Gopher Volleyball 2021 - Spring Season

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For whatever reason - and this was my feel on my TV/setup - it seemed like they had the mic for "on court" sounds turned way lower than on Friday night. So comparatively, the commentators voices were much louder.

I would much prefer to hear more "on court" sound, and a lower volume (both audio, and the amount of comments!) from the commentators.
 

Knowing little about VB, I get the impression the Gophers are super talented but without excessive on-court unity to put the opponents away in a hurry. Maybe they need to hope WI is rusty as all get out? Or just as Covid damaged as they are?
 


Ohio State split with Nebraska at Nebraska. Both matches went five sets. The Big Ten seems to have another elite team.

I was looking at the stats for the second match, and three Ohio State players had zero errors on 4 kills in 13 attempts (by the setter), 9 in 14, and 10 in 24. Pretty impressive!
 

let'sbeclear said:
Ohio State split with Nebraska at Nebraska. Both matches went five sets. The Big Ten seems to have another elite team.

I was looking at the stats for the second match, and three Ohio State players had zero errors on 4 kills in 13 attempts (by the setter), 9 in 14, and 10 in 24. Pretty impressive!
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You need more than one or two season before you can use the term elite. They do seem to be very good this year. Next season there will be more very good teams around the country with Seniors coming back for an extra year.
 


dlw4gophers said:
You need more than one or two season before you can use the term elite. They do seem to be very good this year. Next season there will be more very good teams around the country with Seniors coming back for an extra year.
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Ohio State is young. They could be good (meaning “elite”) for a while. Is rust belt college volleyball power shifting from Pennsylvania to Ohio?
 

let'sbeclear said:
Ohio State split with Nebraska at Nebraska. Both matches went five sets. The Big Ten seems to have another elite team.

I was looking at the stats for the second match, and three Ohio State players had zero errors on 4 kills in 13 attempts (by the setter), 9 in 14, and 10 in 24. Pretty impressive!
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The final set of the second match was fun. OSU scored three straight to win 15-13.
 


www.startribune.com

Gophers' volleyball match vs. No. 1 Wisconsin postponed because of COVID-19

The No. 4 U was set to play at No. 1 Wisconsin on Thursday. Sunday's match is still on.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Sunday's Badger/Gopher match is possible:

With some Gophers players in a 17-day COVID protocol and others injured, McCutcheon said the roster would have been "pretty lean" for the match in Madison. He expects players in the COVID protocol to be available Sunday, when the fourth-ranked Gophers are scheduled to play the Badgers at Maturi Pavilion. While the Gophers must get clearance from the medical staff to compete Sunday, McCutcheon said it is "absolutely our intention" to play, and he also hopes to make up Thursday's match before the regular season ends April 3.
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Any news on how long CC (knee) and Melani (probably covid?) are out for?
 


I'm amazed we were able to stay in this fourth set with a a freshman outside hitter playing libero.
 




Like everybody else, I was really disappointed at how the 4th set ended. MN had a chance to pull out a match win with any good fortune. What do you others think these 2 losses bode for the rest of the Gophers' season? Will they make a run?
 

Hrothgar said:
Like everybody else, I was really disappointed at how the 4th set ended. MN had a chance to pull out a match win with any good fortune. What do you others think these 2 losses bode for the rest of the Gophers' season? Will they make a run?
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It seems to me they are a very good team... one of the best 5-6 teams in the nation. However, any thought or notion that we were a clear-cut number one team in the nation is just not reflective of how good they really are (IF there is a clear-cut best-roster-in-the-country team like that this year, it is Dena Rettke’s Wisconsin team).

With a healthy Gopher roster and a touch of luck, we have a fair chance at making the Final 4 of volleyball yet again this year... which would be pretty great, and a testament to how McCutchen has this program rolling.

Just look at Stanford’s season so far this year to see how hard it is to keep a program at the top! Kathryn Plummer (the best college volleyball player I ever watched on tv) graduates and now they are mediocre.
 

I think they did a great job without two key players at two critical positions. It is a difficult season without a good non-conference schedule, schedule changes, and threat of Covid. The important thing is that they keep improving and become a force in the NCAA tournament.
 

Team needs to have a full roster and schedule next few weeks before the tournament, going to be at a disadvantage with so many freshmen vs teams that have had 4+ more games
 

I noticed there are some RPI rankings, dated March 21, 2021. As expected, Fairfield is #1 and Sacred Heart is #2. Gophers aren't doing too bad at #16, but Wisconsin is #39 and Nebraska is #62. I hope they all make the NCAA tournament.

www.ncaa.com

DI Women's Volleyball Rankings - NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI | NCAA.com

Get updated NCAA Women's Volleyball DI rankings from every source, including coaches and national polls.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com
 
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Gophers wrapped it up in three 14, 21, 14. Gophers hit .350 compared to the Wildcats .104. Samedy with 11 kills, Pittman 8 and Landsfair 7.

In important news: Shaffmaster returned with 26 assists and 3 kills. C C McGraw was on the sidelines with a normal looking knee brace worn over her sweats. The full leg contraption we saw last match was gone. That's progress, I think.
 

Does anyone happen to know what channel the NCAA tourney will be broadcast on? I'm thinking ahead on how I would be able to watch if it's on premium channel like ESPNU.

Great to see Shaffmaster back in the lineup. Given that we are finishing the season against the bottom of the conference in NW and Iowa there was no need for Hugh to rush her back. I take it as a good sign that she is pretty much 100% back.
 

In the first three sets, the Gophs have made 1, 2, and 2 attack errors. With numbers like that, it's amazing it wasn't a sweep.
 

let'sbeclear said:
In the first three sets, the Gophs have made 1, 2, and 2 attack errors. With numbers like that, it's amazing it wasn't a sweep.
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In the first set, the Gopher were very accommodating on Northwestern's senior night. The 'Cats set winner came on a dump to the middle of the court. That pretty much represented Minnesota's early effort. After that, the Minnesota D tightened up and took control for a -19, 15, 15, 20 match win.

Landfair hit .400 with 14 kills.
 

Didn't watch Saturday, because I refuse to pay for BTN+ when I already pay for BTN, on principle.

But Friday it looked like Shaff is maybe, hopefully, finally starting to get her sets down some (faster) and better positioned, so that the middles and Landfair can get what they need to hit.

Samedy, and to a lesser extent Rollins, were already connecting fairly well with her higher ball sets.
 

For all of you Stags' fans, Fairfield, #1 last week in the RPI, has unfortunately plummeted down to #18 this week. Sacred Heart (#2 last week) also fell, but only down to #12. The new #1 is Texas, with Army West Point #2, and Towson #3. The Gophs have moved up to #7, but Wisconsin still lags at #25, and Nebraska is in trouble at #53, five spots behind Niagara. Niagara, with a 4-3 record (3-3 at home but undefeated on the road) plays in the same Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as Fairfield does, so maybe Nebraska just has to toughen up its schedule a little bit. (Come to think of it, Nebraska is also undefeated on the road -- 9-0 -- so maybe Niagara's scintillating 1-0 road record isn't the reason they're ranked higher than Nebraska.)

www.ncaa.com

DI Women's Volleyball Rankings - NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI | NCAA.com

Get updated NCAA Women's Volleyball DI rankings from every source, including coaches and national polls.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com
 

We are winning our volleyball matches, but we are so OOS in accomplishing those wins. Unfortunately, I feel this coaching staff needs to improve this roster sooner than it probably planned on.

We have a backcourt that needs so much fixing and more so now without CC. Plus a Freshman setter who is unable to connect to the middles as much as she should while struggling setting OOS. Both these areas cannot continue for our Volleyball program to continue being a top elite program. It is a shame, but right now I certainly do not put them there anymore.

I do not foresee It will be much better next year. We will be losing Pittman and Samedy and will have a full returning backcourt that struggles with passing and serve/receive. Our backcourt next season will consist of a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior.....meaning they are expected to be bringing back much positive experience.

Realistically, a Final Four appearance would be nice again, but not in the cards this seaon.
 

let'sbeclear said:
For all of you Stags' fans, Fairfield, #1 last week in the RPI, has unfortunately plummeted down to #18 this week. Sacred Heart (#2 last week) also fell, but only down to #12. The new #1 is Texas, with Army West Point #2, and Towson #3. The Gophs have moved up to #7, but Wisconsin still lags at #25, and Nebraska is in trouble at #53, five spots behind Niagara. Niagara, with a 4-3 record (3-3 at home but undefeated on the road) plays in the same Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as Fairfield does, so maybe Nebraska just has to toughen up its schedule a little bit. (Come to think of it, Nebraska is also undefeated on the road -- 9-0 -- so maybe Niagara's scintillating 1-0 road record isn't the reason they're ranked higher than Nebraska.)

www.ncaa.com

DI Women's Volleyball Rankings - NCAA Women's Volleyball RPI | NCAA.com

Get updated NCAA Women's Volleyball DI rankings from every source, including coaches and national polls.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com
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This is wonderful information and analysis.

This is amazing how the RPI models are yielding these results. If the model yields a result that makes no sense at all, someone needs to tweak, or in this case, junk the mathematical formulas that make up that model.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
This is wonderful information and analysis.

This is amazing how the RPI models are yielding these results. If the model yields a result that makes no sense at all, someone needs to tweak, or in this case, junk the mathematical formulas that make up that model.
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Of course, this year the RPI doesn't have the benefit of non-conference play, but still....
 

4EverAGopher said:
We are winning our volleyball matches, but we are so OOS in accomplishing those wins. Unfortunately, I feel this coaching staff needs to improve this roster sooner than it probably planned on.

We have a backcourt that needs so much fixing and more so now without CC. Plus a Freshman setter who is unable to connect to the middles as much as she should while struggling setting OOS. Both these areas cannot continue for our Volleyball program to continue being a top elite program. It is a shame, but right now I certainly do not put them there anymore.

I do not foresee It will be much better next year. We will be losing Pittman and Samedy and will have a full returning backcourt that struggles with passing and serve/receive. Our backcourt next season will consist of a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior.....meaning they are expected to be bringing back much positive experience.

Realistically, a Final Four appearance would be nice again, but not in the cards this seaon.
Click to expand...
Pittman will be a massive loss. Unless Myers comes back from her injury, and I think she is injury prone (she has been on the sidelines in a knee brace?), and plays at a high level (she got beat out for M2 by Rubright), or the true freshman Wolf (who has been on the sidelines with the team, but unable to play due to the rules, this whole spring) comes in at a really high level (guessing not, don't think she is a top national recruit) ... then they'll have to hope to get another transfer. That certainly seems possible these days. Look at Nebraska, for example.

I think Husemann was not a high level recruit and is a walkon.

I'm hope that Miyabe will be the replacement for Samedy and do fairly well. Obviously no one can replace her in full capacity.
 

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