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I think it's a matter of having immense focus and will to win in a powerful hitter whose teammates coalesce around her. I remember players like Santana, Wilhite, and Samedy, whose sense of purpose inspired the defense and offense alike. They seemed to inspire the fans, too.

It seemed they played like winners for a set and a half, but then faded from the match. Their hitting was weak.

It's so easy to feel excited about the Gophers' turnaround since mid-season. The talent's there, but it's so hard to speculate beyond the next step. Let's hope for a great things!

I don't want to argue. Mainly I have questions. First, Dueck said she quit because of bad knees. Is it likely her knee problem first popped up in fallball & wasn't an issue before? Hostettler had problems with command. Were those troubles not known about in advance? As I recall, Pease's...

Sounds promising! Btw, who are the other recruits; I guess I forgot them.

I agree. The players attracted after 2019 made a very good team in the field but some didn't stay. With outstanding pitching the Gophers would've won the 2020 BIG title by a good distance. But the pitching was a catastrophe. It's a mystery that the program didn't foresee the potential pitching...

Last year's pitching debacle created lots of uncertainty, which the program seemed unprepared for. If Kinch didn't appear in fallball now, were the coaches not forewarned and actively looking for stability behind the plate as this school year began?

Since Kinch never showed up for fall ball, it seems no surprise she's leaving.

The straight fact is that to win big you have to beat the very best even when the very best is at their very best. If you can't do that, then there's a loss. But even the very best need a few breaks on the way; there's no way to predict that, so just relax and take it a point at a time. My...

We can all wish the Gophers great good fortune in the NCAAs. Their drawback seems to be, as one other poster commented, the lack of a true floor leader who can pull them through to wins v. top 10 teams. That leadership role is more qualitative than quantitative, maybe found in the heart more...

The Gophers teams from 2020 to 2022 show, to me, little resemblance to the squads from 2014 to and 2019. The intensity, focus, and drive often seem lacking. Hard as those qualities are to pinpoint, they're conspicuous when absent. Is the relative letdown due to team attitude, recruiting...

I agree that they were asleep the first two sets. Up 15-12 and then disappeared for a set and a half. Very disappointing! Accentuates a slide downward in the BIG for the program since 2020.

Yes Yes, all of which refers back to the very ponderable question: Why was this coaching change made in the first place? Why so seemingly suddenly? And whose decision was it, the HC's or the AD's? Was the change part of a plan?

I wasn't criticizing you or taking it with a grain of salt. In fact, I kinda agree with you. It's just that I'd like to read something incisive from a VB insider, who really knows the sport and can explain the gradual falloff after 2019.

Unless the new coach is named very soon and is a real sensation.

The average fan, like me, may not know enough about VB to analyze it confidently, but even an amateur spectator can see a gradual downhill slide since 2019. A revitalization is needed.

It could get even better, too. Why not strive for that? A realistic goal each year can be building a consistently powerful program that's always aiming at the NCAA final four. If you get there and keep knocking at the door, then one year a big breakthrough may take place. That's what...

Who's whining? What I hear posters here & on VT stating is their strong wish for (and a belief in the possibility of) a better and even more successful MN VB program, extending all the way up challenging for a NT. I'd say what many posters, me included, are clearly asking is whether the AD & HC...

It might be time to share those concerns? In 2022 no conference title for 4 years, no Final Four for 3 years (not yet anyway), an apparent 4th-place 2022 finish in the BIG, the loss to NE of a much-sought-after committed recruit, the HC's unexpected resignation, who-knows-what transfers out in...