I said I’d be thrilled if the Gophs could win a set in Lincoln, and they did exactly that, Huskers in 4, 12-25, 25-22, 22-25 & 19-25. Third straight loss for our Gophs, though. Some might think it pathetic for a Gopher fan to feel good about losing in 4 sets, but consider that the 25 & 1, #2 ranked Huskers, are unbeaten in Lincoln, haven’t lost a match since Sept 3, and swept Stanford, Louisville, Wisconsin, Oregon and Washington. We broke Nebraska’s 16-set win-streak when we took Set 2. After a dismal Set 1, when the Gophs couldn’t do much of anything right, we played the mighty Huskers almost even the rest of the way. And we did it without Wooker, who didn’t suit up. Not unreasonable to believe that we might have done even better with a healthy Wooker.
Hanson was terrific, with 20 kills (more than any Husker), including 3 from the back-row. Grote was good, with 14 kills. Acevedo, playing for Wooker, started slow (though she did serve well in Set 2), but came alive as a hitter in Set 4, and dug better than I recall her digging previously. We had guests to watch the match on BTN, and avid reader S.H. was very down on Taylor Landfair, who, as I predicted, is a starting Leftside for the Huskers (she had 12 kills tonight). I understand S.H.’s hard feelings, but try not to take it personally. Our mistake, when Landfair was a Gopher, was allowing her to receive serve; she was terrible at it, and I think her failure as a receiver affected her hitting. As I predicted, Nebraska doesn’t let her touch a receive. (Acevedo found her once, and Landfair misplayed it. That felt good.) Except for Set 1, it was great volleyball, with lots of great saves by both teams; I wish the Gophs had played as well last weekend at the Pav. Unfortunately, the Huskers just don’t have many weaknesses, they serve well, dig great, hit great and block great. I’ll be surprised if they don’t make the Final Four.
NEXT UP: Sunday, 2:00, at the Pav, vs Michigan (BTN+) We swept Michigan at Michigan 11 days ago.
After that, we have to travel to Madison, where the Badgers will be hungry for revenge. But then we finish the Big 10 season with 3 “winnable” matches. A 13 & 7 Big 10 finish would be respectable, and definitely worth an NCAA invite.
STRONG ‘25 RECRUITING CLASS
“Signing Day” was this week, and all 4 Gopher recruits signed as expected, reportedly a top-ten recruiting class. Included were Libero McKenna Garr of Rush City, MN, Opposite Carly Gilk of Champlin Park, MN, Outside Hitter Kelly Kinney from West Palm Beach, Fla, and Middle Jordan Taylor from Houston, TX
GILK, A 6-1, left-handed Opposite, Gilk was the #1 rated recruit in MN, and #27 nationally. I made it to the Xcel last week for some H.S.V.B. tournament action, including the opportunity to watch Gilk lead Champlin Park over East Ridge in the AAAA Semis. I did not see the Championship Match (which Champlin Park lost in 5 sets to Lakeville South), but including the Consolation Bracket, I got to see all 8 AAAA teams, and Gilk very clearly stood out as the best player in the AAAA tourney. She hit effectively from the right-side, the left-side, the middle and the back-row, though East Ridge, a very good team, was aware of Gilk’s location at all times, and managed to block her a few times. The exciting thing is that Gilk was also Champlin Park’s best serve-receiver, a skill the Gophers are much in need of.
GARR, led her Rush City team to the State as a Setter and Outside Hitter, but, at 5-7, has played Libero for Northern Lights, and has long been considered the best MN Libero since CC McGraw. I haven’t seen Garr play, but a couple of GopherVBRocks readers saw her in the H.S.V.B. tournament, and reported that she also stood out. You never know how high school performance will translate to D1 ball, vs bigger/stronger players, but Gilk, Garr & Palabiyik (2 years of eligibility remaining) could be a pretty strong receiving corps.
Kinney, a 6-2 Outside Hitter, is at #11, the highest rated nationally among the 4. She led her club team to a National Championship this summer, played on the U19 National Team in 2023 and 2024, and participated on the 2023 U21 National Team at the FIVB World Championships. (Can’t have too many strong Outside Hitters.)
Taylor is a 6-5 Middle. I’m not finding anything about her ranking as a prospect, but 3 weeks ago, she had the 2nd most kills of any HS player in Texas (a big state), and she has the height our current Middles lack.
And don’t forget Stella Swenson. Stella isn’t currently red-shirting because she isn’t ready for Big 10 competition, she’s red-shirting because Shaffmaster elected to use her covid-bonus year of eligibility. If you add Swenson to Gilk, Garr, Kinney, and Taylor, this will make a very strong class of Freshmen next fall.