Gophers Set to Open Season This Weekend

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Streaming: Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 23-24 (BTN+)
Start Time: 4:01 p.m. (Jan. 23), 3:01 p.m. (Jan. 24)
TV: FOX 9 + - Sunday, Jan. 24 (locally)
Radio: KFAN + (Sat.) - Corbu Stathes (Play-by-Play)

SERIES INFORMATION
75th Meeting (Minnesota leads 55-19)
Current Streak: W-3
Under McCutcheon vs. Michigan State: 9-3

HEADING INTO THE SEASON
• Minnesota is scheduled to play volleyball for the first time since 2019 this weekend when the Golden Gophers host the Michigan State Spartans, Saturday and Sunday. Minnesota, with the rest of the Big Ten Conference, had its season paused due to COVID-19 for the fall of 2020. That being said, should the Gophers play on Jan. 23, it would be 401 days since their last competition. Minnesota last played a volleyball match on Dec. 19, 2019 in the NCAA National Semifinal against eventual champion Stanford.
• Hugh McCutcheon enters his ninth at the helm of Gopher Volleyball and holds a 216-53 collegiate record at Minnesota and 125-35 in Big Ten play. Since taking over the Minnesota helm, the Gophers have gone to three Final Fours, an Elite Eight and three Sweet 16 appearances in eight years.
• Minnesota is coming off a 27-6 overall record in 2019 and a 17-3 mark in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers tied for second in the 2019 league standings.
• Minnesota returns two All-Americans in Regan Pittman and Stephanie Samedy, as well as First Team All-Big Ten selection CC McGraw. Pittman was named an AVCA First Team All-American after she hit .355 in 2019 and averaged 1.41 blocks per set. Her block mark ranked second in the league. Samedy was named an AVCA Second Team All-American in 2019 when she led the team with 353 kills, averaging 3.07 per set. McGraw ranked third in the Big Ten in digs per set (4.08) and tied a team-best 27 aces in her 2019 sophomore campaign.
• Also returning to the 2021 team is outside hitter Adanna Rollins, who ranked third on the team with 306 kills and averaged 2.68 kps. In all, Minnesota returns nine letterwinners from the 2019 Final Four team.
• The Golden Gophers welcome the No. 1 recruiting class (according to Volleyball Magazine) to the mix this season. Taylor Landfair was ranked the No. 1 recruit in the nation, while Jenna Wenaas was ranked the third and Melani Shaffmaster was ranked 16th. Minnesota also welcomes middle blocker Katie Myers, who received her undergraduate degree from Maryland last year. She was a First Team All-Big Ten selection and ranked fourth in the conference in hitting (.395) and third in blocks per set (1.29). Also joining the Gophers is grad transfer Hunter Atherton, who was a setter at North Carolina the past two years and spent a season at Nebraska her freshman year.

THE 2021 SEASON
• The University of Minnesota volleyball program will play a 22-match regular season schedule this spring announced by the Big Ten Conference. The 2020 fall season was pushed to the spring due to COVID-19.
• Minnesota will play the same opponent twice each week. Every Big Ten institution has five two-game home series, five two-game road series and one split week with a geographically relevant opponent. Split week opponents were determined by mileage. No team has more than one instance of consecutive two-game series at home or away. None of these occurrences take place in the first or last two weeks.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
• Michigan State was 15-15 in 2019, and returns a seasoned squad with 12 returning letterwinners. Its nine top kill producers all return, as do starters at all seven positions.
• Senior Alyssa Chronowski played 83 of 110 sets a year ago, averaging 2.22 kills, 0.55 blocks, and 0.45 digs per frame, hitting .192. She was third on the team with a 2.58 points per set average. Senior libero Jamye Cox has been the MSU starter since her freshman year of 2017. As a junior, she was fourth in the Big Ten with 4.06 digs per set over 28 matches (100 sets). She also averaged 0.70 assists per set and added 19 service aces.
• Cathy George is one of four Big Ten head coaches to enter the season with 600+ career wins (653), along with Penn State's Russ Rose (1,299), Nebraska's John Cook (749), and Michigan's Mark Rosen (638).

LAST TIME AGAINST MSU
• The Gophers and Spartans only met once last season, in East Lansing, Mich. The Gophers earned a 3-1 win over the Spartans (25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 25-18).
• Regan Pittman posted a career-best 19 kills and 30 attempts. She also hit .484, had five blocks and three aces in the win.

ON THE DOCKET
• Minnesota is back in action, this time when it hits the road for the first time this season at Maryland. Friday's action is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and televised on BTN. Saturday's match is slated for 3 p.m., and streamed on BTN +.

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hunter Atherton

Taylor Landfair

CC McGraw

Katie Myers

Regan Pittman

Adanna Rollins

Stephanie Samedy

Melani Shaffmaster

Jenna Wenaas