Point U!(betcha)
Newsletter
of the University of Minnesota Golddiggers Booster Club
Volume
2006 Issue 10
December
4, 2006
It was a struggle, but you know what they say: No Painesville, no Gainesville.* So it’s off to the Florida Regional for our 9th-ranked Golden Gophers, following their wins over Siena (3-0) and St. John’s (3-2) last Thursday/Friday in Albany, New York. See the Coach’s Corner, Point U!(betcha), Upcoming Match Previews and Tournament Talk below for more.
Highlights of this issue include another Travels with JT report as well as plenty of other useful information -- if we do say so ourselves.
Point U!
*For the record, no one has actually ever said this until now, nor is
it likely to be repeated.
In this issue
From
Coach Hebert:
To all you Gopher
volleyball fans …THANK YOU for your collective support and positive thoughts as
we held off a determined St. John’s team on Friday night. We needed everything
you sent our way! They might be the best team no one ever heard of in this
year’s NCAA field. They are legit.
We won the first two
games in routine fashion. But they came out in game three with a new lineup and
switched from a 5-1 to a 6-2 offense. They played much better using this system
and it rattled us. Sprinkle in a dose of aggressive serving by St. John’s and
you can see why they had us on the run in games 3 and 4.
Then we switched our
lineup in game 5 to match up with their strong attackers. The Gophers
also took a deep breath at that point and braced for a strong finish. Our 15-12
fifth game victory was a relief to all. We couldn’t get out of Albany fast
enough!
Now it’s on to
Gainesville where we take on the Florida Gators. They are a very athletic team,
similar in size and ability to Penn State. They feature strong blocking and
hitting. Their setter is one of the best in the nation. And they are used to
winning in their home arena. But the Gophers are determined to make a stand. We are
confident that we can beat Florida.
For those of you who
make the trek to Gainesville, I hope you will do your best to offset the large
Gator contingent that is expected for the match. It will be a high profile
event. This is what we have been training for all season. Let’s represent!!!
Head Coach
Minnesota Volleyball
From John Oravis:
Hello Golddiggers!
As a famous TV comedian used to say, “How Sweet It Is!” Now it’s on to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen (NCAA Regional) in Gainesville, Florida this weekend.
Congratulations to the Gopher players and coaches on their tournament wins over Siena College and St. John’s University in Albany last week.
Minnesota has advanced to the NCAA Regionals in six of the last eight seasons. The Golden Gophers are also one of only eight teams to make six or more NCAA Regional appearances since 1999.
Another interesting tidbit here: For the first time in the history of the Big Ten conference, it has five teams in the NCAA Regionals (Minnesota, Penn State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Purdue). So, as head coach Mike Hebert often tells us, it is one of the toughest conferences in the country and the level of competition each week prepares the Gophers well for post-season play.
Congratulations again! Good luck and good hitting this weekend!
Go Gophers! Point U!
John Oravis, President, Golddiggers
Tickets
for Gainesville Regional
If you are planning on attending the Regional in Gainesville, it might be wise to head down there with tickets in hand (or reserved). Call the ticket office at 612-624-8080 or 1-800-U-GOPHER for help.
Meghan
Cumpston Recipient of Big10 Sportsmanship Award
Meghan Cumpston is the Minnesota honoree for the Big10 Sportsmanship Award in volleyball. Meghan joins Illinois’ Kayani Turner, Indiana’s Annie Moddrell, Iowa’s Melanie Meister, Michigan’s Erin Penn, Michigan State’s Miken Trogdon, Northwestern’s Lauren Greenwood, Ohio State’s Briana McCarthy, Penn State’s Joanie Guman, Purdue’s Brittany Dildine and Wisconsin’s Audra Jeffers as recipients of this award. Meghan is now a candidate for The Outstanding Sportsmanship Award which is awarded to a male and female student-athlete from each of the Big10 schools at the end of the 2006/2007 school year. Per the award’s guidelines, these athletes must “exhibit positive sportsmanship, be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.”
Our congratulations to Meghan!
Gophers NCAA
results
St. Johns vs #9 Minnesota (Dec 01, 2005 at
Albany, N.Y.)
St. Johns | ATTACK
|SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K
E TA PCT|
A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA
BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 Huang, Hui Ping..... 5| 13
6 33 .212|
1| 0 1|
3| 2| 2 3
0| 0| 16.5
10 Blunt, Latoya....... 5| 13 7
31 .194| 1|
0 0| 0| 2|
0 2
1| 0| 14.0
14 Leszczynska, Wioleta 5| 4
7 13 -.231| 44| 2
0| 0| 7| 0
1 0| 1|
6.5
17 Brooks, Casie....... 5| 3
1 13 .154| 10|
0 1| 0| 4|
0 2
0| 0| 4.0
22 Hardimon, Patti..... 5| 17 7
38 .263| 0|
1 2| 2| 10| 0
1 0| 0|
18.5
28 Rimgaila, Caitlin... 5| 7
2 24 .208|
0| 0 0|
0| 0| 2 3
2| 0| 10.5
5 DeMayo, Dana........ 5|
4 4 16
.000| 0| 2
1| 2| 7| 0
0 0| 0|
6.0
7 Yee, Kathleen....... 5|
0 0 0
.000| 1| 1
0| 1| 20| 0 0
0| 0| 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 61
34 168 .161| 57| 6
5| 8| 52| 4 12 3|
1| 77.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME
TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 10.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
13 6 36
.194 0-0 0%
GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4
5 TEAM RECORDS
2
11 8 38
.079 0-0 0%
St. Johns........... (2) 26 17 30 30 12
31-5
3
14 7 36
.194 0-0 0%
Minnesota........... (3) 30 30 26 24 15
25-7
4
13 8 38
.132 0-0 0%
5
10 5 20
.250 0-0 0%
Minnesota | ATTACK
|SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K
E TA PCT|
A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Bowman, Kelly....... 5| 10
5 25 .200|
4| 2 0|
3| 6| 0 3
0| 1| 13.5
4 Cumpston, Meghan.... 5| 14
8 40 .150|
0| 1 1|
1| 9| 1 1
0| 0| 16.5
5 Nelson, Meredith.... 5| 17
3 37 .378|
4| 2 4|
0| 1| 0 3
0| 0| 20.5
8 Hartmann, Rachel.... 5|
2 2 6
.000| 51| 1 0| 0|
11| 0 4
0| 3| 5.0
11 Jones, Jessy........ 5| 13 5
23 .348| 0|
0 0| 0| 1|
1 8
0| 0| 18.0
15 Tan, Christine...... 5| 0
0 0 .000|
1| 2 3| 1|
13| 0 0
0| 0| 2.0
6 Peniata, Malama..... 5|
1 0 4
.250| 2| 0
0| 1| 12| 0 0
0| 0| 1.0
10 Hagerty, Rachelle... 1| 0
1 1-1.000| 0|
0 0| 0| 0|
0 0
0| 0| 0.0
12 Roehrig, Kyla....... 5| 14 9
33 .152| 0|
0 0| 0| 1|
1 3
0| 0| 16.5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 71
33 169 .225| 62| 8
8| 6| 54| 3 22 0|
4| 93.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME
TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
20 9 42
.262 0-0 0%
Site: Albany, N.Y. (University Gymnasium)
2
16 2 34
.412 0-0 0%
Date: Dec 01, 2005 Attend:
312 Time: 2:15
3
14 10 35 .114
0-0 0% Referees: Mike Blalock, Mark Nash
4
12 11 40 .025
0-0 0%
5
9 1 18
.444 0-0 0%
Our congratulations to the Gophers for their wins in rounds 1 and 2 of the Tournament. The St. John’s match wasn’t exactly what our blood pressure needed, but no one’s going to complain about a win.
Some highlights from rounds 1 and 2:
ü 15 of the 16 seeds have advanced to the Regionals. Cal Poly was the only seeded team (#15) to fall and it could be argued that their sub-regional had three legitimate seeds in it with California and LSU.
ü 5 teams have advanced to the Regionals from the Big10, as well as 5 from the Pac-10 and 3 from the Big12.
ü It was an impressive Tournament for some lesser-knowns, such as Middle Tennessee State (a 3-2 winner over Louisville, at Louisville) and Stephen F. Austin (a 3-2 winner over Alabama).
ü Kentucky also had a nice win over Ohio (another 3-2 decision).
ü The Big10 is 10-2 in the Tournament, so far. The two losses -- MSU to Utah (2-3) and Michigan to Cal Poly (1-3) -- were to ranked teams.
ü Minnesota was not the only seeded team to receive a scare: Missouri took #2 seed Stanford to a fifth game, as well.
And some intriguing items about the upcoming Regionals:
ü Hawaii will be hosting two Pac-10 teams (USC and UCLA) and Oklahoma, who were probably the biggest success story of 2006. The Sooners were 7-22 (2-18 in the Big12) in 2005 and are now 28-5 (17-3) this year. Can they take down the UCLA Bruins?
ü The Big10 will have 3 teams in the Seattle Regional. Too bad PSU and Purdue have to fly all the way to Seattle to play each other again. Washington, of course, should benefit greatly from not travelling. Can PSU advance to the Championships for the first time since winning in 1999?
ü Texas and Wisconsin, who opened the season against each other in Madison, square off again in the Austin Regional. Can the Badgers avenge the earlier sweep? Then there’s another conference rematch with the Pac-10’s two northern California teams -- Stanford and Cal -- travelling down to Texas for their third match of the year.
ü The #1 seeds are the favorites in each Regional, but the fact Washington, Hawaii, Florida and Texas are all hosting will make for a very interesting sub-plot. How many, if any, of these schools will pull off an upset?
Things are just starting to get interesting.
Go Gophers!
The Gophers are headed to Gainesville, Florida for the regional hosted by the University of Florida. Nebraska (the #1 seed in the tournament) plays San Diego (#16), and Minnesota (#8) takes on the Gators (#9).
Florida FRIDAY December 8th, approx.
6:00pm (CT)
The Gators defeated
Florida A&M (3-0) and Arizona State (3-1) this past weekend, playing at
home. They are now 30-2 on the season, ranked #7 (#7 by RichKern.com and #12 by
Pablo). They own wins this season over Tournament teams Utah (3-1), Hawaii
(3-0), Colorado (3-0) and St. John’s (3-0), as well as a 12-0 record versus the
other six Tournament teams from the SEC. Their only loss in the SEC was to
South Carolina (1-3) on September 17th, a loss they later avenged.
Florida’s ranking
has been affected by a 3-0 loss to UCLA (29-21, 28-30, 15-30) in Hawaii on
September 2nd. That was a very long
time ago and, obviously, is not an easy trip for a team from the Southeast. It
is entirely possible too much is being made of that single match -- including
what it really tells us about UCLA. In short, the Gators could be even better
than their ranking.
The team is led by
2005 3rd-Team All-American setter Angie McGinnis. McGinnis, a likely 1st-Team
All-American this year, is setting an offense that hit .294 for the year, with
middles Kelsey Bowers (.413) and Kristina Johnson (.383), and opposite Amber
McCray (.375) putting up the biggest numbers. The Gators also feature one of
the best frosh liberos in the country -- one of the best liberos, period -- in
Elyse Cusack. Cusack is averaging 5.51 digs per game.
Nebraska or San Diego SATURDAY December 9th,
3:00pm (CT)
The Nebraska Huskers or the San Diego Toreros, who play each other in the first match on Friday, will play the winner of the Gophers-Gators match.
San Diego
The Toreros are the West Coast Conference champions. They have a 26-5 overall record and were 13-1 in their conference, finishing ahead of fellow Tournament teams Pepperdine and Santa Clara, and are ranked #14 (#14 by RichKern.com and #14 by Pablo). Their biggest non-conference win of the year was over Ohio (3-1) and they have losses to Tournament teams Nebraska (0-3), Michigan (0-3), New Mexico State (0-3) and Wisconsin (1-3). On paper, they are the decided underdogs to the Huskers.
San Diego features Kristen Carlson (519 kills), Christie Dawson (.311) and former Bloomington Jefferson standout Laurel Abrahamson (.338). Their setter, Jessica Nyrop, is averaging 13.78 assists per game and has the team hitting at a .259 clip.
Nebraska
Frankly, we’re a little bit tired of talking about the Huskers. Who’s tired of reading about them? Show of hands?
They’re the #1 seed, ranked #1 in the country (#1 by RichKern.com and #1 by Pablo). They’ve compiled a 29-1 record on the year, with their only loss to Colorado (2-3) on November 11th. They are, simply put, a very good volleyball team and will be tough for anyone to beat.
Sarah Pavan (.315, 507 kills) and Jordan Larson (.297, 421 kills) are the offensive stars, but middle Tracy Stalls (.406) and setter Rachel Holloway (13.47 assists per game) have also had stellar seasons. Dani Busboom, a setter in last year’s 6-2 system, is playing libero this year and averaging over 5 digs per game. The Huskers are hitting .304 as a team, while holding their opponents to a .139 figure.
Should the Gophers win both of these matches -- and why not? -- then it’s on to Omaha, Nebraska for the National Championship semi-finals and final! Keep your eyes peeled for frozen crocodiles and disgruntled Huskers fans.
The CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll #14 was released 12/3/2006. The link to the complete rankings follows, but the top 10 did not change from last week: 1--Nebraska, 2--Stanford, 3--Washington, 4--UCLA, 5--Penn State, 6--USC, 7--Florida, 8--Texas, 9--the Gophers! and #10--Wisconsin. Ohio State is #16 (from #18) and Purdue is #18 (from #23) in this latest poll.
The Gophers are still at #9 in the RichKern.com Volleyball Poll.
Kern
Poll (subscription required)
Finally, the Gophers are also still at #7 in the Pablo rankings.
Pablo
Ranking (subscription required)
Tournament Results
|
Thursday
11/30/06 |
Friday
12/1/06 |
Saturday
12/2/06 |
Sunday
12/3/06 |
|
|
Nebraska 3, American 1 [16, 23, (28), 16] |
Nebraska 3, Northern Iowa 0 [16, 16, 14] |
|
|
|
Northern Iowa 3, Winthrop 1 [(27), 27, 23, 28] |
|
|
|
|
Duke 3, Tennessee
1 [22, (26), 25, 27] |
|
|
|
|
San Diego 3, Jacksonville St 0 [21, 23, 18] |
San Diego 3, Duke 2 [(27), 25, 17, (27), 12] |
|
|
Florida 3, Florida A&M 0 [18, 16, 26] |
Florida 3, Arizona St 1 [17, 27, (26), 23] |
|
|
|
Arizona St 3, Charleston 1 [26, 23, (29), 20] |
|
|
|
|
St John’s 3, Albany
1 [21, (23), 22, 22] |
|
|
|
|
Minnesota 3, Siena 0 [16, 23, 15] |
Minnesota 3, St John’s 2 [26, 17, (26, 24), 12] |
|
|
|
USC 3, Mississippi 0 [17, 24, 23] |
USC 3, BYU 0 [25, 37, 19] |
|
|
|
BYU 3, UCSB 2 [(27, 30), 27, 21, 12] |
|
|
|
|
|
Long
Beach St 3, Pepperdine 1 [22, 27, (25), 26] |
|
|
|
|
Hawaii 3, Oregon 0 [17, 17, 18] |
Hawaii 3, Long Beach St 1 [28, 25, (24), 17] |
|
|
|
Oklahoma 3, Oral Roberts 0 [19, 17, 19] |
Oklahoma 3, Missouri St 0 [19,22,19] |
|
|
|
Missouri St 3, Arkansas 1 [(28), 21, 27, 28] |
|
|
|
|
Utah 3, Michigan St 2 [25, (27, 20), 28, 11] |
|
|
|
|
UCLA 3, UAB 0 [24, 21, 23] |
UCLA 3, Utah 0 [24, 27,26] |
|
|
|
Penn St 3, Long Island 0 [16, 27, 15] |
Penn St 3, Hofstra 0 [20, 12, 19] |
|
|
|
Hofstra 3, Cornell 2 [22, (30), 27, (24), 11] |
|
|
|
Kentucky 3, Ohio 2 [(20), 27, (24), 26, 9] |
|
|
|
|
Purdue 3, St Louis 0 [21, 20, 30] |
Purdue 3, Kentucky 0 [21, 28, 26] |
|
|
|
|
Ohio St 3, Belmont 0 [22, 16, 22] |
Ohio St 3, M Tennessee St 1 [(23), 19, 17, 22] |
|
|
|
M Tennessee St 3, Louisville 2 [(24), 19, (12), 25, 14] |
|
|
|
Colorado 3, NMSU 0 [24, 20, 32] |
|
|
|
|
Washington 3, Colorado St 1 [(26), 26, 24, 22] |
Washington 3, Colorado
1 [15, (22), 26, 24] |
|
|
|
|
Texas 3, Prairie View A&M 0 [10, 10, 11] |
Texas 3, Stephen F Austin 0 [16, 19, 21] |
|
|
|
Stephen F Austin 3, Alabama 2 [24, (23, 25), 22, 11] |
|
|
|
|
Iowa St 3, UW-Milwaukee 0 [21, 10, 21] |
|
|
|
|
Wisconsin 3, Notre Dame 0 [34, 26, 21] |
Wisconsin 3, Iowa St 0 [20, 25, 27] |
|
|
|
Cal Poly 3, Michigan 1 [23, (26), 25, 23] |
|
|
|
|
California 3, LSU 1 [(25), 23, 17, 16] |
California 3, Cal
Poly 1 [24, 26, (23), 20] |
|
|
|
|
Missouri 3, Santa Clara 0 [33, 24, 26] |
|
|
|
|
Stanford 3, Sacramento St 0 [18, 18, 26] |
Stanford 3, Missouri 2 [20, (27), 24, (25), 9] |
Host site in bold
The best site for statistics (national leaders) is at the NCAA website. The leaders are shown below (as of 11/26/06), with the link to the complete lists below that. Although the NCAA website is not updated that quickly, eventually they do get around to it.
|
Hitting
percentage |
Kills per
game |
Assists
per game |
|||
|
Nana Meriwether, UCLA |
.459 |
Kelly-Anne Billingy, Marshall |
6.61 |
Courtney Thompson,
Washington |
14.92 |
|
Lindsey Ensign, Princeton |
.438 |
Maria Andonova, Florida
A&M |
6.23 |
Emily Withers, Jacksonville
St |
13.87 |
|
Foluke Akinradewo |
.431 |
Shonda Cole, South Carolina |
5.76 |
Jessica Nyrop, San Diego |
13.82 |
|
Faye Barhorst, Dayton |
.431 |
Kate McCullagh, Northern
Illinois |
5.74 |
Michelle Moriarty, Texas |
13.82 |
|
Tracy Stalls, Nebraska |
.430 |
Jamie Houston, Hawai’i |
5.50 |
Nellie Spicer, UCLA |
13.66 |
|
Aces per
game |
Blocks per
game |
Digs per
game |
|||
|
Brooke Engel, North Texas |
0.98 |
Emillie Toone, Utah |
1.94 |
Amanda McCormick, Ball
State |
7.68 |
|
Martina Wagner, Long Island |
0.97 |
Nana Meriwether, UCLA |
1.94 |
Stephanie Figgers, SF
Austin |
6.97 |
|
Rubena Sukaj, American |
0.74 |
Sarah Blum, Tennessee |
1.84 |
Gina Guide, Northern
Illinois |
6.94 |
|
Brittani Lewis, Alabama
A&M |
0.71 |
Michelle Franz, Sacramento
St |
1.83 |
Sydney Donahue, Arizona
State |
6.62 |
|
Marina Skander, LSU |
0.70 |
Danielle Hepburn, Clemson |
1.71 |
Ashley Smith,
Texas-Arlington |
6.54 |
Final Big10 stats leaders
|
Hitting
percentage |
Kills per
game |
Assists
per game |
|||
|
.371 |
Megan Hodge, PSU |
5.34 |
Lizzie Bazzetta, Illinois |
13.54 |
|
|
Christa Harmotto, PSU |
.358 |
Brittney Dolgner, Wisconsin |
4.72 |
Alisha Glass, PSU |
13.25 |
|
Cassy Salyer, PSU |
.356 |
Ashley Schatzle, MSU |
4.71 |
Jackie Simpson, Wisconsin |
12.97 |
|
Stepahnie Lynch, Purdue |
.345 |
Katie Johnson, MSU |
4.57 |
Rachel Hartmann, Minnesota |
12.88 |
|
Vanessa King, MSU |
.344 |
Kayani Turner, Illinois |
4.50 |
Marisa Main, OSU |
12.79 |
|
Meredith Nelson, Minnesota |
.335 |
Katie Bruzdzinski, Michigan |
4.49 |
Allison Ianni, MSU |
12.77 |
|
Aces per
game |
Blocks per
game |
Digs per
game |
|||
|
Katie Bruzdzinski, Michigan |
0.44 |
Taylor Reineke, Wisconsin |
1.72 |
Malama Peniata, Minnesota |
5.14 |
|
Brittany Dildine, Purdue |
0.43 |
Christa Harmotto, PSU |
1.56 |
Emily Hiza, Iowa |
4.72 |
|
Megan Hodge, PSU |
0.41 |
Melissa Walbridge, PSU |
1.48 |
Kate Nobilio, Northwestern |
4.61 |
|
Meghan Cumpston, Minnesota |
0.39 |
Annie Moddrell, Indiana |
1.31 |
Ashley Edinger, Illinois |
4.51 |
|
Meghan Macdonald, Illinois |
0.38 |
Chelsy Hyser, Northwestern |
1.27 |
Nicole Colaluca, MSU |
4.43 |
Big10 links:
|
Team |
Website link |
Roster link |
Stats link |
|
Illinois |
|||
|
Iowa |
|||
|
Michigan |
|||
|
Michigan State |
|||
|
Northwestern |
|||
|
Ohio State |
|||
|
Penn State |
|||
|
Purdue |
|||
|
Wisconsin |
v As mentioned in the last PointU! (betcha), Indiana’s coach for the past 14 years, Katie Weismiller, is not seeking renewal of her contract, a decision reached mutually with the school. Indiana has begun a national search to hire a new head coach.
v Both Northwestern and Illinois needed to win a match in the last weekend of the Big10 season to qualify for the NCAAs. Unfortunately, they were both swept by Penn State and Ohio State.
v Michigan State had the best turnaround in the conference this year, going from 5-15 in 2005 to 10-10 this year. Minnesota improved by three wins. Interestingly, no other team fell or rose by more than two matches from their 2005 Big10 record.
Tournament Brackets
The official tournament bracket can be found at the following link. Or you can use the Point U!(betcha) version. The choice is yours!