Gopher Volleyball 2022 Season

Donate To GopherHole
Gophers_4life said:
Landfair and Wucherer were the #1 rated OH in their respective classes. Wenaas was #3. I think Schaff was top 10.

And none of these are "horses" that we can ride?? Something was/is broken with Hugh's program, then. If nothing else, evaluating, but obviously others agreed for them to get those rankings.


The problem with Hugh McCutcheon volleyball has always been the passing/defense. It failed us, once again.

Good riddance.
Click to expand...
High school-age volleyball player ratings are… well… overrated. Fans put way too much weight into them.
 

ClassOf98Gopher said:
High school-age volleyball player ratings are… well… overrated. Fans put way too much weight into them.
Click to expand...
To some degree, the coaches need to ignore the ratings as well. They need to evaluate recruits and select the players they believe will give the team the best chance to win. Unfortunately, Hugh and the others coaches did not do that consistently enough to win a NCAA championship.
 


Stanford also goes down in 5, to San Diego.

@IMGopher you were definitely right about them! Maybe I'll root for them?


Unless I'm "supposed" to be rooting for Pitt, because maybe/somehow we're going to get their head coach?

Or why not San Diego's head coach, for that matter?
 

Gophers_4life said:
Landfair and Wucherer were the #1 rated OH in their respective classes. Wenaas was #3. I think Schaff was top 10.

And none of these are "horses" that we can ride?? Something was/is broken with Hugh's program, then. If nothing else, evaluating, but obviously others agreed for them to get those rankings.


The problem with Hugh McCutcheon volleyball has always been the passing/defense. It failed us, once again.

Good riddance.
Click to expand...
If I were to give Hugh a lower grade on his coaching, it would be the defense/passing that really never got better while he was the Head Coach. I agree it was the weakest part of our game. I am sure hoping with the Keegan Cook hire, they can come up with a much needed STRONG back court.

We have the other pieces in place and so far it appears our recruiting is staying on par. I more than anything want to see Shaffmaster at the QB position in Gopher volleyball EXCEL with a GREAT PASSING GAME. We as a team have played OOS volleyball WAY TOO LONG.

If we can land an outstanding DS/L combo and another DS to play here for the next two seasons, this team could really be something special. It's way past time WE BENEFIT FROM THIS EVER GROWING PORTAL that so many other programs are finding great success with leading them to Final Four appearances and Championships.

Right now I am waiting on word one way or the other on Wenaas. It appears with so many posts on VT she has not responded to the new Minnesota HC announcement. I, for one, WANT HER TO STAY here at Minnesota. I feel she brings so much to this team. Here's hoping......
 


4EverAGopher said:
If I were to give Hugh a lower grade on his coaching, it would be the defense/passing that really never got better while he was the Head Coach. I agree it was the weakest part of our game. I am sure hoping with the Keegan Cook hire, they can come up with a much needed STRONG back court.

We have the other pieces in place and so far it appears our recruiting is staying on par. I more than anything want to see Shaffmaster at the QB position in Gopher volleyball EXCEL with a GREAT PASSING GAME. We as a team have played OOS volleyball WAY TOO LONG.

If we can land an outstanding DS/L combo and another DS to play here for the next two seasons, this team could really be something special. It's way past time WE BENEFIT FROM THIS EVER GROWING PORTAL that so many other programs are finding great success with leading them to Final Four appearances and Championships.

Right now I am waiting on word one way or the other on Wenaas. It appears with so many posts on VT she has not responded to the new Minnesota HC announcement. I, for one, WANT HER TO STAY here at Minnesota. I feel she brings so much to this team. Here's hoping......
Click to expand...
And Jenna shared story thanking old coaching staff
 

4EverAGopher said:
If I were to give Hugh a lower grade on his coaching, it would be the defense/passing that really never got better while he was the Head Coach. I agree it was the weakest part of our game. I am sure hoping with the Keegan Cook hire, they can come up with a much needed STRONG back court.

We have the other pieces in place and so far it appears our recruiting is staying on par. I more than anything want to see Shaffmaster at the QB position in Gopher volleyball EXCEL with a GREAT PASSING GAME. We as a team have played OOS volleyball WAY TOO LONG.

If we can land an outstanding DS/L combo and another DS to play here for the next two seasons, this team could really be something special. It's way past time WE BENEFIT FROM THIS EVER GROWING PORTAL that so many other programs are finding great success with leading them to Final Four appearances and Championships.

Right now I am waiting on word one way or the other on Wenaas. It appears with so many posts on VT she has not responded to the new Minnesota HC announcement. I, for one, WANT HER TO STAY here at Minnesota. I feel she brings so much to this team. Here's hoping......
Click to expand...
On the Olympic and really high-level, they use six-rotation outsides. I think that was Hugh's strategy, to try to emulate that style of play and attract players who want to get to that level.

Didn't work. None of the other major college programs do it like that, in college. Or at least to that level.

That should just not be what it is in college. We need to emphasize and use DS's, and have front court players specialize in attacking and blocking.
 


Last edited:



I’m scared about Wenaas, the fact that she didn’t post anything about coach cook… I don’t think many realize just how huge a loss that would be
 


Gopher68 said:
For what it's worth she indicated 'Like' on the tweet about Coach Cook and his family in the Pav.
Click to expand...
Touché 😂 after someone knowledgeable told me we’re close to losing somebody, I’ve been a bit paranoid
 

IMGopher said:
I’m scared about Wenaas, the fact that she didn’t post anything about coach cook… I don’t think many realize just how huge a loss that would be
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, with a year under her belt now Mckenna should be just as good if not better than Jenna was. If she does decide to transfer, thank you for your time and effort and good luck on your next adventure.
 



Gophers_4life said:
On the Olympic and really high-level, they use six-rotation outsides. I think that was Hugh's strategy, to try to emulate that style of play and attract players who want to get to that level.

Didn't work. None of the other major college programs do it like that, in college. Or at least to that level.

That should just not be what it is in college. We need to emphasize and use DS's, and have front court players specialize in attacking and blocking.
Click to expand...
Yes Hugh believes in the 6R OH offense. When you look at that, most opponents were too and Landfair was getting served a lot. Very similar to when we had Adanna Rollins. Not that Landfair was all that bad, but she certainly had room for improvement and that takes time.

CC was not always on her game and Kilkelly certainly struggled with serve/receive too. That is why we also saw Kilkelly targeted a lot by our opponents leading to poor passing.

Take a look at our USA Pro team. Since Jordan Larson left, we don't have an OH capable of filling her shoes. By far Larson was and is the BEST 6R OH the USA has and will probably ever see. One thing for sure, it didn't happen overnight for her.

So I think both you and I are looking at it the same way. The DS role was created for a reason, so coaches should be using these players to their advantage.

Hugh was about developing the pins to become a 6R player and was very successful at it. Therefore, we played a lot of OOS volleyball and very little utiization of a DS player. However, I feel developing such players under Hugh has cost us from taking Gopher Volleyball to the next level.
 

let'sbeclear said:
Twelve of the 14 were seniors or graduate students. Only Kami Miner of Stanford (sophomore) and Taylor (redshirt sophmore) weren't. Very impressive!
Click to expand...
Let me add, Kami Miner is very very very very good. Soft hands/touch just like our own SSS had.
 
Last edited:






Not to pile on to an already tough day, but it appears the Houk's are leaving. They have been removed from the 2022 Coaching Staff directory.
 


Bfan said:
Time's up. Time to go in a different direction. Minnesota has zero championships despite being so close.

Time to reach higher with superstar Taylor Landfair the cornerstone.



One step sideways followed by a surge forward.


#1 Minnesota 2023 prospect Sydney Schnichels is coming to Minnesota.

View attachment 22557
View attachment 22560


#1 Minnesota 2024 prospect Stella Swenson is coming to Minnesota.
View attachment 22558


View attachment 22559
Click to expand...
I loved watching Jenna play here. Here's hoping Cook takes MN another step forward & brings in even more superior players to win (or chalenge for) nat'l titles with, a la Texas & Louisville.
 

IMGopher said:
Not to pile on to an already tough day, but it appears the Houk's are leaving. They have been removed from the 2022 Coaching Staff directory.
Click to expand...
Not a big surprise, a new coach brings in his own coaches. Wishing the best to the Houk's and expect they will find their next jobs soon. Maybe a head coach. In football think of Luke Fickell and Jim Leonard at Wisconsin
 




looks like Jenna will be leaving.. I know there was rumblings but she is in the PORTAL officially now
 



Baylor, Houston, and Rice are ranked in the top 25. I would hope she would be able to join a top ten or top five team. I am sorry to see her leave. I thought she improved her game all-around this year.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom