The No. 16 Minnesota volleyball team defeated No. 7 Wisconsin in five sets (19-25, 25-15, 25-27, 25-15, 18-16) to open Big Ten play on Wednesday night at Maturi Pavilion.
With the win, the Gophers have now won 13 straight conference home openers. Minnesota has taken 12 of the last 16 against Wisconsin inside Maturi Pavilion.
“We had to do what we do and do it our way,” said head coach Keegan Cook. “We needed to be ourselves and that’s different than anyone else. That’s okay. I told them to believe and the team really responded in that fourth set.”
The Gophers (8-3, 1-0 Big Ten) hit .250 for the night compared to .188 for Wisconsin. The ‘U’ had more kills (66 to 56), digs (74 to 72) and assists (58 to 54) while Wisconsin had 11 aces to Minnesota’s nine and won the blocking battle 13 to 9.
Lydia Grote paced Minnesota with a season-high 17 kills and 15 digs while Melani Shaffmaster had 47 assists and 10 digs. Defensively, Phoebe Awoleye had five blocks while Zeynep Palabiyik had 24 digs.
Sarah Franklin led Wisconsin (6-4, 0-1 Big Ten) with 21 kills and 14 digs while Charlie Fuerbringer tallied 43 assists and eight digs.
How It Happened
SET 1 | The Badgers took set one, 25-19. It was back and forth through the first 24 points, with no team leading by more than two points. Minnesota took a 12-10 lead after an ace by Grote and an attacking error by UW’s Franklin. It would be the last time they lead, however, after the Badgers ended the set on a 15-7 run, leading by as many as six.
SET 2 | Minnesota evened up the match with a decisive 25-15 set two victory. Minnesota started hot, scoring seven of the first 10 to go up 7-3. After a UW timeout, the Badgers went on an 8-3 run, taking an 11-10 advantage. The home team would rally immediately after that, scoring seven of the next nine to go up 17-13 after a kill from Julia Hanson, leading to another timeout. Minnesota refused to slow down, extending its lead to as many as 10 at 24-14 before closing it out 25-15.
SET 3 | The Gophers again started out hot in set three, scoring five of the first seven points to go up 5-2. Wisconsin would cut the lead to one several times before a 3-0 Gophers run at 10-9 capped by an Acevedo kill made it 13-9, leading to a timeout from the visitors. A 5-1 run by the Badgers tied the match at 14, forcing Minnesota into its first timeout of the set. The ‘U’ would go on to score eight of the next 13 to go up 22-19. The Badgers went on a 5-1 run after the timeout to go up 24-23. The ‘U’ would respond with a kill from Minatee and a block from Hanson to go up 25-24, leading to a Badgers timeout. UW would score three straight after that to win the set, 27-25.
SET 4 | Again Minnesota came out swinging, scoring six of the first eight before the Badgers called their first timeout. Acevedo had two kills and Grote had an early ace to lead the charge. Wisconsin would cut the lead to one at 9-8 before Minnesota erupted for seven of the next eight to go up 16-9. Palabiyik totaled a pair of aces in the run to get the lead up to seven. Wisconsin would get no closer the rest of the way as the ‘U’ finished with a 9-6 advantage to win, 25-15.
SET 5 | Minnesota started the set on a 4-1 run before a kill from Grote put the Gophers up, leading to a UW timeout. Wisconsin cut the lead to two at 7-5 before a Hanson kill made it 8-5 at the switch. Minnesota extended its lead to 12-7 after a block from Awoleye and Hanson before two straight points forced a Gophers timeout, leading 12-9. Wisconsin cut the lead to just one at 14-13 before tying the set up for the first time since 0-0 at 14-14. Minnesota had four chances at match point before Julia Hanson finally put it away with her 15th kill of the match at 18-16.
Home “COOK”in’
Gopher head coach Keegan Cook spoke with Tanner Hoops after the big win:
Game Notes
» Minnesota moved to 54-38 all-time against the Badgers.
» The Gophers moved to 32-12 all-time at home against Wisconsin.
» Minnesota has won its last 13 Big Ten home openers.
» Minnesota got a match-high 24 digs from Zeynep Palabiyik. It was her sixth match this year with 20+ digs, which is a Big Ten-best.
» Melani Shaffmaster posted her seventh double-double of the season and 66th of her career with 47 assists and 10 digs. She also added six kills.
» Lydia Grote posted a season-high 17 kills, her fifth match this season with 10+. She also posted 15 digs for her second double-double of the year.
» Julia Hanson had 10+ kills for the 10th time in 11 matches this season. She put the match away with the game-winning kill at 18-16.
» Alex Acevedo posted a career-best 12 kills while Calissa Minatee tied her career-high with 11.
Up Next
No. 16 Minnesota (8-3, 1-0 Big Ten) hosts No. 10 Purdue (9-3, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 5:30 p.m. to continue conference play. BTN will televise the match.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
(interview courtesy of Gopher Radio Network/Learfield)
