University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Volleyball Falls to No. 9 Wisconsin in Three Games
10/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The 11th-ranked Minnesota Gophers volleyball team (12-5, 5-2) dropped a three-game decision to No. 9 Wisconsin (15-1, 7-0) in front of 5,458 fans at the Sports Pavilion on Friday, Oct. 12. The attendance of 5,458 was the second-highest total at the Sports Pavilion in school history, and the most fans to see a match at the Sports Pavilion since Nov. 19, 1999 when 5,840 fans attended the Golden Gophers match against Penn State.
“I don’t want to take any credit away from Wisconsin, because I thought they played a good match tonight, but we did not execute very well tonight,” said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. “Our ball control was not very good tonight. That affected the setting, which made our hitters tentative when they went up to hit their shots. Overall, Wisconsin’s ball control and defense were more crisp tonight.”
Junior outside hitter Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) had 15 kills and three blocks. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with nine kills, five digs, three blocks and tied a career-high with three service aces.
Senior middle blocker Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) had six kills and five blocks in her first match back from and ankle injury. Junior setter Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) had 36 assists, eight digs, four blocks and three kills. Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) finished with 18 digs, while Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) had 12 digs, five kills and three blocks. Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also finished with 11 digs on the night.
Wisconsin outhit Minnesota .190 to .163, and had 53 kllls to 46 on the night. The Golden Gophers did outblock the Badgers 13.0-to-10.5, but were outdug 70 to 68. Wisconsin also had seven service aces to three for Minnesota.
Minnesota jumped out to a 10-7 lead in game one, but Wisconsin answered with eight of the next 11 points to take a 15-13 lead. Roehrig and Hartmann delivered back-to-back kills, followed by a service ace by Gibbemeyer to give the Golden Gophers the lead back at 16-15. The Badgers ripped off six of the next seven points to take a 21-17 lead.
After exchanging the next six points to make it 24-20, Minnesota ran off three consecutive points to cut it to 24-23 after a Badger attack error, along with a kill and solo block by Roehrig. Wisconsin scored the next two points to push the lead out to 26-23, but Roehrig delivered a kill and Hartmann and Jones combined on a block to make it 26-25.
Wisconsin scored the next point to make it 27-25, but Roehrig responded with a kill and a solo block to tie it at 27. Jones delivered a kill off a dig from Tan to put Minnesota ahead 28-27. However, the Badgers responded with three straight points to claim the first game.
The Badgers outhit Minnesota .143 to .111, and had 17 kills to 14 for the Golden Gophers. Roehrig led the way for Minnesota in the first game with seven kills and a pair of solo blocks.
In the second game, the two teams were tied at 10 before Wisconsin scored 12 of the next 17 points to take a 22-15 lead. Jones and Dieter had back-to-back kills to cut the lead to 22-17. Wisconsin pushed the lead to 26-20, and eventually moved it to game point at 29-22. Jones and Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.) sandwiched kills around a Badger attack error to cut it to 29-25. Vatterrodt came up with a block, but Wisconsin claimed the game on a Golden Gopher attack error to go up 2-0.
Wisconsin outhit Minnesota .349 to .304 in the second game, and had 20 kills to 18 for the Golden Gophers. Gibbemeyer led the way hitting .455 (5-0-11) with five kills.
The Badgers ran out to a 9-3 lead in game three, but the Golden Gophers caught up and tied the at 19 on a kill by Dieter. Wisconsin moved ahead 20-19, but Dieter tied it again at 20. The Badgers scored the next two points to make it 22-20, and extended the lead to three points at 25-22. After a kill by Jones made it 25-23, Wisconsin scored five of the final seven points and finished off the match on a kill by Audra Jeffers.
Wisconsin defeated Minnesota at the Sports Pavilion for the first time since Oct. 19, 2001. It was also the first time that the Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers in three games since Nov. 18, 2001.
Brittney Dolgner had a match-high 22 kills on the match for Wisconsin. Setter Jackie Simpson had 40 assists, four blocks and five digs. Jocelyn Wack also had a match-high 26 digs. Taylor Reineke and Allison Wack each had eight kills on the match.
Minnesota will be back in action when it hosts Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. That match can be heard on gophersports.com.
“I don’t want to take any credit away from Wisconsin, because I thought they played a good match tonight, but we did not execute very well tonight,” said Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert. “Our ball control was not very good tonight. That affected the setting, which made our hitters tentative when they went up to hit their shots. Overall, Wisconsin’s ball control and defense were more crisp tonight.”
Junior outside hitter Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) had 15 kills and three blocks. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with nine kills, five digs, three blocks and tied a career-high with three service aces.
Senior middle blocker Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) had six kills and five blocks in her first match back from and ankle injury. Junior setter Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) had 36 assists, eight digs, four blocks and three kills. Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) finished with 18 digs, while Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) had 12 digs, five kills and three blocks. Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) also finished with 11 digs on the night.
Wisconsin outhit Minnesota .190 to .163, and had 53 kllls to 46 on the night. The Golden Gophers did outblock the Badgers 13.0-to-10.5, but were outdug 70 to 68. Wisconsin also had seven service aces to three for Minnesota.
Minnesota jumped out to a 10-7 lead in game one, but Wisconsin answered with eight of the next 11 points to take a 15-13 lead. Roehrig and Hartmann delivered back-to-back kills, followed by a service ace by Gibbemeyer to give the Golden Gophers the lead back at 16-15. The Badgers ripped off six of the next seven points to take a 21-17 lead.
After exchanging the next six points to make it 24-20, Minnesota ran off three consecutive points to cut it to 24-23 after a Badger attack error, along with a kill and solo block by Roehrig. Wisconsin scored the next two points to push the lead out to 26-23, but Roehrig delivered a kill and Hartmann and Jones combined on a block to make it 26-25.
Wisconsin scored the next point to make it 27-25, but Roehrig responded with a kill and a solo block to tie it at 27. Jones delivered a kill off a dig from Tan to put Minnesota ahead 28-27. However, the Badgers responded with three straight points to claim the first game.
The Badgers outhit Minnesota .143 to .111, and had 17 kills to 14 for the Golden Gophers. Roehrig led the way for Minnesota in the first game with seven kills and a pair of solo blocks.
In the second game, the two teams were tied at 10 before Wisconsin scored 12 of the next 17 points to take a 22-15 lead. Jones and Dieter had back-to-back kills to cut the lead to 22-17. Wisconsin pushed the lead to 26-20, and eventually moved it to game point at 29-22. Jones and Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.) sandwiched kills around a Badger attack error to cut it to 29-25. Vatterrodt came up with a block, but Wisconsin claimed the game on a Golden Gopher attack error to go up 2-0.
Wisconsin outhit Minnesota .349 to .304 in the second game, and had 20 kills to 18 for the Golden Gophers. Gibbemeyer led the way hitting .455 (5-0-11) with five kills.
The Badgers ran out to a 9-3 lead in game three, but the Golden Gophers caught up and tied the at 19 on a kill by Dieter. Wisconsin moved ahead 20-19, but Dieter tied it again at 20. The Badgers scored the next two points to make it 22-20, and extended the lead to three points at 25-22. After a kill by Jones made it 25-23, Wisconsin scored five of the final seven points and finished off the match on a kill by Audra Jeffers.
Wisconsin defeated Minnesota at the Sports Pavilion for the first time since Oct. 19, 2001. It was also the first time that the Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers in three games since Nov. 18, 2001.
Brittney Dolgner had a match-high 22 kills on the match for Wisconsin. Setter Jackie Simpson had 40 assists, four blocks and five digs. Jocelyn Wack also had a match-high 26 digs. Taylor Reineke and Allison Wack each had eight kills on the match.
Minnesota will be back in action when it hosts Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. That match can be heard on gophersports.com.
Players Mentioned
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