University of Minnesota Athletics
NO. 5 GOPHER VOLLEYBALL REBOUNDS, SWEEPS NORTHWESTERN
10/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nicole Branagh led Minnesota with 15 kills and hit .429 for the match. She now has 1,991 kills in her career. Stephanie Hagen thumped 11 kills without an error and hit .688 for the match. Yvonne VanOort had seven kills at a .545 clip and led Minnesota with eight digs. Erika Lange led Northwestern with 11 kills.
"It was a thorough victory," said Minnesota head coach Mike Hebert. "We could do things tonight that we couldn't do last night. We served much more aggressively tonight, and kept our hitting errors to a minimum."
The Gophers enjoyed a .427-.157 advantage in hitting percentage, a 48-35 edge in kills and a 32-27 lead in digs. Minnesota served eight aces in the match, the second-most for the Gophers in a match this season. Branagh had a season-high four aces to lead Minnesota.
Northwestern scored the first four points of the match, but Minnesota forced ties at 5-5, 6-6, and 7-7 before scoring eight of the last nine points to win the game, 15-8. The Gophers dominated the second game, hitting .700 as a team and scoring the final 10 points of the game. Minnesota led the entirety of the third game, scoring seven of the match's final nine points.
Minnesota will be home for two matches next week. The Gophers will host Iowa on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Ohio State on Friday at 7 p.m.
