MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Golden Gophers volleyball team reported to camp on Friday, Aug. 9 to kick off preparations for the 2024 season.
Head coach Keegan Cook is entering his second year of his tenure at Minnesota with a revamped roster and high expectations once again. Minnesota went 17-13 (12-8 Big Ten) in 2023, finishing fifth in the Big Ten regular season standings. The Gophers won an NCAA Tournament match for the ninth straight season after sweeping Utah State in the first round. The Gophers season ended in the Round of 32 with a loss at Creighton. Minnesota had four players named to the All-Big Ten teams. Senior setter Melani Shaffmaster and senior opposite Lydia Grote made the second team and return for their fifth years in 2024. Grote also garnered Minnesota’s Sportsmanship Award. Lydia Grote and Melani Shaffmaster were named AVCA All-North Region while outside Mckenna Wucherer earned AVCA All-North Region Honorable Mention.
“We’re 18 months into this with this group,” said head coach Keegan Cook. “You’ve heard me say, people, values, volleyball, in that order. These these are my people. I’m really excited to share time with these guys. Excited for the players we’ve recruited. We’ve added a new member of the team, almost one every six weeks. And so it’s a lot of work. This group has put in the work this spring. I think you’re going to see a new type of urgency, new type of energy, and a new type of effort, one that we can be proud of. We’re a little bit of a mystery, which is how I think we like it. I’m looking forward to getting into the gym with them.”
University of Minnesota redshirt senior setter Melani Shaffmaster has been named to the 2024 Preseason All-Big Ten Team. The Gophers were voted to finish fifth by the conference’s coaches, behind Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue. The ‘U’ has finished third or better in eight of the last nine seasons, including its 2016 and 2018 Big Ten Championship seasons. The team returns five starters from last seasons team, including Shaffmaster, Wucherer and Grote. Middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye (1.34 bps) returned for her fifth year while libero/defensive specialist Zeynep Palabiyik (1.12 dps) readies to anchor the backcourt.
Junior outside Mckenna Wucherer, who led the team with 3.24 kills per set in 2023, talked about the growth of her game and being ready for the pressure moments at Big Ten Media Days last week.
“I’m a huge film person,” she said. “I’ll go back and watch a lot of their past matches, see how they compete, since I’m an outside, see what the block takes for a lot of these athletes. Seeing what spots are left open on the court, where I can attack and find different places on the court that are open. You have to be ready for the big moments. You have to be ready for the big pressure moments. That’s something I’ve gotten a lot better at throughout my career understanding you’re meant to be here and you’re meant to perform in these atmospheres.”
Minnesota will begin its 2024 season on Sunday, Sept. 1 against Stanford in the Women’s Volleyball Showcase in Milwaukee, Wis. They’ll take on the two-time defending national champions, Texas, in match two on Sept. 2. The Gophers will play in 10 non-conference matches before beginning Big Ten play on Wednesday, Sept. 25 against Wisconsin. Minnesota will play 20 Big Ten matches once again, taking on 14 teams once each and three teams (Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin) twice.
For the first time in the new Big Ten, the Gophers will get to play newcomers Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. The challenge of adding four annual NCAA Tournament contenders is one that excites both the coaching staff and the student-athletes.
“How lucky are we to get to play in this great conference that’s still expanding and finding so many new opportunities,” Grote said. “We get to play against four new schools for the first year. For me, this is my last season here, so I’m just really grateful for these new opportunities.”
Wucherer echoed that sentiment and made it known that the Gophers will have to have a sense of urgency because they will only get to play most teams in the league only once.
“It can be difficult with four new teams joining the conference, but I think it’s going to be super cool to only play a lot of teams once, so you have one opportunity to obviously help you in the postseason,” Wucherer said. “So I think that’s going to be a huge stepping stone for us is that we only get to see this team once. I feel like a lot in the past we were, like, we lost this one, but we can go get them again later. This time it’s, like, this is our one time we’re going to see them until the tournament. So I think that’s huge for us. Also the four teams coming in are national championship contenders every single year. Just getting off to a hot start, watching film on them and just understanding how they play the game is going to be a lot different than the Midwest schools.”
To bolster their depth, head coach Keegan Cook and his staff added three transfers. Two of them came from Oregon in outside Alex Acevedo (redshirt freshman) and libero/defensive specialist Kate Thibault (sophomore). They join middle blocker and Georgia Tech transfer Kali Engeman (graduate student). Both Engeman (Excelsior, Minn.) and Thibault (Watertown, Minn.) return home after starting their careers elsewhere.
“It’s not about picking, it’s about integrating these kids,” Cook said. “So the first time around, man, we hit it really well. And I think this time around, the same. Again, having some kids from Minnesota helps. There’s a little background on them. Spending time in the northwest, where Alex played, helped, knowing — I probably called 15 people about her, gives you a big picture. With what we’ve seen, whether from the foreign trip or time here, I think we did it again. I think we found depth. I think we found competition. I think we’re a more well-rounded team than we were last year.”
Minnesota’s 2024 roster construction includes four freshmen, four sophomores, four juniors and five seniors. The team added two true freshmen last spring with outside Olivia Swenson and setter Stella Swenson from Plymouth, Minn. (Wayzata H.S.). The duo combined to win three straight state titles. Stella was a consensus top-10 recruit in the country and the two-time Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year.
One final message coach Cook left his team with heading into the season was about not trying to go above themselves and their ability.
“I think one thing I try to remind them is your good is good enough,” Cook said. “You don’t have to try and press for great in big moments. Volleyball is played over a lot of points, and I think a lot of players fall into the habit of a great play, then medium play, can we just be good over long periods of time? We have enough skill and talent to win those matches if we can stay in that lane.”
The Gophers will practice from Aug. 10 until Aug. 30 before leaving for the opening tournament in Milwaukee. The Gophers will again compete against Baylor and TCU in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge on Sept. 6-7 in Waco, Texas. Their home opener is Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. against St. Thomas.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
