University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Heads to Illinois and Purdue
10/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
 Minnesota will start Big Ten road play this week when it heads to No. 19 Illinois and No. 18 Purdue. The Golden Gophers will face the Illini on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and the Boilermakers on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. Both matches can be heard live on gophersports.com. Illinois enters the week with a 10-3 overall record, and is 1-1 in Big Ten play. Purdue is 12-2 overall and 1-1 in conference action. Minnesota starts the week as one of four 2-0 teams in the Big Ten, and has a 12-2 overall record.
 In the first weekend of conference action, Minnesota outblocked its opposition 28.0-to-15.0. The Golden Gophers averaged 4.00 blocks per set on the weekend. Overall this year, Minnesota has outblocked its opposition 151.5-to-72.0, and averaged 3.03 blps to 1.44 for the opposition. In its five matches against ranked opponents, the Golden Gopher have outblocked their opponents 63.0-to-32.0 (3.32 blps-to-1.68 blps).
 Minnesota is currently leading the Big Ten in both blocks and digs per set. The Golden Gophers have 3.03 blps and 18.40 dps. Minnesota leads Penn State in blocks (3.03-to-2.89), and has a fairly wide margin in digs over Illinois, who is second in the conference (18.40-to-15.65). The Golden Gophers are also second in the Big Ten opposing hitting percentage at .134. Penn State leads the Big Ten in opponent hitting percentage at .079.
 The Golden Gophers have played five ranked opponents this season heading into the week. That is tied for the second-best mark among ranked teams. Cal Poly leads the way with six matches against ranked teams this year. Minnesota is tied with Nebraska and Stanford for second on that list. The Cornhuskers also lead the way with wins against ranked opposition, having collected wins in all five matchups against ranked teams. The Golden Gophers are tied for second on the list with four wins over ranked opposition with Penn State and Stanford. Minnesota has defeated No. 4 California, No. 16 Cal Poly, No. 21 LSU and No. 18 Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers lost to No. 11 Hawai’i in five sets on the road.
With the win over Wisconsin, Minnesota has now started out 2-0 in Big Ten play in four of the last five seasons. In 2007, the Golden Gophers ran out to a 5-0 start in conference play. Minnesota also jumped out to a 4-0 start in Big Ten play in 2006. The Golden Gophers best start in Big Ten play under Mike Hebert came in 1999 when they started 7-0, and ended up finishing 15-5 in conference play.
Minnesota will have three members of its team making a homecoming of sorts when it returns to Illinois on Friday, Oct. 3. Golden Gophers senior Kelly Schmidt will play her last match of her Minnesota career in front of her hometown crowd. The Golden Gophers have gone 3-0 in Champaign during Schmidt’s career. Minnesota won in four sets at Illinois on Oct. 15, 2005, claimed a three-set victory on Sept. 23, 2006 and rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win in five sets last year on Nov. 23, 2007. Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert returns to Illinois after coaching the Illini for 13 years from 1983-95. Hebert is currently in his 13th year at Minnesota. He is the only active head coach in Division I with 300 victories at two different schools. Golden Gophers assistant coach Laura Bush also returns to her alma mater where she helped the program to two Final Fours (1987 & 88), and was an All-American in 1989.
Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 Big Ten start with a three-set victory over Northwestern on Sept. 26 at the Sports Pavilion, and a four-set win over No. 18 Wisconsin on Sept. 27. Against Northwestern, Minnesota claimed the three-set victory by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 26-24. The Golden Gophers outhit the Wildcats .214 to .181, and had 52 kills to 42 on the night. Minnesota also outblocked Northwestern 12.0-to-6.0. Brook Dieter finished with 15 kills, nine digs and two service aces, while Lauren Gibbemeyer hit .321 (14-5-28) with 14 kills, six blocks and two service aces. Christine Tan had 22 digs, while Rachel Hartmann finished with 47 assists, 13 digs and two blocks. Pam Luiz also had nine kills, hit .562 (9-0-16), with nine kills, five digs and a career-high five blocks in her Big Ten debut. In the Wisconsin match, Minnesota defeated the Badgers 23-25, 25-10, 26-25, 25-20. The Golden Gophers outhit the Badgers .207 to .112, and had 58 kills to 49 on the night. Minnesota also had 16.0 blocks to 9.0 for Wisconsin, along with six service aces to one for the Badgers. Gibbemeyer hit .364 (16-4-33) with 16 kills and 10 blocks, while Dieter had 14 kills, 11 digs and a career-high eight blocks. Tan finished with 21 digs, three assists and two service aces, while Hartmann had 49 assists, 12 digs and three blocks.
Minnesota is 9-3 in Big Ten road openers under current head coach Mike Hebert. The Golden Gophers have won two straight road openers (2007- at Iowa & 2006 - Northwestern). Prior to that, Minnesota had lost three straight road conference openers (at No. 10 Wisconsin in 2005, at No. 16 Ohio State in 2004 and at Indiana in 2003). Hebert won his first seven Big Ten road openers. He led Minnesota to victories in road openers over No. 14 Wisconsin in 2002, Iowa in 2001, No. 11 Penn State in 2000, Iowa in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and Indiana in 1997. This will be the first time since Hebert has come to Minnesota that he has faced Illinois in the Golden Gophers’ first road match of the year.
 In the first weekend of conference action, Minnesota outblocked its opposition 28.0-to-15.0. The Golden Gophers averaged 4.00 blocks per set on the weekend. Overall this year, Minnesota has outblocked its opposition 151.5-to-72.0, and averaged 3.03 blps to 1.44 for the opposition. In its five matches against ranked opponents, the Golden Gopher have outblocked their opponents 63.0-to-32.0 (3.32 blps-to-1.68 blps).
 Minnesota is currently leading the Big Ten in both blocks and digs per set. The Golden Gophers have 3.03 blps and 18.40 dps. Minnesota leads Penn State in blocks (3.03-to-2.89), and has a fairly wide margin in digs over Illinois, who is second in the conference (18.40-to-15.65). The Golden Gophers are also second in the Big Ten opposing hitting percentage at .134. Penn State leads the Big Ten in opponent hitting percentage at .079.
 The Golden Gophers have played five ranked opponents this season heading into the week. That is tied for the second-best mark among ranked teams. Cal Poly leads the way with six matches against ranked teams this year. Minnesota is tied with Nebraska and Stanford for second on that list. The Cornhuskers also lead the way with wins against ranked opposition, having collected wins in all five matchups against ranked teams. The Golden Gophers are tied for second on the list with four wins over ranked opposition with Penn State and Stanford. Minnesota has defeated No. 4 California, No. 16 Cal Poly, No. 21 LSU and No. 18 Wisconsin. The Golden Gophers lost to No. 11 Hawai’i in five sets on the road.
With the win over Wisconsin, Minnesota has now started out 2-0 in Big Ten play in four of the last five seasons. In 2007, the Golden Gophers ran out to a 5-0 start in conference play. Minnesota also jumped out to a 4-0 start in Big Ten play in 2006. The Golden Gophers best start in Big Ten play under Mike Hebert came in 1999 when they started 7-0, and ended up finishing 15-5 in conference play.
Minnesota will have three members of its team making a homecoming of sorts when it returns to Illinois on Friday, Oct. 3. Golden Gophers senior Kelly Schmidt will play her last match of her Minnesota career in front of her hometown crowd. The Golden Gophers have gone 3-0 in Champaign during Schmidt’s career. Minnesota won in four sets at Illinois on Oct. 15, 2005, claimed a three-set victory on Sept. 23, 2006 and rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win in five sets last year on Nov. 23, 2007. Minnesota Head Coach Mike Hebert returns to Illinois after coaching the Illini for 13 years from 1983-95. Hebert is currently in his 13th year at Minnesota. He is the only active head coach in Division I with 300 victories at two different schools. Golden Gophers assistant coach Laura Bush also returns to her alma mater where she helped the program to two Final Fours (1987 & 88), and was an All-American in 1989.
Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 Big Ten start with a three-set victory over Northwestern on Sept. 26 at the Sports Pavilion, and a four-set win over No. 18 Wisconsin on Sept. 27. Against Northwestern, Minnesota claimed the three-set victory by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 26-24. The Golden Gophers outhit the Wildcats .214 to .181, and had 52 kills to 42 on the night. Minnesota also outblocked Northwestern 12.0-to-6.0. Brook Dieter finished with 15 kills, nine digs and two service aces, while Lauren Gibbemeyer hit .321 (14-5-28) with 14 kills, six blocks and two service aces. Christine Tan had 22 digs, while Rachel Hartmann finished with 47 assists, 13 digs and two blocks. Pam Luiz also had nine kills, hit .562 (9-0-16), with nine kills, five digs and a career-high five blocks in her Big Ten debut. In the Wisconsin match, Minnesota defeated the Badgers 23-25, 25-10, 26-25, 25-20. The Golden Gophers outhit the Badgers .207 to .112, and had 58 kills to 49 on the night. Minnesota also had 16.0 blocks to 9.0 for Wisconsin, along with six service aces to one for the Badgers. Gibbemeyer hit .364 (16-4-33) with 16 kills and 10 blocks, while Dieter had 14 kills, 11 digs and a career-high eight blocks. Tan finished with 21 digs, three assists and two service aces, while Hartmann had 49 assists, 12 digs and three blocks.
Minnesota is 9-3 in Big Ten road openers under current head coach Mike Hebert. The Golden Gophers have won two straight road openers (2007- at Iowa & 2006 - Northwestern). Prior to that, Minnesota had lost three straight road conference openers (at No. 10 Wisconsin in 2005, at No. 16 Ohio State in 2004 and at Indiana in 2003). Hebert won his first seven Big Ten road openers. He led Minnesota to victories in road openers over No. 14 Wisconsin in 2002, Iowa in 2001, No. 11 Penn State in 2000, Iowa in 1996, 1998 and 1999 and Indiana in 1997. This will be the first time since Hebert has come to Minnesota that he has faced Illinois in the Golden Gophers’ first road match of the year.
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