I could be over-thinking this, but I believe that our ‘25 Gophers are at a major point in their season, from which things could go very well – or very poorly.
Our pre-season ranking was #14. I thought 14 was a bit high, and it was assuming a completely healthy and deep team. We lost our season opener, on a neutral court, to a good Texas A & M team. Despite a couple injuries, we then rattled off 12 straight wins, mostly sweeps. The competition during this run was on the weak side, but among the 12 victories were a 4-set win over a strong South Dakota State squad at the Pav, and a sweep of Marquette at Marquette, followed by a Pav sweep over a decent Michigan State squad and Rutgers. Bumping our National rating to #10.
I was feeling confident, and more importantly, so was the team. Coach Cook was feeling so confident that he subbed Olivia into an undecided third set against Rutgers – which didn’t go well at all! I was surprised by this, certainly not something McCutcheon would have even considered, but Cook pulled Olivia out in time to save the sweep.
Two readers chimed in on this:
CB: “I think Coach Cook is smart to play his bench when he has the chance, it’s good for team morale, generally. And maybe especially playing Olivia occasionally, because there is this question about whether she really belongs on this team. Also, using Olivia against Rutgers in that third set pushed the team’s back up against the wall. There will be other “pressure-situations” like this in our future.”
RA: “I was there, and Rutgers was no rout. Sets 1 & 3 could easily have easily been lost and we would have been down 1 set to 2 going into Set 4. I love these freshmen, but there are a bunch of Big Ten teams that are better than Rutgers, and I think this team is going to struggle.”
BACK TO JOHN: There was never a moment during the Rutgers Match that I felt, that the Gophers felt, that they could lose that match. And I liked the “no-sweat, we-got-this” swagger that these freshmen bring. Maybe this team is better than I thought they were.
Then, with injuries mounting, the wheels fell off. We lost in 4 sets to a Michigan squad that had been swept by an MSU squad that we swept a week earlier. We had two excuses: 1) On top of losing Palabiyik for the season, Garr was out, leaving us with Thibault and no D.S. and 2) It was this freshman-dependent team’s first Big Ten road match. And Garr is back, so maybe a one-off bad day. We beat Northwestern at Northwestern.
Then the embarrassing sweep at the Pav by UCLA. OUCH! The Bruins are a good team but they aren’t Nebraska. Down 4 players for the season, now including Acevedo who had been our one fast-starter in previous matches, the Gophers played poorly until late in Set 1, too late for a mini-rally to make any difference. We carried the momentum into Set 2, but couldn’t even win that set. We played pretty good defense in Sets 2 & 3, but generated hardly any offense.
R.A. commented on that also: Mid-Set 1 I told my seatmate we would be swept. Even Hanson’s 13 kills (with a pathetic .083, dragged down by roll shot after dink after roll shot. All match, weak receives leading to poor passes to Stella, leading to poor sets that led to dinks and rolls. Gophs were a team completely out of system and off their game. They looked confused and frustrated, not sure what to do. Stella was just as frustrated. I hope we can handle Ohio State. If not, the season is in trouble. Hopefully, Coach uses rest of this season to teach them how to get past ups and downs up their play without falling into frustration.
BACK TO JOHN: If they play like they did against UCLA, through these next 5 matches, these Gophers will lose every match and have no chance of even making the NCAAs. I do believe that they are capable of playing significantly better. Cook is out of options for lineup changes, or Xs & Os. Motivation gets tossed around, but this is more about regaining their confidence in themselves and each other.
I did a lot of coaching with significant success in 3 sports at a variety of levels — all together, well over a thousand “games” with an overall record in the .600 to .650 range. And I can remember 3 pre-game or halftime speeches that fired my team up enough to make a difference. Maybe I was just bad at pep-talks, but my thought is that the “change” the Gophers need has to come from inside the 8 remaining starters.
They need on-the-court LEADERSHIP. Stella plays the position best suited for being the one — but she is clearly frustrated and seems to have lost confidence in herself. Hopefully that’s temporary. Hanson is the most skilled and most senior player on the team — but may not have the personality. Joe Mauer was a superstar, but not at firing up his team. Lindsey Whelan, nowhere near as talented as Mauer, could put a team on her back. Maybe there are others among the remaining 8. I sure hope so, we need our confidence back.
SOMETHING TO WATCH FOR:
In the recent losses, the Gophs have really struggled with serve-receive. And unfortunately, the Buckeyes #10 has a killer serve. We can survive a OSU ace now and then, but if #10 (or others) can generate 4 or 5-pt runs, that can destroy confidence faster than anything.