Gopher Volleyball 2021 - Spring Season

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Any updates on CC? If it's something torn then surgery puts her out for next season too
 

rowdaboat said:
Any updates on CC? If it's something torn then surgery puts her out for next season too
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Tonight in the sweep versus Iowa CC was on the sideline and I didn't notice a knee brace the few times we got quick shots of the reserves.

Anyway, the selection show is Sunday.
 

FYI..........Told by my doctor that most PCL tears (if that is what CC has) are NOT OPERATED ON no matter your age. Has anybody been able to find out exactly what type of injury she has?
 

Ignatius L Hoops said:
Tonight in the sweep versus Iowa CC was on the sideline and I didn't notice a knee brace the few times we got quick shots of the reserves.

Anyway, the selection show is Sunday.
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CC was there (unless the mask concealed someone looking exactly like her) and she was wearing a knee brace.
 

MplsGopher said:
It's possible. Being a lefty is an advantage for a RS.

That said, the six rotation OH position is the biggest "star" and best all around non-setter on the team.
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Do you mean that Wenaas is left-handed?
 



Interesting note from last night.

With the win over Iowa, the Gopher women have now won 47 straight matches against Iowa and lead the all-time series 80-11.
 

Couple of sets too close in yesterday's matchup with Iowa. Not so sure this team will have the goods to compete at their #4 ranking going into Post Season. Especially with Freshman learning curves, team injuries, needed development with MB2 position (Covid definitely not helping here) and no Libero now or maybe through Post Season.

See if there is some improvement in today's matchup for the Gophers.
 




Gophers so far today, playing much better Volleyball against Iowa. Enjoy Wenaas hitting out of the back court.

Samedy on fire first two sets. Gophers up 2-0.
 



They have a day's worth of time to fill now that the regular season is over. As they wait for the NCAA tournament field to be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU, it's less so anxiousness and more so anticipation. "I think we have a great chance of doing well in the seeding," Rollins said. "I'm really excited to see what we get."
[...]
Their tournament fate is not as much a matter of "if" as "which seed" as the Gophers look to make the field of 48 teams, fewer than the 64 in a normal season. Thirty conference champs will automatically qualify. Two of the 32 Division I conferences with automatic bids, the Ivy League and Big West, did not play volleyball this year because of COVID-19.

The top 16 seeds will receive a first-round bye, and the Gophers hope to be one of those teams. They've got a good shot, coming into Saturday's match ranked No. 3 in the country. No. 1 Wisconsin, however, won the Big Ten title.

McCutcheon called a first-round bye a significant advantage
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Less than an hour from selection - can't wait to see how the committee fields the 48 team tourney this year with all the variances in scheduling, etc.
 





Good that they're smarter for volleyball than basketball, no need for extra chance of teams catching covid on quick turnaround from conference tournaments
 

apnews.com

Coaches: Venue, coverage diminish NCAA volleyball tournament

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Coaches of two of the top teams in the NCAA Division I volleyball tournament complained Thursday about the setup for the event next week, with Wisconsin's Kelly Sheffield saying it could continue shining an unfavorable light on the treatment of female athletes by college sports' g
apnews.com apnews.com

The NCAA Volleyball venue controversy summarized:

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Coaches of two of the top teams in the NCAA Division I volleyball tournament complained Thursday about the setup for the event next week, with Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield saying it could continue shining an unfavorable light on the treatment of female athletes by college sports’ governing body.

The NCAA, as it did with the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, moved the volleyball tournament to a single location as a safeguard against COVID-19. Play begins Wednesday.

The tournament was moved from the fall because of the pandemic and will be held at CHI Health Center with 48 teams instead of the usual 64. The first three rounds will be played on courts set up in a convention hall. The rest will be played in the adjacent arena.

ESPN will stream the first two rounds on its digital platforms without play-by-play announcers or analysts.

“I really hope they take a closer look at that. I have a feeling that could blow up as much as what the weight room stuff did in women’s basketball,” Sheffield said, referring to criticism of the NCAA for not initially providing a full weight-training area to women’s teams. “It’s stunning they’re not (having) a broadcast team. To me it’s just lazy ... that you’re just going to be looking at silence while watching NCAA tournament games.”

The national semifinal matches and championship match will be televised on ESPN2.

Sheffield, whose Badgers are the No. 1 seed after finishing second to Stanford in 2019, said the lack of announcers for the first two rounds diminishes the tournament.

“It’s going to come across as a high school type of deal,” he said. “It should feel special. For a lot of people that won’t be the case.”

The NCAA said in a statement ESPN is not required to produce any coverage of the first and second rounds and that COVID-19 restrictions create technical challenges.

Nebraska’s John Cook, whose team is seeded No. 5, said coaches are concerned about use of the convention center. There will be four competition courts laid out in two halls as well as eight practice courts in a third hall.

Four matches will be played simultaneously in the first and second rounds — akin to a high school club tournament, Cook said.

No locker rooms will be available early in the tournament because of COVID-19 protocols.

“Volleyball players warm up and then change into their uniforms,” Cook said. “How does that work if you’re in the middle of convention Hall C?”

The NCAA said teams will have secure areas to change clothes.

“Contrary to reports, players were never expected to change clothes on the bench,” the NCAA said.

Cook said instead of playing in the convention center, the NCAA should hold early matches at Creighton’s Sokol Arena, Nebraska-Omaha’s Baxter Arena and Nebraska’s Devaney Center in Lincoln.

“That’s a lot nicer of an NCAA tournament because those are three great facilities (and better) than the setup they have now, which is in a convention center, no locker rooms, no bathrooms,” Cook said. “It’s going to be interesting how this is all pulled off.”
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www.espn.com

ESPN now will call entire NCAA volleyball tourney

A day after volleyball coaches criticized ESPN's coverage plans for the NCAA tournament, the network reversed course and announced Friday there would be commentators for all matches streamed on its digital platforms.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Complaint One: Check

ESPN on Friday said all 47 matches in the Division 1 NCAA volleyball tournament will be live on one of its platforms and will include commentators.

The company previously had planned to stream the first two rounds of the event on its digital platforms without play-by-play announcers or analysts, a setup that multiple coaches in the event criticized Thursday, saying it could continue shining an unfavorable light on the treatment of female athletes by college sports' governing body
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Ignatius L Hoops said:
www.espn.com

ESPN now will call entire NCAA volleyball tourney

A day after volleyball coaches criticized ESPN's coverage plans for the NCAA tournament, the network reversed course and announced Friday there would be commentators for all matches streamed on its digital platforms.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

Complaint One: Check
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Absolutely astonishing (and frankly, embarrassing) that ESPN thought they would get away with streaming the freaking Division I NCAA Tournament without broadcasters or analysts. Glad the coaches spoke up because that is just plain ridiculous. Do better ESPN.
 

MRJ said:
Absolutely astonishing (and frankly, embarrassing) that ESPN thought they would get away with streaming the freaking Division I NCAA Tournament without broadcasters or analysts. Glad the coaches spoke up because that is just plain ridiculous. Do better ESPN.
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That fits my homespun theory as to why MN was not given an NCAA softball regional in 2017. ESPN was said to have financial trouble then & laid off over 100 employees, so for financial reasons they hesitated to televise the D1 softball regionals in such far-flung places as MN or MI. So, IMO, NCAA relented and sent MN to Alabama for a regional; that way ESPN got to keep all their TV crews in only 2 areas, the West Coast & the SE, thus lessening ESPN costs & placating the NCAA. MN softball was at least one sacrificial victim then. Maybe my theory is way off base, so to speak (bad pun since MN got few runners on base at Alabama), but I haven't heard it refuted.....?
 

MRJ said:
Absolutely astonishing (and frankly, embarrassing) that ESPN thought they would get away with streaming the freaking Division I NCAA Tournament without broadcasters or analysts. Glad the coaches spoke up because that is just plain ridiculous. Do better ESPN.
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It's pretty clear that non-revenue sports don't matter to ESPN/NCAA. Can't blame them when the difference is close to a billion dollars that they'd put all their focus into men's basketball
 


Michella Chester picks her final four -- Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Kentucky, with the Badgers beating the Gophers for the title. (I have no idea how good her picks have been.)

www.ncaa.com

The 2020-21 NCAA volleyball bracket, predicted

NCAA.com's Michella Chester fills out her 2020-21 NCAA DI women's volleyball bracket and projects a national champion for the tournament.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com
 
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It really bothers me that a historically nothing school in volleyball, Kentucky, can just suddenly bootstrap itself into the elite of DI.

SEC $$$
 

Hrothgar said:
That fits my homespun theory as to why MN was not given an NCAA softball regional in 2017. ESPN was said to have financial trouble then & laid off over 100 employees, so for financial reasons they hesitated to televise the D1 softball regionals in such far-flung places as MN or MI. So, IMO, NCAA relented and sent MN to Alabama for a regional; that way ESPN got to keep all their TV crews in only 2 areas, the West Coast & the SE, thus lessening ESPN costs & placating the NCAA. MN softball was at least one sacrificial victim then. Maybe my theory is way off base, so to speak (bad pun since MN got few runners on base at Alabama), but I haven't heard it refuted.....?
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It's certainly possible. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but there was no way under any circumstances that the Gophers shouldn't have hosted a regional in 2017. One of the biggest screw jobs the NCAA has ever put forth and I'll never forget it or forgive them for it. It was as egregious as it gets.

Whether ESPN had anything to do with that, I have no idea. But there is no doubt the ladies were royally flipped the bird by the selection committee in '17.
 

MplsGopher said:
It really bothers me that a historically nothing school in volleyball, Kentucky, can just suddenly bootstrap itself into the elite of DI.

SEC $$$
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I would think it was generally good for college sports if historically “nothing” sports programs could “bootstrap” themselves into the elites of their sports. To me, sports gets boring if it is always the same teams at the top (see even college football over the past 10-15 years - a sport I have always loved so very much).

Anyway, maybe I romanticize the Americanism of up-by-your-bootstrap traditionalism too much.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
I would think it was generally good for college sports if historically “nothing” sports programs could “bootstrap” themselves into the elites of their sports. To me, sports gets boring if it is always the same teams at the top (see even college football over the past 10-15 years - a sport I have always loved so very much).

Anyway, maybe I romanticize the Americanism of up-by-your-bootstrap traditionalism too much.
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That is fine. I hate that the $EC does it by dumping truckloads of football money into other sports.
 


Ski U Mah Gopher said:
And Big Ten schools don't?
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Which sports that the Big Ten hasn't historically been good (nationally competitive) at, are there suddenly teams in the conf that are top 5-10 in the nation, since the TV money era started?

Maybe there are.


I just know that the traditional SEC schools (not Mizzou and Texas A&M), other than Florida, have always sucked at volleyball, but then suddenly Kentucky is an elite program the last few years??? Smells
 

MplsGopher said:
Which sports that the Big Ten hasn't historically been good (nationally competitive) at, are there suddenly teams in the conf that are top 5-10 in the nation, since the TV money era started?

Maybe there are.


I just know that the traditional SEC schools (not Mizzou and Texas A&M), other than Florida, have always sucked at volleyball, but then suddenly Kentucky is an elite program the last few years??? Smells
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Since 2011, Kentucky has been unseeded, 16, 15, 13, unseeded, unseeded, 4, 10, 9

Kentucky is not a good example to use. Try another SEC program.
 

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