Minnesota Falls to Michigan in Four Games
The 12th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (17-7, 11-3) dropped a four-game match to Michigan (18-9, 5-9) by scores of 27-30, 30-23, 30-20, 30-26 on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. The loss snapped a 10-match winning streak for the Golden Gophers over the Wolverines that dated back to 2001.
Minnesota was led by Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill) who had 14 kills and three blocks on the match. Senior middle blocker Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) had 12 kills and tied a career-high three service aces. Nelson also had one block in the second game to record her 500th career block. She joins Stephanie Hagen and Pam Miller as the only Golden Gopher players in school history to be part of the 500-block club.
Senior Meghan Cumpston (Red Bluff, Calif.) had 11 kills, six digs, three blocks and two service aces on the match, while Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) finished with nine kills, six digs and five assists on the night.
Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) also finished with 51 assists, nine digs and tied a career-high with four kills. Senior Malama Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.) had 20 digs and two service aces.
Michigan had the highest hitting percentage of any Golden Gopher opponent this season at .368 for the match, while Minnesota hit .230. The Wolverines also had 74 kills to 63 for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota was also outblocked 12.0-to-8,0 on the night. The Golden Gophers did have seven service aces to five for Michigan.
The two teams entered the third game tied at 1-1 in the match. For the second straight game, Michigan grabbed the early momentum taking a 16-8 lead over Minnesota. Cumpston followed with a kill, and the Golden Gophers scored the next point to cut the lead to 16-10. Michigan widened the gap with six of the next seven points to take a 22-11 lead. The Golden Gopher scored three consecutive points to cut the Michigan lead to 22-14. Howver, the Wolverines answered with three straight points of their own to go up 25-14.
Minnesota scored back-to-back points to cut it to 25-16, but the Wolverines responded with three straight points to make it 28-16. Hagerty delivered a kill to make it 28-17, but the Wolverines moved it to game point at 29-17. After Minnesota fought off three game points, Michigan closed out the game at 30-20 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Wolverines held the Golden Gophers to a -.024 hitting percentage in the third game and hit .222. Michigan also had 15 kills to 10 for Minnesota, and outblocked the Golden Gophers 5.0-to-1.0.
Michigan jumped out to a 9-8 lead in game four, but Minnesota responded with four straight points to go up 12-9. With the score tied at nine, Cumpston sandwiched a kill and a solo block around a Bowman kill to give Minnesota the three-point lead. The Wolverines came right back with three straight points to tie the score at 12. Minnesota scored three of the next four points, with all of its points coming on Cumpston kills to move ahead 15-13. Michigan responded with three of the next four points to the game at 16.
Jones delivered a kill to give Minnesota a 17-16 lead, but Michigan rattled off three straight points to move ahead 19-17. Roehrig answered with a kill, and Cumpston tied the game on a solo block. Michigan scored the next point to move ahead 20-19, but Jones tied it with a kill and Minnesota went back ahead 21-20 on a Wolverine attack error. Michigan tied the game at 21, but Cumpston put Minnesota ahead 22-21 with a kill.
The Wolverines answered quickly with three straight points to move ahead 24-22. Cumpston halted the Wolverines put a brief halt to Michigan's momentum with a kill to make it 24-23. However, Michigan scored consecutive points to make it 26-23. Minnesota cut it to 28-26, but the Wolverines scored consecutive points to claim the match.
Michigan jumped out to an early 4-3 lead in game one, but Minnesota responded with consecutive kills by Nelson and Roehrig to go along with a service ace by Cumpston to make it 6-4. The Wolverines scored four of the next six points to the game at 8-8. Jones put the Golden Gophers up 9-8, but Michigan quickly answered with three straight points to go up 11-9. Jones followed that run up with a kill and a solo block to tie the game at 11.
The Wolverines moved ahead 12-11, but followed with a service error to tie it at 12. Peniata delivered a service ace to give Minnesota a 13-12 lead. The Wolverines answered with four of the next five points to claim a 16-14 lead. Cumpston and Hartmann delivered back-to-back kill to tie it at16.
Michigan scored the next two points to move ahead 18-16, but Roehrig delivered a kill followed by a Nelson service ace to tie the game at 18. Minnesota took the lead with the next point, and Nelson followed with another service ace to make it 20-18. The Golden Gophers scored the next point to close out a 5-0 run to make it 21-18. Michigan scored the next two points to cut it the Minnesota lead to 21-20.
The Golden Gophers rattled off four of the next five points to take a 25-21 lead. Minnesota followed with next point, and Roehrig delivered a solo block to make it 23-20. Michigan cut the lead to 23-21, but Roehrig followed with back-to-back kills to give the Golden Gophers a 25-21 lead. The Wolverines responded with four of the next five points to cut the lead to 26-25. Nelson followed with a kill to make it 27-25. Michigan answered with a point to make it 27-26.
Minnesota took a 28-26 lead, but the Wolverines scored the next point to make it 28-27. Nelson followed with another kill to make it game point at 29-27. Bowman and Jones combined on the block to give Minnesota game one 30-27.
Michigan outhit the Golden Gophers .381 to .368, and had 21 kills to Minnesota's 16. The Golden Gophers did have five service aces and no service errors in the game, while the Wolverines had three service aces and three service errors. Nelson led the way for Minnesota with six kills in 10 swings, and also had three service aces.
The Wolverines grabbed the momentum early in game two with a 10-2 run to start things off. Minnesota cut the lead to 13-7, but the Wolverines scored six of the next eight points to move ahead 19-9. The Golden Gophers scored three of the next four points to cut the Michigan lead to 20-12. However, the Wolverines answered with three of the next four points to take back a 10-point lead at 23-13. Minnesota subbed in Rachelle Hagerty (Defiance, Ohio), which helped spark the Golden Gophers to score the next three points to make it 23-16. Michigan pushed the lead out to 24-16, but Hagerty delivered a kill and Cumpston followed with a service ace to make it 24-18. The teams exchanged the next eight points to make it 28-22. The Wolverines made it game point at 29-22. Nelson delivered a kill to fight off the first game point to make it 29-23, but Michigan finished the game off at 30-23 to even the match at one game apiece.
The Wolverines outhit Minnesota ..486 to .238, and had 19 kills to 17 for Minnesota in the game. Michigan outblocked the Golden Gophers 4.0-to-2.0 in the game. Nelson and Jones led the way for Minnesota with five kills apiece in the game.
Michigan was led by Katie Bruzdzinski who had 21 kills, 10 digs and three service aces. Lyndsay Miller also had 19 kills and three solo blocks. Berth Karpiak hit .526 (12-2-19) with 12 kills and eight blocks, while Veronica Rood hit .407 (14-3-27) with 14 kills.
Minnesota will return to action this week when it faces Illinois at home on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will also face Northwestern on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.
