The No. 15 Minnesota volleyball team came back to reverse sweep the Ohio State Buckeyes in five sets (16-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16, 15-10) on Sunday afternoon at the Covelli Center.

The Gophers (14-6, 7-3 Big Ten) hit .250 for the afternoon while Ohio State posted a .224 tally. The Gophers posted 14 blocks as a team, their 12th time this year with 10-or-more.

Julia Hanson paced the Gophers with a team-high 21 kills while Melani Shaffmaster went for 49 assists and eight digs. Phoebe Awoleye led the defense with seven blocks while Zeynep Palabiyik had 15 digs.

Emily Londot led Ohio State (8-12, 1-9 Big Ten) with 21 kills and 13 digs while Mia Tuman had 52 assists and seven digs.

How It Happened
SET 1 | The two teams split the first eight points before a Gopher block by Minatee and Wucherer plus an OSU hitting error put the ‘U’ up two. A 6-2 Buckeyes run put the home team up 10-8 before Minnesota cut it back to one with a Hanson kill. OSU would go on a 4-1 spurt after that to go up 15-11 into the media break. OSU continued its momentum after the break, scoring the next three to go up 18-11. The Gophers would get no closer than five the rest of the way, as OSU ballooned its lead to nine before winning frame one, 25-16. The Bucks hit .414 for the set, compared to just .115 for the ‘U’.

SET 2 | Minnesota and Ohio State went back-and-forth in the early goings of the second set. With the score tied at 5-5, the Buckeyes offense heated up yet again, as the home team went on a 7-2 run to go up 12-7 before the ‘U’ could call timeout. Minnesota would cut the lead to three at 14-11 before OSU scored five out of six to take a 21-12 lead. A 4-0 run by the ‘U’ made it 21-16, forcing OSU into a timeout. The Buckeyes would close the set on a 4-1 run, however, going up 2-0 with a 25-18 set two win.

SET 3 | Once again, it was back and forth at the start in the third set. The two teams split the first 14 points before a 4-0 Minnesota run made it 11-7. Hanson and Wucherer each had a kill while the Gophers posted two blocks. Minnesota kept a steady pace for the next few points and took a 15-12 lead into the media break. Another kill from Hanson and a block from Minatee and Shaffmaster put Minnesota up 17-12, but OSU would respond with a 5-1 run to make it 18-17, forcing a Gophers timeout. A kill from Wucherer and an ace from Elise McGhie put Minnesota up 20-17, causing another Buckeyes timeout. OSU would score four of the next six to make it 22-21, Minnesota. After another timeout, the Gophers would close it out, 25-22.

SET 4 | Ohio State started hot, scoring five of the first seven points to go up early. A 5-2 Minnesota run tied it up at 7-7, capped off with a kill from Wucherer. The two teams exchanged points up to 10-10 before two kills from Awoleye and one from Hanson put Minnesota up 13-10, forcing an OSU timeout. The ‘U’ refused to slow down after the timeout, scoring seven of the next 10 points to take a commanding 20-13 lead. Hanson passed the 20-kill mark for the second time in her career during the spurt. OSU called their last timeout after a Shaffmaster dump put the ‘U’ up seven. OSU would get no closer the rest of the way as Minnesota closed out set four, 25-16, to send it to the fifth set.

SET 5 | OSU again came out firing, scoring four of the first five points of the set. Minnesota would respond, scoring seven of the next nine to go up 8-6 at the switch. Minatee had a kill to put Minnesota up 7-6 for the first time in the set before a Hanson ace put the ‘U’ up two. The Gophers scored three of the next five out of the break, going up 11-8, forcing an OSU timeout. OSU would get no closer than four the rest of the way as Minnesota wrapped up the set, 15-10, and the match, 3-2.

Game Notes
» The ‘U’ is now 50-37 all-time against Ohio State. Minnesota has won eight straight matches at OSU, dating back to 2014.
» Minnesota has won 13 of the last 15 matches in the series versus OSU.
» Minnesota is now 4-4 this year in five-set matches. It’s their first reverse sweep, however.
» Minnesota posted 14 blocks as a team, their 12th time this season with 10+ (Big Ten-best).
» Julia Hanson tallied 21 kills, her 15th match this year with 10+ and the second time this season and in her career she’s had 20+.
» Phoebe Awoleye posted a team-best seven blocks. It was her 12th of the season with five-or-more blocks.
» Zeynep Palabiyik had a team-high 15 digs, getting her 17th 10+ dig match of the year.
» Mckenna Wucherer posted 10 kills, eight digs and four blocks. It was Wucherer’s first 10+ kill match since Sept. 12.
» Kate Thibault had 11 digs for her sixth time this season tallying 10+.
» Calissa Minatee posted eight kills, her ninth time this season with 8+. She also had five blocks. Minnesota is 11-3 when she has 5+ kills.

Up Next
Minnesota (14-6, 7-3 Big Ten) travels to Michigan State (8-13, 1-9 B1G) for a match on Friday, Nov. 1 at 6 p.m.

(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)

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