University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls to No. 23 San Diego
9/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The 12th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (10-2) saw a 2-0 lead disappear, as No. 23 San Diego (8-3) rallied back to defeat the Gophers in five sets by scores of 24-26, 23-25, 27-25, 25-18, 17-15.
It marked the first time Minnesota has lost when it had 2-0 lead since Oct. 27, 2007 when Ohio State rallied to defeat the Gophers. The two teams combined for five match points (three by San Diego and two by the Gophers) before the Toreros won 17-15 in the fifth set. The Gophers first match point came at 25-24 in the third set when they had a chance to win in three sets.
With the victory, San Diego won the USD/San Diego State Tournament at 3-0 while Minnesota finished second at 2-1. UC Santa Barbara finished 1-2 while San Diego State was 0-3.
Ashley Wittman (Shakopee, Minn.) and Ariana Filho (Monument, Colo.) were each named to the All-Tournament team. Ali Troost from San Diego was named the MVP of the tournament. Amy Degroot (San Diego), Kyley Sexton (San Diego State), Stacey Schmidt (UC Santa Barbara) and C’era Olivera (San Diego) were also named to the All-Tournament team.
Minnesota was led Wittman who had 15 kills, 15 digs and four blocks, while Filho had 14 kills and tied a career-high seven blocks. Tori Dixon (Burnsville, Minn.) finished with 11 kills and five blocks, while Tabi Love (Dauphin, Manitoba) had 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Junior libero Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) had 30 digs and a career-best three service aces. Stephanie Nucci (Gilbert, Ariz.) had 21 assists and two service aces, while Mia Tabberson (Muncie, Ind.) had 27 assists and two blocks.
The Golden Gophers trailed 21-16 in the first set, before going on a 5-0 and tying the set at 21 with a service ace by Nucci. After the two teams continued to side out, San Diego moved it to set point on a kill by Ashton Basch. The Gophers fought off set point on a kill by Filho and after a Torero error Minnesota had set point at 25-24. Granquist gave Minnesota the first set 26-24 with a service ace.
In the second set, the Gophers trailed 18-17 before scoring seven of the next 10 points to make it set point at 24-21. The Toreros fought off a pair of set points, before Love delivered a kill to put Minnesota ahead 2-0 in the match.
Minnesota trailed most of the third set, and was down 20-17 before going on a 4-0 run to take the lead. The Gophers move ahead 21-20 when Wittman and Filho combined on a block. San Diego scored four of the next five points to make it set point at 24-22. Love answered with a kill and combined on a block with Wittman to tie the set at 24. Granquist delivered a service ace to make it match point at 25-24. However, Trost sandwiched a pair of kills around an attack error by Minnesota to give the Toreros the third set despite eight blocks in the frame by the Gophers.
San Diego limited the Gophers to a .025 hitting percentage in the fourth set, and had .243 on the way to a 25-18 victory that forced the match to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Toreros ran out to a 9-5 lead after a kill by Basch. The Golden Gophers trimmed it down to 10-8 after a San Diego attack error. With San Diego leading 12-9, love delivered a kill and Granquist followed with a service ace to make it 12-11. The Torerors moved it to match point at 14-12 on a kill by Chloe Ferrari. Dixon responded with a kill and San Diego followed with an attack error to tie it at 14.
Wittman delivered a kill to give Minnesota its second match point at 15-14. Ferrari delivered a kill to fight off match point as part of a long rally. Basch delivered the next two kills to give San Diego the comeback victory.
The Toreros outhit Minnesota .207 (77-35-203) to .158 (55-27-177), and outdug the Gophers 91 to 74. Minnesota outblocked San Diego 14.0-to-5.0, and had seven service aces to six for the Toreros. The Gophers came in with only 15 attack errors in two tournament matches, but had 27 on the night. Minnesota did force San Diego into 35 attack errors.
Minnesota will be back in action when it starts Big Ten play at Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. (CT). The Golden Gophers will also face No. 21 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. (CT). Both matches can be heard in the Gold Zone and can followed on the live blog on gophersports.com.
