Point U!(betcha)
Newsletter
of the University of Minnesota Golddiggers Booster Club
Volume
2006 Issue 11
December
18, 2006
We wrap-up the 2006 season with this issue of Point U! (betcha). We hope everyone had a great volleyball season with the Gophers and we wish you all Happy Holidays!
Point U!
In this issue
From
Coach Hebert:
I hope you agree with
me that the 2006 Gophers were one of the best teams ever to wear the maroon
and gold.
One of the greatest
compliments paid to the team was unintentional. One of the All-American
committee members told me in Omaha that the reason we did not have at least one
more All-American was because we were the best TEAM in the field. It was
difficult to identify individual stars. He was trying to “apologize” for our
lack of individual honors, and managed to pay us the most supreme of
compliments.
Our effort at the
Florida Regional Championship was our best of the year. We played nearly
flawlessly against Florida and won easily in four games. The next day we pushed
eventual champion Nebraska to five games. We just ran out of gas while the
Huskers shifted to another gear after falling behind 0-2. They were impressive.
Right after the match I proclaimed that Nebraska had managed to shrug off the
fear of losing and would win the national championship. And they did.
Meanwhile, I couldn’t
have been more proud of our team. Led by our seniors, they fashioned a 24-4
record after a rough 2-4 start. They qualified for the Elite Eight and came
within one game of returning to the Final Four. They produced three All-Big Ten
players, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, two All-Region players, and
an All-American. And they did all of this playing a very tough schedule. Their
preliminary RPI (to become official in March) has them ranked third in the
nation. Their 8-5 record against top 25 teams is the nation’s sixth best mark
(tied with Washington).
Think about what this
senior class accomplished. Two Final Fours and an Elite Eight. Very impressive.
From a coach’s
perspective, this team was special because they improved so much from the
beginning of the season to the end. This will forever be their signature
accomplishment in my mind.
To all of you who
supported us this year let me issue a giant THANK YOU! We set a new average
attendance record (3,938).
As for next season … we
are already looking forward to it. We have a solid group of returning veterans.
And our incoming recruiting class may be our best ever.
So, on behalf of our
staff and players, I bid “so long” from the 2006 season. I hope I see all of
you at the banquet and beyond.
Head Coach
Minnesota Volleyball
From John Oravis (12/12/06):
Hi Golddiggers!
Our Gophers were “Oh so close” to another visit to the NCAA Final Four this past weekend! Congratulations to #1 Nebraska though on a gutsy, come-from-behind 3-2 win. And congratulations to our team on its final 26-8 overall record, its Elite Eight appearance, and its second place finish in the Big Ten conference in 2006!
What a great job by our coaches and players in defeating #7 Florida on its home court on Friday night. The Gophers also snapped a 34-match home winning streak by Florida, and a 28-match NCAA Tournament home-winning streak that dated back to 1995. No doubt about it: Gainesville is a tough place to play, and an even tougher place to win. Great job, Gophers!
Congratulations also to our volleyball student-athletes on their individual athletic and academic honors earned in the Big Ten Conference, Mid-East Region and NCAA regional tournament. We’re very proud of your accomplishments! Congratulations also to Head Coach Mike Hebert on his Mideast Region Coach of the Year honors, and for his induction into the AVCA Hall of Fame tomorrow evening in Omaha.
Congratulations, thanks and good luck to seniors Kelly Bowman, Meghan Cumpston, Meredith Nelson and Malama Peniata! You can be so proud of your individual, season and team accomplishments during your careers! It was our pleasure as boosters to get to know you a bit better as the wonderful persons and college students that you are during your four years with us.
Please stay tuned for more information later on the annual Golddiggers awards banquet for the team, probably on a weekend in late January or early February 2007, and hopefully to be held on or very near campus. We’re working out the banquet date and other details with the coaching staff now.
I would be remiss if I failed to thank each of you for all of your great support of this Minnesota volleyball team and program during the 2006 season. While the local print and television media often overlooked this very successful Gopher volleyball team, you were always there for this team! Thanks too to the Golddiggers board of directors for all that you have done and continue to do.
Finally, many of you are aware that my wife and I are moving out of the area to another part of the country in the very near future. As I conclude nearly eight plus years/seasons as president of the Golddiggers booster club, I would like to say “Thanks” and “Well done” to each of you for all of your support of me, this team and the volleyball program throughout those years. It’s been a fun and rewarding journey for me and I hope for you too. Head coach Mike Hebert, booster club liaison coach Nao Ikeda, and the rest of the volleyball coaching and support staffs have been been wonderful to work with through those years.
Happy Holidays to all!
Go Gophers! Point U!
John Oravis, President, Golddiggers
2006
All-America Teams
The 2006 AVCA All-America Teams were announced 12/13/06 and two Gophers were honored: Meredith Nelson was named to the Second Team and Malama Peniata was Honorable Mention. This is, of course, a major recognition for each of these players.
2006
All-Region Teams
Nelson and Peniata were also previously named to the 2006 AVCA Mideast Region Team. In addition, Kelly Bowman was an Honorable Mention. Our congratulations to all three players, who are now eligible for the 2006 AVCA All-America teams to be announced this week.
Mike
Hebert Mideast Region Coach of the Year
Coach Hebert was named the 2006 Tachikara/AVCA Division I Mideast Region Coach of the Year. Witht his honor, he represented the Mideast Region on the National Coach of the Year ballot. (The National Coach of the Year was awarded to Andy Banachowski of UCLA on 12/14/06.)
Our congratulations to Mike!
Let’s try to put this all in perspective: It could have been worse. We could be facing another five months of winter, for instance. Hmmm. Bad example. How about: We could be facing another five months of winter and have ferrets gnawing on our toes.
See? It’s not so bad.
Of course no one likes to see their team lose a match in which they were up 2-0. One could even choose to look at the near misses of matches such as this or the 5-game loss to Penn State in the Pavilion and dwell on what could have been. Well, we remind those people that there were several close matches which went the Gophers way this season: at Northwestern, Michigan State at home, St. John’s in the second round of the NCAAs. Why so gloomy?
All good things must come to an end, but all ends don’t have to be good things. That’s why the Gophers’ play in the Florida Regional did the entire program proud. If you have to lose, taking the #1 team in the country to five games is the way to do it. The fact is, they had the mighty Huskers backed up to the brink, one good shove from toppling into the abyss, something we Gopher fans will long remember. There can be no doubt the team earned the respect of the volleyball community for their efforts. As ends to good things go, not bad, not bad at all.
As for a conclusion we always hate to face, we finally bid adieu to Meredith, Malama, Kelly and Meghan, our senior class. They will be missed. But we say bienvenue to Lauren, Brook, Charde and Hailey. Although we keep getting older, there’s always another freshman class to make us think time is not actually passing.
No doubt about it, we’re easily duped.
Go Gophers! (in 2007).
Gophers NCAA
results
Florida Match
#7 Florida vs #9
Minnesota (Dec 08, 2006 at Gainesville, Fla.)
Florida | ATTACK
|SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K
E TA PCT|
A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA
BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 McGinnis, Angie..... 4|
6 1 12
.417| 48| 0 1|
0| 5| 0 1
0| 2| 6.5
12 Hampton, Marcie..... 4| 13 1
43 .279| 0|
0 0| 3| 12| 0
1 0| 0|
13.5
13 McCray, Amber....... 4| 7
4 17 .176|
0| 0 0|
0| 0| 0 6
0| 0| 10.0
15 Johnson, Kristina... 4| 6
4 17 .118|
0| 0 0|
0| 1| 1 3
0| 0| 8.5
34 Killingsworth, Kisya 4| 16 9
39 .179| 0|
0 0| 0| 4|
1 0
1| 0| 17.0
35 Bowers, Kelsey...... 4| 10 3
28 .250| 2|
1 2| 0| 5|
0 5
0| 0| 13.5
2 Davis, Rhian........ 4|
0 0 0
.000| 1| 0
3| 4| 5| 0
0 0| 0|
0.0
3 Diaz, Christina..... 2|
0 0 0
.000| 1| 0
0| 0| 0| 0
0 0| 0|
0.0
6 Douglas, Stefanie... 1|
0 1
1-1.000| 0| 0
0| 1| 0| 0
0 0| 0|
0.0
7 Cusack, Elyse....... 4|
0 0 0
.000| 2| 1
1| 3| 23| 0 0
0| 1| 1.0
23 Cecchini, Alli...... 4| 0
0 0 .000|
2| 0 3|
1| 6| 0 0
0| 0| 0.0
TEAM................ |
| |
| 1| |
| | 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 4| 58
23 157 .223| 56| 2 10|
13| 61| 2 16 1| 3|
70.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM
BLOCKS: 10.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
14 8 41
.146 17-29 58%
GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4 TEAM
RECORDS
2
14 5 40
.225 18-26 69%
Florida............. (1) 23 30 21 26
30-3
3 16 4
40 .300 12-29
41% Minnesota........... (3) 30
25 30 30 26-7
4
14 6 36
.222 18-30 60%
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....... 4| 11
6 27 .185|
1| 0 2|
0| 5| 0 1
0| 0| 11.5
4 Cumpston, Meghan.... 4|
9 7 35
.057| 1| 5
2| 0| 18| 1 0
0| 0| 15.0
5 Nelson, Meredith.... 4| 16
1 36 .417|
0| 2 3|
0| 4| 0 4
0| 0| 20.0
8 Hartmann, Rachel.... 4|
3 1 9
.222| 52| 4 3|
0| 6| 0 3
0| 4| 8.5
11 Jones, Jessy........ 4| 12 5
27 .259| 0|
0 0| 0| 4|
2 2
1| 0| 15.0
12 Roehrig, Kyla....... 4| 13 4
30 .300| 0|
0 0| 0| 2|
0 2
0| 0| 14.0
6 Peniata, Malama..... 4|
2 0 2 1.000|
4| 1 1| 0|
23| 0 0
0| 0| 3.0
7 Schmidt, Kelly...... 1|
0 0 0
.000| 0| 0
0| 0| 0| 0 0
0| 0| 0.0
15 Tan, Christine...... 4| 0
0 0 .000|
1| 1 2|
0| 5| 0 0
0| 0| 1.0
16 Vatterrodt, Katie... 1| 0
0 0 .000|
0| 0 0|
0| 0| 0 0
0| 0| 0.0
TEAM................ | | |
| 2| | |
| 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 4| 66
24 166 .253| 59| 13 13| 2|
67| 3 12 1| 4|
88.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME
TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
15 7 40
.200 18-24 75%
Site: Gainesville, Fla. (O'Connell Center)
2
14 8 41
.146 17-29 58%
Date: Dec 08, 2006 Attend:
4180 Time: 2:04
3
20 2 44
.409 13-22 59%
Referees: Steve Kenyon, Kathy Ferraraccio
4
17 7 41
.244 18-27 66%
ID-517028
1 2 3 4
Total
Tie scores 9
8 7 0
24
Lead changes 6
2 3 0 11
Nebraska Match
#9 Minnesota vs #1
Nebraska (Dec 09, 2006 at Gainesville, Fla.)
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|
7 5 17
.118| 2| 0
1| 3| 9| 1
3 0| 0|
9.5
4 Cumpston, Meghan.... 5|
6 8 38 -.053|
0| 3 3| 0|
13| 0 1
0| 0| 9.5
5 Nelson, Meredith.... 5| 15
5 33 .303|
0| 1 2|
0| 2| 1 3
1| 0| 18.5
8 Hartmann, Rachel.... 5|
0 2 5 -.400| 49|
2 2| 0| 7|
1 2
1| 4| 4.0
11 Jones, Jessy........ 5| 14 3
32 .344| 0|
0 0| 0| 1|
2 8
0| 0| 20.0
12 Roehrig, Kyla....... 5| 15 5
44 .227| 0|
0 0| 0| 1|
0 5
0| 0| 17.5
6 Peniata, Malama..... 5|
2 0 3
.667| 1| 0
0| 4| 23| 0 0
0| 0| 2.0
15 Tan, Christine...... 5| 0
0 0 .000|
0| 0 0| 1|
18| 0 0
0| 0| 0.0
16 Vatterrodt, Katie... 1| 1
0 2 .500|
0| 0 0|
0| 0| 0 0
0| 0| 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 60
28 174 .184| 52| 6
8| 8| 74| 5 22 2|
4| 82.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME
TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 16.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
14 5 39
.231 16-27 59%
GAME SCORES 1 2 3 4
5 TEAM RECORDS
2
13 4 32
.281 16-22 72%
Minnesota........... (2) 30 30 20 25
9 26-8
3
11 9 33
.061 13-31 41%
Nebraska............ (3) 25 22 30 30 15
31-1
4
15 9 51
.118 13-29 44%
5
7 1 19
.316 8-15 53%
Nebraska | ATTACK
|SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K
E TA PCT|
A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA
BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 Schwartz, Rachel.... 5|
0 0 0
.000| 0| 3
1| 2| 9| 0 0 0|
0| 3.0
9 Pavan, Sarah........ 5| 20
8 53 .226|
0| 3 4| 0|
11| 0 2
0| 0| 24.0
10 Larson, Jordan...... 5| 21 6
54 .278| 0|
1 3| 2| 17| 0
1 0| 1|
22.5
11 Stalls, Tracy....... 5| 13 4
24 .375| 0|
0 0| 0| 7|
2 4 0|
0| 17.0
12 Holloway, Rachel.... 5| 1
5 15 -.267| 65| 0
1| 0| 3| 0
3 0| 4|
2.5
15 Cooper, Kori........ 5| 6
2 14 .286|
2| 0 0|
0| 1| 0 3
2| 0| 7.5
7 Mancuso, Dani....... 5| 15
7 41 .195|
0| 0 0|
0| 2| 0 1 1| 0|
15.5
18 Busboom, Dani....... 5| 0
0 0 .000|
1| 1 2| 2|
17| 0 0
0| 0| 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals.............. 5| 76
32 201 .219| 68| 8
11| 6| 67| 2 14 3|
5| 93.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME
TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 9.0
Game
K E TA
Pct Sideout Pct
1
16 12 45 .089
15-29 51% Site: Gainesville, Fla. (O'Connell Center)
2
16 10 51 .118
16-30 53% Date: Dec 09, 2006 Attend: 2206 Time: 2:29
3
14 5 34
.265 13-20 64%
Referees: Donna Carter, Kathy Ferraraccio
4
18 5 48
.271 14-26 53%
ID-518784
5
12 0 23
.522 8-9 88%
1 2 3
4 5 Total
Tie scores 3
3 5 1
0 12
Lead changes 1
2 3 0
0 6
Tournament Results -- Regionals
|
Friday 12/8/06 |
Saturday
12/9/06 |
Thursday
12/14/06 |
Saturday
12/16/06 |
|
Nebraska 3, San Diego 0 [21, 20, 15] |
Nebraska 3, Minnesota 2 [(25, 22), 20, 25, 9] |
Nebraska 3, UCLA 1 [(23), 28, 23, 28] |
Nebraska 3, Stanford 1 [(27), 26, 28, 27] |
|
Minnesota 3, Florida
1 [23, (25), 21, 26] |
|
|
|
|
Hawaii 3, USC 2 [(28), 21, (21), 27, 5] |
|
|
|
|
UCLA 3, Oklahoma 0 [22, 16, 26] |
UCLA 3, Hawaii
0 [16, 23, 23] |
|
|
|
Penn State 3, Purdue 0 [24, 18, 15] |
|
|
|
|
Washington 3, Ohio State 0 [16, 18, 18] |
Washington 3, Penn State 1 [27, 24, (28), 26] |
|
|
|
Texas 3, Wisconsin 0 [19, 22, 12] |
|
|
|
|
Stanford 3, California 0 [29, 25, 29] |
Stanford 3, Texas
1 [28, 32, (31), 24] |
Stanford 3, Washington 0 [12, 25, 15] |
|
Host school in bold
Highlights of the matches without Big10 schools:
v Nebraska opposite Sarah Pavan hit .500 (15-2-26) in the Huskers sweep of San Diego in the Florida Regional semi-final.
v UCLA middle Nana Meriwether hit .708 (17-0-24), with 8 blocks and 6 digs against Oklahoma in the Hawaii Regional semi-final.
v Hawaii and USC had the only 5-game match in the other semi-final. The Wahine won on the strength of their outside hitting, with Jamie Houston contributing 35 kills (35-8-68, .397) and Sarah Mason 24 kills (24-6-56, .321).
v California lost their third match of the year to Stanford, although they came close in two of the games, losing by 29-31 in games one and three. Cynthia Barboza hit .478 (12-1-23) for the Cardinal.
v Texas pushed Stanford in the Texas Regional final, as the scores indicate. In the end, the difference may have once again been the Longhorn’s season-long weakness, their blocking -- Stanford outblocked Texas 18.5 to 11. Foluke Akinradewo had the biggest night for The Cardinal, hitting .406 (16-3-32), but Barboza (18 kills) and Kristen Richards (17 kills) were equally important.
v UCLA was simply too much for Hawaii to handle in the Hawaii Regional final. They never really recovered from the first game blowout (30-16). Houston and Mason, so potent the night before, combined for only 19 kills -- and had a combined 18 errors. For a team which relies on their outside hitting to win, this was fatal. Meanwhile, Nellie Spicer was setting the Bruins to a .345 hitting percentage and spreading out the offense. This one was not pretty.
v Nebraska recovered from a very tentative game one in the championship semi-final against UCLA, sweeping games two through four. Pavan led the comeback, hitting effectively from the front row and back row, and giving the Bruins fits with her serve. Tracy Stalls was perhaps the difference, however, outplaying UCLA’s POY candidate Meriwether and hitting .577 (17-2-26).
v Stanford won the other semi-final, dispatching Washington in three quick games. The defending champions never looked comfortable against the Cardinal, especially in serve receive. The Huskies, as a matter of fact, hit .000 for the match. Stanford also outblocked UW 13-4.
v In the championship, Nebraska dropped the first game for the third straight match, but battled back to win the next three from Stanford. Academic Player of the Year Sarah Pavan added AVCA Player of the Year and Championships MVP to what is fast becoming an overloaded trophy case. This final was high level volleyball with numerous shifts in momentum. If you haven’t seen it, watch for a replay or find someone with a copy. Great stuff.
NCAA Tournament highlights for the Big10 schools:
v Purdue had their third shot at taking down Penn State in the Washington Regional semi-final. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, they are now 0-9 -- in games -- against the Lions this year, with each successive match a bigger blowout.
v Ohio State saw their problems playing on the road return -- with a vengeance -- against Washington in the other semi-final. Their 52 points scored was the lowest total in the regionals.
v Wisconsin, however, came close. The Badgers scored just 53 points in their loss to Texas in the Texas Regional.
v Penn State, with arguably the toughest draw of all the #1 seeds, was also taken out by the Huskies. The Washington Regional, therefore, marked the end of the road for three Big10 teams. Nicole Fawcett’s 24 kills were offset by 20 from Stevie Mussie and a .524 night from Alesha Deesing (13-2-21).
Big10 links:
|
Team |
Website link |
Roster link |
Stats link |
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Illinois |
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Iowa |
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Michigan |
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Michigan State |
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Northwestern |
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Ohio State |
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Penn State |
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Purdue |
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Wisconsin |
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!