|
|
Post by wisfan2000 on Sept 23, 2024 6:06:19 GMT -5
It would be nice to have some input from Gopher fans, but this is what I have picked up from dropping in on the regular Gopher thread and the match threads:
1. Generally, it looks like The Gophers are similar to The Badgers in that they are working their way through some rough spots. 2. Most noticeable to me are McKenna Wucherer's struggles. This seems to have opened the door to playing time for Hanson and Acevedo [?] 3. No Kylie Murr. I believe "Z" is coming along nicely, but I'm not totally clear on the libero situation. 4. Lydia Grote has been a bit up and down. 5. Generally, might be a little tougher in the middle?
So, this year's Gophers and Badgers are not last years teams redux. This puts us in Mother Gump territory, i.e. "You never know what you'll get". I hope everyone rises to the occasion and both teams play a great match. MN and ILL are my second teams so I follow them pretty closely. McKenna hasn't been dressed for the last 2 games (I think), but before that she had a SS (Acevedo), and struggled in the BR. With McKenna out, Acevedo has been getting 6 ro reps, and she is good. Hanson has blossomed into a stud. 3.06 kps, 0.36 saps, 2.63 dps, 0.54 bps. She's a gladiator 😁 Z is getting really good as well. She's the second coming of GG, but her serve isn't in GG's level yet. She has the same passing woes, but is getting better quickly. When Mel sets the middles, Minatee is a beast in offense. Phoebe is great in defense. Grote has a nasty serve, and has hit >0.300 in 4 of 9 games, but <0.200 3 of 9 games. But, if Mel's fingers are still a problem (she injured them 2 weeks ago), we are going to see fewer middle sets and a low number of setter dumps (she already got a triple double this year!), and I think that's going to be a major factor in how the pieces get put together. These seeme like "good" updates from a Badger standpoint. The only Minn game I've seen was the one in which they beat Texas, and I thought to myself that Wisconsin has no chance against Minn playing like that. |
|
|
|
Post by maigrey on Sept 23, 2024 8:02:43 GMT -5
Seeing how a 98% healthy Orzol played the last few matches, I don't miss Landfair anymore. Lan who? 🤣🤣 |
|
|
|
Post by BigDigEnergy on Sept 23, 2024 8:04:07 GMT -5
Seeing how a 98% healthy Orzol played the last few matches, I don't miss Landfair anymore. Lan who? 🤣🤣 The one sitting on the bench!  |
|
|
|
Post by jeepers on Sept 23, 2024 10:56:17 GMT -5
The million dollar question now is...what does Minnesota do if Wucherer is healthy?
Acevedo might be the better all around player.
I don't think KCook wants a repeat of last year where he probably left his best hitter (if this year is any indication) on the bench in favor of two former top recruits.
|
|
|
|
Post by minnley on Sept 23, 2024 11:03:00 GMT -5
Seeing how a 98% healthy Orzol played the last few matches, I don't miss Landfair anymore. This brings up the question, "Can you really miss what you never had?" |
|
|
|
Post by maigrey on Sept 23, 2024 11:08:09 GMT -5
yeah, but how are Mel's fingers? She had a down week last week :/ It would be nice to have some input from Gopher fans, but this is what I have picked up from dropping in on the regular Gopher thread and the match threads:
1. Generally, it looks like The Gophers are similar to The Badgers in that they are working their way through some rough spots. 2. Most noticeable to me are McKenna Wucherer's struggles. This seems to have opened the door to playing time for Hanson and Acevedo [?] 3. No Kylie Murr. I believe "Z" is coming along nicely, but I'm not totally clear on the libero situation. 4. Lydia Grote has been a bit up and down. 5. Generally, might be a little tougher in the middle?
So, this year's Gophers and Badgers are not last years teams redux. This puts us in Mother Gump territory, i.e. "You never know what you'll get". I hope everyone rises to the occasion and both teams play a great match. Oh, I will say in-game coaching advantage Wisconsin: Sheff > KCook >>>> Tamas (ILL). |
|
|
|
Post by badgerbreath on Sept 23, 2024 11:39:01 GMT -5
Seeing how a 98% healthy Orzol played the last few matches, I don't miss Landfair anymore. This brings up the question, "Can you really miss what you never had?" Well, one can do whatever, but it's definitely a recipe for frustration in life. |
|
|
|
Post by pull3 on Sept 23, 2024 12:18:19 GMT -5
Seeing how a 98% healthy Orzol played the last few matches, I don't miss Landfair anymore. This brings up the question, "Can you really miss what you never had?"
I still miss Whitney Houston.
|
|
|
|
Post by pavsec5row10 on Sept 23, 2024 12:49:28 GMT -5
This brings up the question, "Can you really miss what you never had?"
I still miss Whitney Houston.
I sometimes miss Ashley Wittman. |
|
|
|
Post by dietcokefan on Sept 23, 2024 12:57:04 GMT -5
As a Gopher fan, I just don't see how we stop Wisconsin this year. Too many weapons and Franklin is soooooo talented. If the tough serving is on and we can get them out of system we hopefully can keep it close! Go Gophs!
|
|
|
|
Post by gopherhim on Sept 23, 2024 13:10:34 GMT -5
As a Gopher fan, I just don't see how we stop Wisconsin this year. Too many weapons and Franklin is soooooo talented. If the tough serving is on and we can get them out of system we hopefully can keep it close! Go Gophs! I'm just glad we have an opportunity at home this season unlike last year. Being at home and it being early still is giving me some hope. Both teams have wrinkles to iron out, which levels the playing field a bit. Even in the Pav, Massey has Gophers winning at only 34%. That's twice the probability as in Madison, though, so hope the opportunity is seized! |
|
|
|
Post by badgerbreath on Sept 23, 2024 13:20:18 GMT -5
As a Gopher fan, I just don't see how we stop Wisconsin this year. Too many weapons and Franklin is soooooo talented. If the tough serving is on and we can get them out of system we hopefully can keep it close! Go Gophs! Well, if the badgers have a glaring weakness right now, it's their service game, so I anticipate that gophers will have a substantial advantage there. Their obvious path to winning is to by knocking the badgers out of system enough when Orzol is up front that she is the only option, and then surviving until they win points off transition. If the badgers can get the ball to Franklin and Smrek OOS that becomes harder, but the badgers transition attack hasn't really clicked yet. Franklin has been attacking out of the BR more this year, but not really with a great deal of success yet (she did have some nice kills against A&M). Serving and passing are the two parts of the game it's very hard to predict match to match. |
|
|
|
Post by gopherhim on Sept 23, 2024 13:21:54 GMT -5
I still miss Whitney Houston.
I sometimes miss Ashley Wittman. I've been thinking about her a lot recently actually! Such a steady all-around OH. Can an All-American be considered underrated? It's not like she didn't get any recognition, but Santana and Wilhite are more recent [with 2 and 1 year(s) of overlap with Ashley] and had B1G and/or national POY senior years as OHs so they get brought up more. A Gopher fan in the your program's all-time roster thread picked Santana and Wilhite as their OHs (valid), so I gladly "drafted" Wittman and have been reminiscing about her since. |
|
|
|
Post by wivol on Sept 23, 2024 13:46:21 GMT -5
If the Badgers can get a W over Minnesota, it will be huge, because then they'll have most of October to really get the connections down. I'm not saying all the teams they're set to play in October are pushovers, but they're not Nebraska or Penn State. By the time they play Purdue on Oct. 26, I hope to see them playing solid volleyball.
|
|
|
|
Post by maigrey on Sept 23, 2024 13:54:26 GMT -5
As a Gopher fan, I just don't see how we stop Wisconsin this year. Too many weapons and Franklin is soooooo talented. If the tough serving is on and we can get them out of system we hopefully can keep it close! Go Gophs! Right now our weakness is passing, so if your serving is on you have a chance. |
|
