Gopher Volleyball 2018

Do either of you have thoughts on M2 & H2 for 2018? Too early to have any clue??

Taylor Morgan's a shoe-in for M2. Blocking instincts do have to improve and there's always the fact that she's undersized, but she's extremely athletic and has a big swing out of the middle. She'll have no trouble scoring points on the attack.

OH2 is a bit more muddy, but I still do believe this is Jasmyn Martin's position to lose. She continues to make strides on the offensive end (similar to Wilhite between soph/junior year) although she is still not a strong enough passer to play all 6 rotations. If she continues to struggle this season it wouldn't be hard to see Rollins (or even Sheehan) get some time in that spot.
 

Thanks GameDay!

Martin did get benched at the end of last season, but she was a true freshman too. I’m sure the season grinds on a new player sometimes.

We do have talented defensive specialists. There is always an OH in the front row, so there’s never really a need for the back row OH not to be subbed out, right? Or am I missing something? (Maybe limited subs per set allowed?)
 

Thanks GameDay!

Martin did get benched at the end of last season, but she was a true freshman too. I’m sure the season grinds on a new player sometimes.

We do have talented defensive specialists. There is always an OH in the front row, so there’s never really a need for the back row OH not to be subbed out, right? Or am I missing something? (Maybe limited subs per set allowed?)

You're absolutely right. The L/DS combo of McGraw and Barnes is going to give the Gophers one of the most formidable backcourts in the country this season, something that hasn't been a strength for this program since the Tan/Granquist days. This is very exciting!

Rollins is a superb defender in the back row too, and my guess is that if she isn't the 2nd LS hitter, she will at least be playing the 3 defensive rotations for one of Hart/Martin.
 

Well, have we had any OH that stayed in for the back row recently? I can’t recall if Hart did last year.

Point is, if we had a great all around player at OH, would we try more back row attacks other than Samedy on the right side? Or is that not really done much in the women’s game?
 

Well, have we had any OH that stayed in for the back row recently? I can’t recall if Hart did last year.

Point is, if we had a great all around player at OH, would we try more back row attacks other than Samedy on the right side? Or is that not really done much in the women’s game?

Hmm, it really depends on the hitter. The pipe attack has to be a legitimate threat in order to use it (i.e. high jumper with a heavy arm), and I believe if Hart were in the back row she'd receive some pipe sets. That being said, the back row attack in the women's game is normally meant to be a changeup or, if you have a dominant hitter playing middle back, a bailout. Nice to use every once in a while to give the defense a different look, but not something that should be used as a first option in the point.
 


Thanks for the replies!

Gamday, thanks for the info on the women’s game. I guess I was actually thinking more about the backrow outside attack for Rollins, but that’s probably a tougher set than the backrow middle (pipe). Does the libero actually play back left and the OH/DS play back middle?

Tucker, could well be true, I didn’t know that. Just that her replacement did a fine job.

Now aside from Martin and Rollins, there is the transfer from Iowa. Not sure why she left, my guess is to be closer to home and wanted to give it a shot on the Gophers. If she doesn’t play, maybe she’ll transfer to a lower division team like Concordia.
 

Thanks for the replies!

Gamday, thanks for the info on the women’s game. I guess I was actually thinking more about the backrow outside attack for Rollins, but that’s probably a tougher set than the backrow middle (pipe). Does the libero actually play back left and the OH/DS play back middle?

Tucker, could well be true, I didn’t know that. Just that her replacement did a fine job.

Now aside from Martin and Rollins, there is the transfer from Iowa. Not sure why she left, my guess is to be closer to home and wanted to give it a shot on the Gophers. If she doesn’t play, maybe she’ll transfer to a lower division team like Concordia.

Sure, happy to discuss! And I'm sure its been used at points before, but I almost never see any type of deliberate set to the back left. That's just typically not a viable option in competitive volleyball beyond pick-up.

And it depends on the system but alot of teams will put their libero back left to take away the OH's crosscourt shot (every hitter's favorite shot) and either put a DS middle back or their OH leaving open the potential for an occasional back-row attack.
 

I guess I’ve just been watching too many YouTube videos of the high level (Olympic) men’s game. The back row attacks at that level are almost as ubiquitous as the fri t row! I’m probably exaggerating a bit.
 

Hugh tweeted there was a new commitment last week and it turns out it was outside hitter Cami Appiani who gave her verbal.

She's apparently about 5-9 and plays her club volleyball for WAVE based out of San Diego. Finding further info on her has been challenging, but I guess she's either in the class of 2020 or 2022. Not much in way of info, but wanted to at least pass it along.

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Should also add she plays her high school volleyball at Torrey Pines. Can also confirm that she's a 2020, so she'd be in the same class as Shaffmaster and Landfair.
Hugh tweeted there was a new commitment last week and it turns out it was outside hitter Cami Appiani who gave her verbal.

She's apparently about 5-9 and plays her club volleyball for WAVE based out of San Diego. Finding further info on her has been challenging, but I guess she's either in the class of 2020 or 2022. Not much in way of info, but wanted to at least pass it along.

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https://gophersports.com/news/2018/8/1/volleyball-gophers-announce-television-schedule.aspx

The Big Ten Conference has announced that four University of Minnesota volleyball matches will be televised during the 2018 campaign. In all, the Golden Gophers will be featured on BTN or streamed on BTN Plus for every match this season.

Minnesota will have its first chance on television Sept. 19, when the Golden Gophers take on the Penn State Nittany Lions at 8 p.m. Both border battles between the Gophers and the Badgers will be televised this season. The Gophers host Wisconsin on Sept. 26, for an 8 p.m. tilt, while travels to Madison, Wis., on Oct. 31, this time for an 8 p.m. start. The Gophers will be featured on BTN Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. as they take on Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich.

The last six matches of the regular season are also reserved for wildcard selections that will be announced at a later date.

Minnesota will stream all three of its non-conference tournaments in its entirety. The Gophers will also be broadcast during the Pac 12/Big Ten Challenge as Minnesota takes on Oregon and Stanford. Both of these matches will be featured on Pac-12 Networks.

Gophers on Big Ten Network (all times Central)
Sept. 19 vs. Penn State, 8 p.m.
Sept. 26 vs. Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
Oct. 26 at Michigan State, 5 p.m.
Oct. 31 at Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
 

Would have loved to see at least one of the Nebraska games on there, too. That's a Penn St level opponent.
 

Interview with Hugh on Gophersports.com, about the start of fall camp: https://gophersports.com/news/2018/8/3/volleyball-gophers-set-to-begin-camp.aspx

Some key comments about M2, OH2, and the newcomers in general:

- You lost a starting middle from last year's team, who are some of the potential individuals that can take over that position?

I think we have a lot of people that can help us. That is the one of strengths of this group is the idea that it's a meritocracy. If you're in the gym you have a chance to earn the right to play. Replacing the middle position, which was Molly (Lohman) who did a great job for us for four years, is going to be a challenge but Regan Pittman had a great spring so she is going to keep doing what she has been doing. We have Taylor Morgan who had a really good spring in the mix there along with Paulina, Kayla and Becca, so there are a lot of people who could rise to the top and get the job done. The thing I like most about is that there are a lot of good players that will be battling for it.

...

- We have six newcomers entering camp next week, can you talk a little bit about each of them and what they can contribute to the team?

This is a good class and I can go through them numerically. Claire Sheehan (No. 4) is a transfer from Iowa, who carried a big load for them as a starting outside hitter. She was also a really good player in Minnesota for Northern Lights so we are excited to see what she can do for us. That O2 spot was a bit of a revolving door for us so I don't know if it will be more of the same this year, but Claire will be competing in that spot and will help us a ton. She can play, she competes, and we are really excited to have her as a part of this group. (No. 7) CC McGraw, as a DS/Libero, I think is a phenomenal talent at that position. She will have some good competition from Barnes, Litzau and Beckley, but I think CC is a very special talent and we are excited to see how her career goes for us. (No. 17) Bayley McMenimen is such a good volleyball player and a really good setter, but most importantly she competes like crazy. She will add a ton of value for our program. We are excited to have her here. (No. 18) Paulina Swider is a really strong middle blocker out of Poland who, for us, we think is a great strength for her, can play both spots. She can go in front, she can play off one foot, but she can play both and we think that is great. That makes it much more competitive across the board for both those spots, which should keep everyone honest. She is a really good blocker, has an excellent serve and possesses an all-round great volleyball game. (No. 20) Adanna Rollins is a really smooth outside hitter. She will be battling with Claire, Jaz, Lex and all of those outside hitters are going to be in it to battle for those two spots, but Adanna can flat out play. She has a really high volleyball IQ and is a solid outside with a ton of range. I think she plays a lot older than she is. Lastly, No. 23 Rebecca Rendahl is another good middle. She is fast, has great lateral quickness, she has good pop on the ball and she can play the whole game. It gets exciting for me because this squad, maybe even more so than any other squad we've had, has a lot of depth and a lot of talent. If everyone can understand that we are all striving to achieve something as a collective and can somehow combine their personal agenda with the team's agenda, I think this group has the potential to have great success.
 



Should also add she plays her high school volleyball at Torrey Pines. Can also confirm that she's a 2020, so she'd be in the same class as Shaffmaster and Landfair.

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That class has potential to be stellar. Landfair and Shaffmaster are going to go down as two of the highest commitments that Minnesota has ever gotten (Landfair is likely the #1 recruit in the class and Shaff top 5). They also have a similarly phenomenal duo coming in 2022 in outside hitter McKenna Wucherer and 6'7 MB Carter Booth. (Both also easily project as top 10 recruits in the class)

Some other big fish they are in on... things are looking great for the future of Gopher volleyball.

Leilah Smith (6'5 MB from Texas, 2020)
Ally Batenhorst (6'4 OH and top 3 player in the 2021 class)
Mabrey Shaffmaster (6'1 OH, Mel's sister, powerful arm)
Sienna Ifill (2022, left handed Opposite, lots of potential)
 

No offense, at all, meant to either of you ... but isn't there a VB recruiting thread? This thread should be for discussing THIS year, and our chances of representing the state in the final four in Mpls!

Either of you have comments in regards to the interview with Hugh and his comments, that I posted?
 

to Gophers_4life Re Hugh's comments: I have nothing but respect for Hugh's coaching skills and results plus he clearly has a good intellect. However, his public comments are non-committal. He says great things about this year's team including the newcomers. That's okay and easy to understand since it's pre-season, but I still search for the subtexts in his comments only to find none. What can the fans expect from the 2018 Gophers realistically? If such info doesn't come from the Gophers staff, where can a volleyball novice like me find such info? For the past 3 years, since I started following Gophers VB, I've searched in vain for analyses of strengths and weaknesses.
 

to Gophers_4life Re Hugh's comments: I have nothing but respect for Hugh's coaching skills and results plus he clearly has a good intellect. However, his public comments are non-committal. He says great things about this year's team including the newcomers. That's okay and easy to understand since it's pre-season, but I still search for the subtexts in his comments only to find none. What can the fans expect from the 2018 Gophers realistically? If such info doesn't come from the Gophers staff, where can a volleyball novice like me find such info? For the past 3 years, since I started following Gophers VB, I've searched in vain for analyses of strengths and weaknesses.

Hugh never tips his hand in interviews. As amazing of a coach and recruiter as he is, don't look for any clues from Hugh himself as it pertains to personnel and a team's outlook. He plays things close to the vest and says a whole lot of nothing to the media.

Regarding this season, there are high expectations. There is an expectation that this will be a top 4 team and I don't think satisfaction will come from any less than a final four appearance at home this season. Samedy/Swenson/Hart are clearly elite players and McGraw/Barnes have the potential to be a very special backcourt tandem.

I think the conerns about OH2 and the MB position are very fair. Pittman is talented but a repeat season similar to last year's is absolutely not going to cut it. The fact the Martin has not seperated herself at OH2 is reason to worry, but I think everybody's hope is that between Martin/Rollins/Sheehan, at least one will step up and establish themselves as a formidable 2nd outside. Those will be the keys to potentially a very successful season.
 

No offense, at all, meant to either of you ... but isn't there a VB recruiting thread? This thread should be for discussing THIS year, and our chances of representing the state in the final four in Mpls!

Either of you have comments in regards to the interview with Hugh and his comments, that I posted?

This is the only volleyball thread (outside of some special articles that deserve to stand alone). Recruiting is best discussed here. Maybe that will change in the future. Anyway, I'm ready to return to the sweltering PAV for an open practice (I assume) and then some semi-informed speculation.
 

Hugh never tips his hand in interviews. As amazing of a coach and recruiter as he is, don't look for any clues from Hugh himself as it pertains to personnel and a team's outlook. He plays things close to the vest and says a whole lot of nothing to the media.

Regarding this season, there are high expectations. There is an expectation that this will be a top 4 team and I don't think satisfaction will come from any less than a final four appearance at home this season. Samedy/Swenson/Hart are clearly elite players and McGraw/Barnes have the potential to be a very special backcourt tandem.

I think the conerns about OH2 and the MB position are very fair. Pittman is talented but a repeat season similar to last year's is absolutely not going to cut it. The fact the Martin has not seperated herself at OH2 is reason to worry, but I think everybody's hope is that between Martin/Rollins/Sheehan, at least one will step up and establish themselves as a formidable 2nd outside. Those will be the keys to potentially a very successful season.

Thanks. Your final 2 paragraphs are very helpful. This info may be obvious to a seasoned VB person, but they help me as a novice and primarily a baseball/softball & tennis fan. We have bought season tickets to Gopher VB because it's exciting, but it's hard to know what's "really" going on in a match technically/strategically speaking, which is really what interests me most. Too bad expert comments aren't out there regularly, however brief they may be.
 


If you are interested in talking volleyball at the U, check out http://volleytalk.proboards.com/thread/71892/minnesota-2018 for more indepth discussion. There are over 50 pages devoted to the 2018 Gophers.

^
The best forum far and away for college volleyball discussion. Tons of traffic on the site, and very knowledgeable VB people who are happy to discuss no matter how new to following volleyball you are. Lots of Gopher fans/discussion on the site!
 

Thank you so much for that link!! I as well am not an expert in VB, but want to learn more and support the team.

I suppose since we we likely won’t have a separate vball forum on this website, it’s tough to have a bunch of separate vball threads.

Thanks all for the comments!
 

Hugh never tips his hand in interviews. As amazing of a coach and recruiter as he is, don't look for any clues from Hugh himself as it pertains to personnel and a team's outlook. He plays things close to the vest and says a whole lot of nothing to the media.

Regarding this season, there are high expectations. There is an expectation that this will be a top 4 team and I don't think satisfaction will come from any less than a final four appearance at home this season. Samedy/Swenson/Hart are clearly elite players and McGraw/Barnes have the potential to be a very special backcourt tandem.

I think the conerns about OH2 and the MB position are very fair. Pittman is talented but a repeat season similar to last year's is absolutely not going to cut it. The fact the Martin has not seperated herself at OH2 is reason to worry, but I think everybody's hope is that between Martin/Rollins/Sheehan, at least one will step up and establish themselves as a formidable 2nd outside. Those will be the keys to potentially a very successful season.

Agree with all of this. Expectations are (and should be) high, not that it's anything new for Gopher volleyball. At this point, expectations are very high for the team almost every year, which makes things that much more fun.

If they can sort out OH2 and MB2, I think this team can be special. Even with some bumps here and there, I still expect the team will be quite formidable.

Can't wait to see the team out there in less than a month!
 

Another Q&A interview with coach Hugh: https://volleymob.com/qa-previewing-the-season-with-minnesota-head-coach-hugh-mccutcheon/

I see what you guys are saying. The guy is really just not that great of an interview. More or less refuses to answer any question that has even a glimmer of probing for actual information. Just repeats platitudes about players always having to earn playing time, or heaps mostly non-technical praise for individual players.

Bummer for fans. But if he wins, that's ultimately what matters.
 

The AVCA released their preseason top 25 rankings today and the ladies check in at No. 4.

Other Big 10 teams: 2. Nebraska, 6. Penn State, 9. Wisconsin, 12. Illinois, 22. Michigan State, 23. Purdue. Michigan is receiving votes.

link: https://www.avca.org/polls/di-women/8-8-2018.html
 


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https://gophersports.com/news/2018/8/13/volleyball-open-scrimmage-set-for-aug-18.aspx

A reminder:

Minnesota Volleyball fans, get to know your 2018 Golden Gophers as the team hosts an open intrasquad scrimmage, Saturday Aug. 18, at Maturi Pavilion.

Doors to the Pavilion open at 2 p.m., with warm ups beginning at 2:30. The open scrimmage is set to approximately begin at 3 p.m. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
 

Sara Groenewegen, superstar Gopher softball pitcher from a couple years ago, recently contracted Legionnaires' disease (a severe pneumonia) and spent 10 days in a medically induced coma.

She talks about her situation and recovery candidly and articulately in a ESPNW piece:

http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/ar...nduced-coma-kept-softball-world-championships

And it would have been reasonable to put this in the SOFTBALL thread. Glad Sara is continuing to make progress.


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