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Post by snickers on Mar 30, 2007 13:07:28 GMT -5
Here is the updated schedule for tomorrow. Will be fun to see the ladies play. And let's be extra nice to any Canadians in attendance.
8:45-9:45am Minnesota vs. Washington State (coached by former Gopher Assistant Brian Heffernan)
10:00-11:00am Florida vs. Notre Dame
11:15-12:15pm Minnesota vs. Notre Dame
12:30-1:30pm Florida vs. Washington State
2:15-3:15pm Minnesota vs. Florida
3:30-4:30pm Notre Dame vs. Washington State
4:45-5:45pm Florida vs. Notre Dame
6:00-7:00pm Minnesota vs. Washington State
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Post by jlo on Mar 30, 2007 18:47:00 GMT -5
Unfortunately our visit didnt coincide with this tournament. We were very tempted to stay on the way back from Madison!!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2007 15:56:49 GMT -5
The results so far (missed the Florida-WSU match and left before the last 3 matches):
Minnesota 32-34, 30-17 v. WSU
Florida 30-21, 31-29 v. Notre Dame
Minnesota 30-17, 30-27 v. Notre Dame
Minnesota 26-30, 30-27 v. Florida
My three stars for the day (fwiw):
1--Marcie Hampton. I've always liked her all-around game, I just didn't think she excelled at any of it. Today, she was not only passing and defending well, she may have been the best attacker on the floor.
2--Christine Tan. Minnesota's libero appears to be crowned. She passed great and was all over the court on defense. She was a little less stellar in the Florida match, but I chalk that up to Florida -- and she was still pretty good.
3--Kyla Roehrig. I could have gone with any of the Minnesota OHs (Vatterrodt and Hagerty also played well), but Kyla was the most consistent offensively. Plus she served well and did OK when passing and defending. (Both Hagerty and Vatterrodt also passed well.)
McGinnis was the best setter today, but even she was not as good as I expected her to be.
Jessy Jones remains Jessy Jones. Amazing one minute and giving away points the next.
I liked what I saw from the Gophers today. RB defense is still a weakness and Jones can be frustrating to watch, but all in all a good showing. The passing held up nicely and Jones + Schmidt were giving them decent middle offense.
Some monster blocks from the Temple of Doom.
(I love JJ. I do.)
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Post by wiscvball on Mar 31, 2007 16:28:22 GMT -5
I was able to catch the Florida/Minnesota match, and for spring ball it was a pretty well played match on both sides.
For Florida, McGinnis was the most polished setter on the floor, but I thought she would have been better served to be a little more offensive than she was. She did distribute nicely and can obviously take many balls high above the net and make something good happen. She also had a few nice blocks out on the rightside.
Hampton was incredible... she tore apart the Minnesota's rightside block (I'll get to that in a second) and hit very impressively from the backrow as well. She passed well and made a few amazing digs in the back. She was clearly the best all-around player on the floor.
Florida's libero was solid, making some great plays but then also missing some easier balls - especially overhand digging. Killingsworth was solid, but didn't get too many sets in the match I saw - save a few great line shots on the slide set.
For Minnesota, Roerhig was definitely the star. The 32-set that they give her on the left is almost unstoppable. She blocked pretty well and even had one really great backrow attack (she played all the way around for a few games). Vadderrodt was OK... i don't really remember many of her attacks or good plays. I thought Hagerty really struggled. She was moving her hands all over on the block and letting Hampton rip through it. She also hit several attacks right into the net on sets that weren't off by that much.
Jones played pretty well, but wasn't a star. She looks incredible in hitting lines (who doesn't though when you're a 6-3 middle against no blocker), but it doesn't translate as well to her on the court play when the passing is iffy. She's a nice option on the 31 and some quick sets, but still doesn't go behind the setter in the match - even though she looked impressive doing it in warmups. She still has incredible hangtime and I'm sure will be pre-season all-big ten and a force for Minnesota during the regular season.
I thought that Tan was solid in the Florida match, but I think that Cowles could challenge her for the libero spot. She got aced on a few tough serves and also had some easier digs that she let by.
I didn't think that either team blocked that well, but that's probably more a result of spring ball than anything. The refs let a lot go in terms of setting and the line judges were only paying attention about half of the time. Overall though, it was a pretty solid effort by two very good teams.
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Post by GatorVball on Mar 31, 2007 16:51:08 GMT -5
Thanks for the updates. Who is playing right side for Florida?
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Post by snickers on Mar 31, 2007 18:07:51 GMT -5
The results so far (missed the Florida-WSU match and left before the last 3 matches): Minnesota 32-34, 30-17 v. WSU Florida 30-21, 31-29 v. Notre Dame Minnesota 30-17, 30-27 v. Notre Dame Minnesota 26-30, 30-27 v. Florida My three stars for the day (fwiw): 1--Marcie Hampton. I've always liked her all-around game, I just didn't think she excelled at any of it. Today, she was not only passing and defending well, she may have been the best attacker on the floor. 2--Christine Tan. Minnesota's libero appears to be crowned. She passed great and was all over the court on defense. She was a little less stellar in the Florida match, but I chalk that up to Florida -- and she was still pretty good. 3--Kyla Roehrig. I could have gone with any of the Minnesota OHs (Vatterrodt and Hagerty also played well), but Kyla was the most consistent offensively. Plus she served well and did OK when passing and defending. (Both Hagerty and Vatterrodt also passed well.) McGinnis was the best setter today, but even she was not as good as I expected her to be. Jessy Jones remains Jessy Jones. Amazing one minute and giving away points the next. I liked what I saw from the Gophers today. RB defense is still a weakness and Jones can be frustrating to watch, but all in all a good showing. The passing held up nicely and Jones + Schmidt were giving them decent middle offense. Some monster blocks from the Temple of Doom. (I love JJ. I do.) Great assessment. I thought all of the OHs for MN passed well, with right side defense a weakness, but that should be taken care of when -- I think -- one or two of our super frosh will step in. Tan was passing nails in all of the games I saw. Our passing actually broke down when our "DSs" came in, but Mike let the OHs play all-the-way around for many of the games. I think that's an indication that outside of Tan, nobody has earned a starting spot in the backrow -- outside of the OHs. Gophers looked good for spring ball. |
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Post by gogophers on Mar 31, 2007 19:58:01 GMT -5
No one commented on Hartmann's performance as setter. I saw only the Florida and ND matches, but thought she was very good, just as good, at least, as Mcginnis for Florida. Other opinions: Tan was good, but just good. She's young; at this point she's no Peniata, much less a Gentil. I saw very few great defensive plays on the gophers' part--actually, I can't think of any--a contrast to the last few years. Seeing the front row players serve, when they played all around, was unnerving. Roehrig just tossed up floaters but at least got the ball in. Jones would serve (surprisingly) well for a few points; then hit it into the net. Hagerty would spin the ball and toss it high--you'd think a bomb was coming--then hit it with little pace. (Where have you gone, Meghan Cumpston? A gopher nation turns its lonely eyes to you). Roehrig looked pretty good on offense; Hagerty didn't. Schmidt was quiet. Roysland played a little and looked like someone who hadn't played top level volleyball for four years. It's too early to tell how well she'll adjust; immediate impact isn't in the cards. Perhaps predictably, the mainstay players from last year--Hartmann, Jones, and Roehrig were best of the gophers. No one else showed me much.
The team, on a whole, looked OK, just OK. I hope the super-freshmen ride to the rescue.
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Post by redincolorado on Mar 31, 2007 21:03:20 GMT -5
was there a Becky Pavan sighting?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2007 21:56:29 GMT -5
Tan was great. Totally disagree on that. If she can continue to pass like she did today, it'll be a huge plus for the Gophers. And she is do darned quick -- something Paula and Marci could never really rely on. She chased down a half dozen deflections no one else would have got.
Gator, Cecchini was their rightside.
I was surprised at how off Notre Dame was. They really struggled to pass.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2007 22:01:21 GMT -5
was there a Becky Pavan sighting? She visited several weeks ago didn't she? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2007 22:09:58 GMT -5
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Post by Alberta on Mar 31, 2007 22:42:21 GMT -5
Thank you for the reports....  Christine Tan is another state of Florida homegirl that Mary let get away. |
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Post by Revellowski on Apr 1, 2007 1:16:37 GMT -5
Roehrig was definitely the bright spot for MN today from what I saw. I didn't see much mind you as I had to head to work after the first game vs. Florida but she looked good. She has a dangerous float serve that gave Florida some trouble, had a great kill out of the back row and looked like one of our better passers and defenders. Now, that's something I never thought I"d be able to say in her career as a Golden Gopher. Who knew? She looked like she had great feel for the ball and really passed some very nice balls. I was impressed.
Jones was spastic as usual. That's a term of endearment, I love that girl, her energy is so different that everyone elses on the team. She wasn't fabulous today but then I've always blamed our setter for that and I'll continue to do so. I don't think she got any serves in in that first game, but then not many of the girls did on either side. Serving was poor from all the teams I saw in fact.
Rachel needs to watch some video of herself setting the ball. Girlfriend needs to push the ball out to the pins on the left and right sides and set the middles higher. I get so frustrated with her undersetting the ball all the time. She did not look as good as McGinnis who can put up some beautiful sets anywhere on the court. Love her hands.
All 3 of our Northern Lights recruits were there watching today. They are just so damn cute. I'd bet they have to feel pretty good about their chances to start on this team from day one. Deiter, Gibbemeyer and Cowles are easily as skilled as anyone that took the floor today on any of the teams. Well, I will say that Hampton did look very good and would probably be the exception here. I've not been impressed with her game up until today. She was tough.
I looked all over for the Pavan clan. Didn't see them. I'd assume the visit already happened or will be, possilby at their next spring tournament.
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Post by ugopher on Apr 1, 2007 10:47:51 GMT -5
I feel that Cowles will be the DS and Tan the libero. I just feel that Cowles can add a more all around game than Tan.
Pavan did visit about three weeks ago. I would be surprised if she visits again. Rumor has it she will most likely stick to a school closer to home.
It was fun watching Kyla playing back row. I agree, she made several nice passes on balls she was able to get to. I was surprised to see her on the LS and Hagerty on the RS. I thought it would have been the other way around.
Not sure if Hartmann has been focusing on the setter attack this spring or not but she went to that option often in the last two matches.
Dieter, Gibbemeyer, and Cowles will help next year. Probably Dieter/Roerhig on the left, Gibby/Jones in the middle, Tan/Cowles in the back row. Question will be, who will play all the way around?
Fun to see the ladies in action again. I hope the male fans, whoever they were, will keep their enthusiasm for the fall season! Lots of energy from them; definitely added something to a spring outing.
Interesting that neither Mary W. or her assistant coach were on the sidelines for their last match of the day. Wonder where they were.
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Post by Alberta on Apr 1, 2007 10:57:28 GMT -5
Maybe the coaches had a plane to catch.....to Atlanta. |
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