This will sound harsh to many Gopher Volleyball fans but the departure of Engeman, and word is Schnichels too, is opening up IMO scholarship money for two much needed IMPACT portal players to join the Gopher roster this fall. Both these players, as I understand are outstanding human beings, who didn't see much playing time last year, if any. The same held true this spring. Again, IMO the departure of third string players needs to happen in order for our program to get the players they do need to fill a competitive starting lineup without taking steps backwards.
Wucherer has carried medical issues now almost her entire time as a Gopher. So many people are still singing the praises of K Kinney and she has yet to hit the court as Gopher. Who is getting the OH nod besides Hanson and what if she went down for the season? Also, I am gathering that Acevedo might not be making big enough strides to fill that other OH position, as the team really needs her to.
I am not getting great vibes when reading posts on the Opp position either with Gilk or Crowl...especially if we are looking at a 6R Opp. I haven't been reading great improvement on Thibault and it looks like Garr still needs more work in her game to take over the starting DS position on this team. Let me add there was a lot of hope before Spring with our new Freshman Gilk and Garr as possible starters but so far it doesn't appear to be so. However, Taylor is a completely different story at MB.
Fans are talking about Stella's defense needing improvement and how the Gopher's offense fell so flat, when Lee was brought in as the starting setter this Spring. Right now if N Coleman and K Cook cannot land two significant starting players in the portal, my hopes for a better upcoming season are dwindling. I still see it as a 2025 Gopher Volleyball Team with so many question marks left to be answered.
www.instagram.com
