#5 Wisconsin @ #9 Minnesota - Sun 11/21/21, 4 PM CT (BTN)

[rainbowbadger]

#5 Wisconsin	@	#7 Minnesota
(22-3, 14-3 - 2nd B1G)		(18-7, 13-4 - T3rd B1G)
Preview | Roster | Schedule		Preview | Roster | Schedule

Sunday, November 21, 2021
4:00 PM Central
Maturi Pavilion - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Tickets

Video	Stats
WI Radio	MN Radio

Likely Starters

Wisconsin		Minnesota
2 - Hilley	S	5 - Shaffmaster
21 - Loberg	OH	8 - Miyabe
22 - Orzoł	OH	2 - Wenaas
16 - Rettke	MB	23 - Meyers
10 - Robinson	MB	16 - Husemann
14 - Smrek 15 - Demps	RS	10 - Samedy
1 - Barnes	L	7 - McGraw
5 - Boyer	DS	6 - Kilkelly
-	DS	-
11 - Ashburn	SS	-

The series

Minnesota leads 54-32
In Madison: Wisconsin leads 22-19
In Minneapolis: Minnesota leads 30-11
Neutral: Minnesota leads 3-1
The Streak: Wisconsin has won four in a row


Did you know...?

Goldy the Gopher doesn't speak. Caddyshack's gopher is voiced by a dolphin.
The sound effects used are the same as those used for the dolphin in the 1960s TV series Flipper.

[Wiswell]

Big Ten playoff #1.

[rainbowbadger]

Bump! Updated with links & deets.

[badgerbreath]

I don't know. I picked the badgers to beat Purdue in the poll, but I had real doubts they could improve enough for the Boilermakers second time around. Turns out I should have stuck with my instinct on that one.

Badgers showed some good signs against NW after a very rocky start, but they still had periods when the players didn't seem that connected and they bleed points. The gopher serve game will be really important. If they can get that right and put Orzol and Boyer on their heels as NW did, then they win the OOS game.

If they don't, then the badgers will manage it. Minnesota can look dominant in one set and lost in the next. Somebody besides Samedy has to contribute for more than one set.

[rainbowbadger]

This is Minnesota's Senior Day. I bet that gives them some extra juice.

[hammer]

No Velveeta, then Minny wins.

[gopherhim]

Senior night is Friday night when the Gophers host Rutgers. And thank goodness! Much less pressure to win.

As long as the Gophers play with more confidence and don’t get tipped off the court like they did in Madison, I’ll be happy. A win? Even better.

What do we think? Is the poll this close because it’s hard to guess how either team will play or because both teams are pretty evenly matched right now?

[bucky415]

Both teams have been inconsistent recently.

[B1Gminnesotafan]

Well, now senior night will be Sunday. I wonder if having Friday off helps or if Minnesota will be slow to warm up. Go Gophers.

[mcmike]

Those danged statistics
Minnesota will have to bring their 'A' game
You certainly can't expect that your opponent will underperform
Season stats to date:
Stat     MN   WI

hit%    .241  .292  *see chart below

opp hit .172  .161

kps     13.4  14.6

assist  12.4  13.4

block    2.5   2.4

In the first match Orzol & Loberg had 17 & 13 kills respectively and the left pins were over .300.  
WI hit .372
Other teams have had recent success rejecting and/or blocking Orzol
MN is going to have to defend at a much higher level Sunday.

I never reviewed the WI match.  Don't know why we hit below our season avg.
MN is going to have to attack more strategically with more efficiency if they hope to win.


WI hitting % vs ranked teams since MN


OSU .239
PSU .222
NEB .229
Pur .197
Pur .128


You would certainly expect that both the coaching staff and players have followed their opp's success against the Badgers defensively

[nestedegg]

So is Landfair done for the season or? Anybody know? Miss seeing her play.

[run4ease]

24 hours til match time.

[badgerbreath]

UW showed Civita coming back into the back row on Friday. I wouldn't say she looked mobile, but she was back there. They also played with two different rotations - one in which Demps played as a 6 ro RS for the first two sets and the other in which Smrek played two rotations on the RS/Middle for the last two. So effectively, there were three different lineups among the 4 sets, if you don't include the odd Jardine appearance here and there. Demps is an increasingly effective option out of the back row, and has been improving her defense, but she still has a lot of improvement to do. Lot's for Minnesota to think about. Interested to see if Sheff does any similar rejigging of lineups over the course of this match.

Demps' serve has been pretty effective. Ashburn has also picked it up recently. The badgers looked good for parts of the MSU match, then they got error prone in other parts. They aren't quite recovered from Civita's injury yet. They also haven't quite got all elements of their offense going in any one match, and have yet to reach the offensive heights they reached in 2019 - or earlier this year. That's mostly down to passing, IMO.

[gophsstudent]

Nov 18, 2021 17:36:54 GMT -5 nestedegg said:

So is Landfair done for the season or? Anybody know? Miss seeing her play.

You have to imagine she is. Miyabe has been good but there’s been some moments where I’m certain Landfair would have came in if she was able.

[badgerbreath]

Game day bump.