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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2006 16:30:26 GMT -5
Re Katie V, that was more a case of Cumpston taking over the position than the coaches not liking what they saw in KV. Of course, that's still not a ringing endorsement.
Hartmann's serving really improved as the year went on. Her problem is defense, more than anything else.
Defense/serve reception could be decent if Dieter and Cowles can step in. Those two are talented.
Here's the main reason to be optimistic: the players coming in (and returning) can play the game. There will not be as big of a learning curve as there's been in the past. And it's going to be a different system next year without KBow. Who knows? That could bring out better performances from some people who may not have excelled in the old system.
I look for a slow start, but for them to be very good by mid-Big10.
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Post by wiscvball on Dec 14, 2006 16:36:16 GMT -5
Every year I think the Gophers will take a step down in the standings due to the loss of key personnel... Busse in 2003, Bratford/Martin/Taatjes in 2004, and Gentil in 2005. However, every year they still step up and finish in the top three of the big ten.
They do lose an exceptional amount of talent this season at several key positions (basically all but setting). The nice part for Minnesota is that the bench is heavy with outside hitters, although relatively unproven ones. Dieter is a nice talent, and if she can come in and have an impact like Dolgner did at Wisconsin then Minnesota will be in nice shape.
Overall, I think Minnesota will see a slight drop in quality of the team, but they should still have a solid NCAA tourney resume and will definitely be a team that gets much stronger as the season progresses. You can never count out Hebert and his staff - they are incredible coaches.
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Post by JHAM on Dec 14, 2006 16:55:52 GMT -5
I am optomistic as well. When have we had 2 top 5 recruits at MN? NEVER! I have seen these girls play club ball as HS Sophs and Jrs and man the Wow factor was there. The other good thing is that they play for the same club team so hopefully will already have that built in chemistry. We at MN are just not used to getting these types of players and usually Frosh do not start but I think these 3 have a good shot at it. Wouldn't it be great if the Big Ten Freshman of the Year for 2007 came from a school other than Penn St?
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Post by bomber on Dec 14, 2006 17:20:25 GMT -5
Re Katie V, that was more a case of Cumpston taking over the position than the coaches not liking what they saw in KV. Of course, that's still not a ringing endorsement. Hartmann's serving really improved as the year went on. Her problem is defense, more than anything else. Defense/serve reception could be decent if Dieter and Cowles can step in. Those two are talented. Here's the main reason to be optimistic: the players coming in (and returning) can play the game. There will not be as big of a learning curve as there's been in the past. And it's going to be a different system next year without KBow. Who knows? That could bring out better performances from some people who may not have excelled in the old system. I look for a slow start, but for them to be very good by mid-Big10. I forsee big problems for the Gophers next year with the loss of so much talent.......
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Post by gogophers on Dec 14, 2006 17:27:21 GMT -5
wiscvball has a point in that every year we bemoan the loss of talented seniors. But to say that each year in the recent past we've been pleasantly surprised is a stretch. Yes, the 2004 team lost Busse, but that was basically all it lost, whereas some of the extra talented class of 2003 were expected to step up, as they did, as sophomores. The 2004 Gophers were very highly ranked coming into the season, even reaching #1 in the coach's poll early on. 2005, we shed a bunch of key seniors and it showed. The 2005 team had "chemistry" issues and did not end on a happy note. For 2006, we lost Gentil and a good, not great sub MB in Byrnes. 2004 showed you can afford to lose one great player, and so it was in 2006. The post-Gentil transition was made easier by having an excellent Marci--Gentil lite--waiting to come out of Paula's shadows. One could see the future in the libero position and it was looking pretty good. But it took Tan coming in and Cumpston stepping up defensively for the 2006 Gophers to remain a top defensive team; and even there, I believe the hitting percentage against us wasn't quite as good as in 2005.
Of these recent examples, 2007 looks most like 2005, 4 key player losses and an unproven, but highly rated entering class.
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Post by snickers on Dec 14, 2006 17:37:10 GMT -5
Minnesota will be fine if they can find passing. The OH jobs are up for grabs (except for Roehrig) based on who can pass and play D. We saw glimpses of what Katie V can be, and Hagerty will develop into a major force. But, their playing time will be determined, in part, upon how well they can pass. My guess is that Dieter will see at least time in the back row, along with Cowles. (Perhaps coming in for Hagerty in the backrow and Katie V playing all-the-way around.) These four (Roehrig, Dieter, Katie V., Hagerty) will be battling for time over the next two years.
And I think Gibb will be starting before the Big 10 season starts.
I think '07 will be somewhat of a rebuilding year, but I think they'll finish in the top 3 of the Big 10 and have a decent tourney.
I think this team could go very deep in '08 -- perhaps FF material -- depending on what type of MB we find to replace Jones. Schmidt is good, not great, but might be good enough by the time she is a senior.
Which keeps me wondering who else we are brining in for '08. We have Blatt at setter. But that's it! Would be great to have another really strong class behind the (top 4?) class of '07. Would be wonderful to landing another top 5/10 recruit for '08 and '09.
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Post by maninyellowhat on Dec 14, 2006 17:42:21 GMT -5
I think Euell (Gibbons) will start right away. And look for her to eclipse all the current blocking records, etc. She has an incredibly fast lateral movement.
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Post by gogophers on Dec 14, 2006 18:41:50 GMT -5
how well we do depends in part on who good the competition is. PSU should be even better next year. Wisconsin loses who else besides Carlini? Wisconsin loses a lot less than we do. I don't know enough about the other teams to have an opinion as to whether they'll be worse or better.
We were 0-2 against PSU this year, and I see no reason to think we'll do better next year. We were 2-0 against wisconsin and that was the difference between 2 and 3rd place. The key match would seem to be with Wisconsin. Go 0-2 against them, then we're playing for 3rd place and have to pretty much run the table against the rest (as we almost did this year, 15-1) to avoid 4th place.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2006 18:44:45 GMT -5
4th would be a decent finish.
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Post by bomber on Dec 14, 2006 19:26:54 GMT -5
Re Katie V, that was more a case of Cumpston taking over the position than the coaches not liking what they saw in KV. Of course, that's still not a ringing endorsement. Hartmann's serving really improved as the year went on. Her problem is defense, more than anything else. Defense/serve reception could be decent if Dieter and Cowles can step in. Those two are talented. Here's the main reason to be optimistic: the players coming in (and returning) can play the game. There will not be as big of a learning curve as there's been in the past. And it's going to be a different system next year without KBow. Who knows? That could bring out better performances from some people who may not have excelled in the old system. I look for a slow start, but for them to be very good by mid-Big10. I forsee big problems for the Gophers next year with the loss of so much talent....... What, no takers? I thought I could rile a response out of someone with this blatantly troll-like posting. Maybe that was the problem...too blatant.
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Post by hoosierman on Dec 14, 2006 20:18:27 GMT -5
You're calling yourself a troll?
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Post by bomber on Dec 14, 2006 20:36:19 GMT -5
You're calling yourself a troll? Believe me, I've been called much worse. I thought I might entice a few Gopher fans to leap into animated discussion, but so far, only silence. I guess people are already preparing for a long winter's hibernation as the season is coming to its end.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2006 21:30:45 GMT -5
The problem, bomber, is that we agree with you.
Of course, most of us think they will overcome the problems...
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Post by abcd098 on Dec 14, 2006 21:46:06 GMT -5
I thought Tan would be shoe-in for libero; I don't know anything about this new kid, but Tan had a great season and really did well for Minnesota. It only seems natural that she would step in as libero. I thought Hebert alluded to how she was going to be a great libero for them.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2006 21:48:56 GMT -5
It's Tan's job to lose, but my guess is they go with whoever shows they can pass the best.
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