NDSU has, in the past, provided solid competition for the Gophs, and I thought that the Fighting Whatevers, coming off a 5-set win over West Virginia, might also. But Set 1: UND was respectable up to 10-10, but then the wheels fell off and it was 16-11, 22-14, and 25-16. Set 2: Tied 6-6 it was quickly 14-7, 19-8 and 25-9. Set 3: 4-4 turned into 11-5, 19-8 and 25-13; set and match. Ugly.
UND’s passing and setting didn’t seem too bad, but their hitters couldn’t get a ball over the net. St. Thomas is also in this tournament, and two of the Tommy coaches were sitting nearby, and between sets 2 & 3 of the Gopher-UND match, I mentioned my disdain for UND. The Tommy coach’s response was, “MN will do that to a hitter. They block like demons, and if you manage to get a ball past their block, they dig it up like it was a free ball. Pretty soon, the opposing hitters are trying to do things they’ve never done before, and end up looking foolish.” Maybe.
Miscellaneous notes:
Wooker was present, but not dressed. I don’t know why.
The Gophs subbed freely in Set 3, using Crowl, McGhie, Schnickels, Gray and Ng. (Hanson and Acevedo played the whole way, because we don’t have a fourth Leftside.)
Overall, the Gophs had 7 Aces and 8 Service Errors, which sounds good – except that Ng had 3 of the Aces and Crowl had 2; the starters had 2 Aces and 8 Service Errors; not good.
Palabiyik continues to impress; she’s everywhere.
Olivia Swenson continues to disappoint. She’s red-shirting and can’t play, but she warms up with the team, and stands out as not belonging. I can’t see her as a Big Ten player.
Set 1: The Gophers looked like a Big Ten / Top 25 Team playing a Horizon League squad. UWGB had no defense for Julia Hanson, and even Owoleye was getting kills. The Gophs led 9-2 on strong serving by Acevedo, later 16-7, and coasted to a 25-16 win.
Set 2: The Gophers looked like a Horizon League squad. The Gophs played most of their starters, except for Engeman in place of Owoleye for the whole set, and Crowl for Grote halfway through. Engeman looked terrible, and Crowl looked like Crowl, i.e., she gets great swings, hits the ball hard, but never gets a kill. The Gophs trailed 8-10, were tied 16-16, before finally prevailing 25-21.
Set 3: Owoleye and Grote were back in, but Acevedo was in for Wooker — and was ineffective (except for strong serving). The Gophs started strong, leading 9-2, but fell behind 12-14 and 15-17, before a nice run (with Hanson serving) put the Gophs ahead 20-17, eventually winning 25-20.
I think there are at least two explanations for the relatively poor showing in Sets 2 & 3: 1) The Gopher bench isn’t real strong; and 2) Volleyball teams have trouble maintaining their intensity when they feel they are superior to their opponents.
Some things we never see at the Pav:
During Set 1, Gopher servers frequently rejected balls they were handed to serve, and between sets, the Down Ref tested — and added to more air to the problematic balls.
The Phoenix Swim Team about 30 young men, filled the bleachers at one end of the court, the end behind the Gophs during Set 1, mostly wearing bib-overalls (a few in jeans and Ts), cheering for their team. As Set 2 began, with the Gophs now facing these handsome boys (behind the Phoenix V-Ballers), the Swimmers stripped off their clothing except for their speedos, presumably intended to distract the Gopher Women (perhaps a third reason for poor play), and then
In Set 3, produced an electric razor and began to shave each others bodies (a not-uncommon practice among competitive swimmers). In doing this (for reasons I cannot explain), they either unplugged the scoreboard, or blew the fuse, because the scoreboard went dead and was unusable for the rest of the match.
Those who know me well, know that I never travel without a speedo, and of course I was tempted to join them — but my speedo was in the car.
In addition to productive matches (vs a Horizon League squad) from Hanson (11 kills), Owoleye (7 kills in 9 swings) and Minatee (5 kills and 5 blocks), I was very impressed by Palabiyik – not only her 20 first-touch digs (maybe what you expect from your Libero in a 132-point match), but also her frequent second touch saves, many resulting in decent sets.
A week ago, the Gophs were 1 & 3, with all 4 matches in 5 sets (so we were 9 & 11 in sets, and each 5th set by 2 points). Now we’re 4 & 3, (9 & 0 this week). Obviously, St. Thomas isn’t a v-ball power (yet), and Long Island was terrible, but Auburn who walked into the Pav with a 6 & 0 record, including a 4-set win over Florida St (who is supposed to be good), and walked out humiliated, after a 25-21, 25-22, 25-16 Gopher victory. And it wasn’t as close as the scores make it sound.
Set 1 was tight. After an early 7-4 Gopher lead, the Tigers pulled ahead 7-8 on strong serving/poor receiving (more about this below). At 12-12, Hanson got hot, pushing the Gophs to 16-12, but Auburn pulled back to within one at 16-15, and it was not clear to me that the Gophs would prevail. But we pulled back ahead at 21-16, and traded side-outs for the win.
The Tigers came out strong in Set 2, 0-5 on the strength of their back-row hitter. But after a timeout, we finally got a side-out on a strong kill by Hanson. And a 7-point serving-run by Alex “ACE” Acevedo put the Gophs back in front at 8-7. Then, surprisingly, Auburn stopped looking like a D-1 team, and the Gophs were 17-11. The teams traded side-outs for a while to reach 24-18. Then, with the set seemingly inn the bag, we rotated to our one weak rotation (more about this below), squandering 4 straight set-points.
Auburn seemed overwhelmed in Set 3. The Gophers led 4-0, 12-1, and 17-4 before getting complacent. The Tigers got to 22-16, but no closer. In each of the 3 sets, set point came on an unforced Auburn error. (Where was that generosity when we had match-point vs TCU?) All in all, the Gophs beat the Tigers, representing the Mighty SEC, by a composite score of 75-57 – the exact same score we beat poor little St. Thomas by.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Reader RA, who did submit his notes on the St. Thomas match, but just seconds too late to make the blog-post, noted that Acevedo had individual serving runs of 5 points, 6 points and 7 points, with 4 aces for the match (vs 1 service error).
I’d like to add that this rotation has Wooker (7 kills for the match) and Minatee (also 7 kills) both on the bench, with a front row of Owoleye (zero kills), Shaffmaster (who is supposed to be setting) and Hanson (Shaffmaster’s only real option, should NOT be a strong rotation for us.
But (RA again) in addition to Acevedo’s 4 aces, she had a lot of near-aces, keeping the Tigers out-of-system.
I’d add that Hanson, our only real hitter in this rotation, who led the match with 12 kills, and Shaffmaster, who finally (in her 5th season as the Gopher Setter) is finding her attack-mode, contributed to Acevedo’s service-runs.
I am so impressed by Stella Swenson that I spent the off-season wondering what role Shaffmaster would play during the ‘24 season. Shame on me. Shaffmaster has gotten better each season to the next; why didn’t I expect this trend to continue. Shaffmaster is the reason this team is going to be better than I thought they would be.
And this team digs like no previous Gopher team in memory. CC McGraw was a very good Libero (when completely healthy) and Wenaas was an excellent passer, and someone else on that team would make a nice dig once in a while. But the team I watched tonight digs your lips off! The whole team, Shaffmaster, Grote, Wooker, Hanson, Acevedo, Thibault and Palabiyik. These seven players recorded 80 digs in 3 sets, and half of them were spectacular. And I don’t think the official digs include some amazing “saves” made above their heads. I think there were individual points where the Gophers made 6 to 8 spectacular digs.
LOWLIGHTS:
We have one very scary half-rotation, when Shaffmaster has lost her serve and our front row includes Grote, Minatee and Hanson. This is exactly the half-rotation that cost us the Baylor and TCU matches (maybe the Stanford match?) A front row of Grote, Minatee and Hanson sounds strong (a lot stronger than Owoleye, Shaffmaster, and Hanson sounds), but it’s Grote hitting Leftside, Minatee hitting quicks, and Hanson hitting Rightside. Hanson, who is hitting great from the Left, and decent from back-row, has not yet become effective on the Right. And Minatee, who is looking great on slides, is not great on quicks, plus the Gophers prefer to run the slides when Shaffmaster is front row (it gets crowded), and Grote has been inconsistent, at best, from the Left. It seems illogical that Grote, who is right-handed, is so much less effective from the Left, but the great Steph Samedy was the same way. Our backrow, in this half-rotation, includes Shaffmaster, Palabiyik and Wooker; Shaffmaster is one of our best weapons, but it’s illegal for her to hit when she’s backrow, Palabiyik is 5 ft tall, and Wooker hasn’t recorded more than 3 or 4 backrow kills in either of her previous seasons. So we’re left with Grote’s inconsistent Leftside attack, and praying for a service-error from our opponents. [An option that occurs to me is to flip Wooker and Hanson in the lineup. Wooker isn’t any better than Hanson at Rightside, but at least we’d have back-row attacks by Hanson as an option. But Coach Cook probably won’t want to disrupt a lineup that’s clicking in the other 5 and one-half rotations. Long-run, Grote and/or Minatee and/or Hanson have to get better.
I said throughout the off-season that Cook had to find a strong Middle from the Portal; and he was unable to do this (I assume he tried). I thought Owoleye, a 5th-year senior was the stronger of our two returning Middles, but I was wrong. The Sophomore Minatee is okay, but Owoleye played all 3 sets and finished the evening with zero kills .The kills she has earned in previous matches are almost exclusively off quicks or over-passes; she can’t score a slide to save her life. – and that’s gonna kill us against stronger teams.
DILEMMA: There is also the dilemma of how to use Acevedo. She didn’t play front-row tonight; she served for Wooker and was immediately back on the bench when she lost her serve. Wooker struggles for consistency on serve-receive, but she’s doing it with Acevedo on the bench. Folks in Section 110 are wondering why?
NEXT UP: Three matches in three days in Green Bay to finish the non-conference schedule lLet’s plan to finish strong), UWGB on Thursday, North Dakota on Friday, and Chicago State (I think this was UI-Circle when I used to play them in Water Polo) on Saturday. The UWGB will be available on ESPN+, but I’m not sure if the Friday & Sat matches will be televised at all. Fortunately, Maureen and I will be there in person to cover these matches.
I hurried back into town and went straight from the airport to the Pav, maybe unnecessary. Gophs 25-17, 25-14, 25-16 over the LOng Island University Sharks
Set 1: We played the starters … no contest.
Set 2: Acevedo played the entire set replacing Hanson … no drop in performance en route to a 12-2 lead. But
When, as Shaffmaster rotated to front-row, we went to a 6-2, using McGhie at setter and Crowl at Opposite … we went 3-8 over the next 11 points …
But were again dominant when Shaffmaster and Grote returned.
Set 3: Stayed with Wooker & Acevedo at Leftside, but wholesale substitutions eslewhere:
> A 6-2 with McGhie and Ng as the setters.
> Schnickels and Crowl at Opposite
> Gray sharing Libero duties, and even
> Egeman in at Middle (for Owoleye?)
Didn’t seem to matter.
I was going to give cred to LIU’s Libero, who I thought was terrific and deserves a better team – but I can’t tell you her name, because no one who looks like her or wears her number is on the Sharks roster. A “Ringer?”
St. Thomas and LIU much lower-level competition than Stanford, Texas, Baylor and TCU, but tomorrow night at the Pav, we get Auburn, who comes in with a 6-0 record.
I was/am out of town and unable to attend or see tonight’s match vs the Tommies, but several very capable GopherVBallRocks sent in reports.
MT reports that the Gophs won 25-20, 25-16 & 25-21. The “regulars” started each set, but once a comfortable lead was established, subs including Acevedo, McGhie, Crowl, Schnickle and even Engeman got playing time. Grote and Hanson led the Gophs with 10 kills each, and Grote added 5 blocks.
R & SM report that Shaffmaster’s fingers (the fingers injured vs TCU) were taped up, but they didn’t seem to bother her much, but McGhie got roughly one-third of the sets. They didn’t think that Palabiyik or Crowl played especially well, but they liked what they saw from Acevedo.
TR reports that despite the sweep, the Tommies played well, especially their setter, and the crowd was treated to some very long and entertaining rallies. The Gophs prevailed based on superior height and balance – except for offense by our Middles. TR was especially impressed by Thibault’s digging. TR continues to insist that Gopher VBall is the “Best Show in Town.”
[Loyal reader RA, who has provided GopherVBallRocks with excellent coverage in the past, was unable to attend tonight’s match because, as one of the 12 “undecided” voters left in the country, RA had to watch the debate. Stuck in PA and unable to attend or watch the match, I watched the debate, and came away with a valuable tip for GopherVBallRocks readers: Keep Fido on the leash, or somebody gonna eat ‘im.]
For the fourth time in their four matches this season ( 5 of 5 if you count the exhibition vs Iowa State), the Gophers went 5 sets (you sure get your money’s worth with this team); and for the third time in four tries, we lost Set 5 by 2 points, TCU wins 21-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-21, 18-20. Composite score in today’s match: Gophs 113, TCU 113. Composite score in the Set 5s this season: Gophs 60, Stanford/Texas/Baylor/TCU 58. If one wanted to look for excuses, you could note that the Gophers were playing their fourth match (20 sets) in 7 days (all on the road vs tough opponents)), and second match (10 sets) in less than 24 hours. And they looked tired.
But we’re 1 & 3 to start the season. Not horrible given the competition, and likely, given the signature win over Texas, enough to keep the Gophs ranked in the top 25. The good news is that the schedule gets easier, with the next 6 matches, until the Big Ten Opener (against Wisconsin), vs teams we should beat. (Hopefully without going 5 sets in any of them.)
INDIVIDUALLY:
Hanson, who had 19 kills vs Texas and 16 vs Baylor, continued her hot run with 23 vs TCU. (Reader GH asks how much we miss Landfair. Not much so far. I’d say we miss Wenaas, and her passing, more.) Hanson is holding her own as a hitter.
But Grote, who had 15 kills vs Baylor, disappeared vs TCU. She finished with 4 kills (on 27 swings, .037), but only 1 in Set 1, was benched (maybe Coach Cook thought she was tired) in favor of Crowl (equally unproductive) for Set 2, came back for Set 3, but didn’t get her second kill until Set 4.
Wooker who was benched last night vs Baylor, played all 5 sets (but didn’t serve), looked benchable during Set 1 and most of Set 2, but came alive late in Set 2 and finished with 16 kills.
Curiously, Acevedo, who came off the bench to earn 12 kills vs Baylor, never saw the front row vs TCU. She served for Wooker (no aces, 3 service errors), but came back out immediately so that Wooker could play back row – is Acevedo an even weaker serve-receive than Wooker?
Palabiyik looked good again. Not perfect, but good; I like her.
Minatee, who had 11 kills and 4 blocks last night vs Baylor had 8 kills and 4 blocks today vs TCU; off a bit (tired maybe?), but decent.
Oloweye, who was terrible vs Baylor, had 4 kills and 2 blocks vs TCU, but one of her kills was off an overpass, so only 3 offensive-kills in 5 sets. Oloweye was a major weakness this weekend; the Gophers need more production from that position, but beats me where it could come from.
Shaffmaster, who works harder than anyone on the team, didn’t seem tired. I have described Shaffmaste as the squad’s best “clutch player,” and she had a bunch of kills in her first two matches vs Stanford & Texas, but didn’t attack much last night vs Baylor, or in today’s first two sets (1 kill, maybe?). But I think she got frustrated setting her unproductive hitters (except Hanson), and decided to put the team on her shoulders. And it was almost enough. She had 4 kills in Set 3 and 4 more in Set 4. One more in Set 5 gave her 10 for the match – and the first “triple-double of her career, 47 assists, 21 digs, and 10 kills. (She also had 4 blocks.)
Typically, 5-1 teams are significantly stronger in rotations in which their setter is in the back-row (giving them 3 front-row hitters). But today, especially in Sets 3 & 4, the Gophs had much greater success when Shaffmaster was front row (and especially with Elise McGhie serving – no aces, but several multi-point runs). I’ve been pleading withShaffmaster (on this blog, which she probably doesn’t read) to attack more; maybe this will be the turning point?
Unfortunately, Shaffmaster, who was carrying the team, jammed her fingers late in Set 5. (I think the score was 17-17.) I’ve jammed fingers playing V-ball, and it hurts like hell. Shaffmaster was in tears, got her fingers taped, and stayed in the match. But we lost 3 of the last 4 points – and the match. Hard to say if Shaffmaster’s injury made any difference in those last 3 points, but it didn’t help. Good thing we have an easier schedule this week.
All in all, a disappointing weekend. Here are some other things I find especially frustrating:
Back-row dinks by the Gophers, i.e., Hanson, Wooker and Grote – they never work!
Our difficulty handling free balls and over-passes – we ought to win 80 % of them (90% when we had the Tapp Sisters), but win barely 50%.
The Gophers giving our opponents free balls. I used to think Landfair was bad about this and Wooker was fearless, now Wooker does it – if your position is “hitter,” then hit!
Owoleye’s inability to hit a slide. She couldn’t do it last year, she can’t do it this year – and it’s painful to watch her try.
We have one really weak half-rotation – when we’re receiving with Grote at front-left and Hanson at front-right. Grote is mediocre at front-left and Hanson is less than mediocre at front-right. When we’re serving, they can switch across, but it’s so difficult during a receive that most teams, including the Gophers, don’t dare. The options include production from one of our Middles, or switching Wooker to front-right, and using Hanson as a back-row hitter, neither an easy fix.
BTW, if you are reluctant to buy the “tired” excuse for the Gophers to lose to TCU, consider this:
The Gophers played on short-rest, specifically 3 hours less than their opponent, TCU. We lost the first 2 sets, came back to win the next two, led halfway through Set 5, but faded at the end of the match;
Baylor played on short-rest, specifically 3 hours less than their opponent, Wisconsin. Baylor lost the first 2 sets, came back to win the next two, led halfway through Set 5, but faded at the end of the match. Coincidence?
NEXT UP: Another busy week, but at the Pav vs what should be easier opponents:
The Gophs opened the season with a 5-set loss to Stanford, in Milwaukee, losing Set 5 by 13-15. Then they beat Texas in 5 sets, also in Milwaukee, winning Set 5 by 15-7. And then tonight, they lost to Baylor, at Baylor, losing Set 5 by 14-16. (For the record, we’re 42 to 38 in fifth sets.) No shame in losing in 5 to Stanford, and no shame in losing to unbeaten Baylor, on their home court, either. And every match has been great volleyball.
It was , in several ways, an unusual match. Set-by-set, tonight’s score was 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 25-17, and 14-6, so, despite the close-as-it-gets match, two of the sets were lopsided . And sideouts were relatively rare, with both teams stringing significant runs. For example;
In Set 1, we were up 10-5, then down 16-18 and 20-22, before winning 25-22;
In Set 2, with Wooker stinking it up, we were down 1-8 right away;
In Set 3, we were up 19-16 before losing 21-25;
In Set 4, we were up 9-4 almost right away; and
In Set 5, we were down 4-10, but battled back to earn the first match point opportunity at 15-14.
The individual Gopher performances were even odder:
Two of our pins continued their strong play. I had Grote with 16 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces, and Hanson with 15 kills and 2 aces, but Wooker, who started the match (as she has for every match in her career), was benched halfway through Set 2, and replaced by freshman AlexAcevedo. Acevedo seemed not the answer in Sets 2 & 3, but got hot and sparked the lopsided Set 4 victory, finishing the match with 12 kills, playing only roughly 3 sets.
Minatee, who played well against Texas, continued her run with 11 kills and 4 blocks. But Owoleye was basically invisible; she played the entire match, yet I had her with one kill and one block.
Maybe Wooker and/or Owoleye were ill (Owoleye stayed in the game because we don’t really have a viable third middle). Or maybe not! I thought, going into the season, that Wooker was our #1 Leftside, Hanson the #2, and Acevedo strictly an emergency back-up #3. But Hanson has been the star Left in these first 3 matches, and after tonight, Acevedo looks like #2. And going into the season, I thought Owoleye was marginal and Minatee less than that, but in these first 3 matches, Minatee looks like a star, and Owoleye less than adequate.
In tonight’s 4:00 match, 0 and 3 Wisconsin got their first win, also in 5 sets, vs TCU. Tomorrow, we play TCU at 4:00 (on 18 hours rest) and the Badgers (on 24 hours rest) get Baylor.
(Ran into GopherVBallRocks reader R.S. today at the Laughing Waters Bluegrass Festival. He mentioned reading my account of the Stanford match, but said he hadn’t seen Maureen’s photo with the team, because R.S. only reads the first bullet. Come on folks, scroll down to SUPERFAN AT THE FAIR to see the photo.
Gophs over #1 Ranked Texas, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 13-25, 15-7!!! My apologies to GopherVBallRocks readers, I clearly underestimated this team when I said it would be encouraging if our Gophs could win one set each against #5 Stanford and #1 Texas. I had also suggested that our #18 rating was “about right” (implying that I didn’t think the Gophs were a top-ten team). We should be now.
I also underestimated Shaffmaster, Hanson, Palabiyik & Minatee: Shaffmaster – I said last year that Shaffmaster was the best clutch player on the team, and yet I was comfortable with the idea that it was time to move on to freshman Stella Swenson, who I think might be a better pure setter. But the multi-tool Shaffmaster was the MVP of tonights’ match, with 44 assists, 6 kills, 4 aces (only 1 service error), 1 block, and at least 3 miraculous saves; giving her 84 assists, 10 kills, 7 aces, and 3 blocks for the weekend, vs two top-5 teams. The FS1 announcers said that Standford’s Miner was the best setter in the country (and she might be), but Miner doesn’t fill up the scorecard like Shaffmaster can. Hanson – When Freshman Alex Acevedo outplayed Hanson in last week’s exhibition match vs Iowa State, I speculated that Hanson’s role as our #2 Left-side might be in jeopardy; and I complimented her on “keeping up” with Wooker in yesterday’s 5-set loss to Stanford. But Hanson was Shaffmaster’s # 1 weapon tonight, with 19 kills, including 3 from the back-row, and 2 dinks. (The first successful dinks of her Gopher career?) Palabiyik – In yesterday’s post, re the Stanford loss, I noted that “Palabiyik had some terrific digs, but” was victimized at serve-receive, and speculated that D.S. Kate Thibault might challenge Palabiyik for the off-color jersey. Not tonight; Palabiyik had terrific dig after terrific dig, and received well enough that Texas stopped serving at her. Minatee – I’ve been saying all winter and spring that our Middles were weak, and, though I may not have written this, I thought Owoleye was closer to adequate than Minatee. But Minatee showed up big-time against Texas, with 8 kills (all on slides) and 4 blocks (at least a couple against reigning National Player of the Year Avery Skinner). If she can play like that consistently, we’re not as weak as I thought.
SET 1 was close all the way. We never led by more than 1 point, but we were tied 4-4, 10-10, and 16-16, and pulled within 1 at 22-23 before losing the last 2 points. SET 2 started tight, tied 9-9, and then the Gophers jumped out to 20-14 (no one player, that I recall, a team effort), and hung on to tie the match. SET 3 was all Gophers, 9-5 14-8 and 20-14, coasting to victory. SET 4 was disastrous. After a strong 6-2 start, Texas won 23 of the next 30 points to force a 5th set. It was hard not to think about yesterday’s loss to Stanford, where the Gophers led 2 sets to one, got crushed in Set 4, and got off to a slow start in the deciding set. But tonight’s SET 5 was very different. Shaffmaster served the Gophs (2 of her 4 aces) to a 5-0 lead – and Texas couldn’t stop us.
I hate to criticize anything in such a marvelous weekend, but if you want to find flaws, here are some Issues to consider:
Three times yesterday, Stanford’s Jordyn Harvey exploited the Gopher serve -receive issues, with runs of at least 5 points. Texas didn’t seem to have a server as effective as Harvey, but by Set 4, they had decided to pick on Wooker – and Wooker did not meet the challenge.
We cut our service errors almost in half (23 vs Stanford, 13 vs Texas) but our ace-to-error ratio for the weekend was 16 to 36; with Wooker a dismal 4 to 11
In these first two matches, (not counting 1 overpass-kill each) Minatee has had 11 kills, and all 11 were on slides, zero quicks. And Owoleye has had 7 kills, 6 on quicks and 1 slide. As we get into the Big Ten Season, teams are going to scout that.
Tonight’s Set 4 collapse came mostly with the Gophers in our weak rotation — the one with Wooker hitting out-of-position at Right-side, and Grote hitting out-of-position at Left-side. There is no easy way to avoid this as one of our 12 half-rotations, but we have to find a way to generate some offense here.
But let’s rub it in while we can, the #18 Gophers played two matches, in Milwaukee, vs the #5 & #1 teams in the country, and came away 1 & 1 (5 & 5 in sets). The #3 Badgers played the same two teams, in the same arena (last I looked, Milwaukee is in Wisconsin), and came out 0 & 2 (2 & 6 in sets).
I predicted it would take a miracle for the Gophs to beat either #5 ranked Stanford today, or #1 ranked Texas tomorrow, and they almost pulled one off today, pushing Stanford to the edge before losing 28-26, 23-25, 25-16, 13-25 & 13-15. As you might expect from a back & forth 5-set match, the play was fairly even. For the match, we out-hit Stanford .302 to .222, and out-blocked them too.
The big difference in the match was serving; especially by Cardinal Left-side Hitter Jordyn Harvey, who terrorized the Gophers with her serve. Harvey, only had 7 pure aces, but served points in bunches, and at critical moments. As a team, the Cardinal had 12 aces and 12 service-errors – I’d take that number any day; but the Gophers had 9 aces and 23 errors. I know that some GopherVBallRocks Readers will want the Gophers to serve more conservatively, and maybe that’s a good idea vs unranked teams. But I don’t think this squad has the fire-power to beat a top-5 team without service pressure; the only way we’re going to do that is by hitting our aggressive serves.
SET 1: Our offense got off to a terrible start. Shaffmaster got the Gophers’ first kill of the match (4 total, for the match, a good number) to tie the set at 8-8, and not counting an attack by Wooker that was blocked out of bounds by the Cardinal, Grote got our first convincing kill at about 15-15. This woke Wooker and Hanson up, and the Gophs took a commanding 24-19 lead. But after a side-out, 24-20, Harvey rotated to the serve and ran 5 pts to give Stanford a set-point. We finally got a side-out off Harvey and escaped, 28-26.
SET 2: Tight all the way, with ties at 6-6, 10-10, 16-16, and 22-22, before losing 23-25. SET 3: Tight to start, tied 7-7, but then Hanson and Grote started pounding the ball, and the Gophers cruised, 25-16. Harvey did not generate a run in either set, and the Gophers were up 2 sets to 1.
SET 4: Tied at 2-2, Harvey ran 4 to put the Cardinal up 2-6. We traded sideouts for six rotations, and then, at 8-14, Harvey ran 5 to put the Cardinal up 8-19. Coach Cook subbed out Shaffmaster and other starters to rest them for the decisive fifth set.
SET 5: After another poor start, we were down 2-6, but Wooker got hot, Slylar Gray had back-to-back aces, and we took a 8-7 lead. We fell behind 9-11, but pulled back to tie at 13-13 before Stanford scored the last 2 points to win the match. Honestly, it felt like we had a 50-50 chance to win.
INDIVIDUALLY
Julie Hanson, new to her role as a starting Left-side Hitter after playing behind Landfair for two years, tied Wooker for most kills in the match, 14 (on fewer swings).
Wooker looked like the Wooker we know as a hitter, but blocked and received and dug better than she did most of last year.
Opposite Lydia Grote had slightly fewer kills. 11, but a better hitting percentage than either.
Freshman Left-side Alex Acevedo, who looked so good against Iowa State in last week’s exhibition, did not play. I think she was available
Middles Phoebe Awoleye and Calissa Minatee blocked reasonably well, 4 & 3, and got a few kills, 6 & 4. As was typical last year, all of Awoleye’s kills came on “quicks,” and all of Minatee’s came on “slides.” At least for this match, our Middles weren’t the problem or the solution.
Shaffmaster played like only Shaffmaster can, 40 assists, 4 kills, 2 blocks, 3 aces (3 serving errors), and 2 spectacular saves.
I am curious to see what will happen, as the season unfolds, with our 2 Liberos, Zeynep Palabiyik and Kate Thibault, both sophomores. Not surprisingly, Palabiyik, who was with the team last year, played Libero in today’s match, and was part of every serve-receive formation; while Thibault, a transfer, played D.S., so naturally fewer touches. Palabiyik had some terrific digs, but was part of the receive trashed by Stanford’s Harvey. Thibault was on the court almost half the match, and fairly inconspicuous – which is sorta what you want from your D.S.
TOMORROW, 6:30, FS1, The Gophers take on #1 rated Texas – who crushed #3 rated Wisconsin in 4 sets today 30-28, 23-25, 25-15, 25-11. (I didn’t see any of it, but from the box score, it appears that the Badgers played the Longhorns even through two sets – and then folded.) I’d be thrilled if the Gophers could make the Longhorns work a little harder than that.
SUPERFAN AT THE FAIR
I write the blog (I know how the rotations for a 6-2 with a Lib and DS works), but Maureen is the GVB superfan in our house. (You do not want to sit next to her when the Gophs lose a set.) The State Fair is also one of Maureen’s passions, and last week, two of her passions collided (3, if you count her grandchildren who were also there.)
L to R, Kali Engeman, Syd Schnichels, Maureen Trepp, Lydia Grote, and “The Wooker.”
(BTW, Maureen is 5-7, barefoot)
I wasn’t there, but here’s the story as I heard it: Maureen, our two daughters, and various grandkids are at the Fair (one of the 3 days they went). There’s a group of 6 tall coeds, buying corn, or whatever. Maureen screams, “It’s The Wooker,” and runs at them. As she approaches, her scream changed to “Wooker and Grote.”
They had a nice chat, with Maureen mentioning that we’re season-ticket holders, and maybe even mentioning GopherVBallRocks. The players expressed appreciation for her support, and then 4 of the 6 posed for this photo.
[A funeral that I needed to attend popped up, causing me to miss the first set and a bit of the 2nd set. Fortunately, Readers R.A. and D.S. were both in attendance for all 5 sets, and helped me fill in the gaps. Thanks R.A. and D.S.] That’s not the Big News.
GOPHS RANKED 18. Our Gophers enter the season ranked #18 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll. Not what we became accustomed to under McCutcheon, but about right. (But that’s not the Big News either.)
GOPHS SQUEAK PAST CYCLONES AT THE PAV.
In this fall’s only exhibition match prior to the start of the Season next weekend, our #18 ranked Gophers squeaked out a 5-set home-court-win over #36 ranked Iowa State., 25-17, 24-26, 25-27, 25-20, 15-6. Because it was an exhibition match, neither team played their strongest line-up every set, but I don’t think that’s an excuse for struggling against ISU. (Additional note from R.A.: When the designated singer lost her voice during one stanza of Star Spangled Banner, the crowd picked it up without difficulty. Nice.)
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Red-shirt Senior Opposite Lydia Grote looked great. She is not the second-coming of Steph Samedy, but she is a strong weapon on the right-side.
Red-shirt Junior Opposite Lauren Crowl also looked good. We’ll be using a 5-1, which means only one Opposite will play regularly, but depth is important and Crowl looks like an adequate back-up to Grote. We’re strong at Opposite.
Junior Left-side Hitter (our #1) McKenna Wucherer, “The Wooker,” hit well (21 kills according to R.A.) and served great. Wooker was our most aggressive server last year, but after a poor Ace-to-Error ratio in early matches last year, Coach Cook told her to back off. I hope she has the green light this season – we need to pressure our opponents’ receive, even if Wooker misses a few.
Red-shirt Freshman Left-side Hitter Alex Acevedo looked good. Based on this afternoon’s match, I think Acevedo will challenge Julie Hanson (who did not have a great match) for a starting role.
Sophomore Middle Calissa Minatee (10 kills according to R.A.) and Fifth year Middle Phoebe Awoleye (7 kills & 7 blocks according to R.A.) looked good. I feel, going into the season, that Middle is our major weakness, and I still think so. But Minatee and Awoleye held their own with ISU.
Sophomore-Transfer (from Oregon, originally Watertown MN) D.S. Kate Thibault looked good. We played most of last season without a D,S., so even adequate will be an improvement.
AND our overall passing was impressive. Sophomore Libero Zeynep Palabiyik got better as the season wore on last year, and she seems to be picking up where she left off. Plus we have Thibault at D.S., and we’re nor handicapped by having Taylor Landfair as part of our receive. (My prediction, Landfair will have a GREAT year hitting the perfect sets she’ll get playing for Nebraska – and they won’t allow her to touch a serve-receive.)
I think this will be a different kind of Gopher Team than what we’re used to. For at least a decade, the Gophs have been known for their Offense, with dominant hitters like Dali Santana, Sarah Wilhite, Steph Samedy and Taylor Landfair – so much so that when the score was 23-23, you knew who was getting the set. I don’t think this year’s team has that dominant hitter (I could be underestimating Wooker). But we’ve got a more balanced attack, and I think our digging will be the best in recent years. (But that’s not the Big News either.)
BIG NEWS: IT’S ALL SHAFFMASTER I was excited when the Gophs signed Stella Swenson last fall, and my excitement ramped higher when I saw her play in last spring’s exhibition season – I really believe that she is the second-coming of her step-sister Samantha Seliger-Swenson. And I’ve been wondering, for months now, how Coach Cook will play both Stella and Shaffmaster.
The answer is, he won’t. Stella and her twin sister Olivia were dressed – but neither played at all. In an exhibition match! Other deep-bench players saw action, but not the Swenson Twins. Mystifying – until D.S. reported – both will be red-shirting!
This makes sense in that Coach Cook wants to play a 5-1, and he can’t really play 2 setters in a 5-1, and it would be really hard to bench Shaffmaster – who has played her heart out for 4 years. And watching from the bench while Shaffmaster plays her fifth year means that red-shirt Stella will still have 4 years of eligibility left.
This doesn’t make sense in that Stella is, in my opinion, a better setter than Shaffmaster, and Stella must have had offers from a dozen top VBall programs that wouldn’t have asked her to redshirt.
Signing with the Gophs, knowing that she might be asked to red-shirt, makes sense in that the offer to the Swensons seems to have included full scholarships for Stella and Olivia (who may not, from what I’ve seen, be D1 material).
But it only makes sense if Stella is fully on-board with the red-shirting. Given the power of the transfer-portal, we might never see Stella set for the Gophs if she isn’t fully on-board – or if things don’t go well this season.
There is always, of course, the possibility that Shaffmaster suffers a major injury early in the season. We’re not playing Big Ten V-Ball with Elise McGhie as our setter; so a major injury to Shaffmaster could end Stella’s red-shirt in a hurry.
Looks like we’ll be waiting a year, but If and when Stella becomes the Gopher Setter – you’re going to LOVE her.
OPENING THE SEASON VS THE BIG DOGS
The Gophers first two matches of the official season will be next Sunday, Sept. 1, 2:00, vs #5-ranked Stanford, and Monday, Sept. 2 (Labor Day), 6:30, vs #1-ranked Texas. Both matches will be played in Milwaukee, and both will be televised on FS1. It would take a miracle for the Gophers to win either match (miracles do happen), and encouraging if we can win at least one set in both matches.
