Home court, field, pool, etc gives the home team advantages, typically reflected in win/loss records. Baseball teams get the last at-bats, hockey teams get some sort of advantage on line-changes (sorry, I’m no puck-head), and familiarity with wind-conditions and line-of-sight back-drops can be advantageous. And then there’s the crowd. A raucous home crowd can pick up the home-team’s spirit and intimidate refs.
Often overlooked, however, is the impact of travel itself. Travel is tiring in the best of conditions, and traffic, flight-delays, and time-zone changes can disrupt an athlete’s personal routines. Little things that sometimes matter. Reader and frequent contributor RA caught yesterday’s post-match interview where Wooker reported that flight problems kept them in New Jersey overnight following the Rutgers Match, disrupting up the team’s rest. A distraction the Gophers overcame, thankfully.
Long-Time Reader GU noticed the eye-catching jump-serves of Buckeye Naomy Govou, “One of the best servers I have ever seen,” and hopes that Govou will avail herself of the portal to wear Maroon & Gold next year.
JOHN: Wooker will be out of eligibility after this season and we will be looking for a dominant Left-side to fill Wooker’s shoes. There are three more Left-sides on the current roster who might step up to fill that role, but I wouldn’t turn Govou away – she led the Buckeyes with 12 kills yesterday.
But as much as it impressed GU, I wouldn’t welcome Govou just for her serve. I wasn’t tracking its impact on the Gophers receive, but the official stats show Govou with zero aces and one error. Top-spin, bullet-like, jump-serves are a major weapon in high-level men’s VB but not, based on my unscientific observations, in the women’s game. Yesterday, the Gophers handled Govou’s impressive serves with minor difficulty; I’ve seen them have more trouble with “floaters” and “line-painters.”