I was excited to learn of the Gopher’s “spring season.” I was less excited about driving 2 hours each way to watch them play South Dakota in Blue Earth. But every Saturday since Christmas we’ve had a grandkid playing volleyball, or basketball, or wrestling, or swimming, not to mention 3 weeks of “home school” during the teacher’s strike – and suddenly that’s all over, at least until baseball starts. And it wasn’t even snowing, so why not?
The match started at 2pm. doors supposed to open at 1:30. When we arrived at 1:30, the parking lot was almost full. No line, they must have let ‘em in early. It was a standard, modern gym, with folding bleachers on either side. Only one set of bleachers was unfolded, and it was 90% full, a half-hour before the match. But we found good seats next to some locals (welcome, new blog-reader Tara). They eventually unfolded the other side, which was half-full by the time the match started. BTW, the Gopher swept 4 sets, 25-17, 25-19, 25-12 & 25-22 from the Coyotes.
As we drove down to Blue Earth, I had lots of questions regarding our 2022 Gophers, many of which, but not all , were answered:
- Do Spring Games count? NO, these are “scrimmages:” with an almost packed house and a electronic scoreboard, and neutral refs.. But, oddly enough, no line-judges, wearing practice jerseys (the “returning” Gophs had numbers; the “new” Gophs did not), and as noted, a 4th set though the Gophs had won the first 3. The good news, for Gophervolleyballrocks readers, is that the Gophs got to play their entire roster (I think).
- Is Landfair really healthy? YES, based on what we saw at Blue Earth HS. Landfair looked incredible, crushing the ball from the front row, crushing the ball from the back row, at least once from the Middle position, blocking a bit, even passing pretty well. Can’t tell you how long that will last, but she looked like the old “shock and awe” Landfair, at least against the over-matched Coyotes.
- Are the rest of our returning stars healthy? YES, Wenaas played like the Wenaas we know and love. not as “shock and awe” as Landfair, but every bit as effective. McGraw played like the McGraw we know and love, Shaffmaster played like the Shaffmaster we know and mostly love, and KIlkelly and Husemann played like KIlkelly and Husemann.
- Are the incoming freshmen as good as their ratings suggest? YES, # 1 overall national recruit O.H. McKenna Wucherer looks like the # 1 overall national recruit. 6-7 Middle Carter Booth looks 6-7, and blocks like 6-7 (she didn’t play in the 1st set, more about that below) and hit okay. And O.H. Julia Hanson looked decent for a spring-freshman.
- Are we going to get any help from the transfers? POSSIBLY, I’m not ready to write them off after one spring scrimmage, but setter McGhie and Middle Davis both struggled in their Gopher debuts. McGhie, who played the 2nd set and part of the 4th is probably quicker than McMenimen, but I don’t see her challenging Shaffmaster for a starting role. Davis also played the 2nd & 4th sets with mixed success.
- Help from the bench? POSSIBLY, Redshirt freshman Libero Skylar Gary turns out to have a nasty serve. Sophomore O.H. Natalie Glenn kept her killer-but-often out-of-bounds serve under wraps, putting the ball in play on every serve but without much on it. And otherwise playing like the Freshman Glenn, digging great, but hitting with mixed success. Sophomore Opposite Anna Wolf played the 1st & 4th sets, with mixed success. And Redshirt freshman Opposite Lauren Crowl played the 1st & 4th sets, with mixed success.
- Who will the 2022 Gopher Opposite? PROBABLY CROWL?. The only “Opposite” on the roster, Crowl is the obvious choice; she’s 6-4 and left-handed, an advantage for an Opposite. She rode the bench healthy last year, but she was presumably recruited specifically to replace Samedy – and then BigTen Player of the Year Samedy ended up playing a covid-bonus year – no wonder Crowl red-shirted.
- What are the other options? WUCHERER. Left-side is her natural position and she’s amazing! If she plays regular left-side for the Gophers, she’s a lock for Freshman of the Year and probably First-String All Big Ten. But she played Opposite in the 3rd set – and struggled; she is definitely better on the left-side. But Landfair is back, as is Wenaas. And I’m telling you, Wucherer is too good to sit on the bench. I think Hanson played Opposite the 2nd set (did I mention the newcomers didn’t have numbers?) with mixed success. And Hanson served well. I keep thinking Glenn, a left-handed O.H. capable of crushing the ball, for Opposite. But if Coach McCutcheon was ever going to play her at Opposite, these spring scrimmages would be the time to try it, and he didn’t today.
- And who will the 2022 Gopher Middles? PROBABLY HUSEMANN AND BOOTH. Husemann and Wolf started the match, probably out of respect for their seniority. But Booth stood out as our best Middle today. And Husemann beat out Rubright last year. Like our starting opposite, it may take a while to figure this out.
- And finally, are the Gophers loaded? ABSOLUTELY!