University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Volleyball Defeats Iowa in Three Games
10/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Minnesota jumped out to an early 12-9 lead in game one. The Golden Gophers took control of the game with a 10-0 run to go up 22-9. During that span freshman Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) was in on five different blocks. Iowa cut the score to 25-14, but the Golden Gophers answered by scoring five of the final six points to win the game 30-15. Minnesota outhit Iowa .406 to .132 in game one, and outblocked the Hawkeyes 6.0 to 0 in the game.
Iowa jumped out to a 13-11 lead in game two, but Minnesota answered with a 6-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. The Hawkeyes trimmed the lead down to 20-19, but the Golden Gophers scored six of the next 10 points to go up 23-20. From that point, Iowa would get no closer then two points as Minnesota moved on to a 30-27 game two victory to go up 2-0 in the match. Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) paced Minnesota with six kills in the game. The Golden Gophers outhit the Hawkeyes .351 to .233 in the game.
In game three, Minnesota raced to an early 9-3 lead. The Golden Gopher led by at least four points or more for most of game three. With the score at 20-14, Minnesota scored five of the next six points to go up 25-15. From that point the Golden Gophers went on to win the game 30-19 to claim the match in three games.
Busse paced Minnesota's attack with 15 kills and five blocks, while Erin Martin (Ames, Iowa) had 12 kills on the night. Trisha Bratford (Reseda, Calif.) finished with nine kills. Paula Gentil (Forteleaza Ceara', Brazil) had a match-high 22 digs. Lindsey Taatjes (Prinsburg, Minn.) finished with 40 assists and nine digs.
Minnesota outhit Iowa .412 to .197 on the night. The Golden Gophers also outblocked the Hawkeyes 9.0 to 2.0 in the match.
Iowa was led by Laura Simpson, who had a match-high 22 kills.
The Golden Gophers will head to Madison, Wis. to take on Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. in a match that will be telecast live on Fox Sports Net North.
