In this issue

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

Upcoming NCAA Match Previews

Rankings

National Update

Big10 Update

Lots o’ Links

Contact Us

Coach’s Corner

From Coach Hebert:

The verdict is in. We are on our way to Knoxville, TN!

This year’s edition of the Gophers has been a work in progress from the first day. And things haven’t changed a great deal. We are still learning how to play together in a way that creates a competitive team every time we take the floor. This is never easy. But we are getting closer. In the last three weekends we have defeated three nationally ranked teams (Wisconsin, Ohio State and Purdue). We feel good about ourselves and we are heading into the NCAA playoffs with confidence.

When all is said and done, I hope that our fans will realize that this team has played at a higher level than many might give them credit for. We have played many of our best matches on the road, limiting the number of fans who witnessed those good performancs, while the “lost” home weekend against OSU and PSU still remains in the minds of many as one of our most defining moments. This is unfortunate. Our regular season record of 24-7 is only 3 wins off last year’s 27-4 mark at this same point.

Being on the road for the first and second rounds is no stranger to us either. Last year we were assigned to travel to Yale for the opening round. Of course, our performance in this year’s NCAA tournament will serve as the appropriate punctuation mark on the season. We’re hoping it will be an exclamation mark and not just a period. But whatever happens this weekend, it is important to remember that the 2005 Gophers have done their part in setting the bar higher and higher for the program. NCAA tournament appearances are the norm. Contending for the conference championship is the norm.

Teams come and go. Programs stay around for the long haul. And we’re proud to say we are building a program.

We intend to return from Knoxville with good news!

Head Coach

Minnesota Volleyball

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

From John Oravis:

Hello Golddiggers!

Well, there was a bit of confusion here Sunday (on my part) and much disappointment at the ESPNews announcement regarding the 2005 NCAA volleyball tournament selections. Thanks, though, for your attendance and support. Minnesota ... Knoxville, TN ... and in the same bracket as Penn State? Hmmmm. No unhappiness though. But what do I know?

In any case, congratulations to the Gophers players and coaches, and good luck, in Tennessee! We’re glad that you made the post-season tournament again this year.

Thanks again to all of our Golddiggers board of directors members, but especially to John (treasurer) and DuAnn Thompson (receptions/socials), and to Larry Mickelson and Jerry Byrnes who filled in so ably for me while I attended to my upcoming wedding planning (like, being married on Sunday!). And thanks also to Jim and Bev Manship and to all the ballgirls.

Thanks again and all the best to our three seniors -- Athena Mallakis, Jess Byrnes and Paula Gentil. Good luck!

Good luck in the NCAAs and Go Gophers!

Point U!

John Oravis, President, Golddiggers

PointU! (betcha)

Life isn’t fair. As a matter of fact, sometimes Life seems to be playing with a deck full of aces while we are left with nothing but deuces and threes. Plus Life gets to wear the cool shades and the cowboy hat.

Bummer.

OK. Putting Life’s blatant disregard for playing by the rules (and the absolutely terrible job done by the NCAA tournament selection committee) behind us, we proceed to silver linings, bright sides and pies in the sky. Because our glass is not half empty. It’s half full, dagnabbit! And someone just mentioned pie!

The most unsatisfying course is to focus on the teams who were dealt even worse hands -- or who were not even invited to the table:

Hawai’i -- a number seven seed sent to play at unseeded (but ranked #7) Texas

Ohio -- 31-2 with an RKPI (simulation of RPI used by selection committee) of 10, not seeded and sent to Ohio State (again)

UCSB -- matched up with USC in round one

San Diego -- matched up with LBSU in round one (and vice versa)

Pepperdine -- matched up with BYU in round one (and vice versa)

Santa Clara -- unseeded and matched up with Stanford in round two

Iowa State, Wichita State and New Mexico State -- no bids at all!

See? Not satisfying at all. Schadenfreude, as Yvonne Wichert Van Oort might say, but probably never has, is for the birds.

Better to turn our attention to this past weekend where the Gophers treated the 6,000+ fans who attended to some fabulous volleyball, proving to anyone paying attention that they were more than worthy of a top 16 seed and hosting the first two rounds. From the National Anthem on Friday night through the post-match reception on Saturday, that was a fun weekend. But even better than that, the team also gave every indication that Tennessee will have their hands full at their sub-regional this weekend. The Gophers are playing their best ball of the season, at just the right time. Sound familiar?

When the Gophers do take down the Lady Vols, Penn State looms large in the road ahead. But that’s the topic for next week, when Life starts dealing us all some better cards.

Go Gophers!

Upcoming NCAA Match Previews

The Gophers will be providing audio from Knoxville, with Steve Geller (we assume) again providing his stellar play-by-play. The link to the Gophers website follows. There will be links to the audio and LiveStats (if available). So tune in, if you can’t make the trek to Knoxville.

http://www.gophersports.com/Sports/Sport.asp?option=repeat&sport_id=wvoll

There were also some decently-priced deals at Travelocity ( http://www.travelocity.com/ ) -- just for one website -- as of Monday 11/28 for any who can make the trip.

Friday December 2 4:30 PM CT Winthrop

The Winthrop University Eagles were the Big South conference champions with a 28-5 overall record and 14-0 in the conference. They have three common opponents with the Gophers: they lost to Northwestern (0-3), and defeated Indiana (3-1) and TCU (3-2). In addition, they have losses to Arizona (0-3), Georgia Tech (1-3), Charlotte (2-3) and South Carolina (0-3). Prior to the South Carolina loss, last Saturday, they had won 22 matches in a row. Their latest Pablo ranking is #107.

Statistically, they are led by Taryn Surbaugh (JR MH from Orland Hills, IL). Taryn hit .395 on the season and also averaged over 1 block per game. The bulk of the team’s swings have been taken by Mary Hock (SR OH from Garland, TX) and Tori Grafeman (JR RS from Albuquerque, NM). Their setter is Chandra Ginest (FR from Fort Morgan, CO) and she averaged 12.41 assists per game while hitting .309. Also on the roster is redshirt freshman Caitlin Cleary from Minnetonka, MN (Trinity School at River Ridge).

The Eagles are coached by Joel McCartney in his 5th year at the University (133-45 record). He, like Kyla Roehrig, is originally from Papillion, NE. His wife, Andrea, and Aaron Shepardson are the assistant coaches.

http://www.winthropeagles.com/final_display.asp?section=18 (website)

http://www.winthropeagles.com/default.asp?section=18&type=roster&id=10 (roster)

http://www.winthropeagles.com/upload/upload997_TEAMCUME.HTM (stats)

Saturday December 3 4:30 PM CT Tennessee or Jacksonville State

The University of Tennessee Volunteers, the host institution, are definitely the favorites to advance to the second round match on Saturday. The Lady Vols finished 21-8 overall and 13-3 in the SEC. They have two common opponents with the Gophers: they defeated Xavier (3-1) and lost to Purdue (0-3). They have had many ups and downs this season, including losses to Utah (0-3), Missouri (0-3), Ohio (0-3), LSU (0-3), Louisville (2-3), Florida (0-3), Alabama (1-3) and Alabama, again, in the SEC tournament (2-3). Their big wins, most of which have come in the second half of the season are over Arkansas (3-0), Kentucky (3-0), Florida in the rematch at Knoxville (3-2), Kentucky again (3-0), Alabama (3-0), and, most impressively, Notre Dame last Saturday (3-2). Their latest Pablo ranking is #15.

The Lady Vols -- uh oh -- are also 11-0 at home this year.

Tennessee was in the Minnesota Regional last year, losing to Ohio State after leading 2-0.

Kristen Andre (SR MB from Kelseyville, CA) is their biggest weapon. She hit .367 and averaged over a block per game for the year. In addition, Julie Knytych is a fine setter (12.59 assists per game) and Amy Morris a strong libero (4.73 digs per game). Minnesota’s Kelsey Fautsch (JR RS from Chisago Lakes) transferred from Nebraska to Tennessee this past summer and is also a starter. Kelsey was Ms. Minnesota Volleyball in 2001.

Tennessee is coached by Rob Patrick who is in his 9th year with the program. He has led the Lady Vols to three wins over Florida in the last two years, a major accomplishment in the SEC. This is a tough, tough opponent, especially in Knoxville.

http://utladyvols.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/tennw-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://utladyvols.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/tennw-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://utladyvols.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html (stats)

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks were 19-10 this past year, 13-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Katie Moyers from Eden Prairie, MN plays OH for the team. They are coached by Rick Nold, now in his 4th year at the school, and their latest Pablo ranking is #120.

http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/sport_front.asp?sportid=223 (website)

http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/roster.asp?sportid=223 (roster)

http://www.jsugamecocksports.com/stats.asp?page=stats/Volleyball/2005/teamcume.htm (stats)

Rankings

The CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll was released 11/28/2005. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 were: 1--Nebraska, 2--Penn State, 3--Washington, 4--Florida, 5--Stanford, 6--Arizona, 7--Hawai’i and Texas, 9--Louisville, and 10--Missouri. The Gophers are at #17 again this week. In addition, Wisconsin moved to #13, Ohio State stayed at #19 and Purdue moved up to #21.

http://www.avca.org/collegiate/dipoll/dipoll11-28-05.asp

Two other rankings we have been following come from the RichKern.com site, the first creatively named the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll. This is a poll compiled from rankings by fans around the country. The Gophers are still #13 in this poll.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2005&Div=DI&poll=d1wvb&week=13-Nov+28&sort=team&avg=all

The second is the Pablo ranking system, based on an algorithm developed by a fan of the sport, and it is calculated solely on match results. You can read more about it in the FAQ at the RichKern.com site. The actual rankings link and the FAQ link are below. If nothing else, it’s an interesting alternative to the polls. The Gophers are now ranked #11 there.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2005&Div=DI&poll=Pablo&week=13-Nov+28&sort=team&avg=all

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/PabloFAQ.asp

National Update

The brackets for the tournament can be found at:

http://www.ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens/brackets/viewable/straight64_dyn/2005/DI

RichKern’s latest RPI simulation is at:

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/RKPIShow.asp?VBYear=2005&Div=DI&week=13-Nov+28

Best sites for results, websites, rosters, statistics are:

http://www.richkern.com/vb/NCAA/ (tournament info)

http://www.richkern.com/vb/websites/SchoolByConf.asp?Div=DI (websites)

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rosters/indexsub.asp?Div=DI&VBYear=2005 (rosters)

http://www.ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens (NCAA site)

Big10 Update

Final Big10 standings:

Team	Big10 record	Overall	Pablo rating
Penn State	20-0	29-2	1
Wisconsin	15-5	23-6	10
Minnesota	14-6	24-7	11
Ohio State	14-6	21-8	16
Purdue	12-8	23-8	20
Northwestern	10-10	19-11	29
Illinois	7-13	16-15	49
Michigan	7-13	13-16	53
Michigan State	5-15	12-18	56
Iowa	4-16	14-19	104
Indiana	2-18	9-23	117

Final conference statistics for individuals are at:

http://bigten.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/confonly.html

A brief tour of the conference teams for final statistics, etc. at their websites follows. There are also 5 other conference teams participating in this year’s tournament (locations also follow).

Illinois

http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/ill-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/ill-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://fightingillini.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/ill-w-volley-CumulativeStats.html (stats)

Indiana

http://iuhoosiers.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/ind-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://iuhoosiers.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/ind-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://iuhoosiers.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html (stats)

Iowa

http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/iowa-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/iowa-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://hawkeyesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html (stats)

Michigan

http://www.mgoblue.com/section_display.cfm?section_id=201&top=2&level=2 (website)

http://www.mgoblue.com/roster.cfm?section_id=340&top=2&level=3 (roster)

http://www.mgoblue.com/statistics.cfm?section_id=343&top=2&level=3 (statistics)

Michigan State

http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/msu-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/msu-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/msu-w-volley-CumulativeStats.html (statistics)

Northwestern

The Wildcats are unseeded and will be in South Bend for the first two rounds, playing Texas A&M in round one and the winner of Dayton-Notre Dame should they beat the Aggies.

http://nusports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/nw-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://nusports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/nw-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://nusports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html (stats)

Ohio State

The Buckeyes with a #13 seed are hosting. They play Marshall in round one and, if they win, the winner of Ohio-Alabama in round two.

http://ohiostatebuckeyes.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/osu-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://ohiostatebuckeyes.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/osu-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://ohiostatebuckeyes.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2005-2006/teamcume.html (stats)

Penn State

The Lions, seeded #3, also hosting, have the usual sacrificial lambs headed to State College. They play Binghamton in round one and then the winner of Cornell-Long Island. Life, again, can be a real jerk.

http://www.gopsusports.com/VolleyballW/home.cfm (website)

http://www.gopsusports.com/VolleyballW/People/players/rosterbody.cfm (roster)

http://www.gopsusports.com/docs/wvb05/stats/teamcume.htm (stats)

Purdue

The Boilermakers are the #14 seed, and like the Buckeyes, inexplicably seeded above the Gophers, are being sent on the road -- as penance, perhaps. They are off to Chapel Hill to play Virginia Commonwealth in round one and, we presume, the winner of North Carolina-College of Charleston in round two.

http://purduesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/pur-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://purduesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/pur-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://purduesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/pur-w-volley-CumulativeStats.html (stats)

Wisconsin

The Badgers are the #11 seed. They are hosting Loyola-Illinois in round one and then should play the winner of California-Valparaiso in round two.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/headlines/index.aspx (website)

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/bios/ (roster)

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/stat_poll/ (stats)