Lincoln is always a tough place to win. The Gophs won there in the ‘22 finale, but not tonight, getting swept 23-25, 20-25, & 22-25. Hard to claim the match was close, but every set was. The Gophs led 22-21 in Set 1 and 19-18 in Set 3. The Gophs’ weakest showing was in Set 2, where they got down 6-14, but even then they rallied to within 2 at 14-16.
I assume that the stats will say that the Huskers outhit the Gophers, but that was just their middles. As usual, the Gophers had strong offense from our pins, I had Wooker with 10, Landfair with 7 and Grote with 6, plus 3 backrow kills from Hanson. Our middle offense was non-existent, I had Davis and Owoleye with 1 kill apiece, both off quicks. (Okay, Davis had 2, but 1 was off an overpass.) Owoleye did rack up 6 blocks in 3 sets. Apparently, Owoleye ranked #2 in the Big 10 in blocks coming into the match, ahead of, among others, Carter Booth.
And I assume that the stats will say that the Huskers outserved the Gophers, but does it really count when you’re serving at Landfair all night? As usual, Landfair received fairly well most of the match; I had her with 6 receiving errors (in maybe 25 to 30 attempts?), but 3 of those errors came during a mid-Set 1 run taking the Gophs from 13-13 to 13-18, and though we did have a come-back, that 0-5 run hurt our chances.
It is not just the Gopher’s serve-receive that separates them from the elite teams, it’s their floor game in general. I felt like the Gopher hitters, the pins at least, pounded just as many hard-hit balls past the blockers as their Nebraska counter-parts. But a lot, maybe half of the Gophers-hits were dug up; much less by the Gophers.
I can’t help but feel like playing without a true D.S. is part of the problem. The Gophs continue to sub Julie Hanson in where the D.S. would be, but Hanson is not a D.S.; she’s a back-row hitter. Hanson is a terrific back-row hitter, which helps offset our almost total absence of middle offense. But we need a real D.S.! I was hoping it would be Palabiyik, but she’s eligible now (she played versus Highpoint), and she’s not out there. Maybe she’s not that good?
GOPHER NOTES: Wooker continued her aggressive serving. I had her with 1 ace vs 2 errors, but her aggressiveness took the Huskers out of system several times, creating scoring opportunities fro the Maroon & Gold. Shaffmaster did not attack as often as I want her to, recording only one kill, I think. The Gophers used the 6-2 with Crowl & McGhei, but only briefly.
HUSKER NOTES: Eagan’s Kennedi Orr likewise set briefly for the Huskers when they used a 6-2, but they mostly played a 5-1, using a talented freshman setter. Freshman Libero Laney Choboy, originally promised to the Gophers, who defected to the Huskers when McCutcheon left, did not play.
NEXT UP: Michigan at the Pav on Friday, 6:00, BTN+ (I think there are tickets available.) And
#15 Penn State at the Pav on Sat, 8:00, BTN We need a sweep.