GOPHERS READY TO COMPETE IN MADISON
The University of Minnesota travels to Madison, Wis., to compete against the Wisconsin Badgers, Wednesday, at 8 p.m. The match will be played in the UW Fieldhouse and is sold out.
FOLLOWING THE GOPHERS
Wednesday’s match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The match will also have a gameday live page on gophersports.com.
GOPHERS ON THE ROAD
Minnesota is 6-2 on the road this season and 3-2 when playing on the opponent’s home court. Both of the Gopher losses came when playing at Stanford and Penn State, each ranked top 15. The Gophers were 9-3 as a team last season in road contests.
ABOUT THE BADGERS
The Wisconsin Badgers are ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history and sit with a 14-1 overall record and a 6-0 mark in league action. Their only loss of the season came against North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Sept. 9. Since that loss, the Badgers have gone on a nine-match win streak. Freshman Molly Haggerty takes a majority of the Badger swings with 167 kills in 437 attempts. Haleigh Nelson and Tionna Williams follow with 137 and a 122 respectively. Lauren Carlini has 601 assists, while Kelli Bates leads the team with 201 digs. As a team, the Badgers are hitting .273, average 2.94 blocks per set and 1.42 aces per set.
ALL-TIME SERIES AND LAST TIME
Minnesota holds a 46-30 all-time advantage over the Wisconsin Badgers, dating back to 1975. Since 2013, however, the two teams are neck-and-neck with a 3-3 mark. Minnesota and Wisconsin split action in 2013, Wisconsin won both contests between the two teams in 2014, followed by Minnesota winning both matches last season. The Gophers won in five against the Badgers in Madison last season, while they took home a four-set win at the Sports Pavilion.
GOPHERS’ LAST ACTION
Minnesota’s last action came on Sunday afternoon when it swept Northwestern, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17. Minnesota is 6-0 this season at the Sports Pavilion. As a team, the Gophers hit .322 to Northwestern’s .172. Minnesota had nine blocks to the Wildcats’ three. The Gophers also added seven aces, a team high. Minnesota was led by Sarah Wilhite with 14 kills, nine digs, and three aces. Hannah Tapp followed with six blocks and 13 kills, hitting .417. Molly Lohman hit .462, adding five blocks. Sophie Beckley had seven digs, while Alyssa Goehner had five. Dalianliz Rosado and Samantha Seliger-Swenson both had 11 digs, with Seliger-Swenson establishing 36 assists.
MNN Sports Director Mike Grimm talked with Paige Tapp of Stewartville about facing the top-ranked Badgers:
Paige Tapp (photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
ON THE DOCKET
After the Wednesday match against Wisconsin, Minnesota is back on the road for another three-straight. The Gophers travel to No. 14 Michigan State, Saturday night. From there, the Gophers travel to Iowa and Nebraska, Oct. 21 & 23.
DOUBLING DOWN
Sarah Wilhite and Samantha Seliger-Swenson have had four and six double-doubles this season. Wilhite has garnered the accomplishment against four ranked teams in Stanford, North Carolina, Ohio State and Penn State. Seliger-Swenson has six, including against ranked Stanford, Ohio State and Penn State.
LOHMAN AT THE NET
In the past five matches, Molly Lohman has hit over .300, including four over .450. Against Ohio State she hit .500, at Indiana a perfect 1.000. She also hit .450 and .462 respectively last week against Penn State and Northwestern. On the season, Lohman has 89 kills in 191 attempts. She also averages a team-best 1.28 blocks per set.
GOPHERS RANKED FOURTH IN RPI
Minnesota is ranked No. 4 in the NCAA’s RPI, which is updated each Monday throughout the remainder of the season. In the top 25 alone, Minnesota has or will face eight teams in the top 25 of the RPI (Wisconsin (1), Nebraska (3), San Diego (5), North Carolina (6), Stanford (7), Purdue (8), Michigan (10), Michigan State (12) and Penn State (22).
GOPHERS RANKED THIRD IN RECENT AVCA POLL
With a loss to then No. 15 Penn State, Minnesota went from No. 1 to No. 3 in the recent American Volleyball Coaches’ Association poll. The Gophers have or will face 12 teams ranked in the top 25, including this week’s match ups in No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 14 Michigan State (Saturday). Into the seventh week of the polls, Minnesota is 8-2 against ranked teams.
(courtesy of Gopher Sports)