University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Kansas State
Gophers Split Action on First Day of Golden Hurricane Classic
9/14/2012 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Sept. 14, 2012
The No. 10 University of Minnesota volleyball program split action at the Golden Hurricane Classic as No. 19 Kansas State defeated the Golden Gophers, 3-2, today in Tulsa, Okla. After defeating No. 20 Dayton in three sets earlier today, the Gophers fell in five to the Wildcats, 13-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-19, 15-7. Minnesota drops to 8-2 on the season, while the Wildcats improve to 11-0 this year.
Katherine Harms recorded a double double when she led the Gophers with 17 kills and 13 digs. She also had a .316 hitting percentage and produced 19 points. Daly Santana held a career-high 14 kills and had nine digs, while Ashley Wittman had 12 kills and Tori Dixon had seven. As a team, KSU held a narrow lead in overall kills (56-54). Although Minnesota outhit the Wildcats, .239 to .192, K State outblocked the Gophers, 9.5 to 6.0.
Minnesota opened the match at 9-3 en route to a 25-13 first set win. Minnesota hit .269 in the set, while KSU had 10 attack errors and only five kills in 29 attempts. Kansas State used both of its timeouts by 13-5 after a kill by Harms and an attack error by KSU. The Gophers would jump out to a 10-point lead at 17-7 on a kill by Dana Knudsenand would close out the set with a kill by Tabberson, and two attack errors by KSU.
KSU battled back and took the second set when it outhit the Gophers .345 to .300 and won, 25-22. Tied at 20-20, Kansas State had three kills, a block and a Gopher attack error pushed the Wildcats to a second-set win.
Like the match, Harms paced the Gophers to a third-set win to go up, 2-1. With a score of 25-16, Harms had five kills and hit .455. Tied at 9-9, Minnesota went on a 6-2 run, capped off by a ace by Santana and an attack error by KSU. Minnesota closed out the set with a kill by Harms for the 20th point, an ace by Lindsey Lawmaster (22), a kill by Santana (23) and an attack error by KSU to win the set. KSU hit -.024 in the set and committed 11 errors.
However, KSU rebounded and took the final two sets to win the match. In the fourth, the Wildcats hit .417 (18-3-36). Although the teams went through 11 tie scores and five lead changes, KSU took control after a 14-14 tie score and went on a 4-0 run. Minnesota closed the gap to 22-19 on a Santana ace, but the Wildcats finished the set with three-straight kills. Kansas State would then take advantage of nine kills on just 11 attempts to win the fifth and final set, 15-7. Hitting .818 in the fifth, the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-1 and 7-2 lead in which the Gophers couldn't recover.
Minnesota will play host Tulsa on Saturday at 2 p.m. The match is the final of the tournament. Minnesota and Tulsa play at 2 p.m., which follows the noon match between Dayton and KSU.
