24 hours ago, our 3-loss Gophers were in 3rd place in the Big Ten, two full games behind co-leaders Wisconsin & Nebraska. But last night the Gophers gave Nebraska their 2nd loss, in a tight 5-set match at the PAV, and minutes ago, Purdue gave Wisconsin their 2nd loss (Roettke had an off-day, but Barnes was incredible), in a tight 4-set match in West Lafayette, reminding us that road wins are tough to come by in the Big Ten – and leaving the Gophers still in 3rd place, but now only one game behind the co-leaders.
READERS WRITE:
READER R.A. writes
Minnesota’s hitting % of .168 and Nebraska’s .135 would normally indicate poor performance. In last night’s match, however, it signalled strong defense. Long volleys and great digs forced both teams to try many more times, plus lots of forced errors (36 NE, 26 MN).
It was an exciting and gut-wrenching match, especially when the Gophs repeatedly blew leads near the end of sets. I sat there thinking, “The Gophs would be great if the sets were to ’24.'”
Service errors are momentum killers; I truly see little excuse. Again last night, one of Myers’ service errors came when she was serving at 24 in the 2nd set, allowing Nebraska back in the set, which they eventually won 30-28. Ahead at the end of the set is not the time for overly aggressive serves.
I also was pleased by Rollins’ transfer, due to her poor service-receiving.
JOHN: Nobody likes to see their team miss serves. And yes, they can be momentum killers. And yes, there is a time for aggressive serving and a time for safe serving. But keep in mind that most points, at the Big Ten level, are won by the receiving team. If Myers rotated to the serve at 29-19, she should have served “safe.” But if she rotated to the serve at 25-24, after we had already lost the momentum, then I would have wanted an aggressive serve. (I don’t which it was.) And every Gopher server gets a signal from an assistant coach indicating the coaching staff’s expectation for the up-coming serve. If Myers is serving aggressively when you think she should be serving safe, your beef might be with the bench.
Also, Purdue missed a ton of serves in today’s win over Wisconsin — but their agressive serving kept the Badgers out of system.
READER G.U. writes
Your synopsis is pretty good of the match with them Huskers. If NEB could serve correctly I still believe our beloved Gophers would still be crying. Also glad to hear you tried out the new eatery in your area, you saved my wallet a big hit in case I wanted a burger and beer for $75.