Gopher Volleyball 2016

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The Gophers quick offense made quick work of Louisville. Rosado (whom the announcers persisted in pronouncing Rose-A-dough) had nice match with some nifty sets thrown in. Hart led the Gophers with 13 kills (.522) followed by Wilhite with 12 (hitting .733). The Minnesota block (15) shut down the Cardinal attack. Next up is #11 North Carolina who also features a pretty good block. Before tomorrow's match North Carolina takes on the Badgers tonight.

Of note: Minnesota played nine players-the usual squad without, I don't believe, an appearance by Beal or Morgan.
 


Sparlimb said:
Talk about a crushing win. Louisville is top 25?
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Louisville dropped out of the top 25 this week.

North Carolina (led by former Badger Taylor Fricano (15 kills and 7 blocks) defeated #2 Wisconsin in five exciting sets.
 

Minnesota took out #11 North Carolina in four sets (25-11,25-12, 22-25 and 25-21). Yes the Gopher quick offense and blocking dominated the first two sets before UNC adjusted coming out of the break. UNC got off to a quick start in the fourth set but the Gophers ran them down late.

Minnesota had 7 aces to cap a nice service match plus 14.5 blocks. Hart led the Gophers with 17 kills followed by Hannah with 15. Wilhite contributed a double double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Alexis Hart continued to impress with a variety of swings over, around and through blockers.

Earlier today, the Badgers swept Louisville but it was a competitive match.
 

I'm thinking we're starting to see the team we can become. Alexis Hart leading the team in kills today. We absolutely smoked them in the first two games. Goal is to peak in the NCAA's, but liking what I see already.
 


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Go Gophers!!
 

Sept 8 & 9-Matches involving ranked B1G teams:

#1 Nebraska: Swept both Arkansas and New Mexico in Albuquerque.

#2 Wisconsin: Lost to #11 North Carolina 2-3 and swept Louisville in Chapel Hill

# 5 Minnesota: Swept Louisville and defeated #11 North Carolina 3-1 in Chapel Hill.

#12 Ohio State: Swept IUPUI, lost to Missouri State 2-3 and defeated Green Bay 3-2 in Springfield, Mo.

#17 Penn State: Swept Sienna and Syracuse and defeated Hofstra 3-1 in Syracuse.

#20 Purdue: Defeated #9 Stanford 3-2 and Cal Poly 3-1 in Palo Alto.

#21 Illinois: Lost to Oregon 0-3 and swept both Belmont and St. Mary's in Eugene

#22 Michigan: Swept both American and Coastal Carolina and lost to Pittsburgh 3-2 in Pittsburgh.
 

Gophers up to #3

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Go Gophers!!
 

It was a high heat and humidity night in the Pav (especially in the upper deck) and after a dominant opening set, Minnesota's play eventually had Hugh pacing the sidelines.

Things fell apart in the second set with the score 9-8 Gophers. Minnesota's sloppy play helped North Dakota launch a seven point run on their way to winning set two. During sets two and three North Dakota effectively neutralized the Gopher block.

However, Minnesota prevailed in the third and then the Gophers dominated the fourth set led by Hannah (she had 20 kills for the match and I think half of them came in the fourth set) to take the match.

It was a bit of an off night for setting and for defense in general. Even the scoreboard felt the malaise and technical difficulties prevented display of game stats. We saw the regular roster with no surprises. Tomorrow Minnesota takes on Toledo (who defeated Green Bay in five sets) in the morning and Green Bay in the evening. I'll probably skip the morning match and hydrate for the evening one.
 



Minnesota defeated Toledo in straight sets (14, 22, 14). Similar to last night, the Gophers dominated the first set and played a sloppy second set (Minnesota was down early, surged to the lead and then held on). We saw a few more players hit the court- Beal, Morgan and Handley. Taylor Morgan even got a couple of kills-one off a nice quick middle set late in the match. Sarah Wilhite had 16 kills and hit .536.
 

Gophers sweep Green Bay (21,13,21). Goehner not dressed and Hannah Tapp didn't play.

Today marked the first appearance of Sophie Beckley this season. She did a great job in the serve receive. For the second straight match, Taylor Morgan was a factor.

Wilhite, Hart and Seliger-Swenson were All-Tournament, with SSS the MVP.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

It was fun watching Taylor Morgan smash those quick set, middle kills. Morgan finished with 10 kills and hit .500. Hugh did get a little emphatic during his third set timeout getting the crew back on track.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
It was fun watching Taylor Morgan smash those quick set, middle kills. Morgan finished with 10 kills and hit .500. Hugh did get a little emphatic during his third set timeout getting the crew back on track.
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I had never seen Hugh as mad as he was during the time out in set 3. He was yelling at the players even before they got off the court.


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Ski U Mah Gopher said:
I had never seen Hugh as mad as he was during the time out in set 3. He was yelling at the players even before they got off the court.
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I agree. It was certainly the most sustained Gopher diatribe I recall. I doubt it matched some of his national team masterpieces; but it was impressive for the Diet Coke Classic.
 

How the ranked B1G teams fared on the last weekend of non-conference action. Yes the Badgers still have a match today versus the #2 Longhorns in Austin; but everyone else is gearing up for the opening of one of the nations most competitive conference sports-Big Ten Volleyball.

#1 Nebraska: Swept both Gonzaga and Montana State and defeated Creighton 3-1 in Lincoln.

#3 Minnesota: Defeated North Dakota 3-1 and swept both Toledo and UW Green Bay in the Pav.

#6 Wisconsin: Swept #16 Texas A&M in College Station. Plays #2 Texas in Austin

#14 Purdue: Defeated #4 Kansas 3-1 and swept both South East Louisiana and Xavier in West Lafayette.

#19 Ohio State: Swept UNC Greenville, Valpo, and Ball State in Muncie.

#20 Penn State: Swept Rhode Island, Howard and Clemson in Happy Valley

#22: Michigan State: Swept Notre Dame, Maryland Eastern Shore and DePaul in East Lansing

#23 Michigan: Swept Auburn and Eastern Michigan and defeated Colgate 3-1 in Ann Arbor.
 

http://www.fourcornersnewsleader.com/local-athlete-rated-5-in-country/

A short article on 2017 Gopher recruit, Stephanie Samedy, from Clermont, Florida.

Stephanie Samedy is a strong student with a 3.8 unweighted/4.5 weighted gpa. She is the #5 rated volleyball player in the entire country as rated by PrepVolleyball and truly epitomizes what it means to be a Knight! She is also a member of the Under 20 USA Junior National Team.

A scary athlete who jump touches 10-8, Samedy has size, strength and great versatility. Late to volleyball, she’s taken to the game so quickly that she’s won a club national championship and competed for the USA Youth and Junior National Teams the past two summers.

Samedy is primarily a six-rotation right side attacker but can side out from the left or right, and perhaps her most impressive swing is terminating a front 1. She’s a go-to hitter but a “go-away from” blocker. She is so strong and so athletic that attackers do not dare to challenge her. Samedy can dig and she serves up a booming jump-spin or effective jump-float. A hard working player who is classy and a leader, Samedy is driven to be an Olympian one day.
 

Closing out the non-conference season the #6 Badgers take down #2 Texas in Austin. After dropping the first two sets (21, 24), Wisconsin took the next three including a wild third set (23, 21, 18).
 

Lauren who?

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Tonight, three matches kick off the B1G conference season: Northwestern @ Indiana, Penn State @ Rutgers and BTN's feature match-up, Illinois @ #10 Purdue.

Everybody else, including Maryland @ #2 Minnesota, serves it up on Friday night.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Tonight, three matches kick off the B1G conference season: Northwestern @ Indiana, Penn State @ Rutgers and BTN's feature match-up, Illinois @ #10 Purdue.

Everybody else, including Maryland @ #2 Minnesota, serves it up on Friday night.
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The Illini have the talent to beat Purdue, but do they have the consistency? They are the B1G's enigma.
 

Ski U Mah Gopher said:
The Illini have the talent to beat Purdue, but do they have the consistency? They are the B1G's enigma.
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In a match living up to its billing the enigmatic Illini took a thrilling five setter (15-11 last set) from the home standing Boilers.
 



http://www.mndaily.com/article/2016/09/seliger-swenson-continues-to-impace-in-second-season

MN Daily article on Seliger-Swenson:

“She keeps getting better,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “The rhythm and the tempo of the offense, I think she has a better feel for that. [She’s] the whole package.”...


...Having a calm, cool, collected setter is crucial for any quality team, especially when things go awry.

“Her ability to create, especially at the net, even when the pass is a bit squirrely, she’s able to still get a hittable ball out of that and it makes a big difference for us,” McCutcheon said.

Seliger-Swenson is leading the Gophers in assists this season with 394. She is also second on the squad in service aces with eight, trailing only senior outside hitter, Sarah Wilhite, with nine.

McCutcheon gives her credit for changing the small things in her serving and diversifying her game as a whole in the offseason.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
http://www.mndaily.com/article/2016/09/seliger-swenson-continues-to-impace-in-second-season

MN Daily article on Seliger-Swenson:

“She keeps getting better,” head coach Hugh McCutcheon said. “The rhythm and the tempo of the offense, I think she has a better feel for that. [She’s] the whole package.”...


...Having a calm, cool, collected setter is crucial for any quality team, especially when things go awry.

“Her ability to create, especially at the net, even when the pass is a bit squirrely, she’s able to still get a hittable ball out of that and it makes a big difference for us,” McCutcheon said.

Seliger-Swenson is leading the Gophers in assists this season with 394. She is also second on the squad in service aces with eight, trailing only senior outside hitter, Sarah Wilhite, with nine.

McCutcheon gives her credit for changing the small things in her serving and diversifying her game as a whole in the offseason.
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I said to some people around me at the GB match (maybe that was the omen for the Vikings:)) that she was the best at making chicken salad. The Gophers' serve receive and digging only has to be good enough and not perfect.
 

Goehner nowhere to be seen again tonight after nowhere to be seen last Saturday night vs. Green Bay.
 

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