Freshman’s growth helps Gophers volleyball return to Sweet 16

It was literally minutes before Gophers opposite hitter Carly Gilk walked onto a bus to join her teammates for their trip to Pennsylvania and their Thursday meeting with Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16.

She laughed easily and smiled even easier as she sat at Maturi Pavilion on Tuesday and discussed her freshman season with the Gophers volleyball team, one in which more was required of her than initially expected. All while the bus warmed up.

Gilk went from being on the bench to becoming a key contributor on a team that has fought through injuries to go 24-9 and reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022. The Gophers finished the regular season ranked 17th, and Gilk is an example of the growth coach Keegan Cook’s squad has thrived on.

“Just the game is so much faster,” said Gilk, who played at Champlin Park. “Everyone that plays Division I volleyball is usually one of the top players on their club team or high school teams and stuff. And then when you get here, it’s, everyone’s like, mashed together. You’re not going to be the best player anymore right away. And I feel like that is definitely an adjustment.

“But just knowing that everyone is coming together to reach the same goal, to push each other, to make each other better, is something that I love about college volleyball, which you don’t necessarily always get in high school or club volleyball.”

As she considered her college options, Gilk wasn’t sure she wanted to play for the Gophers. She’s adventurous and enjoys the outdoors. She thought about trying something different, like heading out west. But two things happened.

One, when she went on a visit to Minnesota’s campus, she realize how comfortable she felt in those surroundings. Two, her parents. Her mother, Shelley Gilk, is from Wisconsin and played golf at Northern Illinois. Her father, Matt Gilk, is from South Dakota.

But Gilk didn’t know what was coming when she committed to the Gophers: That she would be thrown into the fire and end up being named to the Big Ten all-freshman team at the end of the regular season.

Outside hitters Mckenna Wucherer and Alex Acevedo, middle blocker Calissa Minatee and libero Zeynep Palabiyikall suffered significant injuries. Cook looked at a bench that included several promising players.

“Take a three-year plan, and nothing sort of went to plan pretty quickly on,” Cook said, “but then we talked about is that principle is more important than plans, right? And it’s amazing what you can become when you have to.”

Cook made that comment Tuesday while sitting between middle blocker Jordan Taylor and outside hitter Kelly Kinney— both freshmen who were asked to respond.

“I think one of the things that’s become a silver lining for this team, especially for these young athletes like Jordan and Kelly here, is you just got to learn,” Cook said. “There’s no choice. Your coach isn’t subbing you out and then they’re not giving you a break.

Gilk had nine aces against USC on Nov. 1 and 16 kills at Iowa on Nov. 16 , both season highs, and finished third on the team with 210 kills. Kinney was second with 245. Taylor was fifth with 131. And redshirt freshman Stella Swenson, a setter, was named to the All-Big Ten second team. The Gophers finished sixth in the conference with a 12-8 record, an achievement given the adversity they faced.

Julia Hanson, one of the top hitters in the country, is in her final year. But Cook is bringing back firepower next season.

For now, the fourth-seeded Gophers will prepare to face Pittsburgh, the No. 1 seed that finished the regular season ranked fourth in the country.

“We’ve been working really hard this week on just fine-tuning the details that we’ve been trying to work on all season and make sure our defense is ready‚” Gilk said. “I think our goal this weekend is just play free and play how we’ve been practicing all season.”

The last time the teams met was in a regional semifinal that was pushed to April 2021 because of COVID. The Gophers were the top seed. Pittsburgh, the fourth seed, upset them in five sets.