Gopher Volleyball 2023 Season


Nice ! Just in time for our latest “ weather event “. Welcome Coach Cook n family !!
 


Those of you who follow Twitter and other social media, have you seen any posts from the Gopher volleyball players?

It would be interesting to know the responses of team members.
 

Those of you who follow Twitter and other social media, have you seen any posts from the Gopher volleyball players?

It would be interesting to know the responses of team members.
According to VT, Wenaas posted this with regards to Hugh and Houks:

“Special S/O to this staff!!! I’ve learned more than I thought possible in the past 3 seasons & I’m grateful for the constant support they provided.”



The way this is worded is ambiguous if it means that all of the current staff are (likely) gone, and/or if she herself is gone.

It seems like the left side is locked down by Landfair and Wucherer, so if she wants to be a 6OH, she will probably have to leave.
 


Also that Big Ten 2022 defensive player of the year Murr is in the portal, and hoping that the Gophers go after her:

 


Would be an awesome get also she played club ball with Shaff so that's gotta be a plus.
Did not know that. Seems like a no-brainer! Also Davis formally was on Ohio State but no idea how close they were in her one year there.

I still don't understand to be quite honest why she left there. She seemed better than the middles they had, and I assume would've continued to start.

Wild guess something with the culture of the team and/or campus just did not sit well with her. None of my business, just makes me naturally curious.
 

Somebody close to the badger program told me that we may be losing a player to the portal very soon but I couldn’t get more details. In general he’s a reliable source, has anyone heard anything?
 



There is an interesting article about the number of transfer players on the final 16 volleyball teams (https://volleyballmag.com/ncaa-volleyball-report-120622/). Texas led with 7 transfers. Houston had 6. Wisconsin, Penn State, and San Diego had 5. Minnesota and Pittsburgh had 4. There were only 14 of 64 teams in the NCAA tournament who had no transfers.

Coaches need to be good recruiters via the transfer portal to have highly competitive teams, This will probably continue for several years. An advantage of recruiting someone from the transfer portal is that they player has a record at the D-1 level whereas high school recruits have yet to prove themselves at D-1.

I don't like the current wide open transfer rules. It is like free agency and a NIL bidding war.
 


Apparently, it is Liz Gregorski according to https://twitter.com/hashtag/CollegeVBTransfers?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1602850236665278464|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=&src=hashtag_click.

Ohio State has three going into the transfer portal: Kylie Murr, Gabby Gonzales, and Adria Powell. Purdue is losing Ava Torance.
I assumed when @IMGopher said "we" they meant that Minnesota would be losing a player to portal.

That would likely mean Wenaas, but there are "conflicting" social media posts from her that people are (probably over) "analyzing" on VT.
 

There is an interesting article about the number of transfer players on the final 16 volleyball teams (https://volleyballmag.com/ncaa-volleyball-report-120622/). Texas led with 7 transfers. Houston had 6. Wisconsin, Penn State, and San Diego had 5. Minnesota and Pittsburgh had 4. There were only 14 of 64 teams in the NCAA tournament who had no transfers.

Coaches need to be good recruiters via the transfer portal to have highly competitive teams, This will probably continue for several years. An advantage of recruiting someone from the transfer portal is that they player has a record at the D-1 level whereas high school recruits have yet to prove themselves at D-1.

I don't like the current wide open transfer rules. It is like free agency and a NIL bidding war.
Basically sucks the very top talent out of programs that are good but realistically aren't the top 5.

Like Ohio State ... they seem to be a very good program and just one step lower than national title contenders.

So I don't really get why players are exiting that team and looking for another place. Don't like that coach's style? Don't like the campus (culture)? Or are they just looking to land on one of the elite programs?
 



Basically sucks the very top talent out of programs that are good but realistically aren't the top 5.

Like Ohio State ... they seem to be a very good program and just one step lower than national title contenders.

So I don't really get why players are exiting that team and looking for another place. Don't like that coach's style? Don't like the campus (culture)? Or are they just looking to land on one of the elite programs?
My understanding of the OSU situation is all 3 will be grad. Transfers and they were not offered a 5 th year scholarship.
 


What the hell??

Would guess that is NOT the OSU’s coaches choice and her hand is being forced by the AD refusing to allow (non-revenue) teams from giving scholarships to essentially “covid super-seniors”.

Jackass
 

What the hell??

Would guess that is NOT the OSU’s coaches choice and her hand is being forced by the AD refusing to allow (non-revenue) teams from giving scholarships to essentially “covid super-seniors”.

Jackass
and Murr is also in the portal as well out of OSU
 

I assumed when @IMGopher said "we" they meant that Minnesota would be losing a player to portal.

That would likely mean Wenaas, but there are "conflicting" social media posts from her that people are (probably over) "analyzing" on VT.
Just speculating but it could be Lauren Crowl, her brother is on the basketball team.
 


Was just thinking, if nothing changes and the Swenson sisters are still committed then by the time they arrive Landfair we be a RS senior, Booth and Wucherer would be juniors. The only question is who's gonna be the setter in that in-between year? Is Shaff gonna use her COVID year? Do we stick it out with Chloe or do we look towards the portal?
 

Was just thinking, if nothing changes and the Swenson sisters are still committed then by the time they arrive Landfair we be a RS senior, Booth and Wucherer would be juniors. The only question is who's gonna be the setter in that in-between year? Is Shaff gonna use her COVID year? Do we stick it out with Chloe or do we look towards the portal?
Melani will set in 23, Stella will set in 24.
 

There is an interesting article about the number of transfer players on the final 16 volleyball teams (https://volleyballmag.com/ncaa-volleyball-report-120622/). Texas led with 7 transfers. Houston had 6. Wisconsin, Penn State, and San Diego had 5. Minnesota and Pittsburgh had 4. There were only 14 of 64 teams in the NCAA tournament who had no transfers.

Coaches need to be good recruiters via the transfer portal to have highly competitive teams, This will probably continue for several years. An advantage of recruiting someone from the transfer portal is that they player has a record at the D-1 level whereas high school recruits have yet to prove themselves at D-1.

I don't like the current wide open transfer rules. It is like free agency and a NIL bidding war.
For the purposes of unit cohesion, I prefer players who spend their entire college career at the University of Minnesota.

I prefer the recruit well and retain what we have theory.
 


Minnesota has used the transfer portal very little. While other colleges have "loaded up" on portal transfers creating AA teams transferring in 3-5 starters, Hugh did not do that. In the past he has transferred two starting setters and a middle and recently other starting middles with Katie Myers, Nya Gros, and Arica Davis. No pins and certainly no L/DS players.

I am really hoping Cook can bring in an assistant that has some outstanding previous success in recruiting. We need an assistant who can really EVALUATE TALENT WHEN RECRUITING.

Right now it looks like Pedro is still here. He was an example of a Volunteer Coach who elevated the play of our middles from the beginning of the season to the end. Therefore, he should be given the opportunity to work under Coach Cook.

We really need a L who is OUTSTANDING at PASSING and a DS or two the same If we can land such a LIbero for next season, then it is all up to Shaff to elevate her game even more. She needs BETTER PASSING.
 
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Minnesota has used the transfer portal very little. While other colleges have "loaded up" on portal transfers creating AA teams transferring in 3-5 starters, Hugh did not do that. In the past he has transferred two starting setters and a middle and recently other starting middles with Katie Myers, Nya Gros, and Arica Davis. No pins and certainly no L/DS players.

I am really hoping Cook can bring in an assistant that has some outstanding previous success in recruiting. We need an assistant that is can really EVALUATE TALENT WHEN RECRUITING.

Right now it looks like Pedro is still here. He was an example of a Volunteer Coach who elevated the play of our middles from the beginning of the season to the end. Therefore, he should be given the opportunity to work under Coach Cook.

We really need a L who is OUTSTANDING at PASSING and a DS or two the same If we can land such a LIbero for next season, then it is all up to Shaff to elevate her game even more. She needs BETTER PASSING.
In the past, transfers rarely got any playing time if any. This year Miranda had some playing time early in the season and Elise got a few looks per set as a rotational sub. The only player who made a real difference was probably Kylie Miller, whenever she was healthy and on the court.
 





Texas had great hitters and setting, but they also had outstanding "littles" this year. Fleck, Halter, and Akana (Neb transfer).

That's what women's college volleyball is. That's what wins natty's and that's what Hugh refused to do. He played Olympic style, and it didn't work.
 




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