Gopher Volleyball 2022 Season

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let'sbeclear said:
A few observations about B1G teams:

Ohio State's loss to Maryland opens up an opportunity for Wisconsin to move into the top four, depending on upcoming matches against Nebraska and Ohio State.

Minnesota drops four spots after losing at Penn State and winning at Rutgers. Some have speculated it might be easier to reach the Final Four from a 12- or 13-seed than from an 8- or 9-seed.

Penn State beats Minnesota and loses in five at Wisconsin, but moves up only one spot. With Northwestern and Purdue as its last two games, might Penn State not host the first two rounds? (The coaches poll still has them at #11, though.)

Michigan loses at Purdue and wins at Maryland, but its RPI drops from #39 to #50.

Northwestern loses to Indiana and Michigan State (for the second time), and sees its RPI go from #46 to #64. Can either Michigan or Northwestern still make the tournament?
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We can all wish the Gophers great good fortune in the NCAAs. Their drawback seems to be, as one other poster commented, the lack of a true floor leader who can pull them through to wins v. top 10 teams. That leadership role is more qualitative than quantitative, maybe found in the heart more than in stats. Hopefully such a leader emerges soon and we go beyond last year's Elite Eight.
 

let'sbeclear said:
Some have speculated it might be easier to reach the Final Four from a 12- or 13-seed than from an 8- or 9-seed.
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Sure, if an unseeded team like Louisville does the heavy lifting for you, and you get extremely lucky ... sure.

let'sbeclear said:
Penn State beats Minnesota and loses in five at Wisconsin, but moves up only one spot. With Northwestern and Purdue as its last two games, might Penn State not host the first two rounds? (The coaches poll still has them at #11, though.)
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I suppose anything is possible, but if it's reasonably close (and certainly teams ranked probably 20-16 are all realistically a wash), the NCAA (not wrongly) could choose a host that will sell the most tickets. Facts of life
 

I feel the lack of success, as most of us MN Volleyball fans expect, is the result of our teams "not balanced". We have not had the right 6-8 players in all positions that complement each other in talent or able to grow together building a team unit.

IMO players skills must complement each another. I don't feel that is necessarily what has been happening over the past few years here in MN in the recruiting.

Some players take longer than others to "develop to the best of their ability". Also, while others struggle a lot to get there, some never will. Finally, you need to ask and wonder.....is their best able to bring us that TEAM SUCCESS? A coaching staff and their players all need to be on the same page working for one common goal.
 

So sick of B1G+, don’t know why 3 of these last 4 big games (ours and Wisconsin’s) are on it. Hopefully I’m wrong but B1G+ has just been used as an excuse for D tier commentators
 

IMGopher said:
So sick of B1G+, don’t know why 3 of these last 4 big games (ours and Wisconsin’s) are on it. Hopefully I’m wrong but B1G+ has just been used as an excuse for D tier commentators
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This is some of the worst commentating I’ve ever heard from mixing up Kilkelly and their Libero (same number) to “Jenna Wenaas… she’s from Frisco, Texas” (doesn’t say anything more about Jenna)
 










I don’t expect a win tomorrow, but hope it’s competitive.

Wisc and Neb maybe previewing the natty matchup right now?
 

Great match. Good play by both teams. Minnesota stayed focused well and fought hard on points. Much improved job of digging and keeping the ball going until they got the opening. It was an important win from a seeding standpoint. Let's hope that they can keep this level of play up. Go Gophers.
 



Neb goes down to Wisc 1-3 at home.

I don't know if that's good for us or bad. I suspect they will be out for blood and to not let senior night get ruined.

Just want a competitive match.
 


Gophers_4life said:
Neb goes down to Wisc 1-3 at home.

I don't know if that's good for us or bad. I suspect they will be out for blood and to not let senior night get ruined.

Just want a competitive match.
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Depends… it’s absolutely good for us *if we win* because if Nebraska lost to us but beat Wisconsin, we’d still be seeded behind them. There’s a much realer possibility of us being a two seed (maybe even a high two seed) with Wisconsin winning. Then again… we still have to win
 

IMGopher said:
Not a chance. I love the conference but there are too many good outside teams and Nebraska hasn’t shown they deserve to be there
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I mean, they were there last year. But yes, let's see Texas with another choke job! :D
 

IMGopher said:
Depends… it’s absolutely good for us *if we win* because if Nebraska lost to us but beat Wisconsin, we’d still be seeded behind them. There’s a much realer possibility of us being a two seed (maybe even a high two seed) with Wisconsin winning. Then again… we still have to win
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Two seed??? I must not be understanding what you mean by that term.

We're ranked #9. I'm just hoping we can get a top 8 seed, so we can host at home if we keep winning. That's the main goal. But I'm not sure we get that if we lose tonight.
 

Gophers_4life said:
I mean, they were there last year. But yes, let's see Texas with another choke job! :D
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I would put a lot of money on one of Louisville, USD, and Texas being there… the reason I think it’s more certain that Nebraska won’t be is that they’ve been over-ranked the whole season- they never really earned their spot up there. Maybe that was true (up until the end) last year, but I don’t remember it that way
 

Gophers_4life said:
Two seed??? I must not be understanding what you mean by that term.

We're ranked #9. I'm just hoping we can get a top 8 seed, so we can host at home if we keep winning. That's the main goal. But I'm not sure we get that if we lose tonight.
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The tournament works like March madness where there are 4 1 seeds, 4 2 seeds, etc- perhaps I’m wrong but because of all the scheduling chaos and travel restrictions I don’t think they rank each individual spot in advance. Either way, what I’m saying is the same is what you said with hosting.
 

IMGopher said:
I would put a lot of money on one of Louisville, USD, and Texas being there… the reason I think it’s more certain that Nebraska won’t be is that they’ve been over-ranked the whole season- they never really earned their spot up there. Maybe that was true (up until the end) last year, but I don’t remember it that way
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San Diego??

Really? I obviously don't volley national scene much.

Also not sure what you're saying for "being there". Top 8 seed? Final four??

When is the last time a school from a mid-major conference made the Final Four in volleyball?
 

IMGopher said:
The tournament works like March madness where there are 4 1 seeds, 4 2 seeds, etc- perhaps I’m wrong but because of all the scheduling chaos and travel restrictions I don’t think they rank each individual spot in advance. Either way, what I’m saying is the same is what you said with hosting.
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OK.

Here is the bracket from last year: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/volleyball-women/d1/2021

They seed 1-16, which are guaranteed to be first site hosts. Then only the top 8 are guaranteed to be second site hosts, if they win.

EDIT: actually, I think it is just the top remaining seed in that quad of the bracket who gets to host the 3rd round and quarter-finals. So it would really just be the top 4 who are guaranteed, then.

Right, because last year we played (and beat) 5 seed Baylor in Madison, with Wisc being the 4 seed.
 

Gophers_4life said:
San Diego??

Really? I obviously don't volley national scene much.

Also not sure what you're saying for "being there". Top 8 seed? Final four??

When is the last time a school from a mid-major conference made the Final Four in volleyball?
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I meant in the championship. USD beat Pitt, swept OSU, beat Pepperdine, beat BYU twice- their only loss was to Louisville. They haven’t lost a game since September 2nd. Not sure on the answer to your question but they’re GOOD
 

So really, unless we get a top 4 seed it doesn't matter too much what our seed is.

Except in the sense of getting to meet a lower seeded team in the 3rd round, assuming both win. But regardless, you're still likely facing off against a top 4 seed in the quarter-final, at their place.
 

www.ncaa.com

2023 NCAA volleyball tournament: Bracket, schedule, scores for the DI women's championship

The 2023 NCAA DI women's volleyball championship semifinals and finals are Dec. 14 and 17 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com

A reminder that the NCAA changed the seeding criteria for this season. They now seed the the top 32 seeds.

There is a new seeding criteria this season. Here's the statement from the selection committee:

"The committee expressed an interest to seed the top 32 or 50% of the field (versus 25%) in order to generate a bracket with better competitive parity and avoid imbalance with respect to the relative strength of regional assignments. The committee recognizes that seeding 50% of the field would likely create additional travel expense in the bracketing process and would be a consideration for all team sports."

So now instead of seeding just the top 16 teams, the committee will seed the top 32 teams on a national basis, across eight seed lines. The top 16 seeds will still host a regional and the top four will still host a super if given the opportunity. Seeds one-four will be one seeds, five-eight will be two seeds, nine-12 will be three seeds, etc. Teams seeded No. 17-32 will be the five, six, seven and eight seeds.

To create more competitive parity, the eight seeds will need to travel to one of the four one seeds. Seven seeds will have to play at one of the two seeds, etc. The remaining 32 teams will be placed in the bracket following bracketing policies approved by the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee. The 16 first-and second-round winners will feed into four regions. When pairing teams, the committee will avoid conference matchups in the first and second rounds of the championship.
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For years we at Minnesota keep hearing the same thing every season "how deep a bench" we have. But, we usually never get to see that depth.

This program has become an OOS program and dependent so many times on the TALENT OF ONE PIN every season to get us through for a win. Santana, Wilhite, Hart, Samedy and now Landfair (OH BY THE WAY, THEY ALL WERE/ARE 6R PINS). The question "how come" begs an answer. Sure there are others that have contributed in their own right such as Pittman. But her talent totally disappeared her LAST SEASON as a Gopher.

I for one am truly hoping for this to change and believe the next coach has to come from another program and bring a whole new approach. Otherwise, I feel we can expect the same for future seasons.
 

4EverAGopher said:
For years we at Minnesota keep hearing the same thing every season "how deep a bench" we have. But, we usually never get to see that depth.

This program has become an OOS program and dependent so many times on the TALENT OF ONE PIN every season to get us through for a win. Santana, Wilhite, Hart, Samedy and now Landfair (OH BY THE WAY, THEY ALL WERE/ARE 6R PINS). The question "how come" begs an answer. Sure there are others that have contributed in their own right such as Pittman. But her talent totally disappeared her LAST SEASON as a Gopher.

I for one am truly hoping for this to change and believe the next coach has to come from another program and bring a whole new approach. Otherwise, I feel we can expect the same for future seasons.
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I half agree. I do hope we get to see more depth and more back row talent. But we do have depth beyond Landfair right now. Jenna, McKenna, and Crowl have all shown that they *have the potential* to step up where they’re needed (whether they do is another question). I also like what I’m seeing from Kilkelly, I wonder what would happen if we switched how we’re playing her and CC.
 

Hugh won't change anything at this point unless someone is injured or ill.

CC improved her game as the Ohio State match went on but not before Hugh had a little talk on the sidelines with her. She struggles reacting and making plays within an arms length of herself. I absolutely have no idea why, but it happens a lot.

I see other Liberos just making play after play after play and from match to match, but have a very hard time saying the same about CC. Her performances are very inconsistent. I personally don't feel her game has improved over the years, but others will totally disagree with me. Which is fine, because we all have opinions.
 

4EverAGopher said:
Hugh won't change anything at this point unless someone is injured or ill.

CC improved her game as the Ohio State match went on but not before Hugh had a little talk on the sidelines with her. She struggles reacting and making plays within an arms length of herself. I absolutely have no idea why, but it happens a lot.

I see other Liberos just making play after play after play and from match to match, but have a very hard time saying the same about CC. Her performances are very inconsistent. I personally don't feel her game has improved over the years, but others will totally disagree with me. Which is fine, because we all have opinions.
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Absolutely true that he won’t, I’m more curious about *if* we did. I’ve been asking that same question, it may just be that her body takes longer to recover now. One of the female commentators (don’t think it was Ehman, might have been Myers) was talking about how by the fourth year, especially if there are redshirts, their bodies just can’t recover at the same level
 

Tonight's upcoming match has two starters for Nebraska out. Hames their setter is sick and Knuckles their DS has a torn ACL season ending injury.

Huge opportunity for us to win in Nebraska tonight. Shall see if the Gophers can play up to that. Orr their backup setter from Minnesota will run a 5-1 tonight. She has been up and down for them too.....but more than likely I am expecting her to perform quite well for Nebraska.

OOPS....now the word is Evans and Orr will run a 6-2. No matter it should be a very interesting upcoming BIG battle. Note...SHOULD BE.
 
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