The No. 12 Minnesota Golden Gophers hit the road for the first time in Big Ten play when they head west to take on UCLA and No. 21 USC on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Saturday’s match is slated to be televised on Big Ten Network. It’ll be the first time in program history that Minnesota plays UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and USC at the Galen Center. UCLA and USC both officially joined the Big Ten in 2024.
UCLA GAME INFORMATION
No. 12 Minnesota at RV UCLA
Friday, Oct. 4
9 p.m. CT
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, Calif.
USC GAME INFORMATION
No. 12 Minnesota at No. 21 USC
Saturday, Oct. 5
10 p.m. CT/
Galen Center
Los Angeles, Calif.
NOTES TO KNOW
Minnesota trails UCLA, 4-2, and USC, 4-2-1
First Meeting: 1991 (UCLA) and 1979 (USC)
Last Meeting: 2016 (UCLA) and 2017 (USC)
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
2017 — The last time Minnesota and USC met, which was in the 2017 Sweet 16 in Gainesville, Fla (3-0 USC). The ‘U’ last defeated USC in 2004, a 3-1 victory in the Final Four in Long Beach, Calif.
2016 — The 2016 Elite Eight matchup between Minnesota and UCLA was the last time the two teams met. Minnesota won 3-0 at Maturi Pavilion to advance to the Final Four.
522 — Phoebe Awoleye reached 500 career blocks Sept. 13 vs. Auburn. She is one of four active Division I players in the nation to reach the 500-block mark. She currently holds 522.
74 — Zeynep Palabiyik ranks 74th nationally (first in B1G) with 4.33 digs per set in 2024.
36 — Melani Shaffmaster was named to the AVCA Top-36 Player of the Year Watch List on Sept. 19. The three-time All-B1G honoree is looking to earn her first All-America honor in 2024.
22 — Melani Shaffmaster is one of 22 players in the country to register a triple-double in ’24. She had a career-high 10 kills with 47 assists and 21 digs on Sept. 7. She’s the first Gopher to register a triple-double since Sarah Wilhite in Sept. of 2014.
22 — The ‘U’ comes in at No. 22 in the country, holding opponents to just .136 hitting for the year. Only three of Minnesota’s opponents have hit over .200 this season (Stanford, Baylor, Purdue). Four have been below .100.
11 — Phoebe Awoleye ranks 11th among active DI players with 1.23 bps; ranks 4th with 522 total blocks.
7 — Minnesota ranks seventh in the B1G with 2.53 blocks per set. They’ve had 10+ blocks in five matches.
7 — After starting 1-3, the Gophers have won seven of their last eight matches. It’s their first time winning seven of eight since Nov. 11-Dec. 3, 2022.
6 — The Gophers rank sixth in the B1G with 1.73 aces per set.
6 — Of the Gophers matches have went five sets (2-4 record), other six have been sweeps (6-0).
4 — Melani Shaffmaster ranks eighth in Gophers history and fourth among active DI players with 4,379 career assists. She’s one of four athletes in the country that has totaled 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in her career. The next closest Big Ten setter to her in career assists is Wisconsin’s Carly Anderson at 3,697.
2 — The Gophers were just 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023, taking wins over No. 15 Baylor and No. 6 Oregon. Minnesota is 2-4 this year with wins over No. 1 Texas and No. 7 Wisconsin. Their losses came against No. 5 Stanford, No. 10 Purdue and No. 23 Baylor (3-2 in five sets).
2 — Minnesota had two top-10 ranked wins by the end of September for the first time since 2019. That year, they beat No. 10 Oregon, No. 7 Florida and No. 1 Stanford by September 30.
1 — Minnesota ranks first in the Big Ten (28th in NCAA) with 16.52 digs per set. The second place team is Wisconsin at 14.95 dps. Opposing teams are hitting just .136 against the Gophers (3rd in the B1G).
1 — Melani Shaffmaster is four blocks away from being the first Gopher ever to record 4,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 300 kills and 300 blocks in her career.
LAST TIME OUT
• Then No. 16 Minnesota fell to No. 10 Purdue in five sets on Saturday night at Maturi Pavilion (24-26, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23, 10-15). Purdue had 17 service aces on the night and outhit the Gophers .250 to .240. The Gophers outblocked PU 10-9 but lost the kills (65-61) and digs (79-61) battle as well. Lydia Grote had 17 kills and 14 digs while Julia Hanson had 19 kills and nine digs.
GOPHERS RANKED 12TH THIS WEEK
• The Gophers entered the 2024 season with a No. 18 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll.
• The Gophers have been ranked in the preseason poll in nine straight seasons and 23 of the last 25.
• 18th was Minnesota’s lowest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 22 in 2006.
• They came in at 12 on Sept. 30, moving up four spots from the No. 16 ranking last week. 12 is Minnesota’s highest ranking since Sept. 18, 2023.
SCOUTING UCLA
• UCLA (7-4, 1-1 B1G) is led by Alfee Reft, who is in his second year in charge in Westwood. The Bruins went 18-12 (10-10 Pac-12) and missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season in 2023.
• The Bruins started their season with a 3-2 win over then No. 14 Georgia Tech. They also won their first Big Ten match in program history last weekend against Ohio State, 3-1 at Pauley Pavilion.
• UCLA was picked to finish eighth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. Graduate middle blocker Anna Dodson was named Preseason All-B1G. She leads the team with 1.28 blocks per set.
SCOUTING USC
• No. 21 USC (9-3, 1-1 B1G) is led by fifth-year head coach Brad Keller. The Trojans have made the NCAA Tournament in two straight seasons. In 2023, USC went 19-13 (12-8 Pac-12) before falling to Pitt in the 2nd Round.
• USC was picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. So far this season, USC is 0-3 against ranked teams, falling to No. 11 Creighton (3-1), No. 1 Pitt (3-0) and No. 2 Nebraska (3-0).
• Nebraska graduate transfer Ally Batenhorst leads the team with 3.78 kills per set in 2024, while setter Mia Tuaniga paces the Trojans with 10.07 assists per set. Tuaniga was named Preseason All-Big Ten. Gala Trubint leads the team with 3.26 digs per set and Tyrah Ariail posts 1.34 blocks per set.
MINNESOTA’S HISTORY VS. UCLA AND USC
• Minnesota is 2-4 all-time against UCLA and 2-4-1 against USC. The Gophers have never played a true road game at UCLA, but played USC in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, winning 3-2 at the Lyon Center, USC’s old home gym. The Gophers have never played at the Galen Center.
• The ‘U’ won its last meeting against UCLA, a 3-0 sweep at Maturi Pavilion in 2016 in an Elite Eight matchup. The win helped the Gophers advance to their second straight Final Four.
• Minnesota last defeated USC in 2004, a 3-1 Final Four victory in Long Beach, Calif., that helped them advance to the NCAA Championship match for the only time in program history. In the two teams last meeting, USC defeated the Gophers 3-0 in the 2017 Sweet 16 in Gainesville, Fla.
MINNESOTA AGAINST TOP-10 TEAMS
• The Gophers already have two wins against top-10 ranked opponents in 2024, taking victories against then No. 1 Texas and No. 7 Wisconsin. They’re one of seven teams in the country to do so.
• Besides Minnesota, only Nebraska (4), Louisville (3), Penn State (3), Pitt (2), Stanford (2) and Creighton (2) have won multiple matches against top-10 ranked opponents.
CONSISTENCY IN CONFERENCE PLAY
• Since 2012, Minnesota is 174-56 (.757) in B1G play, including 11 seasons over .500 in league play.
• In 10 of those seasons, the ‘U’ went 15-5 or better in B1G play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• Last year was the first season since 2014 (9-11 Big Ten) that Minnesota won less than 15 of its conference matches. However, it clinched its ninth straight winning B1G season on Nov. 18 against Ohio State. Minnesota had won 15-or-more B1G bouts in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Gophers tied with Ohio State for third place in 2022. Minnesota took fifth in the conference in 2023 behind Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn State and Purdue..
GROTE KEEPS GROWING IN FIFTH SEASON
• A transfer from California, Lydia Grote stepped up in a big way at the opposite position for the Maroon and Gold. Amongst returners in 2024, Grote ranks second on the team in kills per set (2.68) and first among pin hitters in hitting percentage (.245). She was the team’s top server, tallying 0.31 aces per set (0.31) and ranked fourth in blocks with 0.70 bps.
• The Burbank, Calif., native was one of two returning Gophers (Mckenna Wucherer), to tally double digit kills in 15-or-more matches last fall. She posted 15 kills for the first time this season on Sept. 6 at No. 23 Baylor, going for 15 kills, seven digs and two aces.
• Grote hit the 1,000 career kill mark on Dec. 1, 2023 in an NCAA Tournament win over Utah State. She ranks No. 82 among all active Division I players with 1,132 career kills.
• Lydia was named to the Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team on Sept. 14 after averaging 3.80 kills per set on .410 hitting, 0.80 service aces and 2.40 digs per set. She currently holds six matches with 10+ kills in 2024. She had her best match of the season vs. Wisconsin on Sept. 25 with 17 kills, 16 digs, four blocks and three aces.
• Grote was named to Michella Chester’s NCAA Rotation of the Week on Sept. 30 after talying 34 kills and 30 digs in two matches against top-10 opponents last week.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
