In this issue

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

Announcements

Point U!(betcha)

Upcoming Match Previews

Rankings

National Update

Big10 Update

Watching the Game

Coach’s Corner

From Coach Hebert:

It’s that time again! The 2006 Volleyball season is upon us.

As we prepare for our first practice session, I’d like to share the following insights.

ü We are a much better team than last year. The boat load of newcomers who took the floor in 2005 are now seasoned veterans and know what to expect at this level of competition. We won’t be going 0-5 in five game matches this season.

ü Rachel Hartmann has improved…a lot!

ü Our outside hitting corps is maturing rapidly.

ü Marci Peniata has been playing the libero position with a flair that you will enjoy watching.

ü Our two newcomers, Rachelle Hagerty (OH) and Christine Tan (DS/L), are ready to play right away.

ü Jessy Jones is probably our most improved player over the spring and summer.

ü Katie V is improving rapidly.

ü Kelly Bowman’s hitting stroke is back.

ü Our passing will be at least reliable, maybe even good.

ü The trip to Europe helped to solidify our team chemistry.

Speaking of the Europe Tour, we ran a 5-1 system with Hartmann setting, Bowman passing and hitting on the right side, Roehrig, Vatterrodt, and Cumpston sharing the left side slots, and with Peniata playing libero. Bowman hit .350 for the tour. Jones hit .300.

The tour gave us the opportunity to play against a different style. The European teams hit the ball very hard. You have to win the battle at the net. Fortunately, we responded with a solid blocking performance... averaging an incredible 4.1 blocks per game.

We finished the tour with a 4-2 record and felt very good about how we played. We defeated the Croatian Junior National Team twice, and on the last night of competition beat the Slovenian National Team (which featured former Hawai’i All-American Maya Gustin). The setter for the Slovenian team was a teammate of Tree Bratford last season on a professional team in Vienna.

On a related note, I hope you all are following Nicole Branagh’s AVP beach career. Teaming with all-world Holly McPeak, Nicole is now one of the top money winners on the pro beach circuit. Cassie Busse and Lindsey Berg are playing for Team USA in the upcoming Grand Prix International Tournament. Other Gophers on the pro beach scene are Charnette Fair, Jen Bowman and Steph Hagen.

I hope you will join us at the Pavilion for another push to the post-season. I’m feeling very optimistic about this year’s team! Let the games begin!

Head Coach

Minnesota Volleyball

[Editor’s note: Coach Hebert is also featured in the Gopher Sports update for 7/26/06.

http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=38659&SPID=3301&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=518299

There are three audio links at the address above.]

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

From John Oravis:

Hello Golddiggers!

Welcome back to the 2006 edition of Golden Gopher women’s volleyball! It’s time to shake out the summer cobwebs and pick up where we left off last December.

It’s been quite a few months since the awards banquet last February and the spring tournaments in March and April. In the meantime, the team and coaching staff have been busy recruiting and practicing.

We hope that you were able to follow the Gophers on-line in Europe this past June as they traveled to the Czech Republic and Croatia. They posted a very respectable 4-2 record against several National and Junior National teams on that trip.

I’d like to call your attention to several upcoming items and events before the 2006 volleyball season officially begins in September:

· We hope that you will join or renew your Golddiggers booster club membership for the 2006 season as soon as possible. Your membership and support are important to the team. A 2006 Golddiggers booster club membership form can be found here:

http://www.golddigger-boosters.org/2006/join_up/2006GolddiggerMembershipForm.pdf *PDF*

· Don’t forget to buy your 2006 Gopher volleyball season tickets. Good seats are still available. Last year Minnesota had the third best home average attendance in the country (!) at 3,883 per home match. Let’s improve on that stat this season. Watch out Nebraska and Hawai’i -- here we come!

· Don’t forget the annual First Practice Event/Dinner on Friday, August 11th at the UM Sports Pavilion. Show up at 4:45 or 5:00 pm or so to watch the last 60-75 minutes of team practice on the first official day of practice. It’s free. Then stay afterwards to meet and welcome the team and coaching staff over a training team meal in the Sports Pavilion’s air-conditioned Club Room. You can pay for the dinner at the event by cash or check. [Editor’s note: RSVPs for the dinner portion of this event were due by 8/7. An emailed announcement was sent out 8/1. If you have not RSVP’d for the dinner, don’t let that stop you from attending the practice.]

· Don’t forget the Varsity-Alum match on Saturday, August 26th at 7:00 pm at the Sports Pavilion. Admission is free. See many of your favorite Gopher players from times gone by play against our current Gopher players. Then stay around afterwards for the Golddiggers post-match reception up in the Sports Pavilion Club Room.

Two more important comments from me for this first Golddiggers e-newsletter of 2006:

· My thanks to all of our Golddiggers Board of Directors members who signed on for another term for 2006-07: John and DuAnn Thompson, Wayne Miller, Anton Halvorson, Betty Cipperly, Jerry Byrnes, Mark Eastom, Larry Mickelson, and Jim and Bev Manship. These folks make it all happen for our booster club at the grass roots level. If you’re interested in serving on the Board, please let me or one of these directors know. We have elections in May/June of every year.

· Again, my thanks to all of you for your great support and outstanding generosity for the Gopher volleyball locker room renovation campaign, as individual members and as a booster club. Our club was recently recognized in April 2006 as members of the University of Minnesota Foundation’s Chancellors Society, which recognizes total cumulative pledges and giving of at least $50,000.00! (See photo below of me with Vivian Langley, UM Athletics’ Golden Gopher Fund [and former Gophers coach].) We and the team appreciate it more than you can know.

The photo of John (in his yard) with Vivian Langley

We hope to see you on August 11th and August 26th, then back again for the season home start in mid-September.

Point U!

John Oravis, President, Golddiggers

Meet the Gophers

The 2006 roster and schedule can be found at:

http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&SPID=3301&SPSID=38658

http://www.gophersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&KEY=&SPID=3301&SPSID=38655

The Gophers welcome three new players and a new coach to the 2006 team.

Krista Chin is a transfer from the University of Arizona and will be a sophomore. She is a 5’7” DS/L from Wheeling, Illinois and will wear #14. Krista was a member of the 2004 Sports Performance (SPVB) 18-1 club team which won the 18-Open National Championship. Krista suffered a knee injury (ACL) her senior year and still played for the champions. She has also travelled to both China and the Dominican Republic with the SPVB program. She is the daughter of Ben and Linda.

An article about Krista, and a picture of the 2004 SPVB champions:

http://www.enh.org/aboutus/press/article.aspx?id=2885

http://www.usavolleyball.org/juniors/04_girls/04_18champ.asp

Rachelle Hagerty is a 6’2” OH from Defiance, Ohio and will wear #10. Rachelle played her club volleyball with Toledo Volleyball Club. She is a 2-time first-team all-state selection and was also second-team as a sophomore. She was the 2005-6 Gatorade Player of the Year from Ohio. PrepVolleyball.com ranks her #19 in their 2006 list of top recruits. Her parents are John and Bretta (and she is the sister of Brie Hagerty, who just won a national championship playing for the Washington Huskies). Bretta has coached her daughter in high school and, this past year, in club.

http://www.usavolleyball.org/Juniors/05girls17_18results.asp

http://www.crescent-news.com/article.php?pathToFile=/archive/11252005/sports/&file=_sports1.txt&article=1&tD=11252005

Christine Tan is a 5’4” DS/L from Palm Harbor, Florida and will wear #15. Christine was the teammate of top 10 Stanford recruit, Janet Okogbaa, and also of Sloane Baby -- two of the best names in sport. They were all a part of Tampa Bay 16 Black’s 2004 USA Girls’ Gold Division champions, National Division, where Christine was also named to the All-Tournament team. She was 3rd team 2005 Florida All-State Class 5A as an outside hitter. Her parents are Felix and Ivonne.

An interview with Christine from the St. Petersburg Times:

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/08/Sports/Volleyball__music__sn.shtml

Scott Swanson joins the team as their new assistant coach. Scott was Head Coach at the University of Texas - El Paso during the 2002-2005 seasons. UTEP was 21-10 in 2005. Prior to that, he was Associate Head Coach at Arizona State for six seasons. Scott also played his college volleyball at ASU.

Scott was raised in Mesa, AZ and his parents are Rick and Donna.

Announcements

In addition to the information covered in John Oravis’s greeting above, please note the following changes to the 2006 schedule:

The home match v. MSU is now scheduled for Sunday 10/1 at 1pm.
The road match v. OSU is now scheduled for Sunday 10/8 at 2pm.
The home match v. Northwestern scheduled for Saturday 11/11 MAY be moved from 7pm to 8pm.

Mark your calendars for Saturday 10/14 when the Purdue Boilermakers play the Gophers in Williams Arena.

Also, we would very much like to hear from YOU! Former Gophers, out-of-town members, Hollywood celebrities -- whomever -- please email us at the address below, let us know what you are up to, pass on suggestions for the newsletter, or hammer the coaching staff for their time-out usage -- whatever. The coaching staff has also generously offered to answer questions submitted to them through this newsletter. We look forward to your input.

Point U!(betcha)

Hope springs eternal. We are told she is even blessed with an abundance of fast-twitch muscle fiber. Even so, there can be no denying that, early last December in Knoxville, Hope probably felt like she was playing volleyball on Jupiter; Gravity, it seemed, had Hope’s ankles firmly in its steely grip. Well, we’re here to tell you that the 2006 season is less than a month away, and Hope has regained her hops -- even if she’s about to deal with two-a-days.

Last season, in retrospect, seems very similar to another equally disappointing campaign: the 2001 season,. Lindsey Berg and Steph Hagen’s last. Expectations were sky high that year with these talented seniors and the highly-touted freshmen class, but the team never really lived up to that potential and ended up losing a heartbreaker in the NCAA 2nd round to Northern Iowa. The Gophers were up 2-0 in that match, but the pesky Panthers came back to win games 3 and 4, setting the stage for the excruciating 17-15 loss in game 5.

The expectations for 2005 were at least as high as 2001’s. The Gophers were coming back from a trip to the championship match the year before, it was to be Paula Gentil’s senior year, and the incoming frosh class was arguably Minnesota’s best ever. Unfortunately, the Gophers dropped several crucial 5-game matches during the regular season and then repeated 2001’s NCAA 2nd round loss, this time to Tennessee. The Volunteers, down two games to one and 17-23 in game four, battled back to tie the match at 2-2, and then won the decisive 5th game.

So where’s the source of the optimism? Well, what happened in 2002? The Gophers won their very first Big10 volleyball title, which in turn led to an NCAA semi-final match in 2003 and a championship match in 2004.

Can 2006 be the beginning of a similar run of success? Hope thinks so. She’s springing eternal.

Go Gophers!

Upcoming Match Previews

There are no upcoming matches for this edition of the newsletter, but please join us at the First Practice event and also note that most, if not all, practices are open to the public.

Rankings

The preseason CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll was released 8/8/2006. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 were: 1--Nebraska, 2--Penn State, 3--Washington, 4--Stanford, 5--Florida, 6--Santa Clara, 7--Hawai’i, 8--Texas, 9--Wisconsin, and 10--UCLA. The Gophers are at #22 in this poll. In addition, Purdue is #16 and Ohio State is #23.

http://www.avca.org/collegiate/06preseasonpoll.pdf *PDF*

Two other rankings we have been listing here come from the RichKern.com site. The first is creatively named the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll. This is a poll compiled from rankings by fans around the country. The Gophers start the year at #14 in this poll.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2006&Div=DI&poll=d1wvb&week=0-Aug+8+&sort=team&avg=all

The second is the Pablo Ranking, based on an algorithm developed by a fan of the sport, and calculated solely on match results. And, yes, we are going to keep using it. You are encouraged to read more about it in the FAQ at the RichKern.com site. The actual rankings link (final poll of 2005, since it takes about four weeks of results before the first ranking of the year) and the FAQ link are below. If nothing else, it’s an interesting alternative to the polls. The Gophers finished 2005 ranked #15 here, a much more reasonable ranking than the AVCA’s #21, in our opinion.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2005&Div=DI&poll=Pablo&week=14-Dec+19&sort=team&avg=all

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

National Update

Point U!(betcha)’s top ten picks for 2006 are 1) Stanford, 2) Florida, 3) Penn State, 4) Washington, 5) Texas, 6) Nebraska, 7) Santa Clara, 8) Hawai’i, 9) UCLA, and 10) Wisconsin. We’d place our Gophers somewhere around #12 to start the season. Of course, this information and a nickel will buy you five pennies, but there it is nonetheless.

A full preview will be provided in an upcoming issue of this newsletter. In the meantime, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) provides a nice preview of many of the Division I teams.

http://www.avca.org/collegiate/DIpreview/06DIpreview.asp

Best links for results (once the season starts), websites, and rosters are:

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

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

The best site for statistics (national leaders) is at the NCAA website. This link will be posted as the season begins.

Big10 Update

The Final 2005 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 2005 conference statistics for individuals are at:

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

Here are the websites for the Big10 teams. Note that the statistics are from 2005 and some of the rosters have not been updated. A full preview will be provided in an upcoming issue of this newsletter.

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) 2005

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) 2005

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?season=969&section_id=343&level=3&top=2 (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

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

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) 2005

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

Penn State

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

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

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)

Watching the Game

Since the emails have yet to pour in -- or trickle in, for that matter, we are going to select random Golddigger members to jump-start this segment of the newsletter.

*Mark Eastom, of New Brighton, apparently did not want to know, “I hear talk that the Gophers will be running a 5-1 this year instead of a 6-2. My question is ‘Huh?’ ”

Mark, good question. Pithy and topical. We’re betting you now wished you had actually asked it. Anyhow, when volleyball people talk of the “five-one” or the “six-two,” they are referring to the offensive system employed by a team and specifically the number of setters being utilized.

Let us explain further, using our Gophers as an example. If you recall, the 2003 team used one setter, primarily Lindsey Taatjes. Cassie Busse was the team’s opposite (three service rotations from, or opposite, the setter). This meant Lindsey set when she was in the front row and when she was in the back row. Because there were five hitters and one setter in this lineup, it was a 5-1 offense.

In 2004, Cassie was gone and the team also needed to find a way to involve the talented Kelly Bowman in the offense. A decision was made in the off-season to try using both setters, with each only setting when they were in the back row. This meant that Lindsey, who had never been a hitter, needed to learn to hit out of the front row. This not only worked, it took the Gophers to their first NCAA final and Kelly was named a first-team All-American. Because this lineup had six hitters, including Kelly and Lindsey, and two setters, it was a 6-2 offense.

In 2005, Lindsey was gone and Rachel Hartmann joined the team as a highly-rated frosh setter. The Gophers decided to run a 6-2 again, with one significant change: Rachel only played the back row, while another player -- usually Jess Byrnes -- substituted for her in the front row as a hitter. Kelly was again a setter and a hitter. This was still a 6-2, but a modified 6-2.

Now, in 2006, according to the coaching staff, the team is planning to run a 5-1 again, with Rachel setting, and Kelly playing opposite her, but as a hitter only. Rachel will set when she is in the back row and when she’s in the front row. Having Kelly at opposite, however, keeps the option open for the staff to switch to a 6-2 mid-game, should they so choose.

*John Oravis, of Burnsville, has no idea that he should have asked, “How come I often see a ball blocked, but the blocker gets credit for a kill? And how’d you like that picture of Vivian and me in my yard?”

A block, John, is not always a block. Let us elaborate. Do not confuse “blocking action” with a “block.” For that matter, don’t confuse a “block” with a “block.” Wait, now we are confused.

Here’s the source of all this confusion: when a player is credited for a “block” in the volleyball boxscore, she is actually being credited with a “stuff block” (sometimes referred to as a block kill). “A block is awarded when a player(s) blocks the ball that comes off an attack into the opponent’s court, leading directly to a point.”⁺

Note that the block must be preceded by an attack and that the definition, statistically, of an attack is “any ball that is played over the net in an attempt to score a point. Any ball played over the net simply to keep the ball alive should not be considered an attack.”⁺

This is the crucial difference. An overpass is not considered an attack. A free ball played over the net to keep the rally alive should also not be considered an attack. If either of those plays are “blocked,” the blocking player is awarded a kill, not a block. In other words, there is no difference between a player using a normal one-armed swing at the ball or a blocking action in these instances. It’s still a kill.

At least, that’s the way it should be scored. The blocked overpass should always be recorded as a kill; the blocked free ball seems to depend on the eye of the beholder. Some statisticians will still record it as a block.

⁺From the Official 2005 NCAA Volleyball Statisticians’ Manual.

As for the picture of you in your yard with Vivian, I’m beginning to suspect that this “joke” has become the proverbial dead horse.

*Peggy Kvam, from Minnetonka, failed to pass along a question that has not, we assume, been bothering her for months: “Shouldn’t John Oravis know what a block is by now? And what’s with all these references to the photo of John in his yard with Vivian Langley?”

The simple answer to your first question is, well ... uh ..., complex, especially given the fact he did not actually ask this question about blocking, but given the fact he probably would ask this question under different circumstances. We’re going to have to ponder this a while longer. Let us get back to you.

As for your second question, this has to do with what is known in some circles as “beating a dead horse.” Someone -- and we won’t name names -- thinks mentioning this photo is funny and becomes funnier the more it is repeated. We will have to let the reader be the judge of that.

[Remember, emails to newsletter@golddigger-boosters.org or you too may be selected at random to not ask a question.]

Gopher Chatter

Former Gopher Associate Head Coach Brian Heffernan is entering his third season with the Washington State Cougars. We thought it was past time to check in with Brian for an update.

First of all, how is the family?

Our family is doing great. Carol and the girls are adjusted to a slower pace of life in Pullman. I will say there are many things that we miss about Minneapolis and being part of the Gopher Family and we speak of them with fond memories. As a coach I am plugged into a network of people from the start. Carol, however, has had to first find opportunities and then build friendships out of those. She has definitely had a more challenging experience but she has done an awesome job. She continues to work as an engineer doing contract work. Her company, Humantech, likes the work she does and provides several opportunities for her to remain plugged into her professional life. Carol hopes to work with greater frequency once the kids are both in school, but for now her contract work is very rewarding for her. It is also great for me because it provides opportunities to be a full time DAD for a few days from time to time while she is on the road. Last spring, when Carol was in Orlando for a couple days, I was able to drive to Yellowstone National Park with Kate and Jane to see all of the young animals. I think I had more fun than they did.

Kate is now 4 years old and quite a pleaser. She completed one year of preschool through Pullman Parks and Rec. She also enjoyed ballet, gymnastics and swimming this year. Kate loves the water, but when she grows up she wants to be a teacher and a dancer. Her teachers are wonderful and obviously making quite an impression on her. She will complete one more year of preschool before starting kindergarten in 2007.

Jane turned 2 in January and Carol and I have learned that we are no longer her primary parents…Kate is. Monkey see….monkey do. Jane enjoys anything that Kate is doing. Around town she is known as the girl in the blue dress. Everyday she wants to wear the same blue flowered dress. It is perfect for the summer but cold weather does not hinder her affinity for this dress. She just puts it on over her pants and shirt. Jane is very interested in the potty right now and has had some successes. She has missed a couple times too and I always seem to be in proximity. If she is trained by the fall, she will go to preschool three mornings a week at the same school Kate attends.

Can you tell us a little bit about Pullman and eastern Washington?

Pullman is a great, and very small, college town and definitely a place like the show Cheers… “where everybody knows your name.” One of the unique aspects of Pullman is the sense of pride and the symbols or moments that remind you of where you are. Within an hour or so outside of Pullman you begin to realize that you are entering Cougar Country. As we drive into the emerald green (in spring, tan in late summer and early fall) rolling hills of the Palouse, there are buildings painted in the Cougar Crimson and Gray. Some buildings display the WSU logo and others proudly read “Go Cougs!” As you arrive in Pullman, every major intersection dons a huge WSU logo, the street lights wear Cougar banners and the town is laden with merchant windows eager to share the Cougar Pride.

Eastern Washington is formed by the rolling wheat covered hills of the Palouse region. Many of the locals farm thousands of acres of wheat, soy and lentils. One of my closest friends is a wheat and cattle farmer, so, when I can, I enjoy helping him on his farm with the wheat harvest or just feeding cattle. I enjoy manual labor and it gives me a chance to use my hands in other ways and at the same time gives me a healthy distraction.

You inherited a program at WSU which needed to be rebuilt -- and needed to be rebuilt in a conference which has produced the last five National champions. How would you rate the team's progress and what's your feel for 2006?

When I was closing my door at the University of Minnesota, I stopped into have one final conversation with Mike Hebert. I was leaving and I wanted one last bit of wisdom from the master. Mike told me to keep my head down and to keep moving forward through the challenges of the first 4 years. He told me that regardless of my past success, there would be unexplainable obstacles as I work to build this program to my likeness. There is no need to tell any of you….Mike Hebert knows what he is talking about. There have been many great challenges, but each of them provides an opportunity to learn and grow. I have been Blessed by my playing and coaching experiences at Penn State, Pepperdine and Minnesota. There have been challenges in each of these positions, but for me they were more easily navigated than the challenges I have faced here so far. I have never had to deal with chaos before and it has tested me. David Boos laughed with me this summer when he asked how it was going and my response was, quickly, “The worst is over.”

I do see us at a point now where we can become more competitive. To date many of the victories we have enjoyed have been private. In my first 18 months we worked a lot on our effort and our attitude while improving our ball control, block and defense. We are very strong in these areas and, as our offense improves, so to will our defensive numbers in comparison to our opponent. In 2005 we led the Pac-10 Conference in blocking and finished 8^th in the nation in this statistic. Unfortunately, blocking is not highly correlated with point scoring. Spring of 2006 was much more productive than 2005 when we only had 6 athletes training and no setters. We spent a great deal of time improving our team offense system and tempo. Offensively, we will be better at every position in 2006, with our middle attack being the biggest question mark. The trio of outside hitters we will put on the floor will provide the best outside hitting we have had, our passing game will be very solid and our setting much improved. Add all of this up and we will be in a position to be competitive and win more games this season.

The greatest difference I am seeing exists within the culture and expectations of the team. In summer 2004, most of the students who were on campus were here because of academic concerns. Only a couple were training infrequently and nobody was really together. This is all a work in progress but I am very proud of the progress our team has made. This past spring our cumulative team grade point exceeded 3.3. This summer we had 10 athletes on campus in summer school and training with our strength coach 4 days each week. Overall, I have seen us transitioning from a team with members (What is in it for me?) to a more mission oriented team (What is my job? How can I help the team?). The team enjoys being around each other and although there are likely more challenges ahead, this is all a breath of fresh air for our staff.

Who is your Pac 10 pick for conference champion this year?

I picked a healthy Stanford, but I believe the UW and UCLA will both have tremendous teams and give Stanford a run.

Any message for the Gopher faithful?

I am finding this is a tough question for me to sit and write about. I have so many wonderful memories of my time with you as a Gopher. Since my departure, some of you have taken the time to show much support of me as my staff works through the rebuilding process. Thank you for this support. Some of it has come to me at critical moments in time and has helped me to continue moving through the challenges.