The 13th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (14-2, 4-0) swept No. 18 Purdue (13-3, 2-2) in three sets by scores of 25-14, 25-16, 25-19 at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility in West Lafayette, Ind. on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) led the way with 12 kills and eight digs on the night, while Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with 10 kills, six blocks and two service aces. Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) had a match-high 10 digs.
Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) finished with 28 assists, five digs and two service aces. Pam Luiz (Limeira, Brazil) also had two service aces, while Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with seven digs.
Minnesota outhit Purdue .263 to .046 in the match, and had 34 kills to 31 for the Boilermakers. The Golden Gophers also outblocked the Boilermakers 10.0-to-5.0. Minnesota has had more blocks then its opponents in every match this season. The Golden Gophers also had six service aces to two for Purdue.
Purdue jumped out to a 7-5 lead, but the Golden Gophers scored three straight points to take an 8-7 lead. The Boilermakers tied the match up at eight, and the two teams exchanged the next four points to tie the set at 10. Minnesota scored the next point, and Gibbemeyer combined on blocks with Dieter and Hartmann on consecutive points to make it 13-10.
The Boilermakers answered with consecutive points to cut it to 13-12, but Gibbemeyer followed with a kill to spark a 7-0 run that ended when Roehrig delivered a kill to put the Golden Gophers up 20-12. Purdue scored back-to-back points to make it 20-14. Minnesota rattled off the next three points, and Gibbemeyer ended the set with back-to-back service aces to give the Golden Gophers the first set.
Minnesota outhit Purdue .323 to .031 in the first set, and had 12 kills to nine for the Boilermakers. Gibbemeyer finished the set with four kills in eight swings.
In the second set, the two teams were tied a 2-2 when Minnesota scored 10 of the next 11 points and went up 12-3 on a solo block by Gibbemeyer. The Golden Gophers pushed the lead to 10 points at 16-6. Purdue answered with four of the next five points to cut it to 17-10. Minnesota scored the next two points, and went up 19-10 on a backrow kill by Cowles.
The Boilermakers cut it to 21-13, but Roehrig put the Golden Gophers up 22-13. Ariana Filho (Monument, Colo.) followed with a solo block and then combined on a block with Luiz to make it set point at 24-13. Purdue fought off three set points to make it 24-16, but Dieter put down a kill to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the match.
Minnesota outhit Purdue .294 to .053 in the second set, and had 13 kills to nine for the Boilermakers. The Golden Gophers also outblocked Purdue 4.0-to-2.0 in the set. Dieter had six kills in the set, while Gibbemeyer had four kills and two blocks.
The two teams exchanged the first two points of the first set, but Minnesota ripped off nine straight points to take a 10-1 lead. Purdue cut the lead to 12-4, but the Golden Gophers went on an 8-0 run and took a 20-4 lead. The Boilermakers scored eight of the next 11 points to cut it to 23-11. From that point, Purdue ran off an 8-0 run of its own to cut it to 23-19. Dieter halted the momentum with a kill, and Gibbemeyer and Roehrig combined on a block to give Minnesota the three-set victory.
Purdue was led by Stephanie Lynch who had 13 kills and hit .333 (13-4-27) with three blocks. Kelli Miller also had eight digs on the night.
Minnesota will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. when it faces Indiana at the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers will then welcome in No. 1 Penn State to Williams Arena on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. in the “Battle in the Barn'. That night Minnesota will also hold “Dig Pink' night for Breast Cancer Awareness. The Golden Gophers' match with Penn State will also be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
