Minnesota Volleyball: Wisconsin and Indiana Preview

Minnesota took care of business in week one of conference play picking up two sweeps over then No. 4 Penn State and Maryland. Stephanie Samedy and Adanna Rollins were great in both matches and as such were recognized by the conference and AVCA.

Samedy was the AVCA National Player of the Week after averaging 4.5 kills per set, .290 hitting and nine blocks; the Big Ten recognized her as the Co-Player of the Week with Nebraska’s Mikaela Foecke. Adanna Rollins was named the Co-Freshman of the Week by the Big Ten. Rollins averaged four kills a set and tallied 26 digs over the two matches; she split the honor with Nicklin Hames, setter for Nebraska. Samantha Seliger-Swenson was also recognized as the Big Ten as this week’s Setter of the Week after posting 71 assists and 24 digs on the weekend.

Adanna Rollins has really seemed to settle into her six-rotation role as the second outside hitter and own it. She overshadowed Alexis Hart in both matches last week as Hart still hasn’t quite hit her stride. This makes Minnesota incredibly balanced. Samedy is still the star of the show but anyone around her can have a big night. While Minnesota won’t need everyone to have a big night against the Badgers they are going to have to spread the ball around to keep the 6’8 Dana Rettke from being able set up in front of one hitter all night.

Key Players

class, height, position, # name , stats, (statistical rank nationally, in the Big Ten)

Positions: MB- middle blocker, OH- outside hitter, RS- right side hitter, DS- defensive specialist, L- libero, S- setter

Stats: K/S- kills/set, B/S- blocks/set, D/S- digs/set. .000- hitting percentage, A/S- assists/set SA/S- service aces/set

Fr. 5’9 L 7 CC McGraw- 3.76 D/S (12), 0.27 SA/S

So. 6’2 RS 10 Stephanie Samedy- 3.93 K/S (6), .264, 2.52 D/S, 1.07 B/S

Jr. 6’0 MB 12 Taylor Morgan- 2.24 K/S, .362 (12), 1.48 B/S (13, 5)

Sr. 5’11 S 13 Samantha Seliger-Swenson- 11.03 A/S (26, 4), 2.82 D/S

Jr. 6’0 OH 19 Alexis Hart- 2.63 K/S, 0.83 B/S

Fr. 6’0 OH 20 Adanna Rollins- 2.12 K/S, .282, 2.76 D/S

So. 6’5 MB 21 Regan Pittman- 2.59 K/S, .378 (43, 9), 1.19 B/S (12)

Wisconsin

Wisconsin (9-1, 2-0) played an aggressive non-conference slate which saw them beat then No. 2 Texas and No. 21 Marquette and lose to No. 15 Baylor. They were able to begin conference play with less rigorous matches against Ohio State and Rutgers. Outside hitter Grace Loberg took the Rutgers match off but will be back for the Minnesota match. Loberg is key for the Badgers as she is the second leading point scorer behind Rettke although she can be inconsistent. Another important player for the Badgers is Tionna Williams. The former All-Big Ten middle blocker hasn’t had the seasons she’d hope for so far but she is capable of a big match whenever. If she gets going the Gophers could be in trouble.

Key Players

So. 6’0 S 2 Sidney Hilley*- 11.37 A/S (11, 2), 2.49 D/S, 0. 0.34 SA/S (14)

Sr. 6’2 MB 11 Tionna Williams- 0.94 B/S

Jr. 6’3 RS 14 Madison Duello- 2.83 B/S, .382 (7) , 0.26 SA/S

So. 6’8 MB 16 Dana Rettke- 3.26 K/S (14), .396 (22, 4), 1.83 B/S (2, 1), 0.27 SA/S

Jr. 5’11 L 17 Tiffany Clark- 4.14 D/S (8)

So. 6’3 OH 21 Grace Loberg- 3.18 K/S (15), 2.75 D/S

So. 6’1 OH 23 Molly Haggerty- 2.46 K/S, 0.43 SA/S (8)

13.94 K 4c .304 6 1c 13.2 A 21 4c 1.74 SA 21 5c 14.29 D 2.89 B 9 4c

12.11 K .154 23 5c 11.77 A 0.86 SA 13.97 D 1.36 B

*Minnesota native, Hilley, was a standout at Champlin Park

Indiana

The Hoosiers are turning a corner, they have a new coach and new facility under construction. However they don’t have the talent to really be a factor in the Big Ten race yet.

Key Players

Jr. 6’0 S 1 Victoria Brisack- 6.29 A/S , 2.18 D/S, 0.29 SA/S

So. 5’7 L 4 Bayli Lebo- 4.37 D/S (6), 0.31 SA/S

Fr. 6’2 OH 11 Breana Edwards- 3.0 K/S

Jr. 6’2 MB 16 Deyshia Lofton- 2.37 K/S, .399 (19, 3) , 1.23 B/S (11)

Jr. 6’2 OH 17 Kendall Beerman- 3.43 K/S (10), 3.02 D/S

Fr. 5’10 S 18 Abigail Westenhofer- 4.94 A/S

Big Ten Standings

AVCA Rankings

1. BYU (59)
2. Stanford (5)
3. Nebraska
4. Texas
5. Wisconsin
6. Minnesota
7. Illinois
8. Pittsburgh
9. Penn State
10. Creighton

16. Purdue

17. Michigan

RV: Ohio State and Michigan State

Only the Pac-12 has more teams in the Top 25 than the Big Ten with nine.

The biggest change in this week’s rankings was Penn State dropping five spots after losing to Minnesota and Ohio State.

BYU, Illinois, and Pittsburgh are the last three unbeaten teams standing.