It appears, as of 9:50 a.m. this morning, that the Gophers’ season will resume tonight, vs the unbeaten and #1 ranked Badgers, at the PAV, 7:00 on BTN. And if so, you don’t want to miss it! I assume that the Badgers would have travelled yesterday, and wouldn’t have done that without assurances that the match is on.
Lots of DRAMA, lots of QUESTIONS: * Can the Gophs handle the Badgers? Our Gophs have legitimate National Championship aspirations, and the Badgers are one of a small handful in their way. The Badgers deserve their #1 ranking in the sense that they finished 2nd to Stanford last year (2019), having that team back (Stanford lost most of their team to graduation), and are unbeaten.
- But are the Badgers really that good? They haven’t played any of the top teams (MN, NEB, O-STATE, P-STATE). They swept a decent Purdue team, at Madison, in the first match of the year, but Purdue was missing their best player.
- And how rusty will the Badgers be? They haven’t played anyone in 4 weeks due to covid. Practice helps, but it’s never the same.
- Who will be in uniform for the Gophers? Star Middle Regan Pittman played brilliantly last weekend vs Illinois, but the other middle position (you need two) was filled by super-sub Miyabe, who, at 6ft, is not really a middle. Our other 3 Middles, Myers, Rubright and Husemann were not dressed vs Illinois. (No explanation available.) Wisconsin’s best player is their 6-8 senior middle hitter Dana Rettke; Pittman struggles to hold her own with Rettke, and Myers or Rubright will too; but Miyabe, good as she is, has no chance.
- Will Thursday’s match get rescheduled? The Gophers were scheduled to play at Madison last Thursday. A split of this home-and-home series would have left the Badgers, now 10 & 0, at 11 & 1, still ahead of the Gophers, now 11 & 1, at 12 & 2. But the match at Madison was “postponed” by the Gophers, because, due to covid, the Gophs “didn’t have enough healthy players at the right positions,” i.e., Middles.
- How loudly will the Badgers to scream “foul” if we beat them tonight? A win tonight at the PAV would put the Gophers at 12 & 1, ahead the Badgers at 10 & 1. And unless some of the cancelled matches get made-up, the Gophers (who should win the rest of their scheduled matches) could easily maintain this advantage through the end of the season and into the seeding for the NCAAs