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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 9:52:13 GMT -5
Gophers currently up 2-0 against Duquesne. Smooth play so far from what I gather from Gametracker. Handley and Nora came out in the second set to let subs Schau (setter) and Caluori (RS) enter the match. Goehner is starting the third set as an OUTSIDE for Santana, and Rosado is libero again. Interesting match so far.
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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 9:54:30 GMT -5
Handley and Nora back in for the third set.
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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 10:00:43 GMT -5
Third set very tight. Not sure if it's from the lineup changes or Duquesne finally gathering some steam.
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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 10:06:30 GMT -5
Gophers finally pulling away in the third set off a couple service aces. 22-17 Gophers.
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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 10:09:18 GMT -5
Gophers beat Duquesne 3-0, with a third set of 25-19. Seems like a good team effort with a lot of subs coming in and making nice things happen, particularly with serving.
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Post by craftylefty on Sept 19, 2014 10:13:05 GMT -5
Man, Paige Tapp had a good match. 7 kills, 0 errors, 8 TA: .875. She has really been a bright spot for us this season.
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Post by gogophers on Sept 19, 2014 10:32:31 GMT -5
Duquesne, Toledo, and one of the satellite Indiana universities. Yeah, that will get the Gophers ready and prepared for the Big 10 schedule, or at least the Maryland-Rutgers part of it.
Final 2013 Pablo rankings of Minn's pre-conference opponents: 126, 36, 67, 191, 259, 78, 82, 36, 104, 130, 121. Ave: 112.
Seriously, has Minn. ever had such a lackluster set of pre-conference foes? What's the point of scheduling like this? Just to ensure a .500 or better record? Might as well stay home, have the starters play the "B" team, and save on the expense.
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Post by spikerthemovie on Sept 19, 2014 11:02:49 GMT -5
I looked at the Gopher boxscore and thought, "Who the heck is Laura Caluori?"/"Oh, yeah. The Swiss player." Anyway, she played, too. Also: Attendance of 75. Gulp.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2014 11:23:07 GMT -5
Her first kill is still eluding her. I'm hoping that happens this weekend.
ISU and Louisville were good opponents -- and Tulsa and Milwaukee are competitive. I'm not sure getting thumped by a top ten team is what this team needed.
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Post by gogophers on Sept 19, 2014 14:10:59 GMT -5
R, it's not as though the only choices are a nothing-burger schedule like this year's or a line-up of top 10 bullies. For that matter, it's not as though #10 and #1 present the same competitive challenge, either.
The coaches' poll say Minnesota is the 17th best team in the country. Personally, I don't see it, but they are surely no worse than . . . than what? Each of us can fill in the blank but I don't think it's so far from 17, under even a very critical assessment, that a thumping is anything close to certain (or, in opinion, even probable; losing yes, thumping no) were Minnesota to play whichever team in the second tier happens to be #9 or 10 for the time being. It's quite possible that Minnesota would win, which would be a nice boost to the ol' confidence.
Meanwhile, the Michigan teams took on the likes of Duke, NC, and Oregon, with, in Michigan's case, Kansas St. still to go. Those two teams lost a lot to graduation, too, and are no doubt trying to figure some things out. But both scheduled much tougher than Minn.
Minn 2014 clearly isn't as strong as Minn. 2013, but it still has a roster chock-a-block full of top 50 recruits to go along with the captain of the Puerto Rican Junior national team. If this group can't respond to the challenge of top competition, playing in a conference half of whose members are likely to be ranked or close to ranked, it's going to be a long, long season.
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Post by WahineFan44 on Sept 19, 2014 14:14:42 GMT -5
I looked at the Gopher boxscore and thought, "Who the heck is Laura Caluori?"/"Oh, yeah. The Swiss player." Anyway, she played, too. Also: Attendance of 75. Gulp. . Living in hawaii, I'm so used to crowds of 4,000 plus, and I can't even imagine a game of 75. I hope they get more attendance because Minnesota is such a good program
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2014 14:21:56 GMT -5
R, it's not as though the only choices are a nothing-burger schedule like this year's or a line-up of top 10 bullies. For that matter, it's not as though #10 and #1 present the same competitive challenge, either. The coaches' poll say Minnesota is the 17th best team in the country. Personally, I don't see it, but they are surely no worse than . . . than what? Each of us can fill in the blank but I don't think it's so far from 17, under even a very critical assessment, that a thumping is anything close to certain (or, in opinion, even probable; losing yes, thumping no) were Minnesota to play whichever team in the second tier happens to be #9 or 10 for the time being. It's quite possible that Minnesota would win, which would be a nice boost to the ol' confidence. Meanwhile, the Michigan teams took on the likes of Duke, NC, and Oregon, with, in Michigan's case, Kansas St. still to go. Those two teams lost a lot to graduation, too, and are no doubt trying to figure some things out. But both scheduled much tougher than Minn. Minn 2014 clearly isn't as strong as Minn. 2013, but it still has a roster chock-a-block full of top 50 recruits to go along with the captain of the Puerto Rican Junior national team. If this group can't respond to the challenge of top competition, playing in a conference half of whose members are likely to be ranked or close to ranked, it's going to be a long, long season. I don't think the schedule was that bad. Two decent tournaments, two not-so-decent (although both Yale and Duquesne would have been good RPI choices in 2013 and may still be in 2014). I guess the proof will be in the pudding. Let's see if Michigan and Michigan State helped themselves with the tougher schedules. I think you can make either argument: 1) preparing your team for the higher level to come or 2) being cautious about destroying your team's confidence. I've seen examples of both over the years with Minnesota and can't say I've really formed a worthwhile opinion about which is better. My best guess is that you want something in the middle. One (or two) better opponents might have helped, but we'll see. They already blew up their lineup with THIS schedule, right?
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Post by gogophers on Sept 19, 2014 14:24:12 GMT -5
I'm wondering if there were really even as many as 75 fans in attendance for an early morning match on a weekday between two teams, neither of them the home team or likely to have much of a presence in the local population. I'm guessing they counted the people who delivered pop to the food stand and the ball girls. I grant you that Minn is an established, well-known program, but out of curiosity: if, say, Toledo and UI at FW were to be magically transported (by plane) to Hawaii to play a match at 9 in the morning on a work day, how many fans do you think would turn out to see it?
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Post by WahineFan44 on Sept 19, 2014 14:25:49 GMT -5
I'm wondering if there were really even as many as 75 fans in attendance for an early morning match on a weekday between two teams, neither of them the home team or likely to have much of a presence in the local population. I'm guessing they counted the people who delivered pop to the food stand and the ball girls. I grant you that Minn is an established, well-known program, but out of curiosity: if, say, Toledo and UI at FW were to be magically transported (by plane) to Hawaii to play a match at 9 in the morning on a work day, how many fans do you think would turn out to see it? My bad, I thought it was at Minnesota. Should of read the thread name. I understand the 75 now.
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bluepenquin
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Post by bluepenquin on Sept 19, 2014 14:47:39 GMT -5
Duquesne, Toledo, and one of the satellite Indiana universities. Yeah, that will get the Gophers ready and prepared for the Big 10 schedule, or at least the Maryland-Rutgers part of it. Final 2013 Pablo rankings of Minn's pre-conference opponents: 126, 36, 67, 191, 259, 78, 82, 36, 104, 130, 121. Ave: 112. Seriously, has Minn. ever had such a lackluster set of pre-conference foes? What's the point of scheduling like this? Just to ensure a .500 or better record? Might as well stay home, have the starters play the "B" team, and save on the expense. The current Pablo rankings of Minn's pre-con opponents is 118.6. I know that Purdue and Penn State have very easy RPI schedules, so I was curious as to based on Pablo. Purdue's Pablo rankings average of opponents is 144.7 - then I noticed what they did today! Penn State's average is 135.6. I think this can be a good strategy for a team breaking in a lot of new players.
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