University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Opposite
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Gophers Set to Begin Camp
8/3/2018 2:22:00 PM | Volleyball
The University of Minnesota volleyball program reports for practice next week, while the Golden Gophers open the season on Aug. 24-25 when it hosts the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at the Target Center. Minnesota returns 12 letterwinners and five starters, including three All-Americans Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Alexis Hart and Stephanie Samedy. Head coach Hugh McCutcheon, now in his seventh year, hopes to build off a 2017 Sweet 16 appearance. As the Golden Gopher Volleyball program prepares for the season, gophersports.com caught up with McCutcheon prior to camp.
Â
How did the spring season help Gopher Volleyball prepare for this upcoming year?
I thought it was a really good spring in terms of the work that the athletes did. I thought the work rate was very high and I thought their commitment to the process of change and their ability to learn and get better was as good as we have ever had it. Both of those things made it a really good spring for us. I thought we got a lot better and it will be interesting to see how that translates moving forward into the regular season.
Â
You lost a starting middle from last year's team, who are some of the potential individuals that can take over that position?
I think we have a lot of people that can help us. That is the one of strengths of this group is the idea that it's a meritocracy. If you're in the gym you have a chance to earn the right to play. Replacing the middle position, which was Molly (Lohman) who did a great job for us for four years, is going to be a challenge but Regan Pittman had a great spring so she is going to keep doing what she has been doing. We have Taylor Morgan who had a really good spring in the mix there along with Paulina, Kayla and Becca, so there are a lot of people who could rise to the top and get the job done. The thing I like most about is that there are a lot of good players that will be battling for it.
Â
You've spoken that everyone can be a leader. How do you see the leadership developing throughout the year?
I always tell people that you don't need to be a senior to be a senior. There is a couple of components that go along with that. One of which is obviously the leadership piece. I think anyone can earn a voice, you don't have to be a senior to have that. The other part to it is that generally when people reach their senior year there is a sudden sense of finality to the whole thing. They realize this thing does not go on forever, and now all of the sudden they have to work harder and they're more attentive and their commitment to doing it right seems to increase. My intention behind framing it that way is the fact that I don't want people to reach their senior year have feelings of "would've, could've, should've." I think you have to really commit to this thing right away. If you do that, regardless of how your senior year finishes, you won't have too many regrets.
Â
We have six newcomers entering camp next week, can you talk a little bit about each of them and what they can contribute to the team?
This is a good class and I can go through them numerically. Claire Sheehan (No. 4) is a transfer from Iowa, who carried a big load for them as a starting outside hitter. She was also a really good player in Minnesota for Northern Lights so we are excited to see what she can do for us. That O2 spot was a bit of a revolving door for us so I don't know if it will be more of the same this year, but Claire will be competing in that spot and will help us a ton. She can play, she competes, and we are really excited to have her as a part of this group. (No. 7) CC McGraw, as a DS/Libero, I think is a phenomenal talent at that position. She will have some good competition from Barnes, Litzau and Beckley, but I think CC is a very special talent and we are excited to see how her career goes for us. (No. 17) Bayley McMenimen is such a good volleyball player and a really good setter, but most importantly she competes like crazy. She will add a ton of value for our program. We are excited to have her here. (No. 18) Paulina Swider is a really strong middle blocker out of Poland who, for us, we think is a great strength for her, can play both spots. She can go in front, she can play off one foot, but she can play both and we think that is great. That makes it much more competitive across the board for both those spots, which should keep everyone honest. She is a really good blocker, has an excellent serve and possesses an all-round great volleyball game. (No. 20) Adanna Rollins is a really smooth outside hitter. She will be battling with Claire, Jaz, Lex and all of those outside hitters are going to be in it to battle for those two spots, but Adanna can flat out play. She has a really high volleyball IQ and is a solid outside with a ton of range. I think she plays a lot older than she is. Lastly, No. 23 Rebecca Rendahl is another good middle. She is fast, has great lateral quickness, she has good pop on the ball and she can play the whole game. It gets exciting for me because this squad, maybe even more so than any other squad we've had, has a lot of depth and a lot of talent. If everyone can understand that we are all striving to achieve something as a collective and can somehow combine their personal agenda with the team's agenda, I think this group has the potential to have great success.
Â
The 2018 Final Four is being held in Minneapolis, but obviously the team has a grueling schedule well before that point. How you prepare the team for the body of work rather than the end result?
It's great that the Final Four is here, but for us to start thinking about that now, at least in terms of some concrete outcome, I think would be a little foolish. They say you eat the elephant one bite at a time and that's really what it's about. We're going to take care of today and if we get enough good todays maybe we will get there at the end. We know the tournament is here and we're excited at the possibility, we think it would be great to play a Final Four at home. That would be wonderful. However, there is a lot of water that has to go under a lot of bridges before we get to that point.
Â
How did the spring season help Gopher Volleyball prepare for this upcoming year?
I thought it was a really good spring in terms of the work that the athletes did. I thought the work rate was very high and I thought their commitment to the process of change and their ability to learn and get better was as good as we have ever had it. Both of those things made it a really good spring for us. I thought we got a lot better and it will be interesting to see how that translates moving forward into the regular season.
Â
You lost a starting middle from last year's team, who are some of the potential individuals that can take over that position?
I think we have a lot of people that can help us. That is the one of strengths of this group is the idea that it's a meritocracy. If you're in the gym you have a chance to earn the right to play. Replacing the middle position, which was Molly (Lohman) who did a great job for us for four years, is going to be a challenge but Regan Pittman had a great spring so she is going to keep doing what she has been doing. We have Taylor Morgan who had a really good spring in the mix there along with Paulina, Kayla and Becca, so there are a lot of people who could rise to the top and get the job done. The thing I like most about is that there are a lot of good players that will be battling for it.
Â
You've spoken that everyone can be a leader. How do you see the leadership developing throughout the year?
I always tell people that you don't need to be a senior to be a senior. There is a couple of components that go along with that. One of which is obviously the leadership piece. I think anyone can earn a voice, you don't have to be a senior to have that. The other part to it is that generally when people reach their senior year there is a sudden sense of finality to the whole thing. They realize this thing does not go on forever, and now all of the sudden they have to work harder and they're more attentive and their commitment to doing it right seems to increase. My intention behind framing it that way is the fact that I don't want people to reach their senior year have feelings of "would've, could've, should've." I think you have to really commit to this thing right away. If you do that, regardless of how your senior year finishes, you won't have too many regrets.
Â
We have six newcomers entering camp next week, can you talk a little bit about each of them and what they can contribute to the team?
This is a good class and I can go through them numerically. Claire Sheehan (No. 4) is a transfer from Iowa, who carried a big load for them as a starting outside hitter. She was also a really good player in Minnesota for Northern Lights so we are excited to see what she can do for us. That O2 spot was a bit of a revolving door for us so I don't know if it will be more of the same this year, but Claire will be competing in that spot and will help us a ton. She can play, she competes, and we are really excited to have her as a part of this group. (No. 7) CC McGraw, as a DS/Libero, I think is a phenomenal talent at that position. She will have some good competition from Barnes, Litzau and Beckley, but I think CC is a very special talent and we are excited to see how her career goes for us. (No. 17) Bayley McMenimen is such a good volleyball player and a really good setter, but most importantly she competes like crazy. She will add a ton of value for our program. We are excited to have her here. (No. 18) Paulina Swider is a really strong middle blocker out of Poland who, for us, we think is a great strength for her, can play both spots. She can go in front, she can play off one foot, but she can play both and we think that is great. That makes it much more competitive across the board for both those spots, which should keep everyone honest. She is a really good blocker, has an excellent serve and possesses an all-round great volleyball game. (No. 20) Adanna Rollins is a really smooth outside hitter. She will be battling with Claire, Jaz, Lex and all of those outside hitters are going to be in it to battle for those two spots, but Adanna can flat out play. She has a really high volleyball IQ and is a solid outside with a ton of range. I think she plays a lot older than she is. Lastly, No. 23 Rebecca Rendahl is another good middle. She is fast, has great lateral quickness, she has good pop on the ball and she can play the whole game. It gets exciting for me because this squad, maybe even more so than any other squad we've had, has a lot of depth and a lot of talent. If everyone can understand that we are all striving to achieve something as a collective and can somehow combine their personal agenda with the team's agenda, I think this group has the potential to have great success.
Â
The 2018 Final Four is being held in Minneapolis, but obviously the team has a grueling schedule well before that point. How you prepare the team for the body of work rather than the end result?
It's great that the Final Four is here, but for us to start thinking about that now, at least in terms of some concrete outcome, I think would be a little foolish. They say you eat the elephant one bite at a time and that's really what it's about. We're going to take care of today and if we get enough good todays maybe we will get there at the end. We know the tournament is here and we're excited at the possibility, we think it would be great to play a Final Four at home. That would be wonderful. However, there is a lot of water that has to go under a lot of bridges before we get to that point.
Follow Women's Volleyball
Women's Volleyball Tickets
Experience the excitement and tradition connecting generations of Gopher fans! Create memories for a lifetime with your friends and family while you root for your Golden Gophers. Get Tickets
Support Women's Volleyball
Support the University of Minnesota Women's Volleyball program. Your support helps our student-athletes succeed athletically, academically, and socially. It takes just seconds to make a monthly or one-time donation. Thank you for your support! Give Now
 NCAA Postgame Reaction
Sunday, December 07
Highlights: Gophers 3, Iowa State 0
Saturday, December 06
Highlights: Gophers 3, Fairfield 0
Friday, December 05
NCAA Postgame Reaction
Friday, December 05