University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
18-3, 6-2Big Ten
Michigan
13-6, 3-5Big Ten
Gophers Earn 3-1 Win in Packed Pavilion
10/19/2013 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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Oct. 19, 2013
Daly Santana and Lindsey Lawmaster each had career-high nights as they helped the No. 10 University of Minnesota volleyball team earn a 3-1 win over No. 16 Michigan, tonight at the Sports Pavilion.
Minnesota (18-3, 6-2 in the Big Ten) fell in the first set, 15-25, but won the next three, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23. Michigan fell to 3-5 in the Big Ten and 13-6 overall this season.
Minnesota packed the Sports Pavilion as it drew 5,638 fans tonight. Between the Thursday night match against No. 5 Michigan State and the Michigan match, Minnesota had 10,420 fans over the course of the two matches. The match ranked second all time in Sports Pavilion volleyball attendance. The Gophers drew 5,840 against Penn State in 1999.
Minnesota was led by Santana, who had a career-high 18 kills and 55 attempts, while she also had a double-double with 10 digs. Lawmaster came into the match during second set and had a career-high 17 digs, which also tied a match-high. Ashley Wittman also had 10 kills and eight digs. Hannah Tapp had eight blocks. Alexandra Palmer added 25 assists, while Sydney Howard had 14 in the win. In all, Minnesota had 11 players see action.
Despite Michigan holding the lead in kills (55 to 44), hitting percentage (.168 to .148) and digs (73 to 71), Minnesota led in blocks (12.5 to 11.0) and aces (7 to 6).
Minnesota plays its fifth-straight ranked team as the Gophers travel to No. 15 Wisconsin Wednesday. The match will be played in Madison, Wis. at 7 p.m.
First Set: Michigan jumped out to a 13-7 lead on a kill from Krystalyn Goode and later a 16-9 lead from Abby Cole. The Wolverines increased its lead to 20-12 when it had three-straight kills by Jennifer Cross, Lexi Dannemiller and Lexi Erwin. Minnesota would get back-to-back kills from Ashley Wittman for a 21-14 deficit, but Michigan closed out the set with kills from Erwin and Cole to win the first set, 25-15.
Second Set: Minnesota tied up the match with a 25-20 second-set win. Although the two teams tied five times, Minnesota maintained the lead throughout the set. Tied as late as 16-16, Minnesota took a three-point lead when the Wolverines committed a ball-handling error and two attack errors. Santana and Tapp combined for a block at the 21-17 mark, followed by a Tapp and Wilhite block the very next point. With the score at 23-20, Minnesota finished the set with a block from Santana and Dixon as Wilhite added an ace.
Third Set: The two teams went through 12 ties and five lead changes before the Gophers took the lead for good at 22-21 and the set win at 25-22. Trailing 16-14 and 17-15, Minnesota had kills from Dixon and Santana to tie the match. The two teams would then tie at 18, 19, 20 and 21 before Santana and Dixon combined for a block. Michigan would take a timeout, but the Gophers would get their 23rd on a Michigan attack error. After another Wolverine timeout, Michigan would again have an attack error before Dixon added the 25th point with her fourth kill.
Fourth Set: Minnesota jumped out to a 14-10 lead after a kill by Karlie Hauerand a Michigan attack error. The Wolverines took a timeout and cut the Gopher deficit to 15-13 on a kill from Cross. However, the Gophers received two aces from Hauer to bring the lead to 18-14 as Michigan used its second timeout. Dixon put the score at 20-16 on a kill, while Wittman added a kill for the Gophers' 21st point. Michigan brought the set to 23-22 as Molly Toon provided a kill. Santana recorded her 18th kill of the evening for Minnesota's match point, while Dixon closed out the game with her sixth kill of the night.
