Gophs won 25-18, 25-23 & 25-12, evening their season record at 1 & 1 in matches and 3 & 3 in sets. So “even-steven,” a Seinfeld episode. Given that our #14 ranked Gophs travelled to Sioux Falls to play #12 ranked Arizona State and #13 ranked Creighton, a split was the most likely weekend outcome. If we had won on Friday, I’d have been disappointed. But given our inability to “win the close ones” on Friday, I was delighted to get the split.
The sweeps, though, were a surprise. One might expect 14/12 or 14/13 matchups to go 5 sets. Give our Gophers credit for heart, after losing the first two sets to Arizona State on Friday, we fought hard trying to extend the match – losing the 3rd set 23-25. But on Saturday, Creighton folded.
For the match, Creighton had 21 hitting errors (more than double the Gophs’ 10) and 8 service errors. Their 8 service errors were one less than the Gophs’ 9, but I feel the Gophs’ 9 service errors were spread across 3 sets, whereas the Bluejay service errors were concentrated (6 maybe) in the 2nd set, which they might have won with better serving. (I can still hear the groaning from the Creighton fans seated behind me.)
It seems worth noting that both the Gophs and Jays were playing Sat afternoon following tough Friday evening matches. The Gophs finished Friday’s match at 11pm and started Saturday’s match at 4pm. The Jays finished around 8:30 pm on Saturday, but that was a 5-set match. Then again, these are young women –who should be able to handle a short turn-around better than my 75U men’s team.
On to the details of individual performance. I’ve been writing for months that Wooker’s performance will be a key to our 2026 season, so Wooker’s 18 kill, .421 night in the loss to ASU helped ease my disappointment. Wooker again led the Gophs against Creighton, but with a more modest 10 kills (1 back-row) and .222 %. But on Friday, Wooker had been Stella’s only weapon – much better offensive balance in the sweep of Creighton.
Especially our Middles! On Friday, our Middles posted a total of 7 kills, but 3 of those were by Taylor off of ASU overpasses. So only 3 kills in 3 sets off of passes from Stella, 1 by Blazkova, who started, and 3 by Hoecke who subbed in halfway through the 2nd set. But Saturday, Hoecke played the whole match and posted 7 kills (.500), 4 off slides and 3 off quicks. And Taylor posted 4 kills (.571) 3 of which on passes from Stella. So 10 offensive Middle kills in 3 sets vs Creighton – a huge and must-needed improvement over the 3 vs ASU. Exactly the balance we need to keep the pressure off our pins.
I had predicted, pre-season, that our depth-chart at Middle went Taylor, Minatee, Hoecke, and Blazkova, so I was surprised to see us start Taylor, and Blazkova. Hoecke looked great against Creighton, so maybe I’m a lot smarter than Coach Cook. More likely, Blazkova’s start was injury related. Both nights, Hoecke warmed up with some sort of brace or wrap over her shoulder (her left shoulder, fortunately, as she is right-handed), but took it off to play. Maureen reports (I didn’t catch this) that she puts it back on when she’s not on the court – and she’s a Middle, so half the time.Â
Minatee, coming back from last October’s ACL injury, did not play at all over the weekend. I watched her close during yesterday’s warmups. She looked okay, no sign of favoring a knee. (Despite my role as creator and primary contributor to GopherVBRocks, I have not been given insider access to individual player medical reports). But if Hoecke continues to play like she did against Creighton, Minatee is merely bench-strength anyway,
I am not overly worried about Taylor’s offensive production. Her defensive presence at the net will always be her major contribution, and any offensive kills are frosting on the cake. (BTW, I like frosting.) Taylor only had 2 blocks against Creighton, but she often gets pieces of balls, which are then easier to dig, and she changes the angles on other opponent hits – likely contributing to Creighton’s 21 hitting errors.
Kinney and Gilk were steady, 7 kills and 5 respectively, in 3 sets. I’d love to see those numbers even stronger, which would increase our offensive balance.
But as I said, a weekend split against equivalently ranked teams was statistically likely. And there’s a long season ahead.
NEXT UP: The Big 10/ACC Challenge offering another pair of neutral-site matchups vs strong non-conference teams:
- FLORIDA, #17 ranked, in Madison, this Tuesday, 8 p.m., BTN, and
- AUBURN, unranked, in Madison, this Wednesday, 5Â p.m, FS1.
I will not be making the trip to Madison, but I’ll be glued to the tube – expecting the Gophs to win both.