No. 1 Wisconsin too much for shorthanded Gophers volleyball team

Adanna Rollins said the Gophers didn't concentrate on the players that were missing. Though two important members of the roster sat out Sunday's match against top-ranked Wisconsin — setter Melani Shaffmaster and libero CC McGraw — the junior outside hitter and her teammates preferred to focus on those who were healthy and available to play.

"Our mind-set was, these are the people we're going to battle with," Rollins said. "We just wanted to go out there and fight. I don't think anyone was doubting."

The No. 4 Gophers brought the fight, but those key absences left them with too much to overcome in a 3-1 loss at Maturi Pavilion. They fell 14-25, 25-22, 15-25, 23-25 as the missing pieces forced them to change their system and move some players into different positions, complicating the task against the nation's No. 1 team.

Shaffmaster missed the match with an upper-body injury. McGraw sat out because of a lower-body injury and was wearing a large knee brace. Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon said he does not know how long each might be sidelined.

The loss dropped the Gophers to 11-2, while the Badgers — who had not played in a month because of COVID postponements — remained undefeated at 11-0. Wisconsin also was missing a key player, All-America setter Sydney Hilley of Brooklyn Park. The Wisconsin State Journal reported Hilley had not been cleared to play after a positive COVID-19 test.

Dana Rettke and Grace Loberg had a match-high 17 kills each for the Badgers, while freshman Taylor Landfair led the Gophers with 15 kills and hit .400.

"We're not going to get into the whole discussion of noble losses, but I do think the team competed," McCutcheon said. "Relative to the things we could control, we were doing a lot of good stuff against a good team. I think there's a lot of good we got from [the match] and some important lessons from the outcome that can help us moving forward."

With Shaffmaster out, the Gophers shifted from their usual 5-1 offensive system to a 6-2 system, using two setters. Junior Bayley McMenimen, who had played only five sets all season, was the starter; graduate transfer Hunter Atherton, who had not played at all, also rotated in.

Defensive specialist Rachel Kilkelly moved into McGraw's spot at libero, with outside hitter Jenna Wenaas filling that position later in the match.

The Gophers struggled to get their bearings in the first set. Wisconsin outhit them .367-.143 in the set and had four blocks and four aces, holding the Gophers to 14 points, their fewest in any set this season. The Badgers also played effective defense against Stephanie Samedy, the Gophers' top hitter, holding her to a single kill in the set.

All the changes forced the Gophers into a different rhythm, McCutcheon said. They began to find their footing in the second set. They reeled off five points in a row to take a 12-10 lead, their first of the match, and stayed in front the rest of the way to even the match 1-1.

But the Gophers struggled again in the third set, falling behind 20-8 as the Badgers hit .444. They kept the fourth set close and were tied at 23 before the Badgers scored the final two points to win. Samedy finished with seven kills and hit a season-low .115.

"It was the first time we played this system, and even within that system, we had people in different spots doing different things," McCutcheon said. "I thought there were a lot of really good things to take from the performance."