All Things 2012 Gophers Volleyball Season Thread

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The Pioneer Press had a story on Tyler McNeil's scholarship offer being pulled because the coaches wanted Hugh M. to pick his own players. I wonder if there is more to the story. Also, in the story Kellie McNeil claimed her decision to leave the team was not based on her sister's scholarship offer being pulled, but she was leaving because she was recruited to play for Mike Hebert and that changed. Sorry, I don't know how to link the story. It was sent to the Golddigger booster members.
 

I was at the game tonight and it was a real good atmosphere again! They won in straight sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-16) Harms and Wittman paced the team in kills and Daly Santana has a bomb of a serve that is incredibly effective! A very warm welcome for Hugh McCutcheon also. A fairly big crowd tonight. Some notables at the game were the entire men's basketball team, half the women's basketball team, some gophers d-lineman, and last year's Libero Jessica Granquist who chatted with seemingly everybody! Minnesota is back at it tomorrow morning against Miami (OH) at 10:00am and they wrap up the tournament with Albany at 8:00am. Cheers and go gophers!
 


MNBob said:
The Pioneer Press had a story on Tyler McNeil's scholarship offer being pulled because the coaches wanted Hugh M. to pick his own players. I wonder if there is more to the story. Also, in the story Kellie McNeil claimed her decision to leave the team was not based on her sister's scholarship offer being pulled, but she was leaving because she was recruited to play for Mike Hebert and that changed. Sorry, I don't know how to link the story. It was sent to the Golddigger booster members.
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It was a good read. Very unfortunate, although I still feel there is hope for Taylr because I sense that Taylr's heart is in Minnesota and McCutcheon could choose to recruit her soon. For Kellie, I believe she left because she saw a logjam at Libero with Tabberson and Palmer and next year, top recruit setter Katie Schau comes in and Kellie figured she wouldn't get to be the sole starter that she could be somewhere else.
 


I saw all three games this week end. I think the Gophers look as good or better than last year. Santana is a very good freshman. She had 7 service aces this morning and one tonight. Also, her hard serves caused even more points for the Gophers because the other team couldn't get a good return even if they somehow got the ball over the net. I'm not as sure about Lawmaster at libero. Sometimes she plays okay, but she isn't as good as Jess Granquist, Christine Tan or Paula Gentile. I'm anxious to see how we do against #2 Texas next week. If we can win some sets it will be a good sign.
 

MNBob said:
I saw all three games this week end. I think the Gophers look as good or better than last year. Santana is a very good freshman. She had 7 service aces this morning and one tonight. Also, her hard serves caused even more points for the Gophers because the other team couldn't get a good return even if they somehow got the ball over the net. I'm not as sure about Lawmaster at libero. Sometimes she plays okay, but she isn't as good as Jess Granquist, Christine Tan or Paula Gentile. I'm anxious to see how we do against #2 Texas next week. If we can win some sets it will be a good sign.
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I was at 2/3 games this weekend and I agree. The hitters and blockers are as great a tandem as you'll find in the NCAA. However, the back row as I speculated before the season is incredibly weak and Lawmaster struggles with ordinary digs and in serve reception. The back row needs to be manned by the Libero for it to be successful, and that just isn't happening... I see the gophers being the same this year as last year.
 

The 2012 Diet Coke Classic hosted by the University of Minnesota has come to an end. It was a very successful tournament for the gophers as they didn't drop a set in 3 matches. A special thanks to Albany, Long Island, Miami (OH), and of course Minnesota for participating in the tournament! Among the all-tournament team members were gophers Ashley Wittman, Katherine Harms, and Tori Dixon. All-tournament members per team were...
Minnesota (3)
Albany (2)
LIU (1)
Miami (Oh) (1)

And the tournament MVP goes to: Ashley Wittman (of course)
Tournament Champions: Minnesota Gophers
Runner-Up: Albany Great Danes
3rd Place: LIU Blackbirds
Last Place: Miami (Oh)
Special shoutout goes to Daly Santana and Mia Tabberson who I believe could or should've been on the all-tournament team.

*Now off to Texas for 2 matches! Uh oh...
 

Tori Dixon was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. I think she is blocking better this year. The real test will be against #2 Texas on Thursday and Friday.
 



Wow. Knocked #4 Texas in 4 tonight on the road. Hope to catch some matches on the BTN.
 


Congrats to the Volleyball team. Taking down the #4 team in their building (first loss in 33 matches for Texas at home) is awesome. We're in a transition year with a young team and Hugh taking over the team. We did sweep a back to back last year against Texas, so let's do it again!
 

Sparlimb said:
Congrats to the Volleyball team. Taking down the #4 team in their building (first loss in 33 matches for Texas at home) is awesome. We're in a transition year with a young team and Hugh taking over the team. We did sweep a back to back last year against Texas, so let's do it again!
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Yeesh thought they would get swept in Austin, but glad they won match 1! Tomorrow should be interesting with how close the last 2 sets ended up, but they will at least leave 6-1 instead of 5-2.
 



overpass said:
Yeesh thought they would get swept in Austin, but glad they won match 1! Tomorrow should be interesting with how close the last 2 sets ended up, but they will at least leave 6-1 instead of 5-2.
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Better yet was game 2 (25-13 I think). That's how you treat the #4 team in their joint. And I think we're going to leave 7-0...
 

Sparlimb said:
Better yet was game 2 (25-13 I think). That's how you treat the #4 team in their joint. And I think we're going to leave 7-0...
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I don't want to jinx it but honestly how much different can the competition level be 22 hours apart? I say gopher squeek out a 5-setter tommorrow night and leave Austin 5-0.
 

Great win early in the season for the Gophers! I could see them playing a little better tonight since they are guaranteed a split and Texas will feel the pressure of not losing both matches. Impressed by the way they came back after the set 3 loss to win the 4th set after being down 22-24. Go, Gophers!
 

I assumed this would be a down year for us, with the coaching transition and so many players that have graduated or left. But the pipeline still seems to be working. Now if Hugh can get them to beat Penn St. for what would feel like the first time in my life, that would be something...
 

Sparlimb said:
I assumed this would be a down year for us, with the coaching transition and so many players that have graduated or left. But the pipeline still seems to be working. Now if Hugh can get them to beat Penn St. for what would feel like the first time in my life, that would be something...
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We beat them at home in 2010 - Lauren Gibbemeyer's final regular season match as a senior. I still have it on DVR. We were down 2-0 and came back to win 3-2. The fifth set was ridiculous!
 

nooram said:
We beat them at home in 2010 - Lauren Gibbemeyer's final regular season match as a senior. I still have it on DVR. We were down 2-0 and came back to win 3-2. The fifth set was ridiculous!
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I was at that match! Electric, that's all I can say.
 

A split with #4 Texas is still very respectable. We won one set on the second night and hung in there with 20 points or more in the sets we lost. Texas swept Florida, so I think we showed we can compete with the best. We actually had one more kill than Texas had in the second match (we lost 1-3), but the difference is they hade more blocks. That was our weakness last year, and I'm afraid it is a weakness of the Gophers this year. I see us making it to the Sweet Sixteen again, and I hope we can go further.
 

Good day for gopher volleyball! Ranked #10 in the poll and beat NDSU in straight sets. 25-19, 25-17, 25-16. Wittman, and Knudsen didn't play much, or at all.
 

I thought Lawmaster had her best night at libero. Wittman played the first two sets and was replaced by Hauer in the third set. Haugen played in place of Wittman in the third set.
 

MNBob said:
I thought Lawmaster had her best night at libero. Wittman played the first two sets and was replaced by Hauer in the third set. Haugen played in place of Wittman in the third set.
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Lawmaster did a great job! However, it was... NDSU, she still has to get better as the year goes on.
 

Split on day one in Tulsa.

Beat #20 Dayton 3-0
Lost to #19 Kansas State 3-2 after leading 2-1. Wildcats are now 11-0.

Play host Hurricanes tomorrow at 2:00. I believe there will be free video.
 

There goes our top ten ranking. Terrible serve recieve and shut down in the final 2 sets. MN is the better team though, t was their 2nd match of the day against a top 20 team.
 

Hopefully we will improve as the season goes along. I watched the video. We seemed to melt down in sets 4 and 5. The Big Ten starts next week. We should be ready for Illinois and Northwestern.
 


BleedGopher said:
ESPN: Hugh McCutcheon gets settled in at Minnesota

http://espn.go.com/espnw/college-sp...utcheon-gets-settled-minnesota-golden-gophers

Go Gophers!!
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Does anybody else find it odd that a very nice venue like the Sports Pav is described as "aging" whereas when other old venues (pre recent renovation) like the Big House, Notre Dame's stadium, etc etc are referred to as "historic" or the like. It's a negative for us to have history but a positive for others.

Interesting piece, though. He brings a lot of attention to the U regarding volleyball which is a good thing. The team has definitely looked solid this year, though.
 

RailBaronYarr said:
Does anybody else find it odd that a very nice venue like the Sports Pav is described as "aging" whereas when other old venues (pre recent renovation) like the Big House, Notre Dame's stadium, etc etc are referred to as "historic" or the like. It's a negative for us to have history but a positive for others.

Interesting piece, though. He brings a lot of attention to the U regarding volleyball which is a good thing. The team has definitely looked solid this year, though.
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Don't let it bother you. I, among others really like the Pav because it has a small (but not to small), warm, and friendly feel to the confines particularly in fall and winter! Nothing like going to a packed venue against Penn State, Nebraska, etc on a fall/winter weekend night! Just has that feel to it. :)
 

@GopherVBall defeats No. 20 Illinois in straight sets, 25-17, 25-17 and 25-23. #Gophers

Go Gophers!!
 

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