In this issue

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

Announcements

Point U!(betcha)

Upcoming Match Previews

Coach’s Corner

From Coach Hebert:

I know, I know…2-4 is not the record you all were expecting after the first two weekends.

But in my opinion, at times during the Nebraska tournament, this Gopher team played better than the 2005 team’s best-ever effort. So for those of you who are worried… relax. The best is yet to come.

Our season started with a jolt. Out of the blue came an accusation by another Big Ten school that Kelly Bowman and Marci Peniata participated in a grass tournament last summer in Wisconsin where they received a cash prize. Well, they did not accept the cash prize, but one of their teammates (who no longer is a college eligible athlete) did. There is an obscure NCAA interpretation that makes this illegal. Kelly was penalized for three matches, and Marci for six (because she played in two tournaments to Kelly’s one). We appealed the NCAA decision, but got nowhere. We learned of this final decree on Wednesday evening before leaving for St. Louis the next day. Needless to say, our first weekend of competition without our two seniors -- one our captain and returning MVP and the other a returning All-American) -- left us with little time to adjust our line-up. We survived a tester against SLU, but fell flat against LSU and Texas A&M, two teams that are much better than they are being given credit for, but teams we had a great chance to beat with our normal lineup.

Kelly returned for the trip to Nebraska and gave us much-needed stability with her passing, hitting and floor generalship. We played very well to beat Cal Poly (the same Cal Poly that defeated Texas the weekend before), lost a close and frustrating match to Louisville, and played a very strong match against Nebraska. Final results of the tournament:

v Nebraska 3-0

v Minnesota 1-2

v Cal Poly 1-2

v Louisville 1-2

You’re going to love watching Christine Tan play. She was a passing and digging machine. She plays with a real love for the game. Jessy Jones is flying high and has become the offensive weapon (hitting .380 heading into the UNI match) we all thought she could be. Our left-side hitting crew -- Roehrig, Vatterrodt, Cumpston, and Hagerty -- is heating up. Their collective hitting percentages are way above last season. Hartmann is maturing as our 5-1 setter. Bowman is playing like she did in 2004. Nelson is more reliable than ever. And Marci is now ready to play!

This year’s Border Battle with Northern Iowa will be a tougher match than most of you think. They are coming off two huge wins over Notre Dame and Alabama, and are confident they will beat us. Coach Bobbi Peterson of UNI does a great job and I expect this one to go to the wire.

The Diet Coke Classic presents another challenge. The University of Dayton is one of the buzz teams of the early season. They have been playing at a very high level and we are the team they are shooting for.

We are happy to be back home and are looking forward to competing in the friendly confines of the Pavilion. We are really excited to show off the 2006 edition of the Golden Gopher Volleyball Team! See you soon.

Trivia of the Day: Meghan Cumpston’s nickname is “Mitch”. What is the story behind this?

Head Coach

Minnesota Volleyball

Greetings from the Golddiggers’ President

From John Oravis:

Hello Golddiggers!

It’s finally September. School is back in fall session and there’s a certain crispness in the air. Ah, Gopher volleyball is back.

Thanks to all of you for your new or renewed Golddigger booster club membership and your support of the Gopher volleyball program. Both are important and are not taken for granted. I can’t emphasize that enough. It’s still not too late for other family, friends, neighbors or co-workers to join the Golddiggers or to purchase Gopher VB season tickets! Please go to our website for more information, or see any board member.

Unfortunately, it’s been an unexpectedly bumpy start to the 2006 season for the Gophers. We hope to see things settle down and a return to Gopher volleyball “normalcy” starting with the annual Border Battle vs. UNI, continuing through the Diet Coke Classic tournament this coming weekend, and into the Big Ten portion of the Gopher schedule.

We’re still working on your membership “goodies,” specifically your Golddigger booster club membership cards, 2006 Gopher Volleyball Media Guides, and the Gopher VB 2005 season highlight DVD for those who joined or renewed their membership by the Varsity-Alum match last month. More details on those later. We should also have more information on (optional) Golddigger booster club clothing and apparel to you soon.

Finally keep this important date on your calendars open and available: the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the renovated and updated Gopher volleyball locker room (in the U of M Sports Pavilion) will be Friday, November 17, 2006, at 6:00 PM (after volleyball practice). We hope to arrange a locker room guided tour a bit earlier than that -- sometime in October, we hope -- for those who are interested. Again, thanks to the Golddiggers booster club and to individual Golddigger donors for your generous financial support, and for making this happen!

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you in the stands at the Sports Pavilion, cheering on our Gophers during the 2006 season.

Point U!

John Oravis, President, Golddiggers

Meet the Gophers

The Gophers are proving to be very elusive. Wily even. Best bet at this point, for all who have forgotten just who these young women are, is to make the trip down to Rochester and become reacquainted. It’s a win-win for the players and fans -- and, we hope, a win for the team.

We will hear more from the Gophers themselves in upcoming issues of Point U!(betcha).

Announcements

The Northern Iowa match details:

When: Wednesday September 13th, 7:00 PM
Where: Mayo Civic Center Auditorium in Rochester, MN
Tickets: $12.00 (reserved), $9.00 (general admission), $5.00 (general admission student)

Tickets can be purchased at the Mayo Civic Center or on-line at:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06003D08E24ECAFC?artistid=1053577&majorcatid=10004&minorcatid=204

Mayo Civic Center link:

http://www.mayociviccenter.com/iebms/coe/coe_p2_details.aspx?eventid=13037&cc=COE&oc=10&orderby1=OB002&orderby1dir=A&orderby2=OB017&orderby2dir=A&orderby3=OB018&orderby3dir=A

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John Oravis has asked that all be forewarned: there is a Gopher football game this Saturday afternoon against Temple at the Metrodome. Be prepared for the parking kerfuffle which goes hand-in-hand with these events, a kerfuffle both economic and logistic. (Who wins the “First Use of ‘kerfuffle’ Pool”?)

Also, 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 HAS been moved from 7pm to 8pm.

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

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The always popular Chalk Talks with Associate Head Coach Dave Boos (unofficially known as “Hearing the Boos”) are on the schedule again this season. These talks are tentatively scheduled for the Williams Arena Club Room on the following dates:

Saturday, October 14th Prior to the Purdue match in Williams Arena, 5:30-6:15pm

Saturday, October 28th Prior to the Penn State match, 5:30-6:15pm

Saturday, November 11th Prior to the Northwestern match (8pm start), 6:30-7:15pm

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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 or questions for the Point U!(betcha), or hammer the coaching staff for their time-out usage -- it’s up to you.

The coaching staff has also generously offered to answer questions submitted to them through this newsletter.

We look forward to all your input.

Point U!(betcha)

We’re all for a little good-old-fashioned adversity. Just so long as it doesn’t get in the way of what we’re trying to do. Too obvious? OK, let’s try a Minnesota weather metaphor -- always appropriate. Picture a foot and a half of snow on your sidewalk and then your neighbor comes over and swipes your shovel.

Anyhow, assuming the NCAA will not be stipulating the Gophers play their matches this week with one hand tied behind their backs, the team will finally be playing some volleyball at full strength. This will be a welcome development for many reasons, not the least of which being the obvious increased chance of success. But it is just as important -- probably more important -- for the Gophers to play some matches with the lineup they plan to use this season as the Big10 schedule approaches.

For the diehard fans (and inveterate grumblers) amongst us, the 2-4 record and the losses to LSU, TAMU and Louisville are disappointing, maybe even frustrating. But there is something to be said for playing, by far, the toughest preseason schedule in the Big10. It stands to reason that the team will be ready for the level of competition to be expected in the conference season to come.

It is also perhaps too easy to look at the Gophers preseason schedule and assume the hardest part of it is in the rearview mirror. While this is probably true, it tends to overlook teams like Northern Iowa and Dayton and the respect they deserve as dangerous opponents. Each team already has a big win over a ranked opponent. In short, best to keep the eyes focused on the road ahead -- there are still major obstacles out there.

There’s always going to be another snowstorm, so thank you, neighbor, for returning the shovel.

Go Gophers!

Upcoming Match Previews

Northern Iowa WED 9/13 7:00 PM (Rochester)

The Panthers stand at 7-4 for the year. They lost 3-0 at Purdue (8/25), 3-1 at Iowa State (8/30), 3-2 at Georgia Tech (9/2), and 3-1 to Kansas State at home (9/8). They are coming off two big wins, however, 3-2 over Notre Dame and Alabama (both on 9/9), battling back from 0-2 deficits in each match.

In short, it looks like another pesky Northern Iowa club, something with which the Gophers should be well-acquainted.

UNI is still a relatively young team, with a very strong frosh class. In addition, junior Laura Rowen is hitting .296 for the Panthers, with 176 kills. Minnesota native Amy Sampson (sophomore OH from Brooklyn Park) has started 10 of their 11 matches.

http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/niwa-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/niwa-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamcume.html (statistics)

UConn FRI 9/15 (approx.) 7:30 PM

The Huskies pad into the Twin Cities at a perfect 8-0, with their best wins 3-0 over Portland State (9/2) and 3-0 over Northern Illinois (9/9). As a matter of fact, the only match they have not swept was their 3-2 win over Boston College at home (9/8).

UConn has three Minnesota natives on their roster, Bridget Denson-Dorman (Golden Valley/Hopkins), Megan Frey (Chaska) and Lorelle Schaub (New Brighton/Irondale). Bridget is the Huskies starting setter.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/WVolleyball/index.asp (website)

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/viewrost.asp?Sport=WVolleyball&Season=F06 (roster)

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/WVolleyball/2006/Media%20Center/2006vbmediacenter.html (stats)

Tulane SAT 9/16 12:30 PM

The Green Wave rolls in at 4-2, having been swept at Iowa (9/8) and beaten 3-2 by Florida Atlantic (9/9).

The majority of the sets have gone to Croatian Sara Radosevic and Serbian Ksenija Vlaskovic. Setting has been split between Croatian Luna Rebrovic and Rachel Lindelow.

http://tulanegreenwave.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/tul-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://tulanegreenwave.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/tul-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://tulanegreenwave.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamcume.html (stats)

Dayton SAT 9/16 (approx.) 7:30 PM

The Flyers have been, well, flying high so far this year. Their biggest win was a sweep of Arizona at Louisville (9/2). Their three losses have been 3-1 at Louisville (9/1), 3-2 to Purdue (9/6), and 3-1 to LSU (9/8). This does not look to be an easy match for the Gophers.

Dayton is led by Faye Barhorst who is hitting a robust .418.

http://daytonflyers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/dayt-w-volley-body.html (website)

http://daytonflyers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/mtt/dayt-w-volley-mtt.html (roster)

http://daytonflyers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamcume.html (stats)

The Gophers then head back out of town to open the Big10 season Friday 9/22 at Northwestern and then play Saturday 9/23 at Illinois. See the Big10 Update below for more details about the Wildcats and the Illini.

Rankings

The CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll #2 was released 9/11/2006. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 were: 1--Nebraska, 2--Penn State, 3--UCLA, 4--Washington, 5--Texas, 6--Florida, 7--Stanford, 8--Santa Clara, 9--USC, and 10--California. In addition, Purdue is #14, Ohio State is #15 and Michigan is #22. The Gophers are unranked in this poll.

http://www.avca.org/collegiate/dipoll/dipoll9-11-06.asp

The Gophers, fare a little better in the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll, where they are ranked #24.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2006&Div=DI&poll=d1wvb&week=2-Sep+11&sort=team&avg=all

The Gophers are at #32 in the first Pablo rankings of the year.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2006&Div=DI&poll=Pablo&week=2-Sep+11&sort=team&avg=all

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

National Update

Impressing? Nebraska, Penn State, UCLA, USC, Cal, and LSU. Struggling? Hawai’i, Stanford, Louisville, Notre Dame, Arizona and San Diego. In addition, Texas looked like the team to beat at the AVCA Showcase and then dropped two five-game matches, to Cal Poly and to PSU. BYU sweeps Stanford and then loses to Kansas.

Big non-conference matches still to come? Stanford hosts Santa Clara (9/14), USC travels across town to play Pepperdine (9/14) and hosts Purdue (9/15), Hawai’i entertains Cal Poly for two (9/14-15), and Purdue is at Pepperdine (9/16)

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

http://www.richkern.com/vb/GameScores/indexsub.asp?Div=DI (scores)

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

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rosters/indexsub.asp?Div=DI&VBYear=2006 (rosters)

The best site for statistics (national leaders) is at the NCAA website. Although this is not updated that quickly, eventually they do get around to it.

http://www.ncaasports.com/volleyball/womens/stats/stats

Big10 Update

The standings, with teams still in the order of their 2005 finish:

Team	2006 Overall	2005 Big10 record	2005 Pablo rating
Penn State	8-0	20-0	1
Wisconsin	6-1	15-5	10
Minnesota	2-4	14-6	11
Ohio State	8-0	14-6	16
Purdue	9-0	12-8	20
Northwestern	3-3	10-10	29
Illinois	8-1	7-13	49
Michigan	10-0	7-13	53
Michigan State	7-1	5-15	56
Iowa	8-1	4-16	104
Indiana	6-3	2-18	117

2006 conference statistics for individuals are at:

http://bigten.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/confstat.html

Here are the websites for the Big10 teams and a quick recap of their seasons so far.

Illinois

The Illini were headed toward an undefeated preseason before they dropped a 3-2 match to Wichita State 9/9, a match in which they were up 2-0. They play Dayton 9/12.

Vicki Brown is having an outstanding season so far, hitting .449 with 155 kills.

http://fightingillini.cstv.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

The Hoosiers have lost 3 matches this year, 2-3 to Maryland at home (9/2), 0-3 to LSU at Dayton (9/9), and 0-3 to Dayton later that day.

Indiana has been running a 6-2 offense with frosh Allison Regas and junior Caitlin Watts.

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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamcume.html (stats)

Iowa

The Hawkeyes best win this year has been a 3-2 decision at Creighton (9/2). Their only loss was 2-3 at home to Iowa State (8/26).

Jen Barcus, a transfer from Washington State, is hitting .345 for 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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamstat.html (stats)

Michigan

The Wolverines are one of four undefeated Big10 teams. Their two best wins were 3-0 (9/1) over San Diego and 3-1 (9/2) versus Iowa State, both on a neutral court.

Katie Bruzdzinski, friend of editors everywhere, leads Michigan with 157 kills and a .314 average, and was the MVP at Michigan’s tournament this past weekend. Stesha Selsky has been setting for the team, while 2005 setter, Mara Martin, has become the backup.

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

The Spartans only loss this year has been to a much improved Arizona State, 0-3 on a neutral court (9/8).

Allison Ianni, a senior transfer from Pacific, has been MSU’s setter this year, and has the team hitting at a .299 clip, led by Katie Johnson at .307 with 120 kills, and Ashley Schatzle with 102 kills.

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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamcume.html (statistics)

Northwestern

The Wildcats have three losses this year, including losses this past weekend in Hawaii, 0-3 to Stanford and 1-3 to Hawaii. Their scores in the Hawaii loss, however, were 29-31, 30-27, 32-30, 32-30, so they were very competitive.

Stephanie Jurivich is having a very good season, so far, at setter, and Brittney Aldridge is currently hitting .347, tops on the team.

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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamstat.html (stats)

Ohio State

The Buckeyes are also undefeated, with their best win a 3-0 sweep of Arizona State at home (9/9).

Ohio State is hitting .374 as a team. 2nd team AA setter Marisa Main (hitting .507!) and 3rd team AA middle Danielle Meyer (.363) lead the Buckeyes, who also welcome the return of Briana McCarthy (.395), who was injured last year.

They also await Anna Szerszen, a 6’3” frosh from France. Rumor is that she and Katie Bruzdzinski will be discussing the tasteful use of the letter “Z”.

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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/stats/2006-2007/teamstat.html (stats)

Penn State

The Nittany Lions are now 9-0, following their big come-from-behind win over Texas in Austin (9/8).

Frosh setter Alisha Glass has PSU humming along at a .335 team hitting percentage, with Melissa Walbridge (.474), Christa Harmotto (.434), Cassie Salyer (.404), and Nicole Fawcett (.353) all putting up gaudy numbers. Consensus top 2006 recruit Megan Hodge is also coming into her own, and was a big part of the Texas victory. Anyone else feel a little nauseated?

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

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

http://www.gopsusports.com/docs/wvb06/stats/teamstat.htm (stats)

Purdue

The Boilermakers have been pushed to the limit twice this year: a 3-2 win over Arizona State at a neutral site (9/2) and a 3-2 decision at Dayton (9/6). They are also undefeated.

Purdue is replacing All-Big10 setter Renata Dargan. They have been using a 5-1 and a 6-2 system with frosh setter Sam Gray and senior Lindsay Shondell.

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.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/pur-w-volley-CumulativeStats.html (stats)

Wisconsin

The Badgers have bounced back from a so-so showing at their AVCA Showcase tournament, where they were swept by Texas (8/25) and pushed to five games by Ohio (8/26), to win six matches in a row.

Brittney Dolgner (a very good frosh OH) and Jocelyn Wack anchor Wisconsin’s ball control, allowing setter Jackie Simpson and middle Taylor Reineke to lead the offense.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/headlines/headlines.html?sportid=133 (website)

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/bios/roster.html?sportid=133 (roster)

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sport_news/vb/stat_poll/?sportid=133 (stats)

Inside the Game

A little voice in our head -- not the same voice that from time to time tells us to dress up like Napoleon and invade New Ulm -- wanted to know more about rotations. Sounds good to us!

Let’s use the TAMU match as our example, as painful as that may be. The Gophers went with a lineup of Nelson, Hartmann, Roehrig, Jones, Cumpston and Vatterrodt for the most part, although, as we shall see, they switched things up a bit for game 4. In addition, Fallon (and Wilber) served for Roehrig, Tan served for Jones, and Chin served for Vatterrodt.

The Gophers, as do most teams, specify their rotations relative to where their setter is in the service order. This, for instance, was Rotation One for most of the TAMU match:

[1] Hartmann	[6] Nelson	[5] Vatterrodt (Chin)
[2] Roehrig (Fallon/Wilber)	[3] Jones (Tan)	[4] Cumpston
NET	NET	NET

The rotations then follow Hartmann around the court, corresponding to the six “zones” of the court: in Rotation Six, she is middle back; in Rotation Five, she is left back; in Rotation Four, she is left front; in Rotation Three, she is middle front; and in Rotation Two, she is right front. The thing to remember is that the rotations do not necessarily correspond to the team’s service order. If Nelson, for instance, serves first, that is still Rotation Two, because Hartmann would be in zone two (right front).

Now, let’s see how things went in the TAMU match. All points below would be points scored on serve (and assume the play-by-play from the match is correct). This would be what some of us like to call “real points”; i.e., using the sideout scoring system we all knew and loved.

Minnesota Rotation	Game One	Game Two	Game Three	Game Four	Match Total
Rotation One	4-1	0-1	3-2	1-1	8-5
Rotation Six	1-0	2-3	2-2	0-3	5-8
Rotation Five	1-0	0-2	3-0	2-0	6-2
Rotation Four	1-0	1-1	1-3	0-2	3-6
Rotation Three	0-3	2-1	1-4	2-2	5-10
Rotation Two	5-1	7-9	0-1	3-4	15-15
Game score (SOS)	13-5	12-17	10-12	8-12

The only major change in Minnesota’s lineup was in Game Four, where Cumpston and Roehrig basically switched positions, with Roehrig playing opposite Hartmann, and Cumpston opposite Vatterrodt.

So what does this data tell us, or, of more importance, what does it tell the coaching staff? First of all, they aren’t going to jump to conclusions. This is only one match, and remember that your opponent’s lineup and talent is going to have an effect. But if patterns start to develop, that’s when the coaching staff is going to sit up and take notice. Things that jump out at us:

ü The Gophers were badly outscored in Rotation Three

ü They really struggled to score points in Rotation Four

ü They were extremely stingy on defense in Rotation Five

ü What the heck was going on in Rotation Two? Nelson is serving in this rotation, a rotation in which they scored the most points; but it was also the rotation in which they gave up the most points. And you can’t blame Nelson for it, she comes out after she serves.

So what does it all mean? Is it the serve receive? the server? the offense? the defense? the opponent? We can guess -- and that can be fun -- but it is the coaching staff and team which has to decide if it means anything and what they should do about it. Just part of the complexities of volleyball rotations.

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On a sidenote, Bruce Kvam has weighed in on the libero debate. He disagrees with our arbitrary choice of lee-BAYR-o as the correct pronunciation and writes:

Libero comes from the Italian, and is accented on the first syllable. It means “free” according to my Italian dictionary. The term might have been inspired by the use of the word for a sweeper in soccer.

English words from the same root also accent the first syllable: liberal, liberate, etc.

I don’t know why people started accenting the second syllable. There’s no reason for it at all, maybe they think the word is Spanish. But the Spanish word with that spelling is accented on the final syllable.

To this, we reply: Fine. Let’s go with LEE-bah-ro. See? How hard was that?

[Remember, emails to newsletter@golddigger-boosters.org or we may spend the entire season discussing rotations.]

Gopher Chatter

Further congratulations are in order to future Gophers Lauren Gibbemeyer and Brook Dieter who are the #4 and #5 ranked recruits in PrepVolleyball.com’s Class of 2007 Senior Aces. In addition, Charde Phillips came in at #88, and Hailey Cowles was in the next group of players, “The 150.”

Hailey Cowles; photo courtesy of arcticferret.us

We would also like to acknowledge Minnesota players Naomi Johnson (Northwestern) at #95, Allie Oelke (Creighton) who was in the “last 12 out of the top 100”, as well as Kresson Vreeman (Denver) and Kimber Kuhl, who were also in “The 150” with Cowles.

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For anyone who is not aware of Coach Hebert’s recent disclosure regarding his diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, here are his discussions with Pat Reusse in the StarTribune, and with Bob Sansevere in the Pioneer Press.

http://www.startribune.com/508/story/644004.html

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/colleges/15402119.htm

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We asked John “JT” Thompson, Golddiggers Treasurer and dedicated Gopher fan to talk to us about his road trips following the team. (By the way, we are assured that his position as Treasurer has nothing to do with his penchant for travel.)

As the most-travelled (non-VB parent) of the Booster club, can you tell us what motivates you?

Originally, I had this idea that it would be neat to get to see all the BigTen venues. This was back around ‘98 or ‘99, I think. At the time, I’d only been to the Pavilion (of course) and Wisconsin’s Fieldhouse. Over the next few years, I managed to make it to most of the other schools, and I found that I liked watching the Gophers play outside the comfort of the home court. In 2003, the stars aligned, and Hawaii was hosting the NACWAA tournament, and, the following weekend, was hosting a tournament where the Gophers were playing. I decided that if I was going to go that far to start watching the season, I should really try and go to all of the matches, home and away. There were some moments of doubt along the way (the VB staff sent Nao over after the Indiana match to suggest that I might want to pick another year for travelling to all the matches), but in the end, it was more than worth it to have been on the whole season’s worth of matches, from Hawaii all the way through to the Final Four in Texas.

I was going to take a year off in 2006, and only go to a few away matches, but when I was saying my goodbyes to the team down in Knoxville, after they and the fans went out to dinner, Jess Byrnes told me that it meant a lot to her and to the other players to see Gopher fans in the stands when they came out onto the court. She was probably just being gracious and polite, but I decided then and there that I was going to try and keep making most or all of the matches.

What are your impressions of the Colisseum?

There’s a lot of history packed into a building that’s not really that old. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of a cleaner and slightly more modern Wisconsin Fieldhouse. It was impressive seeing the Big8 and Big12 championship banners running nearly uninterrupted from 1976 all the way through 2005. There are only three or four years where Nebraska didn’t win their conference title. You can’t argue with fan support, but I wish that the Coliseum was only about 90% full. As it is, there is basically no opportunity for fans to watch a game from a different vantage point. There’s also no elbow room. I was very impressed with the Nebraska fans -- many were ready with a compliment or comment about the Gophers; they all applaud the team(s) when a match is over (and not just the matches that Nebraska plays in, either); after the MN v. NE match, the announcer asked for a hand specifically for the Gophers, and got a very loud ovation; and last, the fans sing the National Anthem -- it’s not just a murmered singing, either.

Anyone comment on the ears?

I always get comments on the ears. It’s true what you may have heard... chicks dig Gopher ears. Okay, so most of them are five years old... but they still smile.

How’s the team looking to you?

I’m actually impressed with them. I think the losses they’ve suffered are going to end up strengthening them as individuals and as a team. Whether that will offset the potential problems with a good tournament seeding remains to be seen. The trial by fire that Tan and Chin in particular went through will, I think, end up being great for their skills and their confidence in the BigTen.

What’s the strangest thing that's happened to you on a Gopher trip?

I won’t mention the luggage that was stolen from an innocent bystander by the Golddiggers president, because that didn't happen to me. :-)

In 2003 while we were in Hawaii, the transit workers went on strike, and the buses stopped running. There was a commercial shuttle which ran during the day, but one of the matches ran into the evening, and the shuttle wasn’t running afterward. We were trying to find a phone book to locate a cab company and try to get one to come out to campus, when a couple of laid-back Hawaiian surfer dudes offered us a ride down to Waikiki in their pickup truck. It was probably illegal for us to ride in the back bed, but we weren’t pulled over, and eventually (they were friendly, but I'm not sure they knew quite where they were going), we got down to our hotel.

What do tend to eat on these road trips?

I eat poorly. Arena food and fast food restaurants tend to sustain me during the day. After the last match of the weekend, the team will often go out for dinner, and a lot of the parents and other fans are invited to come along (paying our own way, of course). That’s better quality food, but unlike the players, I don't have to eat “zone” food, so I don’t.

Does DuAnn [JT’s wife] at least say she misses you?

Yes, she does.

I could come up with a funny comment about whether she actually does miss me, but since she reads the newsletter, too, I think I’d better play it safe. :-)

Miscellaneous

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http://www.richkern.com/vb/FreePage.asp