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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

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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!

We got our first look at the 2025 Gophers this afternoon, in an exhibition match vs Northern Iowa. Technically, the Gophs first match was this morning vs the Iowa Hawkeyes, but that match was not open to the public; must be some limit on the number of public, Spring, exhibitions? 

In case you’re wondering, the Gophs won Sets 1, 2 & 4 of this four-sets-regardless exhibition. We lost Set 3, playing our second=string against what I think was N.I.’s starters. I focussed my attention on two things: New Players, and Who will win the “starting” role for contested positions.

NEW PLAYERS:

• Freshman Libero McKenna Garr, from Rush City, MN, was not given the opportunity to play Libero, but she got several shifts as a D.S., and was impressive.
• Freshman Opposite Carly Gilk, from Champlin Park, played in Sets 3 & 4 and looked great, earning 8 kills.
• Junior Transfer Setter (from Rutgers) Georgia Lee played some. Her role will be to step in when Stella is injured. We would not, in any case, want Stella to get injured, and this concern grew after watching Lee. At least today, she did not look as strong as the graduated Elise McGhie.
• Grad Transfer Middle (from Purdue) Lourdes Myers was a pleasant surprise, playing Sets 1 & 2 and looking good enough to compete for a starting role.
• Freshman Middle Jordan Taylor, from Texas, playing Sets 2 & 3, also looked good enough to compete for a starting role. 
• Red-shirt Freshman Leftside Olivia Swenson (Stella’s sister) played sparingly, and has yet to convince me that she is a D-1 athlete. AND
• Red-shirt Freshman Setter Stella Swenson looked great, as expected, and well worth the expense of two “full rides.”
• Much anticipated Freshman Leftside Kelly Kinney, the Gophers’ highest-rated player in this recruiting class is, sadly, still in Florida finishing high school. It wasn’t long ago that high school seniors were expected to spend the Spring of their freshman years attending high school. But it has become common for volleyball recruits (and presumably other “fall athletes,” like football and soccer players) to graduate early and enroll in their future college for the Spring Semester. There may be a perfectly good explanation why Kinney didn’t – but it makes me nervous.

COMPETITION FOR STARTING ROLES:

• There is no competition at Setter. It’s Stella or pray for an electrical outage that cancels the match.

• I expected a 3-way competition at the Opposite position, featuring Crowl and Schnickels, who played behind Grote the past two seasons, and the freshman Gilk. But 2022 Ms. Minnesota Volleyball Schnickels played little and, at least today, did not appear to be a serious contender. Not sure why; she didn’t seem injured.

Crowl and Gilk are both left-handed, a clear advantage for an Opposite. Crowl, a 6-4, 5th year Senior is taller, more experienced, and, at least today, the better blocker; I think she had 5 blocks today, in roughly 2 sets. And she a great save of someone else’s poor first pass. Plus, she’s a decent server.

Gilk, a 6-2 Freshman, had minimal success blocking, and minimal success serving – but she had 8 kills! in less than 2 full sets at Opposite. If today is any indication, it appears that Crowl is superior defensively, but Gilk will produce more offense – maybe a lot more. 

• I also expected a 3-way competition for the two MIddle positions (4-way if you count Engeman, but I don’t) .

> The 6-1 Junior Minatee played Sets 1 and 4, and looked good. Minatee was a starter last year, and as the only “returner” of the 3, would seem to have an edge in this competition. But she’s undersized. 

> The 6-3 Grad Transfer Myers played Sets 1 and 2 and looked like a competent, experienced D-1 Middle.

> The 6-3 FreshmanTaylor played Sets 2 and 3 and looked great.

Even with Engeman playing Sets 3 and 4, the Gopher Middles dominated N.I. I predict that Minatee  and Myers will be the starters in the first match of the fall season, but Taylor could push both and could become a starter by season’s end.

• I also expect a 3-way competition for the Libero and D.S. positions.

> The Junior Palabiyik (I’m considering the nickname “Tilapia” which is easier to say) is the incumbent Libero, played the position most of today, and will likely be the starter to open the fall season.

> The Junior Thibault, the incumbent D.S., played Libero in today’s Set 2, D.S. in other sets, served well throughout, and will likely be the starting D.S. to open the fall season.

> But the Freshman Garr looked very good. I expect Palabiyik to retain her starting Libero role, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Garr pushes ahead of Thibault before season’s end.

Interestingly, there were times today when the Gophers employed a 3-Libero serve-receive, as Nebraska did on their path to last year’s National Runner-Up finish. If we can get away with this (Liberos sub in and out freely, but there is a 12 substitutions per set limit on other players), Stella ought to get better passes than Shaffmaster got back in 2023 – from that horrible receive including Landfair and Wooker.

• As of today, Leftside Hitter is the most up-in-the-air of any position, with 4 potential candidates (5  if you count Olivia, but I don’t) for 2 positions. 2024 leading Hitter and First-Team-All-Big-Ten senior Hanson is the obvious front-runner. Barring injury, I can’t imagine Hanson won’t be one of the two. She was decent today. But after that, the outlook gets murky.

> The senior Wooker has shown the ability to be a dominant Big-Ten Leftside Hitter – when she’s 100% healthy. But she had a serious back-problem most of last season, missing some matches and struggling in some of the matches she played in. And during today’s exhibition, Wooker was on the bench in sweats and limping. The U is tight-lipped about the health of their student-athletes (does any reader know anything?); my guess is that she may have had off-season surgery – and they’re keeping her out of action until August?

> The Sophomore Acevedo played a fair amount last year, in place of Wooker, great now and then, poorly now and then; mostly okay. She was also decent today, playing most of the match, but I suspect she is option # 4.

> Kinney is still in Florida finishing High School.

NEXT UP: Saturday, April 5, in Brookings, S. D., two matches vs:

10 a.m, vs South Dakota State and

1:30 p.m., vs. Creighton (an Elite Eight finish last year)

I’ll be there covering the matches for GopherVBallRocks. (Gonna be a long drive home, not sure when I’ll get the blog-post done.)

The Spring schedule, below, including 5 exhibition matches, starts Saturday.

• March 29, 5 p.m vs. Northern Iowa @ the Pav, free & open to the public. 
• April 5, 10 a.m, at South Dakota State (Brookings) (180 mi. From Mpls)
• April 5,  1:30 p.m., vs. Creighton (also in Brookings)
• April 12, 3 p.m,  vs. St. Thomas @ the Pav, and
• April 26, 1 p.m. vs. North Dakota, in Madison, S.D. (200 mi. From Mpls)

This spring’s schedule includes 5 exhibition matches (vs 4 in previous years, although 2 are on the same day):

• March 29, 5 p.m vs. Northern Iowa @ the Pav 
• April 5, 10 a.m, at South Dakota State (Brookings) (180 mi. From Mpls)
• April 5,  1:30 p.m., vs. Creighton (also in Brookings)
• April 12, 3 p.m,  vs. St. Thomas @ the Pav, and
• April 26, 1 p.m. vs. North Dakota, in Madison, S.D. (200 mi. From Mpls)

READER FEEDBACK on my Moss vs Souhan tirade:

I was expecting my  recent post regarding Moss vs Souhan to be either ignored, or to generate complaints such as “stick to volleyball” or “everyone knows that Moss deserted his team during that game.” (Unfortunately, not everything that everyone knows is true.) But surprisingly, the readers who responded all agreed with me regarding Moss vs Souhan.

C.B. wrote, “You’re right that Moss and Page stand at the top of the list of greatest Vikings ever. It was a huge mistake to trade him – my wife lost interest in the Vikings when they did. As far as character, I remember watching Moss interact with fans after scoring a touchdowns, often picking out disabled fans to give a ball to.”

M.L. wrote, “I quit reading Souhan years ago when he made fun of Jerry Kill’s seizures. Haven’t read him since.”

D.B. wrote, “I didn’t know the stuff you shared about Moss’s background, but it makes sense. Moss was rough around the edges, but clearly smarter than people gave him credit for, and probably a better person too. And I know from reading Souhan that he is an arrogant jerk. No surprise the two didn’t get along.”