B1G Match 12: Gophers Visit Wisconsin

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Gophers football and Vikings have really turned it around from what seemed to be one of the worst fall sports seasons in recent memory.

Sadly I don’t think there will be a similar turnaround for Goph vball. They will miss the NCAA tournament completely at this rate. No chance at hosting a first round.
 


I think that the Gophers will lose in straight sets to Wisconsin. I hope they play well and learn from the experience. There will be no reason to give up on the season because there are a lot of games left against the rest of the pack. The Gophers could still finish as high as 5th in the Big Ten. It is hard to imagine that less than 5 teams from the Big Ten will make the NCAA and it could be as many as 7. Last year, six teams were selected.
 

Sure, might sneak in and be sent somewhere else for the first two rounds. Like go to a Creighton or something like that. Lose to that host.

Is that better or worse than yet another loss in a regional? I don't know.

It all kind feels the same, when the only valid goal that matters for this program is making the final four.
 

I just saw this match is going to be broadcast nationally on Fox. Is that right? Uff da.
 

Very predictable and non-competitive first set. Wisky takes it 25-13.
 



2nd set 16-13. Schaffmaster holds up because the ball is going to land outside the court and McGee rushes up to play hero ball by keeping it in play and we end up losing the point. What the bloody eff? No in-match awareness. This sums up this team.
 


Saw the end of the second set and that's enough. Another embarrassing three and out loss is in our future. Not enough talent and too much hero ball is a bad combo.
 

Wisconsin is definitely a whole level better than the Gophers. We got a clinic today. The Wisconsin players could anticipate everything the Gophers tried to do. Minnesota had trouble stopping what Wisconsin would do. The Gophers need to forget this match and get mentally prepared for the rest of their matches. They need to beat all the teams in the middle and bottom of the pack.
 



walleye said:
Wisconsin is definitely a whole level better than the Gophers. We got a clinic today. The Wisconsin players could anticipate everything the Gophers tried to do. Minnesota had trouble stopping what Wisconsin would do. The Gophers need to forget this match and get mentally prepared for the rest of their matches. They need to beat all the teams in the middle and bottom of the pack.
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To what end? Make the tournament? Is that even a big deal at this point? Maybe they need to miss the tourney and eat some more humble pie to get their heads on straight. Smh.

Just frustrated right now and I hate hate hate losing to Wisconsin and their arrogant fans.
 

walleye said:
Wisconsin is definitely a whole level better than the Gophers. We got a clinic today. The Wisconsin players could anticipate everything the Gophers tried to do. Minnesota had trouble stopping what Wisconsin would do. The Gophers need to forget this match and get mentally prepared for the rest of their matches. They need to beat all the teams in the middle and bottom of the pack.
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So what is the difference when two years ago we were equals playing in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament? NIL money? Horse*bleep* recruiting? A coach who gave up in the middle of a season? The precipitous fall we have taken is something that needs looking in to, in my opinion. You don't get this bad this fast without influence.
 

I hate to admit it , but losing Booth to Wiscy really hurt us. And it showed today.
 

There should be asterisks next to teams like Wisconsin. They were able to load up on talent only because of COVID rule exceptions. I know we could have done the same, but we lost our head coach at the WORST time, which made it very difficult for us.
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Ewert86PC said:
So what is the difference when two years ago we were equals playing in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament? NIL money? Horse*bleep* recruiting? A coach who gave up in the middle of a season? The precipitous fall we have taken is something that needs looking in to, in my opinion. You don't get this bad this fast without influence.
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Answer is yes to all your questions. Many many many things need to change for us to have a different season next year. However, I am more concerned for our program beyond that right now.

We have three Freshman.....one not seeing any playing time and two more who have seen very very little. I am not expecting that to change for the rest of this season. In January we will add two more Freshman to those three. My main concern is will all five of these players sit out all next season? I hope not but we could very well be seeing that. My final question is will that really set us up for more success in 2025 and will all the verbal commits still commit?
 
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GopherVB23 said:
To what end? Make the tournament? Is that even a big deal at this point? Maybe they need to miss the tourney and eat some more humble pie to get their heads on straight. Smh.

Just frustrated right now and I hate hate hate losing to Wisconsin and their arrogant fans.
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Yes, making the NCAA tournament is a big deal. Only 20% of the Division I teams make the tournament. Good recruits and transfer players will choose schools where they have a good chance of making the tournament. Plus, you are apt to have fewer players transfer out. I don't think that quitting when the going gets tough is the answer to the program's problems.
 

Bigk said:
There should be asterisks next to teams like Wisconsin. They were able to load up on talent only because of COVID rule exceptions. I know we could have done the same, but we lost our head coach at the WORST time, which made it very difficult for us.
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Yes, the transfer portal has made a difference. Texas won the national championship with key transfer players. They probably have more NIL money than most other programs. We probably don't know why Hugh retired. However, I can believe that the change in the recruiting landscape (portal, NIL) is something he did not want to do and was part of the reason why he stepped down.
 

4EverAGopher said:
Answer is yes to all your questions. Many many many things need to change for us to have a different season next year. However, I am more concerned for our program beyond that right now.

We have three Freshman.....one not seeing any playing time and two more who have seen very very little. I am not expecting that to change for the rest of this season. In January we will add two more Freshman to those three. So my concern is will all five of these players sit out all next season? I hope not but we could very well be seeing that. My final question is will that really set us up for more success in 2025 and will all the verbal commits still commit?
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I think five freshman could make up a solid core for our rotation. I'm concerned about getting more solid help via the transfer portal. We need to make that work for us not against us. We need a better setter and 6 position players who have comeptent back row and serve receive skills. I'm not emotionally tied to Landfair, Schafmaster and Wuecher. AFAIAC, they can stay or go. Especially if we can get players in the portal who play better than them.
 

walleye said:
Yes, making the NCAA tournament is a big deal. Only 20% of the Division I teams make the tournament. Good recruits and transfer players will choose schools where they have a good chance of making the tournament. Plus, you are apt to have fewer players transfer out. I don't think that quitting when the going gets tough is the answer to the program's problems.
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It's already happened and those players are starters/stars on the team. I don't see them as salvageable. They quit last season, when Hugh did. They learned about going through the motions last season.

We aren't going deep in either tournament this year and won't next year, if we don't upgrade from Landfair, Wuncher and Shaffmaster.
 

Ewert86PC said:
It's already happened and those players are starters/stars on the team. I don't see them as salvageable. They quit last season, when Hugh did. They learned about going through the motions last season.

We aren't going deep in either tournament this year and won't next year, if we don't upgrade from Landfair, Wuncher and Shaffmaster.
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While I don’t necessarily agree with your assessment, I do believe you’ll get your wish. Once this disaster of a season is over, I would expect them all to hit the transfer portal. I, personally place 100% of the blame for this mess on our “coach”. It takes a special kind of loser to take napalm to a roster this strong. And to think, we are actually paying this dolt to do it. What an embarrassment!!
 

What I have also thought about is, what if Hugh never retired? Would Wenaas and Booth have still transferred? I believe yes. I also believe Hugh would have gone to the portal to try and secure a 5th year experienced MB such as Gros and would have tried to secure an experienced Libero while starting Choboy at DS. That would have left Crowl and Hanson sharing RS duties with Landfair and Wucherer our starting OH's. Shaff and Davis would have been starters at Setter and MB.

I really have no idea why Hugh quit and especially in the middle of the season. IMO the above team would only have been more successful, if the portal would have been very very kind to us. I feel this season would have been a down season whether Hugh was coaching or KCook.

However, Hugh more than likely would have had his players further along in their development. That is the area that KCook needs to prove he is really capable of doing because Wucherer truly needs help in all areas of her game.
 

walleye said:
Yes, the transfer portal has made a difference. Texas won the national championship with key transfer players. They probably have more NIL money than most other programs. We probably don't know why Hugh retired. However, I can believe that the change in the recruiting landscape (portal, NIL) is something he did not want to do and was part of the reason why he stepped down.
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Makes sense. Portal plus NIL is just killing my interest in college sports. Why wouldn’t it also damage Coach Hugh’s desire to coach?
 

Dynastee62 said:
While I don’t necessarily agree with your assessment, I do believe you’ll get your wish. Once this disaster of a season is over, I would expect them all to hit the transfer portal. I, personally place 100% of the blame for this mess on our “coach”. It takes a special kind of loser to take napalm to a roster this strong. And to think, we are actually paying this dolt to do it. What an embarrassment!!
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I have a difficult time with blaming Kegan. This team cratered when Hugh announced he was done coaching in the middle of last season Deifying and demonizing the coaches isn't helpful to the players. Why Hugh did it in midseason is shrouded in mystery, but the impact it had on players confidence was awful. The players' resilience to this adversity has been awful.

Kegan has had to do the best he can with what was here and patch up the holes left by outbound transfers. He found out Landfair isn't a Steph Samedy, Reagan Pittman, or Taylor Morgan. Shaffmaster isn't a Seliger-Swenson or CC McGraw. The deficiencies in both players are glaring and might be why Hugh wanted to bring them along slowly. Those deficiencies are now on-court liabilities as they take a disproportionate amount of playing time. That is what Kegan has to manage.

There is something underneath this talent drop. Something that would make Hugh announce midseason that he was done. Something that would sour the perception of our volleyball program and have players leave for sweeter programs.

This teams transition between coaches could have been one thousand times smoother. I have to trust Kegan to do what needs to be done to bring back the prestige of Volleyball at UMN. I hope it happens faster rather than slower.
 

I think you are right that this season’s shortcomings are more mental than a lack of physical ability. Hopefully with the Swenson twins and some good transfers, especially DS/Libero and some strong blockers this team can find the right mentality to fight through tough situations.
 

To hang around with a team as defensively strong as Wisconsin, you need a developed middle attack. 1 kill on 12 attempts is just, bad.

The middle attack has been missing for several seasons now, under different coaching staffs. It's probably a setting issue, I think Mel is a fantastic all around player, but if she sticks around for her Covid year I hope they repurporse her into a different position. It's time to give the keys to Stella Swenson.
 

Nipomo 56 said:
I think you are right that this season’s shortcomings are more mental than a lack of physical ability. Hopefully with the Swenson twins and some good transfers, especially DS/Libero and some strong blockers this team can find the right mentality to fight through tough situations.
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This is what concerns me: too many ifs.
If the Swenson Twins....
If we get some good transfers....
If we get a DS/libero transfer....
If we get some strong blockers.....
If we can find the right mentality....

I have faith in the Swenson Twins, but the remaining options give me dread.
 

Ewert86PC said:
This is what concerns me: too many ifs.
If the Swenson Twins....
If we get some good transfers....
If we get a DS/libero transfer....
If we get some strong blockers.....
If we can find the right mentality....

I have faith in the Swenson Twins, but the remaining options give me dread.
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Hoping your next setter recruit pans out is pretty much a hallmark of college volleyball...
 

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