University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Falls to No. 22 Northern Iowa
9/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The eighth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (4-1) dropped a five-set decision to No. 22 Northern Iowa (4-1) by scores of 25-16, 16-25, 17-25, 25-23, 18-16.
Junior libero Jessica Granquist had a career-high 33 digs, while Tabi Love finished with a career-best 23 kills on a career-high 74 swings. Ashley Wittman also finished with 13 kills and a career-high 21 digs, and Lauren Gibbemeyer had 13 kills and eight blocks.
Tori Dixon also had nine kills, six digs and four blocks, while Ariana Filho had a season-high six kills and four blocks. Stephanie Nucci had 27 assists and four digs in three sets, while Mia Tabberson finished with 32 assists and five digs.
Minnesota got out of the gates slow, as Northern Iowa outhit the Gophers .264 (19-5-53) to .083 (10-6-48) in the first set en route to a 25-16 victory in the first set. Minnesota limited the Panthers to a .034 hitting percentage on the way to claim the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Gophers trailed 21-17 in the fourth set, but Love and Wittman had consecutive kills followed by a service ace by Nucci to cut it to 21-20. Northern Iowa maintained its lead and pushed it to set point at 24-22. Gibbemeyer followed with a kill to make it 24-23, but Michelle Burow delivered a kill to push the match to a fifth set.
Minnesota took early control in the fifth set with a 4-0 lead after Nucci and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. The Golden Gophers kept the four-point lead at 8-4 after an attack error by Bre Payton. However, Northern Iowa quickly responded with five of the next six points to tie the set at nine. After a Panther attack error, Gibbemeyer and Love combined on a block to make it 11-9. Nucci pushed it to 13-11 after dumping the ball over for a kill. Northern Iowa came back with three straight points and moved it to match point at 14-13 after a kill by Burow. Minnesota fought off the match point, but Burow came back with another kill. Wittman delivered a kill to tie the set at 15. After Krista DeGeest gave Northern Iowa a third match point,
Dixon answered with a kill to knot it up at 16. After a Gopher attack error, Amy Braun delivered a kill to give the Panthers the five-set victory.
Minnesota outhit Northern Iowa .193 (66-28-197) to .174 (66-30-207) on the night, and had 13.0 blocks to nine for the Panthers. The Golden Gophers narrowly outdug Northern Iowa 98 to 96.
Northern Iowa was led by Burow who had 23 kills, hit .526 (23-3-38) and had three blocks. Payton collected 10 kills, 50 assist and 13 digs. Ellie Blankenship finished with a team-high 32 digs.
Junior libero Jessica Granquist had a career-high 33 digs, while Tabi Love finished with a career-best 23 kills on a career-high 74 swings. Ashley Wittman also finished with 13 kills and a career-high 21 digs, and Lauren Gibbemeyer had 13 kills and eight blocks.
Tori Dixon also had nine kills, six digs and four blocks, while Ariana Filho had a season-high six kills and four blocks. Stephanie Nucci had 27 assists and four digs in three sets, while Mia Tabberson finished with 32 assists and five digs.
Minnesota got out of the gates slow, as Northern Iowa outhit the Gophers .264 (19-5-53) to .083 (10-6-48) in the first set en route to a 25-16 victory in the first set. Minnesota limited the Panthers to a .034 hitting percentage on the way to claim the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Gophers trailed 21-17 in the fourth set, but Love and Wittman had consecutive kills followed by a service ace by Nucci to cut it to 21-20. Northern Iowa maintained its lead and pushed it to set point at 24-22. Gibbemeyer followed with a kill to make it 24-23, but Michelle Burow delivered a kill to push the match to a fifth set.
Minnesota took early control in the fifth set with a 4-0 lead after Nucci and Gibbemeyer combined on a block. The Golden Gophers kept the four-point lead at 8-4 after an attack error by Bre Payton. However, Northern Iowa quickly responded with five of the next six points to tie the set at nine. After a Panther attack error, Gibbemeyer and Love combined on a block to make it 11-9. Nucci pushed it to 13-11 after dumping the ball over for a kill. Northern Iowa came back with three straight points and moved it to match point at 14-13 after a kill by Burow. Minnesota fought off the match point, but Burow came back with another kill. Wittman delivered a kill to tie the set at 15. After Krista DeGeest gave Northern Iowa a third match point,
Dixon answered with a kill to knot it up at 16. After a Gopher attack error, Amy Braun delivered a kill to give the Panthers the five-set victory.
Minnesota outhit Northern Iowa .193 (66-28-197) to .174 (66-30-207) on the night, and had 13.0 blocks to nine for the Panthers. The Golden Gophers narrowly outdug Northern Iowa 98 to 96.
Northern Iowa was led by Burow who had 23 kills, hit .526 (23-3-38) and had three blocks. Payton collected 10 kills, 50 assist and 13 digs. Ellie Blankenship finished with a team-high 32 digs.
Players Mentioned
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