Given that #21-ranked Washington was coming off a 5-set win at #6 Wisconsin, a tough place to win, I was apprehensive about our chances this afternoon. But we swept the Huskies, 25-17, 25-17 & 25-20. I think we were down by 1 point in Set 3, but never trailed otherwise, out-hitting the Huskies .292 to .104, and out-blocking them 11 to 6. It could be that the Huskies were emotionally hung-over from last night’s win and that the Gophers were motivated by their 5-set loss at Purdue.
But I don’t want to understate how well the Gophers played. For one thing, we had great offensive balance:
- 11 kills at .273, plus 3 blocks for Wooker;
- 10 kills at .212, plus 3 blocks for Kinney;
- 9 kllls at .381, plus 5 blocks for Crossen; and
- 6 kills at .385, plus 5 blocks for Blazkova. And our serving, while not great at 4 aces vs 8 errors, was significantly better than it had been vs Purdue.
Very few substitutions by Coach Cook, using our triple-McKenna line-up for the entire match. Neither Taylor, whom I thought going into the season was our #1 Middle, nor Gilk, whom I thought going into the season was certain to be our every-set Opposite, played at all.
These last two matches, losing in 5 at Purdue, and sweeping Washington at home, may have been our best weekend of the season so far. It would be great if we could continue to play at this level for the remainder of the season
NEXT UP: L.A. ROAD TRIP:
- # 27 ranked UCLA, Friday, 9:00, on BTN+, and
- unranked So. Cal, Sunday, 3:00, on BTN+.