University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Defeats Denver
9/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Minnesota volleyball team (9-3) defeated Denver (4-8) in three sets by scores of 25-21, 25-17, 25-20 the Pioneer Classic on Saturday, Sept. 12.
With the win, Minnesota finished 2-1 in the Pioneer Classic and collected runner-up honors for the tournament Oregon who went 2-0. Denver finished 1-2, while Georgia Tech finished 0-2.
Junior Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) and sophomore Ariana Filho (Monument, Colo.) were named to the All-Tournament team, while Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) was named the tournament's top libero.
Gibbemeyer had 40 kills and only two errors in 70 swings to hit .543 for the tournament. She also averaged 3.33 kps and 1.67 blps. Filho had 29 kills and only six errors in 46 swings. She averaged 2.42 kps and 1.00 blps. Brook Dieter (Bloomington, Minn.) averaged 4.42 kps and 2.25 dps in the tournament as well, while Tan had 3.08 dps and 0.25 saps.
Minnesota finished the non-conference season with 9-3 record. The Golden Gophers faced ranked opposition in five of their 12 matches in non-conference play.
Dieter led Minnesota with 14 kills and nine digs, while Gibbemeyer hit .476 (11-1-21) with 11 kills and five blocks. Filho hit .500 (8-2-12) with eight kills and two blocks. Setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) had 32 assists, a team-high 10 digs and two blocks, while Tan finished with eight digs and an assist.
Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) finished with five kills, five assists and three blocks, while Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) each had seven digs.
The Golden Gophers outhit Denver .224 (46-20-116) to .123 (31-18-106), and had 46 kills to 31 for the Pioneers. Minnesota narrowly outblocked Denver 8.0-to-7.5. It was the 11th time in 12 matches the Golden Gophers have outblocked their opponents. The Golden Gophers also had 49 digs to 46 for Denver.
Minnesota jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the first set after a kill, but Denver scored six of the next nine points to tie the set at 15. The teams exchanged the next six points to move into a tie at 18.
Filho delivered a kill, and combined on a block with Wilson to give the Golden Gophers a 20-18 lead. The Golden Gophers expanded the lead to 22-19 on a kill by Wilson. Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to make it set point at 24-20. After Denver fought off the first set point, the Pioneers committed a service error to give Minnesota the first set 25-21.
Minnesota outhit Denver .233 (16-6-43) to .154 (13-7-39) in the first set, had 16 kills to 13 for the Pioneers. Gibbemeyer led the way with five kills on 10 swings in the set.
The Golden Gophers jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set after Carico and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. Minnesota pushed the lead to seven points at 11-4 on a kill by Dieter. With the score at 11-6, Filho delivered a kill and Carico followed with a service ace to make it 13-6. Denver sandwiched a pair of errors around a kill by Love to make it 16-6.
Denver answered with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 16-13. Carico ended the run with a kill to make it 17-13. With the score at 18-15, Dieter delivered back-to-back kills to make it 20-15. Gibbemeyer later delivered a service ace to put Minnesota ahead 23-17. The Pioneers followed with an error, and Carico and Filho combined on a block to give the Golden Gophers the set 25-17.
Minnesota outhit Denver .229 (14-6-35) to .161 (9-4-31), and had 14 kills to nine for the Pioneers. Dieter led the way with seven kills and no errors in 11 swings.
In the third set, the Golden Gophers ran out to a 13-9 lead on a kill by Carico. Denver reeled Minnesota back in with six of the next eight points to tie the score at 15. The Golden Gophers scored three of the next four points, and moved ahead 18-16 on a kill by Wilson.
Minnesota extended the lead to 21-17 after Wilson and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. After Denver made it 21-18, Dieter followed with a kill and combined on a block with Gibbemeyer to make it 23-18. Gibbemeyer made it match point at 24-19, and finished off the set with kill to give Minnesota a 25-20 third set victory.
Denver was led by Emmy Davidsmeyer who had 14 kills and three blocks. Kacie Wikierak had 15 digs, while setter Kresson Vreeman had 25 assists, four digs and three blocks.
The Golden Gophers will start conference play when they face Wisconsin on Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. Minnesota will also face Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on the Big Ten Network, and can be heard live in the Gold Zone. There will also be live blogs for both matches on gophersports.com.
