Gophers volleyball star Sarah Wilhite learns to unleash her inner beast

Samantha Seliger-Swenson didn't even have to think about it. In the fifth set of last Saturday's victory over Wisconsin, the Gophers setter sent a steady stream of balls to outside hitter Sarah Wilhite, then watched her pound them for point after point.

"Feeding the beast is what [assistant coach] Matt Houk tells me to do," Seliger-Swenson said. "That's just the player Sarah is for this team. When she gets five kills in a row, I'm going to continue going to her, because I know she's so confident. She can put the ball away."

That's a relatively new development for a player who came to the U as more of a lamb than a lion. Off the court, Wilhite remains a soft-spoken individual happy to pass all the credit to her teammates. But discovering her inner beast has made the senior a more consistent and complete player, a transformation that earned her the Big Ten's player of the year award this week as the top-ranked Gophers prepared for Friday's NCAA tournament opener against North Dakota.

Coach Hugh McCutcheon said Wilhite demonstrated last season the impact she can have on a match. Embracing the everyday challenges of being part of an elite team, rather than shying away from them, allowed the Eden Prairie native to elevate her play and take on a greater role in her final year at the U.

Wilhite has become a six-rotation player, a more assertive leader and a go-to hitter for a team that enters the NCAA tournament on a roll. Before this year, she never had received any Big Ten postseason honors. As she has risen, so have the Gophers, who ended the regular season with victories over four top-25 teams.

"Throughout the spring and summer, I just worked at becoming a more consistent player," said Wilhite, who leads the Gophers with 451 kills and is second in the Big Ten with 4.14 kills per set. "In the past, I would play well one night, and then kind of be iffy the next night.

"That was a goal of mine, especially in the spring, to approach practice and approach games the same, so when it comes to the season I can do that exact same thing: approach every game the same and just work at consistent energy and emotion and execution. That just enabled me to become the leader I have been."

Her all-around efficiency has increased with her confidence. Always a fundamentally sound player, Wilhite arrived as a quiet, introverted freshman whose potential spoke louder than her personality. She described her game as immature, with a limited range of shots, but she was hungry to expand her understanding of her position.

Wilhite credited her coaches with building her into a more complete player. In turn, McCutcheon praised her for improving her mental toughness and being willing to push herself. This season, he said, he challenged her to become a six-rotation player — a heavy responsibility — and to eliminate lapses in her play. She did so by learning to relish competition, which helped her make daily improvements in practice and prepared her to take charge in a match.

"The change has been significant," McCutcheon said. "I think the biggest shift is her mental approach to competition: how she sees herself relative to the team and our opponent, and what she can do to help us win the next point.

"It was clear last year that when she was good, we were really good. And when she struggled, we tended to struggle. There were a lot of players that were very successful around her, but her ability to influence the match was real then. We talked about whether you like it or not, this falls on your shoulders now. She rose to that challenge."

After falling behind 2-1 in the match against Wisconsin, Wilhite helped the Gophers rally by reminding them to stay focused on the next point. "No matter what's happened in the past," she said, "we can define the moment at this exact time."