This has to be a blog first, at least for the Strib: A blog post on the Gophers’ volleyball scrimmage on Tuesday night.

Chip Scoggins, who covered the Gophers football team in recent years, regularly went to practices and scrimmages and blogged afterward.

I never thought I would follow him and actually go to a volleyball scrimmage, but circumstances dictated going. The U, ranked second in the Big Ten in a preseason coaches poll and 16th in a national poll, opens up this weekend with a tournament in Omaha and then goes to a tournament in Hawaii.

My chances of getting approval to go to either tournament are below zero. So how else to see them for a preview story on Friday and hopefully for a feature or two before the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 12-14.

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Friday the Gophers will make their 13th appearance in the NCAA volleyball tournament and, so far, they are a perfect 12-0 in first-round matches.

They beat Colorado 3-0 in 1989 and Ball State 3-0 in 1993 in the pre-Mike Hebert era.

Since Hebert became the Gophers coach in 1996, they have advanced to the NCAA tournament 11 times in 12 years. He is 10-0 in first round matches. The U plays Sacramento State on Friday and, if the Gophers win, probably No. 1 seed Stanford the next night.

Hebert’s teams have won firsr-round matches over:

Central Florida, 3-2 in 1996

Miami (Ohio), 3-0 in 1997

Sacramento State, 3-0 in 1999 … the scores were 15-9, 15-10, 15-10

Robert Morris, 3-0 in 2000

DePaul, 3-0 in 2001

New Hampshire, 3-0 in 2002

Wisconsin-Green Bay, 3-0 in 2003

Long Island, 3-0 in 2004

Winthrop, 3-0 in 2005

Siena, 3-0, in 2006

Why so much first round success? “I don’t allow us to overlook an opponent,” Hebert said. “People were asking us about Stanford and I was, ‘Stanford who?’ Sacramento State is the only team that i know we are playing right now.

“Santa Clara could upset Stanford. We are not even worrying about Stanford. It’s very important in the NCAA tournament you never look past an opponent because, the minute you do, you are toast.”

One reason the Gophers have a chance to pull off an upset, if they play Stanford, is the sheer joy they are approaching postseason play with. Take Jessy Jones,for example, commenting on the Gophers being sent to Stanford: “Honestly, one of the greatest things about playing NCAA sports is the fact you get to travel to amazing places. California is awesome and they are paying for it.”

The U of M submitted a bid this year to host first- and second-round matches in the NCAA volleyball tournament. The Gophers (18-11 overall, 11-9 Big Ten) were not chosen but Michigan (22-10, 10-10) was.

“How come Michigan gets to host and we get send to play the No. 1 — play Sac State and then if we win, the No. 1 seed?” Mike Hebert said,askinga question many of the 70 or so Minnesota fans had Sunday night when the NCAA pairings were announced.

“I think folks, it is simply a matter of geography,” Hebert said. “Minnesota is not located geographically in a place where we can get breaks from the NCAA committee. As you know, in the last couple of years, we were sent to New York … It’s a lot easier — here is what I think is happening. There is a calculus that takes place in the minds of the NCAA committee members.

“They take a look at your bid. And we didenter a very satisfactory, attractive bid. They take the bid and then they take the travel costs to put on that event. They do a subtraction, and the team that comes closest to paying — the site that comes closest to paying for itself, usually gets awarded the bit.

“That’s why last year, for example, we were the only team that was flown into Albany (N.Y.). The other two teams were bused in. So the NCAA had only one flight to pay for. The same is true with Michigan situation this year.”

Miami (Ohio) and Illinois State are two of the teams playing at Michigan and they can get there by bus, Hebert said. Only Colorado State would have to fly to Ann Arbor.

“Not only do they think that way, that’s actually in the manual,” Hebert said. “That they will use that [cost] as a very serious and reliable criterium for [site] selection.”

Hebert said his staff will start assembling as much information as possible about Sacramento State starting Sunday night. He called the chance to play Sacramento State and, if they win,probably Stanford the next night a tremendous opportunity to do something extraordinary.

The Gophers volleyball team (18-12, 11-9) has been hot lately, winning six of its last seven matches, but the visiting U couldn’t stay with No. 9 Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Badgers won three straight games. Which happens when the opponent, the Gophers in this case, has as many hitting errors (28) as kills (28). Ouch.

Even with the loss, the Gophers tied for third with Purdue (18-13, 11-9). The Boilermakers beat Northwestern 29-31, 30-21, 30-28, 30-24 on Saturday.

Michigan, which also could have tied for third with a victory last night, had a much tougher opponent in Penn State. The Nittany Lions beat the Wolverines (22-10, 10-10) in four games, 30-21, 30-22, 30-32, 30-21.

That probably puts Michigan on the bubble whether they make the 64-team field. It will be announced on ESPNU at 7 tonight.

The Gophers, who were led against Wisconsin by freshman Brook Dieter who had 10 kills, and Purdue should be in.

Also in, obviously, are Big Ten champion Penn State (28-2, 20-0) and runner-up Wisconsin (26-4, 17-3).

Can the Gophers, after losing seven in a row at midseason, make a run in the NCAA playoffs?

The Gophers’ volleyball team is on a roll at the right time. The U won its fifthmatch in a row, and sixth out of seven on Friday, beating Illinois 26-30, 26-30, 30-23, 30-17, 15-10.

This was the first time they have come back from a two-game defecit since Dec. 4, 1999.

The victory pretty much assures they will be named as one of the 64 teams in the NCAA tournament this year. The field will be announced Sunday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Gophers (18-11, 11-8), who lost seven conference matches in a row at one time, are now alone in third place going into tonight’s match at No. 9-rated Wisconsin, which is in second place.

Freshman left outside hitter Brook Dieter had 18 kills and 11 digs against Illinois while senior middle blocker Jessy Jones had 13 kills and 10 blocks.

The Gophers had a 21-5 advantage in blocks.

Coach Mike Hebert said earlier this week that if his team made the NCAA field it was playing well enough to make a run at least into the Sweet 16.

He has to be thrilled with a strong comeback like this one. He said his team had not been playing real badly, just losing key points. Looks like the Gophers have their confidence back and are getting some breaks at last.

Match point against the Illini was awarded to the U on an illegal substitution by the home team.

Hebert said there is even an outside chance Minnesota could be a host for an early round. What a turnaround of fortunes that would be.

This is a real young Gophers team, which was rated in the top 10 nationally early and then dropped out of the top 20. It might be a year away from being a power, but who knows?Maybe the Gophers will make some noise this year.They will have the opportunity at least.

How deep do you think the Gophers can go in the playoffs?

Coach Mike Hebert loses only two seniors: Jessy Jones and Kelly Roysland, who played just one season after four years of basketball.

And he is bringing in only two players to replace them, 5-11 setter Alex Blatt of Orland Park, Ill., and 6-2 middle blocker Ariana Filho.

“We addressed our most pressing needs with this recruiting class,” Hebert said. “Alex and Ariana have played at a high level throughout their club and USA careers. They are already good volleyball players, and will fit in well with the nucleus of young talent already in place at Minnesota.”

Blatt led Sandburg High to a 30-9 record as a senior. She had 339 assists, 230 kills, 45 service aces and 205 digs.

“Alex was out first choice as a setter for the 2008 class,” Hebert said. “She is a smooth athlete, with great location and plays with the savvy that accompanies a lot of Chicago-area volleyball players. Alex can flat out play.”

She was rated No. 22 in prepvolleyball.com’s list of Top 100 seniors.

Filho’s Lewis-Palmer High team finished fifth in th Class 5A state tournament in Colorado. She led the state in blocks. She was No. 24 in the national rankings.

“Ariana is one of the top middle blocker prospects in this year’s recruiting class,” Hebert said. “I love her athleticism and passion for the game. She is also a great slide-hitter and a good blocker. Ariana will adapt quickly to Big Ten volleyball.”

They are the eighth and ninth Gophers recruits since 2002 to be ranked in the top 25.