Minnesota @ Michigan State | Oct 9 (Sat) 5:30 PM CT 6:30 ET

[WMegs55]

Myers with the high ball swing!

[spikerthemovie]

Nine has to be a (Gopher) career high for Myers?

[bprtbone]

Nifty little 13-4 finish for the Gophers.

[WMegs55]

Survival

[mn99gt]

Oct 9, 2021 19:58:08 GMT -5 bprtbone said:

Nifty little 13-4 finish for the Gophers.

Not sure why we have to make it so hard on ourselves!

[WMegs55]

Oh no, “reverse sweep” reference again

[comet]

MN won, but I didn't feel confident that they were going to pull it off. Rough weekend.

[gopherhim]

Can Franklin transfer to Minnesota? Yes please?

[abcd098]

Ughhhhh. MSU loses again. I don’t think MSU has won against a ranked opponent since their 2017 Elite 8 run.

[vbcoltrane]

Well, MN got through it. Kudos.

[mcmike]

I'm not a stat person but
MN's opponents can sense they will have an opportunity when match time rolls around
Their skill players get up for the match and outperform their baseline

today:  C Max, Franklin, & Biamba
yesterday:  Petrofsky, Mruzik, Jones
NW:  Temi TA
WI:  Loberg, & a WI awesome hitting %
& MI's 3 on 9.24 at the PAV

how often do Gopher opponents produce 3 attackers with double digit match kills?  maybe more when the matches run into a 5th set.

I hope this was a Myers coming-out party and that they keep feeding her slides and quicks and get some muscle memory going that will pay dividends even if not immediately.  Wenaas, Miyabe/Landfair will enjoy blocks that are not so well formed against them.

[vbcoltrane]

Oct 9, 2021 19:59:04 GMT -5 comet said:

MN won, but I didn't feel confident that they were going to pull it off. Rough weekend.

I've made peace with MN - it's gonna be a bumpy year and will probably be their worst year in a while.

Given their preseason rank, the fact that all of their losses have been to ranked teams (until last night's loss), and a couple of nice looking wins, I'm been convincing myself that some switch is gonna go on and MN will get it all together, and possibly make a deep NCAA run. 

I'm not a stone cold pessimist - I still think they have good pieces and could improve a lot.  But, if not, I get it.  Things don't always fall into place.

[curly]

Oct 9, 2021 20:14:44 GMT -5 mcmike said:

I'm not a stat person but
MN's opponents can sense they will have an opportunity when match time rolls around
Their skill players get up for the match and outperform their baseline

today:  C Max, Franklin, & Biamba

Those three for MSU just did the same thing last night against Ohio State. Slightly lower numbers, but it was a three-set match.

[B1Gminnesotafan]

When this two week road trip started I thought coming home even 2-2 would be OK (always want more.) Still do. Road wins in the B1G are tough. I still hope for a top 16 finish and then - who knows.

[gopherguy]

I’m not sure if the top teams in the B1G are down (probably— I don’t think anyone is as good as Texas, Louisville or Pitt, at least not yet) or the bottom of the B1G is getting better (possibly — see Wisconsin at Maryland, or Northwestern at Penn State, or Michigan State playing deuce sets with Ohio State). That and the preseason coaches poll with the Gophers fourth make me think that there are bound to be ups and downs as the season goes on.

I’m mostly a glass half full person. Tonight, their most effective left side hitter was out, the best player in the country had an off night, they didn’t play all that well… and they still won.

I have a lot of faith in the coaching staff, and I’m convinced that the team is working really hard. The defensive effort tonight was inspiring, even if they didn’t make every play. Win or lose it will be fun to see what this group can accomplish the rest of the way.