It wasn’t pretty, but the Gophers hung on to beat Michigan, 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11, running their season record to 2 & 0 in 5-set matches. The Gophers seemed the better team all night long, and maybe even the Wolverines knew it, but when the score was 7-7 in the 5th set, it was not at all obvious that the Gophs would win their Big Ten Opener.
SET 1: The Gophers led all the way, but never by much. Very much a team-effort, with contributions from Shaffmaster, Wenaas, Husemann. Miyabe, Samedy and McGraw.
SET 2: Tied 6-6, the Gophs jumped to a 15-7 lead, mostly in rotation 1, with Kilkelly serving behind a front line of Wenaas, Husemann. and Samedy, especially Samedy, who continued to pound the ball even when rotated to back-row. It helped that the Gophers had zero serve-receive errors through the first two sets, and minimal serving errors.
SET 3: The teams traded runs, with the Gophs leading 5-2, trailing 10-12, leading 17-16, trailing 19-23, and pulling to within 23-24 before Wenaas blasted one just wide to give Michigan the set. A big problem mid-set was 3 consecutive missed serves by the Gophs. (A missed serve now and then is part of the game, but volleyball is a game of momentum, and 3 consecutive missed serves hands the momentum to the other team. Very hard to win a set, at any level, when you miss 3 in a row.) Michigan also began serving more aggressively in Set 3, causing serve-receive errors by Miyabe & Kilkelly, and generally causing poor first passes. The Gophers hit a pathetic .133 for the set.
SET 4: Michigan led most of the way. The Gophers pulled close a couple of times, but never regained the momentum. Mid-set, Landfair came in for Wenaas (more about that below); and late in the set, Rubright came in for Husemann. Landfair and Rubright both contributed, but too little, too late.
SET 5: The set was tied 7-7, but the Gophers dominated the rest of the way behind Samedy and Landfair. Both had multiple hard-kills, and both also scored on roll-shots (weaker than a full swing but stronger than a dink).
THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE MYSTERIOUS
GOOD: The amazing Steph Samedy racked up 30 kills. The gophers competed mid-net; Husemann and Myers each had kills off of quick-sets from Shaffmaster. Both had blocks, as did Rubright. And I felt that the Gophers were very good all night at “covering their hitters;” a ton of the Gopher attacks were blocked (thus the low hitting percentage) and a few got down for block-kills. But the Gophs dug up most of the shots Michigan blocked, keeping the play alive and often winning the point. This was an overall team effort, with almost everyone contributing. Plus CC McGraw continued her great overall play; she served well, dug well, set well, and generally was all over the court helping her team in a variety of ways. And the fact that the Gophers were able to take charge midway through the 5th set was encouraging.
BAD: The Gopher offense continues to be overly-reliant on outside hitting. We try to compensate for our lack of a consistent middle attack by setting Samedy and Wenaas in the back row. Samedy is effective hitting from the back row, but Wenaas is not (at least not yet). I worry about wearing Samedy out, especially given that the 2021 off-season was so short. We also ran a slide to Myers a couple of times, but I don’t remember it ever working.
MYSTERIOUS: Coach McCutcheon is still trying to figure out his lineup, and Landfair’s mysterious injury (she doesn’t get any attention from trainers) doesn’t make it easier. At least we know it’s an injury; you don’t sub her in at a critical part of the match if she’s in the dog-house. And she was terrific, notching 8 kills in the equivalent of one full set, on maybe 10 or 12 swings. So why isn’t she starting?
Apparently, Landfair has an injury that prevents her from playing a full match — but doesn’t prevent her from standing with the other bench players through the first 3 ½ sets (and even dancing, as reader D.S. points out), then jumping on a stationary bike when she gets a nod from McCutcheon, then entering the match and hitting about .800! Apparently something with her right leg. I hope it heals soon; we should be able to handle Maryland on Sunday without her, but the Gophers will need Landfair at full strength to compete next week at Madison.
MORE MYSTERY: When Landfair came in, it was for Wenaas (rather than Miyabe). And Wenaas, who is an excellent passer, continued to play back-row for Landfair. I thought Wenaas had a good match overall, with 11 kills & 3 blocks in 3 ½ sets, and a ton of serve receives through 5 sets. But when Wenaas looses her confidence, or gets tired, or whatever, she stops crushing the ball and reverts to dinking. Even from the back row. And she’s not good at it. Dinking can be very effective, but it works best after you establish the threat of POWER. Neither Michigan, nor any other Big Ten team, is frightened of Wenaas’s power from the back row.
Interestingly, Michigan targeted Wenaas with their serves all night long – even when Landfair, who usually gets targeted, was on the court. It makes sense to avoid McGraw and Kilkelly as much as possible, and Wenaas was the next easiest target. But I thought she did great receiving serves. Maybe it got her tired?
AND MORE MYSTERY: In Friday morning’s Strib preview of the Michigan match, they reported that there were 10 seniors on last season’s (last spring) All-Big Ten team, and 9 of the 10 were currently using their Covid-Bonus season of eligibility. Who’s not? Regan Pittman. In a previous post, I had asked if anyone had any idea why Pittman declined her opportunity for a Covid-Bonus season of eligibility (at least so far, theoretically she could play next year). Or even knew where she was? What she’s doing? I still don’t know.
TOMORROW: Maryland