[Very busy day, yesterday, didn’t find time to write this until this morning. I guess most of you already know how it went.]
Our Minnesota Gophers and the Oregon Ducks went into yesterday’s match at the PAV with identical conference records of 9 & 5, predictive of a competitive match, two prospective Sweet-Sixteen teams, perhaps. But this illusion was shattered as soon as play began, Ducks in three, 14-25, 20-25, & 21-25, the first time we’ve been swept at the Pav in over two years. Honestly, Oregon played great, like a potential Final Four team, and our Gophs played like a team likely good enough to earn an NCAA invite – but unlikely to advance.
The most glaring difference was in the blocking. We had 3 blocks in the 3 sets, vs about 15 for Oregon, but the difference was worse in Set 1, where they out-blocked us 0-6. No wonder we got crushed. I mentioned 2 things in my brief scouting report; that the Ducks play a 6-2 (which gives them a slight advantage in blocking, but one mostly negated by the fact that Shaffmaster is a strong blocker), and that they play a “high-tempo” offense. This means that their sets are often “flat,” giving opposing blockers less time to set their blocks. Meanwhile, our mediocre serve-receive (mediocre being a big improvement over our performance vs Washington), combined with our lack of Middle-Offense, means our sets run highly-arced, giving opposing blockers more time.
Calissa Minatee, one of our “starting” Middles, has been respectable on offense, but has struggled all season to get outside quick enough to help block an opponent’s pins, and was worse than usual in our last couple of matches. Reacting to this, Coach Cook benched her for Sets 1 & 2, in favor of Kali Engeman, surely a good volleyball player, but not Big 10 quality. Engeman couldn’t get there either. Cook went back to Minatee for Set 3, which helped a little, but not enough.
I don’t want to catastrophize; 3 of our 4 reliable players performed well. Hanson had 18 kills (more than any Duck) and was responsible for a 4-point surge in Set 3, Shaffmaster posted her 12th double-double of the season, and Palabiyik played well. Grote not so much, only 4 kills through 2 sets, and was benched for Set 3, in favor of Crowl. I’m guessing the thinking was that Crowl is maybe a stronger blocker – but very unproductive on offense. (Interesting quote from Cook on the official Gopher Website, “It’s tough to hear, but we were making too many changes and we don’t want to be doing that at this time of year.” Who is responsible for that? If one were to scroll backwards through GopherVBRocks to last January, one would read me screaming about the need to recruit better Middles! Engeman and Crowl were not the answer.)
The situation with Wooker is complicated. She is our only hitter who ever scores on a dink, and she got a couple in Set 1 when nothing else was working, and her serve-receives were adequate (a big improvement). But midway through Set 2, she went down while attempting to save an awkward ball, and got up very slowly. Cook left her in for one more point, and took her out. Acevedo was not the answer either, so. Wooker came back in the middle of Set 3, and earned a couple of power-kills. But didn’t look right to me. She sat out several entire matches earlier in the season with an “undisclosed” injury (I think it’s her lower-back); I don’t think Wooker has been 100% healthy at any time this season, and still isn’t.
Speaking of injuries, play was stopped (during live action) with Oregon Opposite Sophie Gregoire lying on the floor (I did not see her go down). After a lengthy delay, Gregoire was basically carried to the Gopher locker room (a flight of stairs is required to reach the Pav’s visiting locker room). Lower-leg, I think, I hope she’s okay – but I’m guessing not.
NEXT UP: It gets worse before it gets better, Thursday, Nov 14, 8:00, BTN, at Lincoln. The #2-ranked Huskers opened the season at #2, dropped to #5 following a loss at SMU, and have won every match since, including last Thursday’s sweep of the Ducks at Eugene. They also swept the Badgers at Madison and swept at Louisville.
When Landfair transferred to Nebraska, I predicted that our 2022 Big 10 Player of the Year would be a star hitter – but never be allowed to touch a serve. A newcomer, Landfair had to prove herself, but has done so and is now one of the Huskers starting Leftsides. And besides not letting her play back-row (as the Gophers did) the Husker coaching staff has devised a clever way to keep opponents from targeting her when she’s front-row. At least in her 2 “corner” receives, Landfair stands just barely in-bounds (VB rules require that), and takes 2 quick steps out-of-bounds as soon as the server contacts the ball – hard to “target” a player who’s out-of-bounds.
I won’t say it is impossible for our Gophers to avoid their 3rd straight loss, that’s what makes sports fun. But I would be thrilled if the Gophers could win a set.