University of Minnesota Athletics

Minnesota Falls to No. 10 Illinois

10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball

The sixth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (14-5, 5-2) lost in three sets to No. 10 Illinois (14-3, 6-2) by scores of 25-19, 27-25, 25-22 in front of 7,632 fans at Assembly Hall on Friday, Oct. 16. It marked the first time this year that the Golden Gophers have dropped consecutive matches.

Junior outside hitter Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) had 13 kills, nine digs and two assists, while sophomore middle blocker Ariana Filho (Monument, Colo.) hit .320 (11-3-25), tied a season-high with 11 kills and had a match-best five blocks.

Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) finished with 10 kills on the match, while Tabitha Love (Dauphin, Manitoba) hit .391 (10-1-23) with 10 kills (eight of which came in the third set). Senior libero Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) had a match-high 20 digs.

Illinois outhit Minnesota .273 to .241, and had 49 kills to 48 for the Golden Gophers. The Illini won the service battled, as they collected three service aces and had four service errors, while Minnesota had no service aces and 10 service errors.

The Golden Gophers were also outdug 63 to 55 on the night. Minnesota did outblock Illinois 6.0-to-4.0. It marked the 17th time in 19 matches that the Golden Gophers outblocked their opposition. They have yet to be outblocked in 19 matches this year.

Illinois jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the first set, but after an attack error and a Love kill Minnesota cut it to 12-11. With the Illini leading 15-13, the Golden Gophers committed two attack errors and Laura DeBruler delivered a kill to make it 18-13. Illinois expanded the lead to 21-14 as part of a 6-1 run.

After a Michelle Bartsch kill made it 23-16, Illinois committed a pair of attack errors and Dieter followed with a kill to make it 23-19. The Illini answered with the next two points to claim the first set 25-19.

Illinois outhit Minnesota .257 to .133 in the set, and had 14 kills to 13 for the Golden Gophers. The Illini also outdug the Golden Gophers 21 to 16 in the set. Filho had five kills, while Dieter finished with four in the set. Tan collected eight of the 16 digs in the set for Minnesota.

The second set featured 20 ties and seven lead changes. Illinois jumped out to a 10-9 lead in the set, but Minnesota scored four of the next five points and took a 13-11 lead when Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. The Golden Gophers pushed the lead back to 15-13 on a kill by Gibbemeyer and an Illini attack error.

Illinois scored the next two points to tie it at 15. The Illini reclaimed the lead at 18-17, but the Golden Gophers responded with consecutive points to take the lead at 19-18. With the score tied at 21, Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to make it 22-21. Illinois answered with three of the next four points to make it set point at 24-23.

Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to tie the set at 24. That set off a stretch of three straight service errors that made it set point for Illinois. Johannah Bangert and Hilary Haen combined on a block to give the Illini the second set 27-25.

Despite losing the set, Minnesota outhit Illinois .304 to .250, and had 18 kills to the Illini's 16. Illinois had two service aces and two service errors in the set, while the Golden Gophers had no service aces and five service errors. Gibbemeyer collected seven kills in the set, while Tan had seven digs.

In the third set, Minnesota fell behind 14-9, but Gibbemeyer and Love responded with consecutive kills to make it 14-11. Illinois scored four of the next six points to take an 18-13 lead. The Golden Gophers responded with four of the next six points and cut the lead to 20-17 on a kill by Dieter.

Illinois pushed the lead to 22-17, before the Golden Gophers responded with four of the next five points and cut it to 23-21 on a solo block by Filho. DeBruler delivered a kill to make it match point at 24-21. Love followed with a kill, but Kylie McCulley put away the match the Illini with a kill.

In the third set, the Illini outhit Minnesota .306 to .283, and had 19 kills to 17 for the Golden Gophers. Love led the way for the Golden Gophers with eight kills in 11 swings in the set.

Illinois was led by DeBruler who had 15 kills and 10 digs, while McCulley finished with 14 kills and eight digs. Bartsch also finished with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Ashley Edinger had a team-high 19 digs.

Minnesota will be back in action at Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. That match can be heard live on the Gold Zone.
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