MINNEAPOLIS— As the Gopher volleyball team wraps up their regular season this week, a question looms in the back of their minds: whether they can host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The team will need to beat both Illinois and Ohio State to stay home next week at Maturi Pavilion, an opportunity they missed last year after falling from the rankings.
Minnesota is coming off a 3-0 win against Iowa on Sunday. The team wants to make final adjustments (serving accuracy, playing out of system) to get the best out of themselves against Illinois, a team fighting for a postseason bid.
Then on Friday at home against Ohio State, the Gophers will celebrate their five seniors: Phoebe Awoleye, Skylar Gray, Lydia Grote, Elise McGhie and Melani Shaffmaster. It’s a mix of players who spent their careers in Minnesota amid a coaching change, and others who joined the program and transferred for their final two years.
This “foundational group,” as second-year head coach Keegan Cook called them, provided stability during a time of transition for Minnesota volleyball.
Awoleye, Shaffmaster and Grote all have professional volleyball ambitions. Grote was called up by the Orlando Valkyries on Monday, Awoleye leaves Minnesota as one of the nation’s top blockers and Shaffmaster has 4,953 career assists during her five-year tenure, fourth-highest among active DI players.
“I’m very sad that I have to leave this place soon, but I have at least one more chance – hopefully more in the first round of the tournament to play here in the Pav,” said Grote.
The top 16 seeds will host the first weekend of the 64-team tournament before advancing to regionals. How these 16 teams are picked is done through a semi-mysterious selection process in which the NCAA committee balances rankings, head-to-head results, top-10 wins, strength of schedule and the rating percentage index.
In October, the committee announced the midseason rankings, with Minnesota taking the 16th and final hosting spot. The Gophers had knocked off the No. 1 and No. 7 teams in the country, but the second half of the season was full of missed opportunities, especially against No. 12 Oregon and last week’s painful five-set loss to No. 6 Wisconsin.
The AVCA lists Minnesota at No. 16, but they are ranked No. 28 in RPI, leaving the team on the bubble.
The Gophers’ postseason hopes depend on junior outside hitter Julia Hanson’s finality, serving consistency and the presence of a center block. Hanson averages 3.92 kills per set and has had at least 10 kills in the last eleven matches. Minnesota’s blocking has improved dramatically since last season, with Awoleye recording 77 in the last twelve games.
