Exhibition: Minnesota vs Iowa State - Aug 24, 3:00pm CT

[mn08miyabemaniac]

Aug 24, 2024 20:40:13 GMT -5 maigrey said:

Aug 24, 2024 17:15:15 GMT -5 mn08miyabemaniac said:

Alex is consistently deleting Mel’s sets. She’s going to be a fun addition.

Deleting?

Killing, spiking, scoring. Should have clarified.

[B1Gminnesotafan]

Takeaways: Wucherer is the most improved player so far. She was much more consistent than I remember from last year with fewer errors.

Mel is in good shape. No knee brace or wrap. Go Mel. She was a little off at the service line but I expect that to even out as the season progresses.

Grote is not a shoe in for a starting roll as I had thought. Crowl is looking very good including the service line and floor defense. Grote may still have the edge hitting but Crowl on defense and serving. Its a toss up. Good luck coach KCook.

Alex Avecedo was very good. A few hiccups on serve receive (they gave up serving at Wucherer after the fist set,) but other than that looked good. Hanson, on the other hand, was hidden in serve receive. I would guess that gives Avecedo the edge since they are both good hitters.

Thibault was very good. We haven't had a DS this good since Rachel Kilkelly and I LOVE Rachel Kilkelly. I would even go so far as to say she may be better than Kilkelly; she has good anticipation and puts up a good ball. She did not seem better than Zeynep Palabiyik but close. Palabiyik puts a ball that is just the right height in just the right spot more often. Edge Z.

Middles are still middles. I think Minatee and Awoleye have the job but Engeman is good too. Minnesota really needs one of these players to step up an be a star. I think the opponents middle has a free shot. Minnesota did a better job blocking the pins.

[zero-rotation outside hitter]

Aug 24, 2024 21:07:26 GMT -5 B1Gminnesotafan said:

Takeaways: Wucherer is the most improved player so far. She was much more consistent than I remember from last year with fewer errors.

Mel is in good shape. No knee brace or wrap. Go Mel. She was a little off at the service line but I expect that to even out as the season progresses.

Grote is not a shoe in for a starting roll as I had thought. Crowl is looking very good including the service line and floor defense. Grote may still have the edge hitting but Crowl on defense and serving. Its a toss up. Good luck coach KCook.

Alex Avecedo was very good. A few hiccups on serve receive (they gave up serving at Wucherer after the fist set,) but other than that looked good. Hanson, on the other hand, was hidden in serve receive. I would guess that gives Avecedo the edge since they are both good hitters.

Thibault was very good. We haven't had a DS this good since Rachel Kilkelly and I LOVE Rachel Kilkelly. I would even go so far as to say she may be better than Kilkelly; she has good anticipation and puts up a good ball. She did not seem better than Zeynep Palabiyik but close. Palabiyik puts a ball that is just the right height in just the right spot more often. Edge Z.

Middles are still middles. I think Minatee and Awoleye have the job but Engeman is good too. Minnesota really needs one of these players to step up an be a star. I think the opponents middle has a free shot. Minnesota did a better job blocking the pins.

Um...

[pointu]

Can anyone give lineups for each set?

[craftylefty]

I agree with some other posters that Wucherer had a fantastic day overall. She played six-rotations every set, and did everything well - passed, dug, blocked, attacked, served. I was honestly surprised at how many hard-driven balls she was getting up and how well she held up with passing. What a pleasant surprise indeed. Definitely Minnesota's MVP for the day.

Hanson and Acevedo are like fire and ice. Very different energies and demeanors from each other (guess which is which!). With Acevedo, fans should be ready for a player who shows even less emotion than Taylor Landfair after a point. She does keep a very even keel, and never seems disinterested - just probably very focused. And her play shows it. She is quite a refined outside hitter, and inspired confidence in all aspects. She played six-rotations in all the sets that she started, and did very well at all aspects. Passing started to break down a little, but her passes that were on were ON - like into the setter's hands perfect. Very impressive player...maybe not super explosive like Wucherer but quite polished.

Hanson still has her hops. Had some impressive, hard swings today also. She looks ready to play the starting six-rotation OH role, if need be. Last year she showed us that she can come in and be a difference maker, and today was no different. Her athleticism allows her to adjust to sets on the fly and terminate, although Wucherer and Grote tend to be more terminal overall.

I was disappointed to see Stella with no playing time, as well as Schnichels and O. Swenson. But I suppose this would be a good, competitive match to let the presumed starters work themselves out, and it was.

Chloe Ng was a serving specialist for a middle in a couple sets, as was Skylar Gray. Both served well, I thought. Chloe in particular had two serves in a row which led to passing trouble on the ISU team, and ultimately Phoebe solo blocks. Very impressive. And Phoebe...what a wall. And yes, they are really trying to get the middles going. Timing and connection is improved, but maybe has a little ways to go. But it is promising.

The Crowl vs. Grote starting situation was interesting. Crowl served really, really well and her serve seems more consistent than Grote's, although Grote's has more heat. Both look ready to play. Grote is more terminal but Crowl, in system, is very very good too.

Thibault and Z are fun to watch next to each other in the back row. A lot of friskiness and scrappiness. Both passed pretty well but it is clear that defense is the forte of both of them.

Very fun match - I am happy I got to see it.

[mcmike]

Third contacts are being thrown left and right

Finally called one on Minatee

Mid 4th mmMN showing life signs on Shaff serves
Sideout for ISU at 16-17
Side out in ro1 without giving up a point

Some good VB here late in set 4
Great dig by Wookie
Crowl ace for 22-19
to ISU






Must have forgotten to hit the done button

I have the stats for the first four sets NCAALivestats
I took a pic of them on my iPhone
I have no net presence, a url, to link them

I can send my pic to someone who can post it

[JT]

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

[mr. samwich]

Thanks for updates and perspectives! Out of the country for these first couple weeks of season 🇳🇴 but gopher fans are so dedicated and interactive, appreciate yall

[gogophers]

Aug 24, 2024 23:15:09 GMT -5 JT said:

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

don't get me wrong: I'm grateful to Mike and JT for posting any of the stats. Just wondering if they're available for all five sets.

[comet]

Aug 24, 2024 23:15:09 GMT -5 JT said:

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

this is great, thanks JT amd mcmike!

Acevedo hit over .400? 👀

Coach has some interesting decisions to make. I'm hopeful we will use the bench more than last year since we have much more depth at the pins. I don't think it works well for us to ride or die on our starters only.

[BigDigEnergy]

Aug 24, 2024 23:15:09 GMT -5 JT said:

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

Thanks for sharing this, JT! That Wucherer, Acevedo, and Minatee numbers are very encouraging. Also the number of sets our MBs got is looking good too.

[BigDigEnergy]

Aug 25, 2024 8:23:56 GMT -5 comet said:

Aug 24, 2024 23:15:09 GMT -5 JT said:

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

this is great, thanks JT amd mcmike!

Acevedo hit over .400? 👀

Coach has some interesting decisions to make. I'm hopeful we will use the bench more than last year since we have much more depth at the pins. I don't think it works well for us to ride or die on our starters only.

Agree and I am confident that we will see our bench players more this season, especially the OH spot. I think we will see 3 of them in some way or forms.

[GoGophs]

Aug 24, 2024 23:15:09 GMT -5 JT said:

mcmike sent it to me, and I uploaded it. Here it is:

So happy Wuchs is getting her serve back! I’m really rooting for her to have an 1st team AA season🤞 sounds/looks like her SR was strong too

[jeepers]

Nobody reported on the fifth set, except that they won handily.

Who played? How did the win by so much?

[gopherhim]

Aug 25, 2024 12:06:01 GMT -5 jeepers said:

Nobody reported on the fifth set, except that they won handily.

Who played? How did the win by so much?

Someone said it was Lauren playing opposite and Alex at OH2. Everyone else as expected (Mel, Mckenna, Phoebe/Calissa, Z)