Gophers volleyball star setter Stella Swenson was riding a high when she arrived in Dinkytown in January of 2024.
Gophers freshman setter Stella Swenson delivers a set during Minnesota’s loss to USC on Nov. 1, 2025 at Maturi Pavilion (Claudia Staut / Gophers Athletics)
Swenson capped off her high school career by winning her third consecutive state title with Wayzata in 2023 two just months prior.
But after hitting a peak point in her volleyball career, she went through the tough mental battle while redshirting for her first year with the Gophers.
Swenson said it was challenging sitting back and watching matches. But there were advantages to the year off, like her physical growth.
“Going into college, I thought I was in shape,” Swenson said. “And then after my first lift, I couldn’t feel a muscle below my neck.”
Swenson met the challenge head-on. She brought a list of questions to Gophers strength coach Sara Wiley: “How can I get stronger? How can I go up in weights? What can I do at home?”
The curiosity and determination paid off for Swenson, as Gophers head coach Keegan Cook said the freshman experienced one of the best physical transformations he has seen from a young player.
There was a key question Cook asked himself after taking the Minnesota job in 2023: “Do we have a setter coming in the future that can lead us back to where we want to be?”
“The answer was ‘Yes,’ ” Cook said.
Swenson has totaled 1,047 assists (9.79 assists per set) this season despite the team being decimated by four season-ending injuries to starting-caliber players. That sent the lineups into flux.
But Cook said when adversity hits the team, Swenson always looks internally for solutions.
“She’s just working to better the ball at all times,” Cook said. “The fact that we could be having even a higher hit (percentage) for the season than last year, I think, is a really good sign.”
Minnesota hit .242 a year ago in setter Melani Shaffmaster’s fifth year. This fall, Minnesota is hitting .283 with Swenson as the orchestrator.
Swenson said while not playing last year was tough, she gained invaluable experience from Shaffmaster.
“Being able to see how she demanded the court and what she said and how she acted in certain moments, I just pocketed every single thing,” Swenson said. “I love to learn. So, watching her, I learned so much from her.”
Another guiding voice in her volleyball career is her sister, Samantha Seliger-Swenson, who is the only Gophers volleyball player ever to earn All-America honors in each of her four seasons.
Stella Swenson said her sister passed down wisdom about Big Ten volleyball and developing relationships with hitters.
“I know everything that she says I can trust, because she was in my shoes 10 years ago, not even,” Stella Swenson said. “So being able to have that resource has been really cool.”
Gophers freshman setter Stella Swenson hits a serve during Minnesota’s loss to USC on Nov. 1, 2025 at Maturi Pavilion (Claudia Staut / Gophers Athletics)
The setter position was the biggest hole in the 2025 Gophers roster after Shaffmaster, a five-year starter, graduated following a stellar 2024 senior season. Swenson answered the call, posting 30 or more assists in each of her first five matches. Minnesota opened the season 12-1.
The Gophers started to feel the burden of the injuries early on in conference play. Minnesota lost three of its first five Big Ten matches in October, right before a road test at Washington — Cook’s former team.
Cook said Swenson was crucial for the Gophers after they lost the first set to the Huskies. The Gophers went on to take three consecutive sets to defeat Washington.
“I really thought she and her teammates just put their heads down and decided that they were going to become the team they needed to become,” Cook said. “Stella’s leadership was a big part of that and continues to be. So pretty much ever since that Washington match, it seems like we’ve become a new team.”
Swenson said the team had a “mindset shift” against Washington and has pushed on since. Swenson’s signature performance came in a five-set win at Iowa on Nov. 16, when she put up 58 assists.
It was the first time a Gophers setter had 58 or more assists in a match since Shaffmaster had 60 on Feb. 5, 2021.
Swenson said the first thing she looked for on the stat sheet after the game was how her hitters did.
“The fact that all of them like Carly (Gilk), Kelly (Kinney), Jordan (Taylor), Lourdes (Myers), all got career highs in something, I was proud of them,” Stella Swenson said. “And then I was like, ‘Oh, hey, 58 assists, that’s not too bad, either.’ ”
Swenson loves to say, “I could set my hitters blindfolded.” On that afternoon in Iowa City, she very well could have. She added that it was her highest assist total ever in a single match. Swenson added another 40 in 19th-ranked Minnesota’s four-set victory over 11th-ranked Purdue on Wednesday — the Gophers’ fifth straight win.
Minnesota (22-8) will wrap up the regular season Friday with a home date against No. 10 Wisconsin.
Swenson said it’s a blessing to get to show up to Maturi Pavilion every day and compete with her teammates, highlighting one who shares the sentiment.
“I’ll have these conversations with Kate Thibault (Watertown native) all the time, because I played club with her when I was 14, and we’ve been best friends ever since,” Swenson said. “The fact that I get to be here on my dream team with her, on her dream team, is just incredible.”
The dream of playing at “The Pav” may have been realized, but Swenson’s hunger to improve and win continues to spur her on. She said this squad’s ability to battle while regularly starting five freshmen shows the program’s bright future.
“I’m like, ‘Holy crap, this is how hard we’re competing, imagine how much we’re gonna grow in the next couple of years together and how hard we’re gonna compete then,’ ” Swenson said. “That’s so cool.”
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