Gopher Volleyball 2019

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https://bigten.org/news/2019/9/16/w...rthwestern-earn-weekly-volleyball-awards.aspx

B1G Weekly awards:

Player of the Week
Stephanie Samedy, Minnesota
OPP – Jr. – Clermont, Fla. – East Ridge
• Led the Gophers with 35 kills in 96 attempts (.240 kill percentage) and averaged 5.00 kills per set in a pair of wins over ranked teams, No. 10 Oregon and No. 1 Stanford
• Against the Ducks, posted a match-best 14 kills, 11 digs and two aces for her fourth double-double of the season
• Versus the Cardinal, followed with a 21-kill performance in 59 attempts, 11 digs and six blocks marking her fifth double-double of the year
• Garners her fourth career Player of the Week decoration and the first of the season
• Last Minnesota Player of the Week: Alexis Hart (Oct. 1, 2018)

Defensive Player of the Week
Regan Pittman, Minnesota
MB – Jr. – Spring Hill, Kan. – Saint Thomas Aquinas

• Averaged two blocks per set in a pair of wins over No. 10 Oregon and No. 1 Stanford
• Posted seven blocks, seven kills in 15 attempts and hit .400 against the Ducks
• Against the No. 1 Cardinal, tallied another seven blocks, a team best, as the Gophers had a season-best 13 blocks in a single match
• Collects her first career Defensive Player of the Week accolade
• Last Minnesota Defensive Player of the Week: Dalianliz Rosado (Oct. 23, 2017)

Setter of the Week
Kylie Miller, Minnesota
S – Sr. – Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. – Rancho Cucamonga

• Averaged 12.57 assists per set and helped Minnesota to a pair of wins over No. 10 Oregon and No. 1 Stanford as the Gophers hit .247 on the weekend against ranked opponents
• Also added 25 digs, two aces and five blocks over the weekend
• Against the No. 1 Cardinal, added a season-best 50 assists, completed the double-double with 17 digs and added four blocks, including one solo block
• Receives her second career Setter of the Week award and the second in as many weeks
• Last Minnesota Setter of the Week: Kylie Miller (Sept. 9, 2019)
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Anyone else surprised they only moved up 1 spot in the poll? I expected a bit higher given the Stanford and Oregon wins.
 

curiouskg said:
Anyone else surprised they only moved up 1 spot in the poll? I expected a bit higher given the Stanford and Oregon wins.
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I thought they might jump Pitt, but the FSU loss is still staining the Gophers resume while Pitt is 10-0. Pitt also beat Oregon with Willow Johnson while Johnson didn't play vs the Gophers. Maybe Penn State will win both against Pitt this weekend. I'd probably still rank Stanford #1 if I was a voter, Nebraska still has to prove themself IMO...

1. Stanford
2. Texas
3. Baylor
4. Penn St
5. Minnesota
6. Pitt
7. Nebraska
 

Does the Big Ten seem not to be quite as strong top to bottom this year? With Illinois having a rough go so far, does it seem there's a drop-off this year after Nebraska, Penn State, and Minnesota? Don't I remember there being seven or so Big Ten teams in the top 15 a year or two ago at one point? (Or am I confusing this with wrestling? Maybe I've been hit in the head one too many times.)
 

let'sbeclear said:
Well, the women's hockey team did win national championships in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.
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True, but no offense, there are few schools with hockey, let alone women’s. North Dakota even dropped their women’s team. Minnesota is probably one of the best funded women’s programs in the nation.

Vball is played at almost every DI school. Winning the natty in that sport would be much more significant, though I will admit that most of the teams in the SEC and ACC are relatively weak compared to how well they do in football and basketball.
 


let'sbeclear said:
Does the Big Ten seem not to be quite as strong top to bottom this year? With Illinois having a rough go so far, does it seem there's a drop-off this year after Nebraska, Penn State, and Minnesota? Don't I remember there being seven or so Big Ten teams in the top 15 a year or two ago at one point? (Or am I confusing this with wrestling? Maybe I've been hit in the head one too many times.)
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In general, I think VB teams are getting stronger and stronger all across the country. A basketball guru friend of mine claims college VB is attracting more great women athletes than women's college basketball. Interesting thought.
 

Tucker said:
I'll take a little offense, thank you. No need to explain to us how the GWH National Championships don't matter!

Go Gopher Volleyball!
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Not "don't matter". I did not imply that.

I implied "less significant". You can take offense to that, but facts are facts. If Alabama decided to sink millions per year into a women's hockey team, built them their own arena, recruited top players from Minnesota, Canada, etc. I think they could be nationally competitive too.

But relatively few DI schools choose to do that. I'm not going to apologize for bringing this up.
 

Hrothgar said:
In general, I think VB teams are getting stronger and stronger all across the country. A basketball guru friend of mine claims college VB is attracting more great women athletes than women's college basketball. Interesting thought.
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ACC, SEC, and Big XII teams are getting more competitive as well. Not as competitive as the PAC 12 and Big Ten, but catching up.
 

Hrothgar said:
In general, I think VB teams are getting stronger and stronger all across the country. A basketball guru friend of mine claims college VB is attracting more great women athletes than women's college basketball. Interesting thought.
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This is very much true. Former Gopher Jasmyn Martin was a top level (D1 for sure) basketball player who quit during high school to focus on VB. Just one example but there are others.

Carter Booth doesn't basketball despite being 6'7" and her dad being a former D1 and NBA player.

"Standing as a 6’7″ eighth grader with a father who played in the NBA for 10 years, it’d be a simple thought that Carter Booth would be destined for stardom in basketball. Her father, Calvin Booth (former Minnesota Timberwolves executive and current Assistant GM of the Denver Nuggets), couldn’t convince that path upon her though, as she changed out the basketball court for one with shorter lines. Now, the decision has paid off as Carter Booth has verbally committed to the Minnesota women’s volleyball program as part of the class of 2022."
 



MnplsGopher said:
Not "don't matter". I did not imply that.

I implied "less significant". You can take offense to that, but facts are facts. If Alabama decided to sink millions per year into a women's hockey team, built them their own arena, recruited top players from Minnesota, Canada, etc. I think they could be nationally competitive too.

But relatively few DI schools choose to do that. I'm not going to apologize for bringing this up.
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All I was trying to point out in my initial response to your post was that you may have worded it too broadly. You had written: "UMN is hungry for any sport to bring...[a National Championship] home" [emphasis added].
 
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https://www.nfhs.org/articles/parti...l-sports-registers-first-decline-in-30-years/


This year's NFHS survey (emphasis added) dated 5 September 2019:

Participation in high school sports declined in 2018-19 for the first time in 30 years, according to the annual High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
...
Combined basketball participation was down 23,944 (13,340 girls and 10,604 boys), and the girls basketball total of 399,067 is the lowest since the 1992-93 school year. However, the decrease in girls basketball participation from 430,368 in 2016-17 to 399,067 in 2018-19 is largely attributable to a 25,000 drop in Texas during that two-year period. Dismissing the Texas numbers, girls basketball numbers have been steady in the range of 430,000 for the past seven years.

Four of the top 10 boys sports registered increases in participation, topped by track and field with an additional 5,257 participants. Other top 10 boys sports that added participants last year were soccer (2,715), wrestling (1,877) and tennis (1,163). Among girls top 10 sports, volleyball was the front-runner with an additional 6,225 participants, followed by soccer (3,623) and lacrosse (3,164).
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There's certainly anecdotal info such as mentioned in previous posts about players picking volleyball over basketball. Here's one such article from 2017 which also mentions Martin:

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/ar...king-volleyball-not-basketball-record-numbers
Basketball figured to be the game for Micaya White. Her dad, Randy White, played in the NBA. Her brother, R.J., is the starting center for UNC Greensboro. Micaya joined her first team when she was 6.

"Everybody assumed I was going to play too," the 6-foot-1 White said.

There was just one problem. She didn't love it.

"When I tried to show aggression, I'd end up hurting another player or fouling out of the game." More than that, White cringed, "I hated being touched. I'm a germ freak, so a sweaty person touching me freaked me out."

A conversation with the volleyball coach at her middle school opened up an avenue she never considered. Urged to try out for the school's team, White hesitated.

"I didn't want to suck at it, and I knew nothing about it," she said.

Basketball's loss became volleyball's gain. White was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year at Texas, which reached the NCAA title game in December.

Her decision to pick volleyball over basketball follows a national trend. Two years ago, for the first time, more high school girls played volleyball (432,176) than basketball (429,504), according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. In 2015-16, volleyball added another 4,133 girls to those numbers, while basketball lost 276 participants.

Examine the past decade, and the numbers are more striking. Statistics compiled by the NFHS show an increase of more than 40,000 volleyball players in that span and a decrease of 23,000 basketball players.

"There's been a huge African-American crossover into our sport, and it's become the social norm now to play volleyball, whereas 10 or 15 years ago, it was basketball," Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said. "It appeals not just to the super tall but the super small. The super small has a niche with the libero and the [defensive specialist] position where they can find success at a very high level."
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https://www.avca.org/awards/players...avca-division-i-women-player-of-the-week.html

Samedy is AVCA Player of the Week. (Now if they can just learn to spell her name).

Sameday recorded two double-doubles to lead the Gophers to a pair of AVCA Top-10 wins...Had a team-high 14 kills with 11 digs in the sweep over the Ducks...The following day helped snap the Cardinal 37-match winning streak with a match-high 21 kills with another 11 digs...Added six blocks, which were second on the team...Now has five double-doubles on the season.

This is the 10th time Minnesota has picked up Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honors, and the second for Samedy. She previously won it on September 25th of last year, and is the only player in Minnesota history to garner the honor more than once.
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Gophers won't be the only #3 team to lose to an unranked team this year. Rice just beat #3 Texas 3-2 for their first ever win over the Longhorns.
 



On BTN, Stanford took down the Huskers in Lincoln 25-21, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-16.
 


We got a little of everything (good and bad) we've already seen this season as the Gophers swept Clemson 22, 22, 24. Neither club hit well, Minnesota (.195) and Clemson (.147)-although the Gopher block seemed fairly effective tonight. Clemson had 9 service errors to Minnesota's 6. Clemson's error's seem to come at some bad times.

The most interesting change during the match was Sheehan subbing in for Hart in the third set after Alexis sort of slapped a weak shot into a Tiger block. Sheehan got a couple of kills but 3 attacking errors had her hitting negative-again. Hart subbed back in and posted a key kill late.

Odd Note: Clemson battered the antennae during the match earning more antennae violations than any team I can remember. Clemson's OH, Kaylin Korte, caused the most damage. She got to 10 kills fairly quickly. Then Minnesota seemed to get her under a bit more control even though she finished with 15 kills. The good news is that Korte had 4 of Clemson's service errors.
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
We got a little of everything (good and bad) we've already seen this season as the Gophers swept Clemson 22, 22, 24. Neither club hit well, Minnesota (.195) and Clemson (.147)-although the Gopher block seemed fairly effective tonight. Clemson had 9 service errors to Minnesota's 6. Clemson's error's seem to come at some bad times.

The most interesting change during the match was Sheehan subbing in for Hart in the third set after Alexis sort of slapped a weak shot into a Tiger block. Sheehan got a couple of kills but 3 attacking errors had her hitting negative-again. Hart subbed back in and posted a key kill late.

Odd Note: Clemson battered the antennae during the match earning more antennae violations than any team I can remember. Clemson's OH, Kaylin Korte, caused the most damage. She got to 10 kills fairly quickly. Then Minnesota seemed to get her under a bit more control even though she finished with 15 kills. The good news is that Korte had 4 of Clemson's service errors.
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Maybe the Gophers were playing down to the level of their competition, but they sure didn't intimidate Clemson tonight. It always -- well, maybe almost always -- seemed like the Gophers were in control, but Clemson kept coming back and coming back. Not the Gophers best by a long shot. Maybe they took Clemson too lightly after their two big wins last weekend. A win's a win, but hope this was a wake-up call.
 

The first set was a continuation of a trend. They had a huge lead and squandered it. They seem to lack the killer instinct to finish off matches.
Block was much better, however. The good news is Kilkelly looks great and seems to be fantastic replacement for Barnes. Badgers lost at home to U Dub last night as well.
B
 

beavergopher said:
The first set was a continuation of a trend. They had a huge lead and squandered it. They seem to lack the killer instinct to finish off matches.
Block was much better, however. The good news is Kilkelly looks great and seems to be fantastic replacement for Barnes. Badgers lost at home to U Dub last night as well.
B
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Wow, that is kinda a crazy schedule deal they worked out. Back-to-back, home-and-home with Washington, on a Thurs-Sat timeline. That's some big miles to play a couple volleyball games.
 

The best way to describe the team is inconsistent (at least for the moment). Which team do they want to be? The one that struggles with Clemson and gets swept by Florida State or the one that swept Florida and Oregon while also knocking off the Stanford juggernaut. Time will tell.

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MRJ said:
The best way to describe the team is inconsistent (at least for the moment). Which team do they want to be? The one that struggles with Clemson and gets swept by Florida State or the one that swept Florida and Oregon while also knocking off the Stanford juggernaut. Time will tell.

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To me that sounds almost surely like playing up/down to how they perceive the competition before the match. Some of that is human nature.
 

MnplsGopher said:
To me that sounds almost surely like playing up/down to how they perceive the competition before the match. Some of that is human nature.
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True, but the thing that separated the final four teams from others was their ability to maintain a consistently high level of play, regardless of the opposition. This team hasn't done that yet. Last year's team showed it during the Big 10 season but not against nonconference teams or in the NCAAs. This year's team has looked similar, at least until now.

No question the talent is there. The question is whether they can maximize it consistently.

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MRJ said:
The best way to describe the team is inconsistent (at least for the moment). Which team do they want to be? The one that struggles with Clemson and gets swept by Florida State or the one that swept Florida and Oregon while also knocking off the Stanford juggernaut. Time will tell.

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In 2018 after the 2nd WI match, which MN won & played well in (a much anticipated match-up), in their next game, the Gophers walked on the PAV floor for warmups looking dead, uninspired and they played that way, too. That surprised me as I expected a really excited Gopher team. I noticed the same lack of inspiration last night vs. Clemson. But it's not shocking if Stanford took a lot out of them. After all, what do you do for an encore after you beat #1 & the defending NCAA champ? (The MN team's losing of late leads is what worries me. When Stanford's in trouble late, they just give the ball to Plummer. But who else has a Plummer?)
 

Hrothgar said:
In 2018 after the 2nd WI match, which MN won & played well in (a much anticipated match-up), in their next game, the Gophers walked on the PAV floor for warmups looking dead, uninspired and they played that way, too. That surprised me as I expected a really excited Gopher team. I noticed the same lack of inspiration last night vs. Clemson. But it's not shocking if Stanford took a lot out of them. After all, what do you do for an encore after you beat #1 & the defending NCAA champ? (The MN team's losing of late leads is what worries me. When Stanford's in trouble late, they just give the ball to Plummer. But who else has a Plummer?)
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Hopefully Sameday takes on that role this year. Miller is also looking good with some excellent serves. She can also block, which was the weak skill for SSS.
 


Pitt swept Penn State in Happy Valley 17, 21, 23. The Panthers pretty much outplayed PSU in every facet of the match.

Meanwhile, at the Pav, Clemson defeated Oral Roberts in four sets: 14, 23, -23, 22.
 


Waffle said:
I thought they might jump Pitt, but the FSU loss is still staining the Gophers resume while Pitt is 10-0. Pitt also beat Oregon with Willow Johnson while Johnson didn't play vs the Gophers. Maybe Penn State will win both against Pitt this weekend. I'd probably still rank Stanford #1 if I was a voter, Nebraska still has to prove themself IMO...

1. Stanford
2. Texas
3. Baylor
4. Penn St
5. Minnesota
6. Pitt
7. Nebraska
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Pittsburgh won the first of their home-and-home matches with Penn State -- at Penn State. Go figure! This was the first time since 1986 that Penn State has lost a non-conference match at home 3-0. Pittsburgh must be for real.
 

Appropriately, the Gopher sweep (15, 9, 12) ended on an ORU hitting error. ORU's hitting percentage hit triple zeros during the second and early in the third sets. It could've been negative-I doubt the scoreboard can show a negative. ORU ended up hitting .065 for the match. The Gopher block and tips controlled the match tonight. Minnesota also tossed in a 7-0 advantage in aces.

Rollins hit some well placed lasers which was good to see and Miller kept everyone involved. With a comfortable lead,Hugh played 15 players.
 

Good to see some of the backups get court time. Rubright looks like she will be a great blocker.
 

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