Gopher Volleyball 2018

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This weeks presser: Asked about Martin, "Jasmine is doing great and doing well. And certainly Adanna has been doing great too. Having a six rotation outside hitter has been a good thing for us overall."
 

I think we hit the jackpot on coaching. I mean there are plenty of great coaches in this conference, but Hugh is right up there. I have no doubt a natty is coming our way. Just depends which year. Final 4 is here this year, so I have a sneaking suspicion.
 

http://www.mndaily.com/article/2018/10/s-strong-mother-daughter-bond-motivates-freshman-libero

Daily article on C.C. McGraw:

Halfway through her freshman season on the Gophers’ volleyball team, libero C.C. McGraw has finally achieved a life-long dream of being a Minnesota volleyball player.

“It’s been my dream ever since I was a little girl,” McGraw said.

C.C. McGraw received an offer during her freshman year at Prior Lake High School. McGraw’s mother, Heather, said the path for her dream became possible in seventh grade.

“She went to a Gopher camp and was told by one of the coaches if she continued to develop as they thought she would that she would become 'Gopher good,'” Heather McGraw said. “That moment lit the ultimate spark in her.”

...

C.C. McGraw joined the Gophers last spring after she graduated early from Prior Lake, just as she planned when she was 14 years old.

“She told me when she was 14 that she was going to graduate early," Heather McGraw said. “At the time, I wasn’t super comfortable making that decision, but I allowed her to set up her academic schedule to give her the opportunity to graduate early when the time came.”

Joining the team last spring gave C.C. McGraw extra time to adjust to the college game.

“Instantly, I knew I had a lot of work to do,” she said. “The U’s culture really focuses on the process and not the result, so making my entire game simpler was hard.”

Helping her transition were teammates Sara Nielsen, a sophomore setter, and Alice Zeimann, who lived in the same building.

“We would just invite her to do things with us,” Nielsen said. “C.C. would always come over to just talk and hangout.”

A major motivator for C.C. McGraw was knowing her mother would be in the crowd

“I’ve been playing since I was five years old, and my mom’s been my biggest fan the entire time,” she said.

The freshman libero has had success in multiple areas on the court this season. She’s 11th in the Big Ten in digs with 167 and is second on the team in assists with 56.

“I’ve put in a lot of work trying to make changes,” C.C. McGraw said.

C.C. McGraw said it was hard transitioning to the college level defensively because of the increase in speed of play.

“I’m constantly stepping outside of my comfort zone because these aren’t the types of defensive moves I’d usually make, but I’m having to,” she said.
 

There are a lot of things to like about this team. Back row defense is one of them. CC and Barnes are great. and to think they are only Freshman and Sophomores.
 

dlw4gophers said:
There are a lot of things to like about this team. Back row defense is one of them. CC and Barnes are great. and to think they are only Freshman and Sophomores.
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One quarter of the earth is covered by land.

The rest is by McGraw & Barnes (when in rotation:cool:)
 


Hi, everyone. I want to apologize in advance. I will be attending my first ever Gopher volleyball game tonight. If the Gophers are to lose tonight, I take complete responsibility as the Gophers are currently on a 6 or 7 game losing streak when I am in attendance. But to be fair, those other games I attended were men's basketball and football.

My sincerest apologies. :p
 
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Tucker said:
DearGibsonSG,
Good luck on the game tonight. The Gophers are very uncomfortable knowing their fate this evening rests in your hands, but they are counting on you.
If you win, feel free to stop by a Gophers women's hockey home game sometime soon and bring them a victory as well.
Thanks
Tucker
ps-I bought an SG Special in 1971 or 72 very much like this one

https://www.chicagomusicexchange.co...YyL2nanWQoxYFIoSh8u6I2n__JSpYjdxoC0FsQAvD_BwE

and I still own it although I have messed with it a little bit!
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Gopher volleyball is on a whole other level of competence/performance from either men's hoops or football, so no worries. And they proved it tonight with a three-set sweep of the Illini. Hope Gibson enjoyed seeing a Gopher victory inside the Pav!

On a more serious note, the ladies' defense has been simply outstanding since the start of conference play. Held another opponent under .200 hitting for the night and spread the wealth around offensively to take down Illinois. The Illini have some really nice offensive attack options on the outside, an outstanding middle in Bastianelli and an exceptional setter in Poulter. None of that seemed to trouble the ladies in the least.

Hart, Samedy and Pittman all had strong games offensively while Morgan was her usual steady self at the other middle slot.

On to Northwestern!
 

It was a nice sweep with the Gopher closing strong in each set. For a while it was a battle of setters; but SSS had four kills and 3 aces. Then for a while it was a battle of Illini service errors versus Minnesota in the net calls. It never really turned into a battle of blocks; although there were a couple of key ones. It was also night in which the Illini seemed to win most of the long rallys; but as with the blocks they didn't win the important ones.
 




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The 3rd set was tough to watch. A lot of service errors. Not very enjoyable as a fan. The Pav was pretty quiet aside from a few nice rallies. Illinois never was in that match. Hard to see how they are #7. Really struggled against the top end teams in the league.
 

A workman like sweep for the Gophers over Northwestern 12, 22, 19. The Wildcats D made the last two sets interesting. Seliger-Swenson now has 5011 career assists. The KILL of the night had to be Taylor Morgan staggering a Wildcat with a howitzer shot making the score 14-8 in the third.

Got home after the match in time to watch Penn State hand Nebraska a five set defeat in Happy Valley. And to see the final point as Illinois knocked out Wisconsin in Madison 23-25, 25-21, 35-33 and 25-23. It must have been a wild third set. The Gophers now have a two game gap in the B1G standings.
 




It says Maryland; but it's the Northwestern highlights. Taylor Morgan's blast is saved for last.
 

One note from last night, the replay review computer conked out during a key second set Northwestern challenge and could not be revived during the match. Strange.
 

UpAndUnder43 said:
The 3rd set was tough to watch. A lot of service errors. Not very enjoyable as a fan. The Pav was pretty quiet aside from a few nice rallies. Illinois never was in that match. Hard to see how they are #7. Really struggled against the top end teams in the league.
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The crowd was a bit lifeless this weekend, in a way, but if you've ever seen, say, sports matches in Norway or Sweden, you'd be used to it. MN is Scandinavian territory after all. Not good to get TOO emotive. MN VB fans seem only to get "really up" when the opponents are Nebraska, PSU, or Wisconsin. I think Illinois is a sleeper; they beat WI at WI and have some good players. Plus, it seems, they have a fine young coach.
 


RPI will get corrected as the season rolls on.

If Minnesota continues to go through the Big Ten as they have so far, zero chance they don't get a top 4 seed. This is a big weekend! Iowa isn't bad, and they of course Nebraska.
 

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Unfortunately (or fortunately) I'll be missing this weekends matches to attend the football game in Lincoln.

Gave my tickets to some Gopher fans so at least my seats will be used!
 

http://www.mndaily.com/article/2018...d-adversity-fuel-middle-blocker-taylor-morgan

Daily article on Taylor Morgan.

After having her collegiate career marred by four knee surgeries since joining the Gophers volleyball team, redshirt junior Taylor Morgan is having a standout year.

“I’m just so proud of her and so happy for her in the way the season's going,” said head coach Hugh McCutcheon.

The middle blocker from Blaine, Minnesota joined the volleyball program in 2015 but was red-shirted due to an injury. Throughout 2016 and 2017 Morgan played in 35 sets while converting 49 kills and 29 blocks.

This season however, the Morgan has powered 122 kills while having the best hitting percentage in the Big Ten with .416, while also leading the team with 62 blocks which is sixth best in the conference.

“She had to face a lot of adversity her first few years,” McCutcheon said. “But to see her playing with as much confidence, presence and consistency is very fulfilling.”

Morgan attributes her success to listening to her coaches and learning to hit high and deep on the offensive side.

“I don't tend to hit high,” Morgan said in a post-game interview Sept. 29. “That comes from the coaches telling me … and I thought it was a good night to put it into play.”

Morgan had 12 kills while hitting .923 percent that night against Indiana.

Defensively, not shutting her eyes when she jumps up for a block has worked well for her she said.

“Coaches told me to open my eyes and it actually worked,” Morgan said. She started wearing sports goggles last season to help keep her focus on the ball.
 

Gophers win in straight sets over good Iowa team. Gophs haven't lost a set in quite a while
 

After it was 12-7 Iowa in the first set, Minnesota went on a run making it 15-14 Gophers and then battled to close it out. Iowa errors were key in tonight's match. Iowa had 15 attack errors (Minnesota 10), Iowa had 3 receiving errors (Minnesota 0) and Iowa had 4 service errors (Minnesota 1). Two of the Hawkeye's service errors closed two sets for the Gophers.

Tomorrow's opponent Nebraska is up 2-1 in Madison.
 

Unless I'm mistaken, that makes 41 straight over the Hawkeyes. Series is now 77-11 with the last Iowa win coming back in 1995. [emoji15]

Sent from my SM-J327V using Tapatalk
 

Nebraska lost in Madison in 5 sets. Was a good match to watch. They'll be ready for us tonight, so we better play our best. We're separating from the pack in the standings though. Looks like the only team with a realistic shot of catching us is Penn St.
 

Sparlimb said:
Nebraska lost in Madison in 5 sets. Was a good match to watch. They'll be ready for us tonight, so we better play our best. We're separating from the pack in the standings though. Looks like the only team with a realistic shot of catching us is Penn St.
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Not sure how Nebraska will respond.

I'm sure they'll come out spirited in the early moments, much like they did last night. But they also faded badly down the stretch and looked exhausted late against the Badgers, especially in the fifth set.

Long bus ride after a grueling five-setter will also play a significant factor I would think.

If the ladies play well, I think they'll be fine. If Nebraska comes in and beats the Gophers at the Pav under these circumstances, have to give them major major props.
 

Would think they spent the night in Madison last night and driving here this morning or early afternoon. Or maybe that's what you meant anyway. Travel always takes something out of you, that's why it's harder to win on the road (plus the opposing crowd).

They're going to be desperate. This loss would be the first time they lose 3 matches in a row since 1997! That would send their season down the toilet, relatively (in the sense of hosting a regional).
 


Ignatius L Hoops said:
I think Nebraska chartered after the match in Madison.
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If they could be in bed by midnight, I guess that makes sense. Don't know how fast the whole ordeal was of packing up in Madison, busing to airport, wheels up, touchdown in MSP, unload plane/load bus, drive to hotel. If they weren't in bed til 1/2am ... not sure I agree with it. But I am a lay person here!
 

Going 5 sets last night will work to our advantage. That and we swept. I would expect us to show more energy to start the match...
 

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