Shaff's setting quality is absolutely an enormous liability. Enormous. I don't believe Stella will be the second coming, but I'm convinced that the good things Melani does aside from setting are not as useful as somebody placing the ball consistently and accurately to all of her hitters. Gophers...
With the concerns about Shaffmaster, I think back to an interview Hugh did when Samantha Seliger-Swenson was a senior. He said when asked about what he thought about her first year that "well, she could set well." Shaffmaster is a better defender, blocker and attacker than SSS was as freshman...
I'd argue that the matches were much more close than the score of 3-0 sweeps both days reads. It felt, to me, that only two of the six sets were straightforward wins.
And Rubright and Huseman barely played last season.