The Gophers escaped Evanston with a 4-set win, 25-27, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23, to complete a desperately-needed weekend sweep, but it wasn’t easy. The 26th-ranked Gophers are now 8 & 6, tied for 5th place in the Big 10 and just a game out of 3rd place, whereas the never-been ranked Wildcats are 6 & 8 and tied for 10th place, the difference being the Gophs homes & home victories over the Cats. So the Gophs are clearly better, right? Hardly. In the last 22 days, the Gophs have played 9 sets against the tenacious Wildcats. The Gophs blew the Cats away in the first set at the Pav, and the Cats blew the Gophs away in the Set 2 at the Pav. But the 7 sets since have been decided by a maximum of 3 points.
The difference today, was reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair. There were matches this season where Landfair looked nothing like the Big Ten’s best player, often not even the Gophers best player. But she looked every bit of it today. Grote (13 kills) and Wooker (11 kills) contributed, as did Shaffmaster (3) and Davis (3), but Landfair’s 25 kills (at a .392 clip) dominated the match. When Landfair was in the front row, the Cats knew she was going to get the set – and they couldn’t stop her.
If the match had been best 2 of 3, sets to 15 but only the serving team can earn a point (i.e., pre rally-scoring) the match might still be going. In 1992, I attended the National 18U Boys Championship match (at Disney World) between a Southern CAL club and a Northern CAL club, played under these old rules. The Southern Boys had a 6-10 Middle who, even back row, hit over the top of the triple block; and the Northern boys had an opposite who was only 6-4, but was built like a linebacker (he was actually committed to USC to play linebacker), and who hit the ball off the triple block so hard that it landed in the stands. Both teams had great serve-recievers which allowed them to tee up every serve up for these unstoppable hitters. No one could earn a point. I think the best 2 of 3, sets to 15 went about 5 hours.
Today’s Set 4 had some runs, a couple early by the Gophs to achieve a 17-11 lead, and then a couple by the Cats to pull ahead 21-22. But Sets 1, 2, & 3 were like that 18U Boys match I still remember, two consecutive points were rare.
Notes:
- Northwestern’s Set 1 setpoint came on a receiving error by Wooker.
- Murr’s always spectacular digging was especially spectacular on a couple of points late in Set 2.
- The Gophs had 7 aces and 9 service errors in 4 sets, and the Cats 9 aces and 8 errors, so basically a wash.
(It was hard on my nerves to watch my favorite team, our Gopher Vballers, and my second favorite team, the Vikes, go down to the wire almost simultaneously. Fortunately, for me, the Gophs were streaming on BTN+ which I could pause when things got tense in Atlanta, without missing anything. If the Gophs had been on live BTN, I would have sprained my thumb — and or driven my bride to shoot me.)
THE REST OF THE WAY: This weekend’s sweep pushes The Gophs’ Big 10 record to 8 & 6. If we can split our last 6 matches, 5 of which at the Pav. to reach 11 & 9, I think our strength-of-schedule should get us into the NCAAs. Next up:
9 & 5 and #19 ranked Purdue;
At (our only remaining road match) 7 & & Indiana;
Iowa;
6 & 8 Ohio State;
8 & 6 Illinois; and
Unbeaten and #1 ranked Nebraska.
Iowa is the only push-over in the group, but I remain confident that the Gophs can win 3 of these matches. (Maybe more?)
Meanwhile, the Minnesota State H.S. Volleyball Tournament will be played at The Xcel this coming Wednesday through Saturday, This will include an unbeaten (maybe unbeatable) Wayzata squad featuring the Gopher-bound Swenson Sisters. But even the smaller schools reaching the State Tourney play great volleyball. And you can watch two matches at once – without a remote!