MSU @ Minnesota

[Deleted]

www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/09/30/65375

Links to match (stats and audio) from schedule:

www.gophersports.com/sports/schedule.asp?sport_id=wvoll

[Deleted]

More Daily articles:

www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/09/26/65292
www.mndaily.com/articles/2005/09/27/65305

[vballmaniac40]

Gophers win 30-27, 30-26, 30-21.

Nelson had 10 kills and six blocks, Florian also had 10 kills, and Gentil posted 20 digs.

[st15]

Katie Johnson had 15 kills (single digit errors for the second match in a row!), and Nicole Colaluca had 18 digs. MSU only managed two blocks for the entire match.

The first two games look like they were pretty close, and at least MSU didn't have a negative hitting percentage for the match like they did last year at Minnesota.

MN fans- what was your opinion on MSU?

[Gorf]

MSU was relatively inconsistant on office, however, I was pretty impressed with their defense and serve receive.

I was a bit surprised to see how well Katie Johnson played in the back row on both defense and serve receive.

If the Spartans improve their consistancy on offense and continue t play well in the other areas I won't be siurprised if they pull off some upsets over the teams "everyone" is predicting to finish in the top 4-5 spots in the Big 10. Wallin had some nice attacks as did others for the Spartans (I don't know the names of all their players so they shall remane nameless for the time being) so I think they have the potential to have a pretty good offense.

In all 3 games it seemed that the Spartans were winning more of the long rallies than the Gophers. Except once the score got intot he 20's - at which point it seemed like the Gophers defense stepped up a notch.

The Gophers were somewhat inconsistant on offense as well at times - using yet another different starting lineup against the Spartans. KBow and Hartmann setting a 6-1, Jones and Nelson at middle, Florian and Cumpston at left. Peniata replacing Cumpston in the back row and Byrnes playing front row for Hartmann. Gentil doing her normal thing at libero and Fallon sometimes replacing Nelson to serve at times.

The Gophers had some nice blocks and I was a bit surprised that Cumpston had some nice solos.

I haven't looked at the box score yet, but the Gophers appeared to have a pretty balanced attack in terms of the number of kills. I'd get 6 players were in the 7 - 10 kill range which is pretty good for a 3 game match.

[ugopher]

I was impressed by the MSU defense. They had quite a few digs and some impressive ones. Early on, MSU hit a lot of balls off MN hands and thru some blocks. MSU was fun to watch.

MN had 13 blocks which seems pretty good for a 3 game match. And they got their hands on quite a few other attempts.

MN still didn't seem to have a solid flow on offense and seemed to have some communication breakdowns on defense. But they are still tweaking their offense.

KBow had a tough night on the sets. She tried setting Jessy Jones a number of times but the sets were much too lowwhich contributed to Jones' low average. KBow also had 4 service errors (plus one that didn't count due to a rotation error) against one ace. She still scares me at the service line.

Still, a win for MN and that is always a good thing.

[Gorf]

box score:
www.gophersports.com/sports/game_stats.asp?event_id=6217&sport_id=wvoll

recap:
www.gophersports.com/sportsNews/press_release.asp?news_id=11218&sport_id=wvoll

[Deleted]

I swear Minnesota only scored 29 points in game 1. I'm looking for the play-by-play. This would be the 3rd time (twice at Minnesota) I've seen this happen in the last 5-6 years. You'd think someone would notice?

[Deleted]

Anyhow. MSU looked like Minnesota in game 1. They just kept digging everything--and Minnesota was smacking the ball.

I have to say that I haven't seen MSU play defense like this in about 8 years. Their passing was much improved, too. And this wasn't just Colaluca.

I did think Davis was helped immeasureably by an incredibly lenient up ref. Lots of doubles not called.

It was an entertaining match. Better than the Minnesota - Wisconsin mess.

As for Minnesota, I like Cumpston and Florian on the outside. Florian had her best offensive game by far. She was really hitting some quality shots -- plus she served, passed and dug well. Cumpston made too many errors (hit .103), but I like the potential there. She can really hit the ball, and had some nice off-speed kills, too. Plus she threw in 4 solo blocks.

Nelson had a nice match. The whole team had a good match blocking. Pretty solid defense, as usual.

I thought the setting was better. Not great, but much better than at Wisconsin. Hartmann was setting KBow well, and her sets to the outside were nice. 21-20 split in assists between the two of them.

Anyhow, MSU looks much better than last year and I would not have expected that.

[Spartacus]

ruffda said:

Anyhow. MSU looked like Minnesota in game 1. They just kept digging everything--and Minnesota was smacking the ball.

I have to say that I haven't seen MSU play defense like this in about 8 years. Their passing was much improved, too. And this wasn't just Colaluca.

I did think Davis was helped immeasureably by an incredibly lenient up ref. Lots of doubles not called.

It was an entertaining match. Better than the Minnesota - Wisconsin mess.

As for Minnesota, I like Cumpston and Florian on the outside. Florian had her best offensive game by far. She was really hitting some quality shots -- plus she served, passed and dug well. Cumpston made too many errors (hit .103), but I like the potential there. She can really hit the ball, and had some nice off-speed kills, too. Plus she threw in 4 solo blocks.

Nelson had a nice match. The whole team had a good match blocking. Pretty solid defense, as usual.

I thought the setting was better. Not great, but much better than at Wisconsin. Hartmann was setting KBow well, and her sets to the outside were nice. 21-20 split in assists between the two of them.

Anyhow, MSU looks much better than last year and I would not have expected that.

Fun to watch? MSU as a team hit a whopping .082! They had 2 blocks in the match. What game were you watching? Langston hit a (minus) -.115! Schatzle hit a .184, Johnson hit a .175. The only reason they looked better than last year is because MSU last year hit a -.024 in the first match against the Gophers. Too many errors, although the passing and defense is much improved they just don’t have the consistent hitters to maintain a needed offensive output. Curiously and unexpectedly MSU is much better than I expected.

[Deleted]

Lots of rallies. Both teams were hitting the ball hard. Yeah, it was fun to watch.

[goGopherBill]

Yes it was a fun match to watch...
MS is a much improved passing and defensive team from last year..I also pedict they will "get" someone who overlooks them.

Minnesota looked inconsistant on offense at times ..but with our defense it didnt matter.

On a different rant....their coach...who seemed to over coach at times stayed as close to the court sidlines as I have seen in a while.
To ask a weird question ..is there a rule designating how close a coach can be anymore.

I know there was in the old school days...
But with all the new rule changes they will probably allow the coach to be on court yelling blocking...passing and defensive schemes.

It was like having an extra player on the court...someone who isnt being worked over..fresh and seeing the action and calling plays.

There goes home court ..whats next wireing players ?

[Deleted]

46 kills + 32 MSU errors + 4 aces + 6 MSU service errors + 1 MSU BHE = 89 points.

I rest my case.

And I still don't know how this happens. The scorekeeper must write down two points at once and that's not easy to do on the scoresheet they use. Or she circles two points and doesn't notice she skipped a serve.

And why doesn't anyone on MSU notice?

[JT]

ruffda said:

46 kills + 32 MSU errors + 4 aces + 6 MSU service errors + 1 MSU BHE = 89 points.

I rest my case.

The game-1 box score showed the first game as 29-26.

At the time, I assumed they'd printed 'em off a bit early, and missed the service error that gave MN its last point. (At least, I think that was our last point.)

Now I'm not so sure.

Ask Boos or Steve for the play-by-play sheet.

[Deleted]

I don't need it. I have my own. Game 1 was 29-26.