GOPHER VOLLEYBALL WITH BIG WEEKEND AT WISCONSIN & NORTHWESTERN
Friday, Oct. 1
No. 7 Minnesota at No. 5 Wisconsin | 8 p.m. CT
UW Fieldhouse
Madison, Wis.
Saturday, Oct. 2
No. 7 Minnesota at Northwestern | 7 p.m. CT
Welsh-Ryan Arena
Evanston, Ill.
GOPHERS HISTORY AGAINST WISCONSIN AND NORTHWESTERN
• All-time, Minnesota is 52-33 against Wisconsin. Under coach McCutcheon, the Gophers are 11-6 against the Badgers. Minnesota had won eight in-a-row against UW from 2015-18 but the Badgers have won three straight in the series.
• UW won last year’s only meeting, 3-1, at Maturi Pavilion, 14-25, 25-22, 15-25, 23-25. Minnesota was playing shorthanded however, missing starters CC McGraw, Melani Shaffmaster and Katie Myers to injury. Taylor Landfair led Minnesota with 15 kills while Samedy had seven kills and Miyabe had four.
• Samedy all-time vs. UW: 4-3 record, 69 kills, five assists, 77 digs, 18 blocks.
• The ‘U’ is 61-19 all-time vs. Northwestern, including a 14-1 record under Hugh McCutcheon. The lone loss came in 2014 (three sets). Of the last 15 meetings, nine have been decided in three sets.
GOPHERS IN BIG TEN PLAY
• Under Hugh McCutcheon, Minnesota is 134-37 (.784) in Big Ten competition. In his nine seasons prior to 2021, the Gophers have had eight seasons above .500 in conference play. In all eight of those seasons, the ‘U’ went 15-5 or better in conference play, with the best being 19-1 in 2018.
• The Gophers won Big Ten titles in 2016 and 2018 and have finished either first, second or third in eight of the last nine seasons.
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
• The No. 5 Wisconsin Badgers (9-1, 1-1 Big Ten) have been to back-to-back Final Fours in addition to winning the last two Big Ten regular season titles. Led by Kelly Sheffield, UW has a school-record 25-match home win streak on the line on Friday night against the Gophers. They haven’t lost at home since Sept. 2019 vs. Washington.
• Despite hitting a season-low .196 at Maryland Friday, Wisconsin leads the nation with a .331 team hitting percentage. Fifth-year senior Dana Rettke leads the nation in hitting % (.554) and is a four-time All-American.
• Senior setter Sydney Hilley leads the nation with 12.06 assists per set. She has over 5,000 career assists.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
• Northwestern (5-8, 0-2 Big Ten) is led by sixth-year head coach Shane Davis. He is looking to lead the Wildcats to their first .500 season in the Big Ten since 2014.
• NU is led by Temi Thomas-Ailara, who ranks ninth in the Big Ten in kills per set (3.54). She also ranks eighth in points per set at 4.21.
• The Wildcats have posted non-conference wins against Missouri, Loyola Chicago, UIC, Wyoming and Colorado State. They fell in four sets to Nebraska last weekend and in five sets to Illinois.
CC MCGRAW MIC’D UP
Gopher senior CC McGraw spoke with MNN sports director Mike Grimm:
CC McGraw
(info and photos courtesy of Gopher Sports)