2017 Volleyball

Donate To GopherHole
Ski U Mah Gopher

Ski U Mah Gopher

Member of the Tribe
Joined
Nov 12, 2008
Messages
7,944
Reaction score
1,246
Points
113
The thread is started on Volleytalk, so why not here:

Here's the roster for 2017

Seniors:
Goehner
Rosado
Lohman
Beal

Juniors:
Seliger-Swenson
Buford
Beckley

Sophomores:
Hart
Morgan (RS)
McLean
Litzau

Freshman:
Pittman (RS)
Martin
Samedy
Kleiman
Zeimann
Barnes
Neilsen

I see Hart moving into the 6-rotation spot. Her serve received improved during the season.

I also see Beckley moving into Schau's role as a DS. She was adequate in the weeks while Goehner was out.

The big question is who replaces the Tapps on the right-side, and who is the #2 pin hitter?

I didn't see Pittman in the scrimmage do any right side hitting, as she was more of a pure middle, not a RS or slide hitter. But she might end up as the answer on the RS. Samedy will probably come in as the other RS. Or Morgan might do some RS, if her knee holds up.
 

Hi Ski U Mah,

Samedy is going to be the RS next year without question. She's phenomenal. Highest rated recruit in a longgggg time for the Gophers, and they've had some high recruits come in. Pittman is going to take the second middle spot along with Lohman next year. Methinks Martin takes OH2 and is subbed out for a DS in the back. I agree with you, Hart is going to transition to a 6-rotation role next season.
 

I agree Samedy will be RS and Pittman second middle without question.

Regarding subs, I wonder if there is a possibility Beal's role can be more than a rarely used blocking sub. Has anyone seen if she can hit? I'm hoping Taylor Morgan can get 100% healthy and become a dynamic force on the court to match her personality on the sideline.

I'm just hoping we can be the Stanford of next year with a lot of youth (although not nearly as tall).
 

I hope Hart can be a six rotation player; but she struggled serving (although she did stop that backward look tic) and the transition will take some effort.
 

http://www.twincities.com/2016/12/16/gophers-volleyball-team-should-come-back-stronger-than-ever/

Chris Hewitt on next year (I sure hope Hewitt continues to write Gopher volleyball):

Minnesota will return junior middle blocker Molly Lohman, who hasn’t been set as much as Wilhite and the Tapps but who is the team’s most efficient hitter, as well as freshman Alexis Hart, who made the Big Ten’s all-freshman team. Next season also should feature the first playing time for highly-ranked 2016 recruit Regan Pittman. The 6-foot-5 middle hitter didn’t play this season and, presumably, will get a redshirt year.

To replace the seniors, Minnesota is bringing in what is likely to be a top-five recruiting class, led by right-side hitter Stephanie Samedy.

The Floridian, who has competed on the junior national team, was ranked the nation’s No. 5 incoming player by Prep Volleyball. Another top-20 player is outside hitter Jasmyn Martin. Ranked No. 16 nationally, she played at Hopkins High School with Gophers setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson, who will continue to quarterback the team.

Other options at outside hitter are Texan Sydney Kleinman and Alice Zeimann, who, like Minnesota coach Hugh McCutcheon, hails from New Zealand and plays for that country’s national team. Setter Sara Nielsen and defensive specialist Lauren Barnes round out the class.
 



Samedy was named the Team East MVP at the Under Armour All-American game last night.
 

http://www.southlakepress.com/sport...samedy-named-top-volleyball-player-in-florida

Samedy named Florida Miss Volleyball:

Stephanie Samedy remembers when she wasn't a very good volleyball player, but that's certainly no longer the case.

The East Ridge senior's drive and determination to be the best was rewarded recently when Samedy was named Miss Volleyball for 2016 by the Florida Dairy Farmers following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of coaches and media.

Samedy, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, had previously been named the Class 8A Player of the Year. She received 158 points, including nine first-place votes in the final voting for Miss Volleyball...


Samedy led East Ridge to a 21-4 record as a senior and a spot in the Class 8A regional semifinals. It marked the deepest postseason run for the Knights since 2003 when they advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals.

Her final stat line was impressive: 442 kills, 189 digs, 38 service aces and 25 blocks.
 

From everything I've read, Samedy is an absolute stud and will step in right away. Martin is also very good and is set to join the team this winter which will give her a leg up in preparation for next season. Add in the fact that Seliger-Swenson, Lohman, Goehner, Hart and Rosado all return to go along with having Pittman waiting in the wings and the team will have plenty of talent. There will probably be some early growing pains, but all things considered, this looks like it will be another very good team next year. Will it be Final Four good? Not sure, but I figure this is at least a top-15 team next season.
 



Don't forget McLean, who also was a very highly regarded recruit. They will most likely take a step back, but still be very good. The current seniors have been a pleasure to watch the last four years.
 

beavergopher said:
Don't forget McLean, who also was a very highly regarded recruit. They will most likely take a step back, but still be very good. The current seniors have been a pleasure to watch the last four years.
Click to expand...

McLean will get some swings too I would think. Taylor Morgan is kind of a wildcard with her injuries and Maddie Beal is also an option at the net. Should be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
 

Who are the scholarship players?

I believe every D1 team gets 12 scholarships. We obviously have a much bigger roster than that. Which girls are on scholarship>
 

http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/011717aaa.html

Hugh promoted to the role as president of FIVB Coaching and Technical Commission.

University of Minnesota volleyball head coach Hugh McCutcheon has been named the president of the International Volleyball Federations' (FIVB) Coaching and Technical Commission.

McCutcheon has served on the FIVB Coaching Commission since leaving USA Volleyball in 2012 and has now been promoted to the role of commission president. Prior to his University of Minnesota tenure, McCutcheon guided both the United States men’s and women’s National Teams to gold and silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. He is the only head coach to lead a United States men’s and women’s team to Olympic podium finishes. In addition, McCutcheon's teams won the FIVB World League in 2008 and the FIVB World Grand Prix in 2010, 2011 and 2012...

...A majority of the meetings will be conducted by teleconference with an annual meeting in Lausanne.
 



Major rumors thar Stanford wants to hire him now that their coach retired. I hope he really likes it here and wants his own legacy.
 

beavergopher said:
Major rumors thar Stanford wants to hire him now that their coach retired. I hope he really likes it here and wants his own legacy.
Click to expand...

The Stanford fans are wondering, why Minnesota?

The family thing is strong, but the school's commitment to the sport is another reason to stay. Hugh also just signed a nice extension.

I brought up attendance on Volleytalk, but people poo-pooed that. But coaching in B1G atmosphere, especially at home, Wisconsin, Nebraska & Penn St has to be a big plus.
 

The 2015 and 16 teams were a lot of fun to watch. The atmosphere in the Pav is great. Hoping 2017 is equally as fun.
 

http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/illini-sports/recruiting/2017-01-30/hambly-leaving-illinois.html

The Illini job is open. Hambly moves to Stanford.

Kevin Hambly is leaving Illinois after an eight-year stint as head coach, 178 wins and a national runner-up finish in 2011.

Hambly was officially announced as the seventh coach in Stanford volleyball history on Monday morning, replacing John Dunning, who retired after 16 seasons and five national championships in Palo Alto, including the 2016 NCAA title.

Hambly told The News-Gazette he received an email Jan. 21 from Stanford gauging his interest in the job. He flew to California five days later with his wife, Mary, and spent Thursday and Friday in Palo Alto. He was offered the job at the end of that trip and said yes Saturday morning.
 

Have to admit, I wasn't all that concerned about Hugh leaving. He seems very happy here and it would take something quite remarkable for him to leave imo.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk
 


http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/ar...king-volleyball-not-basketball-record-numbers

ESPN article on the growth of volleyball participation (with an appearance by Gopher Jasmyn Martin):

Two years ago, for the first time, more high school girls played volleyball (432,176) than basketball (429,504), according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. In 2015-16, volleyball added another 4,133 girls to those numbers, while basketball lost 276 participants.

Examine the past decade, and the numbers are more striking. Statistics compiled by the NFHS show an increase of more than 40,000 volleyball players in that span and a decrease of 23,000 basketball players...


Jasmyn Martin set aside basketball recruiting letters from Tennessee in favor of a stack of mail from volleyball coaches. Martin, who graduated from Hopkins High in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a semester early to train with the Gophers this spring, prefers the energy of volleyball to hoops.

"The relationships you build, how together you are, set it apart from basketball," she said. "You come together after every point."...



In volleyball hotbeds such as Texas and California, the growth continues, but where volleyball is the top sport by 15 to 20 percent, including in Nebraska, Iowa and Michigan, "we're starting to see a decline," DeBoer said.

Part of that is due to budget cuts and merging school systems. The boom in what she calls "pay-to-play" youth volleyball makes it less and less likely that a girl with minimal experience will be able to play at her high school.
 


Freshmen on campus are on the roster, and they have been assigned the numbers of the last 2 B1G POYs

Martin will wear #1
Zeimann will wear #8
 



http://www.skiumahmagazine.com/home/sarah-wilhite

Sarah Wilhite article in Ski-U-Mah magazine


“She didn’t have the easiest path throughout her career,” Tapp said. “With a multitude of injuries and trials, she overcame every single obstacle and grew to become the strongest version of herself for her senior season.”

One challenge that most would view as a large setback came during the preseason of her junior year, when she tore an abdominal muscle.

But the optimistic Wilhite looks back on it as a humbling learning experience.

“The timing of it was inconvenient, but it helped me to break things down more,” she said. “During practice, I would just be doing approaches, working on my footwork, or working on different techniques that I’d be able to apply to when [I was] actually playing, which I think helped a lot.”

Without a role on the court, Wilhite strengthened her leadership skills off the court...


...Leaving something behind for younger women to follow is a part of Wilhite’s current role. Though her time as a Gopher volleyball player has ended, Wilhite has returned to work at open gym sessions with the team. And she’s ready to be back.

“I have the opportunity to help the four freshmen outside hitters,” she said. “I’ll be able to influence and share my experience with them. I still have a role even when I’m not necessarily on the team, which is cool.”
 

I called about season tickets for the season. Bench seats are available, but I am on a waiting list for the chair back seats. Won't know until June. It will all depend on non-renewals and how high my Gopher points are to determine if I will get them or not. This is a good problem for the U to have. Maybe they will stop giving these tickets away and try to get some income from a few of the Women's sports. Hockey, Softball and Volleyball has enough success and following that they could actually charge $15 - $20 a ticket and they would still draw well. I bought two tickets season tickets for softball and it cost me $3 a ticket per game.
 


http://www.gophersports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/051517aaa.html

Freshman middle blocker Regan Pittman (Spring Hill, Kansas) helped the United States Women’s Junior National Team win gold at the U20 Pan American Cup, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Team USA went undefeated in five matches and secured a berth at the 2017 FIVB Women’s U20 World Championships. The 2017 FIVB Women’s U20 Championship will be held July 14-23 in Mexico.

Pittman and Team USA started their undefeated run on May 8, against Argentina. The team won, 3-1, while Pittman had 10 kills and garnered 12 points. Against the Dominican Republic, Pittman added seven kills, two block and an ace, as Team USA won, 3-1. Playing in two sets during the quarterfinals, Pittman had seven swings and four kills as the United States defeated Uruguay, 3-0. After a 45-minute power outage due to storms, Team USA defeated Cuba in four set during the semifinals. Pittman established her tournament best, 14 points when she had 10 kills on 15 attempts and added four blocks. With gold on the line, Pittman shined as she had nine kills off 11 attempts and added three blocks. She scored 12 points in the championship and tournament finale.
 


Why are the playing Penn State and Wisconsin on home football Saturdays? I was planning on having both season tickets, but guess I won't bother picking up to volleyball now. I will just get tickets to several game I can go to. Bummer
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom