Mixed feelings: Should we be frustrated and worried, or grateful and excited, about the Gophers’ performance against Illinois over the weekend?
Case for frustration and worry:
- How and why could our Gophers, 11 & 1, 5th-ranked nationally, 3rd place in the Big 10 (but maybe 1st in the Big 6) struggle to beat lowly Illinois (2 & 10, tied for 12th in Big 10), a team now on a 10-match losing streak?
- And struggle they did. In Friday night’s match (which I didn’t see), the Gophs were apparently pathetic in the 2nd set, and unable to win a close 3rd set, so trailed 1 set to 2 sets going into the 4th set. And after winning the 4th set, were tied at 8-8, and led only 12-11 before winning the match on unforced errors by the Illini. And even in Saturday’s 3-0 sweep, the 1st set , in which Illinois committed 5 service errors, was 19-19, before the Gophs pulled away. And the Gophs trailed 22-20 in the 2nd set. I’d call that a struggle.
- The Gophers are 33 & 13 in sets-played, while Wisconsin, next week’s opponent, who the Gophers aspire to compete with, is 30 & 3 in sets-played. We were 6 & 4 against Purdue; the Badgers 6 & 0 against Purdue.
- And following back-to-back weekends of matches cancelled/postponed due to covid, we seemed to have lost 3 of our 4 Middle-Hitters. Super-sub Miyabe filled in ably against Illinois, but she’s not really a Middle. Myers, Rubright and Husemann were unavailable; the Gopher web-site provides no information on this and the Strib probably didn’t notice, but none of these 3 were in uniform last night. Two of the 3 (I think Rubright and Husemann, it’s BTN+) were with the team in the bench area, wearing hoodies, but I never caught a glimpse of a third (presumably Myers). This is particularly worrisome going into Thursday/Sunday matches against Wisconsin, who happen to have the best pair of Middles in the country.
Case for gratitude and excitement:
- Despite their struggles, the Gophers are 11 & 1 in the country’s strongest conference, and 5 & 1 vs the top teams (MN, WIS, O-ST, NEB, P-ST & PURD); impressive compared to WIS (2 & 0), O-ST (3 & 1), and NEB (2 & 2). Even a split against Wisconsin next week would almost guarantee the Gophs a top-4 seed in the NCAAs.
- The Gophers, 4 & 0 in 5-set matches, and very tough when both teams have 20+ points, seem to have an “extra gear when they need it the most. (Except for that Sunday morning match at Lincoln, let’s not do that again.) Seniors Samedy and Pittman tend to “disappear” at times, but dominate in these clutch situations. And this experience in tight sets and tight matches should be an asset in the NCAAs.
- And, as noted early by reader D.S., this team has great depth, persevering when freshmen Landfair and Shaffmaster were struggling, in the absence of libero McGraw (again, in last night’s 3rd set) and this past weekend, missing 3 of our 4 Middles.
YESTERDAY’S DETAILS
The big story was the Pittman’s 13 blocks, a Gopher record for blocks in three-set match. Pittman recently had 14 in the Gophs’ 4-set win over Nebraska. Pittman started the season slow, not getting the sets she need from her freshman setter, and not blocking especially well. But she’s really coming on, and demonstrating the leadership expected from a 4th-year starter. This coming week against Wisconsin will be her toughest test of the season.
The 1st set was ragged; the Gophers led most of the way, but not by much, in a 25-21 win. Samedy was quiet, but Rollins’ 4 kills & 1 block, and Pittman’s 2 kills & 3 blocks, together accounted for 10 points, and the Illini had 5 service errors!
The Gophers had early leads of 4-1, 7-3, and 12-6 in the 2nd set, but at 16-14, the Illini ran 4 pts to take an 18-16 lead, and stayed ahead of the Gophs at 22-20. Illinois committed 4 more service errors during the 2nd set, but they offset this with 4 aces. And they were dinking the Gophers to death, taking advantage of Shafmaster’s lack of quickness. But trailing 20-22, Samedy (as usual) took over the set with 4 clutch kills in the last 6 points, for a 25-23 win.
Whether it was Illinois’ 10-match losing streak, Friday night’s loss after leading 2 sets to 1, their collapse (at Samedy’s powerful arm) in Saturday’s 2nd set, Pittman’s incredible blocking throughout the match, or an understandable combination of all 4, the air went out of the Illini balloon. From a 10-10 tie, the Gophers went on to a 25-13 win. Shaffmaster redeemed herself with a great dig, of a dink similar to a couple she didn’t get in the 2nd set.
UP NEXT
Though this year’s Big 10 schedule is mostly back-to-back weekend matches in the same building, the schedule-makers gave each team one home-and-home vs a geographic neighbor, and this week sends the Gophers to Madison for a 7:00 game on Thursday, and the Badgers here at the Pav at 7:00 on Sunday. Both games on BTN. More later re this critical Gopher-Badger match-up.