. (If not at Leftside, maybe at Opposite?) 

#24, 6-2 red-shirt-Soph from Idaho, Alex Acevedo. Acevedo finished the ‘24 season as a starting Leftside, and she might start the opener vs Taxes A & M in this role, but I rate her as our fourth option, in part because her serve-receive is so weak, not as good as Hanson’s or Wooker’s, and not even close to Kinney. If Wooker is 100% healthy, Acevedo will play little. If not, Acevedo will, in a sense, compete for playing time with the Gopher Opposites, meaning that if she can out-perform Crowl and Gilk, Kinney could slide to Opposite, leaving Acevedo as a starting Leftside.

#13, 6-3 red-shirt Fr from Wayzata, Olivia Swenson. Olivia was a good H.S. player, and I have no doubt that she is a wonderful young woman. But from what I have seen, she does not appear to be a D-1 quality player. I presume that she was offered a full or partial scholarship as an enticement for Stella to sign with the Gophers. (If Stella is as good as I think she is, this was a wise decision by the Gophs.)

OPPOSITES: (play one)

#4, 6-4 red-shirt-Sr from Eagan, Lauren Crowl. Crowl is big, strong, and multi-talented in that she is a capable hitter, capable blocker, capable server, capable digger – and not the worst serve-receive on the team. The cautionary note on Crowl, which leaves her role on the ‘25 Gophs in question, is that she has not, during her first four years in Maroon & Gold, consistently excelled at any of these skills. She looks good hitting from the right side, but her hitting percentage has been underwhelming. In Crowl’s defense, she played two seasons behind the amazing Steph Samedy (see Samedy news, below), and two seasons behind the excellent Lydia Grote and has never had the opportunity to show what she can do as our everyday Opposite. Crowl will get that chance during the upcoming eleven-match non-conference schedule; let’s hope she rises to the opportunity.

 #7, 6-2 Freshman, from Brooklyn Park, Carly Gilk. If Crowl does not take control of the Opposite position, the freshman Gilk will be next up. Like Crowl, Gilk is left-handed, making Opposite her natural position. She is also an excellent passer/serve-receiver. She was a dominant player in last fall’s State H.S. Tournament

Kelly Kinney . I see Kinney at Leftside and Gilk at Opposite as a strong combination for the Gophers in ‘26 and beyond. But Kinney, though right-handed, has played more Opposite than Leftside during her high school and club career. If Wooker and Hanson are both healthy, this will leave scarce playing time for other Leftsides. In this scenario, the talented Kinney could easily become another option at Opposite.

MIDDLES: (play two)

#15, 6-5 Freshman from Houston, Jordan Taylor. Taylor has the length and the aggressiveness to dominate the net, and I will be disappointed if she does not achieve All Big Ten status at some point during her Gopher career. This honor may not come this year, as the transition from high school and club to the Big Ten can be tough. We’ve seen talented players struggle as freshmen. But I think Coach Cook will give Taylor the chance to play through a few mistakes.

#20, 6-3 Grad-Transfer (Purdue) originally from Ohio, Lourdes Myers. Myers has probably played more sets in Big Ten competition than anyone on the Gophers’ ‘25 roster, and this type of experience can be very valuable. I think this gives Myers the edge over Minatee

 #8, 6-1 Jr from Kansas City, Calissa Minatee. Minatee is under-sized, and she was inconsistent last year. But inconsistent means flashes of brilliance, and finished the season strong. Minatee is the Gopher’s lone incumbent at this position, and she could rank higher on Coach Cook’s depth chart than she does on mine.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR ON MONDAY

• How much will Wooker play during the non-conference schedule? And how much will she resemble the 2023 Wooker?
• There is a strong likelihood that the addition of the freshmen Garr, Gilk and Kinney will give the Gophers a far better serve-receive and better overall  passing than we’ve seen in recent seasons. Will this show up immediately or will we need to be patient? And watch for that 3-Libero rotation – likely when Garr comes in to serve for Wooker.
• I also expect to see more offensive production from our Middles, not just because of different personnel at Middle, but because Stella is quicker and smoother than Shaffmaster, creating more opportunity for our Middles.
• It would be a lot to expect a freshman, even a red-shirt freshman, to demonstrate the leadership we saw from Shaffmaster these past two seasons. But this is Stella’s Team now. How long will it take before she demonstrates the leadership we’ll need?
• Keep your eye on the explosive freshman Taylor Jordan.

SAMEDY BUSY

Why was Steph Samedy a no-show for last Saturday’s Gopher Alumni Match? Maybe because she has made the U.S. Women’s National Team for the 2025 FIVB World Championships starting tomorrow in Thailand. Samedy is one of two Opposites on a 14 woman team including 3 members of last year’s U.S. Olympic Team. Which I interpret this as a hint that Samedy will be a member of the ‘28 Olympic Team.

To be clear, our #11 Ranked 2025 Gophers swept our Gopher Alumni squad in 4 straight sets. I was expecting it to be closer, but I was also expecting current U.S. National Team member Steph Sammedy and current Puerto Rican National Team member Dali Santana to play. Which they did not. Hannah Tapp was dressed for the Alumni, and looked as fit as ever, but played sparingly. Samantha Seliger-Swenson-??? was on the Alumni bench, in sweats, apparently about 8 months pregnant.

In fairness to the Alumni, they came back from losing Set 1 and getting crushed in Set 2 to play the ‘25ers close in Sets 3 & 4. Looking good for the Alumni squad were Leftsides Sara Wilhite and Alexi Hart, Middle Tori Dixon (a bit heavier than I recall), Libero Dalialisa ?? and Setter Kelly Bowman. Other Gopher Alumni played with spirit and the squad was augmented with two “ringers” from the Puerto Rican National Team. 

QUESTIONS AND MORE QUESTIONS

But only 9 days from the opening match of the ‘25 season, vs #9 Ranked Texas A & M, winning this historic exhibition was less important than gaining insight into the lineup choices Coach Cook has made – and still needs to ponder.

MIDDLE: 

• Incoming True Freshman Jordan Taylor is the Real Deal! Fresh off leading the U.S. U-19 team to a Silver Medal at the World Games, she was absolutely the dominate player in today’s match. Consistently aggressive when on the court, Taylor will definitely be one of our 2 starters.
• Transfer (from Purdue) Lourdes Myers started the match and played well. Watching this, I was thinking that Myers would be our other Middle, but then
• Calissa Minatee, the lone “returner” of the trio, also played well.
• This could be the first season since the Tapp Sisters that we feel good about two Middles.

SETTERS: 

• Red-shirt Freshman Stella Swenson is also the Real Deal! It’s too early to say if she will be as good as Samantha, but I think there’s a chance.
• Transfer back-up Georgia Lee played half of one set and looked better than she did during the Spring Exhibitions. Tough to recruit a strong player to sit on the bench and wait for Stella to get hurt, Lee is probably as good as we could expect.
• If it were me creating a Plan B, I’d think about a 6-2 using Lee and one of our 3 Liberos.

LIBEROS:

• No question that Zeyneb Palabyik will at least start the season as the starter, with
• The Junior Kate Thibault and true Freshman Mckenna Garr as D.S.s. (We may have reached our legal limit on McKennas on one team.)
• Also no question that we will sometimes see all three on the court at the same time. 

OPPOSITE:

• Fifth year senior Lauren Crowl rode the bench for two years behind Steph Samedy, and two more years behind Lydia Grote. Crowl is a good volleyball player, capable of hitting, blocking, serving, and even the occasional dig, but she’s no Samedy and no Grote. Will this be her year? She played the first three sets this afternoon and looked good. Not Samedy/Grote GREAT, but Good. I feel certain that Crowl will be our starting Opposite in 9 days vs Texas A & M, and if she plays consistently as well as she did today, she will remain our Opposite through the season. There are options if Crowl does not deliver, and one of them is 
• True Freshman Carly Gilk. What I saw today was what I saw during this past Springs exhibition season: Gilk seems less effective than Crowl at blocking, about equal to Crowl at hitting, and better than Crowl at passing.

LEFT-SIDES:

• Senior Julia Hanson was All Big Ten last year, and was named Pre-Season All Big Ten going into this season. There is no question that Hanson, our only legitimate back-row attacker, will be one of our two starting left-sides again this year. 
• After that, I have no clue who will get the most playing time at left-side this season.
• Red-shirt Sophomore Alex Acevedo finished last season as a starting Left-Side, and she started and played the first two sets today, suggesting, perhaps, that Coach Cook sees her as our other starter. But she was inconsistent last year, and did not impress me today. She serves well, but she is a mediocre hitter (reader R.A. disagrees) and was less than mediocre at serve-receive. Even if she hits well enough to play a lot of front row, I cannot see her being a regular part of our serve-receive this year.
• The Wooker is back! Well, sorta. Two years ago, she was outstanding. Last year she was injured most of the season. She was great early last season – before the back injury. She didn’t help us sitting on the bench in sweats, and when she played, she wasn’t full-throttle. Today, she warmed up as if to play, but sat the first two sets. She played Set 3, but then sat again in Set 4. I thought she looked great, not vintage Wooker maybe, but better than Acevedo. The brief appearance, however, tells me she isn’t quite healthy.
• And the mix also includes the highly-rated True Freshman Kelly Kinney. Kinney was also a U-19 team Silver Medalist last month, where she contributed some, but not nearly as much as Taylor did. There is also the question of her best position. Though right-handed, she has played Opposite most of her career so far, and played as much Opposite as Left-side on the U-19s. But today, she played Left-side, and looked great in both of the sets she played. Kinney hit well, she blocked well, she served great, even better than Acevedo, and she is terrific on serve receive. We can’t deploy 3 Liberos in every rotation, and I think Kinney is probably the best receiver of all the hitters on the squad. Gilk is pretty good, Hanson, Wooker and Crowl have all improved from their freshman seasons, but I could see Kinney receiving her way into a six-rotation role by season’s end. That could be as our #2 Left-side because Wooker is not 100%, or maybe she ends up at Opposite instead of Crowl? I could be wrong, but I think Coach Cook played her at Left-side today knowing that Wooker may not be ready when the season starts, and he doesn’t trust Acevedo. If Wooker is healthy, Kinney might end up taking Crowl’s job.

Reader R.A,. weighs in: Gophs were nearly perfect against skilled alumni team.

Defense may have been the finest feature keeping play alive (Z and Katie, most memorably) — remarkable saves, including many last-second pancakes on good shots by alums, plus nearly flawless serve-receive and solid back row play by all, previously a problem. Serving was a new strength, several players having improved technique to deliver balls that dropped quickly, generating more aces than I recall in any prior matches. Few serving errors. Middles wowed with powerful slides, iron-curtain blocks, and kills that mostly dropped inside 10-foot line or hit the opponent. Hanson, Acevedo and Crowl were all very strong at the posts. The Wooker also did very well in what was surprisingly limited play ???

Stella lived up to early hype, both with spot-on sets and several quick kills like Melani delivered. I was especially impressed by one set as she fell off the side at the net and delivered a ball ALL THE WAY to the opposite sideline for an easy kill just above the net! I had wondered about preseason #11 ranking. Not anymore. Every indication ours is a very solid team with many good players. I was wowed.

Reader G.H. was shocked to see the Gophers at #11 in the pre-season poll. But I’m not. We’ll miss Shaffmaster’s leadership and we’ll miss Grote’s great Opposite play. But if Hanson plays like she did last year, if  Wooker is healthy, and if our serve-recieve and setting is as good as I think it will be, this squad should definitely be better than last year’s 13 & 7 in the Big Ten. And at least a Sweet Sixteen team.

HOW ‘BOUT THOSE LYNX?

They have one legitimate superstar – who hasn’t played in several games – and they’re crushing the WNBA. I don’t want to take anything away from the outstanding play of this collection of nobody-else-wanted-ems, but coaching has got to be part of it.

The USA Girl’s U19 Team, coached by Keegan Cook, and featuring incoming Gopher Freshmen Jordan Taylor and Kelly Kinney, fell just short of winning the World’s Championship, earlier this month, to a strong Bulgarian Squad. Recorded matches were (are) available (free) on YouTube, and curious to see how Taylor and Kinney would fare against the best in the world, I watched some of the Pool Play, and all of the Semi-finals and Gold Medal Match.

During Pool Play, Coach Cook made sure that all twelve players on the U.S. Roster saw action, and in various combinations, so it was tough, only watching some of it, to know who the best players were. Taylor looked good – but not as good as another Middle, Penn State recruit Gabby Nichols. Kinney played all six rotations when she played, hitting mostly at Opposite. And looked okay.

The U.S. lost a 5-setter to Poland in Pool Play, but, presumably using their strongest lineup, swept the Poles 25-14, 25-18, and 25-19, in the Medal Round Semis. Taylor and Nichols played the entire match. They’re Middles, so of course they were replaced by the Libero when in the back row – but both served, the Libero never did. (A hint that Cook trusts Taylor’s serve.) I thought Nichols out-performed Taylor, but Taylor played well, with at least 5 kills and at least 4 blocks in the 3-set match. I was impressed.

Taylor and Nichols played most of the Gold Medal Match as well. Taylor scored a block and a kill to earn 2 of the USA’s first 3 points, and then served 3 points to give the US an early 6-2 lead. (I think Taylor probably served more points in these two matches than anyone on the US Team; nary an ace that I recall, but no lollipops either.) The teams mostly traded sideouts from there to a 25-21 first-set victory for the US. 

Things went sour for the US in Set 2, a 16-25 loss, and in Set 3, a 17-25 loss. Coach Cook tried various substitutions (see below), but couldn’t stop the bleeding, especially the poor serve-receive. (Or was it great Bulgarian serving?) I felt that Taylor had played well through 3 sets, but had again been out-performed by Nichols. But Cook apparently felt differently, because to start Set 4, he benched Nichols and used the USA’s third Middle, Pittsburgh recruit Abbey Emch (who played well) keeping Taylor in the lineup. It helped, but not enough, and the US lost a tough 27-29 Set 4. For the 4-set match, I had Taylor with at least 7 kills and at least 4 blocks. That’s a total of at least 12 kills and at least 8 blocks, in 7 sets, against the best U19 girls in the world.

Kinney was less impressive. She did not play at all in the sweep over Poland, nor in the winning Set 1 versus Bulgaria. Kinney was subbed in when we fell behind in Sets 2 & 3; she didn’t make things worse, but she wasn’t the solution either. Kinney started Set 4, was subbed out for a while, then subbed back in, eventually committing a hitting error at 27-27. Overall, Kinney played about one and a half of the four sets. I only credited her with one kill, and I know she had more than one error. I felt like Cook was subbing Kinney in more for her serve-receive than for her hitting.

Kinney was reportedly a higher-ranked recruit than Taylor, and maybe we will come to love Kinney. But I think that Taylor will help the Gophers more this upcoming season than Kinney will.

EXCITING EXPOSITION

The Gopher’s 2025 Season (official) Opener is against a strong Texas A & M team in Sioux Falls on August 25. But D1 teams are allowed one exhibition before that, and this year’s  FREE Exhibition Match at the PAV, 3:00 pm on Sat, Aug 16, might be the most fun exhibition we’ve ever seen, as the Gophs’ opponent will be a team of Gopher Alumni. Which Alumni you ask?

Nobody much, only:                                                                                                                                                           * Five-time All-American, Two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, and current member of the U.S. National Team, Steph Samedy.                                                                                                                          * All-American and National Player of the Year, Sarah Wilhite.                                                                  * Three-time All-American and former member of the U.S. National Team, Tori Dixon.                * Two-time All-American and former member of the U.S. National Team, Hannah Tapp.             * Two-Time All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year, Daly Santana.                                             * Four-time All-American, Lexi Hart.     

  * All-American, Katherine Harms.                                                                                                                             Plus Dali Rosado, Rachel Kilkelly, Ellie Husemann and, at Setter: Elise McGhie.

An impressive lineup. My guess is that the 2025 Gophs will have an advantage at setter, and another advantage in that they’ve been practicing together,. ut they will have their hands full with this Alumni Squad.

HANSON & WOOKER PRESEASON ALL BIG TEN

This sounds like Wooker is 100% healthy. I sure hope so.

NEBRASKA SOLD OUT

The Cornhuskers November 8th visit to the PAV sold out almost immediately. (See GopherVBallRocks Reader Rick Allen if you want a pair of nosebleed seats.)

2026 RECRUITS

The Gophers have received early (non-binding?) commitments from two Minnesota Girls headed into their senior year of H.S.:                                                                                                                        * Elena Hoecke, a 6-3 Middle from Maple Grove, &                                                                                          * Madeline Kraft, a libero, from Eagan. 

SEND MONEY

GopherVBallRocks is a non-commercial blog. I pay for my own Gopher tickets, my own parking, and my subscriptions to BTN & BTN Plus. I take no pay for writing this blog. However, the blog-hosting does cost money, and I recently renewed it so that I can continue to blog about our amazing Gophers. Two years ago, some GopherVBallRocks readers generously contributed to this expense. If you are a regular reader and would like to contribute to the recent renewal, please send a check to John Trepp at 1610 E. Minnehaha Pkwy, Mpls, MN, 55407. And thank you.

The USA, including Taylor and Kinney, won a tough first pool-play match vs Spain. Highlights of this and all matches played are available (for free) at    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX9b4LfyhBE

They seem to show the first and last point of every set, plus maybe a dozen points during each set, but they show a point, skip 5 or 6, then show another point, and there is no English play-by-play, so I found it difficult to get a feel for the flow of the set, who was effective or not, or even to understand who is on the court and where. 

Jordan Taylor, #3, and Kelly Kinney, #11, both got playing time versus Spain. Taylor, playing Middle, got at least a couple of slide-kills. I saw Kinney playing Left-side and receiving serve, but didn’t see her do anything dramatic. But I only saw about 20% of the points, so who knows?

The USA girls will play Peru later today (I’m confused by the time-change). There might be a way to stream these matches live – might cost something.

This summer’s USA Girls U19 Team, the reigning world champions, who will attempt to defend their title next month in Croatia and Serbia, will be of special interest to GopherVBallRocks readers. The team will be coached by Keegan Cook and the roster will include two incoming Gopher Freshmen, Outside Hitter/Opposite Kelly Kinney, who was on last year’s World Championship Team, and Middle Jordan Taylor. We had a peek at Taylor during the recent Spring Exhibition Season (I liked what I saw), but Kinney hasn’t worn Maroon & Gold yet. I don’t know if any of the World Championship matches will be televised, but I’m dying to see her play. 

The 6-5 Taylor will be competing for playing time (they’ll play two each set) with a pair of 6-3 Middles, one headed for Pittsburgh and one for Penn State. None of the three were on last year’s World Championship Team. And Kinney’s competition for playing time at Opposite (unlikely to play more than one per set) is a girl* headed for Texas, who, like Kinney, was on last year’s Team. (* I’m using “girl” here, rather than “woman,” because it’s the “Girls U19 Team.”)

I remain confused about what position Kinney will play come fall. Her highlight film shows her hitting from Rightside and Leftside for her Club and H.S. teams. Kinney hits right-handed, suggesting that Leftside is her natural position – but then so was Samedy, and the USA U19 roster, with 4 Leftsides and 2 Opposites, including Kinney, strongly suggests she will be playing Opposite at the World’s. The ‘25 Gophs seem deeper at Opposite, where we have the capable 5th-year Senior Crowl, and the very promising freshman Carly Gilk (both left-handed) competing for one spot. Versus two Leftside spots, where we have the outstanding Julia Hanson and … question marks. We know that The Wooker is capable of being a dominant Leftside, but she was injured last fall, and spent the Spring Exhibition Season on the bench wearing sweats. And Acevedo, though occasionally effective, has yet to prove capable of consistent excellence. I had convinced myself that Kinney would be playing Leftside next fall, but now I’m not so sure.

SAMEDY NAMED TO U.S. NATIONAL TEAM

Former Gopher and four-time First Team All-American Opposite Steph Samedy was one of the 30 players chosen for the U.S. Women’s National Team, from which 14 players will be selected to represent the U.S. in various tournaments, including the 2025 Volleyball Nations League (VNL), the world’s premier annual international tournament. Preliminary rounds of the VNL will be held in various countries, including the U.S., in June and July, with the finals in Łódź, Poland, in late July.

The 30-woman roster includes 3 players returning from our Silver Medalist 2024 Olympic Team – but neither of the Olympic Opposites. Besides Samedy, the 2025 roster includes Olivia Babcock and Taylor Mims, both of whom, like Samedy, were Opposites on last year’s 30-woman National Team roster, but not among the 14 chosen for the Olympics, plus new opposite Logan Lednicky. I don’t know much about Babcock, Mims or Lednicky, but I like Samedy’s chances of making the cut for the VNL.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

The Gophers 2025 Non-Conference Schedule, below, was recently announced. This year’s schedule is less intimidating than last year’s schedule, when the Gophs opened with #1-rated Texas and #4-rated Stanford, but it does include 3 teams, Texas A&M, Dayton & Marquette, ranked 16, 17 and 21, respectfully, at the end of last season (the Gophs finished 18), plus South Dakota State who kicked the Gophers’ butts in a recent Spring Exhibition Match.

Mon. Aug, 25.: No. 18 Minnesota vs. No. 16 Texas A&M in Sioux Falls, S.D. 

Friday, Aug. 29: Cal Poly @ the Pav

Saturday, Aug. 30: Ball State @ the Pav.

Sunday, Aug. 31: St. Thomas @ the Pav

Friday, Sept. 5: at Vanderbilt 

Saturday, Sept. 6: at Lipscomb 

Friday, Sept. 12: South Florida @ the Pav

Saturday, Sept. 13: No. 17 Dayton @ the Pav

Sunday, Sept. 14: South Dakota State @ the Pav

Friday, Sept. 19: at Loyola Chicago, and

Sunday, Sept. 21: at No. 21 Marquette

READERS WRITE 

* Reader C.B. writes to speculate that the “progress” of Schnichels, and now her departure, is Coach Cook’s fault.

* Plus multiple “you go girl”s for Maureen’s photo-bombing.

In 2022, Sydney Schnichels, a 6-foot-4 Opposite from Wilmar was First Team All-American, Ms Minnesota Volleyball, the No. 1 overall recruit in Minnesota, was ranked # 20 overall nationally, in the 2023 class, and I was excited about her future as a Gopher. She didn’t play much these past two seasons, but she was stuck behind Lydia Grote, and I remained optimistic that Schnichels would excel during her 3rd season in Maroon & Gold – much as Julie Hanson, the 2021 Ms Minnesota Volleyball did last year.

But there was no sign of Schnichels impending stardom this during the recent Spring Exhibition Season, and I had speculated that Schnichels would actually end up our third-string Opposite, behind Crowl and incoming freshman Carl Gilk. Apparently, Schnichels read the tea-leaves the same way I did, because last Tuesday’s Strib reported that Schnichels had “Entered The Portal.” I wish Schnichels luck, wherever she ends up, but it does not appear that she will ever fulfill the dreams I had for her.

STELLA NEWS

Another former Ms. Minnesota Volleyball player who I have promised you’ll love is Gopher Setter Stella Swenson. Stella was recently selected for this summer’s U21 Pan American Team. The team will practice at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, in preparation for the Pan American Games in Costa Rica. Stella was one of two Setters selected for this team, but Reader R.A. assures me that Stella will be the starter.

MAUREEN AT IT AGAIN

I previously shared a photo (below) of Maureen and 4 Gophers from last summer’s State Fair. Recently, Maureen spotted Leftside Alex Acevedo at the MSP Airport and demanded a pic (also below) with her. (Remember, Maureen is 5ft 8) Acevedo was on her way to visit her parents as we were on our way to Portugal. If I had been thinking faster, I would have inquired if Acevedo is a Portuguese name; if you don’t speak Portuguese, as I certainly don’t, it sounds a lot like the Portuguese word for “Thank you.”

Last Saturday, in Brookings, our Gophers not only lost a pair of 3-set matches, to South Dakota State and Creighton, and they did not, in my opinion, look very good – and I would hate to have that taste in my mouth for the next 4 ½ months. (Technically, the Gophs finish their Spring Season two weeks from today out west, but I won’t be there.) Fortunately, for my state of mind at least, they looked significantly better this afternoon at the Pav, sweeping 4 sets from St. Thomas, 25-12, 25-23, 25-13 & 25-23.

There were two obvious differences. First, St Thomas isn’t as good as SDSU or Creighton. Creighton is a powerhouse, certainly top-20 nationally, maybe better; and SDSU, though a Summit League Team as is St Thomas, went 15 & 1 in the Summit last fall; St Thomas went 10 & 6. Though I certainly hope that we would beat SDSU and be competitive with Creighton if we play them next fall.

Second, Julie Hanson. Hanson, who didn’t play at all last week (I still don’t know why) was far and away the dominant player in today’s match. With a brief opportunity to speak to Hanson after the match, I said, “Missed you last week.” Her response was a forlorn nod of agreement; which didn’t reveal much.

Last week’s Leftsides were a steady diet of Acevedo plus a mix of Gilk and Crowl, both playing out of position. Today we got 4 sets worth of Hanson, plus a mix of Acevedo, Gilk and a little Crowl. And Hanson wasted little time announcing her return to the line-up, with 4 thunderous kills in the first 8 points of the match. Hanson plays at a whole different level than Acevedo.

I also had a brief exchange with Wooker, once again present in sweats. “Are you recovering from surgery,” I asked. Her response was, “I’m recovering,” which might have been a “yes,” or I’m recovering but haven’t had surgery. Plus an encouraging nod. [If I was an accredited reporter representing a major media outlet, I’d be pushier. But I’m not and it seems a little intrusive. I wish her the best.]

I think the Gophs can be really good next year with Hanson plus a 100% healthy Wooker and/or a Kinney who arrives on campus ready to compete at a high-level. I am, I’m sorry to say, not feeling great about our chances with Acevedo in the starting lineup.

And then there’s the competition for next fall’s starting Opposite. A month ago, I wrote that this might be a 3-woman competition including Schnickels, but nothing I’ve seen this Spring makes me think that Schnickels is a serious contender. Last week I wrote that, although the 5th-year Senior Crowl will probably start the first match of the season, I expected the Freshman Gilk to be the starter by the end of the season. But today, vs St. Thomas, Crowl was clearly more effective than Gilk. Then again, more than half of Gilk’s swings came from Leftside, clearly not her position.

HOW GOOD IS STELLA?

Two years ago, when it was confirmed that Stella would be wearing Maroon & Gold, I told you that you would come to love Stella. And I still believe that. But Stella being ready to dominate the Big Ten in her Red-shirt Freshman season is a different question. Playing last week without a dominant Leftside, and today with only one, I can’t tell for sure. One thing I feel confident about is that we will see more Middle-Offense from this fall’s Gophers. P.S., no sign of the leg injury from last week.

3 LIBEROS AT A TIME?

Once again, in today’s Set 1, we got a glimpse of what the Gophers could look like with 3 Liberos the court at the same time (technically, 1 Libero, Palabiyik, and 2 Defensive Specialists, Thibault and Garr) — in Set 1, no less – the Set where both teams were playing their first-string, and which the Gophs dominated, 25-12. With Palabiyik and Thibault both Juniors next fall, Coach Cook  could decide to red-shirt the Freshman Garr. He could have Thibault and Garr compete for one starting DS position (I continue to have reservations about Thibault’s serve-receive). Or, despite potential concerns about substitution-limits, he might really play all 3 at once. If he does, opponents will no longer get rich dinking on our Gophers.

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?

I saw something else new today, something I’ve never seen before. Volleyball Matches are always set up with chairs for the entire “bench,” the 10 or so players not currently on the floor. But no one ever uses these chairs because it is a volleyball-tradition that subs remain standing. Maybe there’s some sort of “science” to this, but subs in other sports sit down, so …? Anyway, coaches and trainers sit, injured players sit, and often players leaving the court sit next to a coach temporarily to get instructions on something, before joining the standing subs. But there is always a row of empty seats between seated coaches and standing subs. Until today!

Today, these seats were filled with fans. And not just any fans. At least some of them I recognized as folks who normally sit courtside. I don’t think that courtside seats are as good a vantage point for watching a match as the seats in rows 10 to 15, but I understand that courtside seats are considerably more expensive. And during today’s Exhibition Match, some of these “high-rollers” were seated “on the bench” between coaches and standing subs. And at times, even as the play went on, coaches, including Head Coach Cook were chatting with them!

There was no explanation, but I have a hunch, and it rhymes with pill. I’m guessing it has something to do with N.I.L. money. As Dylan famously said, “The times, they are a changin’.”

I was torn between two headlines for today’s double-header of matches vs South Dakota State and Creighton. 

“EXHIBITION EMBARRASSMENT” works to describe the Gophers losing both matches. I don’t mean to suggest that either of these teams were weaklings. SDSU, who beat us 25-18, 22-25 & 20-25 was last year’s Summit League Champ, and a NCAA Tournament Team. And Creighton, who beat us 18-25, 23-25 & 25-23 was the Big East Champ and an Elite Eight Team. Plus these were 3-sets-regardless exhibitions.

But I’m not accustomed to watching the Gophs demonstrate this level of futility. We dug great, we blocked well, and we served decent. But you can’t win a volleyball match without a little offense. And you can’t generate offense without Outside Hitters. Which is where ANYONE KNOW A LEFTSIDE HITTER? fits.

These matches didn’t count. The next match that will count isn’t until late August, at which time  our Gophers will have, hopefully, have 3 potentially-powerful Leftsides competing for the 2 available positions, and maybe a powerful Opposite and at least one effective Middle besides. We had none of these today. 

* Last year’s best player was First Team All Big Ten Leftside Julie Hanson. Hanson was in attendance today, and warmed up prior to both matches — but never played! No explanation provided.

* The Wooker, when healthy, has previously demonstrated the ability to dominate a D-1 Match. Wooker was in attendance — in street clothes! As she was last week. Wooker had back problems last fall, causing her to miss all of some matches and parts of others. I am hoping that she has had surgery on her back and is recovering. 

* And the highly-rated Kelly Kinney is still in High School; obviously, she wasn’t there.

In their place, we used Acevedo (all 6 sets) and mostly Gilk (4 sets), sometimes Crowl (2 sets) at Leftside, and mostly Crowl, sometimes Schnickels at opposite. These 4 “hitters” played hard and generated a kill now and then, Acevedo probably the most. But I feel certain that if I had access to real stats, the collective hitting percentage of these 4 would be a negative number, i.e., more errors that kills. 

Acevedo, who I think had the majority of kills, also had a ton of errors, mostly wide or long. Crowl, who had a good day blocking, had very few kills and about an equal number of errors. The Freshman Gilk, a left-handed Opposite, and perhaps our starting Opposite by the time we reach the Big Ten Season, looks like a fish-out-of-water at Leftside. And Schnickels, Minnesota’s Ms Volleyball of 2022, has simply not developed into the player I had hoped.

Our Middles blocked well, but provided little offense. Minatee and Myers played the first set of each match and were okay. Myers and Taylor played the second set of each match, and were no better. And Engeman played in both the third sets and was worse. I remain confident that our improved passing and setting will eventually lead to more Middle-Offense, but it wasn’t obvious today. 

To add to our misery, Stella pulled a muscle, or cramped up, or something, but stayed in the game. Coach Cook did not seem tempted to put Georgia Lee in, and after her brutal performance last week, I can’t say I blame him. [Stella & Olivia’s mom was there, as she often is, and the younger sister who will be a senior at Wayzata next fall. And also Samantha! with what appeared to be a 3 year-old son.]

Maybe South Dakota State and Creighton were also deep into their bench? Not being super-familiar with either team, I couldn’t say. The Creighton players weren’t even wearing numbers.

The one highlight of the day was our digging. In addition to our having Junior Libero Palabiyik and our Junior D.S. Thibault both back from last year, we have a third Libero in the Freshman Garr, and Cook isn’t afraid to put all three of them in the back row at the same time. Thibault struggled with her serve-recieve a bit (based on the small sample I’ve seen, I’d put Garr ahead of Thibault ), but all three can really dig. Big Ten Teams will quickly learn not to waste their time dinking on this line-up. I mentioned last week that playing a Libero and two D.S.es puts a strain on the team’s subs-per-set limit; I will be interested to see if Cook is serious about this tactic.

At the end of the day, one key to a successful 2025 season will be getting at least two of Hanson, Wooker and Kelley healthy and playing well. If we can do that, I think everything else could come together.

NEXT UP: St. Thomas at the Pav, next Sat, April 12, 3:00 – FREE!