Volleyball Earns #1 Seed, Packs Bags

The joy over the Minnesota women’s volleyball team earning their first #1 NCAA tournament seed (4th seed overall) in program history was dampened slightly when the team realized that it was being sent to New Haven, Connecticut for the first two rounds. While top seeds are usually protected, the NCAA’s desire to cut costs often leads to top seeds traveling far distances to play three teams from the same geographic area. On the bright side, if a team is traveling to New England to play volleyball you can bet that the opposition is weak. Such is the case for the Gophers, as they square off with Long Island University (32-6) in the first round on Thursday afternoon at 4:30 CST. The second match of the sub-regional features the Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs (17-7) against American East champion SUNY-Albany (27-6).

The other seeded (overall) teams in the Minneapolis regional are #5 Ohio State, #12 Tennessee and #13 UCSB. Volleyball pundits generally felt that Minnesota received the easiest route to the Final Four, especially since the Gophers get the privilege of hosting their own regional. Nationwide, Big XII champion Nebraska received the overall #1 seed, Big Ten champion Penn State earned #2, while WAC champion and undefeated Hawaii was awarded the third seed. The biggest storyline in the first two rounds is Hawaii traveling to Fort Collins, Colorado and possibly having to take on unseeded, yet 9th ranked Colorado State on its home court in the second round.

While the opposition in the Gopher’s sub-regional all have decent-looking records, they haven’t even come close to the facing the rigors of playing a top schedule like Minnesota (28-4). Coming off of a second-place Big Ten finish, including beating their final five opponents by a combined 15 games to zero, the Gophers should roll over the competition in Connecticut. It is safe to bet that Minnesota will be the best team the opponents have ever faced in their lifetimes.

Long Island University, the first round opposition, is coming off their first-ever Northeast Conference title, and are playing in their first NCAA tournament. The Blackbirds have players representing six different nations on their roster and feature a strong attack and a scrappy defense. LIU is led by 6’1 Middle Blocker Cristina Pintilie of Romania who has had a stellar season, hitting .361 with 4.1 kills per game. Additionally, Pintilie has recorded 52 services aces this season to only 34 errors, an amazing number. The Blackbirds also feature a first team all conference setter in Ivana Vasiljevic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 5’6 senior setter not only leads the conference in assists per game, but also is effective at “˜dumping’ the ball, when the setter fakes the set and hits off the pass. The third player of note for LIU is outside hitter Dana Demayo of Israel. The 5’11 sophomore is second on the team, smashing home 3.6 kills per game while receiving the bulk of Vasiljevic’s sets. While Demayo’s hitting percentage is a pedestrian .216, she leads the team in digs and will try to give the Gopher hitters fits while she patrols the back-row.

Although the Blackbirds have had a good season, this match should a blowout for the Gophers. The best way to slow down Minnesota is to get touches on their hits. Statistically speaking, LIU is a poor blocking team, which most likely means that they also struggle to get decent touches on the block. If Erin Martin and Trisha Bratford are allowed to hit without a strong block, they can compile huge numbers very quickly. Additionally, LIU’s setter is only 5’6, so unless she has a great vertical jump, expect the Minnesota hitters to eat her alive when she’s in the front row. The Gophers should have this one in the bag before the majority of Minnesota fans get home from work.

In the other match, Yale should be favored over SUNY-Albany, but it wouldn’t be too surprising to see this match go either way. On that note, I’ll recap the Gophers match with LIU and presumably have a preview for a Minnesota vs. Yale/Albany tomorrow evening.

All Big Ten

Three Gopher players were honored by the Big Ten for their performances this season. Junior libero Paula Gentil was named All Conference and Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season after breaking the Big Ten’s game, season and career digs records this season. Senior Erin Martin earns her first All Conference honors after putting together a great offensive season. Sophomore Kelly Bowman also earned All Conference for the first time in her career, most likely because of her versatility as a setter and a quality hitter in the 6-2 system.

All Big Ten:

2004 ALL-BIG TEN TEAM
Jessica Belter, Sr., OH, Illinois*
Lisa Gamalski, Sr., S, Michigan
Kim Schram, Sr., OH, Michigan State*
KELLY BOWMAN, So., S, Minnesota
PAULA GENTIL, Jr., LIB, Minnesota*
Erin Martin, Sr., OH, Minnesota
Stacey Gordon, Sr., OH, Ohio State*
MARISA MAIN, So., S, Ohio State
Syndie Nadeau, Sr., OH, Penn State
SAM TORTORELLO, Jr., S, Penn State*
KALEENA WALTERS, Jr., LIB, Penn State
Kim McConaha, Sr., MB, Purdue
SHEILA SHAW, Jr., MB, Wisconsin*

2004 ALL-BIG TEN HONORABLE MENTION
RACHEL VanMETER, Jr., OH, Illinois
Katie Pollom, Sr., MB, Indiana
RENATA DARGAN, Jr., S, Purdue
Jill Odenthal, Sr., OH, Wisconsin

2004 BIG TEN ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
JEN HYNDS, MB, Illinois
KATIE BRUZDZINSKI, OH, Michigan
MAGGIE GRIFFIN, S, Michigan State
AMI STEVENS, MB, Ohio State
KATE PRICE, OH, Penn State
JACKIE SIMPSON, S, Wisconsin

2004 BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Stacey Gordon, Ohio State

2004 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
PAULA GENTIL, Minnesota

2004 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
KATE PRICE, Penn State

2004 COACH OF THE YEAR (COACHES/MEDIA)
Jim Stone, Ohio State

* Unanimous Selection
Players in ALL CAPS have 2005 Eligibility
13 Players Named to All-Big Ten Team Due to a Tie