No. 15 Minnesota volleyball concludes its 2024 regular season this week with a road match at Illinois on Wednesday and a home match Friday against Ohio St. Friday is Senior Night at the Pav and the ‘U’ will honor Phoebe Awoleye, Skylar Gray, Lydia Grote, Elise McGhie and Melani Shaffmaster in a post match ceremony.
The Gophers clinched their 10th consecutive winning season in Big Ten play on Saturday night against Iowa and are looking to cement their spot as a host team for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Minnesota has hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past nine seasons.
The Gophers (18-10, 11-7 B1G) sit in a tie for sixth place in the conference standings with two matches to play.
ILLINOIS GAME INFORMATION
No. 15 Minnesota at Illinois
Wednesday, Nov. 27
7 p.m.
Huff Hall
Champaign, Ill.
OHIO STATE GAME INFORMATION
No. 15 Minnesota vs. Ohio St.
Friday, Nov. 29
6 p.m.
Maturi Pavilion
Minneapolis, Minn.
HEADING INTO THE MATCH
Minnesota leads Illinois, 45-40-1 (Streak: Minnesota W9) and leads Ohio State, 50-37 (Streak: Minnesota W3)
First Meeting: 1975
Last Meeting: 2023 (Illinois) and Oct. 27, 2024 (Ohio State)
SENIOR NIGHT
• The Gophers will be honoring five seniors on Friday night against Ohio State in a post-match recognition ceremony.
• The five players walking are middle Phoebe Awoleye (Marietta, Ga.), defensive specialist Skylar Gray (Maple Grove, Minn.), opposite Lydia Grote (Burbank, Calif.), setter Elise McGhie (Kansas City, Mo.) and setter Melani Shaffmaster (New Castle, Ind.).
• Awoleye, who has tallied over 600 career blocks, leaves Minnesota with her master’s in sports management. She hopes to pursue professional volleyball before attending law school.
• Gray, who has played in nearly 40 matches at the ‘U’, will graduate with her degree in neuroscience.
• Grote, a political science major, was drafted by the Orlando Valkyries of the Pro VB Federation on Monday. She has tallied over 1,300 career kills and was a 2023 Second Team All-B1G selection.
• McGhie is a setter with over 1,200 career assists. She has her degree in cellular and organismal physiology and is applying for medical school after she leaves Minnesota.
• A four-time AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten selection, Melani ranks sixth all-time at Minnesota with nearly 5,000 career assists. A double major in accounting/finance, Mel will pursue pro volleyball opportunities abroad after graduation.
NOTES TO KNOW
65 — Julia Hanson ranks No. 65 in the country and No. 8 in the Big Ten with 3.92 kills per set.
52 — Melani Shaffmaster and Julia Hanson were named to the AVCA Top-52 Player of the Year Watch List earlier this year.
43 — The ‘U’ comes in at No. 43 in the country, holding opponents to just .168 for the year. Only nine of Minnesota’s opponents have hit over .200 this season. Four have been below .100.
28 — Minnesota’s RPI rating coming into this week.
14 — Times this season Minnesota posted 10+ blocks as a team.
13 — Minnesota has won 13 of the last 14 matches in the series against Illinois and 13 of the last 15 against Ohio State.
11 — The ‘U’ has won 11-or-more Big Ten games in every season except for one (2014) dating back to 1999. They clinched their 10th straight with 11+ wins Saturday against Iowa.
11 — straight matches with 10+ kills for Julia Hanson. She’s hitting .288 during that span, with nine 15+ kill matches and three 20+ kills (No. 2 Nebraska (20), Michigan (24), No. 6 Wisconsin (20).
9 — Minnesota matches have gone five sets (4-5), 15 sweeps (13-2) and four have been in four sets (1-3).
7 — Phoebe Awoleye ranks 7th among active DI players with 1.28 bps; ranks 4th with 615 total blocks.
7 — Alex Acevedo put down a career-high and tied the B1G high for 2024 with seven aces last Sunday vs. Michigan.
6 — Melani Shaffmaster now ranks sixth in Gophers history and fourth among active DI players with 4,953 career assists. She passed Rachel Hartman (2005-08) for No. 6 Saturday night.
6 — If the season ended today, Phoebe Awoleye (1.43 bps) would rank No. 6 in Gopher history for a single season in blocks per set.
6 — Six straight matches with double-digit digs for Zeynep Palabiyik (tied for longest streak in 2024).
5 — Double digit kills in five of the last seven matches for Lydia Grote.
5 — Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in five of her last six matches. She’s got 15 this season.
5 — Seniors will be honored on senior night on Friday (Awoleye, Gray, Grote, McGhie and Shaffmaster).
3 — Minnesota ranks third in the Big Ten and 18th nationally with 283.0 total blocks in 2024.
3 — In B1G matches only, Minnesota ranks 3rd with 2.69 blocks per set (183 blocks), behind UW, UO.
3 — Phoebe Awoleye ranks third in the Big Ten and 11th in the country with 1.43 blocks per set.
2 — The Gophers were 2-11 against ranked opponents in 2023. Minnesota is 2-8 in 2024 with wins over No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Wisconsin. Losses are against No. 2 Nebraska, No. 3 Penn State, No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 10 Purdue, No. 12 Oregon, No. 21 USC and No. 23 Baylor.
2 — Minnesota ranks second in the Big Ten (94th in the NCAA) with 15.45 digs per set.
1 — Phoebe Awoleye set the new NCAA high for blocks in a three-set match with 14 on Oct. 12 vs. Maryland. Her 14 blocks also tied a program record for stuffs in a single match.
1 — In Big Ten play (18 matches), Phoebe Awoleye ranks second in the Big Ten with 1.54 bps and first with 105 blocks. The next closest player in conference play to her has 92 blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
• The then No. 16 Minnesota volleyball defeated Iowa in three sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-12) on Saturday night at Maturi Pavilion. Julia Hanson had 15 kills to lead Minnesota while Melani Shaffmaster posted 28 assists and 11 digs. The Gophers held Iowa to just .009 hitting for the night, the lowest total Minnesota had held any opponent to in Big Ten play this season. The ‘U’ defeated Iowa for its 49th consecutive time with the win.
GOPHERS IN THE RANKINGS
• The Gophers entered the 2024 season with a No. 18 overall ranking in the Preseason AVCA poll.
• 18th was Minnesota’s lowest preseason ranking since coming in at No. 22 in 2006.
• They came in at 15 in the AVCA Poll on Nov. 25, moving up a spot from the Nov. 18 rankings. Minnesota has been ranked as high as 12 this year (Sept. 30) and as low as 19 (Sept. 9).
• Minnesota comes in at 28 in the RPI rankings and No. 16 in the NCAA DI Committee’s Top-16 rankings.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
• The Illinois Fighting Illini (18-10, 10-8 B1G) are led by eighth-year head coach Chris Tamas. The Illini are looking to earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2021. They finished 16-14 (11-9) in 2023.
• UI is 1-7 against top-25 teams this season, with their lone win coming on Nov.8 at home vs. No. 20 USC. The Illini have lost three of their last four matches heading into Wednesday, including a 3-1 loss to UCLA Saturday.
• Illinois was picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten Preseason Poll. They’re led by two-time First Team All-B1G selection Raina Terry, who paces the team with 4.43 kills per set (3rd in B1G).
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
The Ohio State Buckeyes (14-14, 7-11 B1G) are led by fifth-year head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg. The Buckeyes are playing their best ball of the season right now, winning six of their last eight matches. They started conference play just 1-9 before turning it around in the last month. They enter this week winning three straight.
• Ohio State will miss its second straight NCAA Tournament this year after making two Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight from 2020-22. The Buckeyes are looking to win their first ranked matchup of the year in the season’s final week.
• OSU is paced by outside Emily Londot, a two-time AVCA All-American, who averages 4.44 kps (2nd in B1G).
MINNESOTA’S HISTORY VS. ILLINOIS AND OHIO STATE
• The Gophers lead the all-time series vs. Illinois, 45-40-1. Minnesota has won nine in-a-row and 13 of the last 14 against the Illini. The lone loss in that stretch came in 2017. The Gophers defeated Illinois 3-0 in their lone matchup of the 2023 season at the Pav. The ‘U’ won in five sets in their last match at Illinois on Nov. 6, 2022.
• Minnesota is 50-37 all-time against Ohio State, winning 13 of the last 15 in the series. The losses came in 2022 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and Oct. 12, 2022 at the Pav. Minnesota won twice in the series last season and took a 3-2 reverse sweep on Oct. 27 in Columbus. Julia Hanson had 21 kills while Mckenna Wucherer had 11 in the Gophers first reverse sweep since Oct. 2, 2021.
HANSON ON A HEATER IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Minnesota junior outside Julia Hanson is on an absolute tear throughout the past month. Named Big Ten Player of the Week on Oct. 28, the Savage, Minn., native has tallied 10+ kills in each of the last 11 matches, including nine 15+ kill bouts and three with 20+. She’s hit 20 in three of the last four matches, the first Gopher to accomplish that feat since Stephanie Samedy did so in 2021.
• Hanson leads the team and ranks ninth in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.92). She’s also hitting .263 for the year, which trails only Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin (.293) and Purdue’s Eva Hudson (.284) among B1G pins.
MINNESOTA AGAINST TOP-10 OPPONENTS
• 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 eight teams in the country to do so.
• Besides Minnesota, only Nebraska (7), Pitt (4), Penn State (4), Louisville (3), SMU (2), Stanford (2) and Creighton (2) have won multiple matches against top-10 ranked opponents.
STREAKS TO WATCH
• Phoebe Awoleye has tallied multiple blocks in 16 of the last 18 matches. She’s posted seven-or-more blocks in nine of the last 13 matches, including 77 total blocks in the last 12 contests.
• Calissa Minatee has earned five-or-more kills in 16 matches this season. Minnesota is 12-4 when she has 5+ kills.
• Julia Hanson has totaled 10+ kills in 23 of 28 matches this year, including 14 times in Big Ten play.
• Hanson has tallied 10+ kills in 11 consecutive matches. During that span, she’s averaged 4.78 kills per set on .289 hitting. She’s also totaled 2.13 digs and 0.48 blocks per set.
• Melani Shaffmaster has tallied double-doubles in 15 of 28 matches this season.
• Mckenna Wucherer has posted 10+ kills in six of the last eight matches she’s played in.
GOPHERS IN NOVEMBER
• Minnesota is 4-4 in November so far this year with two matches to play.
• In the last 13 years, the Gophers are 75-25 (.750) in the month of November. Since 2015, Minnesota is 56-16 (.778) in November, including a 27-9 (.750) record at home and a 29-7 (.806) record on the road.
GOPHERS STANDING OUT IN ATTENDANCE AT THE PAV
• In 2024, Minnesota ranks fourth nationally in average attendance with 4,896 fans per match. Only Nebraska, Wisconsin and Hawaii average more fans per game.
MINNESOTA MILESTONES
• Phoebe Awoleye passed 600 career blocks on Nov. 14 at NU. She ranks No. 4 among all active Division I players with 615 in her collegiate career.
• Melani Shaffmaster passed 4,900 assists on Nov. 20 at Wisconsin. She ranks fourth among all active Division I players in assists with 4,953. She could be the sixth Gopher ever to pass 5,000 in her career.
• Shaffmaster clinched her fourth straight season with 20+ service aces last weekend. She became the first Gophers setter to reach 400 kills last Sunday at Michigan (419 for her career).
• Lydia Grote (292) reached the 200-kill mark for the fourth time in her career.
• Julia Hanson clinched her first career 300+ kill season Nov. 7 vs. Washington. She hit 400 kills Nov. 23.
UNDER .200, 10+ BLOCKS CLUB
• The Minnesota defense has held 18 of its 28 opponents this year under .200 hitting. Teams are hitting just .163 against the Gophers on the year (third in B1G).
• The Gophers have totaled 10+ blocks 14 times this season (high of 19 on Oct. 12).
UP NEXT
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is set for Sunday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Gophers will open the NCAA Tournament on either Thursday, Dec. 5 or Friday, Dec. 6.
(info and stock photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
