#9 GOPHERS (13-7, 8-4 BT) MICHIGAN (14-8, 5-7 BT)
Friday, Nov. 4
6:30 p.m. CT
Maturi Pavilion
SERIES INFORMATION
Minnesota leads Michigan 60-16, and Illinois, 43-40-1
First Meeting: 1975 (Both)
Last Meeting: Oct. 7 (UM) and Oct. 15 (Illinois)
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
• The No. 9 Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-7, 8-4 Big Ten) heading into the home stretch of their 2022 regular season. Minnesota will host Michigan for ‘Alumni Night’ on Friday, Nov. 4 before traveling to Illinois for a road tilt on Sunday, Nov. 6.
268 — Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon holds a 268-72 (.788) collegiate coaching record and has led Minnesota to two Big Ten Championships, three Final Fours, nine trips to the Sweet
16 and five to the Elite Eight. He joins Mike Hebert (1996-2011; 381-136 (.737)) and Stephanie Schleuder (1982-1994; 263-173 (.603)) as the third coach in Minnesota history to win 260 matches. Hebert also led the ‘U’ to three Final Fours.
26 — The 2021 season marked the 26th year the Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA tournament. Minnesota has also advanced to the tournament in seven-straight seasons and nine of 10 seasons under head coach Hugh McCutcheon.
19 — Of Minnesota’s 28 scheduled games are against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. 12 of those matches are against teams that advanced to the Sweet 16 or further.
12 — Of Minnesota’s first 20 matches were versus ranked opponents. The Gophers are 6-6 in those contests.
9 — Minnesota’s rank in both the AVCA poll and in the NCAA’s top-10 released on Sunday, Oct. 30.
8 — Melani Shaffmaster now ranks 8th all-time in Minnesota history with 2,653 career assists.
7 — Of Minnesota’s eight non-conference matches were against teams that made the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Seven of the teams were ranked or receiving votes when Minnesota played.
7 — Of Minnesota’s last nine matches have been victories.
6 — Different Gophers have reached double figures in kills this year (Carter Booth, Naya Gros, Julia Hanson, Taylor Landfair, Jenna Wenaas, Mckenna Wucherer).
5 — Of the past eight matches, the Gophers have hit over .300 as a team. They’ve done so nine times this season, posting an 9-0 record in those contests.
4 — Graduate libero CC McGraw now ranks No. 4 all-time at Minnesota with 1,779 career digs. She passed Jessica Granquist (2008-11) for No. 4 all-time on Saturday. Dalianliz Rosado (1,870) ranks No. 3.
2 — Hugh McCutcheon became the second winningest coach in Minnesota history with last Sunday’s win over Michigan State, his 264th win at the helm of Minnesota.
1 — The 2022 season will be head coach Hugh McCutcheon’s last as the man in charge of Minnesota’s volleyball program, he announced on Sunday, Oct. 16. Associate head coach Matt Houk will serve as interim head coach of the program after the season while a national search is conducted.
Jenna Jives
Gopher junior Jenna Wenaas spoke with MNN sports director Mike Grimm about the team:
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
