Gophers looking to stay alive against Pepperdine in Sweet 16

Gophers looking to stay alive against Pepperdine in Sweet 16

December 12, 2003

Gophers looking to stay alive against Pepperdine in Sweet 16
By Jeff Barthel


Minnesota's volleyball team will look to knock off a Pepperdine squad that has won 25 straight matches tonight at The Pyramid.

No, the Gophers aren't in Egypt, but in Long Beach, Calif. to compete as one of 16 NCAA Division I volleyball teams still alive in the postseason tournament.

Minnesota defeated the Waves 3-0 last year.

"It's a different team from last year, but the lineups will be very similar," Minnesota coach Mike Hebert said.

The Gophers faced Pepperdine in their first match of the 2002 season - they defeated the then-No. 8 Waves 30-24, 30-25, 30-28.

"We were unranked and caught them by surprise," Hebert said.

This year's Gophers (23-10) currently bear a No. 14 ranking and will compete against the 4th-ranked Waves (27-2) in a 7:30 p.m. PST (9:30 p.m. CST) match tonight.

All-time, Minnesota has a career-record of 2-0 against Pepperdine.

Should the Gophers win, they'd advance to their first-ever Elite Eight and take on the winner of No. 5 Stanford (25-6) and 13th-ranked Washington (22-8).

The Gophers have appeared in the third round of the NCAA tournament in three of the past four seasons, but have never advanced to the Regional Finals.

"(This year) we have a much better feeling of being on a mission," Hebert said. "They've fought and clawed their way back from the bottom of the barrel, that provides me with a lot of confidence that they'll put on a good show."

Minnesota started the year ranked 6th, but dropped its first four matches and eventually slipped out of the top 25.

The Gophers have bounced back to win 17 of their last 20 matches. Hebert is pleased will their performance, but also remembers the Waves from last year and knows to be cautious.

Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies remembered that match but was reluctant to compare the two.

"Last year was last year," Matthies said. "(This time) it's a whole different ballgame."

The Waves come into tonight's contest having not lost since Sept. 3 - a 3-0 loss at No. 1 USC.

"For us to win, Cassie Busse, Erin Martin, and Trisha Bratford are all going to have to deliver," Hebert said.

Busse - an All-American and the 2003 Big Ten player of the year - leads the Minnesota offense in kills (531) and hitting percentage (.300).

Bratford and Martin have contributed 438 and 409 kills, respectively, this season. Martin - a junior outside hitter - is also second on the team with her .252 hitting percentage.

Hebert also said middle blockers Jessica Byrnes and Meredith Nelson will have to step up.

Nelson and Byrnes have shared the role of starting middle blocker this season.

Minnesota's blocking attack finished third in the Big Ten this year. The Gophers are led by Nelson - the only player to knock away triple figures (128) in blocks.

The Gophers have 335 (119 solo, 432 assists) blocks as a team.

Pepperdine has 306.5 blocks (79 solo, 455 assists) this year. They have three players at or over 100 blocks this season.

Sophia Milo leads Pepperdine's blocking attack with 121 (23 solos, 98 assists). Seniors Lyndsey Hache (118) and Katie Wilkins (100) are the other two Waves who've compiled 100-plus kills.

As the most experienced middle blocker on Minnesota's 2003 roster, Byrnes has a .230 hitting percentage and 70 blocks this season.

Byrnes or Nelson would likely go up against Milo.

She is a part of a Pepperdine roster that is plentiful in height.

The Waves also have as a 6-foot-4-inch outside hitter (Wilkins) and two middle blockers - Mia Arnborg and Kristin McClune - that both stand 6-foot-3-inches tall.

"It's tough to play against a team with a lot of height," Nelson said, "It forces you to use a variety of shots to score."

Nelson - an All-Big Ten freshman selection - will be ready to crush the Waves. Joining Nelson will be to newly-selected All-Region players - Busse and sophomore libero Paula Gentil.

Gentil - who had 23 digs in last year's match versus the Waves - is also a two-time Big Ten defensive player of the year.




**This story was published in the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota school newspaper. It is also viewable at:

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2003/12/12/47874

Long Beach regional features top talent

Long Beach regional features top talent

December 10, 2003

Long Beach regional features top talent
By Jeff Barthel


Minnesota's volleyball team began its 2003 campaign three and a half months ago with a trip to Hawaii.

The Gophers lost all three matches in Honolulu to three ranked teams at the time - a 3-0 loss to No. 2 Hawaii, a 3-1 loss to No. 22 Louisville and a 3-0 sweep at the hands of No. 16 UCLA.

"It was very good that we had those teams on our schedule," Minnesota coach Mike Hebert said. "We played in some of the toughest arenas in the country against some of the best competition available."

Minnesota also lost a Sept. 13 match at No. 3 Florida.

"The leftover residue (from those losses) will give (the Gophers) confidence for this weekend," Hebert said.

Hebert's 14th-ranked Gophers (24-10) will face No. 4 Pepperdine (27-2) on Friday in Long Beach, Calif. If they defeat the Waves, Minnesota would then take on the winner of No. 5 Stanford (25-6) and 13th ranked Washington (22-8) for a Saturday evening battle for the right to move to the Final Four.

The Gophers will make their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in team history - including a 3-1 loss to Arizona in last year's tournament.

The 2003 Gophers were ranked sixth at the beginning of the season. However, they lost their first four matches of the season - the three in Hawaii and a 3-2 home loss to unranked Kansas.

After opening the Big Ten season with two losses, Minnesota was 7-7 and had dropped out of the top 25.

Now, the Gophers have won 23 of their past 29 contests and are fresh off a 3-1 victory over No. 16 Northern Iowa.

"(The Panthers) are a team I have tremendous respect for," Hebert said. "We feel very comfortable having vanquished a notable opponent."

Minnesota will move on from defeating the Missouri Valley

Conference champions to face Pepperdine - champions of the West Coast conference.

"We're definitely up for it," Minnesota All-American Cassie Busse said. "We are excited to play such a highly-competitive team."

Pepperdine is led under the tutelage of head coach Nina Matthies.

Matthies has compiled a 411-285 (.636) record through her 20-plus years as head coach of the Waves.

The other two that complete the Long Beach regional - Stanford and Washington - are both teams Minnesota has yet to defeat.

The Gophers are 0-2 against the Cardinal and lost the only match they've played against the Huskies.

The two Pac-10 teams finished their conference in second and fifth place, respectively.

Minnesota hasn't played Washington since Sept. 7, 1996. The Gophers played Stanford and Pepperdine to open last season's schedule.

"All I remember is the excitement here when we had to play them," Busse said. "We were all just especially excited to get the season started."

The Gophers defeated Pepperdine and lost to then top-ranked Stanford 3-1.

It was a match where the two teams were tied 1-1 and Minnesota had a 27-26 lead in game three. The Gophers then surrendered four straight points and lost the match 30-21, 24-30, 30-27, 30-21.

The Cardinal - who won the 2001 national championship - went on to a 33-5 record last season.

Stanford also made it to the 2002 national championship match but lost the title to USC.

The Trojans, coincidentally, have only lost one match over the past two seasons - Stanford defeated USC 3-2 (30-26, 16-30, 30-26, 28-30, 16-14) on Nov. 11, 2002.

USC is in a different bracket from the Gophers, but could face Minnesota should the 2002 Big Ten champions win two matches this weekend.




**This story was published in the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota school newspaper. It is also viewable, with a photo, at:

http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2003/12/10/47805

Establishing a Volleyball Powerhouse

Establishing a Volleyball Powerhouse

October 12, 2005
Establishing a Volleyball Powerhouse
Three easy steps to eternal greatness
by Jeff Barthel


This fall season the Minnesota sports world has seen a dismal end to the Twins recent playoff streak, a disconcerting start to the Vikings season and the annual encouraging start and eventual faltering of the another season of Gophers football. However, one program that’s been consistently strong - but not nearly as recognized - is Minnesota Gophers volleyball.

Led by Head Coach Mike Hebert, the Minnesota volleyball program has become a national power in recent years. Entering his 10th season here, Hebert brought the Gophers out of obscurity and into the national spotlight, leading the team to its first Big Ten Championship, Final Four and national championship appearances.

Hebert says there’s no magical secret to his success, but listed the following criteria for building a national power.

First, you have to hire a great coaching and recruiting staff. Second, you have to find good players. And third, you have to create an environment that makes everyone happy.

In fulfilling his first step, Hebert brought in recruiting coordinator David Boos in 2002. At 30, Boos is considerably inexperienced in comparison to Hebert, a NCAA Division I head coach of 29 years. However, he has already done his share in helping Hebert form a top volleyball program.

As a coaching/recruiting tandem, Hebert and Boos have attracted many of the nation’s strongest, most talented players to Minnesota; four have developed into NCAA All-Americans.

As for the third step in Hebert’s success plan - environment – Minnesota has the Sports Pavilion, a 5,800-seat arena renown as one of the top volleyball venues in the country. From there, the environment created by Hebert fosters success beyond just the physical atmosphere.

Every major NCAA contender has superior coaching, top talent and quality facilities to nurture its success -- what does Minnesota have that others may not?

“I think we project a certain style in a program where people are happy and get along and support each other, and the coaches are of the same mind,” Hebert said. “I think it’s a feel-good, warm, fuzzy kind of a program that attracts a lot of people.”

Historically, though, the nation’s most successful programs have nearly all come from states where warm weather and/or beaches are plentiful, making volleyball more easily accessible to its athletes. Since its inception in 1981, the NCAA Division I Womens Volleyball Title has been held by just nine teams, seven of which are located in warm climates.

Stanford, located in northern California, has six titles, including last year’s. Three other California colleges - UCLA, USC and Long Beach State - have three apiece. Hawaii has also won three, while Pacific has won two. In fact, only three D-I schools not from California or Hawaii - Penn State University, Texas and Nebraska - have won the NCAA volleyball title.

Still, Hebert insists Minnesota’s “warm” program can attract recruits despite the cold climate.

“We still get a lot of difficulty [recruiting] because of the weather, but the people who understand what’s important, I think, are still attracted to the program.”

In an attempt to push Minnesota past it’s national runner-up finish - the Gophers lost the championship 3-0 to Stanford in 2004 - Hebert’s 2005 team will boast eight new players and an incoming recruiting class ranked fourth nationally. Ironically, two of the new players transferred from states known for their warm weather.

“I think a big part of coming here was coach Hebert,” said USC transfer Sara Florian, “just his sincerity of wanting me to be a part of his program.”

Top freshman recruit Kyla Roehrig agreed that the coaching staff was a major selling point in signing with the Gophers.

“I just loved my visit here, the coaches are great,” said Roehrig, a 6-foot-5-inch Nebraska native. “And the girls ... you just want to attach to them because they remind you so much of your friends and family.”

Roehrig joins a volleyball family that includes three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Paula Gentil, All-American junior setter Kelly Bowman and a front-court tandem - junior Meredith Nelson and sophomore Jessy Jones - Hebert touts as “one of the best, if not the best middle blocker tandem in the Big Ten.” Nelson, Minnesota’s leading blocker in 2005, returns as a the team’s captain. Hebert also credits Bowman, Jessica Byrnes and Marci Peniata as team leaders.

So by adding a bevy of top recruits and a pair of talented transfers to this group of talented veterans, could this be the year Hebert and Minnesota win it all?

The 2005 team is arguably the most talented group of athletes the Gophers have ever had. Considering the Gophers are off to a hot start this season, and have been ranked in the top ten for over 20 straight weeks dating back to 2003, it is plausible but still early.

“I think the key is to be balanced offensively and also to maintain our team chemistry,” Nelson said. “We have eight new players and eight veterans, so it’s going to be hard to continue a level of chemistry that’s going to be an elite team.”

Williams Arena: The Legacy of a Legendary Barn

Williams Arena: The Legacy of a Legendary Barn

February 15, 2006

Williams Arena: The Legacy of a Legendary Barn
by Jeff Barthel

As technological advances allow for revolving stadium-ceilings and rubber-induced field surfaces, one campus venue has maintained its mystical sense without such changes.

With its 79-year-old rafters and one-of-a-kind raised floor, Williams Arena has become an emporium of rich memories for countless fans, players, employees and visitors of all kinds.

“I think it has that barn look to it,” says Chuck Mencel, Gophers basketball guard from 1951-55. “It’s a very visually appealing place and has been a popular place for Minnesota families to come to.”

Constructed in 1927, and first used in 1928, “The Barn,” as Williams Arena is commonly known was first titled, the University of Minnesota Field House. In these times, the facility was used for basketball, off-season winter football practices, tennis and indoor track.

In 1950, the wide-framed building was split in two distinct playing areas, one for hockey and one for basketball. During this time, the famed Gophers gym changed its name to the well-known title it bears today. Since then, Williams Arena has become known as one of the nation’s premiere basketball arenas.

The first game played at the Barn came in the midst of some rough years for the Gophers. Minnesota transferred its team from Cooke Hall (which still exists today, used for kinesiology and sports studies) to play Ohio State at their new gym on Feb. 4, 1928. The Gophers lost the game in double-overtime and finished its season 4-12 and ninth in the Big Ten.

In the 1930s, coach Dave McMillan led his team to its first Big Ten title at Williams. The team took out Wisconsin and Northwestern to finish its season 14-6 (10-2 conference).

The year 1946 marked the arrival of a young Myer “Whitey” Skoog, the man many basketball historians would suggest originated the jump shot.

Don Knauer, a resident of Eden Prairie and U of M alum, shared some memories of Skoog and the 1948-49 Gophers.

“Whitey Skoog invented the jump shot,” says Knauer, recalling the All-American he watched in his collegiate years.

“It was the first time I had seen it used,” adds Knauer, who as a member of Phi Sigma Kappa – a fraternity still in existence on 18th Avenue Southeast “We (Gophers fans) always felt it was quite the treat to take a walk over to The Barn.”

Soon after the days of Whitey Skoog, came Chuck Mencel.

“I remember playing Iowa for the Big Ten championship in ’55,” says Mencel. “20,000-plus people packed the Barn that day.”

Mencel was speaking of Feb. 29, when the largest crowd in Gophers basketball history (20,176) watched his Gophers play Iowa for the Big Ten championship. The former All-American Gophers guard spoke fondly of that day, recalling how fans crowded themselves into the Barn’s hallways.

“The public support was amazing,” says Mencel of the excitement the city had surrounding the team. “At that time, it was the largest attendance of any basketball game in the country.”

Mencel spoke passionately of the uproar of Gophers fever that day, saying the famed game led some of the local Minneapolis theatres to shut down their daily operations so they could offer ticket-less Gophers fans a chance to watch the game on their big screens.

Williams could seat 18,025 at the time, but the excitement of a Big Ten championship, Minnesota’s 15-5 record and its interstate rivalry with Iowa, led to masses of Maroon and Gold maniacs. Unfortunately, for the team and its throngs of fans, Minnesota lost the game 72-70 and would finish the season in second place.

Moving into the 60s, “Sweet Lou” Hudson would grace the Williams hardwood. Arguably the best Gopher ever, Hudson did not win any championships, but did average 20.4 points per game in his three years before embarking on a 13-year NBA career that included six All-Star performances.

Years after Hudson made his departure, another player, who is often considered Minnesota’s best ever, Kevin McHale, entered Williams Arena’s confines (1977-80).

McHale, who was a Minnesota-grown boy from the northern town of Hibbing, is definitely the most remembered. The Boston Celtics’ great helped his NBA team to three championships and eventually earned a spot in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

A few years after McHale’s days as a Gopher concluded the Clem Haskins era began. The coach of Minnesota basketball for thirteen years, Haskins is remembered for two things; the team’s Final Four appearance in 1997, the other, sadly, is an academic scandal.

“I was then hired by Clem as a student manager,” says Michael Dale, a Williams Arena facility manager of six years.

Dale, who was prepared to leave his hometown of Rochester to come work for Haskins, never would get the chance to work with him due to the aforementioned scandal.

“My only personal memory with Clem was my senior year in high school," says Dale, "he took two hours of his time to sit and talk with me.”

Reverting a few years back in Clem’s coaching regime, there was a young man named Kevin Lynch (Gophers guard 1988-91) who lit up the maple floor of the Maroon.

“Oh man, this place was rocking the time we beat Illinois,” says Lynch, recollecting a favorite memory.

Lynch was referring to his Gophers 91-74 upheaval of the 4th-ranked Illini Jan. 6, 1990, another of a myriad of great memories this treasured arena has witnessed.

Now a radio commentator of Gophers basketball, Lynch and his partner Dave Lee, happily spoke of a place they’ve both spent several years in.

“Just look at the rafters, the atmosphere,” says Lynch, following the duo’s Jan. 29 broadcast of Minnesota’s 61-42 defeat of Indiana. “It’s just a great place to be at.”

“There’s been many great years here, a great place with a wonderful atmosphere for basketball,” says Lee. “It still [after nearly 80 years] possesses the character and charm that are lacking in the new multi-functional arenas on other campuses.”

Lee—a local radio personality of 16 years—and Lynch have been WCCO 830’s radio broadcasting tandem for the past five years. Dick Bremer, a television commentator, has done Gophers basketball games since 1986. Serving as the Gophers television voice, Bremer recalls the opportunity he had of capturing up-close-and-personal memories of the much adored ’96-97 Gophers.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Big Ten championship season,” says Bremer. “I remember the dogged determination of Bobby Jackson; he was one of the players who separated Minnesota from the rest of the conference.”

Jackson, now a nine-year veteran of the NBA, played point guard for this special Gophers squad. A junior college transfer from Salisbury, N.C., in his second year at Minnesota, thrilled many hometown fans with his mind-boggling passes and his rim-rocking dunks.

“I remember coming up here to watch the men play and watching Bobby Jackson,” says Jamie Broback, a native of Apple Valley and forward for the Gophers womens basketball team. “I think Bobby was one of my favorite athletes to watch, then seeing Lindsey Whalen, she was my favorite female player to watch.”

Broback was a senior in high school when she saw Whalen play on the Minnesota womens team’s first full season at Williams (it previously played in the Sports Pavilion). Coincidentally, this team's inaugural year at its new venue (2002-2003) was also
current coach Pam Borton’s first year at Minnesota.

“It’s definitely a great arena,” says Borton. “It’s a tough place to play for opponents because of its mystiqueness, because the fans feel like they are sitting almost on top of the court.”

Borton has been instrumental in building success for the Gopher women, lobbying and eventually accruing the help (which included much fundraising by her players) to get the team’s new locker room and team room built.

These additions, combined with much of the work Michael Dale and the facilities team have contributed greatly to the renovation, remodeling and restoration of a treasured Arena.

While the Gophers mens basketball squad has struggled this year, the 2006 Gopher women have flourished. Either way, Williams Arena will undoubtedly continue to be a magical atmosphere for students, fans and the Twin Cities public for years to come.

Tubby tacks on No. 400

The Minnesota Gophers mens basketball team ventured to Ann Arbor, Michigan tonight to take on the University of Michigan Wolverines.

The verdict? A 77-65 victory for Minnesota, win number 13 on the season.

The importance? Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith earned his 400th NCAA Division-I victory.

Fittingly, it was the Gophers seniors who led the way. The trio of Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson combined for 49 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in cementing their coach's milestone victory.

Having a seven-year contract signed, twenty wins-per-season would put Smith in the 500-win club by the 2012-2013 season. For the moment, however, Smith's Gophers have the rest of 2008 and an NCAA tournament bid to play for.

Defeating the Wolverines gives Minnesota its third conference victory, improving them to sixth place among Big Ten competition.

Conversely, the Wolverines fall to 5-16 (1-8 Big Ten) as memories of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and the famous Fab Five seem like a faded memory these days.

Smith stuck at 399

With the game clock dwindling down below twenty seconds, an errant Lawrence McKenzie three-point attempt, followed by two true free throws by Indiana's Lance Stemler iced Tubby Smith's first crack at accomplishing 400 victories.

The Gophers (12-4, 2-2 Big Ten) fought hard, but were mildly offense in falling short. Minnesota shot 37.4-percent from the field and 52.4-percent from the free-throw line in its 65-60 loss to the Hoosiers at Williams Arena tonight.

Led by D.J. White's 17 points and nine rebounds, Indiana improved its record to 15-1. The 6-foot-9-inch, 259-pound forward outplayed Minnesota's front court counterparts and picked up the slack on a turnover-ridden night by his 10th-ranked Hoosiers team.

Minnesota's defense forced Indiana into a season-high 26 turnovers -- seven more than its previous high (19, vs. Tennessee State, Dec. 3).

The Gophers rattled IU's Eric Gordon, limiting the freshman phenom to 12 points (11 below his Big Ten leading 23.0 ppg) and forcing him to commit seven turnovers.

Leading the way for Minnesota's offense senior forward Dan Coleman (15 points and seven rebounds) and Spencer Tollackson (12 points).

Smith's next chance at 400 career victories will come Sunday, when the Gophers host the Michigan State Spartans.