The 12th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (26-6, 16-4) closed out the regular-season with a four-set victory over Michigan State (15-16, 7-13) by scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-13, 25-23 in the regular-season finale at Jenison Field House on Saturday, Nov. 29.
With the victory, Minnesota won its eighth straight match. The eight straight Big Ten wins to close out Big Ten play, matches the program's third-longest conference winning streak in a single season.
The Golden Gophers also claimed their 26th victory of the year. The 26 wins are the most in the regular-season by Minnesota since 2004, and the program's fourth-highest regular-season total during the NCAA era.
Minnesota will wait to find out where they are going in the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will start on Sunday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU. It will also air on Nov. 30 at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPNews.
The Golden Gophers were led by senior Kyla Roehrig (Papillion, Neb.) who hit .360 (12-3-25) with 12 kills and three blocks in her final career Big Ten match. Roehrig had two solo blocks to move her into fourth place on the school's all-time list at 125. Rachel Hartmann (St. Charles, Ill.) also had 37 assists, with three blocks and two kills in her Big Ten match.
Katie Vatterrodt (Bloomington, Minn.) had four kills and two blocks in her final Big Ten match, while Kelly Schmidt (Champaign, Ill.) had four kills and two block in her Big Ten finale.
Sophomore Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) hit .360 (12-3-25) with nine kills, six block and had a service ace, while Pam Luiz (Limeira, Brazil) had 13 digs, seven kills and three blocks.
Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) had a team-high 14 digs, and Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) finished with 10 digs, four kills and a service ace.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .223 to .095, despite the fact that the Spartans had 53 kills to 43 for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota forced Michigan State into 39 attack errors, while it had 16 on the night. Overall, the Spartans had 48 errors on the night (39 attack errors and nine service errors). Minnesota also outblocked Michigan State 12.0-to-9.5 on the night.
Michigan State jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first set, but the Golden Gophers got a kill and a service ace to tie the set at four. Minnesota scored eight of the next 10 points to stretch out a 10-2 run into a 12-6 lead. The Spartans scored three of the next five points to cut the lead to 14-9.
Vatterrodt and Gibbemeyer answered with back-to-back kills to spark a 6-0 run for the Golden Gophers to put them up 20-9. Michigan State responded with five of the next six points to cut the lead to 21-14. Schmidt and Roehrig sandwiched kills around a Spartan point to move Minnesota's lead out to 23-15. The Golden Gophers pushed it to set point at 24-16. Michigan State fought off a pair of set points, before Roehrig put down a kill to give Minnesota the first set 25-18.
The Golden Gophers outhit the Spartans .320 to .094, despite the fact that they had 11 kills to Michigan State's 12 in the set. Minnesota had two service aces to none for the Spartans, and also committed only three attack errors to nine for Michigan State. Vatterrodt led the Golden Gophers with three kills in the set.
Minnesota jumped out to a 10-6 lead in the second set, but the Spartans answered with 12 of the next 15 points to take an 18-13 lead. The Golden Gophers stopped the run when Gibbemeyer and Hartmann combined on a block. From that point, the teams exchanged the next 12 points to move it to set point at 24-20. Heather McDaniel delivered a kill to give the Spartans the second set 25-20.
Michigan State outhit the Golden Gophers .231 to .182 in the set, and had 18 kills to 10 for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers outblocked the Spartans 5.0-to-3.0 in the set, and only had four attack errors to nine for Michigan State in the set. Gibbemeyer led Minnesota with four kills and two blocks in the second set.
In the third set, the Golden Gophers jumped out to a 12-6 lead after a kill by Roehrig. Minnesota expanded on that lead with a 7-0 run to move it 19-6. Roehrig had a kill and a solo block during the run, while Gibbemeyer had a kill and combined on a block during that stretch. Minnesota pushed it to set point at 24-9. The Spartans scored four straight points to cut it to 24-13, before committing and attack error to give the Golden Gophers the set.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .250 to -.081 in the set, despite the fact that the teams both had nine kills. In the set, the Golden Gophers outblocked the Spartans 3.0-to-0.0, and had only two attack errors to 12 for Michigan State. The Spartans also committed three service errors in the set. Gibbemeyer had three kills in the set for Minnesota, while Tan had six digs.
Michigan State jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the fourth set, but the Golden Gophers scored 10 of the next 13 matches to cut the lead to 16-15. The Spartans scored consecutive points to make it 18-15, but Luiz answered with a kill and Schmidt followed with a solo block to make it 18-17. Minnesota made it a 4-0 run to take the lead at 19-18 after consecutive attack errors by Michigan State.
The Spartans scored consecutive points to grab the lead back at 20-19. Michigan State committed a service error to tie the set again, but McDaniel delivered and a service ace to put the Spartans ahead 22-20.
Minnesota's seniors took over when Roehrig sandwiched a pair of kills around a kill by Schmidt to give the Golden Gophers a 23-22 lead. Michigan State committed an attack error to give Minnesota match point, but Becca Zlabis came up with a kill to cut the lead to 24-23, but the Golden Gophers closed out the match on the next play to claim the four-set victory.
Michigan State was led by Zlabis who has 15 kills and two blocks. McDaniel had 10 kills and nine digs, while Kyndra Abron finished with 11 kills and two blocks. Setter Natalie Emro had 43 assists, 15 digs and six kills, and Allyson Karaba had a match-high 19 digs
