One can think of the Gopher Volleyball season as having 3 parts: 1) The non-conference season, just complete; 2) The Big 10 season, about to start; and 3) The NCAAs. It’s a little early to talk much about the NCAAs, but this is a good time to review #1 and look ahead to #2.
NON-CONFERENCE REVIEW: The Gophers started with a pre-season ranking of #7 in the country, an honor that surprised some GopherVBallRocks readers, still mourning the loss of our coach and three starters. But despite a 4 & 4 record, we enter the Big 10 season ranked #12. (3rd highest in the Big 10 (Wisconsin & Nebraska, both unbeaten, are ranked #1 & #2).. #12 might seem generous, but the 4 losses came to Florida, currently ranked #3, Stanford, ranked #4, Texas, ranked #9, & Creighton, currently ranked #11, i.e., no teams ranked lower than us. The 4 non-conference wins included Oregon, currently ranked #6, and Baylor, currently ranked #18. Penn State, Ohio State & Purdue are ranked just behind us.
Assuming, for the sake of discussion, that these starting-the-Big 10 rankings accurately reflect the quality of these teams, it appears that the Badgers & Cornhuskers will battle for the Big 10 Title, while our Gophs compete with Penn State, Ohio State & Purdue for third place. The Gophs first opportunity to upset the apple-cart comes Sunday, at Lincoln. As a team, the Gophs outside hitting has been very good, their middle hitting not-so-much, their serving has gotten better of late, but serve-receive remains their Achilles heel.
INDIVIDUALLY:
- I wasn’t certain, going into the season, who the starting Opposite would be, but transfer-acquisition (from Cal), Lydia Grote, has answered the question decisively. Putting up Samedy-like numbers, she has surpassed my wildest expectations,. In some sets, especially in First Sets, she has often been our only effective hitter. If Coach Cook was key to recruiting Grote, I’m impressed, already.
- Our transfer-acquisition (from Ohio State) Libero, the reigning Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Kylie Murr has been great. She has not surpassed expectations – only because expectations were so high. (I think Shaffmaster recruited Murr.)
- Our Sophomore Left-side, The Wooker, is good. Despite an off-match vs Creighton, this #1 recruit in the Class of ‘22 and All-Big 10 Freshman pick last year — despite missing a good chunk of the season with an injury, is better than ever, now a 6-rotation player and right on track for stardom. With 108 kills in 32 sets, she leads the team by a wide margin.
- Our huge senior Setter, Melanie Shaffmaster (she has a covid bonus year of eligibility, assuming she chooses to take it), a pre-season All-Big 10 pick, continues to improve year after year. This year, her digging has been better, and she has been attacking “twos” more than ever – which helps keep the defense honest. Shaffmaster’s right knee is a MAJOR CONCERN.
- Taylor Landfair, the reigning Big 10 Player of the Year, counted on to lead the team in kills, has been disappointing, so far – and it’s not clear why. With 79 total kills, Landfair has been merely okay, keeping pace with Grote (way behind The Wooker), but with a weak hitting % of .123, due to her many errors. Her error rate seems to come from her trying too hard – which seems to come from her inability to put balls away with a normal effort. Her in-bounds spikes look good, but opponents seem able to dig them with ease. One possible explanation is that being part of the Gophers’ serve-receive (in most rotations), Landfair is often targeted by opposing servers. This is problematic in two ways: it wears her out; and I think her struggle to handle the pressure of serve-receive has affected her confidence. Then again, Landfair has had health issues in the past; there might be something with her health that we don’t know about. Whatever the reason, Landfair is not producing like she did last year. A MAJOR CONCERN.
- Arica Davis is our one Middle returning from last year, and she has performed as expected. With 14 kills (almost all on “quicks,” Davis has been moderately effective, but not dominant. She is not effective on “slides” (where the Tapp Sisters made their impact), and Davis is not an effective blocker. At 6 ft tall, she is short for a D1 Middle Blocker, and there is not much she can do about that.
- Senior (I think, like Shaffmaster, she has a covid bonus year of eligibility if she chooses to take it) transfer-acquisition (from Georgia, via Loyola Marymount) Phoebe Owoleye seems to have more upside (6ft 2, anyway). Until recently, I thought Owoleye was the opposite of Davis, i.e., strong blocker, weak hitter. But she showed some offensive potential (quicks & slides) this past weekend.
THE BENCH
- Sophomore Julia Hanson (Prior Lake) has been a very pleasant surprise. Playing almost exclusively in the back-row, Hanson has contributed 24 kills (21 of them back-row). Given our lack of middle-offense, Hanson has helped keep our outside-only focus from being too predictable. I wish she could receive serves.
- The Gophers desperately need an effective DS, if for nothing else than to reduce the receiving pressure on Landfair. The most likely choice is freshman Zeynap Palabiyik. Palabiyik was a late arrival from Turkey, where she was considered the #1 U18 Libero in Europe, and apparently wasn’t eligible when the season started. She played recently, vs Highpoint, did not look good, and then did not see the court vs Ceighton. Let’s hope that was just jitters,
- Junior Skylar Gray (Maple Grove) would be another potential option for DS, but she has not impressed in her brief appearances so far.
- Prior to the start of the season, I thought red-shirt Sophomore Lauren Crowl (from Eagan), a 6-4 lefty with a powerful arm, was a serious candidate for starting Opposite. But Grote answered that question. For now, Crowl’s primary role is to replace Shaffmaster in the front row, when Senior Setter Elise McGhie subs in for Grote, in a change-the-look “6-2.” Both players seem adequate in this role; but I do not see an expanded role for either. McGhie also serves sometimes, neither harming nor helping the team much.
- Freshman Calissa Minatee is our 3rd Middle. Minatee has seen action when Davis or Owoleye are unavailable or struggling, and I assume she will play this role throughout the season. It would be nice to see her “claim” a starting-role by outplaying Davis or Owoleye, but no sign of that so far.
- Freshmen Opposite Sydney Schnichels (Wilmar) and Setter Chloe Ng (Vancouver B.C.) look like red-shirt candidates.
At Iowa on tonight, 6:00 on FS1. We’d better win this one.