Gopher volleyball overcomes adversity to reach NCAA Final 4

MINNEAPOLIS - It might be a year later than they really wanted, but the University of Minnesota volleyball team is one of four still standing with a chance to win an NCAA championship.

Last year, most eyes were on the Gophers as they hosted a round of 16 regional, with the NCAA Final Four looming at Target Center in Minneapolis. The Gophers’ season ended in a rare loss at Maturi Pavilion to Oregon in the Sweet 16.

For Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon, what’s in the past is just that. They can’t do anything about it anymore, so they’ve moved forward. Call it redemption if you want, but Minnesota earned a five-set win over Florida last Friday, then beat Louisville 3-0 on Saturday to claim a trip to this year’s Final Four in Pittsburgh.

It’s their third Final Four in the last five years, and sixth under McCutcheon.

“It’s sweet. It’s what you work for, to get a chance to be in the mix at the end. For this group especially, I’m really proud of what they’ve achieved and I’m really glad they get this opportunity,” McCutcheon said.

It’s an opportunity they almost never got. The Gophers stared in the face a harsh reality in the round of 32 against Creighton. The Bluejays had two match points in the fourth set, and if they had converted either, Minnesota’s season was over. Instead, the Gophers staged a comeback to win the set, 26-24.

Minnesota took the fifth set 15-10 to extend its season.

“I think that match against Creighton made it very real for us. We were points away from our season ending, so for our team and the way we battled back and were able to come together, especially those game points, the fact that we were able to overcome that adversity and just win a game like that is really cool,” sophomore libero CC McGraw said.

The Gophers have managed to change the narrative after a season full of hopes, dreams, expectations in the Final Four in your backyard last year come to a crashing halt. They faced a similar scenario this year, with the season on the line against Creighton, and battled back.

Now after wins over Florida and Louisville, the Gophers are a win over Stanford away from playing for a national championship.

“We got into trouble in the Pav against a really good Creighton team, and yet we were able to find a way to win. How great to change that narrative in The Pav? But then to go on the road and have a couple of big wins and get back to the Final 4, it speaks a lot to the resilience of these athletes,” McCutcheon said.

Adversity was one of the buzz words as McCutcheon, McGraw and Adanna Rollins spoke with reporters Tuesday before the team heads to Pittsburgh later this week. They withstood setter Kylie Miller suffering a concussion early in the season. They made adjustments to their rotation from there, which meant less playing time for certain stars like Stephanie Samedy.

They’ve sacrificed, they’ve come together and they’ve earned the right to be one of four teams left playing for a national title. They’re also the underdog, the lowest remaining seed of the four to advance to Pittsburgh.

"I feel like we’ve been an underdog most of the season. We’ve had injuries, we’ve had all kinds of stuff we’ve been trying to manage," McCutcheon said. "One of the things that I think has been great for our competitive maturity is just freeing ourselves of expectations and just playing the best we can. That seems to be a pretty good method for us."

After their season ended last year, Rollins said she went to the Final Four at Target Center. It could’ve been a bitter experience, with expectations so high for the Gopher last year. She took it in as watching other teams to see what it takes to get there.

“It was a good experience to go watch, because that’s my dream, to go play in it. Just like a year ago watching them playing I was like ‘Man, I really want to be there.’ Now we’re here and it’s awesome,” Rollins said.

Thursday night’s opponent, Stanford, is a familiar face for the Gophers. The two teams have met in four of the past five seasons, and Minnesota beat Stanford 3-1 in mid-September in a match that was part of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge.

A lot has changed between the two teams in the three months since, and the Cardinal is led by National Player of the Year candidate Kathryn Plummer. McCutcheon was asked Tuesday if she’s “the Michael Jordan of volleyball.”

“She’s got to be amongst one of the all-time great collegiate volleyball players, no question. We get that, we respect that, she’s good. We’ll do our best to defend it, but she’s a handful,” McCutcheon said. “She’s the real deal, no question.”

The Gophers (27-5) and Stanford (28-4) meet at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The winner advances to face the Wisconsin/Baylor winner on Saturday for a national title.