Gopher Volleyball 2018

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I had to look. Rutgers is 8-51 in big ten sets this year.

Gophers are 48-5
 









No sugar-coating it, the ladies were poor tonight.

But, they were able to overcome themselves and win. And that's all that really matters.

With that said, tonight was one ugly display of volleyball.
 



Congratulations to the 2018 Big Ten volleyball champs.. Tomorrow we clinch it outright.
 

MRJ said:
No sugar-coating it, the ladies were poor tonight.

But, they were able to overcome themselves and win. And that's all that really matters.

With that said, tonight was one ugly display of volleyball.
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To quote Tracy Claeys: There's no such thing as a bad win. They got the job done, though the first 1 1/2 sets were like sleep walking. Maryland won, I believe, nearly all the statistics but still lost the match. How'd that happen? As in several previous matches, MN seemed to wear their opponent down.
 

The ladies put together a couple of strings of good play in sets two, three and four. The first set was a mess and the middle of the third wasn't much better.

Some of it was the fact that we're getting a bit spoiled with outstanding play being the norm. And some of it was just not being ready at the start.

Samedy and Rollins both had good matches. But the rest of the team was in a funk.

The bottom line is still a win. It was just far from a thing of beauty.

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I am getting nothing via BTN plus for the gopher - buckeye game
Anyone else?
 




They had a bat flying around the arena. It had used up its eligibility.
 

Gophers win in 5 at Ohio State. The Big Ten is so tough! Except for Rutgers, possibly, on any given night....
 

MRJ: "Samedy and Rollins both had good matches. But the rest of the team was in a funk. "

The BTN+ color announcer, who clearly knows VB, kept saying that Rollins was shaken by 2 early serve return misses and remained pretty much out of it after that. He praised Pittman. He also said that Rollins and Hart leave something to be desired as passers and serve returners and that other teams will take advantage of that in the NCAAs. It's fantastic the Gophers have won the Big Ten, but giving away first sets won't be a good idea in the post-season.
 

Talk about a mixed bag.

The good: Big 10 champs.

The bad: almost everything else displayed this weekend. Yuck.

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Big 10 Champs

MRJ said:
Talk about a mixed bag.

The good: Big 10 champs.

The bad: almost everything else displayed this weekend. Yuck.

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And they stand 18-0 in the toughest conference in the country. Must be doing something right.
 

They have been. And they are fully deserving conference champs.

The rest of it raises huge questions for what's to come.

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At this late stage of the season & with the pressures of a college semester building, all these teams must be pretty well fried by now. The Gophers didn't play inspired recently, but they still managed to finish the matches stronger than any of their fired-up opponents.
 

While the gophers weren't that sharp tonight and looked sluggish at times, I think some people (specifically on volleytalk) underestimate how hyped up teams get when the first place conference team with the really long win streak enters their gym. Ohio State did beat Penn State (3-1) in their building. It's not like the Buckeyes are completely void of talent. Are the Gophers feeling somewhat burned out this long into the season? Playing down to their competition? Should there be concern of a late season fade? Perhaps.

I think the Penn State match will answer these questions. If the Gophers get dominated by Penn State, then there is real concern. But if the Gophers win, or maybe even lose in a well-played close match, I think people are worrying too much. That said...have the Gophers ever won at Penn State? I know under Hugh they haven't.
 

MRJ said:
Talk about a mixed bag.

The good: Big 10 champs.

The bad: almost everything else displayed this weekend. Yuck.

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There is something to be said about teams that play like crap and still win. It will be real interesting to see the Penn St match. If we get blown out 3-0, then we're in trouble. If we rise up and play good volleyball then we'll be fine.


Or as I read the rest of the thread, exactly what Gibson said one post up.
 

beavergopher said:
They had a bat flying around the arena. It had used up its eligibility.
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I thought you were joking, but no, there was an actual bat flying around the arena. The footage of it getting taken out was hilarious.
 

Daize said:
I thought you were joking, but no, there was an actual bat flying around the arena. The footage of it getting taken out was hilarious.
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It should have been a Sports Center Top Ten play. Slick move by the student manager.
 

All nitpicking aside, coach McCutcheon and the entire team deserve huge congrats on winning the Big 10. And to be undefeated in the conference heading into the final weekend? Almost unbelievable and an amazing accomplishment for the program.

Also a huge congrats to Sam. What she's accomplished in her four years with the program is incredible! Probably won't see another like her for a very long time.

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MRJ said:
All nitpicking aside, coach McCutcheon and the entire team deserve huge congrats on winning the Big 10. And to be undefeated in the conference heading into the final weekend? Almost unbelievable and an amazing accomplishment for the program.

Also a huge congrats to Sam. What she's accomplished in her four years with the program is incredible! Probably won't see another like her for a very long time.

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I agree. MN has weaknesses, but every other team has weaknesses as well. I say: JUST KEEP WINNING!
 


I found this statistic kind of interesting. Of teams in the top 5 of the RPI, once their conference schedules began, Stanford played four back-to-back matches, that is, two back-to-backers; BYU and Texas played no conference back-to-back matches; Illinois played eight (four back-to-backers); and Minnesota, counting next weekend, will have played twelve (six back-to-backers). For me, that makes the Gophers conference record even more impressive.
 

And of the rest of the RPI top ten, only Wisconsin had back-to-back conference matches on its schedule -- five of them for ten matches. Pittsburgh, Southern Cal, Kentucky and UCF had no back-to-back conference matches, just like BYU and Texas.
 
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