Minnesota Golden Gophers2023 Record: 17-13
Conference Record: 12-8 (5th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: Second Round (L, 0-3 at Creighton)
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Keegan Cook (2nd year at Minnesota)
Record at Minnesota: 17-13
| Returning Starters | Departures
* - 2023 Starter
() - Transfer Destination | New Additions
() - Transfer Origin |
Phoebe Awoleye - SR+ - 6'2 MB
Lydia Grote - R-SR - 6'2 OH/RS
Julia Hanson - JR - 6'1 OH/RS/DS
Elise McGhie - R-SR - 5'10 S/DS
Zeynep Palabiyik - SO - 5'4 DS/L
Melani Shaffmaster - R-SR - 6'3 S
Mckenna Wucherer - JR - 6'1 OH | Arica Davis* - SR - 6'0 MB (High Point)
Taylor Landfair* - R-SR - 6'5 OH (Nebraska)
Kylie Murr* - 5'6 DS/L | Alex Acevedo - R-FR - 6'2 OH (Oregon)
Kali Engeman - JR - 6'1 MB
Olivia Swenson - FR - 6'3 OH/RS
Stella Swenson - FR - 6'1 S
Kate Thibault - SO - 5'4 DS/L (Oregon) |
The biggest storyline for 2023 was set in motion in October 2022. Hugh McCutcheon, in the middle of his 11th season as Minnesota's head coach, announced he would be stepping aside from coaching to take an advisory role in the university's athletic department. This would end a coaching tenure that featured three Final Four appearances with the Golden Gophers and a wealth of other accomplishments on the professional stage.
Washington Head Coach Keegan Cook was tabbed as McCutcheon's replacement in mid-December. Cook led the Huskies for eight seasons with an overall record of 198-56.
On to the new year. Minnesota started with two home wins over Big 12 foes TCU and Baylor. Another Big 12 frontrunner, Texas, halted any Golden Gopher momentum with a four-set win in The Pav.
This is where things get messy. Minnesota's first road outing of the year was in Gainesville, where the Golden Gophers put up a dud against the undefeated Gators. The non-conference schedule then required Minnesota to go coast-to-coast and battle Oregon and Stanford in the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge.
Minnesota likely felt fortunate to split the series after a five-set win over Oregon. After the Stanford loss, Minnesota won a slugfest against High Point before being ousted in five by a shorthanded Creighton team. The final non-conference tally was an even 4-4.
This start could have gone from messy to disastrous in Iowa City. Minnesota needed a fifth set to topple the conference's eventual last-place finisher despite outkilling the Hawkeyes by 33. It wasn't pretty.
The weekend ended with a straight-set loss at Nebraska. Minnesota was about to enter its darkest stretch of the season.
Penn State invaded The Pav and won in four. Then, the Golden Gophers suffered a pair of unthinkable road losses to Maryland and Rutgers in back-to-back matches. This was Maryland's first-ever win over Minnesota and Rutgers's first victory over a ranked opponent in program history.
Despite all these shortcomings, Minnesota was never out of the NCAA Tournament picture--as long as a 0.500 record could be assumed. Simply staying the course would keep the Golden Gophers in it, but a continued free fall would put Minnesota in serious jeopardy of missing the postseason.
The Golden Gophers tallied a four-match win streak against inferior opponents, though the Northwestern matchup required considerable effort. Back-to-back sweep losses to Purdue and Wisconsin stopped that upswing quickly and robbed Minnesota of more marquee wins.
Minnesota then won six of its next seven to effectively become "safe enough" for the NCAA Tournament. The destination was Omaha, with the Golden Gophers slated as the #3 seed in the Creighton sub-regional.
The opening-round win over Utah State was technically an upset. Unfortunately, the season ended in the second round with a loss to the home-standing Bluejays. Minnesota failed to reach the regional round for the first time since 2014, which was also the last time it missed the tournament altogether.
2023 Lineup:The good news is that Minnesota had a fairly consistent group of starters and contributing players in 2023. The bad news is that Minnesota could never decide how to orient these players in the lineup.
Let's give some examples. The outside hitter spots were occupied by sophomore Mckenna Wucherer and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Taylor Landfair. This returning duo played around the dial for most of the year but flip-flopped at the L1 and L2 positions. Minnesota was initially partial to having Wucherer at L1, but Landfair had some appearances at that spot toward the end of 2023.
Wucherer and Landfair were both considerably less efficient than their 2022 efforts. Landfair's 0.222 mark was a career low while Wucherer was bogged down at 0.186. We'll ponder whether this downturn can be attributed to factors outside their control.
The revolving door could also be seen at the two middle blocker positions. Minnesota's primary starters were senior Phoebe Awoleye and junior Arica Davis. But, of course, the M1 and M2 designations were subject to change.
Awoleye had a solid debut season with Minnesota after transferring from LMU (via Georgia). She had quintessential M2 blocking production with the Big Ten's fourth-highest individual average--and 17th in the NCAA. Awoleye struggled in the efficiency column with just a 0.250 average, but this was a universal trend among Minnesota middles. Davis, the junior who played her first collegiate season at Ohio State, was only slightly better at 0.262. Worst of all, neither Minnesota middle blocker mustered one kill per set in 2023.
This put an exceptional scoring burden on Minnesota's pins, including the team's new opposite. Lydia Grote joined the Golden Gophers after three high-volume scoring seasons at Cal. She didn't match her 400-plus kill total from her final year in Berkeley, but Grote also wasn't carrying an entire team by herself anymore. Grote had a small handful of stints in the back row and was an effective server.
Lineup variations pop up again as we move toward the defensive specialists. This doesn't include Kylie Murr, the fifth-year transfer who joined Landfair as the only Golden Gophers to play every set in 2023. Murr finished fourth in the conference's dig-per-set tally and had the libero jersey the whole way. Beyond that, things get messy.
Backcourt subs were most commonly used for Grote at the opposite position. The primary figure here was junior Julia Hanson, a pin hitter who received several looks on the D-ball last year. She even got a frontcourt look against Indiana and notched 19 kills. Hanson was essentially an attacking DS who did not participate in the serve-receive pattern.
The other name to know is Zeynep Palabiyik, the Turkish freshman who started as a serving sub before moving into a steadier DS role in November. Once Palabiyik worked into the lineup, she became the DS for Grote and was shifted into the passing formation. Most of Hanson's late-season reps came as a server for Wucherer.
We've saved the setter position for last. Senior signal-caller Melani Shaffmaster had been the Minnesota starter since 2020 and retained the lead in 2023. However, a mild knee injury in late September hampered the veteran setter and seemed to affect her mobility for much of the year. Shaffmaster sat out of the Maryland debacle and shared some time with fellow senior Elise McGhie. Before the injury, McGhie had primarily been a serving sub or, like Hanson, a non-passing DS.
You can decide how Shaffmaster's struggles might have affected the Minnesota offense or precipitated the mid-season slump. It certainly didn't help.
---2024 Projected Lineup:Shaffmaster is back for her fifth year, and a healthy Shaffmaster at the setter spot would help a lot. She was selected to the all-Big Ten preseason team and has some bounceback potential in her final year.
The lingering question is which players Shaffmaster will be dishing the ball to. Wucherer is suddenly the seasoned veteran on the left side. She will likely remain in a six-rotation role and needs a strong rebound as much as Shaffmaster.
The big offseason domino to fall was Landfair's departure to Nebraska, a conference rival and the 2023 Big Ten champs. Landfair was a key figure in the program since 2020 and leaves an all-around role to be filled.
So, who steps up beside Wucherer? If seniority takes priority, we could see Hanson get a shot in the front row. She subbed in for the opposite through much of 2023 but still has her roots on the left side. Otherwise, we'll be seeing an entirely new face at the position.
That doesn't discount the possibility of Grote moving from the right to the left. If Wucherer and Grote are the two best pin hitters in the Minnesota gym, the team might feel inclined to make that shift. Regardless of which position Grote plays in 2024, her stints as a six-rotation asset will likely increase.
Other options exist, too. Minnesota made a late portal addition with redshirt freshman Alex Acevedo coming in from Oregon. We haven't seen what the Idaho native brings to the collegiate stage, but she steps into a favorable position for early playing time--especially if Grote stays at opposite.
Redshirt junior Lauren Crowl returns as Grote's backup on the right, and she earned some playing time in 2023. Minnesota has plenty of bodies on the pins with redshirt freshman opposite Sydney Schichels and true freshman outside Olivia Swenson waiting their turn.
Depth is more of a concern in the backcourt. Palabiyik is suddenly a leader in the position group after playing across the back row for a handful of weeks in late 2023. Her ability to adapt to increasing responsibilities will be paramount. Senior Skylar Gray has primarily been a serving sub throughout her career. That leaves us with Oregon transfer Kate Thibault as the only other libero on the roster. The sophomore will make a run at the libero jersey and saw a fair amount of playing time as a first-year Duck. Whoever wins the job has to raise their level of play with Murr leaving the gym.
We also have a trio of middle blockers with some depth concerns at this spot, too. Awoleye is the ringleader here and made a late decision to come back for another year. We can look back to early in the year when Awoleye was in the M2 spot, giving way to true freshman Calissa Minatee at M1. Minatee, now a sophomore, was generally phased out of the lineup once Davis got healthy, Davis, however, is off to High Point. Do we see a similar lineup to early 2023, or does Georgia Tech graduate transfer Kali Engeman step up? Engeman only played five collegiate matches with the Yellow Jackets.
2024 Schedule:Come out of the gates swinging.
Minnesota starts 2024 in Milwaukee with contests against Stanford and Texas in the Fiserv Forum. The Stanford matchup is winnable, but the Texas meeting might be less so.
Baylor and TCU are back on the slate in Waco. Another worthy challenge.
The schedule gets much lighter after that. The Pav opens up with a neighborly Tuesday clash with St. Thomas. The Diet Coke classic has Long Island and Auburn. Win all those. An unusual trip to Green Bay will have Minnesota face North Dakota, Chicago State, and the hosting Phoenix.
Not the Packers:
2024 Outlook:Like 2023, Minnesota might take some time to find the right lineup combinations this fall. Hopefully, it's a bit smoother in Year 2 of the Cook era.
Shaffmaster's resurgence (and health) at the setter spot is a key variable in Minnesota's 2024 efforts. This is especially true given that passing might take a dip with less backcourt experience and depth on the roster. A mobile setter who can better the ball is imperative.
Minnesota's question marks on the offensive side are twofold. The pins need to step up with Landfair gone and one new starter joining the frontcourt. Grote will need to shoulder a significantly heavier workload no matter which position she's playing. Minnesota might also lean toward whichever left-side hitter can stabilize passing alongside Wucherer. A group effort is needed.
The second unknown is big: will any middles kill the ball this year? Last year's historically lackluster production needs to be resolved, especially with the outside hitter spot losing its leading scorer. This has been a nagging problem at Minnesota with some levying the blame toward Shaffmaster. There's not a lot of depth in the middle, so that complicates things further.
It all sounds like a critical assessment, but Minnesota has ample talent to reaffirm its place in the NCAA Tournament. The best-case scenario in 2024 is one in which Minnesota is solidly in the mix for first- and second-round hosting rights. If the Golden Gophers find a few rough patches, they may have to start on the road again.
