Not counting last week’s “exhibition” vs Northern Iowa, our #7-ranked Gophers kick off their season with “Big 12 Challenge” (the Big 12 seems to have 13 teams for volleyball, so they are slightly better at math than the Big 10) matches vs unranked TCU on Friday at the Pav (7:00), and #15-ranked Baylor on Sat (also at 7:00) The Baylor Match should be on BTN; not sure about the TCU match. For hard-core V-Ball fans (and Sconnies), Wisconsin will be playing 4:30 matches vs Baylor on Friday and TCU on Sat, also at the Pav.
SETTLING ON A LINEUP
Red McCombs once described the NFL season as “the most dramatic portion of any sport season.” Then again, Red was a used car salesman at heart, given to exaggeration. What Red referred to was the drama of players battling for starting roles, and roster spots.
The Gopher Volleyball non-conference schedule differs (from what Red was trying to promote) in two ways: the roster is set, so less drama there; but these games count! They count big-time for rankings (especially for teams playing the rugged schedule the Gophers have) and for NCAA-seeding, especially for teams that finish in the 2nd quartile of the Big Ten (i.e., 4th through 7th). But they don’t count as much, in my mind, as Big Ten Matches. There is, never the less, a bit of McCombsian drama in figuring out who our “starters” will be.
I expect the 2023 Gophers to play a 5-1 plus a Libero and a D.S. i.e., 8 starters, including: 2 Leftside Hitters, 2 Middles, 1 Opposite, 1 Setter, 1 Libero and 1 Defensive Specialist. Barring injuries (which are part of all sports), 3 players are “locks,” i.e., certain to be season-long starters — subject to health-concerns, but not to performance:
- Taylor Landfair is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year; Landfair will be one of our Leftsides;
- Kylie Murr is the reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year; Murr will be our Libero. (You are going to LOVE Murr); And
- Melani Shaffmaster, a 4th-year starter, and pre-season All Big 10er will be our Setter. She has gotten better each year, and has no serious challenger on this roster.
And it would be surprising if The Wooker (All Big 10 Freshman Team last year) is not our other starting Leftside. I’m not calling Wooker a “lock” because I can see a scenario in which Julia Hanson might edge Wooker out. As the name implies, hitting is a Leftside Hitter’s primary responsibility; Hanson is a very good hitter, but Wooker is better. However, in a standard 5-1, the Libero plays back-row for the Middles, and the D.S. plays back-row for the weakest passer among the 3 Outside Hitters, leaving the other 2, often the Leftsides, to play 6 rotations. (Jenna Wenaas, far-and-away our best-passer among last year’s Outside Hitters, plays for Texas now.) Frankly, none of our projected starting Outsides are great passers – but Hanson is – and Wooker might be the weakest! Landfair will play 6 rotations. If neither Wooker or Crowl (who I project as our starting Opposite) can step up their passing game, Coach Cook could decide to play Hanson in front of Wooker.
The fifth most likely starter will be Lauren Crowl at Opposite. Crowl red-shirted, behind the All-American Samedy her first year, and played some behind Wenaas last year. My impression of Crowl, when she did get in, was that she hit the ball hard – but without great results. I also felt she lacked confidence, which can happen to 2nd-stringers. But Samedy and Wenaas are both gone, Crowl started Set 1 vs Northern Iowa, and she pounded the snot out of the ball. (Remember, Sara Wilhite, who became an All-American, rode the bench her freshman year.) Senior Transfer Opposite Lydia Grote also looked good vs Northern Iowa, and could challenge Crowl for starting Opposite. Sydney Schnichels, a highly recruited freshman from Wilmar, is also a candidate for Opposite. But she watched the exhibition vs N.I. from the bench with her foot in a boot. Given her injury, and the experience in front of her, I imagine Schnichels will red-shirt this year. My sense is that the position is Crowl’s for now.
Our starting D.S. remains a bit of a mystery, given that she has yet to play a single volley for the Gophers, but I assume it will be freshman Zevnep Palabiyik, who just joined the team after playing for her native Turkey in the U-18 European Championships – where she was considered the #1 U-18 Libero in Europe. Palabiyik was presumably recruited to be our Libero next year, and could, conceivably, red-shirt this year. Or, theoretically, she could compete with Murr for starting Libero this year – but I can’t imagine any 18 yr-old beating out Murr. Best guess, if she was really the #1 U-18 Libero in Europe, and healthy (she was on the bench in street clothes for the N.I. exhibition), Palabiyik will be our D.S. this year, and step into Libero next year.
There are other potential D.S. Candidates:
- Junior Skylar Gray from Maple Grove has “seniority,” but I have not been impressed by the small sample I’ve seen. (I’m sure Gray is a fine person and a good volleyball player, but I don’t see her as the Gophs’ starting D.S.)
- Setters often have the skills to play Libero, and the roster includes two back-up setters who might play Libero in a pinch, senior Elise McGhie, a transfer (last year) from Kansas (a strong server), and freshman Chloe Ng from Vancouver, B.C.
- But if Palabiyik isn’t as good as advertised, the most likely choice would be reserve-Leftside Hanson. (Assuming she isn’t hitting.)
But if you’re looking for Red McCombs drama, keep your eyes on the Middles. There are only 3 of them on the roster, none bring the height I’d like to see at Middle, and none of whom have yet to demonstrate the extraordinary talent which would compensate for their lack of height. But we need 2 in the lineup for every set.
- Junior Arica Davis, the shortest at 5-11, is also the most experienced. She started for Ohio State as a freshman (making Big Ten All-Freshman) before transferring last year. Last season, Davis was one of 4 Gopher Middles competing for playing time, with Carter Booth (now a Badger), clearly the star. In terms of season stats, Davis finished in a 3-way tie with Huseman and Gros — but most of Davis’s production came toward the end of the season, by which time she had established herself as our “other” starting Middle. She blocked surprisingly well for an undersized Middle, and she was effective on “quicks.” (Not so much on “slides.”)
- Senior Phoebe Awoleye, the tallest at 6-2, is the 2nd most experienced. Awoleye played two seasons at Georgia, making SEC All-Freshman her first year, then last year for Loyola Marymount, making First-Team All WCC. She looked okay, but not dominant, vs Northern Iowa. She seemed better at “slides” than Davis.
- Freshman Calissa Minatee, 6-1, from Kansas City, the #56-rated player in the class of 2023, is the least experienced, and got the fewest opportunities vs N.I. So she is not a starter, for now. But freshman get better as the season progresses, and it’s not like Minatee is stuck behind studs like Hanson is at Leftside. My best guess is that our 2 starting Middles will be in flux all season.