B1G Match 10: Gophers Host Michigan State (10-22-23)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Two 5-4 teams face off at the season's midway point.

MSU Wins: @ Michigan 3-0, @ Northwestern 3-2, Rutgers 3-1, @ Iowa 3-1, Michigan 3-1

MSU Losses: @ Illinois 2-3, Nebraska 1-3, Northwestern 2-3, @ Nebraska 1-3
 

Great come back Gophers! Good win. They don't give up although I think some players have "Walk-a-bouts," especially after mistakes. Great run near the end of the 4th set. Strong serving by Murr during the run. Nice to see Grote serve it out under pressure. Good substitution of Crowl at a key time. She made some great plays and her left-hand shots threw off MSU's timing.
 

Service aces started as the story. Gopher aces combined with MSU hitting errrors had Minnesota up double digits in the first set even when the Gophers were hitting negative. (at the end of the first set, Minnesota finally got back to positive).

A big hat tip to Murr and her late fourth set service run which got us out of the Pav before the sun set on alumni day.
 

walleye said:
Great come back Gophers! Good win. They don't give up although I think some players have "Walk-a-bouts," especially after mistakes. Great run near the end of the 4th set. Strong serving by Murr during the run. Nice to see Grote serve it out under pressure. Good substitution of Crowl at a key time. She made some great plays and her left-hand shots threw off MSU's timing.
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Crowl had a big block too and then MSU was tentative attacking her again. Just kept tipping/rolling it over. Landfair hit a couple blasts during the closing run.

Hoping Murr is okay after taking one off of the head!
 

cloupher said:
Crowl had a big block too and then MSU was tentative attacking her again. Just kept tipping/rolling it over. Landfair hit a couple blasts during the closing run.

Hoping Murr is okay after taking one off of the head!
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That was a hard driven shot off Murr's head-Kylie didn't have a chance. Landfair and at least one Spartan also took shots to the face
 



cloupher said:
Crowl had a big block too and then MSU was tentative attacking her again. Just kept tipping/rolling it over. Landfair hit a couple blasts during the closing run.

Hoping Murr is okay after taking one off of the head!
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She was examined after the hit and stayed in the game. So, that was a good sign.
 

For those who actually go to these games or pay for BTN+

has anything actually changed?? Higher/slower sets? More middle sets? Anything else noticeable?

Or all exactly the same as it has been all season?
 

Dug out a win (pun intended) with a good comeback in the fourth set. But the team seemed dispirited and in disarray yesterday against a so-so Michigan State team.

They were playing MUCH more aggressive and coordinated offense and defense early in the year. Cook was also amazingly disengaged throughout most of the match yesterday leaving most of the player interaction to his assistants. That's especially true compared to his interactions early in the season when they were a force to be reckoned with.

Landfair also seems off her game. A couple of big hits to put the match away but dinks versus hits most of the time or wayward when she did take a swing. Defense was a mystery until they finally started filling the middle for MSU's constant dinks.

Something is very off. After seeing similar patterns in women's basketball for years prior to the recent change, I fear Cook isn't meshing with his players nor his players with him.
 



OK so no changes at all, then. Just managed to out-talent them for a home win.

Purdue could be ugly
 

Hmm I watched the entire match and saw it differently. Serving was very good. Landfair I thought looked really good at the net and had more explosion than previously. She had several huge kills. I don't remember her having any hitting errors. Overall the errors seemed much less, at least from what I remember. they had a lull at the end of the 2nd set but still fought hard. Didn't seem like they gave up. The middle sets seemed better. Several of them were put down with authority. Team seemed engaged to me. The 4th I thought they competed well even though they got down. During the comeback they kept balls alive and looked active defensively
 

BballRules said:
Dug out a win (pun intended) with a good comeback in the fourth set. But the team seemed dispirited and in disarray yesterday against a so-so Michigan State team.

They were playing MUCH more aggressive and coordinated offense and defense early in the year. Cook was also amazingly disengaged throughout most of the match yesterday leaving most of the player interaction to his assistants. That's especially true compared to his interactions early in the season when they were a force to be reckoned with.

Landfair also seems off her game. A couple of big hits to put the match away but dinks versus hits most of the time or wayward when she did take a swing. Defense was a mystery until they finally started filling the middle for MSU's constant dinks.

Something is very off. After seeing similar patterns in women's basketball for years prior to the recent change, I fear Cook isn't meshing with his players nor his players with him.
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"Dispirited and in disarray"? Huh? Completely disagree with most of what you just said. I thought they looked cohesive and engaged as a team, and having fun.

The Gophers came out strong yesterday. More middle attacks, more aggressive swings, better serving, good blocking. Second set saw MSU make some adjustments and won the set deuce. (MSU also took a set off Nebraska, 2x).

Gophers trailed in the 4th and I was worried they weren't going to be able to pull themselves out of it, but they surged at the end with a 11-1 run or something of the sort. It was a great close.

I think we're moving in the right direction. But Purdue will be the test whether we belong back in the top 25 or not.
 

GopherVB23 said:
"Dispirited and in disarray"? Huh? Completely disagree with most of what you just said. I thought they looked cohesive and engaged as a team, and having fun.

The Gophers came out strong yesterday. More middle attacks, more aggressive swings, better serving, good blocking. Second set saw MSU make some adjustments and won the set deuce. (MSU also took a set off Nebraska, 2x).

Gophers trailed in the 4th and I was worried they weren't going to be able to pull themselves out of it, but they surged at the end with a 11-1 run or something of the sort. It was a great close.

I think we're moving in the right direction. But Purdue will be the test whether we belong back in the top 25 or not.
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I thought they looked more cohesive when Crowl came in. I do believe the energy from the entire team picked up. Maybe our Gopher girls just have so many miles on playing together in practice and the games before KCook took over and it is taking more time than we wanted for these incoming Freshman and transfers to gel with our returning Gophers players .....BUT WHO REALLY KNOWS THE BOTTOM LINE ANSWER.
 



4EverAGopher said:
I thought they looked more cohesive when Crowl came in. I do believe the energy from the entire team picked up. Maybe our Gopher girls just have so many miles on playing together in practice and the games before KCook took over and it is taking more time than we wanted for these incoming Freshman and transfers to gel with our returning Gophers players .....BUT WHO REALLY KNOWS THE BOTTOM LINE ANSWER.
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It would be easy for neysayers to pretend the last half of set 4 didn't happen, but it did. If the Gophers play every bit of every match at that level of intensity from here on out, a lot of opponents will be in big trouble.
 

But …. that’s the entire thing. Absolutely lack of consistency. Not to be a jerk but … duh!

They can play with anyone for a run of points, even a full set.

They just don’t. Anywhere consistently enough.
 

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