Out & About: Minnesota/Iowa

#5 posting 10.15.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA gophers 3, IOWA hawkeyes 0
(25-11, 25-17, 25-23)

The Minnesota Gophers bounced back from Saturday's loss to #1 Penn State with a sweep of the improving Iowa Hawkeyes. The Gophers made a few adjustments in their line up. Kyla Roehrig did not play. Katie Vatterrodt replaced her on the outside. Also the Gophers switched the lefts around and moved the first rotation around too. On Saturday Hailey Cowles/Kyla Roehrig was the first server. Today it was Christine Tan/Kelly Schmidt. Also the FBSO% rose from .421 on Saturday to .703 tonight. Minnesota never trailed tonight.

The Gophers came out blazing in the first set with four points off the bat. Iowa was unable to get a FBSO on five of the first seven Gopher servers. On top of that Minnesota had four runs in that period with none for the Hawkeyes. Minnesota led 21-8. The biggest run came on Lauren Gibbemeyer's serve with five points in addition to the side out. Leading the charge was Kelly Schmidt. She had three points in that burst, all on slides. Schmidt had five points in the first set. Minnesota subbed Alex Blatt in late in the game for Rachel Hartmann and she delivered the coup de gras with a kill to finish the set 25-11.

Minnesota again started off strong with Iowa using their first time out at 6-2 after ball control issues. The Gophers had two overpass kills in that first sequence. Another six point run later, five on Rachel Hartmann's serve, put Minnesota up 12-5. Again it was Schmidt scoring a hat trick with three straight points. For this set Schmidt again was on fire with another five points. Brook Dieter had 7 points in that set to lead the Gophers. Iowa had their first run of the night to close to 13-10. Minnesota had two more 3 point runs in the set to give them a 21-13 lead and forcing the final Iowa time out. Both teams were an even four out the rest of the way.

In the third set Minnesota jumped out again 4-0. That margin increased to 11-5 when the Hawkeyes took the time out. This time the momentum did shift. Iowa went on a 5-2 run and it was the Gophers that took a time out, the first time on the night. The set seemed like a replay of the second as again the Gophers pushed out to 21-13 leading to another time out by the Hawkeyes. Again that shifted the momentum. That and substitution patterns by the Gophers. Iowa closed hard with a 10-3 run pushing the contest 24-23 Minnesota. Megan Schipper had five points in that last gasp. The final point came on a kill by Hailey Cowles.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--earned/errors/differential
MINNESOTA
1. Christine Tan, L 1-0-0----1/1/0
1fr: Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-0-13----13/2/11
1fr: Ariana Filho, MH 0-0/1-1----1.5/0/1.5
2. Pamela Luiz, RH 0-0/1-5---5.5/2/3.5
2br: Jessica Granquist 1-0-0----1/2/-1
3. Hailey Cowles, DS 0-0-2----2/1/1
3fr: Katie Vatterrodt, OH 0-1/1-3----4.5/2/2.5
4. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 0-2/1-7----9.5/2/7.5
4br Christine Tan, L
4br Ashley Suapaia, DS 1-0-0-----1/0/0----1
5. Rachel Hartmann, S 0-0-2-----2/1/1
5. Alex Blatt, S 0-0-1-----1/1/0
6. Brook Dieter, OH 0-2-16----18/2/16
totals: 3-5/4-50-----60 points, 15 points on Iowa errors

IOWA
Iowa changed their rotations each set. The order below is from the first set.
set 1: Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Huffman-Smale-Kremer
set 2: Smale-Kremer-Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Hilgenberg
set 3: Kremer-Fister-Schipper-Hiza-Hilgenberg-Smale
1. Kiley Fister, S 0-0-3-----3/3/0
2. Megan Schipper, OH 2-1-10----13/5/8
2. Samantha Brannigan, DS 0-0-0----0/0/0
3. Emily Hiza, L 1-0-0-----1/1/0
3fr: Mallory Husz, MH 0-0/1-0----0.5/1/-0.5
3fr: Katie Kennedy, MH 0-0-1-----1/3/-2
4. Aimee Huffman, RS 0-0-7-----7/4/3
4br: Mara Hilgenberg, S 0-0-0-----0/1/-1
5. Catherine Smale, OH 0-0/1-9----9.5/6/3.5
6. Laura Kremer, MH 0-0-3-----3/2/1
totals: 3-1/2-33-------38 points, 13 points on Minnesota errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Kelly Schmidt

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Minnesota 26/37-.703; 75; .800; .255
Iowa 16/35-.457; 51; .745; .200
Runs 3+: Minnesota 10, Iowa 2
Longest point string: Minnesota 6, Iowa 5
Longest FBSO string: Minnesota 6, Iowa 2
Missed Serves: Minnesota 6, Iowa 2
Time Out %: Minnesota 1/1-1.000; Iowa 4/6-.667;

ROTATIONS
MINNESOTA
1. Tan 8-9 .471
2. Luiz 18-8 .692
3. Cowles 11-9 .550
4. Gibbemeyer 15-8 .652
5. Hartmann 14-6 .700
6. Dieter 9-11 .455
totals: 75-51 .595
When Hartmann was in the front row the Gophers were 44-25 (.638)

IOWA
1. Fister 8-16 .333
2. Schipper 9-13 .409
3. Hiza 7-14 .333
4. Huffman 9-12 .429
5. Smale 7-8 .467
6. Kremer 11-12 .478
totals: 51-75 .405

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
Set 1 M M M M M
Set 2 M M M M M
set 3 M M M M M

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Minnesota 14 8 8
Iowa 0 0 0

Next up: tomorrow

Out & About: Penn State/Minnesota

#10 posting 10.11.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PENN STATE nittany lions 3, MINNESOTA gophers 0
(25-18, 25-15, 25-12)

#1 Penn State made a PennStatement tonight by sweeping the #12 Gophers by a margin of 30 points. In the final set PSU sided out each and every time----12 straight times in suffocating the Gophers chances. Going back to the second set PSU sided out 15 straight times. For the night the Nittany Lions had a FBSO% of .778 (28/36). Only one Penn State rotation on the night was sub .500. Megan Hodge terminated nine Gopher initial serves (32% of PSU's FBSO). She led three Lions in double digit performances. As for the Gophers four players ended up in negative territory for the night. Over 10,000 fans filled Williams Arena on Dig Pink night to see what a #1 team firing on all cylinders can do.

In the first set the Gophers started off with high hopes leading 6-2, however PSU provided three of those points, and two were on service errors. Penn State didn't take the lead until 9-8. Minnesota had their final 3+ run of the night to tie the contest at 13. After that Penn State closed with a 12-5 run. The Gophers couldn't get a FBSO. That drip-drip-drip made the deficit grow. Minnesota took their first time out at 19-15. The second time out came at 23-18. The first bought time, the second didn't. Of the last five PSU points, three came on Gopher hitting errors.

The second set was even until the turning point of the night----On Hodges serve PSU ran off six more points after a side out to lead 12-5. A time out at 10-5 didn't stop the Lions. The PSU blocking game put a wrench in the Gophers attack pattern. It was like hitting against the Great Wall. Minnesota's hitting % on the night was a mere .033. Five of the first 12 points came on blocks. The Gophers subbed Hailey Cowles in the front row for Kyla Roehrig. The margin held steady until another three point run forced the second Gopher time out. The Lions finished the set with three straight kills by Arielle Wilson.

By this time the energy at Williams was dropping with the fans. That is when PSU went for the throat. 12 straight FBSO in the finale slammed the door. The Gophers had problems all night with rotations 4-5-6 and again PSU took advantage with a 8-2 run. For the night 4-5-6 was 20-43 .317. The whole match lasted 1:08.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills--earned/errors/differential
PENN STATE
1. Nicole Fawcett, OH 1-0/1-8---9.5/6/3.5
2. Roberta Holehouse, L 0-0-0----0/1/1
2fr: Arielle Wilson, MH 0-0/3-10---11.5/1/10.5
3. Alyssa D'Errico, DS 0-0-0----0/2/2
3fr. Blair Brown, RH 0-1/2-3----5/1/4
4. Megan Hodge, OH 1-0-15-----16/3/13
5. Kelsey Ream, DS 1-0-0-----1/2/1
5. Christa Harmotto, MH 0-1/8-7----12/1/11
5. Cathy Quilico, DS 1-0-0-----1/0/1
6. Alisha Glass, S 0-1/8-2----7/3/4
totals: 4-14-45----63 points, 12 points on Minnesota errors

MINNESOTA
1. Hailey Cowles, DS/OH 0-0-4----4/3/1
1fr. Kyla Roehrig, OH 0-0-3----3/6/3
2. Christine Tan, L 1-0-0-----1/1/0
2fr. Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-0-1----1/2/1
3. Pamela Luiz, RH 0-0-2----2/4/2
3br. Jessica Granquist, DS 0-0-0----0/0/0
4. Brook Dieter, OH 0-0-13----13/6/7
5. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 0-2-4----6/4/2
5. Christine Tan, L
6. Rachel Hartmann, S 0/0/0-----0/5/5
totals:

TRENCH PLAYER
Megan Hodge

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Penn State 28/36-.778; 75
Minnesota 16/38-.421; 45
Runs 3+: Penn State 10, Minnesota 2
Longest point string: Penn State 7, Minnesota 3
Longest FBSO string: Penn State 15, Minnesota 3
Missed Serves: Penn State 10, Minnesota 2
Time Out %: Minnesota 1/5-.200; Penn State did not take a time out.

ROTATIONS
PENN STATE
1. Fawcett 10-7 .588
2. Holehouse 10-11 .476
3. D'Errico 12-7 .632
4. Hodge 18-6 .750
5. Ream 13-8 .619
6. Glass 12-6 .667
totals: 75-45 .625

MINNESOTA
1. Cowles 7-10 .412
2. Tan 7-10 .412
3. Luiz 11-12 .478
4. Dieter 7-18 .280
5. Gibbemeyer 6-13 .316
6. Hartmann 7-12 .368
totals: 45-75 .375

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1: M P P P P
set 2: P P P P P
set 3: P P P P P

BIGGEST LEAD
Team 1 2 3
Penn State 7 10 13
Minnesota 4 2 1

Next up: tomorrow

Setter in Training; Bad Ideas

#5 posting 10.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

There is no out & about tonight for a change.

SETTER IN TRAINING
First year player Alex Blatt is Rachel Hartmann's understudy this season. From the Minnesota Daily.

BAD IDEAS
Here is a bad idea: paddling players for missing serves. Bruce Zayas alleges that Chicago Simeon boys assistant volleyball coach Fred McClinton used a paddle to his rear after missing serves in a contest last spring. From the Chicago Sun Times.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Emily VonWald and Morgan Bushman of Chatfield are the KAAL Athletes of the week. The days of sneaking up on people are over. (video too).

TOURNAMENT CIRCUIT
Burnsville has joined the must stop on the high school tournament circuit. From the StarTribune.

LAST NIGHT
#7A Ada-Borup swept Crookston with a margin of 34 points. From the Crookston Times.

Breckenridge swept Hawley with a margin of 11 points. From the Wahpeton Daily News.

Sartell swept Brainerd with a margin of 24 points. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

Pillager beat Northland in four with a margin of 17 points. Plus seven more recaps in the Brainerd Dispatch.

LATE RESULTS
Tartan beat Hill-Murray in five last Tuesday. From the Review News.

Stillwater beat Park-Cottage Grove and Forest Lake last week. From the Stillwater Courier.

East Grand Forks swept Park Rapids with a margin of 33 points last Thursday. From the Park Rapids Enterprise.

Murray County Central finished in 2nd in the RTR tournament. From the Murray County News.

Sleepy Eye St. Mary's won their first Tomahawk conference title with a sweep of Minnesota Valley Lutheran. From the Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch.

Pine River-Backus won twice last week. Pequot Lakes was 3-2 last week. From the Pine & Lakes.

Heritage Christian won their own tournament last weekend. From the StarTribune.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Minnesota/Wisconsin

#8 posting 9.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA gophers 3, WISCONSIN badgers 1
(23-25, 25-10, 26-24, 25-20)

The #12 Minnesota Gophers kept the #18 Wisconsin Badgers winless in the Big 10 by sweeping after falling in the first set tonight. Minnesota was the first team to 20 in each and every set including the first. On top of that the Gophers controlled the side out game with .563 FBSO% compared to the Badgers .447.

In the first set Minnesota led 20-17. A side out by Brittney Dolgner propelled the Badgers to victory with a 8-3 run. Minnesota tried to get the Badger momentum stopped with time outs at 20-20 and trailing 24-23. It worked in the first situation, didn't the second time as Audra Jeffers finished with a kill.

There was no doubt in set two as Minnesota raced to an 8-1 lead. The Badgers were forced to use a time out at 7-1. Wisconsin never "earned" a first ball side out in set two. They were only 1/7 and that was a gift of missed serve. Brook Dieter had six points of her 19 points in set two.

Minnesota trailed early 6-3 as Caity DuPont had four points for the Badgers. The Gophers had a 7-2 run to take an 18-14 lead. Minnesota held a 20-18 advantage when shades of the first set cast their shadow on the action. Wisconsin scored four unanswered points. Minnesota used two time outs at 20 and trailing 22-20. Kyla Roehrig got the side out and kept the Gopher hopes alive. Wisconsin was on the verge at 24-22 when Dieter stopped the Badgers cold. Wisconsin didn't see the ball again as the Gophers scored four straight. Lauren Gibbemeyer and Dieter combined for the final three points including a block at 26-24.

Wisconsin took a 14-13 lead on a block of a Gibbemeyer hit. The Badgers may have overindulged in their celebration in front of Gibbemeyer as she fell. The Badgers topped off at 15-13. After that the Gophers scored five straight points capped by Gibbemeyer's three straight slide kills. Wisconsin was forced to burn a time out at 18-15. By that time the Gophers slammed the door with five straight FBSO.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills---totals/errors
MINNESOTA
1. Hailey Cowles, DS 2-0-1---3/2 1
1fr: Kyla Roehrig, OH 0-0-10---10/4 6
2. Christine Tan, L 2-0-0----2/0 2
2fr: Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-1/3-7---9.5/3 6.5
3. Pamela Luiz, RH 1-0/2-9---11/4 7
4. Brook Dieter, OH 0-2/6-14----19/7 12
5. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 0-2/8-16----22/6 16
6. Rachel Hartmann, S 1-0/3-1----3.5/3 0.5
totals: 6-5/22-58 80 points, 19 points on Wisconsin errors

WISCONSIN
1. Faye McCormack, DS 0-0-0---0/0 0
1fr: Brittney Dolgner, OH 1-0/1-10---11.5/6 5.5
2. Elle Ohlander, DS 0-0/4-2----4/0 4
2fr: Audra Jeffers, MH 0-1/3-9----11.5/8 3.5
3. Nikki Klingsporn, S 0-0-0----0/3 -3
3fr: Katherine Dykstra, MH 0-0-8---8/8 0
4. Caity DuPont, x 0-1/1-14----15.5/6 9.5
4. Allison Wack, x 0-0-1---1/0 1
5. Kim Kuzma, x 0-0-0----0/0 0
6. Janelle Gabrielsen, S 0-0/5-5---7.5/4 3.5
totals: 1-2/14-49----59 points, 20 points on Minnesota errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Lauren Gibbemeyer

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Minnesota 27/48 .563; 99; .808; .253
Wisconsin 21/47 .447; 79; .747; .192
Runs 3+: Minnesota 13, Wisconsin 7
Longest string: Minnesota 7, Wisconsin 6
Missed Serves: Minnesota 6, Wisconsin 4
Time Out %: Minnesota 2/4-.500; Wisconsin 3/7 -.429

ROTATIONS
MINNESOTA
1. Cowles 21-11 .656
2. Tan 23-19 .548
3. Luiz 22-14 .611
4. Dieter 9-11 .450
5. Gibbemeyer 14-13 .519
6. Hartmann 10-11 .476
totals: 99-79 .556

WISCONSIN
1. McCormack/Dolgner 14-26 .350
2. Ohlander 14-26 .350
3. Klingsporn 17-13 .567
4. DuPont 11-11 .500
5. Kuzma 13-14 .481
6. Gabrielsen 10-9 .526
totals: 79-99 .444

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 M W M M W
set 2 M M M M M
set 3 W W M M M
set 4 M M W M M

BIGGEST LEAD
Team: 1 2 3 4
Minnesota 3 15 4 5
Wisconsin 2 0 3 2

Next up: Tomorrow morning

Out & About: Minnesota/Northwestern

#6 posting 9.26.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA gophers 3, NORTHWESTERN wildcats 0
(25-22, 25-23, 26-24)

The #12 Minnesota Gophers opened the Big 10 season with a tight sweep of Northwestern. The point spread was only seven points for the night.

The Gophers held the advantage throughout the first set. Both teams first ball side out defense was at top form. Minnesota had a FBSO% of .706; NW was at .688. The next two sets weren't nearly as strong. The Gophers got the early jump with a four point run with Lauren Gibbemeyer providing three of those points. NW took their first time out trailing 11-6. That seemed to focus the Wildcats. Shortly thereafter they had a 8-3 run to close to 16-14. The Gophers had two of their three service errors in that sequence. Also NW had three of their six blocks on the night in the sequence. The Gophers pushed out to 21-16 adding a point after the second NW time out. Again NW was resurgent with a 5-2 run forcing the Gophers to take a time out at 23-21. Ariel Baxterbeck served deep after the break. Two side outs later Minnesota had set one under their belts after a back row kill from Brook Dieter.

In set two Minnesota had the early advantage at 5-2, but NW surged out with a six point run to lead 10-6. The Wildcats had five kills in that sequence. The FBSO game that was strong in the first set for both teams disappeared. Minnesota dropped to .500 and NW only at .308. NW held the lead at 16-14 when Minnesota put together three points to claim their first lead since 6-4 with a Gibbemeyer kill. NW responded with three straight and reclaimed the lead and added to it to 21-18. The Gophers finished with a 7-2 run starting with a three point run to tie it at 21. Minnesota took a 23-22 lead after a kill by Pamela Luiz. Luiz added a block to put the Gophers on the verge. A Roehrig hitting error gave the ball back, but Kelly Schmidt finished the second set with a quick kill.

Set three, after an initial NW lead of 6-3 turned Minnesota's way with a 9-2 run forcing a NW time out at 12-8. NW tied it right up with four unanswered points, all on Minnesota errors. The next phase went to a side out game with six straight exchanges. Minnesota had their biggest run with six points to take what looked like a commanding 21-16 lead. Wrong. NW stormed back with a 7-1 run with Brittani Gray providing four points for the Wildcats. With NW leading 23-22 the Gophers forced a hitting error to tie it up. Roehrig knocked down a kill to put the home team on the verge, but the next point went to NW on a Roehrig hitting error. Luiz had the key side out kill and then Dieter finished the night with a kill.

rotation, player, position, aces-blocks-kills---totals////errors +/-
MINNESOTA
1. Hailey Cowles, DS, 0-0-1----1/////3 -2
1fr: Kyla Roehrig, OH 0-0/2-7----8////7 1
2. Christine Tan, L 1-0-0----1/////1 0
2fr Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-0/4-4----6////2 4
3. Jessica Granquist, DS 0-0-0----0//// 0
3fr Pamela Luiz, RH 0-2/3-9----12.5////1 11.5
4. Brook Dieter, OH 2-0/2-15----18/////7 11.0
5. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 2-1/5-14---19.5////6 13.5
6. Rachel Hartmann, S 0-0/2-2----3////2 1
Totals: 5-3/18-52----69 points, 7 points on NW errors

NORTHWESTERN
In set one NW started with Alexandra Ayers. In set two: Chelsy Hyser; In set three: Baxterbeck/Gray.
Here is the order for set 1
1. Alexandra Ayers, OH 0-0-7----7////3 4
2. Chelsy Hyser, MH 1-1-10----12////2 10
3. Elyse Glab, S 0-0/2-1---2/////1 1
4. Brittani Gray, OH 0-0/1-7----7.5////6 1.5
4. Ariel Baxterbeck, OH/DS 0-0-0----0////1 -1
4. Kelly Keporos, OH 0-0-0----0////2 -2
5. Kate Nobilio, L 0-0-0----0////1 -1
5fr: Sabel Moffett, MH 0-2/3-10----13.5////1 12.5
6. Madlyn Shalter, S 1-0-1---2////2 0
6fr: Naomi Johnson, RH 0-0-6---6/////1 5
Totals: 2-3/6-42----50 points, 19 points on Minnesota errors

TRENCH PLAYER
Pamela Luiz

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/fbso attempts; fbso %; points, % earned; % allowed
Minnesota 23/41-.561; 76; .908; .275
Northwestern 20/41-.488; 69; .725; .092
Runs 3+: Minnesota 10, NW 6
Longest string: Minnesota 6, NW 6
Missed Serves: Minnesota 3, NW 2
Time Out %: NW 4/5-.800; Minnesota 2/3--.667

ROTATIONS
MINNESOTA
1. Cowles 12-7 .632
2. Tan 14-9 .609
3. Granquist/Luz 9-15 .375
4. Dieter 16-16 .500
5. Gibbemeyer 12-12 .500
6. Hartmann 13-10 .565
totals: 76-69 .524

NORTHWESTERN
1. Ayers 10-16 .385
2. Hyser 12-14 .462
3. Glab 12-13 .480
4. Gray/Baxterbeck 10-10 .500
5. Nobillio 11-7 .611
6. Shalter 14-16 .467
Totals: 69-76 .476

RACE TO:
Set: 5 10 15 20 25
set 1 M M M M M
set 2 M N N N M
set 3 N M M M M

BIGGEST LEAD
Team: 1 2 3
Minnesota 7 3 5
Northwestern 0 4 3

Next up: tomorrow