B1G match 20: Gophers host Badgers 11-28-25

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Ignatius L Hoops

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Game Notes
» Minnesota is now 58-37 all-time against Purdue. The Gophers broke a four-match losing streak in the series, winning for the first time since 2022.
» The 'U' has now won 12-or-more Big Ten matches in three straight seasons under coach Cook.
» The Gophers RPI is now 13, meaning they have a great chance to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
 

Just for some perspective, they were 13-7 last year (a win over the Badgers matches that), and 12-8 in 2023. Before that, 15-5, 15-5, 15-2, 17-3, 19-1, 15-5, 17-3, etc. "12 or more B1G" (which means no more than 13) is a very low bar for this program.
 

Yes but to put things in perspective, not losing 4 starters may have cut those losses in half. We'll never know. I think Z was the biggest loss as the back court was playing really well as a unit up to her injury.
 

jham13 said:
Yes but to put things in perspective, not losing 4 starters may have cut those losses in half. We'll never know. I think Z was the biggest loss as the back court was playing really well as a unit up to her injury.
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Agree. If we have a fully healthy team (including Wookie) I see a much different record. Still not beating Nebraska; but, I think we get the win at Michigan and probably the USC and UCLA

But, like you said, we will never know :)

I am excited for the future if we can keep this young core together.
 

jham13 said:
Yes but to put things in perspective, not losing 4 starters may have cut those losses in half. We'll never know. I think Z was the biggest loss as the back court was playing really well as a unit up to her injury.
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I really think they should have gone no worse than 17-3, even with all the players injured. And 19-1 was a real possibility. The conference is really, really down this year. I think the tournament will expose that -- although it could be that the entire country is down this year, save for one team.
 


Michigan, UCLA and USC at home were bad losses. Getting reverse swept by Purdue, also not great. Loss at Oregon not good.

Anyhow, losing in Madison and at Purdue were excusable. Maybe two more? But, seriously, 15-5 should have been the floor. I like that they are playing better and a win tonight would be huge. But they should have had a better season.

I'm probably not being fair, given all the injuries, but it's my two cents.
 

Too damn much red at the Pav tonight. Please, please, please send them home sad ladies.
 


I'm nervous about tomorrow's football game. Wisconsin keeps getting better and the Gophs keep getting worse. Just win this match tonight and I won't care as much anymore.
 



Well that was a complete disaster. Wisconsin was really dialed in and the Gophers didn't know how to react.
 


One hitting error??

It made no difference but how the hell did the refs miss that illegal set by the Badger libero? Meredith did too.
 

No. 10. Just seemed like 1. Gophers scored 53 points and 14 were Badger service errors. Add the 10 hitting errors and, well, you aren't going to be very competitive when you only score 29 points in 3 sets.
 



Didn't need to watch because I already knew what going to happen. First year players making day one mistakes.
 

Disappointing loss. The Gophers were tight and played in slow motion. Badgers were in high gear and out-hustled the Gophers. Terrible receiving and passing. The Badgers knew exactly what the Gophers were going to do--good scouting and game plan. Gophers are too predictable.
 

jham13 said:
Yes but to put things in perspective, not losing 4 starters may have cut those losses in half. We'll never know. I think Z was the biggest loss as the back court was playing really well as a unit up to her injury.
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With Z returning along with Garr and thibault the back court should be a real strength next year.
 

walleye said:
Disappointing loss. The Gophers were tight and played in slow motion. Badgers were in high gear and out-hustled the Gophers. Terrible receiving and passing. The Badgers knew exactly what the Gophers were going to do--good scouting and game plan. Gophers are too predictable.
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I agree. Hopefully the gophers will host first two rounds of the tournament so Hanson and Myers’s can go out with strong performances in their final home matches.
 

I hope the Gophers can host the first two rounds, too. But, I am pessimistic. I think they are on the borderline for hosting. The NCAA knows that they will get a bigger crowd and more money at the PAV. However, I think there also is pressure to pass the opportunity to host around.
 

NCAA Division I Volleyball RPI Rankings

ncaastats.figstats.net ncaastats.figstats.net

Can't say anything really jumps out at me here, other than how weak 12-16 are. And that Minnesota is probably the weakest of those five. But I can't see the case for anyone else 17 and below either. UTEP? With only ONE top 25 match, which they lost? Miami has the superstar, but not the results. BYU? Every time I looked they had been upset, but I guess they have a decent record.

Michigan loss should be disqualifying, but it was a long time ago. Oregon was bad too. Not just that they lost but how bad they were in those two matches.
 

Ruffda, you're the man but I'm seriously worried about your sanity. 17-3 even with all the injured players! That's just nutty my man. You need to look at who they were coming in. Kinney and Sweson were highly rated. The other three were not. Taylor was viewed as a potential big time player but was considered raw. Some recruiting analysis I saw on her thought she'd need a redshirt year. Garr and Gilk were considered good players but far from can't miss prospects. Other than Stella none of the freshmen were being counted on to play major roles. And by the way even Stella has some choppy moments. What this team accomplished through all the adversity they faced is remarkable.
 

Hoolio said:
Ruffda, you're the man but I'm seriously worried about your sanity. 17-3 even with all the injured players! That's just nutty my man. You need to look at who they were coming in. Kinney and Sweson were highly rated. The other three were not. Taylor was viewed as a potential big time player but was considered raw. Some recruiting analysis I saw on her thought she'd need a redshirt year. Garr and Gilk were considered good players but far from can't miss prospects. Other than Stella none of the freshmen were being counted on to play major roles. And by the way even Stella has some choppy moments. What this team accomplished through all the adversity they faced is remarkable.
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I get this, but Michigan, Oregon and UCLA should not have been losses. That's 15. USC and Purdue matches were definitely winnable. So that's Nebraska and Wisconsin x2 (although I'm not sure why they couldn't be more competitive with the Badgers. They had a very easy schedule and went 12-8. Yes, they had a LOT of injuries, but they were still good enough to go 17-3, 15-5 as a floor.
 

I am wondering what happened to "right the ship". If there were attempts, they were very very very short lived by the Gophers.

All season I kept questioning this coaching staff making any player ADJUSTMENTS during the matches. Either it isn't happening or our players are not responding positively to them.

So far both Myers and JTay seasons have not been as consistent as much as we needed them to be. With Minatee's season ending injury and Engemann's decision to transfer we were not as setup from the beginning of the season to have a strong middle game this season.

What happened to the serving pressure we have been periodically known for throughout this season? It was pretty much absent this match.

Our setting was not that good either. The first two touches of the ball all evening was very dismal. Unfortunately, Julia wasn't able to perform offensively, which could possibly have been her last home match of her career. IMO Stella has been running into other players a wee bit too much this season.

Was there a lot of pressure for this young team to perform their final home match in The Pav? Was there any game preparation by the coaching staff, mainly HC, Keegan Cook?
 

Oddly enough, I don't think it was the frosh (playing due to injuries) that fell short this season. Hanson was very good but not the 1st team AA we needed her to be (and her ball control was not good). Swenson (not really a frosh) needed to be an elite setter. Was this too high of an expectation? Probably. But just compare her to Fuerbringer or Starck last year (the other top setters of last year's class) and it's not even close. She was good. But the team needed her to be great. Myers was way too inconsistent -- and this has something to do with Swenson, no doubt. Crowl was a non-factor, just when they really needed her to finally contribute.

12-8 was the least we could expect -- even if 10-10 was in the running for a while there. The wins against Purdue and Indiana at home were the bright spots. I've already listed the bad losses.

And who is most responsible for this? The coaching staff.

Just a disappointing season. The third (4th?) in a row.
 

I've already run out of patience, but if this team isn't seriously in contention for 2nd in the B1G next year? There needs to be a change.

OR an acceptance that the expectations for Gopher volleyball need to be more like that of Gopher football.
 


(R)uffda! said:
Oddly enough, I don't think it was the frosh (playing due to injuries) that fell short this season. Hanson was very good but not the 1st team AA we needed her to be (and her ball control was not good). Swenson (not really a frosh) needed to be an elite setter. Was this too high of an expectation? Probably. But just compare her to Fuerbringer or Starck last year (the other top setters of last year's class) and it's not even close. She was good. But the team needed her to be great. Myers was way too inconsistent -- and this has something to do with Swenson, no doubt. Crowl was a non-factor, just when they really needed her to finally contribute.

12-8 was the least we could expect -- even if 10-10 was in the running for a while there. The wins against Purdue and Indiana at home were the bright spots. I've already listed the bad losses.

And who is most responsible for this? The coaching staff.

Just a disappointing season. The third (4th?) in a row.
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I have great concerns for Stella. I personally believe the expectations were way way way too high. I pretty much felt that way all season. I would not consider her one of the top setters either. Nor did I feel SHE IMPROVED AT ALL. Sure our passing is not great but Stella is all over that court. It's like she is trying to set the ball without squaring off first. IMO this team needs an experienced backup/starting setter next season or we might be more of a 9-18 team by the end of 2026.

Gilk was a surprise and for the most part was a positive addition to the team. But still....I totally agree that THIS COACHING STAFF IS RESPONSIBLE for this team's overall and individual performances.

However, I am also wondering, if Cook has a very controlling coaching about him. I don't see much interaction with him and his coaching staff. Nor do I see much interaction between the assistants and any player during time outs....just Cook. Yes, I have attended some matches during the season and stand behind my assessments.
 

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