Gophers sophomore Taylor Landfair has heard stories about the raucous atmosphere at Maturi Pavilion, and how the team drew some of the best home crowds in the Big Ten and NCAA women's volleyball.
She has never seen that for herself, though.
Landfair joined the team last year with attendance restrictions during the pandemic, but the fans are back for the 2021 season. All required of them right now is to wear masks indoors.
What better way for Landfair to experience a packed crowd at "The Pav" for the first time than Wednesday night's home opener against No. 1 Texas?
"I'm really excited," Landfair said. "I know the fans give us a big rush and are very supportive. I just can't wait to play in front of them and show everybody what we've been training for."
Gophers coach Hugh McCutcheon scheduled a grueling nonconference slate to prepare his team for the always loaded Big Ten, which boasts six ranked teams. The Gophers (1-1) already learned a lot about themselves with a loss to No. 10 Baylor and win vs. Texas Christian last week in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge in Madison, Wis.
The Longhorns (2-0) could be the biggest test all season for Minnesota, returning five All-Americas from a 27-2 team that won the Big 12 title and finished NCAA runner-up this past April.
Earlier in his tenure with the Gophers, McCutcheon scheduled more midmajor programs but that did little to boost his team's NCAA tournament resume. An upset loss to lower-level opponents was catastrophic for the RPI (Rating Percentage Index). There are few cupcakes this season, with five ranked opponents in the U's first six matches, including Sunday's match at No. 5 Florida.
"What I like about the way we're doing it now is we're getting to play some really good teams from other conferences," McCutcheon said. "We get an idea of where everyone's at. And we'll see how some of our strengths now weigh up against them."
McCutcheon hopes the Gophers progress enough during the year to possibly play powerhouse opponents such as Texas again in the postseason. "Then, we'll already have a little bit of something to go from," he said.
Why wait to try to pull off an upset, though? It's not too far-fetched to think the Gophers can beat the Longhorns. The program's last victory against the No. 1 team was on the road during the 2019 season against Stanford, 3-1.
Two years ago, Gophers outside hitter Stephanie Samedy was named national player of the week after leading her team with 21 kills against the Cardinal. After returning for a fifth season, Samedy, the reigning Big Ten player of the year, feels fortunate to have the chance to play in front of her home crowd again.
"It's a nice way to end my career here," Samedy said. "Just how I started it with the Pav being loud and the fans cheering us on. It's just a different feeling as opposed to how it was [last season]. I'm definitely looking forward to it."
