“This group is ready.”
Those three words from Minnesota Gophers head coach Keegan Cook carry a lot of weight. Cook will likely be starting five freshmen in the No. 4 seed’s opening NCAA Tournament match against Fairfield on Friday at Maturi Pavilion.
It has been a mixed-bag all season for Minnesota (22-9), which entered the year with a talented roster and a redshirt freshman setter in Stella Swenson. She turned out to be an anchor for the Gophers in her first season of action due to injuries to four starting-caliber players around the setter.
Cook said it has been a year like no other, and he appreciates his young players’ ability to learn on the fly in the Big Ten, winning many matches along the way.
“You have a team, you lose a team, then you have a new team of people, and I just think the athletes are really patient (and) persistent,” Cook said. “… Usually, you’re trying to bring one or two freshmen online, let alone five, and a transfer who hasn’t played for you. That’s a lot of relationship building in a short amount of time.”
Cook said his team is peaking at the right time and playing its best volleyball in the month of November. Highly-touted freshman outside hitter Kelly Kinney has embodied Minnesota’s ascension as she’s acclimated to college volleyball.
Julia Hanson, the lone Gophers starter with NCAA Tournament experience, said Kinney has hit her stride at the right time.
“Normally, you see freshmen start out high and then they bottom out just because it’s the longest season they’ve ever seen, and that’s the complete opposite with Kelly,” Hanson said.
Swenson said the two have developed a strong relationship on and off the court, picking each other up and crafting chemistry. Kinney is second on the team in kills (231) and kills per set (2.33).
Swenson said the faith Cook placed in this squad allowed the freshmen to flourish.
“Just the fact that he is there for us and backs us up is really cool, because it allows us to play free,” Swenson said. “… We’ve had a really hard year, but he still expects us to ball out and play like ourselves.”
The Gophers will look to turn that belief into results and memories at home this weekend. Minnesota is coming off a bittersweet final week of the regular season, beating No. 11 Purdue but falling in straight sets to Wisconsin on senior night.
Cook said his team went back to basics this week in two strong practices after the Wisconsin match and is preparing to face a balanced attack against the Fairfield Stags.
“From day one of this week, it’s been about eye work and defending against three hitters in the front row,” Cook said. “(The Stags) run a really nice 6-2 (system). No one gets leaned on too much in the offense. And so, they’re gonna keep you honest, and everyone has to win their individual battles, and your eye work has to be really clean.”
Cook said this NCAA Tournament field is the deepest and most talented it has ever been.
The Stags went 25-5, including 17-1 in conference play, to claim both the MAAC regular-season and the tournament titles to clinch their spot in the postseason. St. Thomas will meet Iowa State in the other first-round match in Minneapolis at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Minnesota is hosting the opening weekend of tournament action for the first time since 2022. The Gophers finished that year with a 22-9 record after winning both matches at Maturi Pavilion before falling to No. 9 Ohio State in the round of 16.
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