Gopher Volleyball 2018

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https://umterps.com/news/2018/9/19/volleyball-maryland-takes-down-rutgers-in-straight-sets.aspx

With last season's head coach, Steve Aird, now coaching in Indiana and last season's best Terp, Gia Milana, now playing in Baylor, Maryland is off to a 10-3 start. Okay, it's not been a difficult schedule; but they arrive at the PAV after sweeping Rutgers last night. The recap:


COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Behind a complete team performance that featured seven kills, three aces and two blocks from redshirt sophomore Katie Myers, the Maryland volleyball team (10-3) blew past Rutgers in straight sets (25-14, 25-18, 25-15) on Wednesday night.

"I was excited for the team," said head coach Adam Hughes. "A lot of these guys are getting their first start in the Big Ten. All but two people that played in the match had never played in a Big Ten match before. To get those people experience and to see them start on time and play all the way through, I was pretty proud of them for their effort tonight."

Out of Maryland's starting lineup, no one but senior outside hitter Liz Twilley and sophomore outside hitter Erika Pritchard had played in a Big Ten match before tonight. The two with experience, Pritchard and Twilley led Maryland in kills with 13 and 12 apiece. Twilley hit an impressive .385 with only two errors.

Sophomore setter Nicole Alford led Maryland with 29 assists while freshman libero Allegra Rivas was in front with 14 digs. Freshman outside hitter Emma Schriner earned the first start of her career and posted a line of four kills and one block.
 

I could watch Morgan get kills all match long. It makes me emotional. ;)

Speaking of Maryland beating Rutgers, if my math is correct, RU is 1-80 in Big Ten play since joining the conference and have lost 52 conference matches in a row!
 

Waffle said:
I could watch Morgan get kills all match long. It makes me emotional. ;)

Speaking of Maryland beating Rutgers, if my math is correct, RU is 1-80 in Big Ten play since joining the conference and have lost 52 conference matches in a row!
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This seems correct and I think they have only won like 10 sets in that time. Lots of 0-3 losses. Pretty sad program.
 

Their nextdoor state neighbors in Penn State certainly were able to build a strong program. I think if I'm Rutgers AD, I try to hire Penn St assistant and basically tell him/her "do exactly what Russ did there, here's the same money they spend per year, go".
 

A couple of fun things in tonight's 19, 19, 18 sweep of Maryland.1) Pittman finished off the second set muscling down a joust with a couple of Terps. 2) In the third set, I think around the 15 point mark, Morgan got set for a full wind up smash which she didn't miss. It was awesome.

Rollins was terrific with 11 kills and 15 digs. Hugh gave a bit of time to Martin, Nielsen and Sheehan. Barnes and McGraw were solid.
 


Some good Sunday matches thus far.

Illinois dropped the first two sets at Indiana before rallying to win: 24-26, 22-25, 25-18, 25-17 and 15-8.

Ohio State defeated Penn State in Columbus in four sets: 16-25, 25-20, 33-31 and 25-23. The third set was crazy, especially the end with both teams having multiple set points.
 

Did Ohio St hire a new coach or have a good recruiting class or something? I think of them like Maryland, Rutgers, and Indiana in Big Ten volleyball.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Did Ohio St hire a new coach or have a good recruiting class or something? I think of them like Maryland, Rutgers, and Indiana in Big Ten volleyball.
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This is U of M alum Geoff Carlston's eleventh season heading up the Buckeyes. Last season was a down year following three straight NCAA sweet sixteen appearances.
 





https://gophersports.com/news/2018/9/24/volleyball-three-gophers-earn-big-ten-weekly-awards.aspx

Stephanie Samedy (Clermont, Fla.) Samantha Seliger-Swenson (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Adanna Rollins (Carrollton, Texas) have received weekly Big Ten Conference awards after sweeping its competition the opening weekend of Big Ten play. Samedy was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week, Seliger-Swenson received Setter of the Week honors and Rollins was named Co-Freshman of the Week. It's the first honor for all three of them in the 2018 season.

Samedy, a 6-foot, 2-inch sophomore opposite hitter, contributed 33 points and averaged 4.50 kills per set as the Golden Gophers earned a pair of sweeps over No. 4 Penn State and Maryland, Wednesday and Saturday night. On Wednesday against the Nittany Lions, Samedy led all attackers with 14 kills, had 10 digs, a team-best five blocks and an assist and ace. Against Maryland, she hit .310 when she amassed another match-best 13 kills in 29 swings, and accumulated four blocks.

Seliger-Swenson, a 5-foot, 11-inch senior setter, averaged 11.83 assists per set in the opening weekend of Big Ten play. She also amassed 24 digs. Against Penn State, Seliger-Swenson had 40 assists and completed the double-double with a team-best 16 digs. In the third and deciding set, Seliger-Swenson led the Gophers to a .366 hitting clip. In the match against Maryland, she had 31 assists and an ace and a block in the win.

Rollins, a 6-foot freshman outside hitter averaged 4.00 kills per set, hit .266 and added 26 digs in her first weekend of Big Ten play. On Wednesday against No. 4 Penn State, Rollins hit .303 when she had 13 kills off 33 swings. She also added her first collegiate double-double when she had 11 digs. On Saturday, Rollins added her second double-double of the weekend when she had 11 kills and a team-high 15 digs in the win over Maryland.
 

Will the Gophers beat Wisconsin? Any predictions?
 




Gophers_4life said:
I took Gophs in 5 on VT. I said either it's gonna be a classic rivalry match in 5 sets, or a "fake you out" 3-0 win for one of them.
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I went 4. Unfortunately, I have a trivia hosting gig on Wednesday and will miss the match. Might peek at the TV during the match, but I have to keep an eye on my game.
 

https://gophersports.com/news/2018/...y-named-avca-national-player-of-the-week.aspx

Sophomore opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy (Clermont, Fla.) was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week after a stellar weekend against Penn State and Maryland.

Samedy becomes the first Golden Gopher to receive the award since Sarah Wilhite garnered the honor in 2016. Samedy becomes just the ninth player in Golden Gopher history to be named the AVCA National Player of the Week, dating back to 1996.
 

I think if MN plays WI even at the net, they can win from the backcourt - and with crowd support. IMHO, being a VB novice.
 

For whatever reason, we seem to own Wisconsin the last number of years. We always seem to beat them. Now this is arguably Wisconsin's best team in the last 5, so that may not matter much...
 


Last year it looked like we were going to lose after the third set. Our seats are right in front of where the visiting parents sit and they were pretty annoying. Right after the match point I turned and took a picture. The look on their faces was priceless. Probably what we look like after every Axe game. When I looked more closely the next day I realized that I captured Sidney Hilley’s mom with a magnificent frown face. They look exactly like each other. Hoping for a repeat!
 
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beavergopher said:
Last year it looked like we were going to lose after the third set. Our seats are right in front of where the visiting parents sit and they were pretty annoying. Right after the match point I turned and took a picture. The look on their faces was priceless. Probably what we look like after every Axe game. When I looked more closely the next day I realized that I captured Sidney Hilley’s mom with a magnificent frown face. They look exactly like each other. Hoping for a repeat!
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Sadly, many folks take these games for more than they really are, that is, just games.
 


Waffle said:
That's the OSU that beat Penn State? :eek:
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was a big afternoon for the Ohio State women’s volleyball team as it upset No. 4 Penn State (9-3, 0-2 B1G) in four sets (16-25, 25-20, 33-31, 25-23) inside St. John Arena for its first Big Ten victory of the season. It was the first win for the Buckeyes over the Nittany Lions since 2016 and they improve to 10-4 overall (1-1 B1G).
 

Well, the ladies put quite a beating on the Badgers tonight (25-17, 25-21, 25-15). I think that's seven in a row over Bucky, although I could be wrong.

Surprises me a little bit because Wisconsin has some really good talent, but for whatever reason, the Gophers always seem to bring their best whenever the border battle is on.

The outsides were really, really good tonight. Wisconsin's passing and serve receive was spotty and that's putting it kindly. But Samedy and Hart were both teeing off at various points in each set.

The team is in a nice groove now. Hopefully, they can take it on the road with them.
 

MRJ said:
That's what happens when you get a lot of media love, have a bunch of highly rated national level recruits and openly talk about how cool it would be to make a Final Four in your backyard.

They haven't turned the necessary corner, not even close. Faded badly down the stretch last year and haven't improved from there so far this season.

Of course it's early and they still could get there. But they have shown a lot of the same problems they had last year. I would love to be wrong. And if they can discover the magic formula, I'll be more than happy to admit I'm wrong.

But based on the end of last year and what I'm seeing early this year, they're not on that level. At least not yet.

Sent from my SM-J327V using Tapatalk
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I think they are doing better now. Tough conference. Lets be patience.
 
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Consider this. 2 of our 3 first Big Ten Matches (albeit at home) were against Penn St. and Wisconsin. We're 9-0 in games in those 3 matches. Impressive stuff. We have the team to win it all this year. Doesn't mean we will or that we will beat Nebraska or Stanford. But if they get hot in the tournament and have a huge home field advantage in the final four, watch out.
 

#2Gopher said:
I think they are doing better now. Tough conference. Lets be patient.
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They are, no question about it. And I agree, patience is necessary, which is why I would like to see some good results away from the Pav before I get overly excited.

The 2015 and 2016 teams just kept rolling, regardless of where they were playing.

Would really like to see similar results from this team.
 

Damn! That was some power volleyball. Soften 'em up with Samedy then pick 'em apart with Hart and Rollins. And mix in some heavy hitting from Morgan. The third set almost turned into a take 'em to the woodshed spectacle with Seliger-Swenson serving and Samedy, Morgan and Hart at the net Minnesota sprinted to an 8-0 start. Sheffield used his two timeouts in the first six points.

Hugh got excited by the play especially after a stretched out one hand dig by Seliger-Swenson eventually turned into a kill by Rollins. Another Wednesday night match where I expected to be leaving after eleven but was out well before ten. Barnes was solid tonight especially from the service line. Pretty much something that applied to everyone wearing an M.
 


https://gophersports.com/news/2018/9/26/volleyball-gophers-route-no-5-wisconsin-in-three.aspx

The numbers don't lie.

Alexis Hart set a new career-high and had a team best .609 hitting percentage with 14 kills. Stephanie Samedy also set a new career-high, hitting .545 with 14 kills and 10 digs, adding a double-double. Adanna Rollins put up eight kills and Taylor Morgan added six. Samantha Seliger-Swenson had 39 assists on the evening with eight digs and two service aces. CC McGraw led the defense with 13 digs and was followed by Lauren Barnes who had nine, while Barnes set a new career-high with three service aces in the match.
 

Dominant performance. SSS is so fun to watch. She looks like she loves it and is obviously very talented.

The hitters were spectacular. Crowd was great AND I won a seat upgrade on Gopher Twitter so I was right behind the home bench. Really fun night.
 

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