It鈥檚 been more than a full year since the Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team competed against anyone besides itself. The Gophers鈥� Final Four run in 2019 ended on Dec. 19 in three sets to Stanford, the eventual national champions, and they haven鈥檛 had a match since.
But after an extended hiatus due to COVID-19, the Gophers are more than ready to compete again. A season like no other gets underway for them on Saturday when they host Michigan State at 4 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 been a while, but we鈥檙e excited to get going and see and yeah, it鈥檚 going to be unique,鈥� coach Hugh McCutcheon said. 鈥淥bviously, there are all kinds of challenges that we鈥檙e going to have to manage and deal with, just the different rhythm of all of it, regardless of any health issues. So, yeah, it鈥檒l be a little clunky I鈥檓 sure; but just the fact that we get to go out and play, I think that鈥檚 really cool.鈥�
While some other conferences forged ahead with a fall schedule, the Big Ten opted against it. Senior middle blocker Regan Pittman said she avoided watching because she didn鈥檛 want to see what she was missing.
It was an unusual fall for the Gophers, who started their preseason training in August and days later learned that they wouldn鈥檛 be playing anytime soon. Players were in and out of the gym, focusing on improving themselves instead of preparing for an opponent.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 been good for us to have that time and it doesn鈥檛 mean that now we鈥檙e competing, we鈥檙e going to stop learning,鈥� McCutcheon said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just probably the emphasis changed, but we had a whole year to really get into the weeds on some stuff and I thought that was great.鈥�
Now, they have a chance to see all that work put into action. The Gophers will not play any nonconference matches this season. Instead, they have 22 Big Ten matches on the books with the regular season running into early April. Instead of jumping from team to team, they鈥檒l play two matches against the same team each weekend as part of their COVID-19 precautions.
The Big Ten, as always, will feature stiff competition. Top-ranked Wisconsin was picked unanimously as the conference favorite by Big Ten coaches. The Gophers came in second in that poll. Minnesota begins the year No. 7 in the AVCA poll, one of six Big Ten teams in the top 25.
The Gophers are led in part by Pittman and fellow senior Stephanie Samedy, who both were named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team earlier this week, as well as other key contributors from last year鈥檚 Final Four run. They also added volleyballmag.com鈥檚 top recruiting class with three freshmen and a pair of transfers joining the group.
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鈥淚 think something that鈥檚 been really good about our team is that we have a lot of depth, so every day in practice is always a challenge physically, mentally,鈥� Pittman said.
Another challenge for the Gophers as they navigate their way through an unprecedented season will be avoiding COVID-19, perhaps one of the most difficult hurdles they鈥檒l need to clear to reach their goals this season.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of conversations as a team and I think we鈥檙e all on the same page of, 鈥楾his is what we want,鈥� 鈥� Sameday said. 鈥淲e want to reach these goals, we want to accomplish these things, so we鈥檙e willing to make sacrifices making sure that we鈥檙e keeping ourselves in the best situations as possible to prevent any type of COVID scenarios on the team. I think we鈥檙e all on the same page and dedicated to making that happen.鈥�
