In a match full of surprises, our Gophers took revenge for an early season loss to the #5-seeded Baylor Bears, 26-28, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10 (total match score: Gophers 111, Bears 108). It didn’t look good when Baylor took 2 of the first 3 sets and was leading 14-10 & 22-21 in the 4th set. And if you had told me that the Bears could neutralize Samedy (Steph, looking like the Steph we know and love had 6 kills in Set 1 — but then only 10 more scattered across the next 4 sets), I wouldn’t have expected a Gopher Victory. But the Gophers were Golden when they needed to be! (McGraw was back in action.)
SET 1: As close as it gets; a see-saw set in which the two teams were rarely separated by more than a point, and the Gophers and Bears would each serve at set-point twice before the Bears prevailed 28-26. The Gophs looked like the Gophers we know, relying heavily on their “pins,” 6 kills for Samedy and 5 each for Wenaas and Miyabe, and the Bears relied heavily on their star, Pressley.
SET 2: Two entirely different teams; our outside hitters disappeared ( 3 kills from Miyabe and 1 each from Wenaas and Samedy), and yet the the Gophers led wire-to-wire, posting leads of 5-1, 13-7, and 19-12 before coasting to the win. Instead of outside hitters, the Gophers relied on fierce blocking (block-kills from Husemann, Shaffmaster and Samedy and at least another dozen blocks that kept points alive; and aggressive serving (aces from Myers, Shaffmaster and Wenaas). And the Bears contributed to their own demise with seven service errors.
SET 3: This time the Bears jumped out to a 1-6 lead. The Gophers pulled to within a point at 7-8 and 13-14, but never caught up. And like Set 2, minimal offense from our pins (2 kills from Samedy and 1 each from Wenaas and Miyabe). In other words, the Gophs played consecutive close sets while getting a total of 9 kills from the three outside hitters that we depend on — and got a split! How were we even competitive? Answer, continued determined blocking plus the emergence of the offensive diversity we’ve been seeking all season, 4 ! kills from Shaffmaster, 3 from Husemann, plus 1 from Myers. It was discouraging to see Samedy shut down the way she was, but encouraging to see the Gophers find other ways to score.
SET 4: The Bears were so close they could taste it, leading 9-4 early, but again sabotaged themselves with missed serve after missed serve, letting the Gophs back in the game. The Gopher aces continued (Samedy & Myers), Husemann had 2 block-kills, and Shaffmaster another kill. And the Gopher pins re-emerged, 5 kills from Miyabe (she led the Gophers for the match with 18, a career-high for Airi), 4 from Samedy (including the set-winner) (she finished with 16), and 2 from Wenaas (who finished with 13). From a 16-16 tie, the lead changed hands a couple times, including a Baylor lead at 21-22, but the Gophers took 4 of the last 5 points.
SET 5: Determined not to make it easy on my angst-ridden bride, the Gophers fell behind early, 2-5, but scratched and clawed back to a 9-7 lead. The scratching and clawing included a challenge won by Coach McCutcheon (he lost his first two). And from a 10-10 tie, the Gophers ran the string on Kilkelly’s serving. The winning run even included a scoring dink from Wenaas (her only scoring dink on about a dozen tries).
Maureen and our guests for the evening, G.H. and S.H. (they don’t get ESPNU) insist that I mention behavior, by announcer Karch Kiraly, that they found offensive. (I’m not a big Karch fan myself, but he did coach the U.S. Women to a Gold in Tokyo.) Karch’s post-match interview should have Miyabe, or Husemann or even Shaffmaster, but instead he picked Samedy and asked her why she had such a poor match. Samedy handled the question with grace, but it was not a move that endeared Karch to the crowd at my house.
NEXT UP: The Gophers 3rd chance to beat the Badgers, Saturday, 7:00, in Madison. The Gophers will be underdogs, but upsets happen.