If you are learning here that the Gophs swept the Golden Eagles, 28-26, 25-21, 25-21, you might ask, “Well, shouldn’t they? Marquette isn’t Big Ten, and they weren’t TOP 25 ranked.” But Marquette was a pretty tough team, tough enough to have swept #15 ranked Florida two days earlier. And each Set was a grind.
In Set 1, our Gophs trailed 7-12 and 15-19. We never trailed by more than a point in Set 2, but we never led by more than a couple until late. And in Set 3, we trailed 8-12 and 11-15. Part of the reason we trailed in Sets 1 & 3 was fantastic saves made by the Golden Eagles. Time and time again, the Gophs pounded great hits or killer dinks that looked like certain kills, only to have a gutsy Marquette Squad save balls headed for the bleachers.
And the reason we were able to come back in Sets 1 & 3 was that the Gophers didn’t let it bother them. We lost some of those points I thought we had already won, but we just kept pounding the ball. Two of the 4 close-the-gap runs were with Acevedo serving. Give Acevedo credit for serves that kept Marquette out-of-system, but credit also a front-line of Taylor, Kinney and Hanson.
In past seasons, my reporting good offensive balance was often rare. But I think this ‘25 squad is going to thrive repeatedly on BALANCE. Here are the Official stats from today’s match:
Hanson: 15 kills with a .225 %, and a block;
Acevedo: 11 kills with a .233 %, and a block;
Kinney: 9 kills with a .400% and 4 blocks;
Myers: 8 kills with a .217% and a block; and
Taylor: 6 kills with a .667% and 4 blocks.
THAT’S BALANCE!
Good day for the locals; Vikes win big, Lynx win big, and Gopher VB wins big. I didn’t realize they were still playing, but apparently even the Twins won.
NEXT UP:
Big Ten Opener at the Pav vs Michigan State, Thursday, 7:30 (BTN), and
Rutgers at the Pav on Sunday, 2:00 BTN+