B1G match 12: Gophers host USC 11-1-25

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Women's Volleyball - USC Athletics

The official Women's Volleyball page for the USC Trojans
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LOS ANGELES – The No. 22-ranked USC women's volleyball team (16-5, 7-4 Big Ten) exacted revenge for an earlier loss with a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-23, 25-20) of crosstown rival UCLA (12-9, 6-5) at Galen Center on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The Women of Troy have won six of their last seven matches including five in a row, which equals a season-long streak (Aug. 29-Sept. 7).

KEY PLAYERS
  • RS Jr. OH Adonia Faumuina led the Trojans with 16 kills (4e, 39att) and hit .308 to go with two blocks.
  • Fr. S Reese Messer handed out 42 assists and had a match-high 13 digs to log her ninth double-double. She also added a kill and a block to finish the night with 1.5 points.
  • RS So. OH London Wijay tagged 11 balls for kills (2e, 29att) on .310 hitting and had seven digs and a service ace.
  • Fr. OPP Abigail Mullen totaled 11 kills (4e, 22att) and hit .318 with three blocks and four digs.
  • So. MB Mia Tvrdy turned in an eight-kill performance (3e, 17att, .294) to go with four blocks and a pair of digs.
  • Fr. LIB Taylor Deckert dug up 11 balls for her 12th time in double digits and added five assists
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Another match leading 2-1 and can't close it out, let me guess another lesson they need to learn. I really hope that these types of matches prepare them for the NCAA Tournament.
 

Disappointing result. Gophers were really solid serving and digging in the first half of the match. Then, they seem to tire and the digging was the first to go. They got too predictable in the second half of the match.
 

They are only as good as Julia is offensively. It's not a sustainable winning formula. And when she goes cold, they can lose to ANYBODY. Like Michigan, for instance.

Props to Gilk, but they need even more from her, something from their middles and Kinney needs to at least hit .200.
 


(R)uffda! said:
They are only as good as Julia is offensively. It's not a sustainable winning formula. And when she goes cold, they can lose to ANYBODY. Like Michigan, for instance.

Props to Gilk, but they need even more from her, something from their middles and Kinney needs to at least hit .200.
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I don’t care for Michigan, I wouldn’t dismiss them as a nobody team. They just beat PSU.
I think Gilk is progressing well in her development and her serve was unbelievable tonight. Kinney needs to reduce her errors and find the floor at a higher rate. The middle connection seemed off tonight.
 

walleye said:
Disappointing result. Gophers were really solid serving and digging in the first half of the match. Then, they seem to tire and the digging was the first to go. They got too predictable in the second half of the match.
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The errors just piled up starting in fourth set. Not sure why their play fell off so much.
 

WayOfTheGopher said:
Another match leading 2-1 and can't close it out, let me guess another lesson they need to learn. I really hope that these types of matches prepare them for the NCAA Tournament.
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Every match has lessons learned win or lose. I agree with you that these matches hopefully lead to more success in the NCAA tournament.
 

To quote the late Denny Green " they are who we thought they were". This is a team of young players who were not expected to be in the roles they're filling. They're talented so sometimes it looks good. Other times they look like freshmen. To expect anything else is lunacy. This season is all about development. Going forward I'm hoping to see all 5 of the freshmen continue to get better. If that happens we have to consider the season a success.
 



(R)uffda! said:
They are only as good as Julia is offensively. It's not a sustainable winning formula. And when she goes cold, they can lose to ANYBODY. Like Michigan, for instance.

Props to Gilk, but they need even more from her, something from their middles and Kinney needs to at least hit .200.
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I agree about Gilk. I couldn't tell whether USC defensed Gilk better in the second half of the match or whether the Gophers inadvertently quit going to her as much. I think the Gophers got too predictable in going so much to Hanson. Also, they seemed to go less to the Middles.
 

Nipomo 56 said:
I don’t care for Michigan, I wouldn’t dismiss them as a nobody team. They just beat PSU.
I think Gilk is progressing well in her development and her serve was unbelievable tonight. Kinney needs to reduce her errors and find the floor at a higher rate. The middle connection seemed off tonight.
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Michigan is 5-6 and PSU is not that good this year (not surprising without their setter). But Oregon would have been an even better example. They are 4-7.

Gophers could be 12-0 with maybe one fewer injury and/or more consistent play. Can't help but feel like this has been a missed opportunity, especially for Hanson.

I will also say that the unbalanced schedule has really given us standings that are not a true reflection of the quality (or lack thereof) in the B1G. Nebraska, sure. But then you have Purdue and Indiana. Then Wisconsin, USC, Illinois, Penn State, UCLA and the Gophers, followed by MSU (!), Michigan and Washington. Just weird.

Gophers finish with @ Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, @ Iowa, @ Maryland, @ Rutgers, Purdue and Wisconsin. 10-10 seems most likely, but 13-7 is still not out of the question. I couldn't predict this if I were smart. And I'm not that.
 


(R)uffda! said:
Michigan is 5-6 and PSU is not that good this year (not surprising without their setter). But Oregon would have been an even better example. They are 4-7.

Gophers could be 12-0 with maybe one fewer injury and/or more consistent play. Can't help but feel like this has been a missed opportunity, especially for Hanson.

I will also say that the unbalanced schedule has really given us standings that are not a true reflection of the quality (or lack thereof) in the B1G. Nebraska, sure. But then you have Purdue and Indiana. Then Wisconsin, USC, Illinois, Penn State, UCLA and the Gophers, followed by MSU (!), Michigan and Washington. Just weird.

Gophers finish with @ Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, @ Iowa, @ Maryland, @ Rutgers, Purdue and Wisconsin. 10-10 seems most likely, but 13-7 is still not out of the question. I couldn't predict this if I were smart. And I'm not that.
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I agree the unbalanced schedule does distort the standings. Indiana is a perfect example, started 7-0 and has lost 3 of 4 as they play tougher opponents. Gophers need a couple big wins to hold onto that top 16 seed the committee awarded them.
 




(R)uffda! said:
But, damn, they have had a lot of matches they should have won: Michigan, UCLA, Purdue, Oregon, USC. Going 1-3 against the Pac12 is particularly annoying.
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Yes, as a previous HC in the Pac-12 I would have thought Keegan would be prepared and with a decent game plan. However, you are right, his game plan isn't translating to wins for us and that leaves a huge question, for me anyway, WHY?
 


4EverAGopher said:
FACT: Our remaining schedule is BRUTAL for any team in the Big.
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Yes and no. Nebraska, sure. But Penn State, Wisconsin and Purdue are all several levels below Nebraska (and where one thought they'd be). And that Iowa, Maryland, Rutgers stretch is about as easy as you can get in the B1G.

As I posted here before, I thought they could easily be in an 0-7 stretch, but they've gone 2-2 so far, and should have been 4-0. Hard to predict. So many teams at the same level I guess.
 

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