Reader R.M. writes: “Thanks John, I like reading your perspective on the games, and was especially looking forward to this one.
I was surprised that Hugh put in players that we seldom see in such a critical game. But Wenaas was definitely not herself last night (I hope she is back on her game soon, I love watching her) and Crowl held her own, as did Davis. Landfair, McGraw and Shaffmaster were amazing. It always amazes me when a player can bring their best to every game. We all have days when we don’t feel well, didn’t sleep (especially during midterms and finals), get sick, etc. It’s remarkable that they can be as consistent as they are.
Hopefully last night’s game was a one-off for Wenaas and Husemann, and it gave some other players good playing experience — we need them for backup. They did quite an impressive job, which bodes well for future matches!”
Reader R.A. writes: “McKenna Wooker, playing mostly front-row, got 16 kills and hit .452, and she attacks every swing when others are tentative. I would like to see her play the full 6-rotations vs MSU to see what she does; I groan every time she is removed. Landfair may have gotten 21 kills, but this was playing 6 rotations, and her 21 kills were offset by 9 attack errors (she hit 194), 2 service errors and 2 receiving errors. Wooker still makes freshman mistakes, but the best corrective for that is playing time. Crowl, Gros and Davis all were admirable when they took over for Wenaas, Husemann and the missing Booth.”
JOHN: I assume that the number 1 recruit in the country has skills that go beyond hitting, and that Freshman Wooker is a good passer and an at least adequate server. Earlier in the season, I too was lobbying for her to play 6 rotations.
Then there was the recent match where McGraw got six-packed and had to sit out, shifting Kilkelly to Libero, and leaving Wooker to play all 6 rotations for a set. It was ugly! This doesn’t change my mind about Wooker becoming an effective 6 rotation player – but she is a freshman; McCutcheon didn’t play Wenaas or Landfair 6 rotations when they were freshmen either.
Other readers besides R.A. have been critical of sophomore Landfair. Her hitting % isn’t great and she has (officially*) shanked 18 serve receives. But
- Landfair ranks 12th nationally in kills per set, .07 behind Purdue’s Eva Hudson, and .08 ahead of Texas’s Logan Eggleston. Only one of the 10 hitters above these three, Southern Cal’s Skyler Fields, plays in a power conference. So it is fair to say that these 4, Fields, Hudson, Landfair and Eggleston have been the most productive four hitters in D1 volleyball.
- Statistically, Landfair‘s serve receiving is right there with Kilkelly, whose primary job is serve-receive. (Interestingly, McGraw, who is responsible for at least one-third of the court on every Gopher serve-receive, ranks 4th on the team in serve-receive opportunities — because opposing teams are afraid of her. Increasingly. for good reason, opposing teams are also afraid of Wenaas. So everybody picks on Landfair and Kilkelly.)
- Another reason McCutcheon plays Landfair in the back row is that, so far this season, Landfair has been our only back-row hitting threat.
* The official Gopher stats only count serve-receive-errors on balls shanked out of bounds; they don’t track “bad” serve-receives. So Landfair and Kilkelly hurt us worse than the official stats reveal.
MCCUTCHEON RUMOR OVERHEARD AT THE PAV:
Rumor: McCutcheon will be taking a job with USA Volleyball focused on promoting Boys/Mens volleyball.