The No. 18 Minnesota volleyball team defeated the top-ranked Texas Longhorns 3-2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-20, 13-25, 15-7) on Monday night at Fiserv Forum to conclude the State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase. The win over Texas was Minnesota’s first since 2017 and its first over a No. 1 ranked program since Sept. 14, 2019 against then No. 1 Stanford.
“I don’t think I really have words,” said senior setter Melani Shaffmaster. “We finally proved ourselves that we’re not the same team we were last year. We have a lot of really great people here with us.”
The Golden Gophers were led by a double-double from Julia Hanson, who registered 19 kills and 13 digs on the night. Mckenna Wucherer also added 12 kills and nine digs to help the attack. On the defensive end, Zeynep Palabiyik chipped in with a career-high 22 digs to go with seven blocks from Phoebe Awoleye. Melani Shaffmaster tallied her 60th career double double with 44 assists, 17 digs, six kills and four aces.
Madisen Skinner paced Texas with 19 kills, 12 digs and two blocks while Jenna Wenaas had 13 kills and 19 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 | The Golden Gophers dropped a back-and-forth first set, losing 25-22 in a game that featured seven lead changes and was tied 11 times. Neither team led by more than four points in the set.
SET 2 | Minnesota tied the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 second-set win. The Golden Gophers never trailed by more than five points and grabbed the advantage for good at 10-9 in a set that showcased two lead changes before Minnesota took over for good.
SET 3 | Minnesota grabbed another win in set three to make it a 2-1 match. The Gophers took control of the set early when the score was 5-4 and held the lead the rest of the way to win 25-20. Minnesota led by six points at 21-15 before finishing off the stanza, collecting 16 kills in the set.
SET 4 | The Longhorns fought back in set four and forced a fifth set with a 25-13 fourth-set win. The Golden Gophers trailed by as many as 12 points as Texas grabbed the advantage for good at 11-10 and Minnesota wasn’t able to recover in a set that was tied up two times before the Longhorns took over.
SET 5 | Minnesota took a two sets to one lead and held off Texas’ rally attempt, which included a fourth set victory, to win the fifth set 15-7 and the match 3-2. The Golden Gophers led from the first point on in set five to earn the victory. Minnesota ended on a high note, opening its biggest lead of the stanza, eight points, to close out the set. Minnesota also supplemented their offense with three aces in the final set.
GAME NOTES
» Minnesota had three players in double figures in digs, paced by Zeynep Palabiyik, who had a career-high 22.
» Melani Shaffmaster had a match-high four aces in the win. She also tallied the 60th double-double of her career with 44 assists and 17 digs.
» Julia Hanson registered a double-double with 19 kills and 13 digs. She tied her career-best in kills and registered her first career double-double and 10+ dig match.
» Minnesota earned its first win over a No. 1 ranked team since Sept. 14, 2019 against then No. 1 Stanford.
» The Gophers earned their first top-five win since beating No. 5 Nebraska in a sweep in November of 2022.
» Minnesota served up three aces on the way to a fifth-set victory, leading 5-0 and never trailing in the set.
» Julia Hanson had a team-high 19 kills for Minnesota.
» Minnesota got a match-high 22 digs from Zeynep Palabiyik.
» The Gophers tied a season-best with 14 blocks. Their season-best all of last year was 14 as well.
» Calissa Minatee had a career-high nine kills (.571) with six blocks.
» Phoebe Awoleye led the team with seven blocks.
UP NEXT
No. 18 Minnesota (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) plays at No. 23 Baylor (3-0, 0-0 Big 12) on Friday, Sept. 6 in Waco, Texas.
(info and photos courtesy of Gophers Sports)
