“The biggest thing at the USA gym is they told me to start with my arm down instead of high,” Wucherer said. “I wanted to change so bad to get a new view of the game.”
After returning from Colorado, Wucherer implemented that new serving style with the Gophers and felt “more of in an attacking rhythm,” she said. Watch out, Big Ten.
In her first two seasons, Wucherer was at her best when attacking the net. She ranked second on the team with 2.73 kills per set while earning All-Big Ten freshman honors in 2022, former coach Hugh McCutcheon’s final season. She led the U with 3.23 kills last year despite often being the No. 2 option behind former Big Ten player of the year Taylor Landfair, who transferred to Nebraska.
With Landfair gone, this is Wucherer’s chance to lead and emerge into an all-conference performer.
“The three things I talk to her about is we need her to be composed, connected to her teammates and be courageous and take big swings,” Cook said. “She’s done the work.”
The hard-hitting Wucherer committed to the Gophers in the eighth grade in 2018. She remained loyal to that decision after bigger offers came during her All-America prep career at Brookfield Central.