The Gophers volleyball team opened practice Monday with coach Hugh McCutcheon giving his players a motivational speech about watching Team USA win its first women's volleyball gold medal in Tokyo.
McCutcheon, who coached the 2012 U.S. Olympic women's team to a silver medal in London, took pride in seeing his former program make history, saying he was "really, really happy for them."
The Gophers finished 16-3 last season after a frustrating loss to Pittsburgh in the NCAA Sweet 16. That was less than four months ago, on April 18, as the season was delayed by the pandemic. But McCutcheon's team is fired up to get started on a new journey.
Gaining early inspiration after watching the Olympics this month, Gophers players are already talking about getting back to the Final Four and winning the program's first national title. They open the season Aug. 27 against Baylor in Madison, Wis., in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.
"Hugh even spoke to it in the team meeting about how [the U.S. women] were able to make history and win gold," senior outside hitter Stephanie Samedy said Monday. "It kind of sparked a fire within us. They made history, why not us? Why can't we make history for Minnesota and win a championship? It's inspiring to see all these players do something so great."
Before taking over the Gophers in 2012, McCutcheon coached the U.S. women's national volleyball team for five years. One of his former players, Jordan Larson, was at 34 the oldest member of the current Olympic team that defeated Brazil 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 on Sunday for gold.
McCutcheon's storied Olympic career included coaching the U.S. men's team to the gold medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
Karch Kiraly was an assistant under McCutcheon on the women's side at the 2012 Olympics, and then took over as the U.S. women's coach, earning bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games before Sunday's golden triumph.
