It almost doesn’t get any better. Coach Zimmer’s Vikings beat the Packers on a chip-shot field goal as time expired, and a couple hours later, Coach McCutcheon’s Gophers served at match-point three times, late in the 4th set. But the Gophs couldn’t quite put it away, and the Badgers came back to win in 5 sets, 24-26, 25-19, 25-27, 28-26, 15-12.
SET 1: The Gophers started slow, as they often do, falling behind 0-6 and 4-12, before closing the gap on a run that included 2 aces by Katie Myers. After finally earning a 20-20 tie, the Gophers again fell behind 22-24, before a final run that included 2 aces by Steph Samedy to win the set.
I feel like the Gophers’ consistently slow starts are caused by McCutcheon’s desperate search for a balanced offense – which unfortunately is almost never available, The Gophs inability to generate any hint of offense from their middles (at any point during the match) was compounded, in set 1, by Airi Miyabe’s matching ineffectiveness. Miyabe came out tentative and seemed completely over-matched by the Wisconsin players across the net. It is shocking that the Gophs could steal Set 1 with only 2 hitters (Samedy & Jen Wenaas).
SET 2: The momentum we should have had from the thrilling come-from-behind-win vanished during the break, and the Gophers started slow again, trailing 2-7, and never getting any closer than 3 points.
SET 3: “Slow start by Gophers” is an understatement for the beginning of Set 3; the Gophers were down 1-9 by the time the ladies in front of me returned from the restroom. The Gophers chipped away and chipped away, but at 19-23, it felt too-little, too-late. Then surprisingly, Miyabe came to life, getting 3 kills in an 8-5 run to win Set 3.
SET 4: A complete reverse of sets 1 & 3. For a change, it was the Gophers who came out strong, on effective hitting from all 3 “pins,” Samedy, Miyabe & Wenaas, taking leads of 6-2 and 11-7 (our only leads of the match), before the persistent Badgers pulled back to an 18-18 tie. The Gophers got to match-point at 24-23, 25-24, & 26-25 – we could taste the victory. But the Badgers wouldn’t quit.
SET 5 was, in a sense, the least dramatic. The Badgers eased ahead by 1, then later by two, and eventually by 3. A bitter loss – to a very good team.
Samedy finished the match, her final performance at the PAV (barring possible post-season, NCAA action, keep your fingers crossed), with 31 kills and 20 digs. Wenaas, who was solid all night, finished with 20 kills and 15 digs. And Ellie Husemann, replacing Rubright in the lineup contributed 9 blocks! (No offense, unfortunately.)
FANTASTIC VOLLEYBALL
Maybe as good a collegiate women’s match as we have ever seen or will ever see. I say this for several reasons:
- A 5-set match, between two strong teams, with 3 of the 5 sets going into overtime, and all 3 of the overtime sets won by teams that had trailed by at least 6 points.
- Both teams were led by 5th-year seniors who had already been stars for 4 years, and were then granted a 5th year of eligibility due to covid. (Unlikely to be repeated.)
- And the Senior Night performance of the AMAZING Steph Samedy. Wisconsin’s Dana Roettke and Sidney Hilley are both tremendous volleyball players with profession careers awaiting, and their team beat the Gophers home-&-home and will likely win the Big Ten.
But if the folks who get to pick the Big Ten Player of the Year saw this match, there is little doubt that Samedy will win again (as she did last season). She might well win National Player of the Year (I haven’t seen everybody, but can’t be many like her).
Maybe a third of Samedy’s 30 kills came off of perfect sets, and when Samedy gets perfect sets, she hits 1.000! Wisconsin was, on occasion, putting up triple-blocks of 6-6, 6-8, and 6-9, but the 6-3 Samedy was pounding the ball right over the top of them and down to the floor before the Badgers’ strong defensive players Barnes and Ashburn had a chance to dig them.
Somebody will play right-side hitter fro the Gophers next year, probably somebody good. But we will never see another Steph Samedy.
NEXT UP, A RUGGED FINAL WEEKEND:
- Friday at Penn State, 7:00, on BTN. Penn St. beat our Gophs in 3 sets at the PAV.
- Saturday at Maryland, 6:00 on BTN+. Maryland sits 9th in the Big Ten, BUT one of Wisconsin’s 3 losses was at Maryland, and the 2nd match of back-to-back road matches can be hard on a team with so little depth as the Gophs.
- Selection Sunday – when we find out where and against whom the Gophers will begin their NCAA effort.