A successful trip to Maryland for our Gophers, running their match record (which is what counts) to 4 & 0, and their set record (bragging rights only) to 12 & 0. Absent non-conference competition, it’s hard to know how good Maryland is, but the Terps went 5 sets in both matches at Ohio State the previous weekend, so they can’t be that bad.
The 3rd set of the weekend (on Friday) was the most dramatic. After dropping the first two sets, the fired up Terps led the inconsistent Gophs for most of the 3rd set on the way to a 23 – 19 lead. After a timeout, the Gophs won the side-out and then, with Kilkelly serving, ran 5 more points (6 counting the side-out) to save the set 25 -23. Rollins got the set-winning block.
The 4th set of the weekend (1st on Saturday) was the second most dramatic. The Gophs had a comfortable lead for most of the set, but pissed the lead away late, to create a 22 – 22 tie, before winning 25 -23. Rollins got the set-winning kill.
Overall, I give the Gophers an A-. The A for sweeping 6 sets against a decent team, and the minus for the inconsistency that led to a 23 – 19 deficit in that 3rd set. (Plus, I’m saving A and A+ for matches against stronger teams.)
INDIVIDUAL PLAY:
Rollins, McGraw, Kilkelly all played well, I give them a collective A-. (Wenaas, Miyabe and McMenimen did not play.)
Samedy continues to demonstrate, set after set, why she is an All-American and the leader of this team; I give her an A+. Samedy crushed the ball from the front row, she crushed the ball from the back row, she blocks, and she digs. And when the team struggles and is in danger of dropping a set, Shaffmaster and anyone else handling a two-ball looks for Samedy, and Samedy puts it away.
Pittman is also a legitimate All-American, who also does everything well. She blocks, 2nd on the team with 11, she serves aces, leads the team with 7, she hits, 8 kills in 9 swings for the weekend, and she even sets. (I have no doubt Pittman would play setter if McCutcheon let her.) And not to take anything away from Samedy, I sense that Pittman is the emotional “heart” of this talented squad. I give Pittman an A for the weekend. The problem is that the connection between Shaffmaster and Pittman is still shaky. Pittman got 8 kills in 9 swings this weekend, but I think 6 of the 8 kills were on “overpasses,” i.e., sets from the other team; not from Shaffmaster. (Consistently, during the McCutcheon era, the Gophers have been exceptional at putting away overpasses.) The “connection” problem is likely more on Shaffmaster’s end, but Pittman’s a senior and Shaffmaster’s a freshman, so there’s that.
Landfair: My personal fan-hope for this second week-end, was to get freshman Taylor Landfair, the #1 rated recruit in the country, going. (I shared last week my thought that Landfair has the potential to become Gopher V-ball’s G.O.A.T.) Last week, Landfair started tentatively, blocking well but not hitting efficiently, and eventually got benched. And she came out tentative again during Friday’s 1st set. But she came on strong as the weekend progressed, tying Samedy with 20 kills for the weekend. And she didn’t match Samedy only in statistics, she matched Samedy in raw, how-could-anyone-dig-that power. I give Landfair an A-.
Shaffmaster, to me, plays like the talented, highly-rated, freshman that she is; which is to say, showing both great potential and noticeable flaws. I guess I’d give her a B+ for the weekend. On the positive side, Shaffmaster (last week’s Big 10 Freshman of the Week) played every point in a 6-set sweep, running her total assists to 99 in her first two weekends of collegiate play, and she has a remarkable 15 kills (more than the combined total for Gopher setters last year) and a team-leading kill rate. Though not our primary weapon, this is significant in that Shaffmaster’s potential to attack the 2-ball will make it much harder for opposing teams to focus on other Gopher Hitters. And her blocking improved over the first weekend. On the negative side, Shaffmaster doesn’t have the quickness of a Seliger-Swenson (admittedly an un-fair expectation) and she hasn’t found her middle-hitters yet. Hopefully, the latter will come as the season evolves.
Myers came to Gophers with a stronger rep for blocking than hitting, and so far, that’s who she is. After 4 matches, she leads the team in blocks (19 in 12 sets), but ranks 6th (in a 5-1 system) in kills. I give her a B+. Hopefully, her “connection” with Shaffmaster will improve, but it’s not like the Gophs are short of offensive weapons.
UP NEXT: The schedule gets much tougher from here (at least until mid-March). This week the Gophers travel to #13 ranked Purdue, (Friday at 6:00 – BTN, and Saturday at 4:00 – BTN+), for their toughest test so far. (Let’s hope the Gopher Women V-ballers represent better than the Men’s B-ballers did yesterday.) Followed on successive weekends by Penn State here at the Pav, and Nebraska at Nebraska.