Friday night, while most of you were watching women’s basketball, Maureen and I drove down to Faribailt to watch the Gophers exhibition volleyball match vs Iowa State. Which the Gophers swept, 25-19, 25-15, 26-16 & 25-19. (Exhibitions are generally 4 sets, regardless.) Not sure how strong Iowa State is expected to be this year, but the Cyclones are coming off a season when they finished 11 & 7 in the Big 12, and made the NCAA Tournament (a first-round loss to Hawaii), so they should be decent – and yet the Gophers dominated throughout.
- One caveat: Teams typically sub liberally in these 4-set exhibitions, but the Gophers did not. We played Oloweye & Minatee all 4 sets because they’re the only two Middles on our Spring Roster (not a big deal during the Spring exhibition season). Neither Oloweye or Minatee were great last year. I had Oloweye with 4 kills (all quicks) and 3.5 blocks, and & Minatee with 8 kills (including 3 slides) and 1.5 blocks against ISU. These are respectable stats for 4 sets – against a strong opponent – but ISU was not.
- We couldn’t go into the fall season with only two Middles. Fortunately, the Gophers have acquired a third Middle from the portal, Excelsior’s Kali Engeman, transferring home from Georgia Tech to enroll in the Carlson School of Management. When she’s eligible in August, Engeman will address the depth issue. But her stats, 9 kills and 7 blocks for the Yellow Jackets last season, are not inspiring.
- The Gophers also played Wooker, & Hanson all 4 sets. Our third Leftside Hitter, Olivia Swenson, was dressed and available, but never played. (More about Olivia below.)
- I wish I could report how much the Cyclones used their bench, but I was unable to keep track of this.
The Gophs did sub at other positions:
- In Sets 1 & 3, we played Shaffmaster (in a standard 5-1); in Set 2, we played Shaffmaster and McGhie in a 6-2; and in Set 4, we played Stella Swenson in a 5-1.
- Palabiyik played Libero in Sets 1-3, but she was replaced by Gray for Set 4, and even Ng appeared briefly.
- Grote played Opposite in Sets 1 & 3, and red-shirt Freshman Schnichels played Opposite in Sets 2 & 4. (Crowl was present but not dressed, presumably with some minor injury.)
WHAT I SAW WAS:
- A team that looked a lot like the ‘23 Gophers, with Wooker (11 kills and 6 blocks) & Grote (10 kills and 3 blocks) dominating the scoring (although Wooker’s 6 blocks were surprising). Wooker, serving aggressively, also led the team with 5 service errors. (I continue to believe that we need to have Wooker serving, and serving aggressively. But she needs to cut down on her error rate.)
- Hanson, the heir-apparent to Landfair, had 4 kills and 1 block. We’re going to need more from her.
- Palabiyik looked good; I think she will be an adequate Libero. Gray looked awful, I think McGhie will end up as our D.S.
- The trio of Wooker, Hanson & Palabiyik handled almost all serve-recieving – and were adequate.
- Schnichels (2 kills and no blocks) also looked adequate; but nothing to make me think that she will challenge Grote and Crowl for playing time. (This was, however, the first time I’ve ever seen Schnichels play, so I don’t want to judge unfairly.)
- The debuts I was looking forward to were the Swenson sisters, especially Stella, and I was very impressed. Long-time readers know how much I loved Samantha, and Stella looks like the second-coming of her three-time All-American older sister.
> On one particularly interesting play in Set 4, the first touch had popped the ball high but way off target. McGhie (our incumbent 2nd-string setter) now on the court as D.S., was well positioned and called for the ball. Stella ran over McGhie, knocking her aside, and making a perfect set. And sending a message, “When I’m on the floor, every second touch is mine.” (To the uninitiated, Stella’s behavior might sound rude. But this is exactly the attitude we want from our setter.)
> I can’t see Coach Cook benching 5th-year senior Shaffmaster, even if Stella is better.
> I can’t imagine Stella wanting to red-shirt.
> Reader T.R. wants Shaffmaster to play Middle this year, but I don’t see that happening either.
> My idea is for the Gophers to play a 6-2 this fall (which elevates Crowl into the regular line-up).
> But I don’t know what Cook is planning, or will end up doing. I will be very interested to see what Cook does.
- Sister Olivia was dressed, and hit in warmups, but never took the court during the match – despite the fact that she was/is our third Leftside Hitter. My guess is that Cook doesn’t want to rush “high school girls” into these spring exhibition matches; and unlike Stella, Olivia seems unlikely to challenge established starters for playing time. I hope Olivia turns out to be a legitimate D1 player, not just Stella’s sister, who we gave a scholarship to to make the family happy. (There’s yet another Swenson, currently a H.S. sophomore, and also a setter. Imagine the ‘26 & ‘27 Gophers playing a Swenson-Swenson 6-2!)
UP NEXT: (Two more Spring Exhibitions)
- Marquette, at the Pav, 4:00, next Saturday, April 13;
- U of Illinois, at Waterloo Wis. H.S. (East of Madison), at 1:00 the following Saturday, April 20.
So unless you’re headed to S.E. Wisconsin, next Saturday is probably your best chance to see the Gophs this Spring. I’m hoping to be there, but I do have a conflict I’ll need to resolve.