University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Top Spartans in Conference Opener
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The 14th-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (11-2, 1-0) defeated Michigan State (8-4, 0-1) at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Mich. in the Big Ten opener on Friday, Sept. 24. It marks the fifth straight season the Gophers have won their Big Ten opener.
Sophomore Tabi Love (Dauphin, Manitoba) had a team-high 12 kills and tallied two service aces. Freshman Ashley Wittman (Shakopee, Minn.) hit .529 (10-1-17) with 10 kills, five digs and three blocks. Junior Ariana Filho (Monument, Colo.) hit .700 (7-0-10) with seven kills and two blocks.
Junior Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) had a match-high 16 digs to go with two assists and a service ace. Mia Tabberson (Muncie, Ind.) had 32 assists, three kills and a block. Katherine Harms (Albertville, Minn.) had a career-high three service aces.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .360 (13-4-25) to .143 (11-7-28) in the first set, and collected four service aces. In the second set, the Gophers trailed 17-16 before scoring four of the next five points and moving ahead 20-18 when Filho and Wittman combined on a block. Tori Dixon (Burnsville, Minn.) eventually moved it to set point with a kill to make it 24-21. Love put away the set with a kill to give Minnesota the 2-0 lead.
Michigan State led 21-20 in the third set before the Gophers rattled off five straight points to close out the match. Love delivered a kill to tie the set at 21, and Harms delivered a service ace to make it 22-21. Harms followed with a service ace and Love made it match point at 24-21. The Gophers finished out the match with another Harms service ace.
Minnesota outhit Michigan State .370 (40-10-81) to .219 (42-21-96), despite the fact that the Spartans had 42 kills to 40 for the Gophers. On the night, Minnesota's serve made a big different as it finished with eight service aces to three for Michigan State. The Gophers narrowly outblocked Michigan State to eight to six.
The Gophers will be back in action when they travel to Ann Arbor to face No. 22 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. (CT). That match can be heard live in the Gold Zone and can be followed on a live blog on gophersports.com.
