University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 6 Minnesota Falls to Illinois in Five
10/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The sixth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (18-3, 5-1) lost to Illinois (9-6, 3-3) by scores of 30-28, 28-30, 30-27, 22-30, 11-15 on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Sports Pavilion. Illinois snaps the Golden Gophers 11 game-winning streak.
“Playing ourselves into a hole finally caught up to us tonight,” said Minnesota head coach Mike Hebert. “I have to credit Illinois. They passed well and their defense was impressive. Normally we’ve been able to score the big points, but Illinois did that tonight.”
Minnesota claimed game one against Illinois 30-28. With the score tied at four, Illinois used a 6-1 run force a Minnesota timeout at 10- 5. Illinois continued to pound the ball and regain the lead at 22-19. Lisa Axel (Buffalo, Minn.) then served three consecutive aces to bring the Golden Gophers back into the lead at 25-23. Minnesota scored five of the final three points to capture the victory. Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) paced Minnesota with six kills and five digs while Lindsey Vander Well (Prinsburg, Minn.) added 14 assists.
Illinois tied the match at 1-1 by winning game two 28-30. Minnesota opened with an 8-2 lead but Illinois fought back using an 8-3 run to lead 17-16. With the score tied at 24, Erin Martin’s (Ames, Iowa) service ace brought the Golden Gophers to a 25-24 advantage. Illinois rallied to tie the score at 27 and then capitalized on a 3-1 run to close the game. Illinois held Minnesota to a .071 hitting percentage.
In game three, Minnesota won 30-27 in a seesaw battle. Both teams waged to a 24-24 tie when Minnesota finally pulled away using a 9-2 run. Martin scored a crucial kill with the Gophers leading 29-27 to seal the win. The game featured nine ties and four lead changes. Martin and Busse tallied seven and five kills respectively in game three.
Game four belonged to Illinois with a 22-30 win. With the score tied at nine, Erin Lorenzen (Pipestone, Minn.) recorded two straight kills to prompt a 3-1 Golden Gopher run. However, Illinois remained unfazed and regained the lead at 19-16. Illinois scored 11 of the last three points to force game five. Sue Webber provided seven kills with no errors to pace Illinois.
In game five, Illinois took the match by winning 15-11. Illinois jumped out to an 8-5 lead and never looked back. Illinois held the Golden Gophers to just seven kills while forcing five blocking errors. Webber again proved to be invaluable with five kills for Illinois.
Minnesota was led by Busse who tied a career high with 24 kills and Martin who notched a season best 21 kills. Vander Well also topped her career mark with 59 assists on the night. Lisa Rienhart (White Bear Lake, Minn.) chipped in with 18 digs while Axel scored six service aces. Webber led Illinois with 22 kills and 26 digs while Melissa Vandrey added 18 kills and 10 digs.
Minnesota will continue Big Ten Conference play on the road against Iowa on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.
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