Gophers volleyball coach Mike Hebert, who retired Dec. 10, and his players all had to be wondering the same thing, what if? What if they got a big point here or there in the Seattle regional semifinals against California on Fri., Dec. 9?
It could have been Minnesota, not California playing Penn State for the national championship Satuday night.
As it was, the Bears edged the Gophers 26-24, 25-23, 25-23. That's as close as a three-set match can be. And in each set, the Gophers had a late lead, 23-22 in the first set, 23-18 in the second and 23-21 in the third.
Penn State, of course, beat Cal 25-20. 27-25, 25-20 to win its fourth NCAA title in a row. The Nittany Lions won 19 of their final 20 matches. The one loss? At the Sports Pavilion on Nov. 27 to the Gophers, 14-25, 21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 23-21. It has to rank as one of the Gophers' best comebacks in school history.
Lauren Gibbemeyer, the Gophers' senior middle blocker, refused to let her team lose. On the big points, she always got a kill or a block.
After that loss, Penn State (31-5) dropped only one set in six NCAA matches.
The Gophers started the Big Ten season with a 5-5 mark, but finished 9-1 and, counting NCAA matches, closed 11-2. They tied with Illinois for second in the conference at 14-6.
Hebert was the Gophers coach for 15 years and 14 of teams advanced to the NCAA tournament. His postseason record at Minnesota was 29-14 and included three Final Fours.
Next year's team is, well, loaded. Which makes Hebert's decision to retire surprising.
"Coaching volleyball has been a labor of love for me," Hebert said when announcing his decision. "Not once over the past 35 years have I started a day wishing I were doing something else. However, all of us coach with the realization that one day it has to end. That day has come for me. I want to devote more of my time to my wife Sherry, my daughters Becky and Hillary, and my grandsons Mateo and Farris. I owe them a level of attention that the long hours required by the coaching profession often preclude."
The University of Minnesota athletic department will begin a national search for Hebert's replacement, a news release stated.
A couple days before the Gophers left for the Seattle regional, Hebert said he was going to come back next season when asked directly. He also said he expected Minnesota, with all the players coming back, would be ranked in the top 10 nationally in the preseason polls.
The story behind the turnaround, he said, was the outstanding play of the team's freshmen, outside hitters Ashley Wittman and Tori Dixon and defensive specialist Steffi Sooter. All three, he said, were performing like veterans.
As for the coaching search, the U has to take a hard look at Scott Swanson, the associate head coach for four seasons. He has worked with Hebert for five seasons and did most of the on-court demonstrations and also played a key role in recruiting.
Before joining Hebert's staff he was the head coach at the University of Texas-El Paso for four years from 2002-05. Before that he was the associate head coach at Arizona State for six years.
Whoever is the coach will have the Big Ten's defensive player of the year, Jessica Granquist, the team's libero, and two strong outside hitters in Wittman and 6-6 Tabi Love. The 6-3 Dixon will probably move into the middle but she can play on the outside, too.
Add to that mix senior Hailey Cowles, an outside hitter and backrow player, who missed all of this season with a knee injury.
Penn State has an amazing run going, but the Gophers will be a team to be reckoned with, too, in 2011.
