Point U!(betcha)
Newsletter
of the University of Minnesota Golddiggers Booster Club
Volume
2006 Issue 8
November
20, 2006
Our #10th-ranked Golden Gophers prepare for their final Big10 weekend in sole possession of second place in the conference (15-3 in the Big10 and 21-7 overall). Purdue and Indiana are up next, on the Thanksgiving road trip. See Upcoming Match Previews below for more details.
The Gophers will, however, be back in time for the NCAA Tournament Selections this Sunday, November 26th. Details about watching the broadcast with the team can also be found below.
A special thanks to John and DuAnn Thompson for their efforts in organizing and facilitating the bus trip to Madison last Wednesday. The whole excursion was an unqualified success, although we did return with fewer boosters than we had when we left. Oops! More about this -- you guessed it -- below.
Additional highlights of this issue include the Coach’s Corner (with a tentative pre-season schedule for 2007), another Travels with JT report, photos from the Locker Room Dedication and Senior Night, a link to a nice article about Coach Hebert and all sorts of information/speculation about the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Point U!
In this issue
From
Coach Hebert:
It has been a week of successes for Gopher Volleyball. The victory over the Badgers still tastes sweet. The reception for the locker room fund raising campaign was a landmark event for our program. And senior night gave us the opportunity to thank Malama, Kelly, Meredith and Meghan for their individual and collective efforts in maintaining the high level of achievement that Gopher Volleyball has become known for.
It was also special to welcome back Chris Voelz. She played such a central role in creating the wonderful facilities that we call home.
Some random thoughts …
- We always play well against Wisconsin. We have defeated the Badgers 8 of the last 10 times we have played them.
- Once again, the Gophers are near the top of the Big Ten in most defensive categories (along with Penn State). Over the past five years we have finished first or second in holding our opponents to a low kill percentage. At the present time our conference foes are hitting a paltry .164.
- We averaged 3,938 fans for our 13 regular season home matches. This is an all-time Minnesota Volleyball record, putting us in fourth place behind Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Nebraska (around 4,100).
- Malama Peniata continues to lead the Big Ten in digs, as she has all season.
- Meghan Cumpston has pieced together a .253 Kill Efficiency in Big Ten play to lead all Gopher outside hitters.
- The Gophers are 2-1 in five-game matches, and 7-5 in four-game matches this season.
Nothing is final, but we are close to putting the finishing touches on our 2007 schedule. So far we know that the following dates are probable:
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● August 24 |
@ Notre Dame (dual match) |
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● August 31 - September 2 |
Diet Coke
Classic (3 days, one
match per day per team): |
|
○ Minnesota ○ Stanford ○ Ohio ○ San Diego |
|
|
● September 7-8 |
@ California (teams to be announced) |
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● September 14-15 |
Gopher Invite: |
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○ Minnesota ○ Creighton ○ Wisconsin-Green Bay ○ North Carolina-Charlotte |
Don’t forget that this year’s NCAA Sunday announcement gathering will be earlier than in previous years. It will start as early as 2:00pm. See your flyer for exact times. Unless the wheels come off this weekend, I fully expect the Gophers to be awarded a first round host!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and we will see you on Sunday!
Head Coach
Minnesota Volleyball
From John Oravis:
Hello Golddiggers!
No turkeys here! So let’s stayed buckled up for the rest of this season’s ride!
Congratulations to the Gophers on their huge road win (3-1) over #10 Wisconsin in Madison last week. Madison is always a tough place to play, much less win. Ditto for the home win over Iowa this past weekend. Our seniors really stepped up their play to ice that victory!
My thanks to everyone who attended the Gopher volleyball locker room renovation ribbon-cutting ceremony last Friday, November 17th. You were able to see first-hand the “NCAA Final Four stature” facilities -- locker rooms, team rooms and coaches’ rooms -- that our program deserves and now enjoys. There are also some photos elsewhere in this e-newsletter. These state-of-the-art facility upgrades should really help our coaches’ recruiting efforts in the future. Thanks to all of you and to the other donors who pitched in and dug deep to make this happen. Thanks also to board member Larry Mickelson who served on the project organizing committee. Thanks especially to Golddiggers Dave and Peggy Lucas who endowed the program’s first volleyball athletic scholarship, which will go to Malama Peniata.
Congratulations, thanks and good luck to our four seniors Kelly Bowman, Meghan Cumpston, Malama Peniata, and Meredith Nelson. We hope to see all of you play at least two more home matches if/when we are selected to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. By the way, all four will also graduate from the University between December 2006 and June 2007. How’s that for being consummate student-athletes! We will miss you! Photos from the “Senior Night” are also elsewhere in this e-newsletter.
Don’t forget about the 2006 NCAA Tournament selection broadcast on Sunday, November 26th. Please look for signs on Sunday in case the event is moved to the Williams Arena Club Room with its wide-screen TV. The event is hosted by Gopher Athletics Marketing and is free, but please RSVP. The Golddiggers are also supporting this event with a small donation.
Finally, my thanks again to all of our coaches, players, booster club liaison coach Nao Ikeda, the Golddiggers Board of Directors, and to all of you for your outstanding support and enthusiasm this past regular season. It’s been a great experience.
Go Gophers! Point U!
John Oravis, President, Golddiggers
NCAA Selection Show Gathering
The Athletic Department is hosting this event again this year. Join the team
and fellow fans to watch the NCAA Volleyball Tournament Selections broadcast!
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Date: |
Sunday, November 26, 2006 |
|
Time: |
1:30-3:30pm |
|
Site: |
Sports Pavilion Club Room |
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RSVP: |
Heather Perla (by 11.22.06 5pm) |
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Phone: |
612.625.4879 |
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E-mail: |
heather.perla@gmail.com |
Need some additional incentive? We are told “light hors d’oeuvres and beverages” will be served! Still on the fence? Would some heavier hors d’oeuvres make a difference?
NCAA Tournament Sub-Regional Tickets
The University of Minnesota may host the first and second rounds of a sub-regional at the Sports Pavilion. The dates would be either December 1st/2nd or December 2nd/3rd. Tickets for this sub-regional can be pre-ordered on a contingency basis; i.e., they will not be processed unless the Gophers’ bid to host is accepted.
The order form for these tickets must be received by November 26th by mail or fax. If you did not receive the order form in the mail, you can call the ticket office at 612.624.8080 (1-800-U-GOPHER outside the Metro area) or you can e-mail this newsletter (newsletter@golddigger-boosters.org) and we would be glad to fax or e-mail you a copy.
Beginning November 27th, at 9:00am, phone orders will be accepted at the ticket office and tickets will also be available on-line at www.gophersports.com.
However you obtain your tickets, let’s Pack the Pavilion for our Gophers!
Peniata
Defensive Player of the Week
Malama Peniata was named Big10 Defensive Player of the Week for her play against Wisconsin and Iowa. She averaged 6.62 digs per game for the two matches, including 36 digs against Iowa. This is the third time this season Malama has been so honored. Our congratulations!
In the spirit of One Picture Equaling One Thousand Words, Point U!(betcha) offers these pictures, courtesy of Karen Oravis.
That’s 5,000 words by our count, but just a few more: THANK YOU SENIORS for all that you have brought to the program (and for your contributions still to come). We boosters are drawn to the program because we love the sport, but it is players like you who inspire our loyalty and support.
Go Gophers!
@ Purdue FRIDAY November 24th 7:00pm
The Boilermakers have been hoeing the proverbial tough row recently, losing four matches in a row prior to wins at Northwestern and Illinois this past weekend. They are now tied with Ohio State for fourth place in the conference and may need wins over both Minnesota and Wisconsin to keep that position. Purdue is still ranked in the Top 25 (22nd), in spite of their recent struggles.
Stephanie Lynch, sophomore middle hitter, was this week’s Big10 and AVCA National Player of the Week. Lynch hit .636 and had 2.3 blocks per game in the Boilermakers’ wins last week. This included 3 solo blocks and 9 block assists in the Northwestern match and a .789 hitting percentage against Illinois.
@ Indiana SATURDAY November 25th 7:00pm
Speaking of tough rows, the Hoosiers are probably thinking they could use a new hoe about now. Or that there are just too many tough rows out there. Indiana, after winning their first Big10 match of the year, has now lost 17 in a row.
Erica Short, sophomore outside hitter, is the Hoosiers’ offensive leader, averaging 3.97 kills per game in Big10 play -- good for 10th in the conference.
The Gophers then return home for the NCAA Tournament selections and word on who is next on the schedule.
The CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll #12 was released 11/20/2006. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 were: 1--Nebraska, 2--Washington, 3--Stanford, 4--UCLA, 5--Penn State, 6--USC, 7--Florida, 8--Texas, 9--Utah and 10--Gophers! Wisconsin is at #11 (down from #10 last week), Ohio State is #19 and Purdue is #22.
The Gophers are #9 in the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll.
Finally, the Gophers are #7 in the Pablo rankings.
Conference standings from around the country as of 11/19/06:
|
Big 12 |
W/L |
Overall |
|
Pac10 |
W/L |
Overall |
|
SEC |
W/L |
Overall |
|
|
Nebraska |
17-1 |
25-1 |
|
Stanford |
14-2 |
23-3 |
|
Florida |
19-1 |
26-2 |
|
|
Texas |
16-3 |
21-5 |
|
Washington |
14-2 |
24-3 |
|
LSU |
16-4 |
24-5 |
|
|
Oklahoma |
15-3 |
24-5 |
|
UCLA |
13-3 |
26-3 |
|
Alabama |
12-8 |
17-12 |
|
|
Colorado |
11-7 |
15-10 |
|
USC |
12-4 |
23-4 |
|
Kentucky |
11-9 |
18-10 |
|
|
Iowa State |
11-7 |
19-9 |
|
California |
8-8 |
19-8 |
|
Mississippi |
10-10 |
19-12 |
|
|
Missouri |
10-8 |
16-11 |
|
Oregon |
7-9 |
17-9 |
|
Tennessee |
10-10 |
19-11 |
|
|
Baylor |
6-12 |
18-13 |
|
Arizona State |
6-11 |
14-14 |
|
Arkansas |
9-11 |
16-12 |
|
|
Texas Tech |
5-13 |
12-15 |
|
WSU |
3-13 |
15-15 |
|
Mississippi St |
8-12 |
17-13 |
|
|
Texas A&M |
4-15 |
11-16 |
|
Arizona |
4-13 |
13-16 |
|
South Carolina |
8-12 |
15-16 |
|
|
Kansas |
3-15 |
10-17 |
|
Oregon State |
0-16 |
3-22 |
|
Auburn |
5-15 |
13-18 |
|
|
Kansas State |
2-16 |
10-18 |
|
|
|
|
|
Georgia |
2-18 |
6-24 |
|
|
Big West |
W/L |