In tonight’s season opener, our #7 Gophs took care of unranked TCU in 4 sets, 20-25, 25-16, 25-15 & 25-23 (total score 95-79). In the earlier match, #3 Wisconsin defeated #15 Baylor, also in 4 sets, total score 95-76. Logically, the Gophs will have a tougher time tomorrow night vs Baylor, and Wisconsin an easier ti tomorrow afternoon vs TCU.
Quick notes re the TCU Match:
- Shaffmaster came out for warmups limping, and it got worse as the evening wore on. Halfway through Set 3, Crowl subbed in for Shaffmaster and McGhee did the setting. Neither Crowl nor McGhee did anything wonderful, but the Gophers out-scored TCU with Shaffmaster resting, and I expected to see the 6-2 used again in Set 4, especially with another, potentially tougher match 24 hrs away. But Shaffmaster limped through the close Set 4 win.
- Palabiyik, who I project as our starting D.S. was again on the bench in street clothes. The rumor is that she won’t be able to play for a few matches due to issues related to her eligibility. I hope that this gets straightened out quickly because we desperately need help with our serve-receive. (We made a ton of receiving errors.)
- Hanson repeatedly entered the match in the D.S. spot, and served well (no aces/no errors, but lots of points off her serve) and she contributed 4 back-row kills (1 per-set). But she never lined up in position to receive a serve, which is inexplicable to me, because I think Hanson is a better passer than Landfair or Wooker.
- Lastly (for tonight) my prediction of Crowl as our starting Opposite was dead wrong. At least tonight, and likely for the remainder of the season if she plays like she did tonight, Grote is our starting Opposite. She had 11 kills for the match, including 6 in Set 1, to keep the Gophers competitive. (Land fair had 1 in Set 1.) (The freshman Schnichels continues to wear a boot.)
- More to come tomorrow.
STRIB COVERAGE
Reader J.B. calls our attention to “Season Opener” story by Jeff Day in today’s Strib. (I don’t believe the Strib has, in the past, consistently assigned the Gopher V-Ball “beat” to a staff reporter – could that change?) Day’s article was approximately the same length as my post on Wednesday, and referenced pretty-much the same players. Day has access to coach and player quotes, but seems reluctant to point out weaknesses. Day was less Wow-She’s-Great about our new Libero, Murr, than I was; but more Gee-They’re-Good about our trio of Middles, Davis, Awoleye and Minatee than I was. At least in tonight’s match vs TCU, I was right; Murr was terrific (and will be better when our clumsy hitters learn to get out of her way), and our Middles (Davis and Awoleye) were weak. All the more painful after watching Booth dominate the earlier match.) Maybe Minatee is the answer?