You are here: Home / Newsletters / e Point U!(Betcha) – 2011 Issue 7

e Point U!(Betcha) – 2011 Issue 7

November 23, 2011 By 3 Comments

E Point U!(betcha)

Newsletter of the University of Minnesota Golddiggers Booster Club
Volume 2011 Issue 7
November 23, 2011

Coach’s Corner

Hi Golddiggers!
As the staff and team continue to prepare for Wisconsin and Indiana, I also start doing research in anticipation of the NCAA Tournament.  If the tournament selections were today, it looks like we would be a Top 16 seeded team.  Being seeded is significant.  We would be able to host a subregional and we would be competing in the regional we host.  All good things.
 
Who might be sent here for the first rounds?  North Dakota State, University of North Dakota, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Marquette are possibilities.
 
Who might be in the regional? Another Big Ten team (not going out on a limb on this one), a PAC 12 team (again, staying by the tree) and Texas (just to stir it up).
 
Now back to the Gophers…
 
We are physically healthy.  The team has taken care of their bodies and our athletic trainer, Ronni, has been great on keeping people on the court in practice.  (A lot of preventative treatment like ice baths have paid off).  We are prepared to compete against Wisconsin on Wednesday and will have a Thanksgiving practice to prepare for Indiana on Friday…and then we wait until Sunday to receive the news of our NCAA selection! 
 
Happy Thanksgiving!
 
See you in the Pav
Laura

From the Golddiggers’ President

Hard to believe that the regular season is about to come to an end!  Seems just like yesterday that we were getting together for the first event and getting to know this season’s team.  It goes by so fast!

And, a special week with two matches bracketing Thanksgiving Day.  Reminds us what we have to be thankful for: family, friends, the Gopher volleyball community, and Gopher volleyball.  And, they can all come together on Wednesday and Friday!

This year, though, Thanksgiving means a little more.  I am thankful that that I knew Sandy Peterson and Dave Manninen, two Golddiggers who have passed away this fall.  And it reminds that I need to be thankful for my family and friends and for all of you, the Golddiggers.  As each Gopher volleyball season approaches I am not only excited to see my favorite team in action but for the opportunity to re-connect with our great members/families/friends.  As I look out over the Pav Club Room during receptions I am reminded of family as Golddiggers share with each other.  It is a big part of what makes being a Golddigger so great.

And, this week also provides us with the opportunity to say thank you (not good-bye) to our great seniors – Hailey Cowles, Ariana Filho, and Jessica Granquist.  Always fun to remember back to when the player first came into the program and watch her as she grows as a person and a volleyball player.  Thanks, Hailey, Ari, and Jess!  We’ve enjoyed watching you play!!!

So, again, tell your family and friends how much they mean to you and back it up by bringing them to the match on Wednesday and/or Friday!  Nothing says “I love you” like Gopher volleyball!  Right, Janette?  :)

Thanks and…….

…..I’ll see you at the Pav! 
Point U!

Larry Mickelson, President, Golddiggers

Announcements

SELECTION SHOW

See where the Gophers will play next weekend in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.  The brackets will be announced on Sunday around 5:00 on ESPNU.

The Gopher marketing department will be hosting a selection show party from 4:00 – 6:00.  The party will be held in the Williams Arena Club Room.

Please RSVP to Amanda Hoehn at hoeh0028@umn.edu ASAP so they can have an idea of how many plan on attending.

 

RECEPTIONS

We will be holding post-match receptions again this season. They will be held after the following matches in 2011:

  • Friday Nov 25 vs. Indiana @ 7pm

Remember… to comply with NCAA rules, the post-match receptions are limited to Golddigger members, and their invited guests. Guests must also pay a “nominal fee” ($3 per person) to attend.

CHALK TALKS

Chalk Talks will be held this season. Remember this is a benefit for Golddigger members only. Chris Tamas will giving this year’s Chalk Talks. This is a great opportunity to hear, before the match, to hear how the team is planning to attack and defend the evening’s opposition.
Here’s the tentative schedule:

  • Fri Nov 25 vs Indiana 5:15 – 6:00 PM

Chalk Talks will be held in the Williams Arena Media Room. Enter thru the Daily Entrance along University Ave. Take a right into Williams Arena and head down the concourse to the elevator. Take the elevator to the 3rd floor.

Hold onto your tickets! You may need them to re-enter the Pavilion!

POTENTIAL TRAFFIC ISSUES ON MATCH NIGHTS!

We are getting into that time of the year where there are multiple sporting events going on around the Pavilion.  Here is a list of dates on which there will be other sporting events in addition to home (or potential) volleyball matches:

  • Friday, December 2 – Men’s hockey at 7:00 (first round of NCAA VB tourney)
  • Saturday, December 3 – Men’s hockey at 7:00 (second round of NCAA VB tourney)
  • Friday, December 9 – Men’s hockey at 7:00 (NCAA VB regionals 5:00 and 7:00)
  • Saturday, December 10 – Women’s BB at 4:00; Men’s hockey at 7:00 (NCAA regional final, time TBD)

Be sure to plan your travel appropriately!

 

FREE AUDIO WEBCASTS OF GOPHER MATCHES

Can’t make the away matches?  Catch all the action via the free audio webscasts!  Tom Witschen handles the play by play and does an outstanding job.  We need to support this service so that it will continue in the future.

To find the link to the audio, go to the Gopher Volleyball Schedule on GopherSports, and click on the match in the schedule listing. You’ll see the details for that match to the right of the schedule listing.

As a potentially faster route, check out the Lots o’ Links section below. We’ve included a link to the site listing all of the Gopher webcast events. From there, you can select the appropriate match.

Let’s give a big hand to Tom W and Gopher Volleyball for making the audio broadcasts available! Point U!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Your board of director officers are: Larry Mickelson (president), Betty Cipperly (Vice-President), Sharon Manninen (Secretary), and JT (Treasurer). Members at large are Nathan Agre, Dean Christensen, Lisa Dickman, Katie Harms, Lon Ortner, Hamlin Sjoberg, and DuAnn Thompson.

We would very much like to hear from YOU!

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 generously offered to answer questions submitted to them through this newsletter. We look forward to all your input.

 

 

National Update

AVCA Coaches Poll, November 21, 2011 (Teams in bold are on the Gopher’s schedule)

Rank

School (First-Place Votes)

Total Points

2011 Record 

Last Week 

1

Southern California (53) 

1488

24-4 

1 

2

Nebraska (2)  

1424 

23-3 

4 

3

Hawai’i (5)   

1289

26-1 

6 

4

UCLA  

1229

24-5

2 

5

Texas 

1215 

20-4 

9 

6 

Stanford 

1180 

21-6 

5 

7 

Illinois 

1062 

25-4 

7 

8

Purdue 

1041 

25-4 

8 

9

Penn State

1023 

21-7 

12 

10

California 

987 

25-6 

3 

11

Washington 

934 

21-7

10 

12

Northern Iowa 

878

30-1

11 

13

Oregon 

807 

20-8

15 

14

Iowa State 

763 

22-4

13

15

Tennessee

686 

26-3

14 

16

Kentucky

560

26-4

16

 17 

Florida

541

23-5

17

18

Pepperdine

519 

21-6

 18

19

Minnesota

364 

16-11

 19

20

San Diego

328

27-4

 20

21

Florida State

297 

24-5

 21

22

Michigan

201 

19-11

 23

23

Long Beach State 

174 

20-6

 24 

24 

Western Kentucky

108 

31-3

 NR

25 

Miami (FL)

75 

24-4

 22

Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more ballots:  Colorado State 58; Texas A&M 52; Ohio State 42; Dayton 29; Michigan State 29; Tulsa 29; Arizona 24; Northern Illinois 15; Duke 13; Cincinnati 11; Kansas State 11; Oregon State 5


 Top Ten Update

1. USC – The Trojans avoided the carnage that occurred among the top Pac 12 teams on Friday by taking care of Arizona State and then easily handling Arizona.  Final conference match on Black Friday against UCLA.  The match lost a little luster with the UCLA struggles but could have NCAA tournament seeding implications.

2. Nebraska – The Cornhuskersstruggled in their opening sets against both Minnesota and Wisconsin before rolling to four set victories and a share of the Big Ten title.  Nebraska closes out their inaugural Big Ten season with road matches against Iowa and Northwestern.

3. Hawaii - The Wahine move up into the third spot after a bye weekend.  Hawaii has the WAC tournament this week and a Black Friday match vs. Cal State – Fullerton.

4. UCLA - The Bruins were stunned by their second loss of the season to Arizona, this time a sweep.  They were able to bounce back with a victory over Arizona State.  The 2-2 record over the last two weekends has dashed any hopes of winning the Pac 12 championship as they face USC this Friday.

5. Texas - The Longhorns continues their roll thru the Big 12 with victories over Baylor and Missouri.  Texas closes out the conference with a match against Texas A&M and Oklahoma where the look to avenge their sole conference loss.

6. Stanford - The Cardinal were knocked off by Oregon on Friday night and rebounded against Oregon State on Saturday.  Solo match this Friday against cross-bay rival Cal.

7. Illinois – The Illini were stunned by Michigan State Friday night but bounced back to defeat Michigan on Saturday (why Michigan is ranked while Michigan State is not is a whole ‘nother conversation).  Illinois closes with matches against Northwestern and Iowa.

8. Purdue - The Boilermakers’ momentum was slowed slightly with a loss against Penn State on Saturday after beating Ohio State.  Purdue looks to solidify a solid NCAA seed with matches against Indiana and Wisconsin

9. Penn State - The Nittany Lions are back in the top 10 after a week outside after victories over Indiana and Purdue.  Potential tough matches for Penn State this week with road matches against Ohio State and Michigan State.

10. California – The Golden Bears took a big tumble this week, dropping from the third spot, as they lost two tough five setters against Oregon State and Oregon.  Cal looks to gain some momentum this Friday against Stanford.

 

Significant upcoming matches across the country:

Wednesday, November 23

Wisconsin @ #19 Minnesota – Wisconsin can qualify for the NCAA tournament with a win; Minnesota looking to seal a top 16 seed

Michigan State @ # 22 Michigan – in state rivalry.  MSU defeated UM in their first meeting.  Michigan State looks to prove they belong in the tournament

#9 Penn State @ Ohio State – the up and down Nittany Lions looking to get on a their late season roll; Ohio State needs a victory to get into the tournament?

#16 Kentucky @ #15 Tennessee – The top two teams in the SEC (that’s right, it’s not Florida this year) face off.  Tennessee can win the conference outright with a win, Kentucky can share the title with a victory.  Kentucky won the first meeting in a five set thriller (26-24, 24-26, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13).  Could be fun!

Friday, November 25

#1 USC @ #4 UCLA – Crosstown rivals square off.  UCLA won the first match in the conference opener.

#8 Purdue @ Wisconsin – Tough match for Purdue against an improving Wisconsin squad

#10 Cal @ #5 Stanford – As if the Bay Area bragging rights aren’t enough, the teams are also tied in the Pac 12.  Cal needs a confidence boost after a rough weekend.  Cal won the first match between the two.

Saturday, November 26

#9 Penn State @ Michigan State – Penn State looking to gain momentum heading into the tournament; Michigan State looking to make a statement to the committee

Ohio State @ #22 Michigan - two teams  who could be on the tournament bubble.

#21 Florida State @ #25 Miami (FL) – Top two teams in the ACC square off.  Florida State has clinched the conference title.

 

Big Ten Update

2011 Big Ten Volleyball Standings (November 19)

 

Big Ten Overall
Team Record Pct. Record Pct.
1. Nebraska 16-2 .889 23-3 .885
2. Purdue 14-4 .778 25-4 .862
    Illinois 14-4 .778 25-4 .862
    Penn State 14-4 .778 21-7 .750
5. Michigan State 10-8 .556 21-9 .700
6. Minnesota 9-9 .500 16-11 .593
7. Ohio State 8-10 .444 18-13 .581
    Wisconsin 8-10 .444 16-14 .533
9. Michigan 7-11 .389 19-11 .633
10. Northwestern 6-12 .333 15-14 .517
11. Iowa 1-17 .056 11-20 .355
     Indiana 1-17 .056 9-21 .300

 

This Week’s Schedule:

Tuesday Wednesday Friday Saturday
Nebraska @ Iowa Wisconsin @ Minnesota
Northwestern @ Illinois    
Purdue @ Indiana         
Michigan State @ Michigan   
Penn State @ Ohio State  		 Indiana @ Minnesota
Purdue @ Wisconsin 		 Iowa @ Illinois
Ohio State @ Michigan
Penn State @ Michigan State
Nebraska @ Northwestern 

 

Illinois
http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/w-volley/ill-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Indiana
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/ind-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Iowa
http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/w-volley/iowa-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Michigan
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-volley/mich-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Michigan State
http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/w-volley/msu-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Nebraska
http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=23&DB_OEM_ID=100

Northwestern
http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/nw-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Ohio State
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-volley/osu-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Penn State
http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/w-volley/psu-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Purdue
http://www.purduesports.com/sports/w-volley/pur-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Wisconsin
http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-volley/wis-w-volley-body.html  (website)

Lots o’ links

 

Gopher’s site

Gopherhole (Gopher sports forum, need to search for the volleyball posts)

Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Network

Volleyball Forums

RichKern.com (includes websites, scores, recruits, etc.)

Some features at this site now require registration/subscription.

PrepVolleyball.com (subscription)

Television Websites

NCAA Statistics

Contact Us

Questions/comments/suggestions/pastries are welcome. Please address them to newsletter@golddigger-boosters.org.

Our mission “statement”? To support Gopher volleyball and have fun doing it!

Filed Under: Newsletters, Sidebar

Comments

  1. avatar David Hopstock says:
    November 23, 2011 at 4:56 pm

    It will be interesting to see how the NCAA tournament is set up this year. One thing is certain — there is no dominant team or teams this year. Any of about 16 teams could win it if they hit a hot streak. Go Gophers!

    Although rated #19 by the coaches, Minn. is rated #10 (ahead of Penn St.!) by RPI. I hope that guarantees a Top 16 seed and a home opening weekend. Interesting to see what happens with Iowa St. — #2 [!] in RPI — and Northern Iowa (#6). Can they both get home openers? I hope Laura is right and the Gophers don’t have to see either one of them the first weekend.

    By the way, I read up on how the NCAA’s RPI is determined. Just between us, it is a totally bogus system of determining team strength that could only have been developed by a statistical illiterate. Just as one example, you can IMPROVE your RPI by being blown out in 3 straight to a team with a good record. Any 1st year grad student in statistics in any of 100+ universities could come up with a better system. But we’re not complaining, are we?

    Reply
    • avatar jt says:
      November 23, 2011 at 5:25 pm

      “Just between us, it is a totally bogus system of determining team strength …”

      It’s not supposed to rank the teams by their strength, or by how good they are. It ranks teams by the strength of their _schedule_. There’s certainly correlation with how strong a team is, because part of the RPI is how good your record is. What it _does_ do is give credit for a team playing a lot of matches against schools that have good records.

      Reply
  2. avatar Larry M says:
    November 24, 2011 at 9:33 am

    David,
    The new seeding requirements are to grant any seeded team (1-16 in volleyball) the opportunity to host the first and second rounds if they put in a qualifying bid. Minnesota will do so as will, I assume, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and Nebraska.

    It will be interesting to see how the committee treats Iowa State. Their RPI is #2 but they only have one win against a ranked team (Florida). But, they will likely seed Hawaii who is in a similar situation.

    I hope Iowa State is seeded, because if they are not, they could easily end up here in the sub-regional. But that’s OK. We owe them!

    Reply

Speak Your Mind

*