Driving to the PAV I was thinking that the Coyote players must be mostly girls the Gophers and Huskers didn’t want. I mean who would turn down an offer from the Gophers or Huskers to play in South Dakota?
But when the Gophers warmed up without C.C.McGraw (she did not appear later either, does anyone know?), I started to worry a bit. And then they introduced the Coyote starters – almost all seniors, and I started to worry more. But when the often slow-starting Gophers jumped out to an 8-2 lead in Set 1, I stopped worrying.
I give the Coyotes credit for grit, they fought back to within 1 point at 9-8 and 14-13 in Set 1, and Set 2 was tied at 17-17. But then Samedy crushed one from the back row and I thought, “Hmmm, they don’t see that in the Summit League.” Gophers in 3 sets, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17.
Mainly, the Coyotes couldn’t handle the Gophers’ serves, allowing the Gophers 10 aces in a 3-set match, surely a season high. And Ellie Husemann had 8 blocks, one short of her season high. As usual, Samedy led with 13 kills, 6 in Set 3.
The primary source of drama was McGraw’s absence, which sets off a downward spiral:
- Kilkelly filled in at Libero (she’s not quite as good at serve receive); requiring
- Miyabe to play all 6 rotations, and of course the Coyotes targeted Miyabe, and her serve receives are not quite as good as Kilkelly’s; resulting in more balls that Shaffmaster couldn’t reach; and
- When Shaffmaster couldn’t reach the first pass it is normally McGraw who makes the set; but
- McGraw wasn’t there.
At 4-4 in Set 3, Miyabe limped off the court and was replaced in the back row by freshman Natalie Glenn, who has played hardly at all this season. I didn’t see what happened to Miyabe, so I figured she was out for the match and probably tomorrow night also. But a few points later (the Gophers took an 11-8 lead with Glenn in the game), Miyabe was back on the court. Apparently, something on her knee-brace broke.
The best point of the night was set-point in Set 2. The Coyotes had pulled to within 24-22, and served a tough serve at Miyabe. Miyabe coughed up an over-pass ( a too frequent occurrence), and the Coyote Middle went up to crush it. But Shaffmaster stuffed her for set-point. To the uninitiated, a joust over a ball at the net might look like a 50-50 proposition, and given that Shaffmaster was almost as tall as the Coyote Middle, why shouldn’t she win the joust. But an over-pass is not a 50-50 proposition; the hitter on the other side of the net has the ball coming to her, a major advantage. Players block stuff-the-overpass attempts now and then, but it’s always a great play!
TOMORROW NIGHT: A VERY TOUGH MATCH
Stanford, winners in 4 sets this afternoon over Iowa State. The Gophers beat Stanford on a neutral court in early September, so we ought to beat them tomorrow night at the PAV – even without Landfair.
But if we are also playing without McGraw, this could be tough!