Minnesota and Michigan fine-tune their games ahead of Big Ten debut

With the start of the Big Ten conference women’s volleyball matches scheduled for September 20, teams from the most prestigious division in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will have the opportunity to make their final adjustments this weekend.

Among them are Minnesota and Michigan, who will both be at home over the next couple of days and will have their matches streamed live for VBTV subscribers from around the world.

• Watch the Big Ten Volleyball matches live on VBTV.

Minnesota, who have four wins and three losses in their non-conference matches so far following a 3-1 victory over High Point on Thursday as part of the Diet Coke Classic, will complete their schedule on Saturday, at 16:30 local time (21:30 UTC), against Creighton at the Maturi Pavilion. It will be their last match before their conference debut against Iowa on September 20.

Sophomore outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer, a bronze medalist at the 2021 FIVB U18 Girls’ Volleyball World Championship with the United States women’s national team, has been Minnesota’s leading scorer in the season, having registered 101 kills so far.

Other standouts for the Golden Gophers so far in the season are reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, junior outside hitter Taylor Landfair, with 70 kills, senior setter Melani Shaffmaster, with 223 assists, and fifth-year libero Kylie Murr, with 125 digs.

Michigan, on the other hand, will play home and away matches against Bowling Green this weekend. The Wolverines will go on the road in Ohio on Friday and will be back home on Sunday, at 14:00 local time (18:00 UTC), at the Cliff Keen Arena, in Ann Arbor. Their Big Ten debut will be a big one as they will face in-state rivals Michigan State on Friday, September 22.

With two wins in seven matches heading into this weekend’s series against Bowling Green, Michigan are in the early days of a revamp after seeing leading scorer Jess Mruzik transfer to Penn State and the hiring of head coach Erin Virtue.

Some of their top players so far in the season are junior middle blocker Jacque Boney, with 66 kills and 26 blocks, Argentinean freshman opposite Valentina Vaulet, with 44 kills, junior libero Maddi Cuchran, with 84 digs, and senior setter Scottee Johnson, with 187 assists.

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