Gopher Volleyball 2021-Fall Season

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Holy Man said:
Great effort getting a win without playing their best. Could have caved multiple times. Mental toughness. Lots of courage. Very impressive.
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That was a really good match. It was a grind and these two teams kept going at each other. That was a hard fought win by the Gophers!
 

Should know better -
- thought after set 1 that a Baylor sweep was likely;
- after set 3 (down 2-1) and Samedy misfiring, was glad that "at least they won a set";
- down 6-2 in the 5th and gophers looking out of sorts, thought "no way."

Wow. Hoping that UCLA sticks it to Bucky!
 
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Wenaas really brought it that 5th set. That pipe kill out of the backrow (see above video) was amazing but also the tip out of the backrow (her signature shot) was perfectly placed so the defender could not dig it to get the Gophers to match point! While Samedy struggled, others stepped up which bodes well for the future!
 







Yes Wisconsin is a top 4 seed so they earned the right to host a regional. Will be a tall order for the Gophers to beat Wisky but anything can happen I guess.
 

jham13 said:
Yes Wisconsin is a top 4 seed so they earned the right to host a regional. Will be a tall order for the Gophers to beat Wisky but anything can happen I guess.
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What about that ol' cliche about it being tough to beat a team 3 times in one season? So you're saying there's a chance?!
 

Brief recap of today's action. Tournament has largely become an ACC (3-0 today) and Big Ten (4-2) affair. Louisville, Pittsburgh and GA Tech all had straight set impressive wins - Wisconsin and Nebraska won easily as well. Purdue continues to be the cardiac kids – down 14-10 in the fifth set, they rallied for the win. The other winner (besides MN) was #2 seed Texas who squeaked by #15 Washington after being down 2 sets.

The Wisconsin–MN and Louisville-GA Tech matchups on Saturday guarantee at least 1 ACC and 1 Big Ten team in the final four. And Purdue-Pitt and Nebraska-Texas should be competitive matches. Big Ten has a chance to send 3 of 4 teams to the finals.

MN-WI match is Saturday, 7p on ESPNU
 



Unfortunately, the situation went backwards of what I was hoping would need to happen in order for the Gopher ladies to make the final four.

Was hoping for:
- Minn beats Baylor 3-0 or 3-1
- UCLA plays their Super Bowl and beats Wisconsin
- then UCLA has nothing left for the Elite 8 match, Gophers win

This was essentially the situation in 2019, with Louisville beating Texas, then the Gophers beating Louisville.


Instead, the Gopher ladies expelled a ton of energy to win the match, while Wisconsin swept UCLA.



I don't see it happening, in Madison, with the Final Four on the line.

Nonetheless, will be watching and cheering! Go Gophers!
 

cemba99 said:
Brief recap of today's action. Tournament has largely become an ACC (3-0 today) and Big Ten (4-2) affair. Louisville, Pittsburgh and GA Tech all had straight set impressive wins - Wisconsin and Nebraska won easily as well. Purdue continues to be the cardiac kids – down 14-10 in the fifth set, they rallied for the win. The other winner (besides MN) was #2 seed Texas who squeaked by #15 Washington after being down 2 sets.

The Wisconsin–MN and Louisville-GA Tech matchups on Saturday guarantee at least 1 ACC and 1 Big Ten team in the final four. And Purdue-Pitt and Nebraska-Texas should be competitive matches. Big Ten has a chance to send 3 of 4 teams to the finals.

MN-WI match is Saturday, 7p on ESPNU
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Pitt also swept upstart, unseeded Kansas, who had (upset?) unseeded Oregon and then upset seeded Creighton in Omaha.

As the #3 seed, you would expect that. A lot of people think they can be like a version of Kentucky from the spring.
 

"The Gophers are too thin in the back; they aren't aggressive enough on their kill opportunities; they can't pass; they have no offense from their middles; they're no good on first contact; they don't have enough fire; they don't put on enough pressure with their serves; they depend too much on one player; they don't set well; they can't cover tips; the coach is too resistant to change."

But you do know they're in the Elite Eight, don't you?

"See, like I told you: The Gophers are good! Go Gophers!"
 
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let'sbeclear said:
"The Gophers are too thin in the back; they aren't aggressive enough on their kill opportunities; they can't pass; they have no offense from their middles; they're no good on first contact; they don't have enough fire; they don't put on enough pressure with their serves; they depend too much on one player; they don't set well; they can't cover tips; the coach is too resistant to change."
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None of these is wrong.

Flawed volleyball teams do well, all the time.
 

Handing them the set with so many tips instead of full swings
 


great season Gophers!! Great to see them play hard through adversity. Wisconsin is so very good this year…just too tall for this Gopher team, tough matchup.
 

Tough loss. Wisconsin does have a good program right now like Penn State and Nebraska did for a while. Do agree with rowdaboat about the tips. Seems to be too many to my liking. Regardless, congratulations on a good season as they are a premier team.
 


GringaGopher said:
Disappointing to get swept by Becky.....
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Hear! Hear! The only match of the night to be only 3 sets. THAT is embarrassing.

Our setting was inferior as well as focus. I could feel the drive get sucked out of the team in the middle of the third set.
 

Need a power hitter to transfer in or someone unfairly tall like Wisc has. Samedy was only one with unreturnable spikes
 

Ewert86PC said:
Hear! Hear! The only match of the night to be only 3 sets. THAT is embarrassing.

Our setting was inferior as well as focus. I could feel the drive get sucked out of the team in the middle of the third set.
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The other two teams that lost tonight were a 6 seed and an 8 seed. They were better than us this year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Wisconsin beat those exact victors in those previous games (Louisville and Pitt) to win it all.

I guess what I find frustrating is that some fans want us to be better than we are. Fans should want their teams to play to their potential. A team can’t be better than their best potential.

We did great and we should be happy.
 

Congratulations to the gopher volleyball team and to Hugh for a successful season. Great job of overcoming player losses to graduation, transfers, and injuries. A lot of players improved their games. The team was as gritty as any team. Best wishes for a good offseason and next season.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
The other two teams that lost tonight were a 6 seed and an 8 seed. They were better than us this year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Wisconsin beat those exact victors in those previous games (Louisville and Pitt) to win it all.

I guess what I find frustrating is that some fans want us to be better than we are. Fans should want their teams to play to their potential. A team can’t be better than their best potential.

We did great and we should be happy.
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I'll be happy when we win a National Championship and have more National Championships than Wisconsin.

I've lived enough "we'll get em next year" and "we did our best" mediocrity watching the football team play when I was a student. The University of Minnesota should be about excellence in everything we do, not "I got a 'C' in Chemistry 1001, but I'll get an 'A' in Chemistry 5201."

This isn't about fitting in, it's about setting the standards.
 

Ewert86PC said:
I'll be happy when we win a National Championship and have more National Championships than Wisconsin.
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Maybe that will happen one day… but EVERYBODY knew from the start of the season it wasn’t going to be this year.
 

It's an ACC/B1G challenge for the Final Four. Can't stand either of the B1G teams so hoping for an all ACC final. Louisville is the most complete team out of the four and is undefeated.
 

Ewert86PC said:
Hear! Hear! The only match of the night to be only 3 sets. THAT is embarrassing.

Our setting was inferior....
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Ya know, it sorta feels like the Gophers just lost to a Badger team with 6 returning starters from a Final Four team - 5 of which are now super seniors who would have normally used up their eligibility already. Yes, oh, the embarrassment!

The Badgers' clear advantage at the setter and middle blocker position is just too much for this Gopher team to overcome. Remember when Hilley and Rettke were freshmen and sophomores? They couldn't beat our Seliger-Swenson led veteran teams. Now the Badgers have the upper-hand of talent AND experience, and the tables have turned. Let's see how things go next year when Hilley and Rettke are finally gone. Will all the Badgers' young talent at the pins look as good next year with likely worse setting?

We better hope Shaffmaster keeps improving. Seems like championship teams all have truly elite setters.

Oh, and a consistent middle attack. :cautious:
 

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