I was out of town, but the Gophs didn’t miss my screamed support, winning all 6 of their sets in the D.C. “Classic.” Not sure how “Classic” it is if one of the teams is St. Thomas, at this point, D-1 in name only. (Not sure how “Classic” Diet Coke is either, I drink it because my doctor says I’m not allowed to drink real Coke, but I don’t like it.)
The Gophers dispensed of the Tommies 25-14, 25-8, 25-7, without playing Samedy. Natalie Glenn and Shea Rubright got more playing time than they’ve had lately, and freshman Middle Anna Wolf, from River Falls saw her first action as a Gopher.
Iowa State was more competitive, going down 25-17, 25-19, 25-20. But according to reader D.S., who was there and who provides this week’s commentary (thanks, D.S.), “there never was a feeling that Iowa State had enough fire power to beat the Gophers.”
D.S. WRITES: “Despite a slow start in the1st set, trailing 11-5, the Gophers played better defense with several blocks from Middles Katie Myers and Ellie Husemann, 6 and 5 blocks, respectively for the match. They pulled ahead with dynamic kills from the Jenna Wenass and Stephanie Samedy to finish out a 25-17 win. Wenass was the best overall player on the floor all night, leading the way with 14 kills, four or five from the 10 foot line, 13 digs, and several blocks, holding her own on the left side. Sometimes we take C. C. McGraw for granted, but she was her old self with some acrobatic digs leading the Gophers with 19 for the match.
The second set was fairly even until 17-17 when the Gophers simply put it away at 25-19 with Melani Shaffmaster utilizing the Middles more. Husemann scored consistently with good sets, 7 kills for the night, and of course Samedy hammering some big kills, 12 total from the 10 foot line and the right side. Airi Miyabe played well in spurts, blocking some critical balls and scoring on a few kills when given the opportunities. The service return still appears to be an issue with the Gophers, with our receives not allowing Shaffmaster to set from close to the net enough times, and having to bump easy to read sets allowing the opponents too many blocking opportunities. The timing of our service errors weren’t critical in determining the sets, but we still had seven errors, mostly long out of bounds.
The 3rd set was similar to the first two, where there never was a feeling that Iowa State had enough fire power to beat the Gophers. The final score was 25-20, with MN jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead and Iowa State played catchup the rest of the set. Shaffmaster went several times to Miyabe, who finally went away from tipping it to scoring with some well-place hard kills. Again, Wenass shined in this set smoking a number of balls and playing great defense along with Rachel Kilkelly, another player MN needs to have playing well.
Noticeably were the players who never got any playing time. Taylor Landfair, which we still don’t know why she’s seeing virtually no time on the court, spent most of the night dancing (ala..Taylor Morgan) on the sidelines, along with no playing time for Shea Rubright and Natalie Glenn. I wasn’t there in time for warmups, so i’m not sure if those three were healthy, but they were definitely happy-dancing to the music. It was nice to have the Gopher Band back in the Pav and the masked crowd was very enthusiastic, and as loud as they could be under the circumstances.”
A TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE
The Gophers finished their non-conference 5 & 3 (or 4 & 3 if you don’t count St. Thomas). Nothing like what we have become accustomed to in the McCutcheon era, but they played an incredibly tough schedule, with their 3 losses coming to top-10 teams – and two of their wins coming on the road vs top-15 teams. In past years, the Gophers have cruised through an easier non-conference schedule and emerged from the always tough Big Ten season with a high rating and NCAA seed – only to get knocked off by lower-seeded teams in the Sweet 16. Clearly the strategy here is to play tough opponents early and peak at playoff time. (As Nebraska seems to always do.)
WHAT WE KNOW AND DON’T KNOW
We know that Steph Samedy is one of the top players in the country, and one of the greatest players in Gopher History. We also know that, despite how good she is, she can’t beat a good team by herself.
We know that Jenna Wenaas is a terrific volleyball player with a bright future. We know that C.C. McGraw is back to form after missing much of last season with an injury. We know that Airi Miyabe remains a versatile super-sub. We’ve learned that Katie Myers is a stronger server than we saw last season. And we know that serve-receive remains the Gophers’ Achilles’ Heel: our offense is top-notch when big, talented Melani Shaffmaster gets a perfect pass, and mediocre when Shaffmaster (who we’ve learned is not especially quick) gets a poor pass.
We don’t know, and I don’t expect to know anytime soon, who our “starting” Middles are. It was Myers and Ellie Husemann against Iowa State, but I doubt we’ve seen the last of Shea Rubright. Coach McCutcheon may well shuffle all three into the two middle spots until someone begins to dominate. (Perfect first passes to Shaffmaster would make that easier.)
Taylor Landfair remains the biggest puzzle. Late in the loss to Texas, Landfair left the court, disappeared into the locker room, and later returned to the bench. She has played a little since, but only a little. I was at the Texas match, and saw her leave, but I didn’t see why. Or even at whose initiative. Apparently the TV commentators didn’t offer much explanation either. And the official Gopher website never comments on such matters.
Maybe she was injured – but I didn’t see her get injured, and no trainer followed her into or out of the locker room? Coach McCutcheon didn’t bench Landfair and send her to the locker room because he suddenly decided that Natalie Glenn gave us a better chance to beat Texas. He might have pulled Landfair to let her calm down, catch her breath, or something like that – and pissed-off, she went to the locker room on her own? Or maybe Landfair, frustrated that she wasn’t dominating the Longhorns (she’s from Texas and was probably recruited by Texas), benched herself?
Whatever the problem, it is my opinion that this team needs Landfair, 2019’s #1-rated recruit, last season’s North Region Freshman of the Year & First Team All-Big Ten player, to recapture her form. Landfair was not only good last year, she was, at times, scary good! It is impossible for opponents to focus on Samedy when Landfair is crushing the ball over said opponent’s best blockers. I am fairly certain that Coach McCutcheon agrees that this team is stronger with Landfair in the lineup; whatever the problem is, I hope it gets worked out soon.
NEXT UP, THE BIG TEN:
The Gophs start the Big Ten season this weekend with matches against Michigan (7 & 2, with wins over LSU & Florida State) on Friday (8:00 on BTN); and Maryland (12 & 0 versus a pretty weak schedule) on Sunday (1:00 on BTN+). Michigan, a perennial NCAA team, should definitely be tougher than Iowa State, and an unbeaten Maryland team could be.