The 13th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (18-6, 8-4) lost a 2-1 lead as Indiana (14-10, 6-6) defeated the Golden Gophers 22-25, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 15-9 at University Gym in Bloomington on Saturday, Nov. 1.
It was the Golden Gophers first loss to Indiana since Sept. 26, 2003.
Minnesota was led by Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.0 who had 16 kills, hit .406 (16-3-32) and had seven blocks. Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) had 16 kills, five digs, four blocks and tied a season-high with two service aces on the night. Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) finished with 15 kills, hit .371 (15-2-45) and had four blocks.
Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) and Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) each had 15 digs, while Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) finished with 48 assists, 11 digs and a service ace.
The Golden Gophers outhit Indiana .220 to .206 on the night, while the Hoosiers had 66 kills to Minnesota's 59. Indiana outdug the Golden Gophers 70 to 54 on the night.
Minnesota led 2-1 in the match, and held a 22-20 lead in the fourth set. However, Indiana scored the final five points of the fourth set to send the match to a fifth set.
Indiana jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the fifth set, but Dieter and Schmidt answered with consecutive kills to tie the set at four. The Hoosiers responded with five of the next six points to take a 9-5 lead. Minnesota scored two of the next three points and cut the lead to 10-7 on a Roehrig kill.
The Hoosiers scored consecutive points to make 12-7, but Roehrig answered with a kill and Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Ill.) and Gibbemeyer combined on a block to make it 12-9. Indiana closed out the match with the final three points to claim the five-set victory.
Minnesota jumped out to an early 9-4 lead after back-to-back kills by Cowles, however the Hoosiers scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to 10-8. The Golden Gophers scored the next three points when Cowles had a kill, and Hartmann followed a Hoosier attack error with a service ace to make it 13-8.
Indiana scored five of the next six points to cut the Minnesota lead to 14-13. Schmidt followed with a kill, and Roehrig and Gibbemeyer combined on a block to make it 16-13. The Golden Gophers scored the next point, but the Hoosiers answered with two of the next three points to cut the lead to 18-15.
Minnesota scored the next two points and moved ahead 20-15 on a kill by Gibbemeyer. Indiana scored seven of the next nine points to cut the Golden Gopher lead to 23-22. Roehrig answered with a kill and a solo block to give Minnesota the first set 25-22.
The Golden Gophers outhit Indiana .278 to .211, as each team had 15 kills in the set. Minnesota was led by Gibbemeyer who had five kills and a block in the set.
Indiana jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set, but Minnesota scored seven of the next eight points and took a 9-6 lead on a kill by Dieter. The Hoosiers answered with six of the next nine points to tie the score at 12. Indiana ran it to a 9-3 run with the next three points to take a 15-12 lead. The Golden Gophers scored consecutive points and cut the lead to 15-14 when Cowles and Gibbemeyer combined on a block.
The Hoosiers answered with four of the next six points to take a 19-16 lead. Indiana moved ahead 23-19, but Schmidt and Roehrig had consecutive kills to cut the Hoosiers lead 23-21 to force an Indiana timeout. Out of the timeout, Gibbemeyer and Roehrig combined on a block to make it 23-22. However, the Hoosiers scored the next two points to claim the second set 25-22.
Indiana outhit Minnesota .355 to .344 in the set, and had 18 kills to 12 for the Golden Gophers. The Hoosiers did commit seven errors, while Minnesota only had one. The Golden Gophers also outblocked Indiana 3.0-to-0.0 in the set. Minnesota was led by Gibbemeyer and Dieter who each had four kills in the second set.
The Hoosiers jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Minnesota answered with four straight points to tie the set at six. Indiana scored three of the next four points to take a 9-7 lead. However, the Golden Gophers answered with four of the next five points and took their first lead of the set on a kill by Gibbemeyer.
From that point, the teams exchanged the lead four more times before Minnesota took a 16-15 lead on a kill by Schmidt. After the Hoosiers tied it at 16, Hartmann had a kill and helped Minnesota get the next two points with two strong serves to make it 19-16. The Golden Gophers added two more points, and closed out the 5-0 run on a kill by Dieter to make it 21-16. With the score at 23-19, Gibbemeyer and Dieter delivered back-to-back kills to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Golden Gophers outhit Indiana .406 to .176 in the set, and had 17 kills to 13 for the Hoosiers. Dieter and Gibbemeyer led Minnesota with six and five kills respectively in the set.
Indiana jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the fourth set, but Minnesota answered with four consecutive points and took an 8-7 lead when Schmidt and Roehrig teamed up on a block. The Hoosiers tied it at eight, but Schmidt answered with a kill and Tan followed with a service ace to put the Golden Gophers ahead 10-8.
The Hoosiers scored three of the next four points to tie the set at 11. Minnesota responded with five straight points, and took a 16-11 lead when Hartmann and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. Indiana scored four of the next six points to cut it to 18-15, but Roehrig answered with a kill and the Golden Gopher scored the next point to make it 20-15.
Indiana responded with five of the next six points to cut it to 21-20. Roehrig answered with a kill to make it 22-20, but the Hoosiers finished the set with the last five points to even up the match at two sets apiece.
The Hoosiers outhit Minnesota .029 to -.026 in the set, as each team had 10 kills. In the set, Indiana had nine attack errors and the Golden Gophers had 11. Roehrig led Minnesota with four kills in the set.
Indiana was led by Erica Short who had 23 kills, 16 digs and four blocks. Ashley Benson had 15 kills and seven blocks, while Taylor Wittmer finished with 15 kills as well. Caitlin Cox also finished with a match-high 23 digs for Hoosiers.
Minnesota will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. when it host No. 20 Purdue. The Golden Gophers will also welcome No. 17 Illinois to the Sports Pavilion on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
