In this issue

Point U!(betcha)

Upcoming Match Previews

Rankings

National Update

Coach’s Corner

From Coach Hebert:

We’re all really looking forward to the weekend. Should be huge. Ohio State on Friday (tape delay on FOX Sports/Comcast), and Penn State on Saturday. Bring your friends, strangers, even your enemies. Let’s pack the Pavilion like never before. The home crowd advantage will be critical.

Let’s look back to the beginning of the season. Our first tournament in St. Louis was an experience in frustration. Without Bowman and Peniata we struggled with our ball control and our confidence. We finished the weekend with a 1-2 record, losing to LSU and Texas A&M. The LSU loss doesn’t seem so surprising now that they have proven themselves as a top 15 team. But we got off to a rough start as a result of the NCAA suspensions placed at our doorstep only a few days prior to leaving for St. Louis.

Then came the losses to Louisville and Nebraska. Despite a great win over a very tough Cal Poly team, we found ourselves sitting with a 2-4 record after two weekends. This led to a ripple effect across the national volleyball community. People were saying that Minnesota was in a state of decline as a program and would not be a good team this year. We fell out of the national rankings. We were frustrated. We knew that we could be a solid team.

It was precisely at this moment that the team braced itself. They were determined to become resilient. They celebrated Malama’s return to the lineup by beating always-tough Northern Iowa in Rochester. Malama went nuts and recorded 41 digs. They easily won the Diet Coke Classic the following weekend. The Gophers wrapped up the pre-conference season with a 6-4 record. Not bad. But not what Gopher followers had expected.

Then along came the Big Ten schedule. A close win at Northwestern helped to build confidence, followed by a 3-0 win at Illinois. Then came wins at home over #24 Michigan, and a tough MSU team. On the road, we battled Penn State to four games and knocked off #14 OSU. Then came wins over #9 Purdue and #11 Wisconsin.

So here we are, sitting in second place with a 9-1 record. We are ranked #12 in the AVCA poll. As I look back to those first two weekends, it is remarkable to witness how far the Gophers have come. We have evolved from a tentative, uncertain group that went 2-4, to a confident, resilient team that has won 13 of its last 14 matches. I hope you have enjoyed watching the team come together as much as I have.

I don’t know how the rest of the season will play out. But the courageous comeback by this 2006 Gopher team will forever be etched in my memory. Don’t forget to come to the Pavilion this weekend to urge them to new heights!

Head Coach

Minnesota Volleyball

From the Golddiggers’ President

From John Oravis:

Hello Golddiggers!

What an exciting first half to the Big Ten conference portion of the 2006 volleyball season! Our Gophers are 15-5 overall and 9-1 (Big Ten) at the turn. Congratulations to the players and coaches. The team’s 9-1 record in the first half of the conference season matches their best 10-match conference start in school history. Perhaps even more impressive were the recent Minnesota wins over #14 Ohio State, #9 Purdue and #11 Wisconsin in a 10-day span. Wow!

As they say, buckle up and stay tuned for Part Two and the NCAA post-season!

Thanks again for all of your support this season. Please take full advantage of your booster club benefits, including attending our post-match receptions on Saturday evenings and the coach’s Chalk Talks. Associate Head Coach Dave Boos went over the X’s and O’s at the first Chalk Talk prior to the Purdue match to a full Williams Arena Club Room audience in conjunction with the marketing department’s season ticket holder reception. There will be two more Chalk Talk sessions this season: before the Penn State (10/28) and Northwestern (11/11) matches, in the Williams Arena Media Room.

The ribbon-cutting and open house for the Gopher volleyball locker room renovation project is scheduled for Friday, November 17th, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the Sports Pavilion, with a short program at 6:30pm. Thanks again for your great support of this $100,000 project and the Gopher volleyball program.

Go Gophers! Point U!

John Oravis, President, Golddiggers

Announcements

Reception

A Golddiggers reception is scheduled for Saturday night, after the Penn State match, in the Pavilion Clubroom. Remember, while the receptions are for Golddigger boosters, you can bring guests -- with a $2 (per guest) charge paid at the reception.

Hearing the Boos

The next two Chalk Talks with Associate Head Coach Dave Boos are scheduled for the Williams Arena Clubroom (or possibly the Williams Arena Media Room, one floor down) on the following dates:

Saturday, October 28th Prior to the Penn State match, 5:30-6:15pm
Saturday, November 11th Prior to the Northwestern match (8:00pm start), 6:30-7:15pm

Road Trip to Madison

The Golddiggers are trying to organize a trip to Madison for the Wednesday 11/15 match against the Badgers. If you have not received the email from John Thompson which discusses the various options, please let John know (jt@golddigger-boosters.org).

Locker Room Ribbon-Cutting

The ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the women’s volleyball locker room renovation is scheduled for Friday, November 17th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the Sports Pavilion. Please RSVP to the Golden Gopher Fund office by Monday, November 13th (612.626.4653). All Golddigger members are invited and this is a free event. Please note that there is no match on November 17th.

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)

I’m told the folks over at NASA are fond of saying “This isn’t so hard. It’s just rocket science, after all. You want difficult? Try hitting a volleyball!”

That’s why we have to admire the rapidly improving Gopher offense on display lately at the Pavilion and in Iowa City. Our Gophers have taken to blasting the ball. Mashing the melon. Knocking the Nike. Heck, choose your own alliteration -- “crunching the coconut” is still available.

Prior to these matches, the Gophers had been hitting around .200 as a team in the Big10, and had been relying heavily on their defense to win. Something, obviously, changed. Check out the stats from these last four matches:

Opponent	Gophers Hitting Percentage	Gopher Offensive Standout
Opponent	Gophers Hitting Percentage	Player	Kills	Errors	Attempts	Hitting %
Indiana (10/13)	.237	Cumpston	14	3	30	.367
		Nelson	16	3	29	.448
Purdue (10/14)	.268	Cumpston	22	5	46	.370
		Nelson	17	6	41	.268
		Roehrig	15	6	33	.273
		Bowman	12	4	29	.276
Wisconsin (10/18)	.263	Cumpston	14	3	29	.379
		Jones	11	4	21	.333
Iowa (10/20)	.333	Cumpston	14	3	32	.344
		Roehrig	12	3	25	.360
		Bowman	8	2	16	.375
		Jones	17	2	23	.652

This four match display of revitalized offensive power has raised the team’s Big10 hitting percentage to .226. The team has been led by Meghan Cumpston, who has hit .365 in this stretch. All of this is just in time for the arrival of Ohio State and Penn State this weekend -- where an extra kill or twenty will come in mighty handy.

Go Gophers!

(As a side note, the NASA volleyball squad continues to struggle, hitting an anemic .022 against the team from the EPA last Tuesday. Let’s hope they figure it out soon.)

Upcoming Match Previews

Ohio State FRIDAY October 27th (7:00pm)

The Buckeyes’ loss to the Gophers 10/8 was the first of three in a row, as they proceeded to fall at Illinois and Northwestern the following weekend. Wins this past weekend over Michigan State (3-0) and Michigan (3-2) have brought them back to .500 in the conference. Ohio State stands at the proverbial crossroads -- which way will they go?

The loss to the Illini led them to move Ami Stevens from libero back to outside hitter, but she was wearing the libero’s jersey this past weekend. Opposite Briana McCarthy had two very strong matches, collecting 26 kills and hitting .429. French frosh Anna Szerszen’s percentage was not as impressive, but she notched 44 kills -- and took 62 swings against Michigan! She was named co-Big10 Player of the Week for her efforts. Last year’s 3rd-team All-American Danielle Meyer is also back at outside hitter after a very brief return to middle hitter.

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 SATURDAY October 28th (7:00pm)

The Knitting (yes, we know) Lions roared through the first half of their Big10 season at 10-0, only dropping two games in the process. They are hitting a healthy .273 as a team in the Big10, while holding their opponents to an anemic .130. Michigan gave them a competitive match last Friday, taking one of those two games (the Gophers own the other) and they held Penn State to a .175 hitting percentage. The Lions were back to their usual efficiency against Michigan State the next night, however, hitting over .300.

Penn State has been running a 5-1 for most of the season, but tried the 6-2 again in the match against the Wolverines. They were back to the 5-1, with frosh Alisha Glass setting, against the Spartans, so we assume that is what we will see on Saturday, but who knows? Their other starting frosh, outside hitter Megan Hodge, had 39 kills for the weekend. Hodge was the other co-Big10 Player of the Week -- and, by the way, she is averaging over six kills per game in Big10 play.

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)

The Gophers head to East Lansing and Ann Arbor to play Michigan State and Michigan next weekend, before returning home for matches against Illinois and Northwestern November 10-11.

Rankings

The CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll #8 was released 10/23/2006. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 were: 1--Nebraska, 2--Penn State, 3--Stanford, 4--UCLA, 5--USC, 6--Washington, 7--Florida, 8--Texas, 9--Utah and 10--LSU. The Gophers, as noted above, check in at #12 (with a bullet! -- up from #17 last week), Purdue is #13, Wisconsin is #14, and Ohio State is #24.

http://www.avca.org/collegiate/dipoll/dipoll10-23-06.asp

The Gophers have cracked the Top 10 in the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll voters, where they are now ranked #9.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2006&Div=DI&poll=d1wvb&week=8-Oct+23&sort=team&avg=all

Finally, the Gophers have moved all the way to #6 in the Pablo rankings this week.

http://www.richkern.com/vb/rankings/rankw.asp?VBYear=2006&Div=DI&poll=Pablo&week=8-Oct+23&sort=team&avg=all

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

National Update

Conference standings from around the country as of 10/23/06:

Big 12	W/L	Overall	Pac10	W/L	Overall	SEC	W/L	Overall
Nebraska	10-0	18-0	Stanford	8-1	17-2	Florida	11-1	18-2
Oklahoma	9-2	17-4	UCLA	8-1	21-1	LSU	10-2	18-3
Missouri	8-3	14-6	USC	7-2	18-2	Alabama	8-4	13-8
Texas	8-3	13-5	Washington	7-2	17-3	Tennessee	6-6	15-7
Colorado	7-4	11-7	Oregon	5-4	15-4	Arkansas	5-7	12-8
Iowa State	6-5	14-7	California	4-5	15-5	Kentucky	5-7	12-8
Kansas	3-8	10-10	Arizona State	3-6	11-9	Mississippi	5-7	13-9
Texas A&M	3-8	10-9	WSU	2-7	14-9	Mississippi St	5-7	14-8
Texas Tech	3-8	10-10	Arizona	1-8	10-11	South Carolina	5-7	12-11
Baylor	2-9	13-10	Oregon State	0-9	3-15	Auburn	4-8	12-11
Kansas State	1-10	9-12				Georgia	2-10	6-16

Big West	W/L	Overall	WCC	W/L	Overall	MWC	W/L	Overall
Cal Poly	8-0	16-4	San Diego	7-0	17-4	Utah	10-0	19-2
LBSU	6-1	16-4	LMU	4-3	16-6	BYU	9-1	18-2
CS Northridge	5-3	12-7	Pepperdine	4-3	8-10	Colorado State	8-2	14-6
UCSB	5-3	13-8	St Marys	4-3	9-9	TCU	5-5	17-7
CS Fullerton	3-5	14-7	Santa Clara	4-3	14-5	UNLV	5-5	14-8
Pacific	3-5	6-14	San Francisco	3-4	19-5	New Mexico	3-7	7-15
UC Irvine	1-5	6-14	Gonzaga	1-6	6-16	Wyoming	2-6	8-11
UC Riverside	0-9	2-19	Portland	1-6	8-12	San Diego State	2-8	8-14
						Air Force	0-10	3-17

Other notables:

Team	W/L	Overall	Conference	Place
Bowling Green	10-0	21-2	Mid-American	1st (T)
Dayton	9-0	19-5	Atlantic 10	1st
Duke	11-0	18-2	Atlantic Coast	1st
Hawaii	7-1	15-5	Western Athletic	1st (T)
Louisville	7-1	14-6	Big East	2nd (T)
Missouri State	9-2	17-5	Missouri Valley	1st (T)
New Mexico State	7-1	24-1	Western Athletic	1st (T)
Northern Iowa	9-2	17-7	Missouri Valley	1st (T)
Notre Dame	7-1	13-8	Big East	2nd (T)
Ohio	10-0	18-3	Mid-American	1st (T)
Sacramento State	10-0	24-4	Big Sky	1st
St. John’s	8-0	23-1	Big East	1st
St. Louis	8-1	15-7	Atlantic 10	2nd
Tulsa	9-2	22-5	Conference USA	1st
Wichita State	9-2	18-4	Missouri Valley	1st (T)

(T) = tied

Recent results of note (home team in bold):

10/18

Nebraska 3, Texas 2 (27-30, 30-22, 22-30, 30-22, 15-13)

Oklahoma 3, Missouri 0 (30-18, 30-18, 30-26)

10/19

Oregon 3, California 1 (30-28, 13-30, 35-33, 30-25)

Washington State 3, Arizona 1 (26-30, 30-22, 30-26, 30-26)

10/20

Arkansas 3, Tennessee 1 (23-30, 31-29, 30-28, 30-28)

Dayton 3, St. Louis 1 (22-30, 36-34, 30-24, 30-23)

Northern Iowa 3, Missouri State 1 (30-16, 30-26, 18-30, 30-19)

Stanford 3, Oregon 0 (30-20, 30-18, 30-18)

UCLA 3, USC 1 (25-30, 30-20, 30-24, 30-24)

10/21

San Diego 3, Santa Clara 0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-27)

Texas 3, Oklahoma 2 (30-27, 30-25, 27-30, 25-30, 15-11)

Wichita State 3, Northern Iowa 1 (31-29, 28-30, 30-22, 30-20)

10/22

Duke 3, Florida State 0 (30-21, 30-20, 30-27)

LSU 3, Tennessee 0 (30-28, 30-26, 30-19)

St. Johns 3, Notre Dame 0 (32-30, 30-24, 30-22)

+ + +

Best links for results, 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

Just some of the national leaders (as of 10/15/06) were:

Hitting percentage		Kills per game		Assists per game
Nana Meriwether, UCLA	.486	Kelly-Anne Billingy, Marshall	6.40	Courtney Thompson, Washington	14.53
Lindsey Ensign, Princeton	.460	Shonda Cole, South Carolina	5.83	Lizzie Bazzetta, Illinois	13.83
Faye Barhorst, Dayton	.452	Maria Andonova, Florida A&M	5.78	Michelle Moriarty, Texas	13.73
Christa Harmotto, Penn State	.450	Abbey Breit, Jacksonville State	5.61	Nellie Spicer, UCLA	13.70
Jessica Swarbrick, Washington	.444	Kate McCullagh, Northern Illinois	5.59	Kanoe Kamana’o	13.52
Aces per game		Blocks per game		Digs per game
Brooke Engel, North Texas	0.91	Emillie Toone, Utah	1.90	Amanda McCormick, Ball State	7.14
April London, Siena	0.81	Katie Oakes, Virginia	1.83	Sydney Donahue, Arizona State	6.83
Martina Wagner, Long Island	0.73	Sarah Blum, Tennessee	1.79	Gina Guide, Northern Illinois	6.64
Marina Skander, LSU	0.72	Michelle Franz, Sacramento State	1.76	Lara Newberry, Chattanooga	6.57
Jessica Piscitelli, Niagara	0.70	Taylor Reineke, Wisconsin	1.74	Stephanie Figgers, SF Austin	6.48

Big10 Update

The standings:

Team	Big10 record	Overall record	AVCA ranking	RichKern.com Ranking	Pablo rating*
Penn State	10-0	21-0	2	1	3
Minnesota	9-1	15-5	12	9	6
Purdue	7-3	17-4	13	12	16
Wisconsin	7-3	15-5	14	11	10
Ohio State	5-5	15-5	24	20	22
Illinois	4-6	13-7	NA	NA	28
Michigan State	4-6	13-7	NA	NA	37
Northwestern	4-6	10-9	NA	NA	39
Michigan	3-7	16-7	NA	NA	31
Indiana	1-9	10-12	NA	NA	110
Iowa	1-9	12-10	NA	NA	83

2006 conference statistics for individuals are at:

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

Last weekend’s matches (home team in bold):

10/18

Minnesota 3, Wisconsin 0 (30-20, 30-25, 30-28)

10/20

Minnesota 3, Iowa 0 (30-19, 30-23, 30-24)

Northwestern 3, Indiana 1 (30-22, 25-30, 30-23, 30-18)

Ohio State 3, Michigan State 0 (30-28, 30-22, 30-22)

Penn State 3, Michigan 1 (24-30, 30-27, 30-25, 30-26)

Purdue 3, Illinois 0 (30-16, 30-28, 30-26)

10/21

Illinois 3, Indiana 1 (26-30, 30-24, 30-16, 30-20)

Penn State 3, Michigan State 0 (30-18, 30-22, 30-13)

Purdue 3, Northwestern 1 (23-30, 32-30, 30-28, 30-23)

Wisconsin 3, Iowa 1 (30-19, 26-30, 30-24, 30-21)

10/22

Ohio State 3, Michigan 2 (27-30, 30-14, 22-30, 30-26 15-9)

This week’s schedule:

10/25

Indiana @ Purdue

10/27
Iowa @ Purdue
Michigan @ Illinois

Michigan State @ Northwestern
Ohio State @ Minnesota
Penn State @ Wisconsin

10/28
Iowa @ Indiana
Michigan @ Northwestern

Michigan State @ Illinois
Penn State @ Minnesota

10/29

Ohio State @ Wisconsin

Illinois

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

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

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

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

Ohio State

See Upcoming Match Previews above.

Penn State

See Upcoming Match Previews above.

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

Wisconsin

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

If you ask a volleyball coach what drives her crazy, the chances are the answer will either be “meddling parents,” “stubborn players,” “incompetent referees” or “an itchy polo shirt.” That’s when you might want to be a little bit more specific. You might ask her what does her team do that drives her crazy -- and, if that still doesn’t produce the answer we need to write this column, you might have to ask her for her opinion about scoring runs by her opponent. If we even remotely know what we’re writing about (and that’s open to debate), she will respond with something along the lines of “I don’t like ‘em. I don’t like ‘em at all!” -- and, if she’s not the classiest of coaches, she might even swear like a sailor and spit, in disgust. So stand back.

Now, before we go any further with this discussion, we should define our terms. What do we mean by a scoring run? It’s pretty simple really. That would be consecutive service points scored. If a team receives serve, sides out, and then scores three straight points on their serve, that is a scoring run of three points (although they have actually scored four points in a row). This is how we are defining it anyhow and since there’s no one here to slap our hands away from the keyboard and type in their own definition, that’s going to be as good as Webster’s for us.

There are, of course, many ways to lose a volleyball match and all of them have to do with your opponent scoring more points than you. But the quickest way to lose a match is if your opponent has had several of these scoring runs and/or has strung together one or more of a substantial length. Therefore, one way to gauge just how well your team is playing is to look at the quantity and duration of your opponent’s scoring runs -- as well as your own.

Let’s take the Gophers match with the Badgers as an example:

GAME ONE			GAME TWO			GAME THREE
Run	Gophers	Badgers	Run	Gophers	Badgers	Run	Gophers	Badgers
2 points	2x	1x	2 points	1x	1x	2 points	1x	1x
3 points			3 points	1x		3 points
4 points	2x		4 points			4 points
5+ points			5+ points			5+ points

First of all, there were only ten scoring runs in the entire match, which is fairly amazing in itself; but the most impressive item in the above chart is that the Gophers held the Badgers to just three scoring runs in the match and none of them were more than two points in length. It would be extremely difficult for a team held in check like this -- few scoring runs and none of any substantial duration -- to win a match, and the Badgers were no exception. (By the way, sideout scoring for this match was 16-7, 12-7 and 8-7.)

This is particularly interesting since this appeared to be a focus in many of the intrasquad scrimmages being played by the Gophers this past preseason; many of these games had a modified scoring system based solely on scoring or preventing runs of service points. One has to assume that the Gopher staff and players were more than satisfied with the results displayed above.

[Remember, emails to newsletter@golddigger-boosters.org or we’ll just keep picking the topic.]

Travels with JT

Point U!(betcha) presents another installment from our very own travelling booster, John “JT” Thompson, as he follows the Gophers around the country, this time to the Paris of the Midwest, Iowa City. Or, as he explains below, maybe not.

I had planned to travel down to Iowa on Friday, but something more important came up. (So, if you were wondering, yes, there are a few things more important that travelling to the away volleyball matches ... but only a few.) In several ways, it actually worked out best that the Iowa weekend was the one that was interrupted: I didn’t miss a home match; it was “only” Iowa; I didn’t miss a pair of matches.

That last “for the best” item got me to thinking, though. Occasionally, I've had people ask who we’re playing for the second match of the weekend, or wonder who Wisconsin is playing, or will be playing on Saturday. I’ve also had people ask why we play a Wednesday match twice per season, or why we’re only playing one match on a particular weekend, and not a second team. Well, the answers to all these questions are wrapped up in how the Big Ten conference sets up the schedule, and since it affects Gophers on the road, maybe it’ll be interesting. On the other hand, if you already know the answers to all those questions, you probably don’t need to read any further.

With its eleven teams, the Big Ten can play a pair of full round-robin’s worth of matches in the conference season. Each team plays every other team twice -- once at home, and once on the road. Although they could probably have worked out some crazy, convoluted schedule where each team went wandering off to the others, they instead came up with the idea of travel partners. Since we play two matches per week, it makes sense for us to play two teams that are paired together for travel -- for example, Michigan and Michigan State. It also makes sense for us to have a partner school that travels (or hosts) in synch with the Gophers. That way, when we play Michigan on Friday, our partner can play Michigan State. The next night, we play Michigan State, and our travel partner plays Michigan. In the second half of the season, after we’ve played each other team once, we go at it again, but this time, we travel to the teams that visited us in the first half, and those that we visited come and play in the Pavilion for their second match against us. Travel partners don’t actually travel together on the same flights and buses, of course ... they just travel to the same places on a weekend, or else host the same two schools that their partner is hosting. It’s all neat, symmetrical, and perfectly balanced.

Or is it? There are a few issues left unresolved, and some of the questions I claimed were answered by this are still hanging around unanswered. Like, why do we play on Wednesday? And if there are eleven teams in the Big Ten, how can they all pair up? And wait a second ... when do we play our travel partner? Well, all those problems are handled by the same solution. Ever since Penn State joined our conference, there’s been one odd team, which doesn’t have a travel partner. In any given week, there’s also one pair of teams which doesn’t have another pair to play -- four teams (two pairs of

travel-partners) are off playing at another four schools (another two pairs of travel partners). That leaves the fifth pair of teams, plus that odd eleventh team. So, in the week that you don’t have a pair of teams to play, the odd team is coming to play you and your travel partner on the weekend (or else you and your travel partner are going off to the odd team’s school. Since you and your travel partner each have just the one match on the weekend, you play that week, too. It can’t be Friday or Saturday (since you’re already playing one of those nights, and your travel partner is playing on the other night) so you have to schedule some other night when you play your travel partner. That’s where Wednesday matches come in.

So there it is -- an elaborate weaving back and forth as the Gophers and their partner either visit, or host, another pair of teams four out of five weekends, and on the fifth, play each other on Wednesday, and the odd team of the Big Ten on the weekend. Every team except the eleventh team does this. The odd team doesn’t have a partner, and so doesn’t play a Wednesday match. All its matches are on the weekends, and it travels to a pair of schools, or a pair of teams comes to visit.

But wait! I didn't mention it, but I’m sure several of you remember that in the past, we’ve gone down to Iowa on Wednesday (and similarly, they’ve come up to the Pavilion on Wednesday), and that the odd, one-match-only weekend matches have been against someone else. That’s because the team that is odd man out changes from year to year, rotating through the eleven schools. This year, the odd team is Iowa. Last year, it was Indiana, and the year before that, it was Illinois (it’s in alphabetic order). Because of that, we have a different travel partner this year (Wisconsin). Except to accommodate the eleventh team changing year to year, the travel partnerships stay the same, and are set up to make travel between the schools as easy as possible. So, most of the time, Minnesota and Iowa are partners, because they’re (relatively) close to each other. But when Iowa is the odd team, we partner with Wisconsin. When we’re the odd team, Iowa will partner with Wisconsin.

In most years, a traveling Gopher will visit the outlying Penn State and Ohio State on one weekend. In most years, he’ll visit Michigan and Michigan State on another weekend. Most years, he’ll travel down to partner Iowa on a Wednesday. The remaining five teams in the geographic middle of the Big Ten are more fluid in who their travel partners are, since one will get pulled into a temporary partnership when an outlying team is the odd one, and all of them shift around a bit to accommodate that, or when one of the middle five is the odd team. (Actually, Wisconsin and Northwestern are halfway between an outlying team and a middle team, so they’re fairly static as well.)

This isn't a “most years” for Iowa, but it was for the Penn State and Ohio State weekend, and the first week of November will be the last chance for a couple years to visit both Michigan and Michigan State as an easy weekend trip. In 2007 and 2008, the two Michigan schools will take their turns as the odd team, and travel will be a bit tougher. I don’t normally look that far ahead, but when you travel, you do need to look at least to the next road trip, if not two or three out. This weekend’s matches are going to be huge, but I’ve been paying a bit of attention to my trip to Ann Arbor and East Lansing at the beginning of November. Why not come along? It won’t be this easy to get out to both schools again until 2009.

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In our last issue, JT mentioned Stan Gordon’s comment about Wayne Miller’s Gopher cap. Wayne has responded:

In “Travels With JT” he mentions Stan Gordon asking about Karen and me, saying he remembered the ears. For the record, Karen wears the ears and I wear the foam Gopher Head Hat.

During the Gophers NCAA trip to Dallas a number of fans and parents went out to dinner. I was wearing my regular Gopher Women’s Volleyball baseball cap when I walked by Penn State Head Coach Russ Rose. He looked at me and asked, “Where’s your hat?” So we know that the Gopher fans do make an impression when we travel to matches.

I believe this is the fifth season for the hat. Most of the time we drive to matches, including PSU-OSU, although we didn’t make it this year. When we fly, it travels with us as carry-on. If the luggage doesn’t make it, the hat, ears and Golden Gopher volleyball shirts do. I purchased it from Lids at the Burnsville Center after my wife spotted it on one of her shopping forays. I went online a couple weeks ago to Lids and they apparently no longer carry it, as Minnesota only had baseball caps listed.

Unfortunately, having retired this past summer, the Mrs. and I will be moving out of state at the end of the volleyball season -- although we will always continue to be Golden Gopher volleyball fans and follow the team online or on TV, as the case may be. We will also support the local college team and keep our fingers crossed that we will have the chance to see the Gophers in action.

Wayne and Karen (and The Hat), center, with the Thompsons

on each side; photo courtesy of JT

Meet the Gophers

In the absence of further correspondence from team members (was it something we said?), Point U!(betcha) wants to know just how well you know your Gophers. We’re not talking about the easy questions lobbed at the fans during the matches either. Everyone, for instance, knows that Meredith Nelson’s favorite breakfast is French toast, but what if we were to quiz you about the hometown of Kyla Roehrig? Ha! We thought so.

Answer correctly and everyone sitting at your computer wins a Subway six-inch sandwich. Answer incorrectly and Point U!(betcha) gets your computer. True or false (family members are ineligible to play):

ü Kyla’s hometown -- Papillion, Nebraska -- is located just south of Omaha.

ü The population of the city is around 20,500.

ü The city was founded in 1870.

ü Papillion is the French word for “butterflies.”

ü The residents changed the pronunciation from the French so that it rhymes with “Pavilion” after Kyla committed to Minnesota.

ü Legend has it that a group of travelling Frenchmen came upon the valley in which the city is now located and were amazed by the thousands of butterflies fluttering among the tall grass and wild flowers. One of them, whom we shall call Jacques -- since one of them had to have been named Jacques -- exclaimed “Look at all zee grazzhopperz! They are zo very pretty!” Jacques’ mistake was soon corrected and the rest is history. Or legend anyhow.

So how well did you do? All six items are, in fact, true. We’ll stop by for your computer later this week.

Gopher Chatter

We continue to keep an eye on 2007 Gopher recruits Hailey Cowles, Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer, all of whom are entering the Minnesota High School State Tournament playoffs this week. A quick peek at the state’s statistical leaders shows Hailey (at Eden Prairie) and Brook (at Bloomington Kennedy) near the top for most kills on the season, and Lauren (at Cretin-Derham Hall) far ahead of everyone in total blocks.

http://www.maxpreps.com/FanPages/State.mxp/Minnesota/AreaID-65a1ea00-4f5f-454b-a358-c6d718cebb5f/Girls_Varsity_Volleyball_Fall_06-07

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Alumna News

We offer a few links to some of the alumna still involved in the game, such as Charnette Fair (who played with the AVP this past season), Amanda (Cipperly) Hokenson (head coach at the College of St. Mary in Omaha, NE), Lindsey Taatjes (graduate assistant coach at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD) and Erica Glaser (assistant coach at Augsburg College here in Minneapolis).

http://info.avp.com/player.asp?ID=6698 (Charnette Fair)

http://csmweb.csm.edu/cfp/athletics/index.cfm?nid=812&sid=7 (Amanda Hokenson)

http://www.collegesportingnews.net/Sites/Aug/article.asp?articleid=58588 (Lindsey Taatjes)

http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/coaches/glaser_erica.html (Erica Glaser)

Also, kudos to Lisa (Reinhart) Reagan for her work as the color analyst on FOX Sports North’s telecast of the Gopher-Badger match.

Miscellaneous

Gopher Head Coach Mike Hebert will soon take his place in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony, scheduled for December 13th in Omaha, will include Coach Hebert, Deborah Chin, Carol Dewey, Mick Haley, Sue Gozansky, Sue Woodstra and John Zoltek. Again, our sincerest congratulations on this well-deserved honor!

http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=38659&SPID=3301&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=621097

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Please note that Friday night’s match against the Buckeyes is scheduled to be broadcast Saturday at noon on FOX Sports North and CSN Chicago. We make no guarantees that this will actually happen, but that is the schedule.

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Finally, we encourage all boosters (and other volleyball fans) to contact the following individuals about improving the coverage of Gopher volleyball in the local media:

Glen Crevier, Sports Editor at the StarTribune gcrevier@startribune.com

Mike Bass, Sports Editor at the Pioner Press mbass@pioneerpress.com

Bea Chang, Sports Director at KARE bchang@kare11.com

Jeff Grayson, Sports Director at KMSP jgray744@foxtv.com

Steve Johnson, Sports Producer at KSTP sjohnson@kstp.com

Gregg Litman, Sports Director at WCCO grlitman@wcco.cbs.com

Dan Terhaar, Sports Director at WCCO-AM dterhaar@wccoradio.cbs.com

Chad Abbott, Program Director at KFAN-AM chadabbot@clearchannel.com

We can make a difference, but only if our “voices” are heard.