Gopher Volleyball 2018

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Zero chance they don’t beat Bryant, so good to know!

Fully expect Colorado to be there waiting, and expect them to give us a tough match.
 

Not nervous at all. Other teams are going to have to really bring it to beat this Gopher team, especially at the Pav. If the ladies play consistent, strong volleyball over the next few weeks, they'll be fine.

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MRJ said:
Not nervous at all. Other teams are going to have to really bring it to beat this Gopher team, especially at the Pav. If the ladies play consistent, strong volleyball over the next few weeks, they'll be fine.

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+1. I expect them to roll into the final 8 no problem. That will of course be a tough match but I doubt they drop a set in the rounds of 64, 32 or 16.
 

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Go Gophers!!
 




http://www.startribune.com/gophers-...-win-top-big-ten-volleyball-honors/501484592/

The only time the Gophers have played Bryant was in 2015, when they swept the Bulldogs at the College of Charleston tournament. Four Bryant freshmen who played in that match — Kristin Kingi, Kirstyn Sperry, Julia Flynn and Grace Richmeyer — have since boosted the Bulldogs to their best season since moving to Division I in 2008.

Bryant is 22-12 after defeating Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference tournament to capture their first berth in the NCAA Division I tournament. The Bulldogs lead the nation with 1,850 kills, paced by Flynn (341), Kingi (356) and freshman Caroline Kennedy (404). They also have an NCAA-best 1,733 assists, with Sperry dishing out 998.
 

http://www.startribune.com/ncaa-bound-gophers-volleyball-team-driven-by-data/501500462/

Gophers volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon has two advanced degrees and a minor in statistics, so perhaps asking him how comfortable he is using advanced metrics in his own sport was akin to lobbing a juicy set for him to spike in my face.

But he took the question in the spirit that it was intended and answered it with grace.

“I like the quantitative aspect of our sport and that it is data-driven,” McCutcheon said. “But I also understand there’s an art and a science to it. The real thing is getting that data and applying it to the moment.”

...

First-year Minnesota assistant Jennifer Bolduc, whose official title is video coordinator, is the program’s go-to source for data. She mines a lot of it from volleymetrics.com as well as from the Gophers’ own tendencies through video review, and from there patterns of efficiency and inefficiency emerge.

The Gophers, for instance, have the fifth-best hitting percentage — total kills, minus hitting errors, divided by attempts — in Division I volleyball this year at .299.

Beyond that, though, comes true hitting efficiency — which takes into account that not all kill attempts that don’t result in an immediate point are created equal.

If the receiving team can’t muster an attack and must simply send a “free ball” back over the net, that’s more valuable than if the opposing team can generate its own attack attempt.

Bolduc, who started doing advanced data work at Colorado State a decade ago before meeting McCutcheon through the U.S. National Team, said use of advanced data is common in the top levels of college volleyball.

“I think we’re doing it at as high a level as anyone else,” she added.
 





Didn't take long for the first upset. First seeded team to play, #13 UCF, falls in the first round to FGCU 3-2.
 


New Mexico St just tied it up (1-1) in its match against Oregon in rather convincing style 25-18. Go Aggies!
 



Day 1 in the books. In Minnesota's bracket, Oregon advances 3-1 while Baylor downs Hawaii 3-2.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin swept Green Bay and the biggest upset of the day belong to FGCU who beats #13 UCF, 3-2.
 

Should be an easy night for the Gophers. I'd expect a total score of 75-55ish
 

One pair of all session final four at $135 next $150 on stubhub, there was a decent pair for $85 a month ago
 

Colorado doesn't look as good as I was expecting. Got torched in set 3 25-12. SC has some lethal servers.
 

As disappointed as I can be with a three-game sweep.

The ladies got progressively worse as the match went on and almost made a total mess of set three against a team they should have handled without problems.

That kind of effort and lack of focus isn't going to cut it from here on out.
 


17 blocks were fun to watch. Made for a nice, fairly quick, dispatch of Bryant. Now on to South Carolina and former Gopher Brittany Mclean. As Waffle pointed out, the Gamecocks have two lethal servers. However, they are sometimes lethal and sometimes erratic. Aubry Ezell (libero) seemed to be the most troublesome with a sometimes top spin and sometimes side spin jump serve. It gave South Carolina an edge against Colorado.
 


MRJ said:
As disappointed as I can be with a three-game sweep.

The ladies got progressively worse as the match went on and almost made a total mess of set three against a team they should have handled without problems.

That kind of effort and lack of focus isn't going to cut it from here on out.
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Hard to know what to make of that match. The Gophers' performance seems to have grown increasingly capricious in the past few weeks. I suppose that attitude could be good in handling the NCAA pressure. Or it could spell disaster.
 

So far, the Big Ten's seven teams are 8-0 (Wisconsin is already into the Sweet Sixteen), and the Pac-12's eight teams are 7-2 (Oregon is already into the Sweet Sixteen, and Colorado and Arizona lost first-round matches).
 

Beat SC tonight 3-0. On to sweet 16! 12, 15, 15 steady put away.
 
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It was great to see Samedy have some success from the back row tonight and for that matter get some more steam into her kills as the match went on. Like last night, she had another terrific, hanging one hand put down block. Regional time!
 

ncgo4 said:
Beat SC tonight 3-0. On to sweet 16! 12, 15, 15 steady put away.
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The Gophers played with a real sense of purpose tonight. I'm guessing they figured SC would be tired after the Colorado game.
MN came out attacking and never let up. They'll need that attitude big time next weekend






n
 


Hrothgar said:
The Gophers played with a real sense of purpose tonight. I'm guessing they figured SC would be tired after the Colorado game.
MN came out attacking and never let up. They'll need that attitude big time next weekend





n
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South Carolina clearly is not a Big-Ten caliber team, but I thought the Gophers played their best match in a month.
 

Game Time!

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What kind of pathetic game time is 3:30 on a Friday??
 

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